langkjøring

Sick

2007-01-10T10:31:00.000-06:00

It had to happen, I guess. On Monday I came down with a nasty cold and my only exertion have been the crawl between the bed and the couch. It looks like it's loosing it's grip though, so I hope I can start back up again on Friday.

Of course, as always after periods of illness, I have to start nice and slow - let the body ease into it again and prevent a relapse. Naturally I had to make some changes to my training this month, but in the end it shouldn't make all that much of a difference.

I had a very good period of training leading up to this period of sickness, so I needed a few easy days anyways. In the end, this might have been a good thing.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T09:50:00.000-06:00

Well, that's a wrap.

December ended up being a super month, with regards to training. The quality and volume both ended up as planned, with the body feeling good. Slightly run-down, but I feel I'm balancing it all fairly well still.

As for January - more of the same. Much more.... Most likely my highest volume month, with 4 high intensity sessions per week (2 I-3, 1 I-4 and 1 I-5). The first two weeks of January will be very hard, so I've got a mixed outlook on the next 12-14 days or so. Sort of a mix between excitement and dread. The 3rd week is fairly easy, to absorb the previous training, while the 4th week is pretty normal.

Hope everyone had a great 2006 and ready to rock in 2007. As always - GI GASS!

November wrap-up, December outlook

2006-12-07T10:38:00.000-06:00

So we are moving closer and closer to Christmas. Anyone feeling the stress yet?

November ended up being a fairly successful month, all things considered. Despite losing about 1 week due to illness early in the month, I managed to get in 3 weeks of good volume and some fairly decent interval sessions. The only thing that I logged in the "con" column in November was the lack of intervals. I didn't manage to complete the planned amount of intervals, but being so early in the season - I'm not panicking.

I'm done with the first week of December already, and things are going excellent. December and January are critical months in my season prep and staying healthy becomes more important than ever. Both months will be high volume with about 4 interval sessions a week. I have planned 2 I-3 sessions, 1 I-4 distance session and 1 I-5 session per week for the month of December. The rest of the training is 2-5 hour rides, mostly done in the I-1 and I-2 zones.

I have, as always, 1 mandatory rest day per week, with an additional rest day that I will take, if I feel excessively run-down. Towards the end of December I have about 3 additional rest / recovery days planned, to let my body absorb the training.

One positive "surprise" this year is that I'm recovering much faster than last year. This has allowed me to increase volume effectively.

As always, happy training everyone!

October review, November plan

2006-11-08T11:36:00.000-06:00

Well, better late than never. :)

October turned out to be a great training month. I was able to execute everything as planned, while maintaining some extra energy. The "important" sessions (I-3 and I-4) all got a 1. Rating in my log.

The plan for November was to build on the gains realized in October. Still a heavy emphasis on threshold intervals (I-3) and 1 I-4 distance session a week (25 minute). In other words, I've got 3 interval sessions scheduled a week this month, 2 I-3 and 1-4. This will allow me to build threshold ability, while maintaining and moving AT with the I-4 session.

The rest of the sessions are I-1 and I-2 sessions, giving a total amount of hours for November around 70-75. So, still a gentle, slow but steady build. The periodization is a steady increase in weekly hours and training load for the first 3 weeks, with a recovery week at the end. In addition to the bike specific training, I also have 3 core strength sessions planned a week, as usual.

So, that was the plan. But, like all great plans..... You know how it goes. As the first of November rolled around, so did a nasty cold. I only trained 10 hours in the first week of November and as a result I'm far behind my plan. I'm not panicking, but I'm certainly not happy either. I tend to get pretty "grumpy" when I can't train as planned.

I haven't trained since Sunday and will take today and tomorrow off. Hopefully I'll be back in shape by Friday, so that I can start back up. I tweaked my monthly plan and as a result, I will still reach my planned volume for the month, but I will lose 3 quality sessions (2 I-3 intervals and 1 I-4 sessions). Hopefully this is the first and last sick period this season. I take fairly extreme precautions, but somehow those little germs must have slipped by my defenses. :)

As always - GI GASS!!!!!!

Recommended books

2006-10-04T13:20:00.000-05:00

I've just finished Pete Vordenberg's "Momentum - Chasing the Olympic Dream". Some of you might remember Vordenberg as a US world-cup skier and he's currently in charge of the US Cross Country Ski Team. Well written and very interesting book.

I started to read Brad Gilbert's "I've got your back" and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Gilbert is probably most remembered as Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick's very successful coach.

