It’s hard isn’t it? If you want to be a runner, you have to spend time running. If you want to win mountain bike races, unsurprisingly you have to get out on your bike as often as you can. But if you want to climb a big mountain, how do you specifically train for that when you live at sea level? The fact is, you can’t. There’s no such thing as sports-specific training for altitude activities when you live in the UK. You just have to make every training session count, no matter what it is. Sure, it’s good to run. It’s great to pull on your walking boots and get out in the forest or other off road track at weekends. Bear Grylls trained for Everest by swimming underwater. That can be quite fun. But the fact remains, it’s hard to do unless you have a hypoxic air generator. And they cost £4000. You’d have to be climbing a lot of mountains to make that investment worthwhile.
Here’s a brief foray into Max’s training. It will be varied. It might even be unusual. But it will move me towards greater fitness, strength and endurance than I currently have. So that’s all good.
Thursday 1st Dec – karate. 1 hour 15 minutes. Good for – strength, speed, power and hardening up the feet. And of course, getting out aggression.
Friday 2nd Dec – Car failed MOT so the day was thrown out a bit. Could not drive to gym as planned in the morning. Waiting for a delivery so couldn’t go out running either. Oh no! Visualisation for mind training. Trampolining. Gym session in evening, after car was fixed. 20 minute barefoot run. 20 minutes walking, hard, fast, steep incline. 20 minutes cross trainer. All good for aerobic endurance. Sport specific, minus the altitude.
Sat 3rd Dec – Lovely long walk in New Forest, about 10 miles, 4 hours. Got muddy and blew the cobwebs out of the walking boots. Very nice to see all the native ponies.
Sunday 4th Dec – 12 miles coastal walk. 3.5 hours. Savage blister appeared on left heel, now not possible to wear normal shoes. Ordered some “barefoot” off road hiking boots. They will arrive tomorrow – hope they are more comfortable than the other mountain boots!
Monday 5th December – Rest day. Yes, I am allowed them. Legs don’t need a day off, they are fine, but left heel does. Trampolining was possible. Plan for tomorrow – either karate, or gym session with breath-hold swimming afterwards. Watch this space!
How the time flies! I can’t believe it has been a month since the last entry… I guess that’s Christmas and New Year breaks isn’t it? But I suppose for us, it wasn’t really a break, well certainly not where training is concerned. My greatest joy was that my parents’ treadmill would in fact fit in the back of my car, so I now have it set up in the conservatory. It is great to have that as a training option, and it has been very well used.
Additionally, long walks in excess of 2 hours have been the norm over weekends, and combine that with race-pace 7 mile runs, some very hard gym work and walking everywhere with a heavy rucksack on, and I think you get the idea.
I’m off back to the Altitude Centre this Friday, and tomorrow I’m considering a half Marathon along the river close to home. I’ll keep you posted – praying for a sunny day!
Weds 11th January
What a fantastic day! Bright and sunny, no breeze and a spring-like day – what is happening? This is January isn’t it? So, the long awaited long run did actually happen. And how the time flew by. The sharp stones on the beach did “stimulate” my feet because of my barefoot shoes (Vibram Five Fingers) but it wasn’t really that painful. The worst part was having to admit that most of the skin on my left big toe was likely to come off. There always seems to be one part of the foot that is susceptible to pressure points. The only way round that would have been to run it totally barefoot, but I am not sure that even my feet are tough enough to cope with the sharp stones and gravel along the beach part of the run.
It was lovely to go to the gym afterwards and have a sauna and steam. Next time perhaps I will have to time it when the kids’ swimming lessons aren’t on – or ask if the sauna can be soundproofed!
Thursday 12th January
Delighted that my legs are not stiff at all today after the inevitable build up of lactic acid from yesterday. I thought going downstairs this morning may be a bit uncomfortable, but no! Green juice and the Earthing sheet are really making my recoveries incredibly rapid. And of course Juice Plus prevents DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness).
Today will be a treadmill day I think, in big boots rather than the fives. And tomorrow, back to the Altitude Centre. What a week!
