My old friends ...

Back with my old friends - the rain and the mountain bike. Not a bad combo though and I enjoyed 2 hours alone on Carretera de las Aiguas with nice music in the ears. It was raining cats and dogs when I left home and I got a weird look from our door-man, leaving home. I guess my Nordic genes still allow me to enjoy the cold rain while training, it almost animates me, makes me go even harder - definitely not something you see a lot around here. Met Guillermo running on the ways back and we kept company through-out the remaining part of his training. Good to see he is coming back from a leg injury! Bad weather can be a friend ;)

Improve running tech ...

Now that winter is really taking its toll, why not spend some time on the belt, trying to improve your running technique. Its never too late. It takes a while, it hurts in the calves - but a good technique avoids injuries and propels you forward faster. I gained some 0:30 min/km once I started running more fore-foot. This video gives a good insight into the mechanics:

My 2011 Challenge - Road to Kona

So - let´s get down to whats it all about really: The Challenge

This year somehow stepping it up. After 3 Ironman races completed, especially after posting 9h50m on home turf in Copenhagen, I felt that taste of blood - Make it to the Mecca of Triathlon, to Kona, to Ironman Hawaii, to the World Championships in October 2011!

For sure a daunting, bone-crushing task, but impossible is nothing. To get on the road to Kona, you need to qualify for one of the 1800 slots offered to non-professionals every year. All Ironman-branded races have a designated number of slots. For my age group (35-39) this probably means staying within the best 8 or 9, which again can be transposed into a required improvement of 25-30 minutes on my time in Copenhagen - that is A LOT !!!

So, teaming up with my buddy and Ironman veteran Guillermo Lladó, who is also our local and trusted Argon 18 bike pusher. Guillermo has more than 20 IM races under the belt and qualified twice for Kona - most definitely an adequate soul to follow and train with, trying to accomplish above objective!

Looking for a qualifying race, we quickly narrowed in on Ironman St. George in Utah, May 7th 2011. A new race with an aggressive profile, both on the bike (1600m of climbing) and on the Marathon that climbs 700m. This year only 3 Pros went under the 3 hours on the marathon and Kona qualification was secured around 10h30m - which proves that we need to focus a lot on climbing both on the bike and run. On the other hand, St. George looks like a beautiful landscape, surrounded by mountains and stunning views. And being accompanied by one the the best chaps in the world, my mate Anders Gramkow and Guillermo´s wife Monica, I am sure we´re gonna have the time of our life. Andy and I head out from San Francisco, make a classical road trip down to Las Vegas to pick up Monica & Guillermo - then all head to St. George a few days before the race! As a (hopefully not-needed) back-up race, I have chosen Ironman Zürich in July where I am joining Pablo, Janne and a bunch of Catalan training mates!

So what does it take? Well - I think I can safely say that I have gear right, so that leaves only hard training to be accomplished! So for the next 5 months leading up to IM St. George, training efforts will be fierce, clocking some 20-25 hours a week in the pool, on the bike and running.
January and February will be focused on volume and running (as its still a bit cold for long bike rides, even around Barcelona) and then March & April will be more quality will be virtue, hitting the bike hard with race specific long and fast training sessions, pushing the boundaries above VO2Max.

Motivation is on full and I honestly cannot wait to get going. My legs are itchinga and I have a hard time (some would say I do...) to stay relaxed and rest these weeks. I have a burning desire to give all that I have to reach this goal - without a doubt the hardest physical and mental test I have ever put myself onto.

Quoting the great Lance Armstrong: “If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or Fight Like Hell.”

Above all, looking forward to the great company of my training mates and enjoying that taste of blood in the mouth, while the old engine is hauling hard.
We take no prisoners. Hugs T

If You Had One Chance...

Berga Morning Ride

Good day on the bike today, testing the track of next year´s Berga Half Ironman. Leaving BCN early, blazing sun, chilling in the car with Sergio - hitting Berga downtown where we´re met by 30-35 riders and -2 degrees which is COLD even for Spanish snow-covered pre-Pyrenees in November. The folks told me the track was flat, hence brought the E-114. It turned out to be a trap and after hurling downhill at 65-70km/h we hit an easy 12km ascent - not stuff for a time trial bike at all. Good day though and the circuit took us through nice catalan country side with views to the mountains with snow, which may await us for some Randonee and Splitboarding next weekend.

Clean air has always been my favorite breakfast! - Luv T

Fatboy´s Nutrition Series:

So, based on today´s discussions, decided to write a few little words on nutrition: These are the Fatboy´s Nutrition Series

I: Types of nutritions - optimal weight vs. peak performance
II: The nutritional account - Input vs. output
III: Nutritional Value - crap vs. performance intake
IV: Eating like a champion
V: Supplements

First posts should hit the lights Friday! Luv T

Today´s training - Thomas

12km fartlek at around 4:00, pushing down to 3:30 at 600-800m. Tested the new shoe inlays again and this time better - I am sure I am still having new blister from where the soles are pushing under my feet. The feeling is very stable and no pain in the knee. Guess they are worth the 255 Euros after all;)
Now stretching for a while - then nice dinner! Recovery week rocks!

Dark Side of the Lens

DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo.