Run247's Ben Abdelnoor had a chat with Paula Radcliffe when she joined the Salomon team, assembled at Font Romeu for Kilian's Classik, for a run
How’s your training been for the last month, two months?
It’s been good, getting better, much better. I had that disaster race in London [3rd at BUPA 10km in May]. Then before that I’d had trouble because I have an annular tear in one of my discs; or I had. Then I had it treated 12 days before the race and it actually got worse to begin with, but I think it was supposed to do that although they didn’t tell me! So I should have probably realised, binned the race, and just got on with it. But I didn’t, so I set myself back three or four days and I couldn’t run. Then I’ve had two weeks where I just had to do a lot of rehab drills because the muscles had shut down to protect. But now it’s pretty good, the only thing I haven’t done is got back on the track. I’m re-introducing it gradually because what happened was the track was putting out my sacroiliac every time and then everything down that leg was shutting down.
Photo: Ben Abdelnoor chats with Paula Radcliffe © Matt Green
How many months of the year are you here in Font Romeu?
We’ve got another two months, I might go home for a few days, but we’re here probably until the beginning of September. Then we go home and get ready for Berlin.
You said that Albuquerque [Paula’s other training camp] was pretty dry and hot. Quite a contrast to here in the Pyrenees.
I like them both, I like the contrast. But I just love running in the trees and the mountains like this. It’s funny, when we first went to Albuquerque years ago and we landed we were like, “Are you sure we’re at altitude?” Because we just landed, and we were so used to having to go up the mountains to be there. I like running in the foothills, and down by the river.
Do you train alone here in Font Romeu?
Yeah, most of the time. There’s a group out here from the UK at the moment. Then usually my husband either comes with me on the bike or comes up here but doesn’t run the whole lot with me. But today my little boy’s got chicken pox so he’s home with him.
Photo: No shortage of top runners at Font Romeu! Paula Radcliffe is joined by Kilian Jornet, while along comes Mo Farah © Tim Lloyd
How excited are you about Berlin?
Really excited. I’m looking forward to it. It’s been something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It’s never really worked out and I guess it’s competing with events like New York and Chicago which I’d love to do as well. But this year it fitted in really well.
What do you find are the benefits of training on the trails here in Font Romeu?
I train a lot on the softer ground just to be a bit easier on my body and give less impact on the joints so that you can keep running for longer. But also I think it is good for the little muscles; every step isn’t the same. On the road it can be repetitive every time so the same ligaments and tendons are working all the time whereas on the trails different ligaments and different tendons work, so it’s a general all round strengthening.
Do you prefer training on the road or trails?
The trail. I prefer trail running, I think it’s more fun, more interesting. Yeah, on the road, if you’re in a big road race and you’ve got the whole atmosphere of that. But if it’s just for training runs, yeah, trails every time!
You obviously don’t spend a long time in the UK but you’ve got huge support back home. How do you feel you deal with the pressure of the press and the media?
To be honest, I used to be more aware of it and now I have less time to be able to read everything and to take it all in. The support of general people when you’re out competing - that’s really nice, and a real boost. I think the media thing is part and parcel of it, and I deal with it. I used to spend time worrying if something bad was written about me and I used to spend ages… But now, half the time, I haven’t had the time to read the article anyway so it doesn’t particularly bother me. In terms of pressure I think the biggest pressure comes from inside, such as what you want to do at the Championships.
Photo: Paula Radcliffe continues her training run alone © Tim Lloyd
Click here to watch Annie Emmerson's interview with Paula Radciffe
Annie Emmerson interviews Paula Radcliffe at the Nike Town Store about races this season and preparing for 2012
