What a gem!

Yesterday I decided to try out a different public pool here in Helsingborg. I read somewhere that they had restored an old swimming facility but was sad to read that it was only 25 m.

Well last night at 20:30 I reached Filborna badet (http://www.hssim.com/bad-h/filborna/). The place looked very nice from the outside and there was loud body pump music coming from the fitness rooms.
Once inside the facilities I found myself able to either swim in an old 25m pool with low hanging ceiling or jump into the new pool.
It was soooo nice! I guess 40 m wide and everything brand new. I was the only one in the water and it was so clear that I could see from one end to the other underneath the water.
Everything you may need for a good workout was also available and I tried swimming with flippers for the first time. It was a good experience that gave me time to focus on high elbows and breathing techniques.
After one hrs. a group of 6 elderly people joind me (+ 50). Wow could they swim! I guess they where old elite swimmers and found out that they still compete.
I found myself struggling to keep up with them – still using flippers – but it was a good experience.

Running with - and in colours!

Christmas time went well with a lot of training – avoiding gaining weight – and exploiting the holidays. I enjoyed having time to scedule my new trainings in Fitness.dk – and until now I am very satisfied with my options in Fitness.dk

The heavy amounts of training during Christmas peaked with a 14,4k run Sunday afternoon. With the team I ran one of the 3 loops we are doing for the marthon part of Challenge Copenhagen. Great experience to get to know it – and while running in the f…… cold conditions, avoiding slipping on the very icy pavement and still keeping the pace, I felt very welcome J

Once again I must share the magic with my trainings – I had two passes today – and each of them with magic moments! Listen here.

The day kicked off with swimming. Until today nobody, who could guide me and teach me how to get better, has seen my swimming skills … So it was with some nerves, I jumped in and did the intervals I was asked to do. Swimming as fast as possible 3 x 25m – then 1 x 25 in a resting tempo. 10 repeats! Oh lord. I saw stars while gasping for air, trying to remember my technique, and constant reminding my self of: Your arms won't fall of ! Push it harder! Really trying my best not to fail on my first real swim training. If my arms was’nt feeling soooo punished – I would have had them abowe my head all day. 2 months of swim technique focus payed of – I could push my self harder then I thought! Yir.

Since Sundays run I have been thinking about how to get rid of my fears of falling and getting injuries. Actually I love running in snow – its kind of playfull, quiet and joyfull! I always find some magic during those runs. But I constantly remind myself of NOT slipping, and that freezes my moves and makes my running unrelaxed. The solution was te get some new trail running shoes right away.

And look above ...these colourful running shoes are mine now – and tonight – we went out on a 8k run – and they are AMAZING. I felt like spiderman! Flying over the hard-pressed snow around my favorite running track – the lakes in Copenhagen! The shoes sort of stick to the icy, wet pavement. The soles are low, the spikes are soft and adjust easy to the changes of substrate.

It felt almost like running on New Years Eve. Seriously! The landscape was all white. All the lightnings from light signs, cars, windows reflected on the snow – making it all colourful and very beautiful. I reminded my self of putting that magic moment in my ”mental backpack”. There will be times when running sucks. But these evenings just add on so much happiness that I do not even want to think of the bad runs. Come and see if you can catch me! I am flying.

While running out there I must have looked like an idiot – but I was so happy. One more time I got to the conclusion: Training is a drug.

Keep running - and enjoy the freshness of the chillfactor :-)

Indoor training sucks - doesn´t it??

Once again I got reminded of the training-wise heaven I live in. Arriving from the Catalan beaches and 25 degrees, I hit Copenhagen and -20 degrees, almost half a meter of hard snow - Nordic Mordor. No way we could bike in these conditions - so Louise was kind enough to invite me to her new gym for a double spinning class.

I have only done spinning once, which was a 4-hour beneficiary session with Josef to help poor kids in Spain. It was OK and time flew by since friends kept coming in to participate and chat. Further, Suunto had us all monitored on one big-screen to project our current watts (power produced) and heart rate . Apart from that, my experience with indoor training has been dull 20-minutes interval-runs on the treadmill - I am an outdoor person.

So at 6am, slightly skeptical (and hung-over to be frank), but always with an open mind, Louise, Majeline and myself set off in the darkness - heading to the gym and Spinning chamber already buzzing with a nice and warm atmosphere. The room was packed with some 40 bikes and fresh spinners and coach Anders introduced the class as the Elite Team - and I understood that they were all part of the common initiative that Fitness.dk hosts for their member to train for Challenge Copenhagen 2011!

Got the legs going, felt warm and willing to push hard after recovery week and two days easy running. Some electronic music started pumping and so did I - quickly feeling warm, following the competent instructions of our Drill-Sergent. Sweating hard, we hit the first intervals and I got burned a bit above VO2Max while Anders was screaming "ONE MORE MILLIMETER" !!! It made sense and having somebody asking you to pushing it for another 30 seconds actually works - you have always got that extra millimeter. If you want to get stronger, this is a great place to explore.

The pace got kept high during the two hours. Again and again we pushed harder through 2 and 3 minutes intervals. Playing with high cadence on the static bike I felt a bit elevated above the bike and my knees resembled a Singer sewing machine: "KOM NU!!" seemed to be the main theme of the class - good stuff. No breakfast (purposefully fasting) and no Isotonic/Energy drink started to takes its toll by the end of the session - reminding me that a 2 hour quality ride can actually rock your socks. Big contrast to the long Sunday rides we do with the Argon 18 Mafia.

