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December 10th, 2009 Racing Schedule for 2010 January 29th: Millrose Indoor Games, New york NY 1 mile February 27th: 1 hour postal, Los Gatos Ca 10km March 27th: San Diego Ca, 10k/20k April 11th: EAA International Race, Podebrady Czech Republic 20k April 17th: Indoor Nationals, Eskilstuna Sweden 5000m May 16th: World Racewalking Cup, Chihuahua Mexico 20k June 19th: Gran Premio Internacional, La Coruna Spain 20k July 29th: European Athletics Championships, Barcelona Spain 50k August 27-28th: Finnkampen, Helsinki Finland 10k September 4th: Nordic Meet, Finland 20k ***There will be other races to come next year but these are the ones that are scheduled for now.
December 9th, 2009 Las Vegas Marathon Friday morning after I walked a 30k at Lake Miramar and took a fast lunch stop at Del Taco; Me, John Nunn and my wife Molly made the 5 hour drive to Las Vegas participate in the Las Vegas Marathon which covers half of the marathon on the actual Las Vegas Strip, which to me seemed like a lot of fun. We stayed with a couple that my training partner John knew in an amazing house just outside Las Vegas. The interesting thing about this house is that it was like a museum of dead animals hanging on the walls from all over the world that the husband shot during his world tour hunting trips. We had Antelope Lasagna for dinner which was quite interesting but actually very good. Later on the night we also got to walk around the strip and watch Criss Angel at the Luxor. 15k was scheduled for Saturday morning and I did not feel very good. All those hours in the car and the long workout plus a horrible lunch did not settle in very well. I made it fine, but I gotta learn to keep more focus every day if I am going to succeed in my sport. Waking up for the marathon at 4:45am was tough but I got up and headed to the start. Me and John met up with Tim Seaman to walk the marathon. Me and Tim were gonna walk 30k with John who is doing the full marathon as he is training for the 50k nationals in February. From the beginning I did not feel good and Tim and John I think were a bit frustrated about the slow pace I had them hold. After the 30k I was very happy to take the Taxi Cab down to Mandalay Bay with Tim to the finishline to meet up with John. Great weekend with a lot of fun!
Andreas and John Nunn at the VIP section of the Las Vegas Marathon after the race.
December 9th, 2009 News, News, News! Wow! It has been 3 months since my last entry here in the news section of my website. Things have been so slow with racing and training that I honestly have had nothing to put in, but here it is! I started training again on October 5th and from there things have gone incredibly well! I have built my mileage more slowly this year than any other year because I am not doing another 50km race until the European Championships this next year. Last week I walked 185km which for me is not very high but it is good for this time of the season considering I am peaking for the end of July and not early spring like I have before. I am now putting a little more focus on the shorter distances to get my speed up which I am lacking. I am very strong but if I want to start fighting with the worlds best I have to get much faster in the shorter distances. Ahead of me is a 10 day Cross-country camp skiing camp in Park City Utah during the holidays and on the 29th of this month I am flying to Johannesburg, South Africa to participate in a large training camp with a lot of other athletes from Sweden. I am very excited since I havent been to Africa before and also excited to be training hard as this camp will be a build-up camp with long, slow walks and a lot of strength training. From now on I will be updating this page a lot more frequently and I hope you will follow me on this journey towards hopefully having my best season ever next year and to succeed at the European Championships in Barcelona.
