New year's resolutions

I am not sure I set the correct title for today's post. I do have a lot of goals for 2015, but as it is the end of an incredible year for me, I cannot but take a moment to think back and contemplate.

2014 has been the year when I became acquainted with myself all over again. I have had experiences so out of this world, so unexpected and wonderful, that I still cannot completely believe that they have all actually taken place. I have discovered sides of me that I did not know existed, and I have seen that I am capable of many more things than I would ever have dreamed of, both physically and mentally. And all of this is just because I became passionate about running and competing. And it would only take a simple thing as signing up for Oslo half marathon at the beginning of the year, to ignite a passion which I did not know that I had.

Running and competing have now become a part of my life which I cannot imagine being without. Interestingly, the competitions are perhaps the most important ingredients in all this, at least for me. They give me motivation to train, goals to reach for, and an incredible feeling of accomplishment every single time. A competition does not only test physical strength but also mental strength and willpower. To keep pushing myself when it starts to become really painful is an experience which I could never have imagined that I would enjoy. Well, I don't really enjoy it while it is happening, but the feeling afterwards is unbelievable. I am so high after every race that I have problems sleeping the following night. In addition there is always some kind of festivity around each race where I meet friends and new people, and I get a chance to discuss with experts and learn new things every single time. Competitions are most fun when you participate with friends, though. In every competition I participated so far, I had at least one friend doing it with me. (If you join a group like Melkesyre, you are never short of friends to race with.)

For 2015 I have hopes of training more and smarter than in 2014. Sometime in the future, I even have a far fetched dream of taking some time off work to be able to rest enough to run and train even more. Train in the morning, sleep a few hours, and then train again in the afternoon or the evening. I am already doing something similar two days a week now, but only combining strength training in the very early morning before work with running in the evening after work (and no sleep in between). Of more realistic shorter term plans, I want to divide more of my runs into intervals, and do more long and really slow runs.

When I mention these things to people, I sometimes get questions of the type: What do you want? How far are you going to take this? It almost sounds like I should stop now. But I have only just begun! My goal is to become a better runner, meaning stronger and faster. I hope to be in such good shape that I can participate in a race with short notice, regardless of whether it is 5km, 21km, short uphill, or long uphill. And I want in every race to beat my previous time at that race, at least for several years to come. Then some people ask: Why? The answer is simple: because I think I can.

In 2013 I though I was at the top of my form and I did not believe it was possible to improve it further. 2014 has shown that everything is possible. I have read that a fresh runner can expect improvement for about seven years! So I feel that I have a lot of pleasures and new experiences to look forward to. When I have believed for many years that I am not cut for serious physical strain, it feels wonderful to see that I have been wrong all along. The same is true for many people I know, and perhaps it is true for you, too. If you have a dream, don't wait. Go for it!

I want to close the year by once more thanking everybody who has helped, inspired and motivated me on my way. All these wonderful people have been mentioned in previous posts, so I will not make a new list here. For you my friends, I just quote Afrojack and Wrabel, whose song has been a great inspiration to me this year, and gave the name to this blog:

You got me growing taller everyday
We're giants in a little man's world
My heart is pumping up so big that it could burst

You got me feeling like
I'm stepping on buildings, cars and boats
I swear I could touch the sky
I'm ten feet tall!

I'll put up a sign in the clouds
So they all know that we ain't ever coming down

You build me up
Make me what I never was
You build me up
From nothing into something

I'm ten feet tall!

(Click here to see the full lyrics and listen to the song)

Happy new year!

Running on snow and ice - spikes

Winter is upon us, and with more and more ice and snow on the sidewalks and mountain paths, headlamp alone is not enough as extra running and hiking equipment for this time of the year. Nine days ago I purchased my first pair of running shoes with spikes! As the shoes that were recommended to me are not waterproof, I also bought a pair of waterproof wool socks (yes, they do exist!). I am extremely happy with both pairs of equipment, and I want to share my experiences here with you. I have by now used them (always together) four times:

Uphill interval training with Melkesyre Saturday December 13: Our weekly uphill training with Melkesyre takes place at Fløysvingene. That Saturday, the start of the course was on bare asphalt. The shoes worked very well even this surface. Upwards from Fjellveien to Fløysletten, the ground was mixture of ice and bare gravel, and the shoes worked perfectly on this surface. In fact, I think these shoes can be quite perfect for trail running even when there is no ice and snow! As we arrived at Fløysletten the ground became covered with soft snow, and the spikes became quite useless. On the other hand, no other shoe was good on this surface either; nobody had a good grip.

Ulriken hike with Melkesyre Sunday December 14: The weekly Sunday hike with Melkesyre usually goes to Brushytten but that Sunday, due to bad weather, they had electricity problems and had to keep closed. That's why the plans of Melkesyre changed to a hike up to Mount Ulriken with the hope of a cup of coffee at the cafeteria at the top. However, just before the start of the hike, we discovered that the cafeteria (as well as the the cable car) was closed to to heavy wind. The hike was performed nevertheless, but with no stop at the top due to really heavy wind. Instead, we had a cosy gathering in one of my Melkesyre friends Øystein's car, where everybody drank their coffee from thermos and we ate cookies and rolls that Øystein and Janne had baked. OK, back to track: how did the shoes and the socks work? The start of the course was a combination of ice and gravel, it continued with bare stones and lots of water, and then it turned into a thick layer of snow, with lots and lots of water underneath and all over. The shoes were perfect. I had very good grip all the way, and felt that I could really trust the shoes to hang on the icy parts. The socks were incredible. We were so wet, and my shoes were soaked in water most of the time, but still my feet felt warm all the way. When I took of the shoes, my feet were humid but not really wet. After a few minutes they were completely dry.

