Photo: Niklas Källström

Tomorrow is the first day of the Swedish National Chamionships for roadcycling.

As a part of my preparation for the Syracuse 70,3 I’ll race the time trial tomorrow afternoon. For this race

specialized have organized a UCI legal Shiv for me.

I’m really looking forward to the challenge which is going to be a tough one this time. Sweden has got quite a few strong female cyclists and I expect the standards will be very high.

It’s a great chance to blow the legs out and get a good benchmark of where I am standing.

On the startline there are names like Emma Johansson (olympic silvermedalist in Beijing 2008) and Emilia Fahlin.

First start is 16:00 tomorrow and updates from the race is found on Åstorps CK’s homepage

Photo: Catarina Axelsson

I’m very privileged in life to have a talented circle of friends around me.

On the 9th floor in my house lives my favorite couple, a french man and a swedish woman.

Both keen cyclist with passion for food, coffee and the beautiful things in life.

They might have been the final force that eventually saw me end up in stockholm.

And maybe have something to do with the fact I bought my apartment in the very same location.

I got to know Nicolas and Catarina in Canberra some four years ago.

Nico was involved with the local cycling club – and Catarina was swedish. Apperantly a reason strong enough for the bikeshop guy to introduce us.

Catarina ended up doing a job on the life of a triathlon squad shadowing coach Darren and my training group for some time.

And we became friends. Not because she was swedish, but because they were such great people.

Photo: Catarina Axelsson

Watching the photos Catarina has taken over the past four years is like looking on a more beautiful version of my career.

Her strength (I believe) is her ability to capture emotions and different sides of athletes from the standard race shots.

I have never seen her carry a tri pod or a flash.

It’s her and her camera. The natural light and real location.

Photo: Catarina Axelsson

The other day she had found this beautiful lake not far from our house.

With a lit up face she described the waterlilies and the fairytalish setting.

We took our bikes, packed some gear and left for the forest.

Photo: Catarina Axelsson

Catarina worked her magic and I got to enjoy yet another beautiful swedish summer evening.

Then we biked home, ordered sushi and had dinner on the 13th floor rooftop terrace.

A brilliant day.

Catarina Axelsson herself

For more photos by Catarina Axelsson check out her homepage Envol Photography or Facebook page

Photo: Catarina Axelsson

Another week another race has turned into a weekly routine for me now.

I’m getting top speed training by racing various local races .

Last week I did a 23k time trial, this week a local triathlon at the end of a big training day. Today I raced the 800m free and the 4×200 relay for my swimclub Polisen in the regional champs.

It was my second ever swim race and I still don’t feel comfortable in the setting. It’s a bit terrifying, which really, is the whole point by me racing it.

The 800m looked like a really long way and i was matched into a really quick heat. I went out conservative thinking I was being smart pacing myself. Proved that the 1:08 split still was a little too optimistic. I came home on 9.53 which was much slower than expected, but still satisfactory looking at the training I have been doing in the past two weeks.

The 200m was again slower than a few weeks back with a 2:19 – but also now with legs that’s back into run training.

I take that over injury and a superfresh swim form.

The highlight of today was getting the opportunity to race in the TYR AP12

One amazing suit to swim in!

Lisa and Freja in the TYR AP12 and TYR tracer C-series racing suits.

I’m very fortunate to live in a city where triathlon training is easy and fun.

I’m only a short ride away from the city centre of Stockholm – and still have various lakes like this one behind my house.

It’s clean fresh water sitting around 18 degrees Celsius.

Not bad for a backyard!

Todays session was overlooked by Fredrik Lundin who is mostly spending his time in the national swim arena of Eriksdalsbadet. We are a smaller group within the squad focusing more on long distance and open water swimming. Hence we get a couple of sessions each week out in the lake.

I tend to walk away from these sessions with a smile.

They remind me of how beautiful this sport is and how fortunate I am to do this as a living.

Photo: Niklas Källström

Wednesday evening 7.19 pm

Yes this was a double bike session kind of day.

Smack TT 23km

Heart rate: 168/176

Time: 32,20

Status: painful

Photo: Catarina Axelsson catarinaaxelsson.com

Wednesday morning 07.15

Coffee at Magnus Johansson after the finished ride.

Maximum heart rate noted: 181

Coffee: double shot americano

Status: happy

Last night IEC organized a kick off for the ITU World Triathlon race in Stockholm.

