Wildflower Half Ironman on Saturday 5pm CET...

There is quite a showdown in store for all of us tri freaks on Saturday. It is strong field, that will start in Wildflower California Half Ironman. Two Danes will start - Rasmus Henning and Martin Jensen. Two-time 3rd place finisher at the Long Distance World Champs Martin Jensen is supposedly better than ever. It will be interesting to see, whether he can finish as the best Dane. Henning have also had a few smaller injuries the past two weeks, (hip, lower back, bruised rib), but a solid performance is for sure. I obviously have to make a bid on the Top 5, which is no easy task.

Top 5:

1. Michael Raelert

2. Eneke Llanos

3. Maik Twelsiek

4. Paul Ambrose

5. Rutger Beke

Rasmus Henning is off course a huge contender for a Top 5 finish, and in top condition, he will be very close to the win - no doubt about it. And it would be one bloody great win, if he has his day. Martin Jensen and Paul Ambrose could also get in the mix along with Conrad Stoltz, Bjorn Andersson and Philip Graves.

http://www.tricalifornia.com/participants/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Results&EventID=101&ReturnEventID=101&Race=2&Category=2&Lastname=&Clubname=&City=&Sex=M&AgeFrom=&AgeTo=&SortOrder=

The women's field is also quite deep. Favs are Virginia Berasategui, Hilary Biscay, Lindsey Corbin, Julie Dibens, Samantah McGlone and Amy Marsh.

http://www.tricalifornia.com/participants/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Results&EventID=101&ReturnEventID=101&Race=2&Category=2&Lastname=&Clubname=&City=&Sex=F&AgeFrom=&AgeTo=&SortOrder=

And I am still just swimming - one session per day (45-60 min.). BORING! Needs to get a sweat on ASAP! I am also getting a bit bigger... Used to eat a lot more, when I train... Hopefully I won't develop man boobs just yet...

I have treatment on the schedule tomorrow morning. Should be nice. I feel comfortable, that when I return to regular training (within 2 weeks), my injury will be history, and that I can get a good spell in before IM Germany, so it won't be a DNF ;-).

Top 5 Triathlon performances this weekend

1. Jason Shortis: Run split in 2:51:46 and 4^th position in Ironman South Africa in his 50^th Ironman finish.

2. Chris Lieto: Bike split in 2:04:53 in Ironman Texas 70.3. Loving it!

3. Cameron Dye: "New Kid" wins St. Anthony’s Triathlon in front of Greg Bennett and Craig Alexander. Wow!

4. Raynard Tissink: Home win in Ironman South Africa. Epic.

5. Sarah Haskins: Lead from start to finish in her win at St. Anthony’s Triathlon against some tough competitors. Impressive.

Wildcard spot - Rasmus Stubager: The Dane had a impressive swim, which made the way for a solid 7^th place in his comeback race in Half Ironman Lisboa.

Wildcard spot - Aleksandar Sørensen-Markovic: The Dane got his Top 10 spot (9^th) in Ironman South Africa, mainly due to another great run. Needs to get his bike leg more together. Would love to see him in Ironman Nice or Ironman Lanzarote, which both would suit him great.

What a fucking sad win in Liège...

We are still, in many sports, in a time period, where there is no room for cheaters. This applies for Triathlon as well as Cycling. And even how unfair it may be, there is also no room for them to return to. We do not need them back. There can always be exceptions. But Alexandre Vinokourov is not one of them. It was a sad picture to see him ride over the finish line in Liège today. He is a disgrace for cycling, and this is not a beautiful comeback. He was banned after testing positive for blood doping in 2007, and perhaps if he immediately had admitted his guilt, and not opposed it, and had just taken his punishment, then my own and many others views on him, would might have different. Now I would just wish he would retire once again from cycling, and go back to Kazakhstan. This may sound tough, but any sport in the world is bigger and more important than any individual. And any doping cheater is only thinking about themselves, and not on the great damage, that they are making to the sport and in this case cycling. And I do not think, that I am the only one, who has difficulties believing, that he is clean today. This is may a unfair statement towards Vinokourov, but he has caused it upon himself. He decided to use doping, not anyone else. And by the way, all though I haven't checked, but I can't recall any rider coming straight from Italy, having had four very tough days in Giro del Trentino, which he also won, and had to defend the lead from day one, going to Liège, and winning like Vinokourov did today. This is my opinion, and everyone are obviously allowed to have theirs.

