Hi all,

It's now been a week since the Challenge Copenhagen ironman distance race - an absolutely great race in the heart of Copenhagen. I was very proud and delighted to be a part of it. I did not participate at the full distance but I swam as a relay athlete in the morning and then I was in the finish area for a big part of the afternoon greeting a lot of people that I know, watching a lot of happy faces. It made me really proud and shows that this sport is something people can really enjoy. There were so many spectators out there that must have had a great day - the official number is 125,000 at the marathon course alone, and this is absolutely fantastic.

A good day for the sport and for Copenhagen and Denmark.

Now I have started the serious build up for Hawaii which is 7 weeks away now. I just got my Specialized Shiv TT bike ready last week so I have been out doing the first rides on it and it feels great and gives me a lot of motivation towards Hawaii that I have even some slightly better material than before and it's just enjoyable to ride so I think it should give me a little advantage on the bike.

My training is going really well too. I'm definitely feeling better than I was 7 weeks before Challenge Roth which ended up quite well, so I'm guessing that I should be on the right track.

In 10 days I'll be going down to Playitas on the Canary Islands where I also did my Hawaii preparations last year. I know that it is an ideal place for me to be. It's a vulcanic island just like the big island of Hawaii, so it is very similar terrain, a lot of hard wind and crosswinds and it is quite hot as well in september, so I should be well prepared after a couple of weeks there.

Then I will be back home for a week and my primary objective there will be NOT to fall off my bike and break my hand like I did two and a half weeks before last year's Hawaii. I need to stay healthy this time because I feel I have a good shot at one of the top spots in Hawaii so I shouldn't blow it this time.

I'll go out an enjoy to be in Kona two weeks before the race and hopefully be ready when we get to race day!

Aloha!

Rasmus

This Sunday I made my big impression into the history books as I won Challenge Roth in the time 7 hours, 52 minutes and 36 sekunds - the fifth best Ironman ever and with a finishing marathon of 2:39:43 on a day where I could run like the wind.

The 2:40 barrier is rarely broken in an ironman marathon and almost never for a winner of the race, so I'm truly satisfied and proud that I can perform like this and make such a result.

Before the competition I had hoped to be able to break 8 hours, a performance only 11 other athletes had reached. The fact that I was able to get that far under and even close to the 13 year old world record is amazing.

Challenge Roth is a fantastic competition with a world class venue. There is up to 200,000 spectators in a city that normally has 40,000 inhabitants. The organizers do their utmost to make the stay as pleasant as possible for both the pro's and the age groupers.

I had a great time in Roth, and I hereby send my great appreciation and thanks to the Challenge family for all their hard work making Challenge Roth a spectacular ironman event, the spectators that supported us all with the greatest enthusiasm, my home stay family who made my stay perfect and all the athletes who competed in this event for making this such a memorable day for me.

Award ceremony Monday

I attended the award ceremony on Monday - a couple of hours in the middle of the day. After that I ate a late lunch with some of the other pro's and the boys from Challenge Copenhagen, who were down here.

Then home and pack and a quick 15 minutes on my back before the volunteer party where some of us pro's was on stage. Later in the evening we had a great party with the organizers etc, so I had a nice day again Monday.

At the award ceremony the top-10 in all age groups were presented on stage, with the pro's coming on at the end. I held a short speech where I talked about how impressed I am with the Challenge concept that emphasizes the importance of us all being one big triathlon family, that I admire all the age groupers who in spite of having a full time job and a family to attend also finds the time for the hard training it takes to do an ironman (many of them in splendid times!).

And for this they earn my deepest respect. Training for an ironman often has great sacrifices. Even though I myself can have doubts in the proces when training is bad and you miss the wife and kids and they miss you, you find out that it is worth it when you reach your goals.

I am proud of the age groupers who can manage this balance in a tightly packed family/job life.

In the city of Roth, the people in the city was so kind to put new plates on their cars so they all had my initials 'RH' on them. In my speach I told them how impressed and honoured I was by this gesture, and that I really felt welcome. But now that I was leaving is was okay by me that they put the regular plates back on the cars when I left :-)

Happy about the great result

I am as satisfied with my performance as a man can be. I might have a really tiny regret that I was so close to the world record without getting my hands on it, but it is not even close to put a shadow on my win and performance. It feels great to put my mark on triathlon history.

I was only the 12th athlete in the world under 8 hours, I now have the 5th best ironman time of all and I was the first in 11 years going under both 8 hours and 2:40 on the marathon. I would call that a fairly reasonable day at the office!

See a list over all who have gone sub 8 hours here.

http://www.tri247.com/article_7187.html

The competition

I had an optimal swim exiting the water just behind Pete Jacobs. Eneko Llanos was a few seconds behind, but we managed to get a 20 second advantage over him when exiting T1, so we made him work on the bike.

The swim was fine but times in general was a little slower than last year.