Vinterkarusellen 5 km race Monday December 15: BFG sports club organizes a collection of eight races this winter. At each race the participants have the choice between a 5 km and a 10 km course, and those that participate in five of the races receive a medal at the end. I have so far participated in all three of the races that have taken place. The course starts with a round at Fana Stadium and continues on the road to the airport and then turns back after half the distance. For the third race this Monday, Fana Stadium was completely covered with slippery ice, almost like a skating arena. The rest of the course was a mixture of bare asphalt, ice, and slushy snow. On all these surfaces, the shoes worked perfectly. In fact, without the spikes I think this race would be very difficult to complete. On the slight uphill parts with soft snow, the grip was not perfect, and I felt like I lost a few centimeters for each step I took. My finishing time was not as good as I was hoping for, but in the end it turned out to be quite good under the circumstances: I came in third in my class!

The little Christmas whiskey run Wednesday December 17: Fjellgjeitene - the sister running group of Melkesyre - organized an incredibly fun race starting from the bottom of Munkebotn and ending on top of Stoltzekleiven, where we were served whiskey at the finish! The event was followed by a party afterwards, and although it was pretty windy and rainy during the race, we all had a wonderful experience. The start of the course is normally asphalt until the Munkebotn lake, but this part was mainly covered with wet and slippery ice. I was not sure how well I could trust the spikes on this kind of ice, but they performed surprisingly well and I had very good grip. As we got higher up, the ground was covered more and more with snow, which became deeper and deeper as we ascended. The shoes worked fine, but on this part probably normal trail shoes would also work equally good. All in all I was very happy with the shoes and the socks, as well as my performance at the race. The shoes were also perfect for the descent. However, I was helped all the way down by two of my most gentlemanly Melkesyre friends, one on each arm, so my safe and fast descent is mainly thanks to them and not the shoes :-)

I can really recommend this piece of eqipment; I promise you will not regret it!

The very first half marathon: Bergen City 2014

In January this year, my running buddy Benedicte convinced me to try a half marathon for the very first time. Neither of us had ever run longer than 10 km before, and we signed up for Oslo half marathon in September, thinking that we had plenty of time to train for the longer distance. In March I started to try longer and longer runs, just to see if I were capable of getting close to 21 km. Surprisingly, this went so fast and so well that I actually ended up participating in Bergen City half marathon already in April!

Until the beginning of March, all my runs had been up to 8 km, except a single run: during the Christmas of 2013 I had a 10 km run which I completed in exactly 1 hour. At this point I was training three times a week at Barry's Bootcamp, and not really running much outdoors since it was winter (and I had not yet discovered the pleasures of headlamp running). In January I had a long break from running and training due being down with the flu (the second one I ever had) for almost three weeks. In February I was back at Bootcamp, getting slowly back in shape. And in March I started the longer runs, at the same time as I started with weekly personal training sessions. Thanks to the fact that I sent an email to my trainer Ketil after every new running achievement, I have an accurate log of the runs up to my first half marathon.

March 2: 12 km, 4 rounds around Store Lungegårdsvannet, 1h 20min. This went much more easily than expected.

March 4: 15 km, 5 rounds around Store Lungegårdsvannet, 1h 28 min. My goal was to complete this below 1:30 so I was very happy. But I was completely exhausted at the end, and it felt like I could not run a meter longer. At this run, I was surprised to realize that appropriate clothing is really important for longer runs. The underwear I had been using and had been happy with until then turned out to be completely useless for longer runs. My sports bra had metal parts for adjustment at the back, and I got sores from these. In addition, my panties cut into the skin between the legs, which became quite painful towards the end of the run. After a bit of trying and failing, I found my favorites which I nowadays rarely deviate from: Casall iconic sports bra and Craft cool boxer mesh for women.

March 12: 16 km, one round at Lungegårdsvannet, then up to Svartediket until the end, then back and down at Lungegårdsvannet. This was a tougher course with a lot of uphill, and it took me a bit longer than expected: 1h 40 min. New surprise: I started realizing that had no desire for food after such long and hard runs! I found this a very amusing advantage of long distance running, but of course I had to force myself to eat to make sure to recover. Unfortunately, as my form got better and I got used to longer runs, this effect has disappeared...

March 26: 18 km, similar course as the last run; the extra 2 km were at Lungegårdsvannet. I was more happy with the time of this run: 1h 50 min. At this point, I decided to sign up for Bergen City half Marathon, which was exactly one month ahead in time! My husband Frank and my youngest son Aksel had already signed up, so we could now make an almost complete family team. (Our other son was in the north of Norway doing his military service, so his participation was out of the question.)

March 29: Form test: 10 km around Lungegårdsvannet: 56 min. Very happy to beat my former 10 km time by 4 minutes!

