How can you train for an upcoming cycling event if you live in Lapland and it´s January?
Most of us use to ski xc or skate or do some other kind of reasonable training inside. I have chosen to commute and exercise with my mountain bike. This is what it was like in January. At least I had power training enough…:
-KY-
Talviharjoitteluni rungon muodostaa työmatkapyöräily. Marraskuusta lähtien olen pikkuhiljaa lisännyt määrää lähtemällä aamulla vähän aikaisemmin ja polkemalla töihin pidemmän reitin kautta. Näin saan aamuun reilun tunnin lenkin – sen voi jo laskea treeniksi. Välillä mennään tehokkaasti, välillä rauhallisesti, täysin kelistä ja fiiliksestä riippuen. Paluumatka työpäivän jälkeen onkin useimmiten sitten ollut vain hidasta ajelua suorinta reittiä kotiin.
Aika pitkään meni saada kroppa tottumaan tällaiseen rytmiin. Tehot on ollut pakko pitää vaatimattomalla tasolla, ettei kokonaisrasitus ole kasvanut liian suureksi. Viime viikkoina on jo iltapäivälläkin haluttanut ajaa vähän pidempi tai tehokkaampi lenkki – selvä merkki siitä, että ihan totaalijumi ei ole vielä iskenyt 
. Kelien parantuessa ja päivän pidetessä on näitä pidempiä paluulenkkejä tarkoitus tehdä useammin.
Siinäpä se, viikonloppuun sitten vielä pitkä lenkki ja/tai voimaharjoitus, sekä yksi vapaapäivä. Näin jatketaan vielä helmikuu, maaliskuun alussa odottaakin sitten viikon vuoristoleiri Italiassa!
Tammikuun saldo: 58 h, 1025 km, keskinopeus huikeat 17,6 km/h!
Kaikki treenitietoni löytyvät täältä:
http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/user/2357968
-KY-
At beginning, few words about long term plan. Before focus training for tour trans-alp I’ll complete speed skating season. On season total training volume need to keep moderate to stay fresh for hard skating interval training. At the April volume have to increase, and highest volume week should be at the end May. Unfortunately then early cycling season will be lost for volume training, can’t believe to be fresh for races when doing high volumes. But have to sacrifice something for coming hard week on Trans-Alps.
Week 3
In 3 skating days focus on 3-5 minute intervals, total 59 minutes at 100-90% pace from 5 minutes maximum. Beside that I did 2*4*(45s intervals with 30s recovery), what a suffering with lactate acids. Highest intensity skating intervals on WK3 were 8*200m flat-out. On bike total 8 hours, mostly on Zone 2 and about 1 hour on recovery zone, few intervals on Z4 and Z5 off course. Very hard week, thanks to skating.
Tervehdys Napapiiriltä!
Kaksi Rush Racing -joukkuetta onnistui saamaan osallistumisoikeuden ensi kesän Schwalbe Tour Transalp -maantiepyöräilykisaan. Tour Transalp on seitsemänpäiväinen vuoristoetappikisa Saksan, Itävallan ja Italian Alpeilla. Kokonaispituus on 806 km ja nousumetrejä kertyy kaikkiaan 19081 m – kiipeiltävää siis riittää!
Jari, Kimmo Y, Mikko ja Kimmo M
Meillä osalllistujilla on vakaa aikomus olla olla juhannusaattona lähtöviivalla sellaisessa kunnossa, että haasteesta kunnialla selviämme (tai näin ainakin on suunniteltu…). Se, miten meidän käy, selviää tätä blogia seuraamalla. Kerromme täällä viikoittain harjoittelumme etenemisestä – siitä, kuinka hullut pohjoisesta puskevat läpi tuulen ja tuiskun kohti kesäisiä Alppeja!
-KY-
8.30 am. We take a right 90 degrees turn onto the Pointe de Mandelon plateau at 2250 meters height. A late sunrise shines in our face after climbing for 1h45m in the forest combining asphalt, gravel roads and single tracks. Middle ring (mainly 33-34) so all fine so far. The view is simply astonishing.
Descent from the Pointe de Madelon plateau
No time for dreaming away, a bit difficult at a 170 bpm heart rate anyways, as we get another stretch of highly technical single tracks in the next 5 kms. Yesterday during the car ride from Bourg d’Oisans to Sion we were wondering if the track would be mainly going through rather “boring” jeep tracks all. Question answered. As I have a personal preference for more “drops’n rocks” I can only smile. 10 kms further and after literally seen 3 bikers on hardtails bouncing off their bikes I know for sure: this is the real deal and I like it.
Singletracks - plenty of them!
Passing through Evolene it’s the third stop and the first enthousiastic crowd. From the quality of the feed zones (they have everything) and the support you would think everyone in Switzerland is into mtb. A nice stretch of technical forest climb, keep those thumbs shifting, and off into the descent towards Eison. Single tracks and drops on the menu again, a Frenchie dives into the fields, no cows around, and ends up 15 meters lower. Luckily no harm done. Remarkable: the respect among all riders. A simple “attention – gauche/droite” is enough to pass the person in front off you. Then again, with 100m drops next to the track you’d rather not act as an idiot.
