Original Author: Ola Jordheim Halvorsen
Eirik Brandsdal from Team Manpower followed every boy’s dream and went on a car trip in America with three friends. Maybe a little crazy for a guy that fights for a place on the Norwegian National Team? We’ll have to see.
“I’ve wanted to do this for a really long time. Now it makes sense. It’s a long time until the season starts,” explains Brandsdal, who a day ago was sitting and eating in a New York cafe.
Hard Decisions
But the sprinter with a career best seventh place World Cup finish, eludes to the fact that he was very doubtful about whether he could allow himself to go on such a car trip.
“I know it was a long time to be away. Nevertheless I do not want to be seen as unserious. This is a trip that will come to be with me for the rest of my life. I am more motivated than ever before,” he says eagerly.
“The road trip was worth it’s weight in gold for morale and motivation.”
He and his friends drove through large parts of America, in a car belonging to his best friend Martin Stuge Bånerud. And considering the weight of the average American, is it more likely to believe that he now looks a little less like an “average sized donut.”
“I weight the same as when I left,” laughs the racer from Kjelsås.
Training is no problem
And in conclusion I’ve trained really well; I’ve had at most two days off a week. I’ve done more intensity and optimized the time I actually do spend training well.
The Trainer of the successful club Team Manpower, Kåre Tønne, agrees that five weeks is a long time to be on a trip when you are on the Brandsdal’s level. But when he heard that the whole group going on the trip were ski racers, he had no problem leaving the discipline up to the boys.
“As long as you maintain your fitness, and your mates have similar interests, I don’t see any reason not to let him do something like this,” says Tønne.
“In conclusion, Eirik is the type that has a need for variation. The times that he’s performed the best er when he’s had plenty of opportunity to completely disconnect beforehand. The long trip can give him a “boost” in his training moving forward.”
Eirik, who is in his third, and maybe the most important year on Team Manpower, is clear what the goals for the winter are.
“I’m going to perform on the World Cup!”
Source: Langrenn.com