Pete and I maybe hit the bike leg a little too fast the first 40 km. At the beginning we even gained more time on strong bikers as Kienle and Stadler so I said to Pete that it might be a good idea to slow down a little so we didn't blew up later in the day.

My plan was to delay the time where they caught up as much as possible, so when we had a 5 minute advantage at the 40 km mark, we would still not be caught up until the 100 km mark if we slowed the pace a little. I could live with that as I knew that my running was really good.

Out on the run I immediately felt good and my legs felt fantastic. I could ease into a steady and comfortable 3:45/km pace and could hold that pace throughout the marathon.

When I hit a small hill at around 39 km, I could suddenly feel my legs though. If I ran shoulder to shoulder with another guy for the win on the last 3 km, I'm sure I would have more in me, but that hill killed my legs and I eased off a little heading for that fantastic finish line.

I can still get better on the bike (it was quite windy and I biked alone the last 50 km) and this result makes me more confident that I have what it takes to win in Hawaii.

The way I felt in my legs at km 39 on the marathon in Challenge Roth was the way I felt at Hawaii last year when I reached 10 km.

Now I have a couple of weeks with family time and only little training so the body can recover. I look very much forward to spend time with my girls.

I will  also be building up my Specialized Shiv (rode the Transition in Roth) so it will be ready for the months of training leading up to Hawaii.

On my Facebook fan page you can see pics from the competition. Just press the 'like'-button.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rasmus-Henning/164915450173

My first big goal of the season is coming up - Ironman Roth this Sunday July 18. Roth is one of the fastest courses in the world and I'm looking forward to compete. See more at: http://www.challenge-roth.com/en/index.html.

I started my tapering in this the race week. I trained relatively much this weekend; four hours both Saturday and Sunday (1 hour in ironmanpace on the bike on Sunday followed by a brick run.) Tuesday I had 3,5 hours of training and the same Wednesday before I left for Roth in the afternoon.

Even though I still trained a lot it is part of the tapering as I train much less and at lower intensity than the week before. The most important thing is to focus on recovery so you will get the energy you don't neccesarily have when you are in heavy training.

The last three days in Roth, Germany

I arrived Wednesday afternoon. Thursday I have a little bike and run - 15 mins in ironman pace. It is important that the body doesn't forget how to perform.

Thursday is also press conference and briefing day, and that is all the official duties I have so I can focus entirely on the race. Friday I have a bit of swimming and running and Saturday a bit of swimming and biking, but in an easy tempo these last days before the race.

Rest, rest, sleep and rest

Rest is very important the last days to be able to have the most optimal recovery on the last weeks of heavy training. I always try to get into a rythm and go to bed earlier when you need to get up in the middle of the night on race day. (We start at 6 o'clock, which seems a bit early and means that I need to get up at 3 in the night.) I generally try to get as much sleep as I can the last days leading up to the race. But it is a balance, because it is no use getting up at 4 in the morning the last days if you are not well rested. For me it is more important to get my rest before the last night and then accept that you don't get to sleep much the last night.

Personally I never sleep that good on the last night before a big race. I stil believe that it is better just to stay in bed and relax, than it is to try all sorts of methods to sleep. The tension in the body is at such a high level that it can be difficult to calm completely down. And then when you are almost asleep some thought pops up in your head and you need to start over again calming down. I'm betting that most athletes feel this way on the last night and it is something I have learned to accept.

Some nap in the middle of the day and still fall quickly asleep at night. I usually don't nap, but rather just relax or read, so I am able to have a solid sleep at night.

Carbs are important

I make sure to carboload a lot in the week before the race. I then cut back on protein a copule of days befora and my last meal the nigt before the race consist of carh rich products such as pasta, rice, bread, vegetables and fruit. Maybe a little fish but no meat other than that. And it is really important to make sure that I get enough fluid and salt.

The focus is on me

The time leading up to a competition professional athletes try to shut out everything that has not to do with the race. Everything else in our lives can wait if it is not really important. What the surroundings must understand is that this competition is the most important thing in our life at the moment. You need to stay focused and make sure you get your rest, energy and fluids.

It may be difficult for the nearest family and friends to understand that everything is about me these important days. Everything in my life is optimized so I don't waste time, rest and energy on things that aren't important to me. Personally I step inside me own little space and shut everything else out. This is what I seek and what has helped me perform and peak at the competitions I have performed well in an won. You must accept that you can get on the nerves of the people close to you because you can get a littte demanding and expect a lot from the surroundings. You can only hope that they accept this short time of you being demanding as it is a neccesary part of being one of the best in the world. It may be difficult for my surroundings but it works for me and helps me perform my very best.

For those age groupers that competes in an ironman for the first time, e.g. in Copenhagen on August 15: This situation can be difficult to handle so make sure that you let your family and friends know, that they can expect a person that the last week has full focus on themselves and their race. Everything you do that last week is about yourself and the competition. Maybe it can help prevent frustrations etc.