After leaving Eison it’s time for “the wall”. A 1300m, 11% average off road climb to the Pass de Lona at 2800m. During the first 5 kms we stay in the shade of the forests and the climbing percentage is feasible. All goes well until halfway the climb when turning out of the shade and into the 34C Swiss oven. Small ring, 180 bpm heart rate. Not good. Just before La Vieille at 2/3s of the climb the leader of the 120k Verbier Grand Raid, Urs Huber, passes me – yes these guys already did an extra 60k. The memory card says the worst is still to come after La Vieille but we weren’t planning to win this thing anyways. After a mix of kiwis, Isostar bars, Swiss Gruyère (I told you they have everything) and a liter of water I continue. 500m into the rocky singletrack Alban Lakata (2010 marathon world champ) passes me. I follow for 300 meters, then I hike for almost 2 kms and over 45 mins. The 25%(+?) climb in loose gravel to the top of the Pass de Lona can not be biked, the only difference is that the pros actually run up the climb. I’d conclude that carrying a 12k bike on your back after 4,5 hours of biking is pure suffering, with or without the 500(!) fans cheering you on.
No time for smiling.
The small second climb of the Pass de Lona (it’s “only” 150hm at avg 12%) announces the next part of the race: it’s downhill time. Painful legs, shoulders and lower back really enjoy this part of the track as you have no time to sit down or relax. The views are breath-taking (if any left). Further on you’re thrown into another dusty singletrack section with half a meter drops. Easy roll out to the finish? Think again.
So what was missing from the track so far? Right, river crossings. Enter a technical xc track like section with at least 6 crossings surrounded by fans and families grilling and drinking beers. Ever thought of stealing a sausage from a BBQ? I did after 6,5 hrs on this day. So that was it then? No, no and no. Switchbacks! Yes, 3k of those as well for the cramping fingers thank you.
15 kms of downhill left
More posts by the author can be found on Comingthru.com
After a lot of hard work the Rush Racing Netshop is finally online.
Because of this project I have been training less but all in all I’m still quite happy with my condition. Tomorrow going to go for a long road ride and next week the first competition of the year. I hope to find some time again to write more on this blog but on the other hand I also want to keep my priorities in check. In January or first son was born and every minute I’m writing posts on this block is also a minute away from my family and I guess I’m already quite much away from home. Anyway I hope you like the shop and don’t hesitate to leave your comments!
In bad health training feels like riding a square wheeled bike
I haven’t been writting for a while but I think my excuse is a genuine one. It’s not a lack of time but just poor health and lack of energy. I’m not going to get in detail about all the health problems I had to endure during the last few months but one thing just let to an other and the snowball of troubles and symptoms just got bigger and bigger.
As a long time endurance athlete I’m quite used to feel pain and push myself. I think that’s what I like about it so much. The problem for me is quite often that I don’t really recognise symptoms and my pain and stress treshold is quite high. I just keep going. In the end my body just shut downs and riding my bike feels like I ride a bike with square wheels. It’s time to recover and heal. Because I don’t recognise the symptoms or don’t really feel that bad ( in my opinion) when getting ill at first I just have pushed myself too far and the recovery will take quite long.
I have learned a lot over the years about this so when I feel unwell I usually visit a doctor and I try to seek treatment asap but sometimes I just don’t seem to notice.
One thing I know…good health is a key to hapinness and people just don’t think about this enough! Don’t take your health for granted and take care of yourself and the people close to you!
Thor Hushovd aka The bull from Grimstad, sprinted yesterday to victory in Geelong,Australia. I really enjoyed watching the battle between the Belgians and the Italians but in the end it’s still a world championship and anything can happen.
A country team is not always a real team because the riders still are paid by their teams and not the countries. I’m not saying that Hushovd wouldn’t have won otherwise but worldchampionships quite often have a more hectic and less predictable outcome.
Hushovd in my eyes is really worth to be World Champion. He rides the classics, the tour and is know to be a good sprinter. What people often forget is that he also has been an excellent TT rider when he was younger and that is a skill that he will be able to fall back on when his sprint speed is not high enough anymore. I think Hushovd will offer us some spectacular wins in the future.
Hushovd also has made cycling incredibly popular in Norway and I hope this virus will spread one day to Finland. Jussi Veikkanen and Kjell Carlstöm or Pro-tour riders but still don’t have the capabilities of Hushovd. Maybe one day we get there
For a cycling freak like me the next week couldn’t be any better.
1. http://www.eurobike-show.de
Just to get a taste of next seasons delicacies
Helsinki City Triathlon, just a great event to watch and very accessible for tri-starters, friends, colleagues. Tri for fund indeed!
3. http://www.tourdehelsinki.fi/
A very popular Gran fondo around Helsinki starting and finishing at the Olympic Velodrom near the city centre. About 1300 participants. Always a great event to end the summer season!
See you down there!
I’m just back from a 2 week trip to Crete to enjoy some “slow” time from work. Holiday is not really a word in my dictionary. I needed this trip to get some energy and inspiration back into my system. At the same time I was recovering from a broken rib ( Mtb crash a few days before taking off).
This time of the year is also the time I set new goals and targets for the coming year. If I haven’t reached the goals yet , I just sharpen the strategy to get there. This targets are always set on a personal, couple and professional level.
I really have a clear view of where I want things to go but I just still need to check the timeline and priority of what to do first.Some times you just need to slow down to be able to go faster or to see in which direction to go…
I really enjoyed Mountain biking in Crete and probably will be back there for some more serious training next spring. This time I just had to take it easy. I’m feeling much better already but I still need to be carefull. I will register this weekend anyway for the Finlandia MTB event in Lahti in 2 weeks time and hope to be in a reasonable shape by then.
Group ride calendar – Fillarikalenteri