April 4: 21 km!! Frank and I started from Nattlandsfjellet, and ran all the way to the end of Fjellveien (Munkebotn) and back, via Kolstien, Sollien and Ulriksdal. The course includes a very steep hill between Ulriksbanen and Sollien, which was uphill and very tough on the way back. We calculated the distance so that the 21 km ended at the bottom of Nattlandsfjellet, and not with yet another tough uphill. I completed this run in 2h 12min, which gave me the hope that I could do Bergen City in about 2 hours.

In between and after the above runs, I regularly had some Bootcamp classes, some mountain hikes, and a few more runs between 10-15 km. Most importantly, I had weekly personal training sessions with Ketil, which were particularly designed for the goal of long distance running and strengthening the appropriate muscles for his. I cannot describe how useful these sessions were during this time, not to mention all the encouraging feedback I got from Ketil after every report about the above runs. I truly believe that the PT sessions were decisive in that I managed to increase my mileage so quickly and easily.

April 18: Form test: 10 km, around Lungegårdsvannet: 54 min. I was ecstatic about this achievement, and I felt so ready for the race which was only 8 days ahead in time.

In the evening of this last run I got sick, and I had to stay in bed with fewer for three days. I was extremely worried about the race, whether I would recover in time, and whether I was losing valuable training time. During these days, I read a lot about the subject, and I got many encouraging and soothing emails and messages from Ketil, which helped me stay calm. Three days before the race, I felt well enough to do a test run around Lungegårdsvannet: 12 km consisting of 3 km slow, 3 km faster, 3 km fast, and 3 km slow. After this, I rested for the last two days before the race. In the end, I am convinced that becoming sick was the best thing that could happen to me before the race. If it were not for this, I would have continued to run during the last week, which I now know would be a mistake. The fact that I had to stay in bed gave me perfectly rested legs, and I was fortunate enough to recover completely the day before the race. I could not have been luckier!

April 26: Finally the race day!!! I completed the race in 2 hours exactly, and I was extremely happy both with the time and with the experience. It was such a great sunny day in Bergen, and the setting was incredible. Everybody was so nice and kind to each other, both before and during the race, and I was so grateful and proud to be part of such an amazing organization. I posted on Facebook that day that the experience was "out of this world". It really was!

I'm in next year, too!

The pleasures of headlamp running

This winter, thanks to Melkesyre, a whole new running and hiking experience has been revealed to me: afternoon and evening runs in the dark on unlit paths with a headlamp. I could never have imagined how extremely cool and nice this is! In fact, it has only advantages: the boring paths become much more interesting and exciting in the dark, and if you are up in the mountains the views of the city are incredible. If you are lucky enough to be out when the skies are clear, you can in addition enjoy the stars and refresh your knowledge of astronomy.

In the weekly schedule of Melkesyre there are two afternoon sessions: Monday runs at Hordnesskogen (an unlit gravel path in the forest) and Thursday runs up to Stoltzekleiven continuing to Brushytten. As the afternoons started getting darker, I was wondering whether these sessions would be moved to earlier in the afternoon. When I first heard that the time is fixed and they simply go with headlamps, I was pretty surprised, at least about Stoltzekleiven. I simply could not imagine how it would be to go up there in the dark. Well, it is simply fantastic!!! This week, I had a new PR up Stoltzekleiven; I beat my previous record by 6 seconds! In the dark! With a headlamp!

Earlier winters my running in the dark limited itself to running on lit paths, which basically meant on the streets or at Svartediket (a gravel path by a lake), and definitely no mountain running. As a result, I was doing much more indoor running on a treadmill in the winter, and finding it incredibly boring, at least for longer distances. Joining Barry's Bootcamp helped a lot, as the indoor training there is great fun, and in the end I did not think that I was missing outdoor running in the winter. Well, I was wrong. You never know what you are missing until you get to experience it!

I usually find running in Hordnesskogen a little boring, as it is in the forest with no views. However it becomes much more interesting in the dark! Then you can even imagine that you are on top of a mountain or by a lake. But the real joy of headlamp running for me is definitely up in the mountains. I have now tried several of the paths I know in the dark with a headlamp, and I have had the most wonderful experiences. The setting very easily gets quite magical, with unbelievably beautiful views of the city. And the path looks pretty different in the dark, which adds to the excitement.

As if this all is not fun enough, there is an upcoming mountain race in the dark, which I am really really looking forward to: Det lille julewhiskyløpet. But the course is pretty tough, even in the dark and with a headlamp. I just hope that the snow will not hit us before to race.... To be able to continue with winter running in the mountains, the next step for me should be to get winter running shoes with spikes.

If you have dismissed the possibility of afternoon and evening runs in the mountains or other unlit pahts, consider it again. Try headlamp running; it is really great fun, especially if you have friends to do it with. This reminds me of a song by the German pop duo Ich und Ich: Mach dein Licht an und weiter gehts...

Turn on your light and go!

Testing of willpower in new ways: detoxing

When racing, competing,  and training hard, your willpower and self discipline are put to the test all the time. You reach a point where all muscles of your body scream at you to stop or slow down, but you still push yourself to continue. Two months ago, I tested out something quite different that also puts your willpower and self discipline to the test: body cleansing, or detoxing. During three days, I only drank freshly pressed juices, herbal tea, and water. I ate or drank nothing else! Although the experience was totally different from competing and training, the feeling of accomplishment at the end of it was quite comparable to the feeling after a successful race.