Between intervals, our instructor was sharing his Ironman experiences on nutrition, gear, trainings, heart rates as well as announcing common trainings for the team (also group swim and run). What a brilliant way to learn, and I feel confident that this team is in very safe hands and will make it successfully to the line in Copenhagen next August.

Ask all good bike riders and they will tell you that to improve your bike leg, you must do the miles in the saddle - biking is a blue-collar job... I agree - later on in your preparations, we all know that 5-6 hour rides will be virtue. However, in the given conditions, these spinning sessions are great bike trainings and you can really build a strong base during winter times.

It is always a pleasure to kill some prejudice and learn something new. I will most definitely take on some Spinning with my Tri-Club in Barcelona. But the most important lesson learned has been riding at very high cadence and the feeling it gave me to push through on the bike for a longer time than I thought possible. I will take this experience with me to the mountains back home - and I am sure I will again hear Anders yell "ONE MORE MILLIMETER!!!".

Best wishes to the team - thanks for some excellent sessions and I will be back during spring! Always feel very welcome to come and train in Catalonia! Hugs - Thomas

New shoes!

Well winter has really got a hold on us here in Nordic. The other day we went for at run in -20c. I never thought that I would be able to run in such conditions but the treadmill is just soooo boring!

I’m following, on the side, a marathon schedule and today it a long run of 20k. The sky I blue and wind is 0 so I guess it is going to be a beautiful run.



Salomon…. Never thought that I would be able to run in a pair of Salomon! I bought myself a pair of cross country Gore-tex Salomon (http://www.salomon.com/se/product/xa-pro-3d-ultra-gtx®.html) the other day and I’m eager to try them out.


The running conditions are not at all suitable for normal running shoes and I´m hoping that my feet will stay somewhat dry and warm in my new shoes and at the same time give me better traction and safty.

God Christmas training everyone!

199 days to go

Its pretty damn cold in my home country Finland now during Christmas and as I hate cold weather, -30 degrees and really short days didn’t sound too tempting so I decided to stay in Spain for holidays and trying put my training schedule together. In 6 days time we are heading down to Lanzarote with Thomas and Webski to do some good bicycle riding, warming up frozen bones, some surfing and relaxing a bit.

I had very limited time and also priority for training during past two weeks due Vip-visit and busy period at work so I could find time for only three runs and one swim during that time. Yesterday I was able to go for good 15k run and it felt so good to start moving again. This morning I felt legs bit tired but now at night feeling perfect again. Today after work went for short 1.6k swim with slow pace in order to go again tomorrow and try to push bit more.

3-4 weeks ago when I was trying to follow the program I felt much stronger which of course means that I can’t have again such a long period without trying to match the needed training hours. Quite many people, who don’t train hard, told me that you were training too much and it’s good to take some time off. I don’t think so, can’t really allow it to happen again.

In new years time in Lanzarote I will probably notice the fact that in December I did ride bike only twice so far and I should just shut the cake hole.

Merry fucking Christmas to everybody,

With love,
Janne

One journey, one destination - but no return ticket !

I often get the question "Are you sure that all that training and racing is healthy?"... and that only in the best of cases. People can tend to be extremely offensive when "provoked" by the fact that I prefer leaving the party early to get in an 5 hour morning bike-ride, over their exclusive (and drunk) company. Training for my first marathon in 2007, friends and family was outraged by the "huge" amounts of kilometers we ran and was worried if I would even survive. A doctor told me its not healthy to do more than 2 marathons a year.

Now I see things different. These years I have obtained so much experience and knowledge - learned by reading, seeing, feeling, hurting, discussing or even arguing. What really got me convinced, was meeting Ame Bonfati at the dinner of Ironman Lanzarote. Apart from being a good Italian, one big smile, an energy pack, Ame is a 46 years old man who does 5-6 Ironman a year. IMLZ was his 60th (yes sixtieth) Ironman. People tell me I look young for my age, but look at Ame - I´d easily say he looks my age or even younger! Amazing!!! They say that people looking younger than they are, tend to live MUCH longer than people looking older than then actually are. This stuff is healthy and when people complain about the price-tag on my bikes or the 15 pairs of running shoes I have in my locker I silently think "where could I possibly invest better?". We only live once and death is certain, but keeping healthy and fit will improve the chances that we can live a strong and happy life for many more years. An investment we will thank our selves for in many years, and our children and grand-children will thank us too.

The things you will learn on this journey towards your first Ironman will never be lost. The hours you do now on the bike is an investment in your life. Hopefully you will be motivated to do many more Ironman races or find other things that motivates you - but learning how your body reacts to this extreme stress, both in training and racing, are some of the most valuable learnings you have had since learning to walk or make love (I know - some of us still really don´t get the hang of that latter part).

Gain as much knowledge from magazines, books, talking to coaches, friends, training partners and adapt to your own plan and goals. Many arguments on nutrition, training and racing are contradictory. Some say carbs... others say proteins. Listen and learn from how YOUR body feeds back. Learn, learn and keep an open mind to new things and advice.

Also - if you have not already done so. Get a complete health check in a professional test center to check that your body is (likely) ready to take on the loads of training and racing that awaits us in 2011.

Quoting Jack Lalanne:
“I just want to see how long I can keep this thing going.
The easiest thing is dying. Living is a a pain in the butt”

Brick...

