Kristian and I arrived in Dullstrom on Tuesday 11/12 after a long journey, if you haven't read about why we are in Dullstrom yet, read the first part.
The rest of week 1 was mainly with easy to moderate running. As mentioned in the first article about the altitude camp Dullstrom is a mecca for runners and therefore many of the runs were done with other groups. It is always inspiring and educational to hear from other top runners how they approach training.
Altitude Training - Start Slowly
I did some light quality training already on Saturday 11/16 and the conclusion was that I was not adapted to the altitude yet. The feeling was bad when I increased the pace. My lactate values (more on this and monitoring training intensity in another article) were significantly higher relative to the pulse, which is one of the things you can see in the acute phase at altitude. I had to reconsider the subsequent training sessions and reduce the intensity for the next hard training. Sunday was a 25km long run with a good group and the feeling was better. We were ready for the first training week.
One of the great things about being at a training camp is that it is easy to train - the hardest part is almost holding back. My focus down here is therefore on starting well with specific strength training/injury prevention training, continuing to build up the volume again and finding a good rhythm. I'm still getting into gear after Berlin and the first phase is primarily about rebuilding and laying the foundation for later training. Therefore, the plan was NOT to run 195km a week, but that's what happened. It was distributed as follows:
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
|
Morning |
15km easy + short fast 15sec runs(strides) and strength (40min) |
18km incl. 4*7.5min easy pace |
19km Easy run |
25km incl. 60min easy pace (very hot day) |
14km easy run |
20km incl 10*90sec hill (very tough) and 5*2min easy pace |
2 hours long run (27km) |
|
Evening |
30min easy on spinning bike (plan was 10km jog, but due to thunderstorm, moved indoors) |
18km incl. 20*400m threshold pace |
70min very easy cycling, 8km jog and light strength(25min) |
10km very easy run |
60min very easy cycling + 7km easy run |
14km incl 10*2min easy pace + light strength(20min) |
75min easy cycling + mobility |
Total: 20hrs training week; 195km run(14.5 hrs), 4hrs cycling and 1.5hrs strength.
Altitude Training - Beware risky leaps
The feeling during the week has been good, I've been fresh in training, and I feel my legs are improving despite the significant increase in training volume, but despite the good feeling, next week will still be more relaxed.
It's due to both, it has been a big (and risky) leap from 150km(week 1 at altitude incl. Travel)up to 195km, and the approaching EC cross. The body received significant stimuli from both altitude and the training week, so even though most was controlled and monitored based on lactate and pulse, the load is still high and it's crucial to let the body absorb the training.
