Re-creating the Alps.. in London

Here's what British athlete Aidan Toase says about preparing for tough alpine climbs despite living in London. Bear in mind that the Grossglockner pass, which Aidan hiked over in 2007, rises to 2428m above sea level, whereas the highest point in Great Britain's capital is Westerham Heights, 245m above sea level.


"One note I made whilst competing in the Red Bull X-Alps 2007 was that the Alps are definitely somewhat more mountainous than London. I suffered with injuries because I was less adapted to climbing mountains. I therefore need to bring more hills into my training this year to improve this.


"Hill repeats are a great way of training, with the Sunnto t6c I can exactly monitor how much ascent and descent I do on any particular run and see how my heat beat changes increasing dramatically as I reach the top of the 40m hill before recovering on the way down, see charts below, the top chart is my heart beat and the bottom is my altitude). I will be doing increasing amounts of these over the coming months to improve my strength and overall fitness - let's hope it works!"