Apart from that, I'm on day 4 of my 2007 season and things are going well. Hope you are all getting out there and putting in the miles.

Training zones explained

2006-09-28T13:30:00.000-05:00

As requested, here is a quick explanation of my training zones:

I-1 - 45-60% of max VO2, 60-72% of max HR, 0.8-1.5 lactate levels

I-2 - 65-80% of max VO2, 72-82% of max HR, 1.5-2.5 lactate levels

I-3 - 80-87% of max VO2, 82-87% of max HR, 2.5-4.0 lactate levels

I-4 - 87-94% of max VO2, 87-92% of max HR, 4.o-6.0 lactate levels

I-5 - 94-100% of max VO2, 94-100% of max HR, 6.0-10.0 lactate levels

October - Month 1, 2007

2006-09-26T13:12:00.000-05:00

Periodic goal - Maintain energy, have fun. Stay healthy and focused. Maintain quality and mental tasks during training.

I have 9 high intensity sessions planned for this month. 7 of them are threshold (I-3) sessions, while 2 are distance sessions (16km TT - I-4).

Each week has 1 rest-day planned, but as always - listening to my body is nr. 1 priority. If I need more rest, I'll simply take it.

Each week also has 3 core-strength sessions, as I described recently in an earlier posting. Other than that, I've got easy, I-1 rides scheduled. Total monthly training load is just over 60 hours.

Wiggins

2006-09-24T15:35:00.000-05:00

Brad W. speaks out - http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/sep06/sep25news2

Right on, man! Well said.

Random thoughts

2006-09-21T13:10:00.000-05:00

As promised, I will give a detailed description of my training plan, month by month, in the run-up to the 2007 season. Next week I will post my plan for the month of October, which is the first month of preparation for me.

On the year as a whole, I have started to evaluate the now dwindling season. What worked in terms of training? What didn't work? What do I need to focus on for next year?

Well, lets start with what didn't work so well in the 2006 season - as some of you might remember, I incorporated quite a bit of max strength training this year, hoping that it would improve efficiency. In fact, it might have improved efficiency, but I felt that I was sacrificing recovery time. In other words, the amount of time I was spending lifting affected my time and energy available for specific training on the bike. So, as a whole, the strength training was a bad choice on my part. Needless to say, I will not be doing any max strength training in the gym this year. This will free up time, and more importantly energy, for specific training on the bike. If I do some strength training, it will be Obree-style on the fixed gear.

Moving on, as a whole I probably did about 15-20 percent high intensity training (I-3 to I-5), with the brunt of that closer to the beginning of the season. This year I will be increasing the amount of high intensity training and decreasing volume a little bit. In other words, training the engine will be more of a focus area. I plan to do lots of I-3 training (threshold), simply because it is very easy to recover from and the trend in most endurance sports is just that. More and more time spent with I-3 training. Of course - there will also be quite a bit of I-4 and I-5 training, but that will come later (November through April).

I will also change my periodization slightly. Starting in November, I will have a capacity period of 6-12 days of very hard training (exclusively high intensity, I-4 to I-5) every 4-5 weeks. These periods will be very, very tough, but should give a good boost of performance. As always, it becomes extremely important to listen to the body during these periods. Knowing when to push and when to rest becomes vital. One of the overriding goals will be to stay healthy the whole year.

In a nutshell, from November through April, I will have two normal weeks followed by a very hard period, which in turn is followed by an easy week. Simple and basic, but very effective in terms of development. As always, the most important week is the easy week.

Quality, quality, quality. This will be my motto in 2007. Everything that I do needs to have top quality. All training, including the easy rides, food, rest, sleep, mental focus - nothing will be done without top quality.

Flexibility - I did some good work on that in 2006 and will certainly continue that next year. This is almost a daily thing, except after hard sessions. I have seen good results from it, since I can now produce more power in a more aerodynamic (lower) position.

Core strength - Another good area from 2006, which will be continued next year. Basically, I will do 3 sessions a week, year round. Each session lasts about 40 minutes, excluding warm-up, so it's fast and easy.

So, what about the future? Well, in the grand-scheme of things, the main goal still exists - I will be in the top 5 in the world by 2010 - 2011. That's a big goal, and every day, month and year is a small step towards that goal. On paper, it's pretty simple - to reach the top I need to be able to maintain 50-53 km/h for a 1 hour effort in the TT, for example. Each season, I need to take small steps towards the increase in performance. With proper training, each day, it is a realistic, but gutsy, goal.