The favourites

Eneko Llanos, Spain, bib 5. He has beaten the Danes this year: Me at Abu Dhabi and Martin Jensen at the European LD champs in June. He also won Ironman Lanzarote with a marathon finish of 2:50 on a difficult course. He was 2nd in Hawaii in 2008 and is one of the most complete ironman athletes in the world.

Normann Stadler, Germany, bib 4. Ironman Hawaii winner in 2004 and 2006. Will be fast on the bike.

Pete Jacobs, Australia, bib 2. Has a profile that is similar to me. He will be in front efter the swim and I think I will see a lot of him out on the course. He was second in Roth the past two years and third in 2007.

Rutger Beke, Belgium, bib 7. Has two second place finishes in Ironman Hawaii. Also young German Sebastian Kienle, who has shown good results on the half ironman will be someone to look out for.

Last year German Michael Göhner won in a super time of 7:55:53 and with an impressive marathon of 2:41:17.

I myself have bib number 6.

That is all for now before Challenge Roth on Sunday. Be sure to check out my fan page on Facebook 'Rasmus Henning' as well as my website which will be updated throughout the weekend.

All the best,

Rasmus Henning

On Sunday June 27 I won my 18th Danish title when I won the Danish champ at my 'old distance' - the Olympic distance. Every time I compete at the shorter distances I feel that the longer I have been away from this type of competition, the harder it is to perform at my best. You loose a lot of explosivity when going long.

The these recent Danish champs I especially noticed two areas where I can now feel a big difference after switching to the longer distances:

Details concerning the transitions

I have become a little rusty in the transition area on short distance racing. The speed with which I can run in transition and take of my wetsuit is slower than before and this is primarily because I don’t do these races anymore. We usually spend more time in T1 and T2 in an ironman.

Also I have lost some speed in taking on/of my helmet and shoes. At the Danish sprint championships in early June I lost 18 seconds in total in the transition area. I was better at my transitions at the OD champs on June 27, but there is still some way to go before I would reach the lightning fast OD transitions. Well, not that I need them when doing ironman.

Accelerations on the bike

On the bike it is the accelerations and constant difference in pace after e.g. turns that cost a lot of energy for me now. I don’t train the hard intervals with 600-700 watts of pedaling anymore and I can feel an effect in the leg muscles in shorter competitions now. At the Danish OD champs I could get away with biking 95 percent when I was leading our small group whereas in world cups I would go much harder to get some distance to the really fast runners. I am used to pacing along at a more even pace now, so I had to work on the bike to stay in the front going out on the 10 km run.

My swimming was pretty much the same as in an ironman even though the pace of course was a little higher. But I hung on and exited the water without getting into trouble.

Once out on the run I felt strong and I thought that I would go out hard to get rid of the others and show who was the boss.

I quickly reached my race pace and was within 15 seconds on each of the four 2,5 km laps, so I had a pretty steady run. I was able to control it from the front and ran the 10 km in a respectable time of 31:56.

Heavy training

I am still in my most hard training leading up to the first big test of the year, ironman at Challenge Roth July 18.

I think that it is still useful to train and compete at the shorter distances, as the ironman training usually doesn’t reach the same speed as in short distance racing. So my plan is to keep trying to race at shorter distances to get the speed and intensity into the ironman training.

I will blog again before Challenge Roth. Hope to see you there!

Best,

Rasmus Henning

Hi everyone.

I just got back home after a week in training camp at Playitas, Fuerteventura. I'm training my most hard ironman sessions at the moment leading up to Ironman Roth on July 18.

I was joined by a group of athletes that challenges Copenhagen - www.challengecopenhagen.com  - at the big ironman event in downtown Copenhagen on August 15. Among them my team mates at my Danish club, Sigma Tri Nordsjælland, Ulrik and Andreas Schaarup. I will compete in a relay team with the two brothers from my club: I will be swimming, Ulrik is on the bike and Andreas will run the marathon. We hope to be able to get under Luc van Lierdes world record from 1997 of 7:50:27.

The the former Danish professional athletes, cyclist Rolf Sørensen and golfer Steen Tinning, are also training for Challenge Copenhagen, and I have coached them since this winter. They both look good and have had a solid training week at Playitas.

I have also biked with Hans Nilsson, a young and promising long distance triathlete and the young guys from the Danish development team, Andreas Schilling and Thomas Strange were able to push me in the swim.

My training in progress

It felt good to train as much as I did this past week. I am progressing again after a difficult start to the season with

 the hip/back/pelvis problems and

  results that doesn't reflect my usual top performance level.

My running is now on a reasonable level, my biking is improving all the time and I am very stabile in my swimming.

