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Change - Christmas Advent Calendar

12/20/2018

I take a step into an unknown ground

The past two years I have been riding under the fane of Ghost Factory Racing Team and what a great time it has been. It all started when I together with my dad back in 2016 did the Swiss Epic. As we arrived and opened our bike-boxes we saw to our horror that a part of my frame was broken in the plane on the way. We were a bit under pressure as the prologue was the following day and I didn't have a working bike. A brown haired (very handsome) guy was standing in the middle of a bunch of Ghost-bikes looking cool, but not scary haha, so I went to him and asked if he could help me. His name was Uwe, and he was the mechanic of the Ghost team, he told me that they had a spare bike, so it should be possible to save me. I never got to use the kind offer from Uwe tho, because I rented a bike instead, so the Ghost Team would have their spare bike.
No Ghost bike for me in the Swiss alps, but a contact to the team - and that was worth a lot more. We decided to take 2 years together and see what we could do with my last seasons of U23. And so the journey started. Result wise they moved me from 6th to 2nd in the overall and a World Cup win too. But beside the results, the German-based team gave me a lot more! It has been a great learning curve with racing, training, friendships, big hugs, development, laughs and more! I defiantly grew during the last two years.

As grateful I am for the past two years, as excited am I for the years to come.
I am to switch the page and open a new chapter, same circuit but under a new fane. I believe that sometimes the option that scare you will be the option that helps you grow and develop the most. So I take a step into an unknown ground and I’m ready for what ever it will give me on my journey. I think routines are great in many aspects, but sometimes it's challenging and fun to shake it up.
I have to wait until January with the name announcement, so stay tuned.

Until then, I give you a photo book with some good memories with my Ghost people. I’m excited to follow them from the other side of the tent. I’m already a fan-girl.
Thanks Tom, Sebi, Andy, Uwe, Sina, Anne, Barbara, Lisa, Lisi, Alexandra - my Ghost time was a good time. Cheers, your Swaggy / Blondi / Degen / M / Malene

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A nutrition interview - Christmas Advent Calendar

12/15/2018

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These December blogs are based on your requests, so here is another one, number 4, with the theme “nutrition”. I’m no nutritionist myself, nor have a studied anything like this, so my ‘ways’ is only based on experience and what specialists have told me along the way. But obviously it’s a topic you’re very interested in, so I will give it a shot. I recently attended in an interview with “The Performance Kitchen”, in the interview I answer most of the questions that you asked.

Link: https://www.theperformancekitchen.co.uk/journal/what-does-an-athlete-eat/interview-malene-degn

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Ten Tips - Christmas Advent Calender

12/7/2018

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The door says; “Pull” so I push and walk into the glass door, it’s 9.30 and I’m heading to the gym… I feel drained and slow in my head. I guess I suffer from a training hangover, yesterday was a big day out. I find the band and start warming up my body, counting to ten as my leg works against the band. With the mirror in front of me I can observe my movements. I want to get stronger, leaner, better, a better version of Malene, for next year. I’m looking for the progress, but I know that the only place I have to look is in that mirror

I believe you are your best chance to get better. You need to work for it, work on you - for you, but in order to do so you need to give yourself the best possible setting. So let’s get started with my 10 tips to find your motivation and keep going on a daily basis.

#1 Ask yourself the important questions
The best motivation comes from somewhere deep inside of you, so you need to ask yourself some fundamental questions. In that way, you can find or remind yourself why you do what you do. There is no right or wrong answers, or questions, but you can start with these; “What makes you happy?”
“Why do you like this sport - how does it make you feel?” “What is the 5 most important things in your life, at the moment?”
“What is your dream with the sport?”

#2 Goals & Dreams
Setting goals and having dreams can be very a big factor for your motivation. Goals can be both big and small - Do you want to qualify for the World Championship or do you want to bet your current PR..? Just examples. At the moment one of my goals is to transfer my work from the gym to my power on the bike.
How I set goals?
I like to look at my up-coming race-season and dream about results, while my goals are laying in the steps to those dream-results. Does this make sense for you? This sentence is essential for me.

#3 Overall Plan
If you have an understanding about where you’re heading - bums on the road don’t matter. Make an overall plan of the year. When do you want to perform? My coach and I sit down in the off-season and plan as much as possible for the next 365 days. We use “TrainingPeaks.com"

#4 Know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it
When we are talking about the coach, then one key motivation for me is to know what I’m doing and why I’m doing it. It might sound silly, but understanding why you are doing exactly these kinds of intervals - and what the interval boost/increase - really helps me to push my limits. So ask questions.
And then plan and prepare your ride, so the intervals and the ride will be done as good as possible! Having a game-plan is great for my motivation.

I like to look at my up-coming race-season and dream about results, while my goals are laying in the steps to those dream-results.

#5 Feel ease with imperfection
Now you made the perfect plan, you have set your goals, you know why your coach makes you suffer like **** - but you don’t have the time or things just don’t go as you want them to. You need to learn to feel ease with this “chaos” or imperfection. Life is not a one-way road in any aspects :-)
I always try to get the best out of the current situation. So when things happen that makes training for you hard or just not according to plan - then try to get the best out of the situation. (This is just an example) Living in Denmark equals a lot of days where it’s just rainrainrain … Then do: today is a good day to improve my mud skills. (I say this now but I will complain a lot when I go back haha)

#6 Find training friends
When I ask myself the important questions, one of my reasons why I like this sport - is because I like the people who ride bikes, I like the social side of cycling. So having training friends to share my cycling addiction with is most essential for me. It might be for you too? Try to find a group ride in the area or connect a group of riders you like and say, “Every Saturday at 10 from the train station - see you”. It might not always fit perfectly with your intervals and so on, but maybe it gives you something else - that might be just as important?

#7 Beat yourself and hunt some QOTM / KOM ’s !
I love to tease my competition gene when I train. And it comes in handy, when you want to get stronger - simply try to beat yesterday. Make segments, find segments, hunt the last seconds so you can get a new PR. It motivates me a lot to dig deep and see a progress. Both on the road/climbs and on the trails.

#8 Find your tune
You need to kill your DJ game when you head out for those winter training’s. I like to listen to music that fits my pace. So when I’m riding high-cadence and full of energy I need music that accomplish that; I like the playlist’s “Monday Motivation” or “Comfort Zone” on Spotify. In the same way; for more slow rides I need more slow music, Kanye West or Frank Ocean are some of my favs at the moment. And then when I hit the gym I need to feel badass so there I listen to “Old School Hip Hop House Party” or “Walk like a Badass”.

#9 Fuel the machine
Another way to stay motivated on your bike is to remember to fuel while you’re out there. When your body doesn’t have anything left in the tank everything inside of you will tell you to go home, and that’s not much fun for either you or for your training-mates :-) Anyone remembering the Snickers commercial?? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaRBGBHsjU8)
Try to eat something every hour, or have some energy drink, if you want to perform for the whole training - and remember to drink too. Keeping your energy levels high while you are riding will also increase your energy-level after training and I feel that my body is tougher and tend to get less sick when I do so.

Make segments, find segments, hunt the last seconds so you can get a new PR. It motivates me a lot to dig deep and see a progress. Both on the road/climbs and on the trails.

#10 Rest ride’s with a ‘purpose’
Restitution-rides can often be some of the harder rides to start, strangely enough. Because you normally are a bit tired from the previous training day. A trick is to find a good cafe 30-45 minutes away, then go there have a stop and go back home. It suddenly feels like I have a purpose and a goal to reach on my ride. Helps me :-)

Did I forget anything? Feel free to comment below :-)

/Malene

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