As an interesting side-note, I have been experimenting with the 4000 m pursuit in training this year, and it turns out that I have some potential in this event. With very little training for this event, I have been posting some pretty fast times and I might be aiming for riding some world cups in this event in the future. With some small changes in equipment, position and specific training - I might be looking at doing a double (track and road), if possible.

Nurturing a cold

2006-09-09T11:46:00.000-05:00

Well, looks like I've got the standard end-of-season infection. Not a big crisis really, my head is almost entirely focused on the upcoming season. I will start preparing for it on October 1st, although that month will be relatively slow and easy. Trying to recharge mental batteries. I will post my training plan and goals for each month of season prep this year, so if you are interested - stop by towards the end of September to find out what I'm going to be doing in October.

A great loss

2006-09-04T09:39:00.000-05:00

Rest in peace, Steve Irwin. The world has lost a great animal conservationist. A sad day indeed.

True or false

2006-09-01T13:09:00.000-05:00

Ever notice how the shoulders and upper body starts to rock on some riders, when they start fatiguing during a time trial?

Well, could this be caused by poor / weak core strength? With a strong, stabilizing core - it gives the lower body a stable and rigid force to push against. Even after fatigue. True or false?

One of those days

2006-08-28T11:58:00.000-05:00

Woke up this morning and before looking out of the window, I knew what was waiting out there for me... Lots and lots of cold rain. The weekly plan said 15 minutes of threshold intervals, repeated 5 times (15m x 5). I have to admit, it was really hard to force myself out there today.

After a longer than usual breakfast and, as my wife remarked, a very slow "pre-training" ritual - I finally got out there. The warm-up wasn't great, the start is always the worst in these conditions. But, as I started the first interval, I couldn't help smiling. Why? Because I knew this was going to be one of those days where my legs felt incredible. The whole session was absolutely great and the smile never disappeared.

It just goes to show - it's never as bad as you think it is. And hey, the coffee afterwards tastes so much better after a good, quality session like this. This one went into the training log under 1.

Tufte

2006-08-24T12:59:00.000-05:00

Olaf Tufte from Norway qualified himself for the World Championship final in rowing today, even with some traces of illness in his system. Good luck in the final this weekend, Olaf!

GI GASS!!

For the ones that are familiar with the extremely fascinating sport of rowing, you know that top international rowers train more than any other athletes across the board and Olaf takes that to new extremes. Maybe that's why he's one of the best in the world?

Get well and go get them, my man!

GI GASS!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-08-21T17:30:00.000-05:00

Small changes - great improvements

2006-08-19T12:40:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking and critically evaluating my time trial position lately and yesterday I did a lab-test on my position. We evaluated power, technique and efficiency. I wanted to confirm my suspicion that my seat-height was too low.

You might be surprised to hear that the majority of pro cyclists never have any professional fitting done to their race bikes. Most of us probably do just what you do. But after spending a day in the lab yesterday, I can highly recommend spending the extra money on a professional fit.

The reason I suspected my position was off, is that after taking a closer look at my pedaling technique when I time-trial, I have discovered that I pedal slightly toes down. This has in effect "extended" my effective leg-length and since I had been using the generic measurements for determining seat-height, my numbers were off. This nicely illustrates why generic formulas only get you in the ball-park, you also need to take a look at individual differences.

So, this all resulted in raising the seat 1.3 centimeters. Muscles produce more power the longer they are allowed to extend, so not surprisingly my power numbers improved quite substantially.

Eager to test the actual results in the field, I ran through my 16 km TT course today and improved with almost 30 seconds. Needless to say, I'm giddy like a school-girl.

Mystical

2006-08-18T15:23:00.000-05:00

I had a great late-morning training ride. Although it didn't start out as anything special, considering I got rained on for the first 30-40 miles or so, it soon changed. As i started entering one of the oldest forests in my area and the road narrows and snakes through the valleys and ridges, the mist was thick and although the rain was gone - the patches of fog remained. As i rode along, i was climbing in and out of these small areas of mist and fog, giving the forest a very mythical and fairly-tale like appearance.

I wished i had brought my camera, and had the ability to take great pictures, because this ride was one of those that sticks with you all day long. These conditions endured for the next 20 miles and i was totally lost in the scenery. On days like this, i thank the high heavens for the opportunity to do what i do. I wouldn't trade a day like this for anything, it is what makes it all worth it.

Future

2006-08-16T13:29:00.000-05:00

Well, after much thinking, considering and discussing - it looks like I'm going to make the leap and start a leadership and coaching education at a very reputable European university. Now, this does not in any way mean that I'm going to abandon my racing career. Not at all.

