Altitude Training

Hugo93

Myself and a couple of my friends are strongly considering doing a stint at altitude in the lead up to the National Champs this summer. We are thinking Font Remeu or possibly Sierra Nevada because it would keep costs to a minimum(very important as we are students).

Not a whole lot of info the web. Has anyone done this before? Can people recommend places to stay etc?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Kurt Godel

Hugo93 wrote: »

Myself and a couple of my friends are strongly considering doing a stint at altitude in the lead up to the National Champs this summer. We are thinking Font Remeu or possibly Sierra Nevada because it would keep costs to a minimum(very important as we are students).

Not a whole lot of info the web. Has anyone done this before? Can people recommend places to stay etc?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

There was a great thread a couple of years back from a runner who spent a month altitude training in the Kenya Rift valley, details of travel costs within. Link here.

Krusty_Clown

Nice piece on Font Romeu on JumpingTheGun. Worth having a read here and here. Here's an apartment for rent, from an Irish athlete.

Krusty_Clown

and here's an informative blog post on the subject of training in Fort Romeu from the same runner that Kurt Godel mentioned.

Enduro

If you just want to get to altitude and are not worried about needing a track, and in particular if you're comfortable figureing out your own routes on the roads or in the hills then you have tons of options. Plenty of spots all over the Alps and the Pyrennies. High altutiude ski resorts usually have plenty of capacity after the ski season is over. Another option where a lot of pro-cyclists train is Tenerife. Easy enough to pick up cheap flights to there, and I'm sure cheap accomodation could be found too if you do some research (Tenerife has the highest mountain in Spain).

Hugo93

Thanks very much guys this is really helpful! Very much appreciated.

career_move

Kurt Godel wrote: »

There was a great thread a couple of years back from a runner who spent a month altitude training in the Kenya Rift valley, details of travel costs within. Link here.

Thanks for posting that link Kurt. Really good reading

Elizabeth Egan

Hi,

I have just published a book which should provide exactly the sort of information that you need. It covers, in detail, 15 different venues, as well have having a brief summary of another 15 or so venues. The book (Notes from higher grounds) is available through my website: www.altitudetrainingcamps.com. I will also be at some races in the new year (Antrim on 4th Jan, Leinster cross country on 19th Jan etc.), if people want to purchase for a slightly cheaper price (€20).

I have visited the 15 venues in the book, so am happy to answer any questions on here that you might have about them. Font Romeu is good, but has a very short snow-free season. There can be snow as late as April, but if you're thinking summer time, you'll be fine.

Sierra Nevada is on the side of a mountain, and a bit short on running trails. However it has great live high, train low potential with Granada (altitude 700m) approximately 35 minutes drive down the mountain. There is a track both in Sierra Nevada and Granada. I would say it's fine for a middle distance runner, but not great for longer distance runners. I found it very boring.

St Moritz was my favourite of the three European venues that I visited. Its not cheap, but as the trails and track are close to the accommodation you don't need to hire a car, and there is a big supermarket so it's easy to cook for yourself. Font Romeu isn't necessarily cheap, and also has a busy summer season, so accommodation won't necessarily be cheap that time of year.

Re Tenirife (I've only been warm weather training there but have done some research on it), there is only one building at altitude there and it is a hotel which isn't cheap (used by the cyclists where money isn't an option).

Other European options include Bulgaria (which I can't imagine being too easy to get to from Ireland) and a couple of places in Austria. Ifrane in Morocco would probably be a cheaper option than anywhere in Europe. 1 hr taxi (which would cost about €20) from Fez (ryanair fly there), cheap (though slightly scarce accommodation), free track use, very, very cheap food. Don't be put off by it being in Morocco - the temperatures are approximately the same as Europe.

Somewhere that you may want to consider is Ethiopia - Ethiopian airways offer direct flights from London for as little as £500, the camp (Yaya Village) is less than an hour from the airport and flights are overnight so you would get there as quick as some places in Europe. You don't need to hire a car, full board accommodation is very cheap, and you need very little spending money (a trip of 3 weeks or longer would work out as cheap as Europe). Probably not the best place during the summer (it rains a bit, and altitude may be a bit high for pre-nationals training), but definitely should be considered by more people at other times of the year.

I'm happy to answer any further questions that people might have on here or by email info@altitudetrainingcamps.com.

drquirky

Elizabeth Egan wrote: »

Hi,

I have just published a book which should provide exactly the sort of information that you need. It covers, in detail, 15 different venues, as well have having a brief summary of another 15 or so venues. The book (Notes from higher grounds) is available through my website: www.altitudetrainingcamps.com. I will also be at some races in the new year (Antrim on 4th Jan, Leinster cross country on 19th Jan etc.), if people want to purchase for a slightly cheaper price (€20).

I have visited the 15 venues in the book, so am happy to answer any questions on here that you might have about them. Font Romeu is good, but has a very short snow-free season. There can be snow as late as April, but if you're thinking summer time, you'll be fine.

Sierra Nevada is on the side of a mountain, and a bit short on running trails. However it has great live high, train low potential with Granada (altitude 700m) approximately 35 minutes drive down the mountain. There is a track both in Sierra Nevada and Granada. I would say it's fine for a middle distance runner, but not great for longer distance runners. I found it very boring.

St Moritz was my favourite of the three European venues that I visited. Its not cheap, but as the trails and track are close to the accommodation you don't need to hire a car, and there is a big supermarket so it's easy to cook for yourself. Font Romeu isn't necessarily cheap, and also has a busy summer season, so accommodation won't necessarily be cheap that time of year.

Re Tenirife (I've only been warm weather training there but have done some research on it), there is only one building at altitude there and it is a hotel which isn't cheap (used by the cyclists where money isn't an option).

Other European options include Bulgaria (which I can't imagine being too easy to get to from Ireland) and a couple of places in Austria. Ifrane in Morocco would probably be a cheaper option than anywhere in Europe. 1 hr taxi (which would cost about €20) from Fez (ryanair fly there), cheap (though slightly scarce accommodation), free track use, very, very cheap food. Don't be put off by it being in Morocco - the temperatures are approximately the same as Europe.

Somewhere that you may want to consider is Ethiopia - Ethiopian airways offer direct flights from London for as little as £500, the camp (Yaya Village) is less than an hour from the airport and flights are overnight so you would get there as quick as some places in Europe. You don't need to hire a car, full board accommodation is very cheap, and you need very little spending money (a trip of 3 weeks or longer would work out as cheap as Europe). Probably not the best place during the summer (it rains a bit, and altitude may be a bit high for pre-nationals training), but definitely should be considered by more people at other times of the year.

I'm happy to answer any further questions that people might have on here or by email info@altitudetrainingcamps.com.

Fantastic post.