September 1st, 2009 Victory Against Finland in the yearly Sweden-Finland Meet This whole week has been one of the greatest weeks ever! Going to a World Athletics Championships is one of the greatest things an athlete can do and to do it with a great result is even better. A big bonus is the Sweden-Finland Athletics meet which is the oldest dual meet in the world and a big tradition which is the weekend after the World Championships. A 10000m race at the Ullevi Stadium in my hometown of Gothenburg is included in the program with all the other Track and Field events. I decided that this time I am going to just do my own race and not stay behind and be tactical. Very quickly I realized that a pace under 4:20 per kilometer was not going to happen today the weekend after my 50km race. I had some very tired legs and it felt like I was very out of shape. Towards the finish I managed to get a 4th place in 43:15 but since I had 2 Finns behind me, one only 10 seconds behind, we managed to win the dual meet 12-10 which was the first time in many years. A large victory for the Swedish team. Now I am back home in San Diego and have finished this season. Time to rest my legs for about a month until I start training for the next years competitions. It is going to be nice with some vacation after a long season. August 22nd, 2009 21st Place at World´s Finally a great 50k and what a time to do it. In front of about 40000 people I crossed the finishline at the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin and claimed my 21st place in 3:57:53 and a new personal record by almost 3 minutes. It is always nice to break a personal record but in front of all these people at a World Championships at this historic place was truly a dream come true. After I crossed the finishline family and friends from Sweden and United States came up to me with tears in their eyes. It was truly one experience I will never forget until the day I die and what a great day for me and all the people that has stood by my side on this long journey! Thank you all for all your tremendous support and encouragement. Thanks to my Father and my Family and also to my team members that have helped me in San Diego. Also to Tommy for the help with my technique and all of my friends. You all have helped me fullfill a part of a dream that has now come true! Thank you!
August 9th, 2009 Fit to fight at World Champs!! Although I knew that I have been selected to compete at the World Championships in Berlin I was not officially selected until August 3rd when it was announced at a press conference, which was the final day of selection. I am very happy and excited to have made my second World Championships. I just got home from a hard training camp at Lake Garda in Italy were it was very hot and humid but I was able to get some good training in. Training consisted of a lot of long slow miles because although I wanted to have walked faster I had to be a little careful because of the recent 30k race that I had. This was also just a build-up camp for the speed workouts that I was going to do when I got home to Sweden. When I got back to Sweden I realized that my speed was already there. I walked a great 35k in race pace the day after I got home and then a 5x3k fartlek with 600m slow in between at 160 heartrate only 2 days after. They ended up being by far the best speed session I have done. About 25 seconds better per 3k than I expected. Now all I have left is some tune-up before my race in Berlin. This is the first time in 2 years were I feel like I am going into a 50k race prepared without injury or sickness and that I am able to peak in time. I just gotta stick ``with it´´ until I leave this Thursday to Germany.
July 27th, 2009 2:17:23 in Växjö. So I landed last monday after I have had a good training period In San Diego last 2 weeks. I have been focused on this 30k race now for a while because this was my last chance to possibly make the team for the World Championship and to prove to myself also that I am ready to go. I have a standard B from last year but in Sweden it is not like in the U.S were you have standards,trials etc. I needed to show that I am in good shape and have a good chance to walk under 4 hours or I do not get a ticket. The preparations could not have gotten any worse because the day before the race I passed out on a treadmill doing easy 1k lactate tests in a large gym which caused quite the comotion inside were I was training. Then I only got 2 hours of sleep the night of the race and it crossed my mind not to even start in the morning. Then I told myself: Look, you are going to make the team and you are in good shape, lets do this!!! My plan was to walk the first 20k in 1:32 and then try to accelerate last 10k. It all went good except for a 40 second bathroom break before the 10k mark. I passed 20k at a little over my planned pace but then I fell asleep and had 3 laps at 2:00min flat. Ato lapped me for a second time and i told myself to hang on to him which I did and I walked the last 9k at under 40 minutes. Now I definetly showed that I deserve a spot on the World Championship Team. Considering that this was the worst preparations I have ever had before a race I was extremely happy about my time. Ato made the race of his life and I was very happy for him. He broke 3 of my fathers records during the race so now I got to work extra hard to get them back to my family:) Now I am in Tuscany, Italy preparing for the World Championships. I am going to train hard and I know than I am going to get better. I am also injury free and healthy so we will see what is going to happen.
