Training camp update from Font Romeu

Well I've been at altitude now for just over a week and things have gone well since my arrival in Font Romeu. It feels more of a home from home now, although I am missing the family but this is something I will have to get used to as I'm planning to get to altitude much more regularly as part of my future plans. I certainly feel like the combination of having been on the previous UK Athletics altitude camp and having used my altitude tent for two weeks prior to coming this time has made the transition to real altitude somewhat smoother. I only arrived last Monday but by Wednesday I was getting my teeth into a session outside of the usual easy running (which tends to be on the menu for at least 4 or 5 days before a harder session is attempted). My first session was somewhat controlled however, which was... following a good warm up 4miles of tempo running plus 6 x 1min efforts plus another 3mile tempo. Tempo running needs to be adjusted slightly at altitude due to less oxgyen being available and I use a combination of adjusted target speeds as well as keeping one eye on heart rate values (i.e. compared to my normal sea level readings) alongside and like most of my tempo's runs a certain amount of run to 'feel'. I was running at very similar paces to those I was operating at the previous altitude camp back in July (for my tempo runs and when I was more acclimatized) so this early indicator bodes well. Since that session I have also been on the track and posted another solid session, although I feel that this may have gone better if not for an unsettled stomach (which I was carrying over the weekend). A couple of the lads had some symptoms of a mild stomach bug around the same time and I felt under the weather over the weekend but I'm pleased to say everyone is now recovered. Ironically it seems with all the talk of the athletes potentially getting Delhi belly at the Commonwealths games I pick up some pre-Delhi belly! on plus sider perhaps this will give me a cast iron stomach.

This camp generally has a slightly different feel to the one back in July as many of the athletes are hear to start their winter training, whereas myself, Chris Thompson and John Beattie are preparing for Delhi but it's been an enjoyable one with a good mix of focus and downtime. Our appartment which includes myself, Chris Thompson and Steve Vernon have joined forces in the evenings with our fellow athletes and taking turns with the cooking of the evening meals, which made for good social evenings. We then tend to spend the reminder of the evenings recovering from training with a few DVDs and the odd quiz to pass the time, if you're ever bored and you like quiz's checkout http://www.sporcle.com/ .





This trip is also somewhat shorter this time around for me (two weeks in all) and there is also little more than a week to my first race (the 5000m) and less than two weeks until the 10k (I'm doubling up) but I'm looking forward to getting on the track to race. It's been over 12months since I last raced 5000m, which was the National Champs In July last summer but I feel I'm in better shape now with the strength of marathon training under my belt and a bit of sharper work added to the mix recently. I feel I'm yet to put my full game face on but I have no doubt that when I arrive into the village that will change and the pre-race adrenaline will start flowing.

I will try post one more entry before I travel out to Delhi.

Until next time, that's all for now.

New all comers record

Hi folks,


As per normal it's been a few weeks since I last posted but I head to Font Romeu this morning for two weeks altitude training tomorrow, before then heading to Delhi for the Commonwealth Games, so I should be able to stick some more regular posts up while there. It was certainly hard leaving home yesterday having not that long been away, I certainly appreciate my time at home with the family more these days.


Things have gone well this week with both training and racing and I feel I have turned a corner these past few days. Generally the first few weeks back after the marathon had been going ok but were yet to suggest that all cylinders were firing. The Great Yorkshire 10k in Sheffield was 2 weeks ago, I ran 30.13 for 9th place in course which finishes up a nasty climb over the last last 800m. A solid run considering I had only been back into full training 2 weeks but also difficult not to be disappointed from a competitive perspective. I was also involved in some of the promotion of race, alongside former Olympic Marathon Champion Stephano Baldini, who was running in his last race in the UK before retiring. It was quite noval for me to be involved with pre-race build up alongside athlete's of his pedigree and I would have liked to have been able to give a better account of myself but it at least showed me I wasn't a million miles away in terms of specific fitness.


