Race Report Norseman 2022 - An Unforgettable Experience

Norseman 2022 - An Unforgettable Race 

Preparation and planning

In 2019 I had finally come to the step where I was ready to sign up for a full distance triathlon race, and Ironman Italy was the choice. Nice sunny and warm weather, salty cozy Adriatic Sea for the swim, flat and fast bike course and easy run in Cervia to round it off. Combining it with Italian wine and food and some family fun at the same time, it felt like a perfect choice. When I got the message from my brother Peter shortly after mentioning that I had won an entry into Norseman and that the debut would be earlier, I was flabergasted...

Eidfjord - it looks so nice and innocent!

Biking in Puerto Rico – or at least the Northeast corner!

It was time for family vacation again over Christmas, this time to visit family in Puerto Rico. This year I happily obliged as I saw an opportunity to get in some high volume training under the sun, so I decided to bring my bike with me on the trip. Actually, I brought my wife’s bike. Even though the frame is a little bit too small for me, I figured out that the Scott Addict XS should work fine for two weeks. On top of that, my wife had nice Di2 shifters and most importantly disc brakes and sturdier wheels compared to my road bike. This was good to have on the steep and often wet descents from the mountain regions, and the sturdier wheels were great to have on the rough patches of pavement to minimize the risk of punctures. Not to much problems getting the bike on the plane, had to argue a little to not pay extra fee as United has bike “FoC”, but ended up paying one way fee due to the overweight - the bag was stuffed with all training gear on the way back as we needed space for Christmas presents received…

Biking by the beach. Hot...

Race Report Ironman 70.3 Buenos Aires

With my wife being born and raised in Buenos Aires, I had eyed the 70.3 Ironman there for a while, thinking it would be a cool thing to compete there. Now in 2018, several things combined to make me sign up for the raise. First of all, the the early triathlon season had been a disappointment as I came out from the Boston Marathon really burned out, and had difficulties finding motivation as well as form for triathlon. The 70.3 in Jönköping was a disappointment in the bike segment, and although the WC 70.3 in South Africa showed a very good progress on the swim and run, my biking was still not satisfactory – I still wanted another go at an IM event to see if I could perform better. This year, the date had also changed from the normal March date to early November, as the Bariloche 70.3 is now held in February they moved around the agenda in Argentina. The BsAs 70.3 was also designated the South American Championship, which meant that they had a lot more slots to the WC 2019 event and qualifying should be easier in BsAs compared to many other places. Lastly, the new date coincided with the autumn vacation of the kids, and even tough in the end they didn’t join us on the trip it made logistics a little easier for us. So, I signed up for the event and planned on how to extend the season with another two months after the WC in South Africa.

On the bike.

Boston Marathon Race Report

Two weeks have gone since a very memorable Boston Marathon, so time to sum up the race!!! Overall, I have mixed feelings about the race. On one side, being part of this iconic event – it is the oldest yearly Marathon in the world, running since 1897, with so much history, prestige and ambiance – and making it to the finish line in the conditions we had, made me very proud. On the other hand, I had trained so hard and focused for six months for this race, and the end result was far from what I should have been able to perform, which made me somewhat disappointed. But I have decided that I will look at it from the positive side and set results aside, and more than anything be proud that I made it to Boston, and finished the race. That is enough of an achievemnt in itself!

The end results - a cool medal!

Ten days to Boston - race plan and final reflections

Only ten days left to Boston Marathon, my first A-race of the season and the focus of the last six months of training and life. This means that tapering has started and race planning is coming to a closure with its final details. Time to reflect, and in my case adjust my race goals...

Getting closer...

Training has progressed well. I have basically followed the marathon program to the letter, which has meant three months of record volumes of running, topping out with 300km during March. The long runs have continued to be my Achilles heal, always being nervous ahead and not being able to fulfill them all. For a while I bonked out every two weeks needing pick up from my wife to make it home. This has probably been due to a combination of over training, stress and cold temperatures during the run, and sometimes I have not had the mental motivation to finish of the last few kilometers as I got tired. Despite this, I have finished seven runs over 30km, compared to only three 30km+ runs last year. Feeling in my legs is also better, last year I tended to get really tired in my quads after 20km, this year I have been able to push it to 30km without to much pain, which I take as a good sign. Pace on the long runs have also been slightly faster compared to last year, varying between 4:45-5:05 minutes per kilometer, some 5-10 seconds faster compared to 2017.

