Is technology killing the fun of working out?

If you participate in a race today you will see a lot of people wearing at least one device with the ability to give at least hear rate, but most likely speed and other information too. In the old days we only had a stop watch if we were lucky. Is technology killing the fun?

Technology will always keep progressing and the prices will go down. This is a fact. I sold Polar HR monitors in the nineties and to say it mildly, you get a lot more for your money these days. I have to say that the biggest step in sports technology has been GPS in combination with other data. Now we can get a really good picture of what we did, were we did it at what speed, heart rate and cadence. But, is technology killing the fun?

 

My short answer is no. Technology is optional. It should be used to improve the experience; help with motivation and help people get their but out the door. If you are a slave to your device, maybe you should try to adjust your relationship. But overall I have no problem with technology. We all are different and some like to look at nature when they are running, some like to look at their watch. The most important thing is that they are out running.

I have an on/off relationship to technology. Sometimes I use it to push myself and other times I just want to do everything on feelings.



Maybe a bigger question is, have technology made us faster? Well we still have to push ourselves and do the job, so I guess for some people yes and for other no.



My advice, do what works for you.

Can a tech t-shirt be technical, a review of Fusion PRF Pro T-Shirt

I remember when I first start paying attention to the term technical t-shirt. It was in the nineties and I was working in a running store. Nike has start coming out with their Coolmax technology and it was suppose to be so much better than cotton. Now almost 20 years later I have gotten used to not pay attention to the term tech t-shirt. Why? since the term tech t-shirt is used for all shirts made of a synthetic material. An trust me, nothing is technical with most of those shirts. They cannot be used for any training and not like a cotton shirt, for cleaning your bike or to polish shoes.

Luckily you will find manufactures out there who actually wants to create a good product, and that is where the Danish company Fusion comes in. Fusion is making quality clothing for running, cycling and triathlon, but is that true? Well, so far I have to agree. Fusion is a typical Danish company they blend function first with good design and choice of materials. Everything on the t-shirt is there for a reason, and it looks good also.

What is nice with the Fusion PRF Pro t-shirt is the fit and materials. The t-shirt is made for athletes and endurance sports. Also the t-shirt has a different material on the back on under the arms. That is genius. This shirt is not a synthetic heat tap, it is working. It is nice to finally use a shirt that lives up to what is promised. After using this product I have finally found a technical t-shirt that is technical. Now I have to do the easy part, train.

So check out this gem of a Danish brand. You can find it here http://www.fusionsportsusa.com/

So how is training going Halvard?

It is almost Thanksgiving and then Christmas. This is the busiest time for me at work and my wife has been traveling a lot this fall for her work. As you can see I have all the excuses lined up already. But luckily my off season training has not been too bad.

I am not reinventing the wheel when it comes to my training. I am trying to build on the training I did with Coach Tony DeBoom. He got me from the sofa to the top of Gaustatoppen in less than two years so it would be stupid to not learn from it.



Here you have my principles:

• Learn to know yourself


• It is about endurance strength


• Have fun

Learn to know yourself

What does that mean? I am trying to get a good understanding of my body and use that as a data point for decisions making. I am not blindly following any measurement devices but try to use them as a supplement to training, mostly to keep the effort down when I have easy training. It will take time, but I feel that I am starting to get to know my body better now.

 

It is all about endurance strength

Let us be real. I am not swimming fast, bike fast or run like a runner during a long distance triathlon. It is not about the speed, but the strength to keep going. So my running intervals are usually 5x5 minutes uphill, I will also do threshold runs. The goal is to build endurance, not so much the capability to run fast with a lot of acid in the legs like a 1,500 meters runner. On the bike I do two sessions of low revolutions a week. I have good experience with those from my build up to Norseman. Swimming – let’s get back to that in 2014.

Have fun

Training and competitions are about having fun. Yes I can have goal, but the most important is the fun factor. If you take what you do too seriously when it comes to sport, being afraid of failure will be the most dominate thought and suck all life out of the experience.

My speed at Norseman - in YouTube format

I did not race Norseman, I tried to survive. Now I can get a glimpse of my speed. The athletes placing one step in front of and right behind have made YouTube videos. You can even see a slow moving Halvard.

The guy who beat me.



The guy I crushed ;-)

Norseman 2014 - my little contribution

The lottery is over and happy athletes have gotten their spot at Norseman 2014. I have already been asked questions from several athletes lucky enough to get a spot, and I answer as good as I can.

I also got this nice feedback on Slowtwich from one of the elite women.

An article about me on www.skiaktiv.no

Saturday I had a nice talk with Ingeborg Scheve from the Norwegian endurance web site www.skiaktiv.no. Skiaktiv is focusing on endurance sports like cycling, running cross country skiing and have started with more triathlon coverage. Since I got interviewed it is quite obvious that the site is also covering more average age groupers and not only the fast ones.

You can read my interview here

On the front page of my company's intranet site

I had a nice surprise Monday morning when a picture of me was on the front page  of my company's intranet site. I guess it is OK to be known for something other than being a compensation and spreadsheet nerd ;-)