It's day 4 of the training trip in the mountains and I think I'm adapting quite well to things now, the runs are becoming easier, I'm recovering slightly quicker and I'm sleeping well. All of those are signs I had to look out for as you never know how your body is going to change when you begin to put it under strain at altitude.  Thankfully the weather has picked up now and the temperatures are around 15 degrees during the day and the sun just makes it feel even warmer. Its great for running now especially when its still with no wind.

On Friday as I mentioned in my last blog I wasn't evening running so I rested while everyone ran then we went out for a meal around 7.  The restaurants here are fantastic, traditional and very much like home cooked food. We also seen Paula and her family in the restaurant, they were enjoying their meal then she came over and had a chat with Nick and Helen about some runs we could do in the area.

On Saturday morning I went to the lake again with everyone around 8 for a steady run. I just did 40minutes nice and comfortable and felt quite good. After the run I went to the track to watch Nick and Helen do a session on the track and to also take a few pictures, although my camera isn't great, just a small cannon ixus i think they came out ok in the end.

In the afternoon the plan was to try and get Soccer Saturday from the Sky website to keep track of the Premiership games but I was pretty tired so just had a sleep instead then before my 2^nd run I had a meeting with John to discuss training for the week and also what races I was targeting throughout the summer. I don't seem to be racing as much as I have done in the past but this will give me a chance to get some real hard work in between races to help me towards a fast 3k and 5k.

In the evening we went to the Pyrenees 2000 car park where we met Steve Vernon along with his training group and we ran a trail they were showing us. The car park is at the foot of a ski slope which goes up to 2000m. We started off at 1740m and after 3.5miles we were at 1820m, we didn't fancy going all the way to the top! The drop down was quite steep for quick running so I was careful because of my ankles which I am also wary of, it was quite hard work in the end but I really enjoyed the run through the woods,. It was also good to have Charles join us for a run too, that was his first ever at altitude and he certainly felt it but I think he enjoyed it too.

On Sunday I was just doing my usual pace but reduced down to 60mins instead of 90 as it was my last day of adapting.  I felt as though I could have easily carried on for the full 90 but I have to stick to the coaches orders for now.  After the run I went back to the apartment and got another breakfast in and then had a little sleep, after that it was time to find the Newcastle game on tv. There was only one bar in town who were open, or had a decent tv for that matter! They wouldn't check for the football though as some local was watching motorcycle racing. That left me a nick a little disappointed however it was probably a blessing in disguise as he's a Liverpool fan and he would have been laughing in my face all day.

Instead we went for a drive up the mountains to see if we could find some new trails to run on and to check some others that were covered in snow a few days back. Luckily they were clear so we'll venture that way in the next few days, but after that we decided to drive to the top of the mountain where the ski lifts end and it flattens out, there was sign saying 2020m which is pretty high. I got some cracking pictures, had a little play around in the snow  and then headed back to have a coffee with Steve Vernons group before they all headed back home.

(A shot i took of the view from Font Romeu, 5 pictures merged together.)

Today I move onto my normal schedule, so it was 2 runs with weights and core in between them. This morning I did 45mins steady around the lake again, but a longer loop a little quicker with Nick. Again I just ran to my heart rates but I'm beginning to get used to the conditions so I was free to push on a little harder while keeping in my zone. We averaged 6:10s and my heart rate was average of 142, which is bang on. We did wind it up at the end a little to push into the high steady zone to get the legs moving and it was great to do that as I haven't done that in a week.

This afternoon we did our core and weights at the gym about 300m from where we are staying so I just got on with my normal session along with my core circuit. The only thing was my core circuit, which I normally fly though without a great deal of pain suddenly became very tough, I could hardly breath when I was throwing that medball about. John even found it tough sitting on his arse shouting time every 30 seconds, just wait till he's in his shorts next time we're in there, I'll make him work.

 Tonight we're off for a run in 30mins, we're just going to do an easy 40/45mins to loosen up before tomorrows session. It's my first real test out here and I can't wait. I'm still not sure what I'll be doing yet, it sounds like I might be doing 800's and 600's but I think it's more a case of assess my heart rates as I go along and make sensible decisions on what to do.

One last thing I wanted to mention is the training styles of Boniface and Moses, these lads are unbelievable to watch in training.  They start their runs slower than what I'd run my warm up at, around 2-3miles into the run they will come back at a pretty quick pace then just begin to disappear into the distance. I usually arrived back at the car before them due to me only doing shorter runs these last few days but when they get back they are absolutely flying. They come whizzing by, usually with Mo a few metres back and as they're approaching the cars they'll wind up into a flat out sprint. Afterwards they spend around 10mins doing various dynamic mobility drills and sometimes some more back to back 60m sprints. Now this is something I wouldn't think of doing every run, but they do unless it's specifically a recovery run. The lads also spend most of the day in bed, I don't think I've seen them apart from when its time to run and Mo is always saying their in bed resting before the next run they have. I'm sure seeing them doing a track session in the morning will also be fascinating to see.

That's all for now really,

Ryan