In StMoritz

I have now arrived St.Moritz. We came late yesterday and took the last lift up to our hotel which is located about 2500 meters altitude, above StMoritz at 1800 meters.

Today was the first day of workouts. Per Halle, my former coach, is here…

with his daughter Gunhild (15.09/5000 m) so he came with Frank to watch my workout. Is was a long aerobic run, right below the lactate treshold split into intervalls. I was feeling fine, and it is a great beginning to the buildup I will need down here in order to get ready for the European Champs in August.

The atmosphere down here is like I remember it from last year ; quiet, beautiful and with long nice paths to run on. There are already some good athletes down here ; Wilson Boit Kipketer, Andre Bucher etc. Plus a group of Norwegians ; Gunhild Halle, Ketil Hodnekvam (1.47/800m), Kjersti PlΓ€tzer (2ndOGWalking). So you get an athletic feel for things, right in the middle of the quiet Alps. A good combination πŸ™‚

All well from here,

Marius

St.Moritz

Right about on my way to altitude now. I will try and update from down there, to keep you informed. Hopefully I can get some good weeks of training down there πŸ™‚

Marius

ius

Soon off to St.Moritz!

In only a few days now I am heading for altitude training in St. Moritz, Switzerland. I will stay at 2435 meters altitude and train down at 1800 meters (by the tartan track where you have great running paths to train on)

For the first time…

since late May I am 100 % injury free and I have had a week of normal training. It feels great to be able to do what you have planned again. But time is short before the European Championships the 9th (prelims) and 11th (finals) of August, so it will be a real race against the clock. I like challenges, but usually with a bit more time on my hand πŸ™‚ The main plan is to use altitude training to keep the endurance going, while at the same time finally get into normal training at competition speeds. In that way I will get both factors important to race fast in the 5000 meters. To do that, however, I need to be 100 % injury free for each and every single day before the Championships. All fingers crossed πŸ™‚

I have received many encouraging emails lately. Thank you for all of them. It is great to see that people give support both when things are going well and when you have trouble. That means alot and I won`t forget you once I start moving for real again.

All well from Oslo,

Marius

Feeling fine in my injury – ready for some work again

I have not had any problem with my injury after the Bislett race. I am getting treatment just in case, but it looks fine for the first time in weeks. Finally I can get to some consistant work again and start strengthening up my leg muscles with fast…

track work.

We have started the planning of the rest of the season. I will leave for St.Moritz, Switzerlandthe 8th of July and stay there for altitude training. It is the same place I stayed last year before my Norwegian record in the 5000 meters. There are several benefits with St.Moritz : I have exact times/lactate values to compare with from bfore, the travel is short and climate nice. It is also at such an altitude that I can do the fast track work I have been missing. If I had stayed injuryfree I could have gone back to Bolivia, but because of the circumstances St.Moritz is probably a better pick.

Marius

Puh…. Done with the Bislett Games

Yesterdays Bislett Games experience was a painful experience. Much harder than last years 13.09 despite a time of close to 50 seconds slower. I am proud I got through it and finished.

Much of the obvious trouble can be explained by a a heel…

injury I have struggled the last weeks, on the achilles and lower calf muscle. So I tried to use the last week before the race to do everything I could to get well. Total rest (mental and physical) to preserve as much energy as possible into the recovery. And I did manage to speed up the recovery and be without pain on the day of the race, but the preparations had not been good enough. Not even close to enough race pace training and too many spoiled sessions.

The main reason why I did run, was that Bislett Games is special to me. I have watched the meet live since I was a little kid and run great races there before. So even though I knew the preparations were not ideal I decided to run if I was injury free on race day. And I was. Sometimes it is important to go out there even though you are not 100 %.

The plans from now on is to pick up training again and get back leg strength and race stride. The endurance base is excellent, but I need a few more weeks to really benefit from it. Right now I have no float and I am unable to get a “free ride” through most of the race. When that comes, I will be ready again.

Finally an update. Sorry for the lack of it recently but I hope for your understanding πŸ™‚

Marius

Home from the European cup

I am back again from the European Cup in Slovakia now. A bit before the rest of the team in order to prepare for the Bislett Games in 6 days.

The race was better then FlorΓΈ, so it is improving for every day. I am as planned not in top shape…

yet, that has been saved for the European Championships in August. But a small injury has caused me some trouble that has been unexpected and given me problem with running track workouts as I would have liked. So I am a bit behind schedule but as always more then ready to catch up.

Now some easy days to recover. Splits for the race 67.5-63.4-57.1-43.5 for 3.51 6th in the race.

Briefly from Oslo,

Marius

Running the European Cup 1500 meter this weekend

I am racing the 1500 meters this weekend at the European cup in Slovakia. It will be a great run-through before the Bislett Games. 6 days before such a race it is perfect to run a 1500 meters.

I have only done easy training over the weekend…

and in the beginning of this week. I have really good experience with some 4-5 days of easy training to bring out the sharpness you need for competitions. Today I could feel the benefit of this, with fresh legs in both training sessions. It has been a really hard training winter and I need those nice days where you feel smooth now πŸ™‚

Really not much new. Just tuning in to the season. I know I will be extremely ready before the European Champs. Now it is time to see how ready I am early in the season.

All well,

Marius

Running the European Cup 1500 meter this weekend

I am racing the 1500 meters this weekend at the European cup in Slovakia. It will be a great run-through before the Bislett Games. 6 days before such a race it is perfect to run a 1500 meters.

I have only done easy training over the weekend…

and in the beginning of this week. I have really good experience with some 4-5 days of easy training to bring out the sharpness you need for competitions. Today I could feel the benefit of this, with fresh legs in both training sessions. It has been a really hard training winter and I need those nice days where you feel smooth now πŸ™‚

Really not much new. Just tuning in to the season. I know I will be extremely ready before the European Champs. Now it is time to see how ready I am early in the season.

All well,

Marius

Press Conference with the Bislett Games

Yesterday they had one of the “Bislett Games preview” press conferences at the Plaza Hotel in Oslo. It is now only a bit over two weeks until the Bislett Games, and they went through all the lineups in the events. For the 5000 meters I think they…

have come up with a perfect mix of Africans and Europeans. The field is as strong as ever, but this year they have also managed to get a few Spanish athletes, French, Belgian etc. That means that the race will not only provide a chance for some good times, but also give you a good feel with the other Europeans before the European Championships.

It is still going better in practice. I have had three good quality sessions since the last update, and the they have all been like planned. Especially Mondays track session where I did a standarized 400 meter session that I have done for many years. Frank took lactate acid tests and after 2/3 of the session he pulled me out. He wants me to stay fresh from now on and not rush things. I do not have time for mistakes at this point of the game πŸ™‚

Two weeks to go,
Marius

Gradually getting faster

I have had a nice, steady lift since the race in FlorΓΈ. Things are like planned so far, and if things continue like this I will JUST be ready in time for the Bislett Games.

Our main aim this year is to be in the beginning of the peak phase…

at Bislett and on top of it during the European Championships 6 weeks later. Therefore, we have made harder priorities this year compared to before. A gradual buildup before a greater peak, sustained through those main races (but even there building up). We have good experience with this before and hope it will work again.

Long treshold session today in the beautiful summer weather here in Oslo. I will stay here until the European Cup 1500 m. the 22nd of June and just prepare myself. Finally some time to relax and not travel :))

Nice, quiet training days here in Oslo

Marius