June 19, 2009 Andreas goes T.J This week we have had the pleasure of having Tyler and Nicolette Sorenson plus Chris Teigtmeier and Trevor Barron who is coached by Tim Seaman come train with us. They are all getting prepared for the U.S nationals coming up next weekend. Also we have had some walkers from the Velazco Club in Tijuana come down and train with us on the Coronado Silverstrand here on Coronado Island. So it has been very motivating with more people out on the course. Yesterday we went down to Tijuana to help Tim instruct the club plus we also got in a nice training session in at the track were they all train. It was very warm but I had a recovery day were I only walked 16km so it wasn't too bad. I have a ticket booked to fly to Dublin on Sunday but I still have not decided if I am going to go. A week and a half ago I woke up with a nerve twitch in my shoulder and I had to got to the emergency room at the hospital. I was not able to move my arm for days and it took a week for it to go away. I started training on Monday but I lost quite a bit of my endurance so I am not so sure If I am ready to walk a 50k so soon, we will see...... Part of the Velazco Club with me, Trevor, Chris and Tim
May 30, 2009 Tough race at the European cup. Last Saturday I got my second DNF of the year unfortunately. The European Cup ended up being a pretty warm race and with a lot of pollen in the air. I think I was itching my nose every 10 seconds throughout the race and without really any good conditions It was hard making a Standard A for the World Championships. I started suffering a bit after 33km and a couple of kilometers later I decided to call it a day. A lot of frustation is going through my mind right now and it is going to be hard to bounce back and recharge my batteries for the Dublin Grand Prix on June 28th but I will definetly do my best! Picture of me to the right at the European Cup
May 11, 2009: 201km for the week! So I have been switched back and forth about the European Cup in 2 weeks and it is going to be a Go! This means that I will make a comeback on the Swedish national team. The poor leadership and the suspension of my father Bo(who has done so much for our sport), caused by the Swedish Walking Federation, must now be forgotten because I realized that it is very important for me to make the Standard A for the World Championships in Metz instead of waiting it out until the end of June to go to Dublin and race. I have been putting in extra work now into walking some race-pace type of workouts, so this week I have been doing 5x5k repeats at about 4:42 pace and then my long workout on Saturday in 4:55 pace. I am not really in shape like I was in March but I will be putting in a good week here this week so hopefully I will time my training in right so that I will perform to my fullest in Metz at the European Cup. Sadly Trevor went home to his family on the Eastcoast and Rachel is back in Canada so it is just me and Tim out on Coronado Silverstrand in the mornings. It is probably a good thing for Tim as he was almost running a racewalking colony in his studio for a while in Imperial Beach. He has done a great job taking on all these people that he is coaching and helping but now I think it is good for him with a little break so that he can focus more on his own training altough I know he loves coaching and helping out.
April 14, 2009: Road to the Dublin Grand Prix has started So I have been a little unmotivated since I came back home from Europe but luckily enough I have a great supporting team around me here in San Diego that has brought my motivation back. We also had the pleasure to have double medalist from the 2008 Olympics; Jared Tallent, his wife and Olympian Claire and Olympian Adam Rutter from Australia to come train with this week before they headed off to China for the 3rd leg of the IAAF racewalking challenge. Altough John and Philip was not training with us we were 7 walkers and our masseuse Simone, riding her bike with fluids out there on Silverstrand bike trail for my 35k on Saturday which was a lot of fun. That brought my week to 190k which I am very happy about. There are some changes to my racing schedule now and i will be going to Dublin, Ireland to race the 50k at the EAA Dublin Grand Prix at the end of June. Other news is that Trevor, my training partner here, broke the national 5000m Junior record in Mt. Sac Relays last Sunday in a time of 20:54 and he is not even 17 until this summer!! This week I will be training over 200km and I will also be doing a lot of strength training as my legs have gotten very weak since I have not done any strength last couple of weeks. My hamstrings gave up on me in Dudince and I will be training them extra so they won't give up on me again.
March 30, 2009: Complete failure in Dudince Me, my father and his fiance traveled on Tuesday to Budapest for a little pre-camp before we drove our rental car to the village of Dudince in Slovakia were i had my 50k race. I love traveling to Budapest because it is so beautiful and everything seemed to be going fine except for that I was having a hard time sleeping. When we came to Dudince the organizers had us stay at a beautiful brand new Spa in the village right next to were I was competing. Saturday morning came and this was my time to really show what i can do since I am in a great shape and my training had been going better than ever. When the race started I felt pretty ok but at 22km i felt that something was very wrong and both my hamstrings were cramping a lot. At 26km I called it a day after I went over 5 minutes for the kilometer. If this happens this early in the race and there is no sign of it going away I was not going to try and finish the race. I am just going to swallow this and just see it as a very very bad day. I am going to sit down with my father after I get back into training and see what other options I have in order to qualify for the World Championships. Recent years i have had a fall back plan in case I did not make a time standard but this year I was so sure I would make the A standard in my first race I just did not plan for it. Oh well, i will be back.........! March 15, 2009: Andreas wins 5k indoor national championships. On Saturday the 14th I won my first national championship when I won the national 5k indoor championships in the beautiful indoor track and field complex in my hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden. It was a tactical race were I stayed behind the leaders for the whole race until it was two laps left were I made the surge for my win. I actually cannot even remember the last time I finshed my last indoor 5k nationals. The judges in Sweden have been very hard on me. But I am very happy I got the win especially in my hometown in front of friends and family. Next up is the Dudince 50k on the 28th of March and I hope that i will stay in my good shape and that I will clinch my ticket to Berlin.
February 28, 2009: New 10000m Personal Best! Today at the Pacific Association 1hour race I broke a new 10000m track Personal record by walking the first 10k thru 41:53. It was nice warm conditions (22-23C) with no winds which usually fits me pretty good. It is nice to see that although I am in a hard training period right now I still have plenty of speed in my legs. Now, this race was not in my schedule but I wanted a big Personal Best before I head over to Europe on the 11th of this month and I got it! This month did not turn out to be the 900km that I was seeking but I know that I was a bit over 800km which I am also very happy about. My next race will be the Swedish Indoor Nationals in my hometown of Gothenburg on the 14th of March and then I will be racing the Dudince 50k In Slovakia on March 28 were I am seeking to walk an "A" Standard time to qualify for the World Athletics Championships in Berlin.
Walking towards a new record in Los Gatos, Ca
February 12, 2009: Lots of improvement! A week and half has gone by since I got back from New york and training has gone incredibly well since then. 201km last week which could have been a little more but the trip back from New York took a little bit out of me. This week i am hoping to do 215km. Intervalls are going better than ever and my heartrate and lactate tests are also showing great results. A lot of it has to do with the great group, the weather, staying healthy and the fact that I have been able to train fulltime. I have only been in San Diego a little over a month now and the incredible improvements I have made has a lot to do with me moving down here to Coronado Island. The place were I live has big size heated pools, jacuzzi and a great gym which all come in handy to get the best out of me.
February 12, 2009: Millrose Games-The perfect start of the season! I love New York! There are a only a few cities in the world that I just love coming back to and one of them is New York. This time I came back here to compete in the Millrose games in Madison Square Garden on January 30th which is one of the most famous indoor track and field meets in the world. Now walking a one mile race on a 145m tilted track is just plain silly but it sure is a lot of fun. I have only trained a few 3k repeats so far this season which is the only type of speedwork i have done but i wanted to see if I could walk under 6:10 and hopefully that would get me a second place. The race started out just the way I expected it to, Tim Seaman in the lead with Mike Tarantino close on his heels. I caught Mike with 4 laps to go and made a tactical move with 2 laps to go. Towards the end I almost caught Tim but I was very satisfied with my race. 6:04 and no red cards on the board with IAAF judges present walking at about a 3:45 pace was beyond my expectations and a great start of the season. The next morning I went out and walked a 20k in Central Park which is one of my favorite places to train. Lots of people on Saturday morning right in the heart of New York with wide big roads. Cannot wait until I can get back to New York again!
