Samaria holds successful training camp in city

THE MTC/Agnes Samaria Middle-Distance Training Programme ends today after a successful run from Monday at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium.Twenty athletes (10 boys and 10 girls) are attending the training camp, which only focuses on the 800 m and 1500 m distances.

The camp ends with a time-trial race today at the same venue. Samaria this week said that the youngsters were learning all aspects related to competing in an 800 m or 1500 m event.The program consists of lectures on athletes’ characteristics, the history of the 800m and 1500m disciplines, nutrition, biokinetics, massaging and practical sessions involving fitness, strength and endurance training.She said it is important for athletes to learn what to include in their training routines such as warm-ups, stretches, drills and jogging.The youngsters were introduced to various training techniques of which one is known as Fartlek, a Polish word meaning “speed play”.Fartlek is an exercise which combines hard and easy runs of between 90 seconds and 15 seconds for 21 minutes on end.Pace judgement is another essential component in competition running, said Samaria.She explained that it is a mental exercise that teaches an athlete to be aware of what he or she is doing during a race.Athletes have also been taught race preparation and how to focus and get into a race mode.Yesterday, local coaches had a training session with renowned middle-distance coach Ian Harris from South Africa.Harris, who has 38 years of experience as a coach, will concentrate on drawing up training programmes, tactics, strategies, speed and recovery programmes.Menas Kalola, an athlete from Omusati, said he would relay what he has learned to his fellow runners, as they have not had a coach all year long.The training camp is part of the Namibia Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) Agnes Samaria Development Programme that had its first camp in April this year with world and Olympic 800-metre and 1500-metre champion Kelly Holmes as guest coach.The aim of the development programme, themed: ‘In the quest for athletic glory’, is to develop the middle-distance running talent that has been identified amongst children from formerly disadvantaged communities.Samaria said during an earlier interview that the idea was to see how far these athletes’ talents would develop, adding that the ultimate target is to qualify for and compete at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.MTC is sponsoring the development programme for the second time this year and it is also the official sponsor of Samaria when she competes internationally.This year, the Namibian 800-metre champion had mixed fortunes on the track, after she failed to make an impression at the World Championships.Although faring well in several races on the international circuit, Samaria has been suffering with an Achilles tendon injury.She has plans to compete at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and will be one of the hopefuls at next year’s Commonwealth Games in Australia.Samaria was a high-school teacher before she decided to become a professional athlete about six years ago.-NampaSamaria this week said that the youngsters were learning all aspects related to competing in an 800 m or 1500 m event.The program consists of lectures on athletes’ characteristics, the history of the 800m and 1500m disciplines, nutrition, biokinetics, massaging and practical sessions involving fitness, strength and endurance training.She said it is important for athletes to learn what to include in their training routines such as warm-ups, stretches, drills and jogging.The youngsters were introduced to various training techniques of which one is known as Fartlek, a Polish word meaning “speed play”.Fartlek is an exercise which combines hard and easy runs of between 90 seconds and 15 seconds for 21 minutes on end.Pace judgement is another essential component in competition running, said Samaria.She explained that it is a mental exercise that teaches an athlete to be aware of what he or she is doing during a race.Athletes have also been taught race preparation and how to focus and get into a race mode.Yesterday, local coaches had a training session with renowned middle-distance coach Ian Harris from South Africa.Harris, who has 38 years of experience as a coach, will concentrate on drawing up training programmes, tactics, strategies, speed and recovery programmes.Menas Kalola, an athlete from Omusati, said he would relay what he has learned to his fellow runners, as they have not had a coach all year long.The training camp is part of the Namibia Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) Agnes Samaria Development Programme that had its first camp in April this year with world and Olympic 800-metre and 1500-metre champion Kelly Holmes as guest coach.The aim of the development programme, themed: ‘In the quest for athletic glory’, is to develop the middle-distance running talent that has been identified amongst children from formerly disadvantaged communities.Samaria said during an earlier interview that the idea was to see how far these athletes’ talents would develop, adding that the ultimate target is to qualify for and compete at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.MTC is sponsoring the development programme for the second time this year and it is also the official sponsor of Samaria when she competes internationally.This year, the Namibian 800-metre champion had mixed fortunes on the track, after she failed to make an impression at the World Championships.Although faring well in several races on the international circuit, Samaria has been suffering with an Achilles tendon injury.She has plans to compete at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and will be one of the hopefuls at next year’s Commonwealth Games in Australia.Samaria was a high-school teacher before she decided to become a professional athlete about six years ago.-Nampa