During our personal training sessions, Ketil and I regularly discuss nutrition and weight control issues. When I learned that he had tried out a three day cleansing and was quite happy about the experience, I immediately wanted to try it as well! There are probably many producers that offer these types of products, but I tried the same as Ketil, delivered by essentially.no which is situated in Oslo. Essentially offers three day cleansing products for those who live in Bergen. The juices are freshly cold pressed just before you receive them, and they have to be consumed within three days. When I ordered, the next delivery in Bergen was at the end of September, the day after I was coming home from a five day trip to Italy. I thought this was perfect; I knew that I would be eating and drinking a lot during the trip, and a cleansing right afterwards seemed to be well timed.

We arrived home from Italy late evening on a Monday, and already at 8 am Tuesday morning I was at the pick up point and got my juice package. The idea is that you pick it up early in the morning and start immediately the same day. My package consisted of 3 x the daily 6 juice bottles which you can see in the picture above.  I was to drink them with about 2 hours in between every bottle: three green juices (mainly containing cucumber), two fruit juices, and a cashew nut milk. The pickup point, to my surprise, turned out to be Barry's Bootcamp Bergen, and I learned that one of the instructors, Annelin, was also going to do the cleansing at the same time as me. This turned out to be really useful for me, and I think it helped Annelin as well. At the start and end of each day, we would send each other messages and share our experiences about the day to come or the day that passed. Here is how it went:

Tuesday: I picked up my juice package and went back home. At that time I was writing a big project proposal, and I was working at home several days a week to be able to concentrate without being disturbed. Working at home and being alone on the first day of the cleansing was quite perfect, as I think I would find talking to people quite hard at this point. As soon as I got home, I drank my green juice. Not too bad, but not very good either. I sat down to work. After a couple of hours, I was really happy that it was time for the second juice, this time a fruit juice. Oh, this tasted so much better than the green juice; happy happy! In the meanwhile, I was getting a serious headache and I was feeling really tired, both of which I think were due to lack of coffee. Still I found it surprisingly easy to concentrate on work. Actually, as the day progressed, I felt more and more "sedated" by fatigue, hunger and headache, which made me very uninterested in many things, like checking emails. So I found it easier and easier to concentrate on my main work. Surprising consequence! During this first day I drank a lot of herbal tea, because I felt cold all the time. In the afternoon I went for my weekly personal training session. The cashew milk was supposed to be saved until the end of the day, because it is the most nutritious, but since I was going to train, I took half of it before the workout and half of it after. Oh heaven! The cashew milk was delicious! I felt so full and happy, and the workout went surprisingly well. When I got back home, all I had left was a green juice, which did not feel that good at all at that time. I figured out it was a good idea to go to bed early,  to stay away from all temptations. I was very happy to have completed day one without a single thing outside of the cleansing schedule.

Wednesday: I went on the bathroom scale, and I could register that my weight was back to where it was before Italy. Very happy! I drank my green juice in the morning, took three juice bottles with me, and went to work. The summary of day two was that I felt less tired, more awake but also more hungry than the first day, and I had less headache. The day went surprisingly well. I could work and talk to my colleagues normally, and I could concentrate on all things as usual. I only had a slight feeling of having a thin veil in front of my eyes, and was slightly distanced from everything. I was also much calmer and more neutral than normal, which was an interesting experience for me, as I am normally quite energetic and enthusiastic. I managed also this day to avoid eating or drinking anything else than my juices, water and a lot of herbal tea. And most importantly, I managed to avoid taking headache pills. We are, after all, being cleansed, right?! No workout this day, and after exchanging experiences with Annelin and Ketil, I went to bed early. Simple life.

Thursday: One more kilo gone on the bathroom scale; yeay!! Same procedure as yesterday, I took my green juice in the morning, and brought my other juices to work. The headache was almost gone this day; I was slowly getting rid of my coffee addiction, and I felt almost no hunger. This day I went for the regular Thursday Stoltzekleiven and Rundemanen workout with Melkesyre, and I did the same trick as Tuesday, with the cashew milk before and after the workout. At this point, I was really fed up with the green juices, and felt that their taste got worse and worse for every bottle. The other juices, though, tasted better and better, so I had always something to look forward to. Knowing that this was the last day of the cleansing made it really easy to get through the day, and towards the end of the day I started feeling really really happy that I would be able to eat and drink normally the day after.

Friday: It's over!!! I woke up with this thought (and no headache!), feeling intensively happy. Bathroom scale showed yet another kilo off, which made my spirit even higher, and I was so much looking forward to my cup of coffee and my bowl of oat meal. It was great, but in the end I could not even finish my normal portion of oat meal. The intense feeling of happiness and being high lasted throughout the whole day. Surprisingly, I could eat only very moderate amounts of food this day. My stomach shrank quite a bit during these days. In the morning, before I had my breakfast I took this picture and sent it to Annelin and Ketil with the note: "my tightest jeans" :-)

All in all I was quite happy about this cleansing experience. Mainly because I managed to complete it without resorting to anything outside of the plan, which resulted in a feeling of success. The loss of two extra kilos, in addition to losing the excess from Italy, was also great, but one of the lost kilos came back over the next two days. When it comes to cleansing, I did not really feel any effect like being more energized than before. I think, since my regular diet was anyway pretty healthy, maybe there was not much to be cleansed from. I did shrink a quite bit during these days, though, and the shrinking effect has stayed on. The above jeans are still loose and require a belt :-) If you are eating healthy most of the time, I think you do not need such an experiment. However, it could be a nice boost at the start of a diet, or after a holiday with lots of food and drinks, or perhaps after the Christmas celebrations?