A triathlon training session at a Stockholm outdoor pool with tips and tricks for beginners, training and a social BBQ.

The biggest guest of the party was Vattenfall – the new title sponsor for the ITU World Triathlon Stockholm.

With a bang and a huge orange tent they announced their presence to the triathlon world.

Over the last year I have learnt Vattenfall is a company who takes their sport seriously. I’m currently coaching the group from Vattenfall who’s preparing for the triathlon later this year.
A group full of excitement and energy.

Welcome to the race Vattenfall!

Vattenfall is a Swedish power company, wholly owned by the Swedish government. Beyond Sweden, the company generates power in Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom.

The company’s name is Swedish for “waterfall,” and is an abbreviation of its original name, Royal Waterfall Board (Kungliga Vattenfallstyrelsen).

Visit Vattenfall.com for more info about Vattenfall.

Unfortunately this is the closest I am going to get racing the course in IM St George 70,3.
My foot that got sore the week between the challenge Fuerteventura and St Anthonys’s is still not great. After a couple of treatments at the hospital here in St George we took the decission today that I wont be running in the race tomorrow.

It would be risking too much considering the season is long and the main goals are still far away.
I’m playing it safe, listening to my body and trying to make good desissions based on the facts we have.

Best off luck to all you guys racing out there tomorrow!

It wasn’t one of my finess moments out there.

The St. Anthony’s triathlon proved to be a challenge tougher than expected.

First out was the wind that had picked up over night. From the calm waters we have seen all week – the ocean was choppy and difficult to manage. I found that my stroke that has been working well in the pool didn’t quite manage to transfer to the swim today. To start with I was facing the wrong way when the gun went off. Strange you might think, but they were calling us back to the line and most girls were making their way back when we heard the canon from the beach. So a quick scramble to turn around and get going. Being a bit rusty I was slow out of the blocks and got caught in a big fight for space.

Did I mention I missed that big main pack?

Was swimming just behind for a while but didn’t manage to close the gap in time. And yeah, I came out a lot later than what I would have hoped and expected.

The age group swim later got shortened by half due to the difficult conditions.

out on the bike I was a bit angry [on myself] and wanted to take back as much as I could of the lost time.

The bike was rolling nicely and I picked up a lot of the girls. I knew I still had a few up the road, but wasn’t really sure of who – or how many. Into transition I was fourth behind Alicia Keys (who later ran on to win the race), Nicky Samules and Svenja Bazlen. Coming off running towards my place there transition I could confirm what I had expected all morning. I wouldn’t be able to finish the run.

Afte the Challenge race in Fuerteventura my foot had been sore. I’ve been hoping for it to subside in time for the race, but the time wasn’t on my side. There have been a lot of incing and physio work throughout the week (huge thanks to William Muhlstadt on The Centre 4 Muscle Recovery) but I wasn’t quite ready for a hard 10k run.

It hurts a lot to DNF a race as I like to finish what I have committed to.

I lingered around to watch the girls finish and grab a snack with my friends.

It’s probably one of my favorite moments out there. The tales and the dramas from two hours of racing. No matter if your race was great or poor, there are always good stories to be told and laughs to be shared.

Then I picked up myself, went on a brunch with the great people behind the UWC Bahamas Triathlon before hitting the pool for a pm swim.

Next on the program is St. George 70,3.

And I am going to do everything I can to get into my runshoes by next weekend.

It hasn’t been two weeks since the Challenge race at Fuerteventura.

Since then I have been spending time at the massage table and on airplanes. Inbetween various versions of recovery and “finding my legs” kind of sessions.

St Petersburg impressed me. Beautiful sunrises, which I made more most of nursing a light jetlag. A quaint marina, waterfront restaurants and the perfect climate.

The field is stacked and anyone aspiring to win has to bring the A-game on sunday.

I would dare to say it is the biggest field I have seen for a non drafting event so far.

And here I thought I was going to be able to ship over and fly under the radar a bit…

My A-gamle is not in place yet. I have some expectations on the bike out there, but in terms of the general speed I know I have got work to do before I can present a polished product.

Still it will be a great bench mark to make notes from. And a fantastic oppurtunity to race hard and gain some fitness.

Racing is fun, St Petersburg is nice and I still claim I have one of the best offices in the world.

Read more about the race in the Tampa Bay Times http://www.tampabay.com/sports/running/strong-pro-field-set-for-st-anthonys-triathlon/2117612