This program is uniquely created for, and only available to, top-level athletes. It follows a very laid-back 50% study-load, mostly long-distance learning supplemented with a few camps. Following the recommended timeline, I should be done in about 3.5 years. I'm interested in starting this, simply because I would like to share some of my experiences and be involved with training the new generation of athletes, once my own cycling career is over.

This has all be cleared with my team, sponsors and it will in no way conflict with my overall career goals. Most of the courses will be very familiar topics and mostly just organizing my experiences and put my own "touch" on some of the theories. The course starts fall 2007 and the group of athletes look very interesting. We will be about 20 students, consisting of a mix between riders, track and field and cross country skiers.

So, for the people that know me, your worst fear has become reality - I will be in a position to taint the minds and bodies of our future stars. :)

Bonsai

2006-08-14T12:56:00.000-05:00

Winners are not created overnight. In fact, in endurance sports such as cycling, it takes years, even decades. Expecting that changes should happen any faster usually leads to either mental burnout and giving up, or the so-called "overtraining" scenario.

It is crucial that you stay goal oriented and measure progress in relation to yourself and not your competitors. Any energy spent on measuring yourself with other riders is a waste of time and is energy that could have been spent developing your own skills.

Create a list over your work tasks; items that you need to accomplish during training and competing. The items need to be things that you control, not your finishing time in a TT or a placing in a mass start. Every time you train and race, rate your execution of these tasks on a scale. 1 - all the tasks where executed 100%, 2 - 75% execution, 3 - 50% execution.

Use this scale on competitions and quality training sessions (intervals / distance training). As preparation for a season, I can fairly accurately determine how well my season prep as been by counting the number of sessions rated 1. If most of the quality sessions have been assigned 1, I know my preparations have been good. If I look back and see lots of 2s and 3s, I've got a problem that needs attention. This provides a great evaluation tool.

Keep in mind that not only is it important to have quality during training and racing, it is even more important to ensure proper quality of your recovery. Without adequate recovery, that training you are putting in is only making you weaker. Consider your total training load, including work, school, personal life etc. These factors all influence your recovery rate, which in turn decides how much training you can put it.

The challenge for a full-time athlete is to reduce all "unnecessary" loads, in order to maximize training loads and proper recovery. If you are working / in school you cannot train as much, but the principal still applies.

Adventures

2006-08-10T13:44:00.000-05:00

As always, I'm looking for new adventures and new places to push my limits. Since the season is slowly drawing towards an end, it's time to start looking for a new off-season challenge. My requirements are simple; the "event" has to build fitness towards the new season and most importantly, it has to put me outside of my comfort zone and challenge me mentally as well as physically.

So, I've started to develop a short-list and thought I'd present it here to hear if anyone has any recommendations. Without further due, here it is:

1. Mt. Blanc. It's the highest mountain in Europe and a fairly easy, non-technical climb. Maybe too easy, in fact. The mountain is climbed by thousands every summer and the record is a little over 5 hours round-trip from Chamonix. With a bit of acclimization to the high elevations, it could at least prove to be a good 1 day training effort.

2. Mera Peak. This is a 6500m high peak in Nepal. It's one of the highest, non-technical climbs in the Himalayas. This is certainly more challenging than Mt. Blanc, mostly due to the longer trek up the Hinku valley. This climb would most likely take 15-20 days, including the trek up the valley and some time for acclimization.

3. And finally, crossing Greenland on skis. Much more of a flat adventure, but being exposed to the Arctic weather would surly create a challenge. The length is about 600km and would most likely take around 18 days to complete.

One step at a time

2006-08-06T12:30:00.000-05:00

Slowly, but surely, my form is starting to build it's way back up after my slow period in July. With a mix of longer, relatively easy rides and some harder efforts, my body seems to be responding fairly well and I'm getting stronger every week. I've still got 5-6 important races left on the calendar, along with a handful of races where I'm a proud bottle carrier.

On the topic of training, I would really like to stress the importance of finding out what works best for you. If you have spent a little bit of time researching training methodology, you know that there is a ton of well-meaning advice out there, but it may not all work for you.

We are all a bit different, both in genetic make-up and more importantly, training background. So, some riders may respond very well to lots of high intensity training while others progress more with longer, easier sessions and a few hard efforts. How do you find out what works for you? Experiment. Don't be afraid to try out various things.

It's important that you have the guts to do something, even if there is a possibility for failure. Playing it safe all the time will not give the results you want. You have to have a "killer" mentality to certain degree, both in training and racing.

