Discussion: Tracks

Are there good tracks out there? Lena Nilsson was talking about that golf course (I think) the other day! Nåsten is still a bit grassy...we need more snow ;)

I think they have the best tracks within 20km of Uppsala. 2 perfect rails and a loop of about 10km. No grass yet. 1 killer hill of ~ 7-8 meters...
We need less snow! ; )

I'm amazed how heavy training sessions you did in Spain last week. 3-4-5 sessions, 40+ km per day. How do you recover for the next session/next day?

Sleeping is everything. You try to spent as much time in your bed as possible. Basically, those camps are eating-training-sleeping. But it is fair to say that those sand dunes terrains are not really tough physically, you can get quite much kilometer without being exhausted as it is quite flat anyway.

Thank you. Another question. A month ago you discussed your competition speed in the forest. It is 19 -20 km/hr on a flat good terrain.What is your competition speed in a terrain with low runability/steep, dense, marshes etc.../? How do you determine it? Is it connected to a heart rate, you maintain all the course from start to finish?

That´s a really hard question. I check my speed with the gps datas afterward. I can´t really say what kind of speed I have in marshes, steep, etc. It depends so much of the runnability.

Thanks! Maybe we can check them out next weekend then! Haha just a little bit more and not for too long, then it can all melt away and be warm :D

Is it true to say: Competition speed varies according to runnability / once - 19-20 km , next - 4-5 km/, and the runner has to push all the time with attention of control in orientieering. And this push can be measured by heart rate - 170-180 bprm. Am I wright?

Well, the range of speed goes from 25km/h (sprint finish) down to 0-2km/h (stop, or walk in a super dense/steep area). The heart rates doesn´t always show how hard you are pushing (i.e. downhill parts, you can push really hard, with rather low heart rates).

So what does competition speed mean? Would you give us a rule? And some advise for an amateur to follow some criteria while training/improving his competition speed.

Competition speed during training simply means the speed I would use if it was a competition.

Would it perhaps be more meaningful to use the term 'competition effort' or 'competition intensity'?

Thanks @Canadian, will use them in my future posts. Well, this morning, it will be REAL competition speed as I run my first competition of the year! ; )

And you've now proving that it all depends on the competition. Not just speed but intensity as well based on your comments to that race ; )