Last week was ending fast and I was behind with my training. I left for training late last night and would like to get 1½ hrs. brick training before calling it the week.
For some reason I have never had any problems with the transition from bike to run and I told my brother as late as Wednesday that the “brick” sensation more or less had disappeared…. Good or bad?
Well the brick came back last night at 23:15 with revenge! After one hrs. on the bike at say 75% I went straight on to the treadmill. I think I was hydrated OK and food was also OK but my left shinbone did not agree at all!
After only 7 minutes at a little faster than IM speed my left leg started to feel so strange. I could see that it was actually larger then my right leg and semitendinosus and biceps femoris was probably in a spasm.
The left leg was hitting the treadmill soooo hard and it felt as if the treadmill would break underneath me :-) - the brick sensation was back!!
At one point I actually thought that I had an injury and started to walk instead of running. But 5 minutes of walk and I started to run again and the sensation of stonelegs was gone after only twenty some minutes.
Today I can feel my legs like I went for the first run ever….
Train hard everyone and don´t get scarred when the bricks hit you!

See you all on Tuesday at 10.00?

You know what you got – but not what you get.

This week I took a discision about changing gym. And that was somehow tough! Just like changing school or job. You know that you got – but not exactly what you get. You leave friends and training partners who knows your strenghts and your weaknesses. That’s comforting and nice – but I feel the need for a change.

The last couple of years I have been training in the gym called SATS – and been VERY satisfied with their instructors. Expecially 2 x Jakob ( Elkjær and Kvist) have build me up to where I am now – from having a hard time running 5k to dedicate myself to do an ironman distance. Quite a move in 15 months. Thank you guys for keep pushing and motivating me! I will miss you – but I am sure we will meet again out there on the running tracks, in races and so on J

Since the training volume has increased a lot due to my ironman trainings – I suddenly felt a little alone in my project. Of course I have you guys here at the blog J but I needed tranings partners that worked for the some goal as me. Getting the motivation from a lot of people – and not just from a little crowd. I am a rookie – and need to have people around me who can teach me how to, why, when and how much. This ironman project is huge – and I wish to get to know every step of the way – and know as much as possible about what happens when and how. I admit my lack of knowledge – and ability to believe my own estimations on training volumes and focus are good enough. I jump into the kindergarden J Teach me. I am eager to get better.

So today I had my first bike and running training in Fitness.dk – not yet at the TRI Elite team – but that will come during the week. Swim classes are a part of the Elite team trainings - so this week will be the first time to show my swim skills ... and get some instruction. Perfect!

Read much more on the fitnessdk TRI team here.

On raceday, I feel very convinced, that it will make a huge difference to see people from Fitness.dk TRI team, that I know have been struggeling with the same fears, challenges and training pains as me. They will not be unknown opponents – but friends and supporters.

I am very excited to see what the teamspirit can give me – hopefully a lot of motivation, friends and training knowledge due to get in shape for my goal.

Louise

Don't try this at home, kids!

Yesterday I went for a nice evening run in the country. It was a bright night and the Christmas lightning was glimpsing in the snow as I ran through the little village where I grew up. How idyllic. 

Until .................................................... SLAM!!!! 

F*CK F*CK F*CK F*CK F*CK F*CK F*CK F*CK F*CK F*CK F*CK F*CK F*CK  

I was lying there on the ground as long - or short - as I am. The slippery ice finally got me. Never ever thought that would happen to me. I mean, that only happens to old ladies, right?!! Well, either I have changed age-category extremely fast or I am now the exception that proves the rule.

The second I touched the ground I knew that something was wrong. It hurt. Tears started sprinkling from my eyes due to the pain but mostly because I knew that this was bad news. Pain is temporary but a ruined shoulder can take me out for ages. That feeling - the fear of not being able to train and do the things that I love for a long time - that is by far the worst pain of getting an injury.

Thursday evening and Friday afternoon I spent in the hospital. Waiting. Getting x-rays. Waiting. Talking to a doctor. Waiting. Talking to nurses. Waiting. Waiting. Talking to a new doctor. Waiting. Getting tortured by a doctor. Waiting. Getting a new time to come back after Christmas. So far, so good.

"Nothing is broken. This is much worse", was the comforting words of one of the doctors. 

"Ohh, thank you very much and a merry Christmas to you too, doctor."

Kolding Hospital - not the worst place to be on a Friday, but close.

So, no bones suffered but I have injured some muscles and attaching tendons in my shoulder. Hopefully they are only strained a bit. At least that is what I am hoping for right now. Probably they are partly torn though, and worst case scenario is that some muscles or tendons have been completely torn. I still have no clear information on what to expect or what to do. For now I just have to keep my arm calm and give it a lot of rest - not my strong side - then after Christmas, when the worst pain is gone, they will examine me further to clarify completely what the exact diagnosis of the injury is.

To be honest I am not in the best mood at this moment. For a while I saw my dream crumble away. Feels a little bit like one step forward and two back shoulder wise. Most frustrating is it that I still do not really know which leg to stand on. Not until the 27th of December will I know for sure how bad this thing is - or not bad.

Trying to look at the positive sides, though. Wishing for the best, prepared for the worst. No matter what, it will not get me down. I will get back on track again sooner than later. I know that for sure. Just a matter of how soon sooner than later is going to be. Ohhh, and in the short term I am getting spoiled to the bones at my parents - diet?!! Not this weekend.

Talking about weekend. Have a great one and promise to be careful out there - so stupid to be out of the game because of something like this. And boring, may I add.

THIS IS IRONMAN ... TRAIN HARD ... RACE HARD

Hi, welcome to the online learning center. I'm coach Marc Evans

I remember the feeling when I was standing on the beach in Barcelona minutes before entering the Mediterranean and my very first triathlon race ever in October 2010. I was really, really nervous. Excited, but nervous. Mostly because of the unknown I was about to jump into, but also because I was not really confident with my swimming skills. At all!

