Lanzarote Multi-Day Training Camp 2022 – Day 6

Posted on January 16, 2022 by talkultra

Day 6 of the Lanzarote Multi-Day Training Camp is the ‘long day’ covering a marathon on a beautiful point-to-point course that starts in Uga and concludes at Club La Santa.

The route was first introduced in 2020 with great feedback. The 2022 route was extra special due to the current weather – sun, warm, high winds and Calima. You actually couldn’t get better training conditions for a desert race.

The route is a perfect way to sight see and experience the best of Lanzarote. Early miles pass through countless black sand and wine fields.

At all times, the landscape is magical and unique, the resulting backdrop from the greatest recorded eruptions which occurred between 1730 and 1736.

The area is delicate and protected, so, for the most part, a route weaves its way through the landscape which must be followed.

While there are few high points (in meters) on the island, it is possible to ‘rollercoaster’ and in our marathon point-to-point we accumulated 1500m+.

The wind was strong all day, gusts almost lifting us of our feet.

From Tinajo, the fina third of the route, the conditions became increasingly hard as the harder ground became softer with large amounts of soft sand. A Buff making for great protection.

In the latter miles it was head down and push on… Finally Club La Santa could be see in the distance. A marathon done in perfect test conditions.

As training days go, they don’t come any better than today…! With just one day left, many of the attendees are now tired and looking forward to some recovery time to let the stimulus from this training take hold.

Each runner has covered different distances but the below is typical for many!

Day 6 concluded with showers, food, recovery and well-earned calm and peaceful night.

Interested in our 2023 Training Camp? Info HERE

Photo Galleries HERE

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Lanzarote Training Camp 2020 – Day 5 and 6

Posted on January 11, 2020 by talkultra

The sun quite literally has been shining on the camp providing us with perfect training days to replicate scenarios that one would find in the Sahara at MDS or technical situations that one would find in races like The Coastal Challenge or Everest Trail Race.

We did a long Coastal Run of 24km on Thursday morning in a self-sufficient manner, the camp attendees broken down in to 4-groups, Gemma Game, Sondre Amdahl, Elisabet Barnes and Ian Corless each leading 4-8 participants at a pace relevant to the group ability.

The coastline here is stunning offering a wonderful views with the smell of the sea in the nose and a wind blowing in from Africa.

There was plenty of climbing too and tough, technical and hard terrain. Of course what goes up, must come down.

In the afternoon, after a relaxing lunch, Jodie Moss who placed 8th at the 2019 MDS did a talk on heat acclimation and how one should prepare for specifically MDS and the differences one needs to consider if going to a humid race like TCC.

The day concluded with a night-skills session with Sondre and Elisabet leading. All about the skills needed and required to run at night and they then did a short 5km run.

Friday was all about the ‘Long Day!’ For the first time on our camp, we did a point-to-point route of almost marathon distance that crossed the island from Uga and back to Club La Santa.

Ironically, the day started with a little light rain as we were transferred to Uga. It soon left us though leaving us with a perfect, if not windy day.

The terrain is constantly mixed in Lanzarote and the volcanic landscape at all times exciting. We managed 1800m vertical in constantly challenging terrain that replicated a day at MDS perfectly.

Many got an opportunity to use poles and test them, vital if they plan to use them in a race. There is a real technique and once mastered, a real benefit can be gained especially if walking will make a up a bulk of your multi-day pace.

We had just one aid station at 22km (Thanks John and Carmen), so, for much of the day, everyone was carrying a pack of 4-5kg, ideal preparation for self-sufficient multi-day.

The ‘Long Day’ proved to be stunning with the fastest group completing in around 4h 15m and the walkers in 6h 40m. They all now have a real confidence boost knowing that a day at MDS, TCC or ETR is completely doable.

The day concluded with Elisabet Barnes leading a talk and practical session on foot care.

It has been a great couple of days!

Info the 2021 Training Camp will be updated soon HERE

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Lanzarote Training Camp 2020 – Days 1-3

Posted on January 6, 2020 by talkultra

A year soon passes and once again I am in Lanzarote for our annual Lanzarote Training Camp which is geared towards providing 7-days intensive training for ultra-runners and multi-day runners.

I arrived 3-days a go so that I could check out routes and in particular test a ‘long day’ route which would be a new addition to the camp.

It was a real pleasure to travel from almost one side of Lanzarote to the other on foot. The new route is a point-to-point covering approximately marathon distance with 1800m of vertical gain.

Taking in the best of Lanzarote, the route is extremely varied with a mixture of terrain and gladly has very little road. Some sections cover little used paths and offer a real sense of adventure.

One again the base for the training camp is the sports complex of Club La Santa which is the perfect environment for an intensive week of training with a plethora of facilities on hand.

The camp takes place from Tuesday to Tuesday for 2020 and a full week of activity is planned with routes of varying distance and difficulty.

We have typically 4-5 groups guided and this allows for runners/ walkers to work at a pace that is comfortable for them. Our core team is myself, Elisabet Barnes who has won MDS twice and ranked highly in multi-day races all over the world. Sondre Amdahl who is an experienced single-stage and multi-day ultra-runner with an impressive list of results from all over the world.

Last year we had Running Reborn specialist, Shane Banzie join us and he is back in 2020.

Our additional guides for 2020 are Gemma Game (multiple times top-10 at MDS and 3rd in 2018 and 2019) and Jodie Moss who placed top-10 at the 2019 MDS and who has just completed a PHD and who will provide a talk on heat acclimation.

All the preparation is now done and we patiently await the clients arrival on January 7th. We ease them in to the camp with an easy 1-hour run, a welcome talk and then a group dinner.

Day 1 starts with an 0800 call and 9-mile volcano run. Note news to follow as the days progress.

You can view images from the 2019 Training Camp below and HERE

Dates will be announced soon for the 2021 camp HERE