I'm in a very hard training period now leading up to Ironman Roth on July 18, and I am looking forward to a high level competition race before my big goal: Ironman Hawaii. Roth is primarily a part of the build up to Hawaii, but I hope to perform well and to be pushed by the high level competition that races in Roth.

At the bottom of the blog is my training done at Playitas the past week.

Trips4tri is well under way

I also spent time on planning this coming winter where my family and I will live at Playitas a large portion of the winter. 

My new company www.trips4tri.com  is well under way, and each time I get down to Playitas I get more and more enthusiastic about the resort. I have a good feeling about the company and the camps we will be arranging, and I think it will be a success.

Danish champs on Olympic distance

This Sunday i will compete at the Danish champs on the Olympic distance. The big favourite must be Jens Toft from the Danish national team who competes primarily at this distance and who beat both Martin Jensen and myself 3 weeks ago at the sprint champs (750-23-5). 

I can't expect to deliver a victory when I'm in my hardest ironman training and on a distance I haven't raced since the Olympics in 2008. I'm gonna fight to be at the top and I hope to be able to win team gold with my team mates at Sigma Tri, Rasmus Petræus and Jacob Petersen-Bach.

I finally got my new Specialized Shiv TT bike, and I'm looking very much forward to ride it these coming days! So far I have rode the Transition model this year.

Training in Playitas:

Arrived Thursday at 1PM.

3 km swim and 1 hour and 40 mins run.

Friday:

6 hours on the bike including one and a half hour in my ironman pace at the end of the session. 30 mins brick run and 4 km swimming in the afternoon/night.

Saturday:

2 hour easy bike. Physichal workout. Afternoon: 5 km hard swim and 75 mins run.

Sunday:

6 hours on the bike including one and a half hour in my ironman pace at the end of the session

. 50 mins brick run in tempo 3:50/km.

Monday:

Rest day. 1,5 hour easy bike. 5 km open water swim. 

Physichal workout.

Tuesday:

5 hour bike including 1 hour in ironman pace at the end. 45 mins brick run in tempo 3:35/km. 4 km swim 

in the afternoon/night

.

Wednesday:

5 hour bike at steady pace. 1 hour easy run

. 5 km hard swim, open water.

Thursday:

1 hour morning swim. Departure at 9AM.

Best,

Rasmus Henning

Hi everyone,

As I described in my latest blog, I have had problems with my back, hip and pelvis during this year's competitions. After Wildflower in California a month ago I was bike fitted from the Specialized specialists and they found out that my left femur bone was a cm longer than the right one and that that fact could have an effect and cause my problems. After the fit my left cleat on the bike shoe was moved a little back so my pedaling should be more stable and even.

I had a cat scan on the private hospital Hamlet in Denmark on May 18 (see video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T6RKss5PFU).

The scan showed that my left femur bone was a little longer and it was important for me to get that clarified. This could be a cause to why I have had these problems all these years. It is not nescessarily the only cause, but it means a lot to get this clarification and it backs up my belief that there still is something more I can do to reach my dream goal of winning Hawaii. Because - if I could have this high a level as I have had all these WITH the problems, what would the outcome be without them when I am 100 percent fit and in top shape? That is a scary thought - for my competitors :-)

Good training at the moment

I have felt better in my back and hip/pelvis area this past month since the fitting and I hope that is has something to do with my improved position on the bike, where the changes primarily is under the left shoe. I'm progressing in my training and I have been better the last month than before this year.

My swim is back on a good level and I can now sometimes even outswim the rest of the national team, and in my cycling and running I'm consistently better than the other guys. I have especially lacked stability in my running and I have that now.

I often train in ironman pace both in cycling and running, and I've started training 100 percent under my coach Michael Krügers command again after a year and a half of partly self-coaching. 

I did a good time on a bike loop in Denmark called 'the Bull' this Tuesday. It is a 11,6 km section with hills and turns and I rode 16:47 on a rainy and windy day. A time under 17 mins in normal circumstances is a good time, so I was happy about that.

In my running I have started running down to 3:10 to 3:40/km pace and I can do that again without problems. When I run that speed it is usually 6-8 km progressively or with tempo changes. 

Danish sprint champs Sunday

Sunday June 6 I will compete at the Danish sprint championships, which I won last year. It is a time trial with a 750 metres swim, two rounds on 'the Bull' (23 km) and a 5 km run. I can win my 18th title under the Danish Triathlon Federation, and my toughest competition is Martin Jensen who has had a solid progression the last couple of years and finished 1 minute behind me in Wildflower. So if someone is going to beat me, he is the man. I have the advantage of starting last, with Martin starting third last, and my chances of winning again is pretty good. There is over 500 athletes registered, so it is going to be a good and sunny day at the Danish sprint champs.

Best,

Rasmus Henning

After Wildflower May 1 I had five days of vacation with my family in California. It was nice to spend time with the family - we stayed in Santa Monica and visited Disneyland, Santa Monica Pier and Hollywood Boulevard.