Little nervous girl, bigger not so nervous man.

But as I made the first part in the water it was all good. I could breath. I could actually crawl. 1500 meters. Piece of cake. That I lost my orientation every nineteenth meter and maybe took the first of the 3 C's - nadar con calma - a bit too literal is a whole other story.

After-wards I could look back at good experience and go home with a nice feeling of self-confidence. If I could learn to swim like that from scratch in less than two months ... well, then the swimming part cannot be that terrifying and hard after all.

Beforehand I had had a couple of swimming lessons in Copenhagen but besides that I learned it all from the dear YouTube. Especially from Mr. Marc Evans.

Check it out if you need to get some competent advice for swimming or maybe if you just need a voice to fall asleep to - yeah, he is definitely not the best entertainer. To put it mildly. Yet, I have learned to like his somehow monotone voice and incredibly boring intros. Underneath you can see three of my favorite videos but there is much more where that come from on the evanscoaching youtube channel - also on cycling and running.

Give it a shot!

What are YOU on?

YouTube - Freestyle Breathing

More than words...

Wow! That was the thoughts that went through my head as I woke up to a freezing cold but indescribable beautiful Monday morning in Copenhagen. No doubt I was going out into that weather reminding me of good times in the mountains with snow under my skis and sun in my face.

Out out out! My legs were on fire despite the cold - ran some 18 km. Great! Could bore you with a lot of details about that, but I decided to bring my Old Skool iPhone with its sorry excuse for a camera, so instead I will let the pictures speak...

Goooooood mornings!

The Winter Survival Headgear

A tiny bit slippery

Nostalgic - been feeting the ducks numerous times right here when I was a kid

Beautiful Copenhagen

My old homefiled - missing the footie

Cable snowboarding

The Lagune - where I'll be swimming ones the leaves are back and the water isn't freezing

Take a dip

Running in the sand - best I know

Wet feet

The sea

Stairway to concrete

Wild and calm

Slippery much

Teletubbies World

Reached the airport

Going home in strong and cold headwind

Siesta!

Reaching for The Dream

October 10 2010 (notice that beautiful date:) I took by fare the most heart beating decision ever! I signed up for Challenge Copenhagen and instantly got that thrilling rush of feelings that goes with dreaming. I have dreamt of doing an ironman quite some time now. I just had to pass some milestones before I finally decided to do it.

Some of them were fearful – but I took them step by step, and meanwhile I kept good contact to especially Thomas, who from a distance kindly whispered all the support that I needed. Thank you Thomas!!!

May 2010 I did my very first marathon – and that emotional ride from the beginning to crossing the finish line, is addictive! And I was sure to do it again somehow!

The thoughts of pushing the edge hunted me. Marathon was a huge project. I nursed it. Took good care of my wellbeing during my trainings. I loved the focus it gave me. And somehow it ended up being some sort of a mental journey. 10 years ago I lost my dear mom to cancer and since then, I needed to feel alive and always pushing my self further. May 24.th I hit hard by hard passing that finish line – my mom was with me all the way- and somehow I finally accepted the loss of her. I came out stronger!

The finish of the Copenhagen Marathon left a huge emotional gab. What’s next? I cannot stop here. Push it!

August 15 I was excited as a little child on Christmas eve! Some of my friends did the Challenge Copenhagen race – and I followed them from the beginning to the end that day – cheering, smiling and shouting! Somewhere deep inside my own ironman-dream got real. I will do this. Get the thrill. Jump into a new amazing mental journey. Out to the limits. Further. Getting stronger!

My biggest fear!

Swimming!!! How could I possibly swim 3,8 k in open water? I hated pools, and everything about swimming. I decided to go all in! Get the gear, jump in and just goddammit learn!!!

So all by myself I started. It was sad to see the first akward attempts. You couldn’t call it swimming, at all. Then Thomas sent me some links to the good Mr. Evans on Youtube. I studied that mans technique over and over again. And suddenly, I crawled. Hit the technique. And felt the smoothness in the water without having the feeling of racing heartbeats and a total lack of power. Good breathing, gooood long strokes, high elbow and reaching fare in the water! That morning was magical!

In 4 weeks time I could say: Crawl is possible. Learning new stuff is great!

Entering a mans world

It might sound stupid for you guys. And I mean GUYS. You almost battle in gear, throwing all kinds of words about technical stuff around – stuff that I don’t want to be familiar with. It’s a MANS world. I just want things to work – I do not want to fix them myself!

Then I realised I needed to!

I received my beautiful Argon18 bike in a box – without wheels, saddle and so on! New things to learn!

Entering the bike shop, asking for the most basic tools … ended up being another trip into the world of tri. The kind man said: You need this little specific tool if your chain brakes … Chain brakes!!!? What are you talking about … ? That will not happen, please!

Of course I bought the tools – I had to! You just have to close you eyes and pay. Luckily I wore nail polish that day the little tool landed in my hand. The feminine side remains J

Surrounded by loving people

I was not surprised by the reactions from friends, family and colleagues. Most of them knew about my little dream. They were shocked about me participating, based on my somehow short knowledge in this extreme sport. They said I was crazy and asked why? It’s simple. I can, and I will!!

It was very important for me to get the accept from my work, friends and family. When training peaks, they are my supporters, and if I don’t involve them – they haven’t got a change to understand my victories or my challenges. If they play a roll during training – they hopefully feel they play a BIG roll on race day!

It’s all about love and strength taking me to that finish line – and in my dream I already have so many kind faces waiting for me at the finish line. And that’s were the goal is. It’s all about love for pushing – and getting stronger!