The first delivery to Bergen after Christmas is January 6 :-)

Long time dream come true: Skåla Opp 2014

Climbing the Skåla Mountain in Loen, Norway, had been a dream for me for many years. I made several concrete plans with different groups of friends over the years, but every time something came up and I could not go. To make sure that I would actually do it in 2014, I got good help from one of my dearest friends, Filiz. Already early this year, we agreed that we would spend a weekend in their family cabin in Stryn (which is 10 min drive from Loen) in August, and climb this amazing mountain which goes up 1848 meters straight from the fjord on a path of length 8 km.

During the summer holidays this year, I learned that the annual Skåla Opp race was on one of the weekends we had reserved for this event. As soon as I realized this I wanted to do the race! Filiz was hesitant. Her tradition for this mountain is enjoying a full day hike in nice weather and silence without hundreds of racers around. But I managed to convince her, and we both signed up for the race. The competition class was full, so we would have to time our run ourselves.

After coming back from the summer holidays and resuming my PT sessions with Ketil, I learned that he would do the race as well. In fact this would be his seventh time, and he had lots of detailed information about the course and instructions about where to go fast and where to take it easy. During the couple of weeks before the race, he prepared me for it mentally, so well that I could picture the whole course in my head, although I had never been there. He estimated that I should be able to finish the race in less than 2h 30 min. I myself calculated that Skåla approximately equals 8 times Stoltzekleiven, both in elevation and in distance. My best Stoltzekleiven time at that point times 8 would give 2h 8min. However, hoping for this seemed too optimistic. I decided that I would be very happy with a time around 2h 15min.

The race was on Saturday August 16, starting early in the morning. We left Bergen early enough on Friday so that we arrived in Stryn in the afternoon. We had a decent dinner with lots of proteins and carbohydrates (as before all long races, we had been carbohydrate loading for a few days, which is one of the best things about participating in a race ;-), and we even found time to do a slow hike in the Stryn mountains in beautiful sunny weather. On the day of the race, however, the weather was unfortunately not so nice. Rain at fjord level, and fog and light snow on top!

We arrived in Loen early enough to get a parking spot at Hotel Alexandra, and after using the bathrooms there, we took the free shuttle from the hotel to the start area. Perfect plan! We got our start numbers, and Filiz started immediately, whereas I wanted to warm up a bit and find the correct start spot for the competition class. I started there and timed my race from that point. The most important thing was to start not too fast, according to Ketil. I kept it at a pace which I felt was around my limit but did not push it above that until I reached about half way. The distance and elevation markers were very helpful, and I was surprised about how well and fast I was doing according to my schedule. Some parts that were described to me as tough climbing passed more quickly than I had hoped for, and finally only 1 km was left! But the last km was also the hardest. At this point, it was really foggy so I had no idea how close to the top I was or how steep the last part was. As I was running out of all energy, I heard the loud speakers from the top announcing that the finish was close. I increased my speed towards the end, and I was so exhausted when I finished that I ended up giving a hug to the person who put a medal around my neck, and just hanging there for a while. I finished the race in 2h 13min, and I was extremely happy about it.

As with all races where there is the option of starting before the elites, it was great fun to be on the top and greet the winners as they arrived. I was also very happy to find Ketil at the top, and that was the point when I met several people for the first time who later became my Melkesyre friends. These people were so extremely nice and kind; they included me in the pictures they were taking, which gave me wonderful memories to look back to. Many of them did extremely well at the race, and several of them had personal records this year, with Jeanette winning her class being the highlight. I also had the pleasure of walking down with them, and witnessing all the fun that they were having. I think perhaps that was the point I decided that I wanted to join Melkesyre.

Both Filiz and I were so happy with this experience that we agreed to sign up for the competition class for Skåla Opp 2015. This turned out to be easier said than done. The registration opened already September 1 this year, but the interest was so massive and the organizers were so unprepared for this, that the system went down and stayed down for several hours. Fortunately we managed to sign up before the competition class was full. I am really looking forward to the race, but I would have liked the option of starting before the elites and still having my time recorded. Most mountain races offer this option but not Skåla Opp. I hope they will change their strategy in the future, so that we can start earlier than the elites and still compete with registered times. It is just so much fun to be on top when the winners arrive!

I will of course be wearing my Melkesyre t-shirt at Skåla Opp 2015 :-)

All good things go by three: Blåmanen Opp 3

Yesterday I ended up having one of my best race experiences. Again! The last one of the three races up to Mount Blåmanen in Bergen, Blåmansløpene, took place yesterday. These are three races with two weeks in between, starting from the same spot at Fjellveien and ending at the same spot on Blåmanen, but following three different courses, 6-7 km each. These races were on my B list, and they ended up gradually "growing on me". I could not participate in the first one because I was on travel,  I took it easy on the second one, and finally I really raced in the last one!