More recently I ran in the Inter Trust Race night last Thursday in Guernsey what was my last race before heading off to complete my final preparations ahead of Delhi. I had arrange for GB junior Jonny Hay and his training partner Adam Clarke (who paced the race) to come over. Jonny has been running very well recently and I knew I would get a good race from him. Adam set a good pace early on with the aim of getting us to 2000m into the race at close to 8min pace, but at 1600m I was feel strong and went past Adam to ensure a strong pace was maintained. From here I stretched away from Adam & Jonny and maintaining fairly even lap splits and finishing in a time of 8.06, which I was more than happy with. Conditions were decent but there was a little bit of head wind which was noticeable the top bend of each lap so given that plus the fact I ran the second half of the race on my own, suggests I am close to PB shape (which is 8.00). So all in all a good position to be in going into Delhi.


It never fails to surprise me the lift you get from a solid race performance and since the race I have felt really good in training, I ran a session yesterday of 15min tempo, 16x100 back to backs off 15sec recovery, followed by another 15min tempo and it was arguably my best session since Barcelona. Paces averaged at 5.00 per miling for each of the 15min sectons which were also run progressively at approx 5.20,5.00,4.40 per mile pace for each 5min section, the 100metre back to backs were all in about 15 secs (so approx 4.00 min mile pace). I also ran the session on the coastals paths which are undulated so a strong session

Right better dash now as off to Gatwick to catch my flight to Barcelona.

Cheers

Lee

Racing...

Hi folks,

Last weekend saw me race for the first time since the European Marathon and I have to say it was a bit of a shock to the system! Having not run for 8 days following the marathon and then pretty much only jogging the remainder of the time, 3000m on the track felt somewhat alien to me. Infact it was more or less 12months since my last track race. Anyway you can probably sense me building up to an excuse :) as I didn't win. Joking aside I was 2nd in 8.23 in a somewhat tactic affair (and fairly windy conditions) in what was the first ever British Athletics League Match to be held in Guernsey. Whilst I would normally have not raced so close after a marathon, particular so short a distance I felt I got a lot from the race and played my part for the Channel Island Team. I felt great after during the cool down too and since then I have run my first track session which was surprisingly good all things considered.

In terms of racing now I will be running the Great Yorkshire Run in Sheffield on Sunday 5th September in predominately European start list, which will be show on Channel 5. The field will also I believe be a predominately European field with the only except being Australian Craig Mottram. The startlist currently includes Thommo (Chris Thompson) who won European silver over 10k last month, an ex-Olympic Marathon Champion in the form of Stephane Baldini, as well fellow Brit Andrew Lemoncello and also Cheba Martinez of Spain.

I will only likely race one more time before heading off Delhi for the Commonwealth Games now, in which I will be racing on the track over 5k & 10k. I decided after I was selected for Great Britain at the European Champs that a third marathon less than 6 months would not be a good idea longer term for my marathon plans, as I will be aiming for a fast spring marathon next year. It will be nice to have go at improving my best times on the track for the 5 & 10k and pull on a Guernsey vest although I guess it does mean I am sacrificing my chances of higher finishing place by missing the best event, this is just how it needs to be.

As part of my preparations I will also again be going to Font Romeu in France for 2 weeks of altitude exposure (I have a very understanding wife!). The altitude certainly seemed to work well for me in Barcelona and the longer term plan is for me to spend more time at altitude in the future in order give myself that extra edge.

That's pretty much me for now, although for those that followed by marathon in Barcelona and those who like a statistics, I worked out using my 5k split times taken during the race if I had not suffered with the effects of cramp I would possibly got up to 4th place. I started to feel the effects of cramp with 7km to go and this forced me to slow down despite the rest of the body feeling quite good. Of course part of racing the marathon in those types of conditions is about dealing with such problems but it does inspire me and give me the believe that I can go on to better things at the marathon in the future.

Until next time.

8th Place in European Marathon Champs

I’m back at home now but still buzzing from Sunday’s race! 8th place seems a little bit surreal and the reaction back home has been incredible and I certainly didn’t expect all the attention I’ve got these past couple of days. I really enjoyed my few days in Barcelona and the general vibe in the team hotel has been good and it’s great to be able to say I was there.


Picture courtsey of Mark Sherman.

The marathon itself went pretty much went as well as I could have hoped with perhaps the only exception being a little scare at 2km to go (more on that in minute).Below is my race day as happened for those that are interested…


Pre-Race...