Race plans so fare:

Änglemark ½ marathon dec 31.

BT ½ marathon april.

Challenge Aarhus, ½ Ironman july 3^rd.

Challenge Copenhagen, full Ironman, august 14th.

That’s the start up – soon adding up some training, thoughts, pix and so on.

Love, Louise

This week´s training - Thomas

Summarizing this last week´s trainings:

Saturday: 4h45m bike, 1hr compex
Sunday: 2hoom bike and Calçotada Total
Monday: Off
Tuesday: 2km swim, 24km trail run en 2h05m, 1hr compex
Wednesday: 4h30m bike, 30min weights 1hr compex
Thursday: 2.5km swim 12km run, 45mins climbing
Friday: 2.5km swim, 2h00m bike, 1hr massage, 1hr compex
Saturday: 3h10m bike, 30mins weights, 1hr compex
Sunday: 2h45m bike, 12km brick run, 1hr compex

Hence, summarizing some 30 hours trainings - pretty good stuff...

Fatboy´s Nutrition Series: The nutritional account - Input vs. output

So - even though its almost Xmas and we´re soon about to devour enormous amounts of foods, fats & cookies, sugar and alcohol - wintertime is a good season to drop a few kilos to get closer to that optimal weight.

The daily account measures the input and output and very simply put, if there is a surplus on this account by the end of the day, we gain weight (normally in the form of fat) and opposite, if we have a deficit we loose weight. So, how do we measure the input and the output?

Input is simply - since all input enters the same way... through the mouth. The unit of measure here is know as Calories, that word we´ve heard our mother babble about over and over again. Calories or actually kilocalories (in the metric system known as Joules, kiloJoules or kJ). So count the amount of kcals in your daily diet, which is easy if you (as eg. Janne) follow the same diet every day. I really don´t want to tire you too much about this, but take a few days or a full week to actually measure (make a log) how much you take in - and you´d be surprised! Consult the Nutritional Data Web as a reference for kcals in almost all food and drinks or just look at the nutritional facts per 100g on the back of all normal supermarket goods.

Output is a bit more complex. These are the calories burned during the day. We have to add up these 3 measures:
1. BMR - Basic Metabolic Rate.
What your body burn at rest. Use a BMR calculator or a body fat scale. My BMR is around 1700 kcals per day.

2. Kcals burned with other activities than training.
This may be 8 hours desk work adding up to around 850 kcals per day.

3. Kcals burned during training.
Well use the HRM calories output or that of the treadmill. A rule of thumb for me is that I burn 1000 kcals during one hour run and 800 kcals during biking - but you need to find this your selves. There are a bunch of online calculators for this.

So - say I follow Janne´s diet, my daily input is 2500. I run for 2 hours, which means my output is: 2000 kcals + 850 kcals (from desk work) + 1700 from my BMR = 3550 kcals or calories burned a day. Hence, my account for this day a deficit of 1050 kcals (3550-2500) and I can expect a weight loss. The morning after a strong deficit on the account, I normally wake up very hungry.

Of course - it´s not only this simple. Later we will discover how smart the body actually is (to help us survive in fierce competition or during times with no or low amounts of input).

Use this nutritional account calculation also in periods where you need to feed for peak performance, eat like a champion - here the deficit can not be to big during several days or we will suffer power loss and may even fall ill. Hence, no diets during peak performance weeks.
Try to log your input for a few days and post here as comments. No shame - we all eat too much marzipan and drink too many Xmas beers these days, but let me see a few daily logs from each of you!

And finally, remember what Woody Allen said:
When we lose twenty pounds... we may be losing the twenty best pounds we have! We may be losing the pounds that contain our genius, our humanity, our love and honesty.

Fatboy´s Nutrition Series:
I: Nutrition - optimal weight vs. peak performance
II: The nutritional account - Input vs. output
III: Nutritional Value - crap vs. performance intake
IV: Eating like a champion
V: Supplements

Targets

Yesterday I spoke to a personal trainer at my gym (not mine - can´t afford them :-)). He asked me how long time it would take me to complete an Iron Man....
Not knowing the exact answer I started to add up my dream numbers and came up with a rough idea of my total time. He though it was very ambitious.. well he saw me swimming and I had to convince him that swimming is my least favorite discipline – by far.
Him being a Chinese and former pro swimmer may explain his concerns about me getting sub 12...

Would it be a good idea to post our target time (Swim, Bike & Run)?
I did see and old post from Big T talking about targets.

"Make it to the line" is my overall goal but I sense that someone might have set quite though goals on them self and I would like to know them :-)

My dream goals are:
Swim: sub 2 hrs. - not drown
Bike: 6 hrs. - 30 km/h
Run: Sub 4 hrs. - pace 5.45/km

Total sub 12 hrs.

I guess we could post them together with our entered event information on the right hand side of the blog. As we progress with our training we can comment on our goals hence understanding if we where realistic or not setting those goals. I don´t think us novices really understand how our body will react on race day. Maybe the first indications we get are on the long bike days coming up in our training schedules around springtime.

Shut The Cakehole, Little Powerhaus

After a prolonged weekend in Barcelona I am now safe home in Copenhagen and can look back at 5 days with good training and great company.

I went to Barcelona to pick up my new bike, to visit this blog’s Spanish members; Janne and Thomas, and to get a much needed get-away from the Danish dark and cold.

The pick-up turned out to be quite an emotional affair as I almost burst into tears when I first lay eyes upon the beauty. Love at first sight! My very own Argon 18 XXS Krypton. Could not wait to try it, so off we were to the nearby mountains.

