Triathletes Aileen Morrison and Gavin Noble are putting in the hard yards with just weeks to go to the Olympic Games.
Morrison is training at high altitude in Sierra Nevada in Spain, having moved to the Spanish training camp just days after her 14th place finish in the Kitzbuhel World Triathlon Series on 23 June.
The facility which was used by the Triathlon Ireland squad at the start of the season back in January has impressed Performance Director Chris Jones.
“The facility is a hive of activity with a host of South American nations using it for their final Olympic preparations," said Jones. "A state of the art 50m pool with underwater viewing area allows us to video the athletes and analyse technique.
"There is also some amazing biking and running routes which include a 31km cycle from the city of Granada up to Sierra Nevada at 2350m above sea level and a 10km run from Sierra Nevada up to the military base at over 2500m.”
The Sierra Nevada training camp is the perfect location for ‘sleeping high, training low’.
The athletes put in the tough training in the surrounding area while getting the performance enhancing benefits of sleeping at altitude.
Closer to home Noble is following the same principle in the altitude house in Limerick.
The facility is monitored allowing you to alter the altitude at which you sleep to get the optimal performance benefits. Noble is currently living happily at 2700m.
Noble had been suffering from injury towards the end of the Olympic Qualification period in May however Triathlon Ireland’s lead cycling coach Tommy Evans feels he is back on track.
“Gavin’s in the best cycling shape I’ve ever seen him," said Evans. "There is a strong bike group that go out on a Tuesday and the routes are tough to build strength.”
“He’s got professional triathlete Bryan Keane as a training partner and he’s back running and swimming hard in the UL pool.”
