It is currently rainy season in Kenya and there is one athlete who cannot wait to hit the running trails and dirt roads.

His name is Charlie Grice – a four time veteran of the British Athletics and London Marathon Altitude Training Camps.  The 21-year-old is one of 19 endurance runners about to embark on a four week stay at the High Altitude Training Centre in Iten, Kenya.

The British Athletics Endurance Programme has been using the world-renowned training centre for elite endurance athletes for a number of years and Grice enthuses about the benefits of such winter training.

“I’m really looking forward to going to Kenya. I look forward to getting away and breaking up the winter putting some good training in. It’s my fifth time out there, I know what to expect and it’s not easy out there but I do enjoy it.

“We are at 8000 feet above sea level and at such an altitude there is less oxygen. All the training is a lot harder but when you come back and run at sea level it’s a lot easier because you’ve increased your red blood cell count. There is also a motivational benefit from being there and seeing all the Kenyans training. It’s really inspiring and every time I come back I’m really motivated.”

In conjunction with the English Institute of Sport, the camp has an element of altitude training research in which the athletes have to undertake physiological profiling tests before, during and after the camp.

This is something Grice, who is reading sports science at university, takes a vested interest in.

“The lab testing is really interesting,” said the Brighton Phoenix athlete.

“I’m studying sports science so I can interpret some of my results. As I’ve been out to Kenya a few times we are starting to get some good information on my blood profiles and all my VO2 max testing. I can start to see improvements.

“They do say the more times you go the quicker you adapt when you are out there. I’m hoping this time might be a bit easier than previous years.”