Up, up! My first mountain ever. Not big, but still an awful lot bigger than Geels Bakke in Holte. Thomas blabbing away about all kinds of stuff and gear etc. related sports, while me being relatively quiet, which is a good sign that I am focused and pushed physically - I was quiet a lot this weekend.

One thing he said made me laugh inside and out, though. “If I know you right, you are not looking for too much female specific gear”. Spot on! Why it is like that, I do not know – but following Peter’s post on humor and self-irony I can definitely smile at myself for that.

Two hours went by – a nice little taster of what was awaiting me the next day.

Despite of our planned ride on Saturday we still went out on Friday night. Obviously. So after 4(!) hours of sleep we went to meet up with some members of the notorious Argon 18 mafia on a beautiful sunny morning.

This was my first time riding in a big group, so again – focused.

Nice and easy out of the city. Drafted fast on the highway - yes, highway. Pure Vuelta a Espana. I managed to hang on all the way on the flat, but then ... BOOM !!! We hit the gradtients at the coast. 20 seconds and I had lost sight of the group. Luckily the great Janne Lankila sticked with me giving me my first round of "Shut the cakehole, Little Powerhaus. Just push the pedals and enjoy the scenery" ... and so I did.

We had lunch in Sitges - wonder why the guys were so keen on going there in their spandex outfits?! Then headed back along the coast. Breathtaking sight. Bluebird. The Mediterranean right beneath us. I could not have chosen a better way to spend my Saturday.

Got back to the city after approximately 4.30 hours on the bike. Pretty okay, if you ask me. Then Janne turned at me and said, “Have you been on the Olympic mountain? It’s only 200 meters. Vamos”.

“Shit”, I thought, but what can a girl on a bike do? Nothing but try to keep up with the guys. Went okay – for the first 15 meters or so. Then the inner monologue began going nuts. “If they can do it, I can do it too” – “c’mon, Majeline” - “You can do it”… My entire body felt cold and started trembling. Looked at the guys and wanted nothing more than to make that stupid hill. “I can f***ing do it!” As I saw Thomas make a u-turn and come down towards me, his words “you always have 10% more than you think” went through my head and I gave the last bit, but then my entire body was shaking and it started to blacken for my eyes, so eventually I had to get of the bike before I fell. Damn it!

It was definitely not good for my pride, but it was a good lesson. This is apparently how my body reacts, when it gets really pushed, and at least I gave what I had in me - that is satisfying.

Talking about satisfaction. The following siesta – could be the best ever.

Sunday we took off for yet another bike-ride. This time the route was flat as we went up-coast to check out a bit of the route I am going to ride for the half- and full Challenges in May and October. It was really crazy being there. There, where it all is going down in 10 months. Unbelievable and at the same time so in-my-face real.

Two hours of riding and then an awesome Catalan lunchy thingy with the best people. It sure was a nice Sunday, but it can also happen any give day and hour, doesn't necessarily have to be on Sunday.

Monday – total relaxation. End of story. End of a great weekend.

I was actually asked at the Sunday lunch which three things I learned about training and life in general this weekend. I have given it some thoughts. Here goes:

What did I learn in the School of Life?

1. That I am getting more and more in love with the Barcelona area, atmosphere, climate and people.

2. What it means to have calçots and that the Dancing with Wolves soundtrack actually can be hilarious.

3. That I have to sign up for a Spanish course ASAP.

What did I learn in the School of Training?

1. Sleep and good diet should not be underestimated. New thumb rule: don’t train more hours than you have been sleeping.

2. Pushing hard is what it takes – and I can take it. I can make it.

3. How to… bike.

But, most important lesson…

The two things cannot be separated. Training is a part of my life, and … the trick is getting the training part and the life part combined in a good way. That is what it is all about. There is no either/or.

Adios Barcelona. See you soon.

Thanks a lot to Janne and Thomas – for making this weekend possible. Means a lot.

Humor when training

Well I feel a little bit outside in this fine company of triathletes. So how can I contribute in this amazing flow of relevant, educational and serious discussions?

I may be able to contribute a little using a different angle “ humor in training”. Does such an expression even exist? Not sure but this will be my fore most important ingredient in my attempt to complete my preparations towards Copenhagen Challenge 2011.

Bing able to smile at yourself and others is important in all aspect and situation of your adult life. We all know this but do we practice it?

When was the last time you smiled at yourself and thought “Glad nobody saw me doing that”?
For some reason this happens quite often to me and I know of at least one other person in this forum who is in the same league as me – she knows who I´m thinking of :-)

So… humor in training…. What comes first to mind? Well sitting on a bike for 6 hrs. calls out for some obvious comments.
I remember one of my first questions when signing up. I asked Big T – what about your ass? Serious as always he replied, “man, at this point in time you’re an Iron Man – and so is your ass".
I laughed but quickly found out that the answer he gave me was really his opinion on how to tackle pain - on raceday all pain is irrelevant - Make it to the line is what counts.

So after my first lecture I could conclude that not only would I become an Iron Man but more importantly my but would become hard and cold….

I don´t really have that approach towards pain - atleast not yet. So what to do? Research research and more research.
My results and test are clear – I have found a solution for all IM contenders – maybe not for race day but the never ending hours on the trainer can become complete bottom painless!

Next time I will talk about how to knock yourself out while sitting on the bike – don´t miss out on my next humorous but serious contribution :-)

Short spin this is a good alternative.

When the distance/time is plus 1 hr. use this type of sadle

Semi long traing +3 hrs use this type of sadle ir recommended. This sadle is also very usefull if you are male and +40....

