Month: January 2005

the last weeks, and the best place to monitor that is of course on the treadmill.

Briefly from Oslo,
Marius

through Nairobi after weeks in Eldoret on the way back. The feeling of actually staying a night in a real hotel in Nairobi is quite special after looong weeks at the “special” Eldoret hotels 🙂

I had a nice morning run today, around the small lake in the forest area here. After the long weekend (Martin Luther King day on Monday-so holiday) it has been very quiet in the forest reserve making especially the morning runs very peaceful. Something else than hammering on the asphalt among cars in Oslo..

I will bring with me those refreshing runs when I go back to Norway to rest and build more winter training. You get the kick start you need as the season will come soon enough 🙂

From Florida,

Marius

Quite smart concept and the cross country coach there explained to me how runners prone to injuries not only prevented being injured (and recovered when injured) but also built more strength in those muscles so that in the future they could take more training. Interesting concept and it looked quite efficient also. One of those things that gets so spesific to the movement of running that you could use it as “alternative”/cross-training (something I am normally not greatly into) to take more training even for those healthy and fit. A main problem you see for those injured runners is that even regular “running in water” is not spesific enough to ensure a fast comeback after the injury. So even though the cardiovascular system is ok, it takes time to get into the running rytm again, sometimes 6-8 weeks. The only runner I know that has managed this right away is Jim Spivey (3.31 1500). I spoke to him about it a few years ago and saw the very tough program he was doing while running in water, returning to a 3.57 mile only days thereafter. But that is probably a rare example of that, and maybe a system of underwater treadmill running could (should) make this kind of post-injury comback easier. Should be something for the Top Athletics center in Oslo..

Nice to see the local University here. I actually also bumped into one of the former assistant coaches at Indiana there, who was coaching in 97/98 when I competed for the school. So we got to catch up on some of the people there-where they had gone plus how the program was doing.

I will be doing a run with the coach there tomorrow, just en easy evening run. He has 14.11 in the 5000 meters before so should be quite able to keep up (at least on those very easy runs)

We are enjoying a bit cooler weather here now, down to around 20-22 degrees C. After a period of very tough training, it is refreshing to get out in the morning feeling the fresh breeze only to warm up nicely during the day. And you can go out training at 9-10 in the morning, no problem compared to for example Kenya where we had to get out at 6-7 not to completely sweat away 🙂 So much easier to keep a bit of a more normal daily rytm over here..

Time for the evening training now.

So long and all well,
Marius

windy giving us a tail wind on the way back. Henrik is still feeling strong in his legs so we managed to stick together today also, especially since I had a couple of very recent hard workouts in my legs already. No problem on the way, except a family of wild pigs getting a bit too territorial. Nothing like the alligators though that sometimes appear around the running tracks….

This evening I took a very easy run for recovery, with a quite talented high school runner from the area. Those runs are very comfortable and it is always nice to meet other running enthusiasts in the area you are visiting. I have run both in high school and college over here so I know the great feeling of being part of the running system over here. I sometimes wonder how good the American runners could have been if the system over here – in terms of school spirit/connection had been combined with the more European way of doing the sport (more individualized in terms of work/racing) There should be absolutely no reason for the US not to have a good group of top-top athletes in the longer distances considering the huge number of runners over here and the impressive programs developed. But you never know, the key to long distance running will probably be discussed as long as I live and beyond (or at least as long as the Africans are beating us 🙂 )

Looking foward to a day of only easy running tomorrow after a good nights sleep..

From sunny Florida!

Marius

The link below will be activated, probably tomorrow. There you can see some of the area around here, plus some from the mornings workout with Henrik.

the session we ran into eachother on the path and the pace was close enough so I just adjusted the rest of my session. It is dead flat over here so you get a smooth stride on the hard packed cinder paths. Perfect this time a year when you need to get into the rythm again after spending the fall on the treadmill..

Days go by fast over here. So far this January they have had 8 degrees above C average weather so great for training. You cannot be asking for more than nice running conditions and nice weather this time a year if you are used to the Norwegian winters.

In between sessions we are being taken care of by an American family over here who has also been to Norway (lecturing at the Univ). They are friends of my manager Staale Jan and personal friends of Jack Waitz, so we are being taken good care of 🙂

I love being back in the US again. You start to remember why you spent some of your best running years over here. Inspirational and a good way to start the new year !

The link on the previous post is now active with pictures.

All well from Tampa, Florida

Marius

hotel where we are staying. He is in excellent marathon-endurance shape at the moment so no problem training together, especially now in the beginning of the stay. It felt great going from 0 degrees in Norway to 26 degrees C here and shorts ! You forget how nice it is until you are right there..

Then yesterday, Jack Waitz the husband of Grete Waitz came down from Gainesville to visit us, plus did an easy run with the group this morning. Quite nice, he has tons of experience witin the field of long distance running and training – to say it mildly.

This evening we will do another easy run, running on the small soft paths in the forest. Hopefully it will be a very easy one. I had plenty of problem sticking with the group when former 2.11 marathoner Terje Ness got into his floating form during the easy run.. Usually I run quite easy on those..

Time for some shopping now. The link below with pictures will be activated hopefully during the day or so. There, you can see the training areas we are running in, plus the people around here.

All well, enjoying the sun and feeling “home” in the US again 🙂

Marius

report is great weather and great training..

I have not been in the US since 2001 so I am looking forward to that. In 2001 I was over there, first in Utah then in Chicago, in the preparations for the 2001 World Championships. Before that I had a brief trip to the University of Indiana in 1999 to visit my college team over there.

Having spent two years of my (running 😉 ) life in the US coming back there is always something special. They say track/cross country is nothing compared to the big sports in the US in terms of popularity. But consider this ; the stats show almost 300.000 cross country runners in the US just from the age 14-18! Even with a country of 270 million or so, that is alot. Much, much higher ratio then in Norway and at least much higher than Kenya and Etiopia. So running has its own culture over there, the high school dual meets, state meets, the college leagues etc.

We have had milder weather recently so I have managed to log the mileage needed before going over there. But 25 degrees and sun will do it anyways..

Last update from Norway,

Marius

running quite easily on the treadmill today. Good to see that I am where I should the 1st of January. Very important break in training for me, now it is time to go to absolute maximum level of performance in the time to come!

Some photoes are out from the work, click below.

From Oslo, first test of 05

Marius

and the results showed clearly. The fall in one thing, what matters is if you manage to balance the highest possible training load plus the best rest possible from January until the season comes around. That is ; if you are in good enough shape in January to take the load you need at that time. You will never regret the work you manage to put down then. Things go automatic from April on onwards but in the winter (especially in Norway) you have to keep the focus all the time. I like to always stay one week behind during the winter training, just to keep the chase going..

Running conditions now are fair in Oslo. Nothing great, snow came down in loads again last week but you can run on the sidewalks. And we always have the treadmills 🙂 They even got a pair of new Woodways now at the top athletics center so that is nice. For a while now they were out of order so I had to run in the lab like you could see on some of the previous photoes.

Happy new year from Oslo!
Marius