Already Saturday a week ago, during the uphill interval training with Melkesyre, I felt that my racing form was back, and I decided at that point to really go for it at the last Blåmanen race. Monday afternoon I went for an easy pace trial run to see the course, and I was simply amazed by how beautiful, interesting, and exciting the part of this course from Fløyen to Blåmanen is! I have been hiking in Bergen mountains for more than 25 years, but there are so many incredibly pretty paths that I have never been to earlier. And it is not only me! Many of my hiking/running friends who are born and raised in Bergen are also surprised to discover these paths. I am extremely grateful to Varegg and Viking sports clubs for placing the courses of the Blåmanen races and Bergen Fjellmaraton via these incredibly nice, less known paths on the city mountains!

Although I always print and take with me instructions and maps, I never manage to find the exact course when I am on a trial run. The same happened on Monday, and I decided to do another trial run on Wednesday. However, I was a bit hesitant to do it alone; the path is indeed incredibly pretty, but it is quite far off the main path. I was extremely lucky that one of my Melkesyre friends Hans Erik was also planning a trial run on Wednesday and could join me. We had the perfect trial run: the beginning of the course was clear to me after checking the map again, and Hans Erik had been to the last part of the course with other Melkesyre friends, so we had the whole course more or less under control. We had a quite faster run than my first one, as we were pushing each other in the first part up to Fløyen, which is the toughest part for me: uphill but not steep enough to walk, and one has to keep running to cover the distance in reasonable time.

Of course when the race came, we discovered that we had not found the exact correct course! But pretty close. (In fact I consider it a lucky charm that I don't have the whole course fully under control before a race.) On the race day the weather was warm for November in Bergen. Partly cloudy and 12 degrees C, but quite windy, at least at the top. This time quite a larger group of my Melkesyre friends gathered to start together, about half an hour before the elites. This turned out to be a great experience for all of us. In the previous race, many of us ended up running alone, but this time we could see each other almost throughout the whole course, which was very motivating. I was in particular helped a lot by Erik, who passed me on the way to Fløyen and I could follow him all the way up there, and by Hans Erik who ran with me all the way from Fløyen to Fjellhytten. After that I could again see the backs of some of the faster ones, and I got closer and closer to them towards the end, which gave even more motivation. I had an amazing race experience, and I was very very happy with my finish time, which was better than my most optimistic estimates.

The great fun of starting together half an hour before the elites was that we all arrived within minutes of each other, and could cheer each other into the finish. I could hear my friends shout my name as I was approaching the finish, and it really made me make an extra effort towards the very end. After a few minutes, the best runners started arriving, and above is a picture of us together with the winner Thorbjørn to the left. It was marvelous to cheer the winners, the elites, and the rest of our friends into finish, as they arrived. I was cheering and clapping and jumping so much that I might have given the impression of being high on something. The wonderful thing about a good race experience it gives a high that can hardly be matched by anything else.

The Blåmanen races are organized by Varegg in a very low cost way, with tiny participation fee, just by volunteers. In fact several of my Melkesyre friends participated in the organization rather than the race, and I want to thank them all and Varegg for giving us all these wonderful experiences! And as I thought I was done uphill racing for a while, I was reminded yesterday that new races up to Fløyen are coming up in January....

I can see my B list growing!

Bergen Fjellmaraton

This is one of the best race experiences I have had so far! Bergen Fjellmaraton took place in the beginning of June this year; it is a half marathon, 21 km. The first 3 km up Mount Ulriken have an elevation gain of around 450 m, after which it is mainly slightly downhill, except for some steep uphills every now and then. My friend Benedicte, my husband Frank, and I decided to join this race during the National Day (May 17) breakfast together. This did not give us much time to practice, but we still got to do parts of the track a few times before the race.

First, Frank and I did the whole track backwards (from Fløyen to Ulriken, instead of the other way round). This was just the morning after I came back from a trip and had landed late the night before, and it turned out to be quite tougher than I had imagined. The slight uphill all the way after the ascent to Rundemanen took all the energy I had and more, and I thought I would never reach mount Ulriken! I was totally exhausted after this practice run, which took us about 3h 30min. I cannot describe how encouraging and patient poor Frank was, as I was complaining practically all the way. I was so slow that the whole thing became just an easy slow tempo run for him, and this made me even more worried about my shape and how I would do at the race. We did not manage to find the exact path, and ended up doing 25 km instead of 21, and this is how I looked at the end:

 

Later Benedicte and I did a part of the track together, about 12 km, and I did on my own about 10 km a few days before the race, at easy pace, mainly to try to find the right path. On the race day, I realized that we had not found the right path during practices. In fact none of the participants I know managed to find the entire correct path before the race, but luckily the track was extremely well marked, and it was very easy to find the right way during the race. 