January 17, 2009: Great Start in San Diego So three weeks of training has just been done and there has been good results! First week was a week of 145km, the second week was 185km and I just finished up my last week with my first 200km week for the season. The weather has been very warm, between 25-28C every day but I still have been very strong and consistent. This next week we will add some more walkers on our team when Lauren Forgues, Matt Forgues, Rachelle Lavallee and USA's next big hope of racewalking; Trevor Barron, who are all coached by Tim Seaman will spend a couple of months with us. This next week I will also be doing another 210km, then slow down a little bit and go to New York to do the Millrose Games because the month of February will be a big month for me with about 900km scheduled. Hopefully it will stay warm because I love warm weather and my legs work very well which also makes them stay out of injuries.
Andreas,Tim,Rachel,Trevor and John at the Silverstrand biketrail in Coronado.
December 23, 2008: I moved! A week ago I moved down to Coronado Island which is located next to San Diego. Me and my wife packed our bags and left our house in Utah I decided that it was not going to work living in Provo and train all on my own especially during these times when the weather is cold and snowy. Here in San Diego I have a great training group, some of the best weather in the world, and great training roads all over. Training has not been going very well, I have had a cold the last week or so and is getting worse. But i have 3 months left to my 50km race in Dudince so I am not really worried. By the way: MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!!!!
December 23, 2008: 2009 Racing Schedule: 30 January: Millrose Games 1 mile, New York USA 14 March: Indoor National Championships 5000m, Gothenburg SWE 28 March: EAA Dudince 50km, Dudince, SVK 25 April: Penn Relays Olympic Developement 10000m, Philadelphia USA 17 May: Usatf Masters 15km open division, Riverside USA 12 June: EAA Racewalking Permit Meeting 20km, Alytus LIT 20 June: IAAF Racewalking Challenge 20km, La Coruna ESP 21 August: IAAF World Athletics Championships 50k Berlin, Germany* 29 August: Sweden-Finland Meet 10000m, Gothenburg SWE
November 12, 2008: Me, Anemic? It is true! Right before I got going with my training again on October 5th I went to my doctor here in Provo, Utah to get myself checked out and to get a reassurance that I am this healthy strong horse that is getting ready for preseason training and of course the results turned out great. When I was in San Diego last week the training went well with my first 30km in a couple of months on Saturday. But I fought pretty hard for the type of speed that we were going in. Tim Seaman took a lactate-test on me after the workout and it was really high. When i flew back to Provo later on in the afternoon all I wanted to do was to stay in my bed so I knew something was wrong. Yesterday I went to the doctor and it turned out that a quarter of my red blood cells had left my body within 5 weeks altough I live at 1400m above sea level which is extremly rare. I will take it really easy this week and eat a lot of iron and red meat to try and get my levels up and hopefully I will be able to get going by next week.
October 20, 2008: Great Start! So two weeks have gone by since I started training again and for the last week and a half I have been able to do that down in San Diego,Ca with Tim Seaman and John Nunn. The last two days Tim's girlfriend Rachel Lavalle(No.1 female racewalker in Canada)was able to join us. There is always a great attitude down here and it has really been an inspiration especially since it can be hard to get your fall training going. We train like a team and we are great friends. Now it feels like I am ready and that I have the motivation to pull off my best season next year and that the disappointments from this year now is history.
Other racewalkers that were there were Nathan Deakes, the reigning World Champion, Athanasia Tsoumeleka the Olympic Champion, Erik and Kjersti Tysse, Suasana Feitor, Alex Schwazer, Luke Adams, Jane Saville and many more. So there is plenty of inspiration here! Training is going OK, doing about 200km a week but something is missing. After I missed making the Olympic team a lot of the motivation is gone but I am just trying to hang in there. Other than that I am enjoying beautiful mountain walks, great food, and trips to the Italian border for shopping. Good times!
I would like to thank my father Bo, who has given me such tremendous support and time to help me on this journey. I would also like to thank my wife for supporting me, Tommy Dahlof for all his help with my technique and training, my club for their efforts, and all my supporters back home. Thank you so much!
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