We suffered a bit from jetlag after the long journey home, but is quickly got better after a rough first night with wide awake kids. On Thursday I had a good 4 hour bike ride with the national team and former pro cyclist Rolf Sorensen who I am coaching to compete at the Challenge Copenhagen Ironman in August. Is had been raining hard in Denmark the past day so we suffered numerous punctures do to all the dirt and rubble that was washed out onto the streets and bike lanes.

5th at Wildflower

May 1 I competed at the famous Wildflower long course triathlon on the half ironman distance in the hilly terrain of central California. I finished 5th.

I had a good swim where I led the whole way. About 200 metres before transition Michael Raelert (the later winner) and one other athlete came up on my side, but since I had been leading the entire way I wouldn’t accept that and pushed the pace so I could exit the water in first position. I had a couple of seconds into transition and collected the swim prime of USD 200. I again swam in my new Axis suit from Blue Seventy which is really good and actually seems better than the ones I have had in the past.

Raelert was on a level on his own the rest of the day and took off on the bike. I biked with Graves, Andersson, Llanos, Martin Jensen and Joe Gambles until I got a staggering penalty after about 30 km. I apparently was too much in a straight line behind the guy in front of me even though I held the appropriate distance and therefore didn't draft. It is difficult to enforce this rule on a course like this with curvy roads and lots of hills and I lost contact with the guys on the bike that I wanted to bike with by this two minute penalty. Fortunately I could bike the rest of the way with an athlete who had a good tempo, but I lost contact with the favorites, which was a bit demoralizing.

On the run I was in pursuit and I did not feel too good the first half of the run where there were a lot of hills. Fellow Dane Martin Jensen was in front of me and I suddenly spotted him going up a hill, so I could hold my pace and slowly reel him in. I passed him at about at about 12-14 km but he hung on for some time 10-15 meters behind me. Then I speeded up a bit on one of the hills and he could not hold my pace. At the finish I was about two minutes from Llanos in bronze position. Raelert was unstoppable but I posted the second fastest run of the day behind him. It is of course difficult to speculate in my possibilities if I hadn't got that staggering penalty but I felt that I would be able to compete for the bronze without the penalty. 

Martin ended up in 6th about a minute behind me. He also got a two minute penalty (for littering) so he might have beaten me if not for that. He had his chance to beat me but I'm sure that he will have his major break through this year as he can perform on a much higher level than he did at Wildflower.

Llanos has now beat me twice this year (Abu Dhabi and Wildflower), so I am eager to compete with him again in Roth (July 18) where I am certain I will get the best of him.

Problems with my back/pelvis area during Wildflower

I have suffered from back and pelvis problems at both 70.3 California and at Wildflower which especially caused pain and problems during the bike legs. After Wildflower I had a bike fitting session with one of the experts at Specialized Bikes - the same person that has done fitting with Fabian Cancellara and Alberto Contador.

Both he and Dr. Andy Pruitt (who fitted me in Copenhagen a few weeks back) thinks that the reason I am compensating when I am on the bike because min left Femur is 1 cm longer than the right one. This means that the distance between the back of the buttock and my knee is a little longer on the left side.

If my pedaling has been like this all those years it is no wonder that I have had all those problems. We decided that the cleat on my left shoe should be moved back a little so it compensates for the difference in the length of the Femurs and that I therefore will be able to bike with the pelvis in a more neutral position.

Tomorrow I will have a scan to measure the length of the Femurs to see if there is a difference. It will be exciting to see and I hope that the solution with moving the cleat will be possible as this it easy to fix. My physio Bjorn and I still think that it could “just” be a matter of tightness in the pelvic area and that it gives me problems after long flights especially. So when I am competing after long flights I will need to bring Bjorn to get treatments before the race to get everything loosened up.

Those problems have bothered me a lot in the two races in California and it hurt and I felt restricted on the bike and the run. It surely has an effect on the power on the bike. I will also be able to run better without these problems. On the hilly parts of the run in Wildflower it was hurting a lot while the last flatter part with a more even surface suited me better and I wasn't as restricted. It would be nice to find a more permanent solution to the problems, though.

Specialized team together for two days

The Specialized long course triathlon team was gathered two whole days (with training) after Wildflower.

It was really nice to spend time with the team and it was an interesting few days. We were guided through the products as well so we know them the best possible way.

We have some good people working with us and Bobby Behan who is in charge of the team is a really good guy; Emphatic, appreciative, always in a good mood and with a positive mind and is a key figure to this team. The athletes are other than me: Chris 'Macca' McCormack (winner Ironman Hawaii 2007), Philip Graves, Jordan Rapp, Ben Hoffmann, Jimmy Archer, Conrad Stoltz and Melanie McQuaid, Kristin Peterson and Desiree Ficker on the women side.