Dare to train hard, harder than you have before. Next time you do a TT, go out harder than you have - test your boundaries, find out what is too hard. If you haven't blown-up in a TT, chances are you are racing below your potential.

Pain

2006-08-02T14:23:00.000-05:00

We're a group of riders, on various teams, that meet up on a fairly regular basis to blow out some gunk through a short, 20k TT course. It is a fairly flat, non-technical "out-and-back" type that usually posts some fast times. It serves a few purposes, but mainly it's a great field-test of performance and equipment. This course has been used by riders in this area for years and years, so there is a of "history" in it.

Such a course really requires a full-out effort and is, in that respect, easy to pace. It hurts like heck, but is not very challenging in other aspects. It's easy to find and maintain your rhythm and just "go with the flow". I'm a firm believer in this type of training, since it teaches correct pacing and develops a feel for how hard you can go. As long as the course is short enough, you recover quickly from it and therefore you can safely do it at least once a week. Combined with traditional interval training, you will build a good capacity.

At a less frequent interval I run through a longer, 50K course. It's rolling and exposed and a great challenge. Since it requires longer recovery times I might only run through it once a month. As for a training effect, it's not much more effective than the 20k course - but it helps as a performance gauge.

TT

2006-07-31T12:32:00.000-05:00

When I time-trial, I have 3 things that I always focus on and think about. I constantly try and evaluate these 3 things and try to improve on them constantly. They are: 1. Pacing. I train with HRM and power, but I race "in the dark". I'm always listening and feeling my body, trying to evaluate if I'm going hard enough, but not too hard. This skill will develop as you do more and more TTs.

2. Technique. I try to relax and keep my upper body as still as possible. Little or no head movements, TT helmet flat and touching my back. Correct cadence.

3. Mental toughness. Focus on work tasks. Concentrate. And most importantly - being able to be tough and hard towards yourself. TTs will hurt, period. This becomes especially important during the last 5-6km and races are usually won here. From 5k in it's an all-out, nothing held back, effort. This is going to hurt and the winner is often the one that can dole out the most hurt.

All I do during a TT is focus on these 3 tasks. Simplicity is important, just go through them over and over again. When I evaluate my performance after an effort, I evaluate it based on these 3 items, NOT my placing. Placing is irrelevant at this point.

Wishes

2006-07-31T11:56:00.000-05:00

What do we wish for in athletes? Often what goes on between your ears is just as important for performance, as what you have in your legs.

I've listed some focus points that I try to reach for and I hope that you will also find something useful here:

1. Being able to handle, and grow, while under pressure. "Rise to the occasion".

2. Realize that you go through both ups AND downs as an athlete. Often, how we handle the downs is vital for success later on.

3. Being "best when it matters". Match top performance with top event.

4. Be brave.

5. Be creative.

6. Fair Play. Have good role-models. Be a good citizen.

7. Live a good life outside of riding and after putting the bike away. Seek mental recovery as well as physical recovery.

8. What does it mean to succeed? Winning the national championship? Winning the World Championship? Olympic Gold? Or is it growth and development as a human being?

9. The most important goal is to create motivation and happiness.

10. Try to be motivated by happiness. The goal is to reach the "zone". If you are motivated by happiness you will find joy even during trivial training. And that is when development really starts happening.

11. There are 2 perspectives on motivation, performance oriented and goal oriented.

12. The performance oriented person compares himself with other people, is very focused on being the best, usually thinks talent is genetic, finds winning to be the number 1 thing, gets bored easily and is more likely to cheat.

13. The goal oriented person has himself as a reference point, is focused on doing his best and developing his own skills, shows great patience and thinks competing is fun if he accomplishes his work tasks; regardless of placing.

14. Perfection - never accept anything less. Always strive for perfection during your work tasks when you train and compete.

15. Compete primarily with yourself and not your competitors. Try to improve all the time, also during competitions. Focus on work tasks, NOT placement. In other words - you might win and be disappointed because you didn't accomplish your work tasks to the quality you desired. You may also end of in 20th place and be happy because you did all the tasks to perfection.

16. If you are a performance oriented athlete you probably tend to choose either extremely easy tasks or extremely hard tasks. You show signs of easily giving up when things don't work out.

17. BE A GOAL ORIENTED ATHLETE.

If you have any questions about a specific point, please let me know and I'd love to elaborate. I hope some of you find this helpful.

Tip of The Day

2006-07-27T13:00:00.000-05:00

Listen to your body. Have a training plan, but make sure you are able to take it easy when you feel "down".