In our latest guest blog, 15 year old triathlete Sam Laidlow shares his experiences of living and training in Font Romeu. If you have an altitude-training experience that you would like to share, please get in touch.
My name is Sam
Laidlow and I am a 15 year old triathlete. Having trained and competed
in triathlon from the age of 4, in 2012 I made it into the “Lycée Climatique
et Sportif Pierre de Coubertin”, which is based within the French National
Altitude Training center in Font Romeu. This allows young athletes from 12 to
18 to train for their selected sport, whilst studying and living at altitude.
In September 2012 I
was accepted into the triathlon section, but there are also many other sections
(swimming, wrestling, cross country skiing, pentathlon and speed skating to
name just a few). I am always surrounded by National and World class level
athletes (Mo Farah, Camille Lacourt, Paula Radcliffe, Frederik Van
Lierde...) and that is what makes training in this place such a privilege.
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| Sam training high in the mountains around Font Romeu |
Last year in the
triathlon section we were 6 in the squad with one triathlon coach (just for us
six). In addition to the 30 hours of school per week, every section gets
timetabled slots to train with their own coach. This is a great asset as it
means we can get up to 16 hours of specialist training in a week (and even
more for other sections). The environment is very conducive to training.
To be able to train
and live at this intermediate altitude (1800m) is great! I can feel that It is
very beneficial for my training, preparing for a race or any physical event.
The first week of training back after the holidays (low altitude for me) is
always noticeably harder and more tiring, because my body needs to adapt to the
relative lack of oxygen and acclimatise to the altitude by producing more
red blood cells (and/or altering muscle metabolism). Although each time I do
this I feel my speed of adaption is quicker.
Preparing for
a certain race is great when at altitude, as although your times in training
will be a lot slower than your PB's, when you do get back down to sea level
you feel great, and racing just feels that bit easier.
Last year being in
this triathlon section contributed significantly to two of us making it to a national
podium level in triathlon. In the space of only a year, myself and Paul Etaix
went from being in the top 40 in France to both coming 2nd at the French
Triathlon Champs! Training and being in Font Romeu is such a privilege for all
these reasons and training at altitude has definitely helped me progress in a
relatively short space of time.