Now we move on to the sadle i had on my last bike - before Argon 18. This is soooo sweet and will give you the relief you have been looking fore! This is the choise for the long days in the sadle.

On those +5 hrs of work out or race day it self you really need to find somthing that will reliefe your bottom and soack up all those - well juices - your body desperatly are trying to get rid of. This is my favorite sadle and Im currently trying to have it custom fittet my Argon.

I hope my research will help you pick out the right type of sadle!

Fatboy´s Nutrition Series: Optimal weight vs. peak performance

So - Janne had a great point on his HamburgerMan Diet post. I invented "Diet from Hell" based on a the advice of Catalan nutritionist and it works wonders for me too, while trying to control my weight around 71-72 kgs, which is my racing weight.

I read this great book on Racing Weight and it´s definitely worth looking at in terms of understanding better the concepts I introduce in the Fatboy´s Nutrition Series.

Quite easy in theory really - leave out as much processed food as possible; bread, pasta, potatoes, rice and substitute with raw foods, proteins from meat and fish, fruits and veggies - and call it the Caveman Diet if you will. This (and any other diets) works well, especially if you, like Janne, actually starts enjoying its content and make it your normal routine and daily intake, not a hard-to-follow diet!


However - once we get closer to race day and we´ve (hopefully) reached our own optimal weight, some long and hard trainings and also race days will require a different intake of carbs, proteins and what-not. You really can´t get through build and peak periods on a diet - so if you wanna drop weight, do it now before these race specific training pop up in your agenda!

There are many theories on how to eat well for peak performance, but one thing is certain; the body engine burns glycogen, a fuel which is being generated in your stomach based on the input of carbs, proteins and fat (and beers) we pour onto it. The body is so damned intelligent and chooses the best fuel first, which are carbs, then burns proteins then fat. When the reserves stored in our muscular cells are depleted it starts asking the stomach to produce more glycogen fuel, but performing at high intensities the stomach is too slow and cannot deploy enough fuel. The body then starts burning stored body fat (great!!) but also muscle fibers and that hurts. Running at e.g. marathon pace this occurs after approx. 2.5-3 hours and we know the pain as "hitting the wall". During race we can add fuel to the equation by drinking energy drinks, eating bars and gels - but in an Ironman race at some point the body will turn to burning fat and muscles - and through our long trainings in base and build period we are working to getting the body used to the pain following this.

It is recommended to add 100g of pure carbs before a key performance workout. Many think that carbs are the same as pasta and I often see people surprised, when you tell them that an apple is 99% carbs (actually much more than pasta). So chunk some fruit, energy drink, a power bar or maybe muesli before the core training - but of course don´t over eat.

Now and then some (including myself) does long trainings in the morning fasting - that means no breakfast before hitting the road. Hence, you will hit "the wall" maybe already after 1-1.5 hours and start pushing the body´s limits, burning fat and muscle and also getting the body and mind used to work in this situation, which WILL eventually occur for any of us during a Ironman race. Try it first on a 2-3 hour bike ride, bring an energy bar just in case. Great way to get lean fast too.

That´s it for now - I´m back soon with more on The Nutritional Account - the daily equation on input and output. Stay tuned

Fatboy´s Nutrition Series:
I: Nutrition - optimal weight vs. peak performance
II: The nutritional account - Input vs. output
III: Nutritional Value - crap vs. performance intake
IV: Eating like a champion
V: Supplements

My old friends ...

Back with my old friends - the rain and the mountain bike. Not a bad combo though and I enjoyed 2 hours alone on Carretera de las Aiguas with nice music in the ears. It was raining cats and dogs when I left home and I got a weird look from our door-man, leaving home. I guess my Nordic genes still allow me to enjoy the cold rain while training, it almost animates me, makes me go even harder - definitely not something you see a lot around here. Met Guillermo running on the ways back and we kept company through-out the remaining part of his training. Good to see he is coming back from a leg injury! Bad weather can be a friend ;)

Improve running tech ...

Now that winter is really taking its toll, why not spend some time on the belt, trying to improve your running technique. Its never too late. It takes a while, it hurts in the calves - but a good technique avoids injuries and propels you forward faster. I gained some 0:30 min/km once I started running more fore-foot. This video gives a good insight into the mechanics:

Nutrition for dummies in eyes of Hamburgerman

Lately have been mailing with my fellow IM trainees about dieting in general. I felt the urge of contributing my first 50 cents to this blog in terms of what I eat.

In mid August I started a diet called "Diet from hell" eh...name sounds pretty HC but actually its pretty straight forward and doesn't require too much of suffering. Of course first few days were bit tough and I was feeling hungry most of the day but after few first days it started to make sense and your body got used to it.

Now three months have passed with this diet and I have been able to drop weight significantly. When I started the diet I was in 98kg, today 92kg. Actually pretty funny that when I wake up every morning I'm looking forward of eating my bowl of oats with natural yogurt and honey. Breakfast of champions innit…best thing ever.

This is my typical workday menu:

7:00 Bowl of oats with natural yogurts and honey, Redoxon multi-vitamin shake and coffee
10:00 little bit of dark bread with brie cheese and coffee (this is the only bread of day)
11:30 apple
13:00 lots of carrots, tomatoes in weggie salad and little plate of pasta with pesto/bolognese/tomato sauce and fruits for dessert. Normally I go for honey melon which has become my new favorite. Last cup of coffee after lunch.
16:00 apple
18:00 2 rice cookies, vitamins
21:00 salad dinner with piece of steak or chicken. Glass or two of red wine.

