Sprint Training race yesterday

I did a sprint tri training race in Oslo yesterday. Weather was awsome, with 28 degrees and sun. This race is held every 2nd thursday on the same course and is hosted by the great club Oslofjord Triathlon. It has been the same course for 4-5 years, so it a great place to test fitness.

My best time on this course is 57:00 from july 2006. Yesterday I was egaer to have a great swim, and get some feedback on how countless hours in the pool with paddles/pullboey had paid off. got off to a great start, and felt super strong. Had my brother on my toes for almost 300m, but dropped him a litthle before halfway. In Holmestrand in the pool he beat me with 12sek:-)

I was 5th out of the water in 11.30. My best time here from 2006 was 11.51. Oh yes it HAS PAID OFF! :-)

My bike was not good yesterday. Never found my rythm, and the great weather ment pretty heavy traffic in Sørkedalen where we biked. After almost crashin in a cars front after 500m i decided to not risk anything. My bike was over 1min slower than my best here. After one DNF in front off me, I was 3rd into T2...but 5th leaving it! My tranistins was really rusty, not even on IM pace!

Quickly retained 4th, and had contact with number 3. But on a long steep descent Magnus came back from behind, and almost ran away from me. I caught him once more, and tried to get rid of him on the last k. But with 500m to go he outsprinted my and I had to settle for 5th. time was 57:58...not to bad

On track. I think.

Ironman Germany is only 10 days and 15 hours away! Not many posts here last 2 weeks - cause they have been very hectic. After 2 weekens of racing, I did get 2 pretty good training weeks in. Last weekend (12th-14th june) was very good. Did a long bike up to the cabin in Telemark on friday (110k), a laong 26k run on saturday, and then my favorite bike ride on sunday. It is a scenic ride in telemark on the route Brunkeberg-Vrådal-Dalen-Aamodt-Morgedal-Brunkeberg. 124k with over 2500 climbingmeters:-) Will try to post some pics from it later.

But last week everythin went off track. Guess beein a husband, dad, running local Hertz/EuropCar office alone, personal trainer for 10 persons, race director for a olympic distance race in august AND training for IM Germany got to much. So from monday to friday I was really toast, just running around fixing things. But things calmed down over the weekend, and I did get a 30k run in on saturday and a 86k ride in on sunday. Actually felt pretty strong on the bike sunday.

On monday I did my first wetsuit swim in 2 years. Finally decent temps in our local lake, gues it was 17-18 degrees C. Did time my regular "triangle" 800m(ish) lap. A bit to early to say, but I think all my paddle/pullboy work in the pool will pay off. Yesterday was intervall day on treadmill. 3x10min (12,6kmh)on 6% and 2x3min on 1,5% (15,5-16kmh). Felt pretty good!

With my week "off track" I have decided to take a risk in my lead up to Frankfurt. I gonna stick to regular training all the way until wednesday in race week. Will do a sprint tri tomorrow in Oslo, a long 20-25k run on saturday in Kragerø, and then bike 180k home from Kragerø on sunday. then som swimming and short intervalls monday/tuesday and a 85k rinde on wednesday before I leave for Frankfurt thursday. In Germany it will be relax, relax and getting ready to race hard on sunday.

A bit risky, but worth the shoot.
Will keep u posted about my race tomorrow.

2 races done

It`s been very hectic since Denmark. Have already 2 races in my belt, one tri and one bike TT.

Last saturday was my first tri since Kona 07. Norwegian Cup opener in Holmestrand. A 750-20-5 sprint. Swim was in pool, and in 4 heats. Everyone stopped after swim, and bike was a persuit after the swim times. I was in lane 1 in heat 3. There where some discussions in days leading up to the race on swimsuits. It ended with Norwegain Federation not banning any suits for this race. Si i wore my BlueSeventy Point Zero. Had a descent swim in 12.01. As espectet. 3min 17sec begind the 14old leader in the youth category. He swam 8.44!! 3min gap to the main contenders. Around 30th place....

