We made it to Norway on June 27th after a long 20-hour trip. The alarm clock was set for 5:30 in the morning on the 26th to make it to the airport in time for all the necessary security checks. My wife was already in Europe on business so I was escorting our two girls (ages 6 and 10) by myself. Kris left me with quite a checklist, ranging from feeding the pets to unplugging...
Sognsvann, Oslo's most popular running area Resistance Museum Art exhibit at harbor in Oslo Downtown Oslo Boats in Oslo Harbor Akershus fortress in downtown Oslo Akershus fortress in downtown Oslo downtown Oslo Old WWII German fortress outside of Langesund Lighthouse in Langesund fjord Boating on the coast of Telemark There is no wheelchair in sight for this 87 year old! (Torbjorn's Dad, Sverre Karlsen) The southern part of Norway received lots of rain during our...
FasterSkier.com Note: One thing we feel has been lacking on this continent is in-depth coverage of ski racing. We think it would be valuable for all interested skiers to hear more about Continental Cup races, ski marathons, Nationals, even local races, etc. Sure you can get results for these races many places (including this website), but we also want to bring you the story of the races – not just who won but what really...
Health – Alsgaard Poor Lifestyle Main Cause for Cancer. On July 2nd I read an interesting article in The VG Newspaper about The World’s Health Organization’s (WHO) new "National Global Cancer Control Programs." It was Norway’s former prime minister and now CEO of WHO, Gro Harlem Bruntland that commented during the 18th international cancer congress that the main cause of cancer in the Western World is related to people’s lifestyle. TV is blamed Bruntland attacked...
My July training was discussed in my three Norway reports posted last month so I will focus on Gordon's July experience and what to do in August. I would like to add though that I adopted the new Norwegian food lifestyle during the last week over there and quickly gained seven pounds (!) that have made me struggle a little in my training since returning to Utah. The reason for the sudden (weight) increase was...
To all of you that have been called health freaks, training narcs, granola nuts, skinny skeletons, heart rate monsters, lactate locos, nordicks or other hurtful titles – usually by jealous high cholesterol, clogged artery, overweight and in general unhealthy colleagues, friends or neighbors – You are the one that’s normal! In the September 6th issue of USA TODAY, I read (front page) that An Expert Panel now recommends that we exercise an hour a day...
About This Column: Lets get started… This column is meant to give our readers training and racing ideas to help them prepare for the upcoming race season. Both Gordon Lange and I have coached skiers for many years. Last summer we decided to start working out together and be a little more systematic and goal-oriented with our own training. Since we had coached together in the past and had spent years discussing and sharing ideas...
Training Camp The FasterSkier September training camp was held September 11-15th. The coach to athlete ratio was low which made for good technique training sessions. The camp focus was on rollerskiing and how to do better quality sessions (intervals, pace and time-trials). We worked on finding “the right” heart rate from the start of the “hard” session: feeling good when we were done with the first couple intervals and then gradually increasing the effort and...
Torbjœrn’s September training I did 46 hours of training in September. This included 20 hours of running, 18.5 hours of biking, 6 hours of roller-skiing and only 40 minutes of weight training. I came out on target with the volume but was low on roller skiing and weight training due to a pulled back muscle that bothered me the entire month. The Hard Sessions. Having the Norwegian Women’s team, Justin Wadsworth, Beckie Scott, Jeanie Wall...
October Training Once again I’m a little late getting this report out – sorry about that! I’m writing this on November 9, right after having finished one of my best workouts of the year; a 4 x 6 minutes skate rollerski interval session. The road we used is perfect for rollerskiing -six kilometer of straight forward, 2-5% grade uphill, superb pavement and hardly any cars. I skied with two friends, John Aalberg and Dave Knoop....
Skiers – Need a coach? I have decided to increase the number of skiers I am coaching by offering my services to (a few) additional skiers. There will be a monthly fee for this service and the coaching/communication and follow-up will be similar to the way I work with National team caliber skiers. The training programs will be personalized to fit individual needs, ambitions and work schedules. Personal coaching might be appropriate for you if...
Fall Camp Report I just returned from the annual West Yellowstone, Montana fall camp. The fall camp is an open to the public on snow ski camp where participants get a chance to do two daily technique sessions with experienced skiers including former Olympians and National Team coaches. The group size is anywhere from 4 to 9 and you are placed in groups based upon your technique level. Racing at Soldier Hollow 2001 December Training...
Torbjørn’s November training. I trained 48 hours in November: 11 hrs of running, 17.5 hrs of rollerskiing, 14 hrs of skiing, 5.5 hrs of weight training, and 2.5 hrs of biking. Overall, it was a very good month for me and I cannot do more unless I’m "home alone" for a long period. Physically, I feel that I could train up to 13-16 hrs/week without burning out mentally or physically–as long as I take occasional...
Torbjœrn’s December training I trained 40 hours in December. 2.5 hours of running, 33 hours of skiing, 2 hours of weight training and 2.5 hours of walking (the walking was done with a 5 pound vest). My lowest week was 6 hours and the highest one was 13.5 hours — the last week of the year. I did 4 races and 4 interval sessions. It was a strange month, where I had a tough time...
Torbjørn’s January Training I trained 41.5 hours in January: 5.5 hours of running and walking, 34 hours of skiing and 2 hours of weights. My highest week was 12 hours and my lowest week was 6.5 hours. The month contained only one race; I did 5 distance workouts where I spent at least 15-20 minutes in zone 3 or 4, plus 3 x 7-8K pace workouts, one interval session and two short speed sessions. It...
This article is a wrap-up of my training and racing year (including my February training), how I rank my racing this season and how my peaking plan worked out. Torbjørn’s February Training I trained 43 hours in February. My highest week was 13.5 hours and the lowest was 7.5 hours. I did only one race, The Boulder Mountain Tour. I also did one 5K time trial and two hard interval sessions in addition to three...
April 2002 My column, Training with Torbjorn and Gordon will continue on this web site. The focus will be a bit more on our plans for the upcoming training month and a little less on how we did the past month. Gordon will hopefully join in more frequently with occasional comments and his laid-back Wyoming humor. He just needs to be provoked a little more – then he’ll write. Our new digital camera makes it...
By Remember why you need to work out! Well, your vacation and "do whatever you like to do month" of April is over and it’s time to look ahead and prepare for next seasons "big battles". It’s a good idea to think now about which races you are gearing up for – the important events – and roughly plan how to get from here to there. Having made those decisions is a motivational factor that...
By . This report will be brief due to a busier month than planned because of the Nordic Equipment bankruptcy (see FasterSkier June Training Camp and preparation for a three-week trip to Norway at the end of June. We will post some reports/travel letters from this trip starting in early July. Torbjorn’s May 2002 Training Report. I did 39 training hours in May, which was right on target with my goal. The majority was biking,...
Continued from Part 1, as Bjorn prepares for the 10K Classic race at the 1997 World Championships in Trondheim, Norway… Nov 25 – I know that as I slept, many people have been doing a lot to make sure that everything will be ready for a perfect race. Before the 30-kilometer race three days ago, head coach Erik Røste slept two hours. When he telephoned the wax cabin at five that morning, the head wax...