Post Olympic stress syndrom

The Olympic is over and now it is back no a normal day and night routine. It is hard to sleep when all of my favorite events starts around 2 AM. So how did my two countries Norway and the USA. Norway did OK, got a lot of medals but had problem with skis and the male cross country skiing team. The US did not have the games they had expected after a strong start of their up and coming cross country team. But luckily the sport is more than the Olympics.

A friend of mine from Drammen and my cross country days sent over some pictures. Those were the days.











This is my friend Anders who became Junior Norwegian Champion in relay, he was on the same team as Ole Einar Bjorndalen. That is cool :-)

And yes I am still training and it is going just fine. I am easy when I am suppose to be and now manage to push the intervals.



But I am trying to be fearless in my training (or at least in my choice of t-shirt)

The joy of the polarized training

I am starting to get into a good rhythm when it comes to training. My easy run and bike sessions are now easy, and I am more ready to push on the hard sessions. The most interesting thing is that it is harder to go easy then hard. I think it is grained into us age groupers that no pain is no gain. But I am getting better at just focus on effort and not speed.



My running is getting better and I am enjoying the long easy runs. Knowing that I can look around and enjoy the scenery without constantly looking at a GPS watch to hit a zone is nice. And even better, I know I get a better workout. Also, I now run my intervals faster so I maybe not have my running legs from my youth, but I will get some running legs before the summer.



Other than enjoying training I am also enjoying the Olympics. Norway is doing good according to American media, and is just horrible according to Norwegian media. I guess the truth is something in between.





And in was Valentin's day, I did not forget :-)



 

 

Training in January, back to the future

I kept moving the months after Norseman, but it was more to keep moving than to get fitter. Fall is also the busiest time at work for me combined with a diet full of cookies around Christmas, January could not come at a better time. And January has been good.

Since I am my own coach now I have the pleasure to find out how I will work out. Should I be the TSS and threshold king, a Strava master or a boring Norwegian. I will be a boring Norwegian and it is a reason for that, it is science. I am actually going back to the way of training that I did when I was young, had speed and hair. I am going to be polarized.

I will follow the structure of polarized training, easy on easy days and hard on long intervals days, two hard days a week. If you wonder how this model works check out this presentation from Stephen Seiler, you get it http://www.canal-insep.fr/fr/training-periodization-deep-root-cultural-heritage-and-innovative-paradigms-2013/ei_13_10_va_pr_stephen_seiler-mov

Also I will recommend the discussion on Slowtwich http://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/Polarized_Training_-_Interesting_Lecture_Video__P4931310



Trying to look smart on the treadmill.

With the polarized model it is important to keep the effort down on easy days, and up on hard days. I am now doing 4x8 both on the bike and running. It is hard, but I know it will work. So how did I do in January? Not bad according to this.



I have start using the training diary from Olympiatoppen. It fits this kind of training better than Trainingpeaks.

 

 

Google "Norseman triathlon", and there I am

I just googled Norseman triathlon and on the front page as number three is my blog. This just confirm that I am obsessed with this fabulous race and that I maybe should go back one day :-)



 

Running in Sammamish

Today was such a nice day, so I took my IPhone with me on my run. Sammamish has a lot of nice places.

Even before I started everything was just good. I got myself a new pair of running shoes, New Balance 890. They did a good job.



And then I started to run.















I am lucky to have all these nice places just outside my door.

Training and competing is FUN

I have taking part in a discussion about what role triathlon has for individuals. And guess what, not everybody agreed. For me, training and competing is fun. Being a triathlete is not what I am. I am a person who also competing in triathlon. But I am also a husband, a dad, an employee and a geek.



I have a feeling that many of the most serious age groupers newer competed in endurance sports when they were 12 – 20 years old and now are trying to catch up. This is of course just a guess. But I think that if you have trained on a high level before you can relax a little more since you put the sport in a bigger picture. The sport is not the picture.



I like to run in the rain, in the cold and in warm weather. Why? Because I like to run, it is enjoyable. If I did not like to swim I would have done duathlon.

 

In the end for me competing and training for triathlon is an activity, not my life. So I have fun doing it, I have fun when the pain sets in, I have fun when I pass someone on a race, and I try to get back to the fun zone when someone pass me. Triathlon is not a description of my life, how I live my life is.

 

[caption id="attachment_363" align="alignnone" width="640"] This is how I have been feeling the last two weeks, being in a fog.[/caption]

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.