Marathon Notebook: To reach new heights, train on them

BOSTON – Question: How do you prepare for the hills of the Boston Marathon?Answer: Find some hills to train on.That seems to be a theme of the regimens of quite a few of the elite runners for marathon No. 117. And the world has no shortage of high-altitude training spots.Alissa McKaig, for example, trains in the mountains of North Carolina.”There are ups and downs every day,” she noted.The Indiana native said that coming from the Hoosier State, “it was a big adjustment. I was not used to running three miles uphill. It was an adjustment then. It helped strength-wise.”How high is it in the Tar Heel State? Well, for all you Mount Washington fans, Mount Mitchell in North Carolina is higher.Yolanda Caballero of Bogota, Colombia, finished eighth in the Boston Marathon in 2011. She said that running in the high altitudes of the Colombian capital gave her a similar training ground for Boston.”The topography of Colombia is very similar,” she said in Spanish.Mexican record-holder Madai Perez prepares for marathons in a similarly high-altitude area.”Generally throughout Mexico, there are mountains,” she said in Spanish. “I love them.”Past Marathon champion Bill Rodgers said that training on high ground is one factor in the success of Kenyan and Ethiopian runners – although in no way the only factor.”They have great weather in winter,” he said, contrasting this with the Midwest and New England regions of the US. “There’s also the altitude factor.” Additionally, he mentioned that “they have a lot of history (running)” and that Kenyan and Ethiopian runners have “a good diet.”Kenyan runner Sharon Cherop, who won the Boston Marathon last year, trains on small hills in Iten, Kenya. She spoke philosophically about the high ground of the Marathon, specifically Heartbreak Hill.”When we’re running the Marathon, at 35K, (it is possible for) a small hill to be a big hill,” she noted.A bit about training regimensHow does one train to win the Boston Marathon? Last year’s women’s winner, Sharon Cherop of Kenya, discussed her regimen.”It depends,” she said. “Sometimes 20K in the morning and in the evening, 8K. I always train twice (a day).”As for her pace, it is blistering: 3:55 per 1 kilometer.Korir talks politics,Louisville, SubwayLast year’s male winner, Wesley Korir of Kenya, returns to the Marathon with an additional responsibility: that of a member of the Kenyan parliament, to which he was elected.”I think we need leaders who lead by example, who are not corrupt, who have an intention of helping the poor,” Korir said.The University of Lousville graduate was asked about the Cardinals’ NCAA championship.”I’m a very, very, big-time Cardinal fan,” he said. “I went to school there. I know Coach (Rick) Pitino.”In college, he said, he tried “a lot of things” while running and one pre-race ritual that has stuck is eating a Subway sandwich two hours before a race.”I love eating Subway sandwiches,” he said. “It’s one thing I’ve done forever. I intend to do it. It sits well with me.”A training partner ? sort ofUS marathoner Jason Hartmann has a partner for stretches of his runs ? his 6-year-old Rottweiler, Maximus.”He can’t run as much as he used to,” said Hartmann, who finished fourth in Boston last year. “(He’ll do) 35 minutes of slow runs with me. He grinds it out. He’s not a natural runner.”When he was younger, I’d take him for longer runs. He’d try to quit.”A dog is man’s best friend, they say ? and it sounds like a dog can be a runner’s best training partner sometimes.”He’s my family,” Hartmann said. “It’s nice to run with someone.”Hartmann got Maximus from a breeder and a friend named him in honor of the character from the Russell Crowe movie “Gladiator.”Of the choice of dog breed, Hartmann said, “I wanted a tough, scary dog who was as soft as putty.”The draw of BostonThe capital of Massachusetts is a marathon magnet for runners worldwide ? some of whom travel great distances to get here.Australian Jeffrey Hunt, for instance, endured a 22-hour flight