During the day I drink around 4-5 liters of water.

On weekends I eat about the same except for dinner there can be a cheeseburger and beer or two.

When going for long bike ride or run on weekends, I'll add energy bar or two in mix but during the work week this is what I eat.

I have noticed huge improvement with my run and bike after I have dropped weight and got bit leaner. I'm planning to keep eating according to diet until June, hoping to drop another 4kg before summer. Ironman Zurich is taking place 10th of July 2011


HamburgerMan's tip for dieting is: bread is the enemy! You get used to live with less food.

My 2011 Challenge - Road to Kona

So - let´s get down to whats it all about really: The Challenge

This year somehow stepping it up. After 3 Ironman races completed, especially after posting 9h50m on home turf in Copenhagen, I felt that taste of blood - Make it to the Mecca of Triathlon, to Kona, to Ironman Hawaii, to the World Championships in October 2011!

For sure a daunting, bone-crushing task, but impossible is nothing. To get on the road to Kona, you need to qualify for one of the 1800 slots offered to non-professionals every year. All Ironman-branded races have a designated number of slots. For my age group (35-39) this probably means staying within the best 8 or 9, which again can be transposed into a required improvement of 25-30 minutes on my time in Copenhagen - that is A LOT !!!

So, teaming up with my buddy and Ironman veteran Guillermo Lladó, who is also our local and trusted Argon 18 bike pusher. Guillermo has more than 20 IM races under the belt and qualified twice for Kona - most definitely an adequate soul to follow and train with, trying to accomplish above objective!

Looking for a qualifying race, we quickly narrowed in on Ironman St. George in Utah, May 7th 2011. A new race with an aggressive profile, both on the bike (1600m of climbing) and on the Marathon that climbs 700m. This year only 3 Pros went under the 3 hours on the marathon and Kona qualification was secured around 10h30m - which proves that we need to focus a lot on climbing both on the bike and run. On the other hand, St. George looks like a beautiful landscape, surrounded by mountains and stunning views. And being accompanied by one the the best chaps in the world, my mate Anders Gramkow and Guillermo´s wife Monica, I am sure we´re gonna have the time of our life. Andy and I head out from San Francisco, make a classical road trip down to Las Vegas to pick up Monica & Guillermo - then all head to St. George a few days before the race! As a (hopefully not-needed) back-up race, I have chosen Ironman Zürich in July where I am joining Pablo, Janne and a bunch of Catalan training mates!

So what does it take? Well - I think I can safely say that I have gear right, so that leaves only hard training to be accomplished! So for the next 5 months leading up to IM St. George, training efforts will be fierce, clocking some 20-25 hours a week in the pool, on the bike and running.
January and February will be focused on volume and running (as its still a bit cold for long bike rides, even around Barcelona) and then March & April will be more quality will be virtue, hitting the bike hard with race specific long and fast training sessions, pushing the boundaries above VO2Max.

Motivation is on full and I honestly cannot wait to get going. My legs are itchinga and I have a hard time (some would say I do...) to stay relaxed and rest these weeks. I have a burning desire to give all that I have to reach this goal - without a doubt the hardest physical and mental test I have ever put myself onto.

Quoting the great Lance Armstrong: “If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or Fight Like Hell.”

Above all, looking forward to the great company of my training mates and enjoying that taste of blood in the mouth, while the old engine is hauling hard.
We take no prisoners. Hugs T

Training when sick…

Since last Sunday I have had a bad bad flue. I went swimming with my kids and girlfriend and caught something horrific in the not so clean water of the kid’s pool…
Dam, Shit F… What to do about training???
Should I ask big T? No ways – he would just tell me to get on with the training despite my health and general well being. Run the cold out of your body or maybe something like - Are you in or not your wimp!!?? I could not take the chance asking Thomas and letting him down J. Who should I turn to for advice? My brother could be a good choice! But then I started to think about his general feeling towards this type of extreme training activities and could already hear him preaching… don´t do anything your body tells you not to do. You will only prolong your illness, training when sick and so on…
So what to do? Listen to your own inner voice? Maybe a vice decision. That’s what I did and almost got through the week with my planned activities.
It has been a though week. The training itself has actually been the time of the day I felt the best. But after training and at night time my lungs have had a terrible week.
Today a new week start and I’m still feeling so bad…. I am surrendering and asking anyone advice – and that´s includes Big T…
Unfortunately I don´t live in Barcelona where the medical tolerance is somewhat lower then here in Nordic. Should I see a doctor or just keep on training?

If You Had One Chance...

Recovery Week Over

Closing the week with an easy 2 hr ride in the Collserola mountais, bit cold, but blazing sun and sweet music in my ears! Recovery week is over, though I must say that to recover well, I need to sleep much more - not only train less. This week back on full throttle, which will be last week of charge before I take a few weeks with swim-focus before Lanzarote Training Camp around New Years! VAMOS!

Berga Morning Ride

Good day on the bike today, testing the track of next year´s Berga Half Ironman. Leaving BCN early, blazing sun, chilling in the car with Sergio - hitting Berga downtown where we´re met by 30-35 riders and -2 degrees which is COLD even for Spanish snow-covered pre-Pyrenees in November. The folks told me the track was flat, hence brought the E-114. It turned out to be a trap and after hurling downhill at 65-70km/h we hit an easy 12km ascent - not stuff for a time trial bike at all. Good day though and the circuit took us through nice catalan country side with views to the mountains with snow, which may await us for some Randonee and Splitboarding next weekend.

Clean air has always been my favorite breakfast! - Luv T