Specialized are very serious and there is a very nice atmosphere at the headquarters. You can really feel that they live and breathe for cycling and sports, there is a lot of innovation in the air and the interesting people working here are both experts and eager to listen to the athletes.

Back in training

On Wednesday I had a very good tempo run. I ran down to 3:10/km pace and I have had difficulties running that speed the last couple of months, when I had the back/pelvis problems. Now waits some weeks of basic base training with more focus on the length of the sessions than intensity.

Best,

Rasmus Henning

Hi everybody,

After Ironman 70.3 California I flew directly to the training resort Playitas at Furteventura where I had a two week training camp with the national team. My main focus was on high intensity in my sessions, so I have had two hard weeks.

Here is an example with hard sessions in all three disciplines in the same day:

Morning: 3 km pool swimming with a hard endurance set. Straight into the wetsuits and about 2 km ocean swimming including mass starts and fast laps. It was a very intense swim session and it took about 1,5 hours.

At 11 o'clock we biked. We had four laps of 5,7 km with 5 minutes active rest between each lap. The first 3 laps were time trial on 95 percent and the last lap was together with Martin Jensen – soon to be known as the Dynamic Danish Duo! It was all out on the last lap, and I could really fell how it must be to sit on the wheel of Fabian Cancellara in a team time trial! On the last lap it was full throttle when I was in front and then it was difficult just to hang on when sitting on the wheel of Martin. 

Afternoon: Run with 5 times 1.000 metres interval and 2 minute jog in between and of course a warm up and cool down. I ran 3:05-3.10 pr/km pace which is a bit off what i used to be able to run in the past, but still one of the hardest sets I have run since before the Olympics. It feels good to have done some very serious high intensity training where I have pushed the system even more than I am used to. It did however cause a little problem with my hip at the end of the training camp and the first few days at home.

My physiotherapist Bjørn Dan Andersen, who has worked on me a lot on me the last years, and also been with me to several big races. With all my travel activity the last weeks I haven't been able to see him, and he said after my treatment this Tuesday that my body needed to be corrected. I will have two more treatments before I go to the US for St- Anthony's on April 25 and Wildflower 70.3 on May 2nd.

St. Anthony's www.satriathlon.com

Wildflower 70.3 www.tricalifornia.com

Martin Jensen in fantastic shape

It’s been a while since I have been challenged as the best Danish triathlete, but now I can feel Martin Jensen (World Longcourse bronze medalist in 2008 and 2009) breathing down my neck. He had a very good camp in Playitas, where his running now has reached the same high level as he has had on the swim and bike. We were room mates and trained together every day and with the form he is showing this spring I wouldn't be surprised if he manages to beat me for the first time in competition this year. He is also going to St. Antony's and Wildflower and can cause a threat to me as I am not in my best shape yet. I still feel that my top level is higher than Martin's, but his current form is better, so he might get the chance to beat me in the coming races.

Perfect camp for Danish Development Team

I am in charge of a Danish Development Team which is supposed to work as food chain for the Danish National Team in the future. They were at Playitas the first week and did a really good job. We have built up a very solid training culture which means that nobody complains about the sessions being too hard or that they are too tired. I am truly happy about the group and they all performed very well. This was also the first time I could see some of them on the bike because of the hard Danish winter. The prospects are really good for this group and I am excited about my work with this group of fine talents.

Danish triathlete used doping

During Easter Danish triathlon had a very unfortunate case with a Danish triathlete, Bjarne Møller, being caught using epo. He then turned himself in. This case is extremely sad and I must emphasize that doping is not a regular problem in Danish triathlon. We have a healthy culture in our sport and that is why a case like this is very unpleasant.

I am sure that this is a unique case and this is also backed up by the fact that his room mate caught him in the act and told him to turn himself in. Doping and cheating is simply something that we don't want to accept in our sport. I would have done the same if I had caught someone using doping. Bjarne Møller is not a top athlete and he has done some bad things before so when we do have a doping case in Denmark I am not surprised that he is the sinner.

Openening of Specialized store in Copenhagen

Today is Friday and I am invited as a test person for a bike fit seance at the new Specialized Concept store that opens Saturday in Copenhagen. The two highly estimated American professors', dr. Roger Minkow og dr. Andy Pruitt will be in charge of the bike fit which is unique for Specialized and the Danish media is invited.

The store will open for the public on Saturday. 

Best,

Rasmus Henning

Hi everybody,

I was 3rd in my first career attempt at the 70.3 distance after a somewhat off day, especially on the bike. The winner was Ironman 70.3 World Champion Michael Raelert and last year's winner Matt Reed came in second. With acceptable swim and run performances, but cycling way under my usual standard, I am quite satisfied with another podium - although I'm eager to win something soon!

