A true back-ended week after frantically fitting runs in at a reasonable pace where I could before travelling, so good mileage at pace to start the trip!
Mon 7/8 – 5 Relaxed / 7 Tempo
Tues – 6 R / 7 Steady. Decent paced run when we got to Luton.
Weds – 5 Easy / 11 R. 4am run before flying out (tough waving goodbye to Jo for so long!), then straight out the door on arrival for a whistle stop tour of one of the main running routes in St Moritz.
Thurs – 14 R / 9 R
Fri – 16 T / 5 E. Good progression run, picking the pace up each 30mins without pushing anything on hart rate while I get used to the altitude – reacting well so far! Pace ~10secs/mile off the similar run at Wilne a couple of weeks ago.
Sat – 16 Inc short Session / 6 E. Jumped in to try & help Nick out a little on his session, 1 x Mile, 4 x 400m (odds while Nick did 8 x 400m off 200m jog), 1 x 800m. Long warm up & down.
Sun – 29 R / 5 E
Total 142
The plan was to ease into the training camp & not push anything too much until we could see I was coping with the altitude ok. After a couple of reasonable runs, including a decent progression on Friday I turned the legs over at pace for the first time on Saturday morning. A 4:48 first mile was about 15 seconds faster than planned but felt good. With the sensible cap on I backed out of the remainder of the last mile rep & took the camera out for a tourist run round the lake in town.
Warm down back to base! Photo credit: Nick Samuels, water carrier & camerman
Sunday’s long run was pretty epic! After a very easy first 10K we were into the efforts & although I pushed on alone for a few miles at sub 6 pace I soon realised I needed to back off to ensure I got the miles in (it’s easy to forget you’re at altitude here, until you run up a hill!). So off I went for 6-7 laps of the Engadin airport – a perfect ~5K loop of tarmac & compact trail with planes & helicopters taking off/landing within 50-60 metres of you while surrounded by mountains & views of the glaciers above…so plenty to take my mind off the fact I’d got 26 miles to run! I was pretty beat up by the time Nick – probably due to slight dehydration as the sun made an appearance at last – got back to me for my last couple of miles but after a very slow first 10K I was happy with a ~2:45 marathon high in the mountains! A brief stop, lots of moaning & groaning, some water & an emergency banana before I set off on a slow jog back to town.
Finally a (very) easy run in the evening & the week was done! Having had no idea of what mileage I had done through the week it did perk me up to see I had gone over 140 miles for the first time (a 34+ mile day will help), but most importantly although very tired I had dropped onto a good pace within a couple of days, had suffered no ill effects from the altitude & was in a position to start scoping out the next week’s training.
The running out here is stunning & perfect for marathon training, endless wide (mainly) flat trails in both directions through the plateau & the track is literally on the next corner to to the apartment. The only thing missing in the first few days was the sun, but it finally made an appearance on Sunday & suddenly the smiles appeared on all our faces!
Week 2 – more miles, some gym/core at last as the ribs are 85-90% ok now, no doubt more napping & a few more snaps of the stunning scenery. Now though, it’s wash day!
Thanks to Radmoor Centre for the quality kit ready for the trip!