Less than 50 days to Boston

Less than 50 days until Boston…

Marathon training is in full swing, and actually I have started to count the number of long runs left in my program. Of all the trainings I do, it is the long distance run that I find most difficult, and I am kind of looking forward to April 17^th when the longest run for the rest of the year should be longer than 21km… I have now managed four 30km+ runs in my training cycle, twice as many as last year, and “only” have three or four more ahead of the marathon. Yes!!!

Overall, volume of running remains high. I had a record January with 279km, and February will end up around 240km. This is about 75% more compared to similar period in my training ahead of last year’s marathon, so it is very clear that the training set-up is different. It is mainly the biking volume that has decreased in favor of running, as I maintain about the same total volume of training per month – 35 to 40 hours. This is the volume that I am able to squeeze in considering work, family and managing the training load itself. Considering how the weather has been now in January and February with cold temperatures and snow, I am extremely pleased being able to follow the marathon program.

Good progress on the running volume

Boston Marathon Training - 8 weeks done, 13 to go...

Boston Marathon post card finally arrived!!!

Training towards the Boston Marathon is progressing well, despite the set back of the unsuccessfull heart surgery just before Christmas. I was obviously disappointed that they couldn’t pinpoint the source of my extra beats and get it fixed, and as a result I will have to continue up to - and beyond - Boston, with a non-optimum heart beat. The cardiologist gave me assuring info that I could continue to train as before, and just be careful to not overexerting myself (a 3:10 marathon shouldn’t be too hard, right?). The main risk with the arrhythmia I have is that the reduced blood circulation during an “attack” can lead to clots if you’re prone to this, and once the heart resumes normal pumping capacity, the clot can cause a stroke. However I am not in the risk category for blood clots, so I don’t have to worry about that. It will impact my maximum and optimum running capacity – if I have prolonged arrhythmias I get more tired, especially during maximum efforts. As the marathon is more about endurance rather than maximum capacity, the impact is hopefully less, but I will have to train and execute Boston with this in mind. I will go back to the doctor in June, and then we will see if we make another attempt at fixing it, but that will then likely take place during fall, after the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in September. So it seems I will have this issue the whole season. Kind of made me bummed out, but now I have decided to just push through. It is what it is, and I will have to adjust and adapt to my situation. 

Heart surgery - tried to get fixed up, but no luck today!

In my family, it seems that I am the one who mostly attracts events that requires medical attention. As a boy, I don’t know how many times I had to get stitches in my head after falling and crashing into things. Two eye operations to correct eye sight, appendicitis removed and chipped teeth. Broken collarbone and a thumb as well. And now heart surgery. Thankfully, all has gone well and I have always come out stronger, and my spirit to see how far I can go has not disappeared yet…

Time to fix the heart! Last run before today's procedure.

Winter and Boston Marathon Training

As things have turned out, the main goal for the winter season training will be for Boston Marathon, taking place April 16^th 2018. That is 20 weeks from today, and that makes today the day when my official training program starts for the winter. I do have the intent to also do some triathlon competitions as well in 2018 – most importantly the 2018 Iron Man 70.3 World Championships in South Africa in September. This means that I will keep up in some form or shape the training in swimming and biking during the winter to not loose too much capacity in these areas. Last year I used winter to mainly build up my biking strength and work on my swimming, while maintaining a steady run program. As I will have a slightly different focus for the early season with the marathon being clearly an A-race, I will make some adjustments in the set-up.

Training program and new shoes to start off good!

Last winter my base week training had nine sessions – three runs, three swimming and three bike sessions. The program I will follow requires more running, so the overall plan right now is to do four or five runs per week, and keep two bike and swim sessions, keeping overall volume the same as last year (ten to twelve hours per week during high volume weeks). The good thing is that the Boston Marathon is fairly early in the season, which means that I can already early April start tapering down the running volumes and start increasing the bike training. It will be interesting to see how this shift will play out in my strengths and weaknesses in triathlon, I have so far been fairly equal in all three disciplies. In the end, I do believe that running is the key strength you need in triathlon – be a good and strong runner and you can make up tremendous amount of time and placements as other competitors fade late in the triathlon runs, especially on the longer distances. With that in mind, I think that the tough marathon program will help out in my triathlon development later during the season.

