By Owen Morgan
Welsh endurance athlete Jenny Nesbitt is hoping stint spent training in the Pyrenees will help boost her performance at the Commonwealth Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff.
The Worcester AC athlete has been preparing for Sunday’s race at the National Centre for Altitude Training at Font Romeau, near the border of France and Spain.
The training centre, 1,850 metres above sea level, hosts athletes from around the globe and is a favourite with the likes of Sir Mo Farah.
Nesbitt said: “Training has been going well – apart from the lack of oxygen!
“I’m hoping that I will be able to show off the hard work I have been putting in up at Font Romeu and I’m excited to test myself again after the off season.”
Nesbitt is an advocate of altitude training after experiencing the benefits of a trip to the Pyrenees in April of last year, after which she set a big PB to gain selection for the European Under-23 Championships.
“I think I was naive when I went up there,” she says of her first visit. “I expected it to be a little bit harder but nothing too bad. The first week was certainly a bit of a challenge.
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“I think from the experience I had then, I learnt a lot about how it really does affect your training and you’ve got to be a little bit more careful and look at nutrition, sleep and recovery.”
The training paid off when it came to competition, says Nesbitt. “I didn’t feel any different running at sea level, but when it came to racing, I felt I had that extra bit to give, which I didn’t have previously.
“It’s like you get to a certain point in the race where this is when you usually fall off, and then you’ve got that little bit extra.”
The 23-year-old is grateful to the support she receives from Welsh Athletics and the programme built by head of endurance Chris Jones which helps athletes travel to train at altitude.
“The support we get is incredibly important. Going to train at altitude isn’t the cheapest thing in the world to do,” said Nesbitt.
“The programme Chris builds sets out all my training and what I should be doing. He has a lot of knowledge about how to train at altitude, so that’s vital to me going there , because otherwise I’d go there and I wouldn’t really know what to do at the right times.”
Nesbitt, who is coached by David Walker, has already enjoyed a hugely successful season having produced strong performances in both the 5,000m and 10,000m at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games back in April, clocking a lifetime best of 32:58 in difficult conditions over the longer distance.
Following her Australian exploits, Nesbitt finished third at the British Universities 5,000m Championships before lowering her 10,000m lifetime best once more at the British Championships in Highgate in May, when she clocked 32:38.
In early July, she finished seventh at the British 5,000m Championships before going on to record lifetime bests of 9:11 in the 3,000m at the BMC Eltham Grand Prix, and 15:51 in the 5,000m at the Cheltenham Open Meeting.
Now Nesbitt is keen to once again test herself against the best the Commonwealth has to offer in the red of Wales this weekend.
“I’m really looking forward to putting on the Welsh vest in the capital next weekend. It is a massive honour to represent Wales and to be involved in the Commonwealth Half Marathon.”
She is joined in a strong Welsh team by Rosie Edwards, Clara Evans, Alaw Beynon-Thomas, Dewi Griffiths, Josh Griffiths, Jonny Hopkins and Kristian Jones.