In Triathlon, like in cycling, the use of illegal substances can obviously pose a great advantage. It doesn't matter, whether it is long or short distance triathlon. The consequences of being caught and punnished needs to be way tougher. Can any punishment be too harsh... I look forward to hear, how long the ban to the recently caught danish triathlete will be. If he comes back, and I will have to ride against him, I am afraid he has to watch out for the ditch...

Tough mental days ahead... Can I still make May my moving month?

I will continue to take it easy for the next 2½ weeks. I will swim every day. And try to get in a few days, where I have two swim sessions. I am allowed to train without any real power, and only until I feel any kind of pain in my left knee. So if I feel just the slightest, then I will stop. So it won't be much cardio training, besides swimming, that I can do. I will try the ellipse trainer on Monday, but don't think it will make any difference. But I am committed to get rid of this pain once and for all, so I won't allow myself to get impatient.

May was supposed to be my moving month. I had planned to take it to the next level. I still plan to make May my moving month, but obviously my starting point will be very lower, than initially planned and hoped. I take comfort in the fact, that IM Germany won't be my last triathlon race in my life. There is no doubt, that I will be on the start line. Everything is planned, and my brother will also race. But it won't be with same goals. At this point I still believe that I will be able to swim faster and maintain my cycling level. But I will be punnished on the run. My overall condition can't be at the level required in early July, to get in low final run. But it will be all right. No matter what, it is always a great experience to do an IM, and no matter what the result will be, I can use it for the future.

I am starting to look at other races in September and October, and to turn these races into new goals and motivation objects. There are plenty of great races in the fall, which I would love to do. I won't start the Danish Championships in Duathlon in two weeks, so my first race of 2010 will be the Danish Championships in Sprint, which I will solely use as training and pre race check of all the routines. This is not a distance, where I can do any difference. I will probably move the Danish Championships in Long Distance Triathlon in August up to a Top Priority race. And try to find a long distance race in September or October, where I can excell. But my focus today is to get rid of this knee injury. And when I do, I will return DAMN STRONG! TRAIN HARD and ENJOY IT! I wish it was me :-)

8 days injury break...

Have been keeping my head low the past few weeks. My left knee pain are still there. It started 18 months ago and since then, I have had two operations, taken several injury breaks and have paid a lot of money for different kind of treatment. The pain comes and go. I can train, but obviously not perfect. I have shortened way too many sessions due to this pain. I haven't run as much as I would like, and as I should. And I am basically just fed up with it. I am doing one last try to get rid of the pain before IM Germany. I have gotten in touch with Rasmus Hennings physiotherapist. I have been to one treatment, and I am feeling confident. I think within two weeks, I will be back on the right path towards IM Germany.

He established that my left leg lacked power and strength compared to my right leg. He treated that, and there were a significant difference, and they were equally strong after the treatment. I had the treatment on Friday and will have another one next Friday. In the mean time I will just swim and rest my legs. I would have loved to be a former elite swimmer, so I would be able to do two swim sessions a day, but don't want some overload injury in my upper body... Hopefully I won't loose too much fitness in the following period. But nothing is more important right now, than to get rid of the pain, and get fit for IM Germany :-) Train HARD!

3 months till peak...

IM Germany is 3 months ahead... Time to make a small status... How I am doing? Am I on the right path towards a great day in Frankfurt on the 4th of July?

We can all doubt ourselves - in training as well in life. Even world class athletes can forget all about their past achievements, and forget about how good they are, and what they are capable off. So can I for sure. And I am in such kind of state at this stage. Have I set the bar too high? Will I be able to reach my goal at IM Germany?

The sensations the past week are in general just not good. Sometimes I feel like I am training with a concrete block attached to each leg... But in the past a spell of poor legs have been the sign of good form ahead. So I am hoping that this is the case as well this time. I haven't been doing the run sessions, that I would have liked, and I need to improve this part the coming weeks. This will be my focus area for the next two weeks. Otherwise I am sticking to my plan, and hoping to get some kind of sign, that the form is not far away. And I take comfort in the fact, that there are still 3 months till peak... ;-)

185 km. bike course in IM Germany...

Due to road construction the bike course has been extended to 185 km. The extra 5 km. wont have any physical influence. It will probably take approx. 8 minutes to ride these extra kilometres. The overall time will off course be longer, which might have a mental influence. The last 20 km. on the run leg is perhaps 90% mental and 10% physical, so it is important not to forget that the overall time won't be as good, as in a normal Ironman, and on a course like the one in Frankfurt. And it will afterwards be a bit difficult to compare the race time to other Ironman races. But overall it won't make a difference what so ever. I can't say, that I personally care about the change. At least they didn't put the kilometres on the swim or on the run leg... Now that would have worried me...

http://www.ironman.de/english/