The Czech and Slovak pedestrian national teams are finishing preparations for the new season in the Canary Islands - Lanzarote, resp. Tenerife.

European Vice-Champion of Berlin 2018 Anežka Drahotová, the best Czech pedestrian for 20 km and 50 km Lukáš Gdula completed a three-week training camp on the island of Lanzarote in sports multi-complex La Santa. They did sparring partners for them  Pepa Smola and a 12-year-old "cyclist" Matej Piták. Their preparation was supervised by a personal coach and at the same time the head coach of the pedestrian team Ivo Piták. The La Santa multi-complex sports complex is the best of its kind in the world. It is equipped with everything an endurance athlete needs. At the same time, training camps of the world's best triathletes take place here.

The daily routine usually started early in the morning by jumping into the pool, followed by a good swim after breakfast. This was followed by a morning walking pace endurance training and immediately followed by a special training in the gym (led by a fitness trainer) focused mainly on stretching and stabilization exercises. The afternoon phase of the training involved either endurance cycling training or walking or circling, in the evening, at the end of the whole day, regeneration (wellness) and eventually regenerative swimming took place.

From the point of view of a veteran athlete who regularly trains for 10 years and actively participates in all races, including winning a few medals from the European Championships and the Masters World Championships and has veterans 2: 42 hours at 30 km, 1:40 hours at 20 km, 49: 30 minutes at 10 km, 23: 50 minutes at 5km, 13: 56min to 3km, I naively thought that I could handle this basis of 10 days of the above-mentioned regime somehow. The fact that I was seriously mistaken I knew resp. he already felt the 3rd day. It was a really hard chore.

The whole preparation is aimed at the 1st block of the spring walking races, which they are 17.3. Lugano, 23.3. Dudince, 25 .-. 29.3. MS Masters Torun, 6.4. Podebrady and 13.4. Olomouc. You can regularly see what the results are and will be here on this website or directly at specific races.

Olympic champion in his fifties from Rio de Janeiro 2016 Matej Tóth, one of the world's best walkers at 50 km Mária Katerinka Czaková and young men Miroslav Úradník s Michal Morvay completed a three-week training camp on the island of Tenerife in the town of Vilaflor at an altitude of 1500 meters. Their training was supervised by a personal coach and at the same time the head coach of the pedestrian team, Matej Spišiak.

"After finally having problems with the back thigh muscle and training outages, Maťo finally got into the necessary well-being. He did very good training and the necessary volume - 315 kilometers in two weeks. This is comparable to previous seasons, except that it started with a certain time lag, maybe somewhere in January. However, it does not interfere at all, the main thing is that he is finally in good health, he got a taste for training, he has significantly moved forward, which we can now build on in preparation for the World Championships in Doha, " Matej Spišiak outlined the current situation regarding the Olympic champion Tóth. Mateja has been suffering from posterior thigh muscle problems since the turn of November and December last year. He therefore started full-fledged training in mid-January.

In Spenerife, other Spišiak's trustees, Marika Katerinka Czaková and Michal Morvay, also succeeded, finishing in preparation for the traditional Dudina Fifty on March 23.

"Marika led a quality robot and again shifted her training highs to interesting values. In 3 weeks she covered 480 km, which is an average of 160 km per week. In the second week of her stay, she even wrote 173 km in her training diary, which is her new maximum. I believe that in its presentation we will see interesting world performances again, " Matej Spišiak hoped. "Mišo Morvay has covered 632 km in high intensity in the last four-week cycle, which means that he has really reached a top level in terms of quality. Probably he himself was surprised where he moved during four months of honest cat. "

Miroslav Úradník in Tenerife followed up on a six-week training and research stay in Australia, from where he brought personal records for 10 m and 000 km, as well as a positive mood.

"In Tenerife, he did a super robot with a lot of quality training, so if everything is in order and stays healthy, he will actually fight for a demanding limit of 1:22:30 h for 20 km at the World Championships in Doha. He has trained like never before. Seeing that his stay in Australia also helped him a lot in his mental setting. He saw first-hand and tried, as the world's best guys train, that their average is not of interest. He experienced a XNUMX% commitment to training, not the kind we see in some athletes at home…, " chief coach Spišiak compared.

The concentration on the island of Tenerife in the town of Vilaflor was completed for the first time by a walking group from Dukla in Banská Bystrica. She found suitable training conditions there with everything she needed. Tóth et al. they had a small stadium with a 335-meter asphalt circuit and artificial grass for additional training, next to it a swimming pool with wellness. When they needed to, they met for training in San Miguel at an altitude of 650 m or to the sea in Playa de las Americas, where they underwent heavy training.

"We found the necessary room there, we could only devote ourselves fully to the robot, which was great," Matej Spišiak stressed. "We had everything we needed within 30 minutes by car, so it was something like when we train in the winter at Štrbské Pleso and go to Svit for heavy training. I am very pleased with what everyone has managed to do in Tenerife. The presence of the doctor MUDr. Pavel Hajmássy and physiotherapist Dávid Liška, both of them deserve a big thank you for a great robot and a professional approach. Without them, we wouldn't have a chance. My charges were in full swing, happy to follow their commitment and determination. I believe that everyone will benefit from the concentration as planned. "