My day started at 6am (4hours before the race) with a quick shower to wake the body up before then heading down for some breakfast. After fueling on some muesli, fruits & yogurt (my usual food of choice, porridge, doesn’t seem be popular in Spain!), it was then back to the room to start drinking my high sodium drink, the idea being to retain as much water in the body as possible. Not especially nice tasting drink but if you like sea water you might like this! At 7.45am we left the room (I was sharing with Dan Robinson) briefly to hand our drinks bottles which we mixed up at the previous night. Then it was back to room to finish off the sea water! At 8.30am we took the bus to the course and headed to the designated athlete area which was located in a local leisure centre next to the start finish area, alongside the Barcelona Zoo. It was then just the waiting game… staying relaxed and most of all cool, which was helped by the wearing an ice jacket for part of this time. The idea is keeps your core temperature down as much as possible so to delay the inevitable process of over heating during the race. I kept my warm up shorter than normal today but I didn’t find temperatures at hot as I expected, I feel good and light on the warm up and I know I’m ready to race. I head back into the athlete area and pop the ice jacket back on for a few minutes. About 20mins before the start we go through to the final call room wear they place our timing chip into the back of our front Bib. A few of us spend the last 10mins to continue to keep the core temperature down by apply bags of ice to our body, then the call comes for the officials and we start lining up to be lead out on the course, it now that things can go pretty quiet and people stay to focus on any last minute race rehearsals in their mind. We have been taken out a little late so there barely time for a couple of strides to keep loose before they start lining us up.


The Race itself…

The plan was to start sensibly and not to run any faster than 2.16 pace for the first half of race and aim for around 3.15 per km. The race starts pretty steady so its means I am able to settle nicely into the back of the field and simply just let the race takes its course. We have to be careful on the tight bends as the first 2km of the race in around a 1km loop before heading out on 4 x 10k loops of the city. The first 10k or so goes off without any major problems, although I am slightly slower than planned but I feel comfortable and feel that the pace is about right. My only hiccup comes when I manage to pick up Ben Moreau drink bottle rather than my own at the first drinks station, fortunately Ben is right next to me so I am able to hand him his bottle. It means I miss out on my own drink which is not ideal with conditions as they are but Ben kindly provides me with some of his drink.

I ensure I make use of every water & sponge station as well as the personal drink stations, conditions are starting to hot up and the humidity is pretty high at around 70% so I ensure to dowse the back of my head and vest with water to aid the cooling process. I get to half way in about 69mins, which is a little slower than planned but I’m feeling strong, at this point I think about pushing on but I decide to hold back for a little longer and it seems by maintaining my pace I am moving through the field anyway. Only 2 or 3 km later Dave Webb catches me and we then start to move the pace on a little, so I go with it and from this point we start picking a number of people off. Towards the later part of the third lap however I start to edge away form Dave after having worked with him for most of the lap.

Moving in the final lap I am gaining in confidence and feel strong. I’m moving past a number many experienced marathon runners (most of whom have much faster personal bests). The crowd support from the British fan has been fantastic through out the race and there are many people I know from the UK running scheme out on the course, during the early laps I acknowledge a few people but later into race I decide to conserve my energy, there was even a Guernsey flag out on the on the course. I hear this made the BBC coverage right at the point when the 2004 Olympic Champion Baldini dropped out of the race.

Going into the last 7km of the race everything seems to be going like a dream, I am moving through the field still and I’m getting good information from people out on the course. I hear some instructions from Bob Smith (our team manager at Newham & Essex Beagles) telling me I am 1min 30 behind Bronze! Later on the course he tells me I am only 1min 20 behind Bronze! However that evening he tells me he lied about that… I was still actually 1.30 behind but he thought that would do little to encourage me! To be honest I needed little encouragement as I can see I am catching others in the race and a top 6 finish is looking possible. Unfortunately though with 2km to go I get cramp in my left hamstring and have to stop!! My first reaction is shit this could really mess things up! There are British supports right next to wear I stop and I sense there disappoint for me. I had been aware that this could happen and with around 6km I took the decision to slow the pace down even though I feel good otherwise, as I sense that cramp could kick in at any minute. I feel strangely carm when as I stop and stretch though, it’s no more than 10seconds before I get going again, all be it at a slower pace to ensure the cramp stays away. It does mean though that I drop one place from 7th to 8th but my main focus now is to hold onto this position. The cramp does fortunately give me no further problems and as I turn into the final bend any pain that I had felt disappears and a huge smile comes across my face, as I cross the line I subtly clench my fist in satisfaction and then enjoy the pleasurable sensation of a cold wet towel place across my shoulders…right at this moment this is bliss.


