Font Romeu - Kris' European altitude base 3rd June 2008
Kris is currently training up at Font Romeu with less then 3 months to go till the Olympic race in Beijing, China. But where is Font Romeu and why is Kris training there and not racing the World Championships?
Location
Font Romeu is located in the Pyrenees Mountains on the French side of the border with Spain. During the winter it operates as a resort with excellent cross-country skiing. During the summer it is a well used base for endurance athletes wanting to take advantage of the good weather, trails, excellent facilities and most of all its altitude, some 1850m above sea level. The surrounding mountain passes have also featured in the Tour de France on occasion.
The National Centre for Altitude Training not only has great trails for running and roads for cycling on but also a 50m Olympic pool, gym and all weather running track.
Why is Kris there now?
Kris' focus in 2008 is on getting every thing right for the Olympic race in August. This means he needs to do what works best for him. As a result Kris and his coaches have planned his year around a relatively light racing programme with blocks of training between races designed to bring Kris to a peak for one week in August. From years of experience Kris knows that he responds well to altitude training so some of his big training blocks will be at altitude.
Font Romeu has become a favourite place to train over the years as it has been used by Triathlon New Zealand and Kris. Subsequently it just make sense to train in surroundings that are both beneficial for training but also familiar.