The offseason: while one athlete looks forward to it, the other struggles to get through. Whether you enjoy drinking an extra beer or whether you are already planning your next season and just want to get started again, it’s important to give your body a chance to recharge. Gustav Iden enjoyed his rest the past few weeks, but he’s also a little worried about 2022 after running some tests in the lab: “Hard to start my 2022 season and come face to face with reality. The numbers have been dropping way too fast during my break, and I’m now over 10 percent worse than just some weeks ago.”
“I’ve not been in this bad shape since 2018. Luckily, I still got some time to St. George and I have the best team around me”, he adds.
Iden isn’t the only Norwegian star athlete that feels a little worried, although we wonder how serious this actually is: Iden’s training partner Kristian Blummenfelt underwent the same tests in the same lab in Bergen, Norway. “Reality check”, Blummenfelt comments on some photos of himself doing some VO2 testing. No wonder that he feels a little off, though, because Blummenfelt recently topped off an incredible season with a new Ironman world record during his debut long-distance race, and he won Clash Daytona (Dec. 5) just two weeks later.
Iden’s followers calm his mind a bit. World Champion Xterra and Olympic bronze medalist Hayden Wilde – who’s in quarantine after his trip to Hawaii – replied: “Ten percent better than being stuck in a hotel eating your body weight in food.” Talbot Cox also mentions he shouldn’t worry too much: “Don’t worry, you’re just fine. All your competitors won’t start until 2022. They’re still doing coffee shop rides. Their off season is two to three months”, he jokes.
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