Gear up!

Here we go!

Got my Louis Garneau helmet in the mail yesterday, and I'm super stoked about it! Ready to hit the road and feel the difference ;) I have also bought new goggles from Zoggs, and even though I have yet to try them in water, the feel SO great! The sit perfectly around my eyes and the feel comfortable. I'll come back with a review when the time is right :) 

The tri-suit is from SUGOi, and was reasonably cheap. Not tried out yet, but feels good on with no seams in places where they can cause irritation. 

The race belt is a genius little thing, with clever straps to attach your race number in :) It's from Orca, and should make transition way easier! It also has three places for energy gels, which can be a good thing to bring on the run. 

Last, and probably least, I also bought a set of Orca elastic laces to make T2 faster. I felt clumsy trying to tie my laces after a hard bike leg in Ringshaugdysten, and my motor skills was hopeless. Elastic laces with a speed lock changes everything and should save 30-45 secs in transition time. Here you can see the gear(minus the laces) laid out.

What's YOUR favorite gear? What's the one thing you can't do without, in a tri, MTB-race, run or any other competition. Please leave a comment :)

Last: Today's workout was a 63k easy ride with a few hill sprints. I still feel a bit heavy, and I won't risk making it worse with hard work outs. I have a MTB race coming up in a week, and I want to be ready for it and beat my time from last year. Will try to update from Trysil next weekend!

Stay focused,

Frank

Know when to hold back!

Today I reminded myself of one important thing about exercise: Know when your body has had enough, and when to hold back on intensive workouts. After another day at G-Sport from 9-19 I had in mind to take my Velcotite Flux out for a spin. First from Bø to Gvarv and back again to Bø, and then hill repeats in the Lifjell hill. Early on i felt yesterday still in my quads and I had problems when trying to reach 90% MHF. Even though it is kind of stupid to keep on trying I did, but only managed to reach 86-87% before my legs tensed up and i felt major pain in my quads. It was impossible to continue like this, so I rearranged my routine on-the-go and just kept pedaling. I managed about 20k in 45 mins, keeping it under control so that I can take my road bike out for a spin tomorrow without being totally bonked.

Lesson: Listen to your body! It will eventually tell you when it is tired, and you would do smart in listening when the red light starts to blink. Intensity should be reduced, and maybe more focus on core strength and mobility should be your goals for the next week or two.

Stay frosty,

Frank

Update: Moving and sponsor deal!

I am now writing to you from 750 meters farther up in Bø than last time. I have(with a little help from good friends) moved in to a new flat, and I have settled nicely in. The view is great, I have all the room I need and the rent is better :)

More great news: After a brief facebook-session with a friend of mine(Juma Iraki from Iraki Nutrition) I was put in contact with bedretrent.no. I mailed them, they mailed me back etc. and short story shorter: Bedretrent.no and myself started a partnership where I get help with nutrition(from Proteinfabrikken) for my competitions and training sessions. In return I am going to write for bedretrent.no, so the Norwegian speaking audience can follow me there too :) More information will follow later this week.

Other than that I can tell you that a solo 50k ride in wind/rain is a struggle, but I am sure it makes you a better cyclist! The feeling of coming in from a cold and strenuous ride, chugging a restitution shake and jumping in to a warm shower is priceless! I rode easy/medium for about 25k's and the last 25 was used for 4x4 intervals and short flat and hill sprints. Great session.

Check out my facebook-page for more info, pictures etc.

Catch you later,
Frank

Race report 23.06.13

Ringshaugdysten is done, and I put my own goals to shame by clocking in at 1:17:31. My goal was to beat 1:30:00, which I did, but I'd never thought I'd do this well!

The swim was expected to be hard, and it was! Wind, waves, crazy swimmers and jellyfish made it a strenuous leg but I kept my eyes on the goal, taking it one stroke at the time. I pretty much breast stroked the whole 750 meters since my freestyle technique is flawed in SO many ways.

After the swim I ignored my bleeding feet and ran straight for T1. After a bit of fiddling with my wetsuit i managed to pedal out from the transition area and start on my 20k bike leg. This part went far better than the swim and I passed 30-35 other triathletes during my 33 minutes of riding! I felt like flying on my Velocite Selene and zoomed past on the flats. In the "hills" though, I saw some of them pass me again and this is something I really have to work on in the future. I'm no mountain goat!

T2 went well, but I need to work on my routines in the transition to save time and energy for what really matters. Out on the run I started by feeling good, but soon had to pay a bit for pedaling like a mad man during the bike. My calves tensed up, but I still managed to keep a 4:30-4:40 pace the most of the 5k's, which is quite fast for me :)

All in all I am over the moon after finishing in 1:17:31, 12:29 better than my goal! I've embedded a video from the race. Feel free to share!

Stay focused,
Frank


RIngshaugdysten 2013 from Frank Gøran Pedersen on Vimeo.