A week after my last 1500m in Belgium I went on my first ever altitude training camp in Sankt Moritz, Switzerland. Unfortunately I had to pull out of the second Flanders Cup meet I initially planned to race a day before the camp, because my calf was a bit tight from the previous race. I was determined to stick to my better-safe-than-sorry-approach and certainly didn’t want to have anything stand in the way of a perfect breathtaking St. Moritz experience. To complete the experience, Krumo came over from Australia to keep me company and train with me the first two weeks, while the last week my twin-brother Maarten was there to keep me entertained. Luckily Sankt Moritz is only a hop, skip and step away from Holland (for Aussie/American standards), which meant we drove the 900KM there and got to pack the car with lots of food, mountain bikes, foam rollers etcetera… but also the bare essentials like 6 different kinds of cheese totaling about 4 kilograms :)

Life in Sankt Moritz is not very complicated. I stayed in an apartment right next to the track and all the trails, the gym, a stream to ice in and the grocery store were within walking distance. Most days the itinerary consisted of a run, ice, eat, sleep, eat, run, gym, ice, eat, sleep. I stuck to that same routine with the exception of a day trip to Italy to drop off Krumo, pick up my brother from the airport (yes, I missed my calling to be a travel agent) and ofcourse get some fresh Parmesan cheese; a ride up the ski lifts to Piz Nair at 3,057m to enjoy the views and a visit or two to some neighboring towns. Three weeks of just training is not boring though when after a year of so many problems my body feels good, training is going well and I am back in control. Top that with beautiful scenery of mountains and mirror-like lakes and let that be the explanation for feeling so relaxed when training hard. In fact, I felt so relaxed at times I wondered whether I misunderstood the idea of a training camp and I was doing something wrong. The mileage and training results didn’t lie though; I was training hard, gaining that altitude experience and most importantly starting to build a proper base for next year.

Towards the end of the camp it was time to have a look at the race schedule for the remainder of the season. Although I didn’t specifically prepare for one race, I still knew I was getting fit and knew it would be good to have a race or two on the track, preferably 1500m, before the season finished. Worlds came to an end and meet directors were completing the fields for the last couple of races, but without a ranking this year it was very tough to get into a competitive 1500m race. At least I knew I could probably race at the 1500m in Königs Wusterhausen, Germany, which was a smaller but still competitive meet. When that 1500m got replaced by an 800m I decided to go there anyway, which resulted in a 2:07.86 second place, a decent result considering I haven’t run one for 13 months.

Unfortunately I didn’t get into any of the bigger 1500m races, but nevertheless I have two more than just exciting races lined up in the next two weeks. This Thursday I will race another 800m in Dubnica nad Váhom. And if the fact the sport brings me to places like Slovakia doesn’t get you excited already, then maybe the fact that it is also a fast field with some sub-2.00 girls does! After that there is light at the end of the 1500m-less tunnel and the light shines bright from… New York City. Manhattan to be exact, because that is where I will toe the line on September 24^th to race the 5^th avenue mile… yes smarty-pants, I know it’s not track and it’s not exactly 1500m.. nahhh it’s better!