For the race day, I had got very precise instructions from my trainer Ketil: don't go out too hard; keep the tempo just below the threshold for the first 3 km up, and then GO! The strategy worked perfectly. Many people were fast in the beginning, but I managed to keep calm and follow the plan, and in fact I caught many of them later when they had burnt out all their energy. I had a good feeling the whole way, I walked most of the uphills, and ran all of the downhills and flat parts, and finished in 2h 53min, a time which I was extremely happy about. Frank was of course faster than me, and due to the experience from our practice run together, he was not expecting me that early at the finish. He wanted to take pictures of me as I arrived, but he was enjoying his free hamburger when he spotted me entering the stadium, long before he was ready with the camera. That's why the following picture turned out so blurry, but it still shows how extremely exhausted and extremely happy I was as I reached the finish:

I stretched out on the ground, which turned to be a slight mistake, as it was incredibly difficult to get up, but after 5-10 minutes I started to regain strength, was able to get up, so that we could take a celebration selfie with the whole team:

The rest of the story you know: as I was waiting for the rest of the elites to arrive, I had the pleasure of making the most amazing acquaintance and interesting conversation with Sverre Slethaug. This really wiped out all my exhaustion, and I was so excited and even happier than at finish. Then one by one, several people I know started to arrive, and it was great fun to greet them at the finish and chat with them about their performances. Soon, the main person I was waiting for came to finish as well: my trainer, mentor, idol, and friend Ketil Ola Skjelvan. Although he is too modest to agree, I believe I owe him all of these wonderful experiences I have been writing about, and I am grateful to him in particular for introducing me to Team Melkesyre. He is a person whom I really look up to, learn from all the time, and try to follow the example of as best as I can. 

The wonderful experience of this race lasted for many days. I kept going thorough the whole thing in my mind over and over again, and was happy to realize that I would not do anything any differently. A few days later, the pictures from the race became available online, and then I relived the whole thing once again. I studied every picture closely, found the numbers of people I could recognize from the race, and looked up their finish times to compare with mine. I think definitely this is the race that has so far given me the most excitement altogether.

If I manage to get rid of the pain in my knees, I definitely want to do it in 2015 as well!

Champs rule

 

Well of course they do; they are the winners. But many of them rule in so many other ways than just being the best. I am always amazed when famous athletes turn out to be incredibly kind and nice people. I tend to think that you have to be very competitive and quite egoistic to become a champion, but surprisingly many super good athletes are also super sweet people. I think, for example, the alpine king Aksel Lund Svindal is simply unbelievably nice, although I have never met him (I might be a tiny bit biased since my youngest son is called Aksel). It is just incredible how kind and encouraging he is when he talks about his competitors and team mates, and how he can keep an unbelievably positive attitude even when he is seriously injured just at the start of a season. After I started participating in races, I have had the pleasure of meeting several winners. And I must admit that I was quite surprised to see how humble, kind, and encouraging these people are. I already told you about my meeting with Kirsten Marathon Melkevik, and how incredibly encouraging and complimenting she was about my achievements, as well as my leg muscles, balance, etc. Well, there are many sweet champs out there.

In June this year, I participated in Bergen Fjellmaraton. I will write about that experience in the next post, but for now let me just write about the finish of that race. As with many mountain races, we had the option of starting earlier than the elites, and I had started early enough so that I could be already in the finish area when some of my friends participating in the elite class would arrive. I was sitting down on a roll of material at the side of the stadium and waiting for the others, when a person came and asked whether he could sit next to me. He was enjoying a hamburger, and wanted to sit down while eating (I was feeling too sick of exhaustion to take the offer of free hamburgers at the finish). We started chatting and he asked me about how I had done. I told him my finish time, and he seemed very impressed. I also told him that I was a fresh runner, and went ahead and told him about my Bergen half marathon adventure as well. He was really encouraging and gave me lots of compliments on the "incredibly good" times that I had achieved in these races. Finally, I asked him whether he was happy about his race performance and his finishing time. Yes, he was indeed quite pleased, he said. When I asked him about his time, he replied 1:35 (1 h 35 min). At that point my jaw dropped; I had managed to hear over the loudspeakers that the winner finished in 1:35. I asked him: are you the winner??? Yes, he replied shyly... O-M-G! Those who know me can perhaps imagine how excited I got at that point. First of all, how could it be that the winner was simply sitting there and enjoying a hamburger all by himself? (Well with me, but I am nobody in this context.) Where were the cameras, where were all the admirers? Alright, so things are pretty low key in Norway, but still I would expect the winner to get some special treatment, at least be inside in a warm room... Then I started asking him millions of questions. He could not have been kinder and nicer when he explained how he became so fast: he has simply been doing this since he was a little kid, he said. I asked him how fast he can run on a flat road, and he said he did not really do flat roads and was not very good at them. Of course by now I know better. He is in fact amazing in all sorts of running races, flat, steep, long, short, he simply wins almost everything. He also does some ultra races of incredible lengths in incredible short times. I was new and ignorant at that point and had never heard of him, but by now I am a big fan of Sverre Slethaug! He is an incredible athlete, and he is indeed very famous, both in Norway and internationally. Since then I have had the pleasure of meeting him at several races, and he is just as sweet every singe time. When I congratulated him on winning a 10 km race last week, he replied by congratulating me and all other participants... As we were all winners!

