Butter is, with a personal record of 2.09.58, among the marathon top in the Netherlands. With his personal record, he is one of the four Dutchmen in history with a time under 2 hours and 10 minutes behind his name on the magical marathon distance. In New York he finished in a sensational 6th place. An achievement that the North Hollander had meticulously prepared for.
Butter regularly trained in Kaptagat in Kenyan, but he was home for the past four weeks. In the evening at seven o'clock he got into his altitude tent, to come out twelve hours later.
“I have been in a height tent for the past three or four weeks. To continue the height of a training camp in Kenya. Living in a height tent and training at sea level: that enabled me to deliver top quality in the training courses. ”
Height training is to expose the body to altitude in preparation for a sporting performance, so that there is better performance at sea level. Here you can train at height, live at height (or simulation) or a combination of these. Michel therefore made use of in the preparation for the New York Marathon altitude training via the 'Sleep High Train Low' method.
In the case of the Sleep High Train Low method, athletes sleep in an altitude tent, but the training takes place at sea level. The idea here is that the training can be done more optimally without oxygen limitation. By sleeping at a (simulated) altitude, the ultimate positive effects of the relative oxygen deficiency do occur.