Started out very hard on bike. Wanted to try to get in contact with Even Olsen, starting 15 sec in front. He is a strong biker, and was a podium contender. But he got away, while I was busy passing slow bikers on the narrow roads. The hard start cost me, and I had to slow for a while. Found my rythm again after 10k and biked really well from there to T2. Passed alot of people, and started run in 12th position. Ole Richard Holm Olsen was just in fron of me, and I caught him after 200m. He is also doing IM Germany, and has been reported in great shape, training 20h+ weeks. So I was in for a great fight I thought. He surged going up a long climb, and I barely stayed with him. But he was breathin hard, and with a "uhhhhh!" on topp of the climb he slowed dramaticly. I kept my pace over the topp and he was gone:-)

At turn-around I found my self prety isolated. To big a gap to nr. 10, and pretty good control on those behind. So I kept a steady, solid pace, and pushed it a litthle on the last climb to finish. 11th overall, 9th in men elite, beaten by 1 junior and 1 agegroup M40-49.

So today it was time for a local 94k TT. I was eager for a good training day today. So started with a 2400m morning swim with 8x300m pull with paddles. Race was a point to point race down Nummedalen, starting in Rødberg and finishing here in Kongsberg. My always supporting dad drove me all the way up there, while mum watched the kids. Thanks!!

I got to start as nr. 2, and qickly passed the woman in front of me. Very strong headwind made it hard all the way down the valley. Have done this race twice before, once in mild headwind in 2.24.26, and once in VERY strong tail/cross wind in 2.08. It was only me and the lead motorcycle out there. Felt lonely. Kept wishing someone would come up from beind, so I could adjust my pace. It was a mental test, but a relativly modest opening made me have fuel in the tank for the last 30k`s. Kept imagening it was a tri, and i was leading the damn thing:-)

Finished in 5th place in 2.28.56. Pretty happy with that. Beat the local cyclists, thats always nice:-) Winner time was 2.15.03. Damn fast in that wind!

Headed straight out on a transition run after finishing. Got 47mins in, but legs was toasted from the ride. A bit different to run after an all out TT, than in a triathlon:-) All in all a great training day!!












My favorite rides; Scott Plasma Ltd and Ford S-Max














Ready to start in Rødberg

Denmark Camp day 4

4th day of camp i woke up feeling pretty fresh considering i felt very tired on yesterdays Brick. Guess it was smart to cut the Brick a bit. We where scedueled to do a olympic distance race today. So after 1000m warmup in the pool, we did a timed 1500m. We where 3 in my lane, starting with 10sek intervals. I hit the firt 100 as hard ass I could to get up in Gerhards feet, and managed to do it:-) He then pulled in Erik, who started first, so I sat in a perfect position with 10 and 20sek on them.

After 400 or 500m Gerhard swam past Erik, and I decided to go with him. Erik then sat on my feet for the rest of the 1500. Last 300m got pretty hard, and I struggled to stay on Gerhards feet, but managed, and then had a 8 sek lead heading out on the bike after breakfast. Erik was 20 sek behind. My time for the 1500 was 23.56

So after breakfast we headed out for a warmup lap in our 2 loop 40k bike course. We then started the race as a persuit, me in the lead and the rest close behind. I started hard, and my legs felt way much bether than yesterday. Was expecting to get company from Erik pretty fast, and was sure he was going to blast by me. But it took almost 10k for him to get up to me, and he seemed happy to stay 15-20m back. I just kept pedaling as hard I could, and it stayed like this for the reminder of the bike. We could se after lap 1 that everyone else was far behind, so it was going to be a 2 man battle on the run.

We ran out together and once again Erik seemed happy to stay behind me. He usually is a bether runner than me, so I was a bit surprised. We did a 3 lap 10,5k run, mainly in the forest on very nice paths. The lap had 1 climb, and on lap 2 Erik opened up a big gap on me. But he then slowed down and waited, so i figured he was much stronger than me, and was just playing. So we ran out on last lap still together, and same thing happened on the climb. Hen the slowed down again on the flat stretch to finish, and I ran as hard I as could to get a descent finish to the camp. I caught him, and we decided to cross the line toghther. Nice of him, cause he could have beaten me easyliy with over 1min i guess.

So that hard race ended a great camp in Denmark, with 21h training in 4 days.