Race Summary 2017 and Looking Ahead to 2018

Race season 2017 is finally (?) over, and I am having major difficulties adapting to not being focused on my training. I had decided to take it easy during October to get some rest, and then restart structured training in November to start preparing for next season, but after two days of rest I just want get started again! It doesn’t make it easier to see my Instagram and Facebook feed get flooded of posts and pictures from Kona and my training buddies working it out in the pool. But I will stay strong and stick to my plan, just need to take a deep breath and enjoy and do things I have put aside during the last eleven months…

Overall, 2017 has been a success when it comes to training and racing. A year ago I put together a very ambitious plan for this year, and started tough training in November to be as prepared as I could. The training plan was set to nine sessions per week – three per discipline – with a volume of about 10-11 hours per week. With a full time job and kids, this was very ambitious and it required total and full focus to manage it and stick to the plan. There were many times during the year where I just wanted to quit and stop, but at the same time, when I have set my eyes on a goal it is not often that I don’t give it 110% to get there, especially if achieving the goal mainly depends on myself. I ended up with ten months of very consistent training, and it gave me the results I wanted.

I want more medals!

The Dreaded Long Distance Run!

Training during spring has progressed great, and except for 10 days with a cold, I have managed to follow my training program. This has meant three weeks with nine sessions per week (three each discipline) with a total of 10-12 hours, followed with one easier week at around 6-7 hours. Compared to last year I have a much more regular training flow, and by skipping cross country skiing this year, a much more consistent training in the triathlon disciplines. I also skipped training camp in Mallorca this year, so total hours is probably less compared to last year. Bike hours are also fewer, but last year my main training set-up during May was a very long group ride on the weekend (4-6 hours) and then only one extra ride per week - this as I then trained for Vätternrundan and was what I could squeeze in. Now I have more sessions and have used the trainer much more for more controlled efforts during training. I believe it is giving good results in power output, and I don’t need the 4+ hours rides for the distances I will compete in this year. I have also managed to keep a consistent swim schedule with three times per week (last year two) and also uninterrupted running since November. The feeling right now is that my overall physical state is slightly better than last year: I set a new PB in 1000m pool swimming in April, good pace on the bike on the longer runs and doing higher wattage indoors, and running feels great with a few PB’s on my training loops. Key – as always – will be to keep the consistency and stay away from injuries, especially while running. I am very happy with the set-up of reducing the effort on my long runs, keeping them at 4:50-5:00 pace, but maintaining high effort on the shorter runs, this seems to allow me to stay away from overtraining symptoms.

New shoes this year - Asics Nimbus

Running Fast in Your 40's - Injuries and Recovery

Around the time you turn 40, running becomes a little more exciting as you seriously must start to take into account the risk of injury. Gone are the days where going out on a run or increasing running load a lot just meant that you had to overcome some initial fatigue and soreness in your thighs afterwards. Around when you turn 40 terms like IT band, Runners Knee, Plantar Fasciit and the dreaded “Gubbvad” (old man’s calves – chronic muscle tear) are phrases you start googling about and try to avoid. I have had close experience with most of them…

As a younger man I did my share of running. A few half marathons at respectable time (1:40?), part of the cross country team in high school (bottom half…) and kept up my running to and fro once or twice a week as I approached my 40’s. In 2013 however (at the age of 42), I drastically change my training regime and increased it a lot, and quickly. My brother was going to run the Stockholm Marathon, so I took up running a little more seriously then at the same time. However, it didn’t take long until during one run I got what in Swedish is called “Gubbvad” (Old Man’s Calf) – a muscle tear in the calf. It feels like someone stabs a knife in your leg, and the only option is to limp back home... My brother told me to google “Gubbvad”, and at first I thought it was a joke… But alas, it was not! No running for a while, but the good thing is that I took up biking instead.

Muscle tear/rupture in the calf.

How to manage 10 hour training weeks

How do you fit in 8-10 hours of training per week in a normal life is a question I get quite often when I talk to non-triathlon friends and tell them what I dedicate my time and energy on. Well, for sure it is not easily done, but let me tell you how I structure my time to manage it.