Before the competition I was told that it would be cold during this race. The water was only 15 degress celcius (about 60 Fahrenheit) but I still had a decent swim. I had my first swim ever in the new Blue Seventy Axis (http://www.blueseventy.com/products/detail/axis). Even though I didn't have the chance to test it before the race, it felt really good and I exited the water only 10 seconds behind the swim leader.

Off day on the bike

I had a bad first transition where I fumbled a lot with my helmet because my fingers were so cold and numb. That left me chasing the leaders on the bike where I was stranded on my own for a long time. After a while on my own, super biker Andrew Yoder came past me and I was able to follow him going up to the front. We just caught up with the leaders when he blew past them on a short steep hill and tore the field apart and I was left on my own again. After an hour on the bike I felt the heat coming back to my body, but I still had no power in the legs and I couldn’t get my heart rate up. I was shivering the first 40 or 50 km on the bike because it was only 10-12 degrees Celcius and the first time I got the warmth back in my feet was 2-3 km out on the run.

My run was ok, but not super impressive. I ran a 1:14:10 half marathon (3:30/km), and actually out ran both Raelert and Reed. But I'm sure that I can run 1:11 or less on a course like this. I was able to pace it good all the way and held a stable pace.

Abu Dhabi in the legs

I am really satisfied with the result but not with my performance. I had hoped to be able to battle it out for the win but when I had i mediocre day like that I am glad to get on the podium in a strong field.

I had expected that the Abu Dhabi race two weeks earlier might still sit in my legs and with an 8 hour time difference on top of that I was in for a hard day in the office. After 200 km on the bike in a competition the muscles were tired and it definitely affected my biking in California. On the run I decided to use my short distance shoes and that worked out fine. I had a good run where I was able to hold the technique during the race.

Raelert has been training in Florida the past four weeks and was well prepared. When he was world champion in Clearwater this November he destroyed everebody on the run but this time he put the hammer down on the bike, and it looks like he has found his favourite distance. Reed is one of the best in the world in both the non draft Olympic distance and on the 70.3, so it ended up being a strong podium.

Structure in the training next two weeks

I had a great time in California and Oceanside is a really nice place. The area is filled with small hills and a good variety in the terrain. The atmosphere is very nice and the weather is also good even though it is cold in the morning.

I headed straight for Playitas to train with the national team the next two weeks. I will take it easy the first days after the race and then I am looking very much forward to have a good block of steady training for the next weeks.

Top-3:

Michael Raelert, Germany: 3:58:27

Matt Reed, USA: 4:01:17

Rasmus Henning, Denmark: 4:02:07

I kicked off my season in Abu Dhabi with a 3rd place podium finish. It is a new competition hyped all over the triathlon world because of probably the strongest field outside of Hawaii, it was the first race of the season for many and in exotic surroundings and high temperatures, and the distance seemed to favour the strong cyclists (3km swim/200 km bike/20 km run). On top of that the first prize was USD 50,000 - i big prize in triathlon.

The über bikers never got into the game and no one had a big lead off the bike, so it ended up with three alround athletes on the podium = good swimmers, almost as good on the bike as the specialists and good runners. 1: Llanos, 2: Bockel, 3: Me.

I didn't have enough long bike rides in the legs before the competition, so even though I felt good during the race and had a solid chance of winning, I cramped up at the end of the bike and never found my rythm on the run. In all I'm satisfied with my performance and podium finish.

Hope to return next year

I hope to be able to return next year and step up a few steps on the podium. This is a very ambitious race in beautiful surroundings and riding on the Formula1 track on the bike was just fantastic and nicely spotted by the organizers. Even though the F1 circuit was empty of spectators you got a good impression on how the setup for a Formula1 race would be. You could even see the tire marks on the ground.

It is fascinating to be in the United Arab Emirates. Luxurious hotels and large constructions sites all over the place. They have big ambitions so of course the race and the course is too. I had a very positive experience with the locals as well - always smiling and happy to help.

Debut on 70.3

My next race is this Saturday where I will compete at my first 70.3 of my career. Ironman 70.3 California is pretty legendary and my former team mate on the national team, Torbjørn Sindballe, won the race in 2002 and 2005. I have been in the game for over 10 years but this is my first attempt at this distance and I think it will be a good distance for me. I should be able to bike with the best and if I run at my top level I should be the fastest in the field.

Normally I would have more recovery time between competitions than two weeks, especially after a long race like in Abu Dhabi. But it is still early season so hopefully I will be on top of it on Saturday. I have had tough training sessions after the race but it's been better since Saturday where I have had more normal sessions again.

It is difficult to predict what I can do on race day, because I have been told that the weather conditions are somewhat bad and the water cold. I have competed under conditions like these many times before but hotter weather is more to my advantage. I am confident that I can do a good race if I am on top Saturday.

