It would be hard to stay motivated if I trained in a gym (which looks the same in Stockholm, Christchurch, San Diego, Washington DC, …), but my traveling gives the chance to explore new trails, roads, rivers and lakes.
Sometimes exploration leads to memorable training days. Recently, I biked around Tiburon, a wealthy community north of San Francisco, with incredible views of the City. A few days later I pedaled across the Golden Gate on a rare cloud-less/fog-less morning, with the sun rising over the Bay in the East and the full moon setting over the Pacfic to the West. An awesome ride through the Marin Headlands that I shared with my old Duke roommate Ed Spiegel, an internet-entreprenuer and new owner of a carbon road bike and spandex. This guy is gonna be a road weenie!
This weekend I met my old Nomad teammate Jason Shibata in Washington DC and ran some technical single track along the Potomac River. We were treated to a “first-day-of-spring” feeling, with new flowers and thick green grass sprouting everywhere.
Jason “shibby” Shibata from Explore Sweden 2005. Shibby later became a killer skiier and downhill MTB-er …
Admittedly, not all exploration leads to memorable training. My friend Thomas Bastic was kind enough to loan me his Think surfski and drop me off at Lake Merced for a kayak session in San Fran. Sadly, Lake Merced was a small and polluted pond in the middle of an urban jungle, but it fit the bill for paddle training. At least I got a parking lot shower afterwards!
Thomas lent me his solar-heated and foot-powered shower from Nemo (shower pressure via a foot pump). Nemo used to sponsor Team Nomad with an innovative air-filled tent. Evidently still a creative company …
Sweden’s most popular multisport challenge.
Since my 6 week complete break from training ended on 1 April, I haven’t had an ideal ‘jump start.’ But I’ve been active enough to warn my body about what’s coming — an intense boot camp and build-up to ÅEC 2014 (29 June 2014). I don’t have the luxury of time and I don’t have time for luxury (I soaked up plenty of luxury over the past 2 weeks where an “eat, drink, and be merry … and train a little bit” theme prevailed …).
I’ve only scheduled one race in the next 10 weeks — the Funbeat Race of Champs (part of the Scandinavian Outdoor Games) on 31 May. Otherwise, my sights are set on Sweden’s most popular multisport challenge in Åre.
I’m also planning a visit to the Sandnes Bike Factory in Norway in May. It will be cool to tour the refurbished factory and see how they customize all the NOR bicycles they send out across Europe.
The customized bike factory in Norway
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My training plan includes a weight management strategy to maintain a balance between swiftness (the lighter I am, the faster I can run and bike uphill), strength (upper body kayak power), and maintaining a reserve, i.e., resilience to weather unexpected ‘storms’ — both literally (cold!) and figuratively (sickness). I bought a scale that uploads data automatically via Wi-Fi to a website that illustrates weight/body fatt measurements over time. I’m not as extreme as road cyclists in watching my weight, but I will monitor and correlate it with my training progress.
If I’m lucky I’ll be as happy as this girl when I stand on my scale each morning …
The good news is that the ice broke up on the lake this weekend, just in time for my arrival back to Östersund (thanks for the picture and local beta Linnea).
Training at a wedding?
I got a post-wedding training session Saturday night when I pedaled Chip and his new bride Shanika around DC on a little Pedicab/Rickshaw. A good strength-training session (that rig weighs like 100 kgs!) that also burned off that champagne buzz I still had …
Train smart and eat in moderation …
Scott
