Joe Friel Fan Club - Oslo.

The growth of triathlon in a less developed country such as Norway is dependent on many factors. Diffusion of knowledge being one of them. Today the triathlon enlightenment process in Norway gathered strength. To spread the word of reason we were fortunate to have Joe Friel, writer of “The Bible”, and the fortunate listeners were 180 triathletes, cyclists, runners and x-country skiiers

It would be hard to summarize the content of such a long and interesting day. And since you can find all you need in his book, his blogg and on the free resources on Training Bible it’s no need for me to try and re-tell his views. Too many people probably do this allready. With mixed results. So I’ll just give some short reflections/observation on the day, the man and his words.

So many people have the answer. So many people know how to train, and what’s best for others. So many people base this on what they have read in a book, combined with their own experiences. At the most. The one who writes the book also has opinions, knowledge and his distinct view and method. But he also tells his story so that we see that he has altered his views and methods during his coaching years. Cool. I like honesty and I don’t want “Catholicism” in this respect.

How fast seven hours fly, when you’re in the company with someone who has a lot to tell and knows how to tell it. And even if I had read most of it before, there was much to be learned here. Lots. Things that will modify my training regime for 2010.

“The least interesting aspect to talk about is volume” and “The heart rate does not tell you much more than that you’re alive”. I have put to much emphasis on training volume and BPM. I will not buy a power meter, but I’ll pay more attention to the importance of power. "Take the power back".

I think American coaches might have a seizure if they knew how little many Norwegian recreational triathletes exercise before racing Norseman, Roth or Kalmar. As their first triathlon ever. But maybe it is the coaches, including Friel, who put to strong emphasize on volume?

Friel said something like: “The Ironman run is 30K of hope and10 k of reality”. I would ad brutal between “of” and “reality”.

Seen from the outside we’re dorks. Triathlon dorks. But none the less we’re dorks. And I have no problem with that.

The members of Oslofjord triatlon can make anything happen!

It’s very cool getting an autographed book.

I’ll write my own book some day: “Going Slow”. And probably also: “The Great Triathlon Excuse Book”. I’ll sign them if you want.

My long term goal is still to qualify for Hawaii when I’m 71.

I need to throw my shoes.

(On an even more personal note: It’s strange to experience that my speaking ability disintegrated. Or probably evaporated. In my former life I held long academic presentations in English. No problem. Today I sort of managed to utter the words “welcome” and “bye bye”. Everything in between was stuttering and fluttering. It probaly pays of to be prepeared. I'll might try it some time later. Much later.)