So first of all, why 8-10 hours per week? Well, for me, a person who really doesn’t have an athletic background or real talent for doing sports (I was at best mediocre at school at athletics), it is the time I see required to build up a strong aerobic ability to do half ironman distance races at good times for my age group. I might maybe get off with less time, but training three disciplines in a constant fashion and getting the speed I look for (1:30 min/100m swim, 4:00 run pace and 36 km/hr bike speed) does require both volume and strength workouts. The training programs I follow means 2-3 sets per week in each discipline in average, which sums up to 7-8 sets per week, thus 8-10 hours per week in average. Some weeks less (5-6 hours), some more (15 hours).

Race schedule 2017 and start of training season

After some half hearted training during November, I have now managed to squeeze in two months of well structured and focused training, averaging about 40 hours per month, which is fairly high for myself. This year I am not doing Vasaloppet (cross country skiing), so I have been able to use that valuable training time to work on the triathlon disciplines. I have a target to improve my bike power mainly, while managing to maintain my run fitness over winter without injuries so I can start of at a good level when the outdoor season starts end of March.

I have also put quiet a lot of time in swimming, increasing to three sessions per week, to see if I can get some improvements in this area as well. That is much more difficult as it depends very much on technique, hence in January I have started swimming with a coach once per week. Lost of things to work on, and as a 45 year old it is difficult to change…
Training wise I am following more strictly now a four week block structure: three weeks of high volume (10 hours per week approximately) and then one week of reduced volume (5-6 hours) to build up strength and compensate. I have gone through three sets now, and can see at least some improvement in the biking with increased wattage, going from 250W to 290W on my 4 minute intervals. By following more strictly the four week structure I also hope the body will use the compensation weeks better to build up endurance and strength after the three weeks of hard workout. Looking at the development of training load/fatuigue and performance I have a much better development this year compared to 2016, so so far, so good!

Säsongavslut och summering 2016

Sådär, då var sista loppet för i år avklarat och sista nitratshotten och gelen svald. Efter Tjörn Triathlon i augusti hade jag ett sista mål för året att satsa på: 10km löpning sub-40 minuter, och detta skulle hända på Hässelbyloppet den 9:de oktober. Hässelbyloppet är ju känt för att vara en snabb bana, och med svalt väder i börja på oktober brukar förutsättningarna vara bra för att slå personbästa. Sub-40 har jag klarat en gång tidigare, för cirka 27 år sedan då jag gjorde lumpen och klarade mig in på precis under 40 minuter (39:56?). De senaste tre åren har jag trendat nedåt ige, och 2015 års Hässelbylopp klarade jag på 41:10, fortfarande långt ifrån att ta sig under 40 minuter.

Race Report, Tjörn Triathlon 2016

Tjörn Triathlon, medeldistans. 1:a i AG 45-49, 43:a totalt. 4:39:33 totaltid – nytt personligt rekord för medeldistans med 20 minuter!

Race planering 2016

Mars månad nästan slut, så dax att sätta på pränt planerna för 2016. De har ju funnits i huvudet en tid redan...

Det blir som förra året tre huvudmål:

1. Klassikern under 17 timmar

2. Triathlon

3. Övrigt

Vasaloppet x 2, Race Report

Så, efter en dryg vecka är det dax att skriva ner rapport från de två Vasalopp jag körde, Öppet Spår Söndag samt det riktiga Vasaloppet. Det blev ju två gånger gillt för att maximera chansen på bra före och en bra tid, vilket var huvudmålet för att få en så bra tid som möjligt på klassikern jag ska slutföra (min tredje). Det verkar som om chansningen gick hem då föret på ÖSS var bättre, samt naturligtvis mindre trängsel i första backen. Nöjd med det valet!

Vasaloppsfunderingar

Skidorna är inlämnade för slipning och tävlingsvallning, snöträningen avslutad och det är dags för slutuppladningen inför nästa veckas två Vasalopp: Öppet Spår Söndag och riktiga Vasaloppet söndagen därefter. Väderprognosen pekar på kanonväder på ÖSS, så nervositeten är på topp redan nu.

Summering 2015

Dax att summera upp tränings och tävlingsåret 2015! Överlag är jag väldigt nöjd, fokusen var främst på klassikerloppen samt att köra några triathlontävlingar, och båda dessa har fullföljts. Här kommer en sammanfattning av de olika områdena: