Summary

In this episode of the Athletes Compass podcast, hosts Paul Warloski, Marjaana Rakai, and Paul Laursen welcome Erik Olsson, also known as the Primal Swede. Erik shares his unique journey from a sedentary lifestyle to becoming an ultra-endurance athlete. He discusses his passion for discovering personal limits, the mental challenges associated with endurance sports, and his holistic approach to coaching, which emphasizes mindset, nutrition, and primal practices like cold exposure. The conversation explores the balance between training, personal life, and maintaining a high level of fitness.

Key Takeaways

• Journey to Endurance: Erik's transition from a non-athletic background to an ultra-endurance athlete, highlighting key experiences like the Camino de Santiago and various marathons.
• Mindset Matters: The importance of mindset in overcoming physical and mental barriers in endurance sports.
• Primal Practices: Incorporating primal elements such as cold exposure, breathing techniques, and a paleo-inspired diet into training.
• Balance and Lifestyle: Finding balance between training, personal commitments, and maintaining a high fitness level.
• Coaching Philosophy: Erik’s approach to coaching focuses on mindset and personal growth rather than just physical training.

Hello and welcome to the Athletes Compass podcast where we navigate training, fitness and health for everyday athletes. Today we are honored to have as our guest the Primal Swede, Erik Olsson an athlete and coach who has done a lot of different events and developed a unique way of looking at motivation and purpose in endurance sports. Erik, can you tell us about your athletic background and what initially got you into the adventure

of endurance sports.

actually, you know, if I go further back in my history, it's actually like zero. have like no background in sports. I didn't grow

like in a family where they did sports. had my brother, he did some football or soccer,

know, and that was, you know, fed, that was basically about it. So I didn't have any background in, you know, in these areas or anything. I usually, you know, spent my time watching television and drinking sodas, you know, and that was like during my teenage years. Right. So that's my

So we were talking bit like the Northern heritage, you know, the four of us. But I'm actually half Spanish. So I lived in Spain for a while and this kind of opened up to me an interest in other cultures and exploring and discovery and stuff. Right. So when I grew up, I decided, okay, you know, so I want to live in Spain. Let's move to Spain. So lived in Spain for a while.

I kind of wanted to explore further what am I capable of? So I took the decision that, okay, I will see if I can bike from Sweden, Gothenburg where I live, down to Gibraltar, UK, of south of Spain.

So when I got back, started, I tried to get into my normal routines, work studies and all of these things. But after a while I felt there's something off.

You know, something is not right anymore. know, there's something I don't know what it is. I can't understand it. Something is off. And I started to see that it is actually the thing that I'm in an office or I'm studying somewhere like inside the building. And I feel like claustrophobic.

you know, it's kind of difficult to take a bike and journey for three months

I didn't have the money, I didn't have the freedom to actually do these things. What can I do instead?

And I remember the very first event was like a half marathon, 21K.

I was out and I sort of discovered what I'm capable of. So, you know, when the winter eventually was finished and spring came and summer came, I can't ski anymore. Obviously there's no snow. What can I do instead?

don't know. Maybe I can run. So I bought these like super

shoes, like in a local store for like, 10 euros or 10 bucks or something. And I started to run. So then I did that for about 500 kilometers in those super cheap shoes. I did more more of it. So that's where my stories began. So no experience. I just kind of self discovered

world of endurance.

Bit of forest gump there.

you

I am. I'm the Swedish fourth.

is so much to unpack there, but I can relate to some of the feelings that you had. I grew up cross -country skiing and I wanted to discover what I'm capable of. But then I hurt myself. So I have a little bit different background from you. But when you said that you did these amazing endurance events and then you went back to your normal life,

in the office and you started feeling claustrophobic and you just crave that discovery of what you're capable of. I can so relate to that. Like I moved from Finland to Norway because I quit cross -country skiing. And I felt the same way. I had to go and discover something else and challenge myself in another way. I knew how to speak Swedish, but Norwegian is a little bit different.

So, you know, like learning a new language, studying and working. it was just like, gave me the challenge, but after a while, you know, like working in accounting, I started to feeling claustrophobic again. So I needed to find something, something else. So like finding your, your limits and finding your purpose. Like the endurance sports is so wonderful. It can create a venue for you to discover that.

So of all of those endurance events that you've done, what are you most proud

Yeah, there are so many. mean, we have the Gothenburg half marathon. It's the largest half marathon in the world. have like 65 ,000 participants, maybe 48 ,000 actually do the race. And I remember the first time I saw them and this was like pre -bike packing down to Spain. Right. So I

understand it like why are they running? You know, what's the problem? And some people had these costumes and things like that, like that get mad. What's, why? But then when I started to do these things, said, okay, maybe I get it. Like now I've done like 10 times, I've done it 10 times, you know, so it is an accomplishment and I feel proud that I actually did those races 10 times. But then again, okay, so I have a few races I've done like 30 plus, I don't

Lots of races.

And during the same time I had, okay, so maybe,

you know, maybe triathlon. That's interesting. Maybe triathlon, you know, that could be a cool thing to try,

and they're like half 300 different distances and all of these things. But maybe an Ironman is, you know, maybe I should do an Ironman.

So I did two things during this same

Obviously I feel proud and always when I do these

always curious of who I will become when I actually finish the race because I'm never the same person. I'm kind of more of myself,

What am I most proud of?

Maybe all of them. Maybe the first, maybe the first half marathon, know, the little step and then it's just been more and more.

ever

the first time, like when you didn't know that this is possible for you and you had those doubts and you were asking yourself, this sounds crazy, like, can I even do this?

Be fine.

Do you ever miss those, you know, the first half marathon, the first time doing a ski marathon or what, whatever?

Yeah, kind

I see the allure. I

not the benefits, but the attraction of doing shorter distances as well, I say, you know? So

was down now in Spain a few weeks ago, month, maybe two months ago, and I did my first like ultra cycling event, like in a race. So that was from Madrid to Barcelona in Spain, 700K, and I finished that in 48 hours, 17 minutes. So that is like, for me, that's a big thing. But I say it's sort of equally alluring. It's equally attractive in a sense to do like the Gothenburg half marathon.

again, but now it's, that's 21k. I know, I know I can do 21k. You know, me, even if I have some injury, I could walk 21k. I can do

while I'm aiming to take it to the next level all the time, I feel I still

simpler races. So the races I already

done like half marathon of a

And you're coaching some other athletes. Are your athletes doing

shorter distances, first timers? Can you talk a little bit more about who you're coaching and how

extensive experience in pushing your own limits can help you as a coach.

it's kind of diverse. to say it's been, it has been, it is anything from the first marathon. Like we have a big marathon in the city, right? So we have lots of people doing it. So we have lots of people looking for a coach or support or help to some extent. So it's everything, anything from like a 21K.

I had a few people I've been helping that are doing

backyard ultra sort of racing, right? I haven't done that. So there is a big diversity of people pushing the limits essentially. So what do I do? Like my main task is I see it as a coach is to help them with like the mindset.

And then I am using Athletica AI as a platform. So I think like kind of the details, you know,

high -intensity interval training and all these things. It's sort of taken care of. So what I find is it's mostly about the mindset. So I help people with how can you think, how can you overcome, what do you do when you face these obstacles? And it's kind of, in that sense, it's based a lot, obviously, on my own personal experience. I tend to maybe share stories about what I did when something happened to me or how I think.

And the things I put on, say social media and stuff about my coaching tends to be about mindset.

Yeah, you know, on your website, Erik, you talk a lot about those primal concepts to guide your life. mean, is that what you're talking about with that mindset?

absolutely. So, it's, it's kind of divided up, you know, like, yeah, like the primal, what is the primal swede The prime, obviously, you know, I'm Swedish, but what is primal? And I've been, I've been working with the idea of primal for, for a long time. And at first it was mostly about nutrition, kind of a paleo approach. And yes, indeed. I also helped athletes kind of the same thing, but I mostly talk.

about nutrition, right? And then it sort of developed into something different. So now, sure, I talk about nutrition as well, but I find that the biggest challenge most athletes have, it is mindset, you know? So I talk about nutrition, it's like one part, it's one pillar. And the second pillar, and what I do is kind of, okay, so how can you push your limits, which is not necessarily like endurance training.

Okay, so we have cold water immersion, have sauna, the sauna experience, we have breathing techniques, we have Wim Hof. We have something I really enjoy to do, especially winter time. that is kind of, it is cold, cold air exposure, I suppose, but you do like running, trail running just in shorts and, you know, trail shoes, but no t -shirt, anything mid winter. It can be like minus five degrees Celsius. And I think, you know, that

You learn a lot while you do these things. You learn that there is no harm. There is no danger. You can actually push your own limits and you discover lots of things about yourself. So that's kind of a second pillar. And then the third pillar again, it's kind of the mindset. Okay. But then what do what do I mean by that? think what I mean is what I find when you do these things, when I do these things and I push my, my limits, physical and mental limits, I bike pack across the United States. sort of discover.

my potential. I discover what I'm capable of.

So in a sense, the primal swede is about personal development. It's about being active rather than, which is also good, you know, but rather than you go

You have a coach and you talk about mindset and you sit somewhere and you listen and you do some yoga, right? Okay, that's cool. But what if you do a half marathon instead?

I love it. I love it. So yeah, I've just kind of been reflecting and listening to this to this point, Erik, and I didn't know when I when I first looked at your name, just like you kind of said, the first thing I thought of when I saw the word primal was, Erik's Erik's a paleo guy. He's a nutrition guy. But the more I've listened from, you know, your Forrest Gump story, ultimately, is

This is, and this is what my colleague Alex Hutchinson, whose nickname is Sweat Science, he does a lot of writing, a lot of people will know about him. He's writing a book right now on adventure, but I think it kind of comes back to that. And it's the primal origins of adventure and discovery and then mindset as well. this is, yeah, I love how you've kind of, this is like, there's something that's in our DNA.

that's kind of, it's, know, we're all searching for happiness or discovery in this life, right? And when we go and step outside and of our comfort zone and seek adventure and have adventure, we do personally develop. And I think that's what you've discovered. I know that's what I discovered time and time again, my first Ironman, my race across America and addicted to

addicted to it, so I did it twice with the team. on and on it kind of goes, right? Like there's something in me, primarily, that I get satisfaction out of doing that. And if I don't, I start to get saddened and depressed. so I can totally see, I can totally understand what it is that you do, what you help people with, Erik. So thank

it's like cold water immersion. I know we talked a bit about that, Paul, when you were on my podcast, right? So, what I really enjoy to do when I like, it's winter.

The ground is covered in snow. head to the lake. There is a hole and I put on this kind of Norse music, right? Which is very fitting. So yeah, sure. If you watch the series like Vikings or something, you sort of get an idea what that is about, but you get this kind of mood, this rhythm, this tune, right? And it's, it's very kind of a primal sense. gives you something. And I put on that music and I do cold water immersion and that thing it sort of helps to

reconnect with nature, to be grounded. yeah, so that's kind of the aura I want to portray to people as well. So they get the kind of idea that, okay, this is something different. It's not kind of a paleo coach. It's rediscover your inner roots and what you are capable of

That's so beautiful. I don't want to totally, you know, take over this interview, but as As As a Nordic person that left my beloved Norden, Norway and Finland and Sweden, I find like so much home.

in your story. Like as a mom of three living in, you know, everywhere around the world, I've missed that Nordic element of being uncomfortable because life in Nordic countries, it's not like in the States like here everybody wants the comfort and you get lost in that. Like you, when you chop wood or you carry water, you do like basic element.

things, elementary things, primal things to survive, you're very much connected to the nature. And I've missed that in my life so much.

when I started doing triathlon and running marathons and stuff, part of it was to get really uncomfortable and really uncertain what I am capable of. I just so relate to your story and what you're doing.

Is there a limit for

What do you mean like events and stuff?

events, like what is the like the biggest thing that you can figure out? Like, because it looks, sounds to me like you, you

find these incredible adventures and challenges. Have you found the next big one that scares you a little

indeed, I do say this, that my philosophy in training and fitness, and I believe maybe you shared this, it's kind of, I want to have a lifestyle where I'm able to do, an Ironman at any point, right? I want to like, it should always be like a high fitness level,

like built into my lifestyle, right? So I do my morning sessions, strength at the gym and then the evening, do cycling and so on.

So I want to have a sort of a functional fitness level. I'm not saying I'm going to win an Ironman, right? That's not a thing, but I want to be able to

execute one and do one. next level thing, like a few years ago, I regarded myself as a runner

now I regard myself as a cyclist, like an ultra cyclist.

And I do have a name and that is to participate in the world championship in

Like an amazing thing. It's an old, usually it is in Poland and it's, I don't have the numbers in my head, right? But it's like 4 ,000 kilometers or something and it's, you have unsupported or supported.

However, I do feel at this stage cycling is what I do. I am a cyclist. I love ultra cycling. I love to be on the saddle. Like now I just finished an 800 K hike in Spain.

But that's not a beast. That's kind of every day you walk 32k and you interact with other people and you have culture. It's not a beast entirely, but this cycling, which I find when I'm on a saddle and I just go and I just push in hour after hour after hour after hour after hour of the day of the day of the day. That is something weirdly, weirdly fascinating.

So I want to do more of that, obviously. But as I say, you know, it's kind of a lifestyle. Okay. So if this is the kind of one of the big goals, yeah, obviously, but you know, it's not the only one maybe, or actually during that journey, I want to do like an Ironman here, an Ironman here, an Ultra run here, maybe 21k here. Just fill my life with these events,

Erik, I'm kind of, you know, having coached several people who do Ironmans and seen the amount of training that that takes,

that's a heck of a commitment in terms of time. I how do you balance training with the other commitments in your life? You know, work, family, social activities. I mean, how do you balance all of that?

I was almost to say like I don't have any, but that's not really true either. know, so yeah, that is tricky, you know, obviously. So I want to stay, you know, humble in front of that as well. So what I try to aim for, you know, if I have a week of fitness and training between say seven hours upwards, I'm very satisfied with that. You know, if I have 10 hours.

That's awesome. If I have 15, that's perfect. You know, when you do cycling, you tend to be able to put lots of hours on the saddles. of, you know, on a Sunday, you you can, you know, you bike five hours. So it's easier in a sense rather than when you run, maybe you run, uh, you know, for two hours. So the volume you're able to put in tends to be lesser. When you are a cyclist, you tend to be able to put in more.

But then again, I'm humble, you know, if I miss a session, two sessions or three sessions, that's okay. That's okay. You know, I don't want to press push it. also, and may, you know, this is an important distinction. I'm not aiming for, you know, the top 10 positions, right? I'm not aiming to win. Maybe one day I changed my mind and I want to actually be on the top position. That's awesome. But at the moment, that's not the ideal. That's not the, you know, that's not the goal.

So if I have this idea, I think it's easier. I experienced it as easier. You know, I can just participate in a race. I can enjoy the race. I can get the value out of the race. Maybe I do an Ironman in say Spain next time. I can travel to Spain and after the race, I can do some discovery and exploration and stuff in Spain. And then I go home, I recover and I can continue. So what I want to say is like the burden is not so heavy.

Lagom

Lagom, that's like a super good Swedish word. I train Lagom

So explain to Paul and our listeners what lagom means.

Can you even explain that? Lagom is kind

It's a good Swedish word. I don't think there is a perfect translation, but it kind of means like perfectly in the middle. It's lagom, there's no stress about it. Kind of a midway thing. Not too much, not too little.

is a good word. Balance doesn't really get the essence of Lagom. It's like a Swedish way of thinking as well. things... Swedes are known for their laid -back attitude within the Nordic cultures. Swedes are the relaxed, the no worries, no stress, a little bit like Jamaicans.

Balance.

Hahaha!

Thank you.

And Lagom is such a great word

that can describe a Swedish person and their philosophy in life.

we have three endurance coaches here. Do you have anything that you want to ask us?

sort of what I, what I, I, I, what I find to be difficult sometimes is the balance, which we just talked about. Right. So, so even though the Swedes are the Jamaicans of Europe, you know, I do find it difficult sometimes because you have these goals, right.

You know, you have this session and it's super important to have a session and sometimes you have to skip it and that's okay. But in order

reach where you want to reach, you can't skip too many.

I'm not sure if I have a question per se, but maybe it's kind of more like, but how do you resonate when you find it's difficult to keep your schedule together in order to reach where you want to go? Because there's so many other things.

I don't have a coach. So how do you, how do you balance your life?

want to thank you for really like bringing back that logon, like the balance, because I'm actually writing a blog post about how to balance life with training. I have three kids who are at the point where they don't need like 24 -hour surveillance anymore. Like I send my boys to the gym right now so that they are not here and making noises.

do a lot of multitasking and that's how I get them done. I do like, stack up, for example, podcasts, uh, listening or researching with the trainer right inside. I run when my kids go to activities or if I can't run, I do some strength work. And I'm always like thinking how I can maximize my time because we only have, you know, 12 hours, 14 hours a day.

to be effective. But it is always a struggle. And sometimes

need to be better at recognizing when things are too much. I think, it the world marathon record holder, Elio Kicciocchi, he said, the most important vitamin is vitamin no.

So saying no to things is especially hard for me, but I'm trying to cultivate saying no. I can't do this at this moment, but once this clears out, I can come back to it.

that was really well said. And we actually spoke quite a bit about this with Cindy Maloney's podcast when we interviewed her, because she's extremely efficient at getting her sessions done. And I think she's got things sort of planned out ahead of times, which is great to have. And she's quite efficient, as Marjaana was sort of saying, with

with her actions in terms of, know, she might get some social time because she's training with someone else that's doing, you know, wants to do a similar sort of session. So she gets her social time there and her balance from that. She, you she might run to work and these sorts of things, right? So super always, always being efficient with that. But all that being said, you've got to go with the flow and you've got to recognize when something just isn't going to get done or you don't want to do that session. And you've got to

There's got to be that little voice in your head that you need to listen to and just say, need some lagom time at this point or whatever, right?

think there's that element of consistency of getting, you what I often tell my athletes is something is better than nothing. getting something in every day so that you're consistent or every other day or something so that if you're really busy, you're still doing a little something every

You know, what are your what are your challenges physically, mentally, emotionally? What what what is what is what makes those things?

challenging to

Yeah, it's first thanks for sharing the input about the question, right? I asked lots of value there. then yeah, Paul, it's like, see that the fight or my biggest challenge is my own mindset. I see that as that had been my experience. I was not aware of that necessarily at the beginning, when I did like my first half marathons and these things, I just kind of pushed it and did it

After a while, I started to see a pattern. Right? I see a pattern. So what is this pattern? Well, I started to see the pattern when I started to realize that before any race, essentially any race, always, kind of always, I either get sick or I have an injury. Right? Do I actually, am I sick? Do I actually have an injury? I don't necessarily believe I do, but I discovered like a trait of

Right. So I'm not sure what that is. think that's kind of a fear for something. Maybe it's fear of, as I say often when I have athletes and on social media, maybe it's a fear of actually succeeding and discovering that I am capable of doing something. Maybe it's also a fear. It can be fear of failure, obviously. Either one or the other, maybe both. So I've been, you

Sometimes I remember I did like Vasaloppet, that's a 90k cross -country ski race in Sweden and you know one of these times, I've done it few times, I take the train and head up to the north and I feel like my throat is all sore and pain, right? So I eat raw garlic on the train, maybe there's a smell in the cabin but I don't know, I just need to do something. But then when I actually do the race, it's usually fine, you know, and then...

I don't know. It's like before walking the Camino. Okay, so I have had a knee injury, I believe. I have had back problems, I believe. Like a part of the, one of the reasons I actually did the Camino this time was to rehab and see, can I do this anyway? And I walked the Camino, 800 kilometers and I have basically like zero issues. So what is that? Why do I put these things on top of myself?

While I do these things, I can also see that I have never canceled one single race. I've always successfully completed everything I set out to do. But still, each and every time I have this kind of, can I? I don't know. I have an injury. I'm sick. It's always kind of limiting me.

That's part of what makes it so beautiful when you actually do accomplish something, don't you think? If you didn't have that doubt in the back of your mind, then it wouldn't be as rewarding.

Yeah, but it's really strong, you know, so, so it can be like an injury like my knee. act, have an injury in my knee. can physically feel it. But then when I do these things, it's, it's fine. It's like, why, why, like what? But then of course, I, I, I, I crossed that boundary. Right. I see that it's possible and I discovered something about myself and then I start to learn. I'm learning now.

After this pedal, my race and after the Camino that, you know, if that's, if that is the case, okay. Stay humble, you know, feel what is like, what's the situation today and all of these things. do strength training and yoga and all of these things, but probably it's still a mindset thing. Probably I will be able to succeed

I love that, Erik. So I'm going to summarize a few of the things that I heard in this conversation. I really loved it. really, yeah, thankful for you coming on here, Erik. Your nickname is the Primal Swede. And I think really everything kind of rotated around this whole primal instinct in us. And it's a primal instinct we don't think about often.

but it's of a primal need for adventure, for experience, for challenge in our life. And if we don't get this, we're not that happy. I even kind of, you were at a moment of describing these, the multiple different adventures that you've had and you get to the end of one and you almost kind of like, you did that and it's like, well now

And you kind of, we just go back into this process again. And I think those of us that have done multiple Ironmans or ultra cycling races, mountain bike race, whatever, running races, we all experienced this. So there is this primal need for that in us. This is why there is a primal need for products like Athletica to throw that in there too. But there's this thing where we need to break down these

you know, seemingly, there's seemingly physical barriers at first, but they're only mental barriers. And when we do break the, when these do actually get broken, it's actually, it's quite an emotional response. You actually, you know, you even mentioned about a, you know, the, you know, it brought tears to your eyes. One of the, one of the times that you've done that and I've experienced that as well. So, but this is all part and parcel, I think of us as humans.

Those of us that don't challenge ourselves to do this, we run the risk of getting depressed, at least in some of us, our type A personalities. And yeah, guess, yeah, go towards all those various different primal instincts, and, you know, including cold water immersion, breathing, heat and sauna, travel, adventure, movement, all of these things. So think big, everyone. And if you need

a life coach to help you with these sorts of personal experiences and personal developments. Erik is your man and we'll include his links so that you can reach out to

That is all for this week. Thanks for listening and join us next week for the Athletes Compass podcast. Ask your training question in the comment and in our social media. Thank you for taking a moment to give us a five -star review. Paul, Marjaana and I are professional endurance coaches with some limited availability, so contact us for an appointment. For Erik Olsson.

Marjaana Rakai and Dr. Paul Laursen Paul Warloski and this has been the Athletes Compass podcast.