By Teemu Virtanen

Two Norwegian Pro Teams had an idea to head down to Croatia for an extensive training camp. Team ParkettPartner Sjusjøen and Team Kaffebryggeriet went to a place called Omis for a ten-day session that consisted of some extremely hard workouts and some nice hiking in the midst of the beautiful nature around the mountains of the area.

According to the director of Team ParkettPartner Sjusjøen, Arnt Nyborg, the goal was to get a solid dose of endurance training spiked with three hard workouts. The first one of those they did together with Team Kaffebryggeriet, and they roller-skied up to Croatia’s third highest peak called Sveti Juret. The distance was 22.5 km, and the 1,450 meter change in altitude made the first workout really brutal. Simen Engebretsen Nordli and Vetly Thyli, the leader of the “Coffee Boys”, were the heroes of the day as they were the fastest athletes on the climb.

Both Pro Teams went for long hikes on the days between the hard sessions, and they also completed a “Vasapass” roller-ski training inspired by Lager 157 Ski Team (see below*). This particular training was 100 km with intervals during the workout. The first 45 minutes were easy, then there were 10 and 15 min uphill intervals, two short 3 min intervals with full speed, after 68 km a “Cascata Hill” type of 9 min steep uphill interval and the last one was a 10 km flat max effort. Stian Berg, Team Kaffebryggeriet, proved to be the strongest overall, Kjetil Tyrom performed well on that day after being almost dead due to the hard climb of “Sveti Juret”. Nyborg is confident that he will be a force to be reckon with when the new season starts.

The last days of the camp were devoted to long walks and some interval training, e.g. 6 x 5 min, and Team Kaffebryggeriet’s Magnus Vesterheim proved to be strong in this particular training. The summary of the training camp is as follows:

• 9 days of training
• 9 athletes (Team ParkettPartner Sjusjøen)
• 42 hours of training, three hard sessions
• 550 – 600 km on roller-skis
• 50-60 km of running
• 2 football sessions

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*The description of the “Vasapass” workout as defined by Lager 157 Ski Team:

Basic rule 1: It should be hard and it should be long, at least 2:30 preferably over 3 hours.

Basic rule 2: A tough start to simulate the start of a long race, as everyone usually starts fast.

Basic rule 3: Sprint prices, breakaway attempts and mountain prices are included during the workout.

Rule 4: Free speed during the last hour.

Basically, a good race pace should be maintained throughout the workout. But it depends a little on workout locations, terrain and other factors. For example, a workout with high speed is usually done on an easier course, and a hilly course with a challenging finish is utilized when trying to imitate some of the harder courses of the Pro Tour. It’s really just the imagination that sets limits on what the workout should look like.