Lisa Norden

Grown up in a smaller Swedish town I was the typical horse girl who was good at sport. I rode my bike everywhere (most times quicker than the bus) and learnt about hard work and responsibility in the stable. I wanted to go places with my competing but with limited finances horseriding proved to be a difficult venue.

In the summer of 2000 I rode my bike to Italy together with my mum. The day she turned 40 we put our feet in the Mediterranean having been on the bike for 19 days, most of these in a heavy rain... I had an old steel bike 5 sizes to big, gears down on the frame and bags attached both front and back. It did the work, but I can't say I was sold on the sport.

The turnaround was a few weeks after the return to Sweden when I signed up for a local triathlon event in my hometown. I had to breastswim all the 400m in the pool and was 2nd last out of the water... With a solid bike base in my legs I managed to overtake a whole bunch of people and win my age group.

Another year down the road my horse got injured and I made the decision to learn to swim and put some more time into my own training. This paid off and in 2002 I won the Swedish Junior Champs, the Nordic Junior Champs and qualified for Europeans. FUN! Finally I found a sport where you get rewarded for your training and commitment , not by the size of your familys wallet. ]

I still have all my family and friends back in Sweden. The horses are swoped for dogs but my mum is still active and have done three IM's since the cycling trip to Italy.

I'm currently based in Australia training with Darren Smith, my coach since 2007. I'm living the dream, riding my bike and training hard day after day. My ultimate goal is to found out how good I can be and how fast I can get.

The challenge will be to time this with the day if the triathlon event in London 2012...

Roller coaster week

August 2, 2010

It’s been an emotional roller coaster over the past week.

From a surprise win in Hamburg to a disappointing 20+ place in London . None what really what I expected of myself coming into the races.

I was going down to the two races thinking I’d be able to squeeze out two solid, but not exceptional results.

Wasn’t quite the outcome!

But looking back, I rather have my 1st and 26th instead of the two twelves that would make out the average.

To be on top of the podium is one of the best things in life. And the times when you don’t expect it are the best. Not that I do expect to get up there very often. But after great blocks of training when you know you are running well, thats where you do want to end up!

When I ran into the last couple of corners still being in the main pack I knew I was in contention. If I played my cards well, it could be a great outcome. I had two(!) of my training partners in the same pack, as well as Moffat, Hewitt and Bennet… So I also knew I could as well miss out. I didn’t. And I thank my lucky star for that! It hasn’t been a lot of sunshine on the Norden sky lately so it was well sought after.

On the contrary London was a messy experience.

It’s a busy city with lots of people and heavy traffic. The accommodation weren’t perfect but I had to share a mini room with Kate for the first night before moving all my stuff to another building. There was a few media things to do and the venues were spread out and going places was time consuming.

Training had gone well and I felt the best in the pool for quite a few months! But, it’s not necessary that reflects in the race results. A miss in the swim can cost you dare. Ask me… I know.

I had a position on the far right side, maybe 5-7 places in. As my speed is not bad I normaly manage to get a way just a little bit which saves me a little bit of fighting. I didn’t and I got stuck with the girl on my right side swimming all over me reducing my speed. Made me hit the buoy just a little bit too late, together with the big mass. And the carnage.

That was where my London race came to an end. 50 seconds behind in T2, stuck with a pack where very few girls wanted to work and frustration by loosing time by the lap.

I decided early on that I might as well turn it in to a good training session and get something out of it. Had a painful run and a reminder how it feels running 10k’s of a bike with smashed legs. It’s not fun.

It’s was so different and miles away from how it feels to run for medals at the front of the race.

Disappointment. Anger. Frustration.

But also fire.

What did I learn?

I know I have the capability to win a World Championship Series race .

My training is going in the right direction.

I’m still far from top fitness.

I just need to keep working hard.

Being a part of the specialized team was once again an amazing experience. I think us triathletes are yet to discover the big benefits from having a team back up! We are used to do about 98% of everything our selves.

Having someone else too look after you [and the bike!] is somewhat a surreal experience that will take some time to get used to!

It is also great to see the guys doing so well! Javier's back to back win in Hamburg and London was above impressive and a great inspiration!

I want to be just like him when I grow up....

Stats for Lisa Norden are coming soon.