Post-Race...

After polishing off a sports drink in seconds and congratulating my team mates we head into the medical tents, it’s like a seen out of E.R. with athletes laid out on medical beds with drips in their arms and other sprawled across the floor through fatigue. My body feels in bits, I’m exhausted and I’m glad it over but the feeling is fantastic. As soon as we get back into the athlete zone in the leisure centre I locate my phone and call Teresa my wife, I feel pretty emotional at this point and just about manage to hold back the tears, it’s been a long time away from home but the reward has been worth it.

Later once I have got myself some food and I feel a little less dehydrated all I can think about is getting home to see Teresa and Thomas.

Incedently the Guernsey flag that appeared in the BBC courage was a guy called Tim, he approached me in Barcelona aiport as he was on the same flight home. He has family in Guernsey and they sent him the flag to wave at during the race.

Below is UK Athletics race report...

http://http//www.uka.org.uk/media/news/august-2010/01-08-10-european-13/


Now however I am enjoying doing nothing... well as little as possible at least. No running this week for me and I'm also making an effort to indulge on the food and drink front for a change. The Commonwealth Games are the next big one for me but right now I'm just enjoying my time off.

Chasing bikes

Training is continuing to go well since my last post, yesterday I ran my last significant track session and it went very well. It was the same session that I did two weeks (which at the time was my first on the track in Font Romeu) and in terms of my rep times yesterday they were significantly better this time around. My body has also started to adapt physiologically to the altitude, which a blood test a few days earlier has confirmed. One main factor that you hope to achieve is an increase in blood cells which are what carry the oxygen to the working muscles and an essential biological factor for endurance athletes.

I think taking the day of Monday helped also helped my session as I went into the session feeling quite fresh. I felt ok Monday morning but the following night I had disrupted sleep due to an upset stomach, so I decide to take the day off as a precaution. I went into the track session Tuesday morning very positive and felt before hand that it would be a good session; I did also have a little help in the form of a pacemaker leading me out on a push bike though. My pacemaker was Gary Lough, Gary will be the team manager for the GB Marathon Teams in Barcelona (he is husband to Paula Radcliffe). Gary was a very good athlete himself in the 1990’s, with a personal best of 3.34 for 1500m.

Talking of bikes last Sunday a few of us took advantage of the having the afternoon off training and went to watch stage 14 of the Tour de France which was passing through the nearby Village of Rouze in the Pyrenees, which was only 45mins drive away. I have never seen the Tour before and was suitably impressed with the whole thing. We arrived about 1pm (our time) and enjoyed a bit of prepared lunch on the roadside before getting into the spirit of the event with the parade of sponsor vehicles passing through ahead of the cyclists. I wasn’t sure what this would involve at first but essentially it’s like a fast moving carnival of bizarrely designed vehicles which throw out lots of free stuff, to be fair most of it isn’t much use afterwards but everyone gets into it! Despite my best efforts I didn’t manage to get hold of the better looking t-shirts that were being tossed out, where-as a certain Chris Thompson managed to have one land on his shoulder despite not even looking! Following the parade we didn’t have to wait too long before the peleton itself passed through. We were part of the way up a long climb up through the Pyrenees near the end of the stage but the speed they were moving at was impressive. One of the US athletes Ben, who I travelled down with was determined to run alongside the peleton, I believe he managed about 45secs before he had to drop off.



Being sterotypically french, watching the TdF eating a fresh baguette....


The carnival starts passing through.....


Here comes the peleton...


Anyway with only 11days to go until the men’s European Marathon, I’m feeling pretty good overall and starting to get that freshness and excitement that is often dampened by heavy training and subsequent tiredness. This feeling itself always gets me buzzing a bit more as it’s a sign that things are coming together at the right time. My taper into the race is underway now with only really one hard (although still fairly controlled) shorter tempo run left to do before easing right off into the last week of the race.

A tough race lies ahead with potentially very hot temperatures, as the race finishing at midday, but exciting times none the less.

The ups and downs of altitude

As ever I don't seem to get online to write blogs posts as regularly as I would have liked, although I have been online quite regularly between training sessions... I have been productive in that I have started putting together a new website http://www.leemerrienrunning.com/ which isn't finished but it's getting there.

