Andreas Almgren, the great Swedish hope for 10,000 and 5,000 meters ahead of the World Championship in Tokyo, leaves nothing to chance. In September – the finals with Almgren on the starting line will be decided on September 14 and 21, respectively – it is usually humid and temperatures up to 30 degrees in the Japanese capital.
But it can get warmer. Therefore, the Swede is doing heat training on a level he has never done before.
I usually see favorites who fall through early in the races when it gets unexpectedly warm, because they haven't done the heat training properly. I want to be prepared for the worst, says Almgren.
Runs with fever
Therefore, he regularly visits the climate room at Bosön in Stockholm. There, he gets help to set the temperature in the room from 36 to 39 degrees with 75 percent air humidity. A sensor is attached to measure body temperature and pulse.
He starts running on a treadmill with several layers of clothing. The clothes are removed as he reaches a body temperature of 38.5 degrees. No fluids are allowed to be consumed to get the best results. Almgren says the session lasts 50 to 60 minutes. Then he runs with controlled fever in his body.
When I reach 38 minutes of running, you usually get some form of "heat stress", says Almgren and admits that it is uncomfortable.
But standing on the starting line and knowing that I've made the preparations as good as possible makes me feel that it's worth it.
Risks
Andreas Almgren says that he tested heat training on a small scale ahead of the World Championship in Budapest 2023 and ahead of this summer's Diamond League race at Stockholm Stadium, where he set a European record on 5,000 meters. He felt that the effect was good. Therefore, he is doing, for the first time, a proper heat training with a view to the World Championship in Tokyo.
Almgren is aware of the risks of this type of training:
If I don't do it the right way, you can end up in a hole. You can drive too hard without sufficient recovery. A mistake is to run too fast when you should be doing the slow sessions. Then it becomes more strenuous for the body and the pulse takes off. You have to be careful to check everything.
Anders Hansson/TT
Facts: Andreas Almgren
TT
Born: June 12, 1995 (30 years) in Sollentuna.
Club: Tureberg.
Personal records in selection: 26.52,87 on 10,000 m (Swedish record), 26.53 on 10 km road (European record), 12.44,27 on 5,000 m (European record), 13.05 on 5 km road (Swedish record), 59.23 on half marathon (Swedish record), 7.31,42 on 3,000 m (Swedish record), 3.32,00 on 1,500 m, 1.45,59 on 800 m.
Current: Competing in the Finnkampen at Stockholm Stadium on Friday, when the competition starts with 10 kilometers of road running.
