Lisa Norden

Recent Lisa Norden Videos:

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...

Getting back at it

August 18, 2011

It's been very quiet on the Norden front this year.
I know I haven't only been absent in the results list but also withdrawing from the world in terms of blogging...
I never got going this season. Early on in my off season training I started to get troubles with my running. A dull pain and sore legs, but no one really could put a finger on why. Various MRI's on my calf showed no explanation but I was told to keep on managing and doing what I could.  
To be used to tick off 90k's week my milage reduced to about 30 on average, a good week.
Needless to say I was in deep trouble getting out on the racecourse. Hoping the problems eventually would fade and go away by themselves I kept trying to scramble together some points in the World Championship series. I managed a 9th (Sydney) and a 12th (Madrid) before I decided enough was enough. It's not possible to be competitive in this sport if your training is compromised.
Through Bobby I got in touch with the Irish physiotherapist Gerard Hartmann.  He had a good look at me and then sent me on for more MRI scans in Dublin. I came back with a diagnose of a severe inflammation on my Flexor Hallucis Longus - treatment in form of an injection and a very solid rehab program.
I was also told to stay off my legs for three weeks.
Very painful for someone used to a solid amount of leg abuse each day.
To keep the story short; I have now finished my off time and slowly but surely started to introduce some running again.
I choose to do the London WCS race even if it meant coming in very underdone for it. I had a solid swim and cycle - but of course faded on the run. Knowing my main reason to race was to get a look at the course, I tried to keep the embarrassment finishing in 30th at bay...
Straight after the race I packed my bags and went to Ireland for another couple of days with Hartmann. He liked my progression and gave me thumbs up to increase my training.
Couldn't have left Ireland in a happier state!

So with Lausanne around the corner I have had one week of something that's a little bit faster than jogging.
I'm still far from fit, and defending my world title will be next to an impossible task.
But for me right now, it's like a little win just to be out there able to race.

I'm looking at Lausanne as a very good speed session with some of the best training sparring in the world present. My goal is a little bit further down the road with four weeks to Beijing WCS Final and  Yokohama WC, followed by the LA triathlon and the US Open in Dallas.
I had to realize the 2011 season wouldn't be the best one for me. Instead I'm trying to give myself the best possible way to start the 2012.
But before then, I'd like to get a few nicer experiences from the race course!

So in Lausanne I'm hoping the crazy chica will be flying the Specialized flag. Couldn't think of a better person to take over the rainbow stripes.

Stats for Lisa Norden are coming soon.
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