Anyway training seems to have turned a corner this week, I got solid session in on the track on Tuesday despite a having a minor dizzy spell when I woke up that morning. I ran a controlled session, 3 sets of ( 2 x 1k + 5 x 400m) with my marathon roomies. I forgot to mention them in my last post...I'm rooming and training with Ben Moreau & Martin 'Tantastic' Williams, Martin runs for Tipton! (it's all about the tan there apparently:). Times for the track session were nothing spectacular but good enough to achieve the abjective, 1k reps were around 2.55 and 400m reps were from 68-66 mostly. We had some great weather than morning too which helped, although the weather has been strange at times...on Sunday we ran our long run in temp's in the high 20's, only for the weather to change to heavy rain all afternoon with hail stones, which were like golf balls at times!

The other key this session this week was a some marathon paced workout, with we did yesterday morning. Ben & Martin were doing 45mins at M/pace within a long run while i was doing 90mins at M/pace so we managed to worked it so were all together for 45mins at race effort. Also when I say M/pace, it is more marathon intensity, I have been tracking heart rates during these types of sessions as the altitude plays a big factor. I didnt quite get this right last week and subsequently struggle a little on my marathon workout but this week was much better. The lake route (which we used for the marathon paced work) is the fairly flat compared with the other trails we have been using but it is still has a few hills and of course it is at 1500m altitude so I was happy to average just over 5.20 min miling for my 90mins and feel quite controlled.

I've attached a few photo's below of our accommodation and some of the places we have been training...

Early stages of our track session this week. The track is approx 2000m above level.

The View from our accommodatio complex...

Looking across the Lake (approx 1500m altitude) were we have done our marathon pace sessions and long runs.

Calf Problems in Font Romeu

It’s not quite how it sounds, the evening before last we went for a group run on a trail called the Pyrennes 2000 and encounter a large heard of cattle blocking our path, taking a slight detour off track and thinking we had got round them we rejoined the path only to be met but two baby calfs. Unfortunately they got a bit twitchy and instead of letting us run around them they bolted and ran in front of us for about mile before we finally managed to overtake!

I’ve now been in Font Romeu for 5 days having driven up from Barcelona on Tuesday afternoon and I feel I’m settling well with the altitude up here. Our accommodation is at approx 1850m above sea level but we are doing much of our running down at the lake which is a little lower at 1500m. The Pyrennes 2000 trail is around 1600m, the track is close to the accommodation and another good running area on the plateau at around 2100m or so, although we are yet to run there. Below is a picture from our first harder workout since arriving which we did yesterday, we were wearing our GB kit that day as there was media filming being done for coverage on the Aviva training camp. This is on the bank of lake…

Incidentally it’s approx 5.5miles around, although there are tons great trails
The session went pretty well that day, I was doing 4 x 6minutes at marathon pace followed by 5 x 1minutes efforts a little faster, despite the altitude I was still able to hold the same paces I would have at sea level with my heart rates only a few beats above normal. This is to be expected but a few more days from now my body should start to feel acclimatised to the altitude. Other than my long run tomorrow my next key session is not until Tuesday when I will step on the track for the first time since arriving, so looking forward to that.

I am have really enjoyed my first few days here in Font Romeu and I am making the most of the opportunity, getting extra rest between twice daily training sessions as well as getting some regular treatment from the medical staff to help keep the body in one piece. I must admit though I am missing my family but at least I get to see and speak to Teresa and Thomas via video chat on skype fairly regularly.

Here’s what I’ve been doing training wise these past few days…

Monday am 6miles easy pm 6miles easy + core work, then flight to UK
Tuesday am 8miles in Gatwick pm travelling arrived Font Romeu 8pm.
Wednesday am 70mins easy (10miles) pm Strength work + 40mins easy (6.5miles)
Thursdays am 70mins easy (10miles) pm 50mins -hilly route (7miles)
Friday am 11miles total (session as mentioned) pm 50mins easy (7.3miles)
Saturday am 9miles easy pm 45mins (7miles)

Tomorrow will be a long run of 2hr 15mins, which will likely be around 22miles+ will also be using a new sodium based drinks mix which I tried this evening to see how I found it, settle ok but tastes like sea water!