Racing the world champion

I think that my biggest competition is the two Americans Andy Potts and Matt Reed who I have raced many times on the Olympic distance. They are both very strong swimmers and cyclists while they are a little heavier on the run. German Michael Raelert was a surprising world champion in Clearwater this November when he raced in world record time - 3:34:04 with and amazing run of 1:09:06. That is 3:16/km and a very, very good performance on the run so I will look out for him too.

Also the former Ironman World Champion Tim DeBoom (2001 and 2002) is one to look out for while Tim O'Donnell who I have raced many times in the Olympic distance days has developed into a very strong athlete on the 70.3 distance.

Here is a link for the results at the Ironman 70.3 world championships which have been held since 2006: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_70.3

I'm looking forward to the second race of the season!

Best,

Rasmus Henning

www.rasmushenning.com

The inaugural Abu Dhabi Triathlon (3-200-20) is under 24 hours away and I am really looking forward to race the first race of the season!

My build up has been a little unusual when the race is in hot conditions like here. Most of my competition has been here for several days or even weeks to adapt to the heat. I on the other hand have yet again been to Italy for a serious patch of cross country skiing.

I usually perform very well in the heat, so I am not that anxious about having only a couple of days to adapt to the environment here. I took some training sessions on my Specialized on the turbo trainer inside wearing more clothes and a rain coat just to get into the mind set of 200 km in the heat in Abu Dhabi.

So my usually good heat adaption combined with the cross country training which also always gives my form a good boost and that I usually also performs good in the beginning of the season makes me confident in my chances.

I haven’t trained as much on the bike as I would have liked to, but have had some good long sessions and I must admit that my Transition works like a charm. I have high expectations for this bike throughout the season and I am already loving it.

This long 200 km bike section combined with a relatively short run (20k) makes it very difficult to predict a winner. Both Triathlete Magazine and Slowtwitch has me as one of the favourites along with Faris Al-Sultan, Eneko Llanos and Philip Graves.

I am one of the best runners in the field and if some of the uberbikers don’t get too much on me before the run, I think I will be able to run them down even though it is only 20 km.

I will get back with a post race report.

Best,

Rasmus Henning

Hi all,

I’m currently staying in 1.800 meter’s altitude in Italy. I’m with the rest of the triathlon national team and actually also the Danish national team in rowing. It is the second year straight we are on cross country skiing camp with the best Danish rowers. I’m skiing and I’m in the zone!

I have kept a high, stabile level in my training and it feels great. I train hard and long and I’m recovering well and I’m ready for more every day. I had half a rest day on Wednesday with only 2,5 hours of training early in the day but I didn’t really need the rest even though we have trained for 5-6 hours for five days straight.

It seems that I can take the pressure I put on my body, and I haven’t felt fatigued yet. Some of the others have been really tired from the training and have also been sick, but luckily I haven’t dealt with that yet.

Formidable recovery

Here in this training camp I have had great focus on my daily recovery. The past six months I have used a nail mat from time to time and here I have spent 20-30 minutes lying on it every night, usually before I go to sleep. It loosens up my back and also speeds up different processes in the body that are good for recovery. I have also got a device sponsored called NormaTec . Click the link for a picture, it makes it easier to understand what it is.

I brought it with me to Italy and I’m using it one hour every evening. It feels really good for my recovery and my legs haven’t been fatigued in spite on the heavy load of training so the effect seems to be really good.

Lots of skiing

In training we have focused a lot on the cross country skiing and have skied about 200-250 km the first five days. E.g. on Tuesday we had 44 km of skiing with a lot of altitude meters. I love to ski and I know that it’s amazing for my form, so I really enjoy working the tracks down here.

Swimming is kept to about 3 sessions a week. The transport is too long since we have to go to the valley to swim, so I’m just maintaining my swimming form.

The weather changes a lot. We had a blizzard one day with almost zero visibility where we both went out skiing and running with snow directly into the face and eyes. Not my favorite. The next day I was out on my bike in good weather and 8-10 degrees Celsius. What a contrast.

Super Specialized

I have chosen to make my bike training a priority so I will be ready for the Abu Dhabi race on March 13 where the bike segment is 200 km.

I’m happy to have my new Specialized TT Transition bike with me to Italy. I have rode it twice on the turbo trainer and also took it out for a 4,5 hour spin at the valley where I could spend a lot of time in the aero position to make me all set to go for Abu Dhabi.

So far I have the Transition model but later on I’m supposed to get the Shiv model (the one Cancellara won the world TT championship on last year) which should be even better. I’m quite happy about the one I have now though, it runs really smooth and everything about it is perfect. So I look very much forward to racing in Abu Dhabi.

It is kind of an experiment to come almost directly from skiing camp and to 30 degrees Celcius racing but it is interesting to see what happens. I don’t think it matters not to be heat adapting for several reasons: Usually I’m in good shape early in the year, my form gets a big boost from skiing and I don’t have problems with racing in heat at all. My coach Michael Krüger and I will head for Abu Dhabi Wednesday before the race which is Saturday March 13.