– Many will probably say it’s crazy to do this, and I kind of agree with that. But it’s fun then, says Anders Aukland from the bicycle seat. Today’s trip ended in three hours and 40 minutes. About a hundred kilometers. But the 49-year-old’s training day is not over yet. Far from. – It would have been nice to just go straight in and eat something, but I have to go a little first, says Aukland, who is one of the big stars in the Ski Classics circus. For still, there is almost an hour and a half left on the roller ski mill before today’s session is over. Every single session should be a full five hours. “CRAZY”: Aukland is aware that what he is doing is extreme, but thinks it’s fun. Photo: news Inspired after dinner with Olympic winner Before his very last season, he has completely changed his training. Aukland has trained purposefully since he was 8-9 years old, but never before has he trained as much as now. Not even when he was on the cross-country national team. – It’s a bit exciting and then there’s a bit of madness, but I think it’s more fun to find out for yourself how it works and be able to teach others, than to read about it and think about it, says Aukland. But after a meeting with the Swedish skater and Olympic gold medalist Nils van der Poel in August last year, he made drastic changes. – I have decided to make a small attempt for myself and try to, not copy, but adapt it to my life and then train more than I have ever done in the last year I will compete. Then we will see how it works, says the cross-country skier. Impressed by the Swede After winning two Olympic gold medals in Beijing, van der Poel published a 62-page document, with all his “training secrets” and methods. There, the Swede has written down everything he has done – and why he does it. RECIPE: On Nils van der Poel’s website you can download the document that shows how he has trained. Photo: Screenshot – I did not read the document, but I saw his ideas and thoughts, says Aukland. At dinner with van der Poel, he opened his eyes even more to the Swede’s methods. The gold winner trained a full seven hours a day, five days a week. – I was inspired by what he thought about training. I was really impressed with how much he actually trained. I hardly believed it until he told me about it, he says. – I do not think everyone dares to push themselves on it right away, but I did. Has almost doubled the number of training hours Aukland says that he decided to make an attempt, both for himself, but also to be able to teach the knowledge to others. He has always trained a lot, but now it is at an extreme level. – I train five days with five hours every day, and then I have two rest days a week. And then I have a little over a hundred hours a month. Then I distribute it in a large amount now in May, June, July and August, and then I will train much harder in the autumn, he says. – I will probably almost double the training I have done, because I have trained a lot hard and a small amount for four or five years now. SEIG: Aukland has trained hard for many, many years. Photo: Ulf Palm / TT / NTB His last season will be the year with the most training in his career. But according to the 49-year-old himself, it is not the training itself that is the challenge. – What is difficult is to absorb it and tolerate it. That is the challenge with training. I believe in change. If you do the same thing year after year, it’s not so good, but change is often good. – It is quite extreme to have so much, even with the weekend and the evenings free? – Yes, it is. I’m getting tired. I get tired over time then. It is a challenge to endure all this. In the autumn, I will have maybe four proper hard sessions a week in addition, maybe a little down on the amount. That is what training is all about, it is training what you can tolerate, says Aukland. – It’s extreme With such an insanely hard drive, it may be easy to think that it can be too extreme. But Aukland believes he has found the right balance. – Do you see any dangers? – No, no dangers, but it is very easy to train a little more than you can stand and walk badly because you are tired, says the 49-year-old. – What is important then is to listen to the body and dare to control it yourself. Even if the plan says you should do something else, I think it’s important to use your head when approaching skiing. Although Aukland himself does not see anything problematic with the amount of training, several of his closest ones have been worried. Aukland’s father has been afraid of his heart, and his wife Gina Korneliussen has also felt concerns. CONCERNED: Aukland’s wife Gina Korneliussen. Photo: Hans Solbakken / news – It’s extreme. I do not quite understand how it goes. But Anders is the one who knows his body best, so I just have to trust that he manages to make the choices that are right for him, says Korneliussen. Aukland has had his heart examined, and is confident that what he is doing is justifiable. Yet he understands the concerns. – I understand that, because I may be thinning the body and may have a willingness to do so both in training and in competition over a very long period of time. So I do not feel any of what I do is dangerous, but I have decided that it’s okay now, after that winter here. Think people will follow For Aukland, the new training routine is in many ways a way to acquire knowledge, which he would not get from reading about it. He understands why not everyone throws themselves into the extreme training method. National team runner Simen Hegstad Krüger has also read the document, but even though he thinks it was interesting, he is a little more skeptical about pushing himself. SKEPTIC: Krüger thinks the document was interesting, but will not change the training. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB – Funny if someone tries, but I do not want to try to put it that way, says Krüger. – Why not? – It is because I think that what we do is better for what we should do. But Aukland thinks people will follow. Also his team, including Andreas Nygård. – They will do it next year. – You think so? – Yes I think so. He says he thinks the practitioners just need to chew on it a bit, but that they will eventually see that it works. – If they have gone as fast as they have done, then it is a little difficult to put down what you believe in. I’ve been like that too. You go for sure, says Aukland – I have not gone super fast in recent years, I have gone fast a couple of times a year. I dare to take some chances and that’s probably what I’m doing now. Towards the END: His career as a top athlete is soon over, but has a little more to offer. Here from the opening of the cross-country skiing season Beitostølen in 2018. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB
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Aukland inspired by extreme recipe – trains so much that the family is worried – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