Several examples of incredibly sweet champions are among my team mates in Team Melkesyre. In August this year I participated in the Skåla Opp race (I will write about that very soon), and the winner in my class was Jeanette Amundsen. Later I learned that she is a Melkesyre Team member, and the first time I joined a Melkesyre training, I had the pleasure of talking to her. I was telling her how impressed I was with her achievement, while she kept going on asking me about my finishing time and my experience of the run, and all the time telling me how incredibly well I had done at the race. She also told me that there is no reason I cannot be at least as good as her, and that I should just keep training to get there. So incredibly sweet! Of course I don't believe I can ever beat Jeanette, but winning my class in some competition at some race some time is indeed one of my goals. Other champs in Melkesyre are Gro Svendal and Eva Quivey, and they are equally humble and sweet about their achievements compared to other people's. I also want to mention my friend Cathrine Haugstvedt in Melkesyre. She came number 2 in her class at a 5 km race last week, and she can do both short and very long distances very fast. I am so incredibly inspired by her; she is quite new to running, and just unbelievably humble about her achievements. I could have mentioned so many more of course, but somehow women around my age are most impressive to me, as I consciously or unconsciously compare myself to them. Guys, I am very very impressed by you, too!!

Talk to a champ; you will find it super rewarding!

Super easy, life saving recipes

Alright, "life saving" is perhaps an exaggeration, but when you want to watch what you eat and you are hungry, you need something very simple and very quick to prepare so that you won't need to resort to foods outside of your diet plan. I will share some incredibly simple dishes that are filling, low on calories and carbohydrates, and high on protein.

First of all, here are some ingredients that I always keep in the house, so that they are available in times of need: Plain yoghurt, eggs, chopped tomatoes in carton, bananas, nuts, frozen finely chopped spinach, and frozen clams and scampi (some brands of these can be quite expensive, but they are very reasonable at Rema 1000 supermarkets).

Lunch

For the last 10 years I was used to eating crisp bread for lunch every day. I got this habit during the Grete Roede courses and I kept it, since it is easy, nutritious, filling, low on calories, and fits perfectly with the Norwegian lunch tradition. This has worked perfectly for me for losing and watching weight. However, since I started to train harder in the spring of this year, in terms of both more running and more strength training, my trainer Ketil advised me that I needed more proteins. Since more proteins means more calories, something had to be cut out. So we decided to go down on carbohydrates on one of the meals of the day: the lunch. Hence, for the last 6 months, I have been eating salad with added protein (chicken or tuna or ham) for lunch. It is actually much more filling than crisp bread; the calorie count is the same, but I get more proteins and less carbs. This works perfectly when I am at work and can buy salad in the cafeteria, but when I am at home I am sometimes too lazy to make a salad. Or perhaps I am just back from a run and too hungry to take the time to start cutting salad ingredients. Of course you can keep ready cut salad in your fridge, but if you end up not using it, it will quickly get soggy. That's why I find the frozen alternatives more convenient.

Spinach and tomato soup: Pour a carton of chopped tomatoes into a saucer pan and add half a bag of (or as much as you'd like) frozen spinach cubes and bring to boil; turn down the heat and simmer until the spinach is warm (doesn't take long at all). Season with salt and pepper, and add extra heat if you'd like. Your soup is done! It has practically no calories, so you can have as much as you'd like, and it's quite filling. I sometimes make this before going to a dinner party, to avoid being too hungry and not being able to control how much I eat.

Spinach omelet: Spinach soup is fine but it does not have enough proteins to be a proper meal in my opinion. Add less of the chopped tomatoes (or leave them out completely), and add instead two eggs, which you simply scramble in the pan together with the spinach. If you have more time, you can start with frying in just a little bit oil some chopped scallions and bell peppers, before you add the spinach, and then the eggs at the end when the spinach is warm. You can also add some cottage cheese for more texture and even more proteins. Season with salt and pepper, and add cayenne or Tabasco for some heat if you'd like to.  This is delicious when served with fresh tomatoes. It is surprisingly filling, and it keeps you full for many hours!

Spinach with sea food: This can actually go for dinner as well, because it is even more filling. To the spinach soup, add frozen clams and scampi, as much as you wish or as much as your calorie count allows. Sea food is very high on protein and low on calories and fat, so you get to eat quite a lot. For seasoning in this, I like to use some Tom Yum paste, Thai fish sauce, and the juice of half a lemon, in addition to pepper and some heat. If you don't have those ingredients, it's fine to use salt and pepper, or whatever other seasoning you'd like. If you use fish sauce, be careful because it is very salty, so don't use additional salt. You can also add some tomato paste, or bell pepper paste to get a thicker consistency, and then add some more water so that you get more on your plate.

Dessert and snack

Sometimes you just want something sweet, and then it's nice to be able to make a quick dessert or snack without sugar and too much calories. The recipes below are very much inspired by Ketil and one of the sweetest Barry's Bootcamp instructors and personal trainers, Petra Malmqvist. Petra is studying to become a nutritional physiologist, and she generously shares amazingly tasty and simple recipes.

Ketil's ice cream: The original recipe is with already sweetened yoghurt, for example vanilla yoghurt, and just a little bit normal unsweetened cocoa powder. Here is my variant: Take plain yoghurt into a bowl and simply add either light instant cocoa drink powder (for example Toro rett-i-koppen instant cocoa drink light), or a few spoons of diet protein powder with chocolate taste. Stir well to get the powder nicely integrated into the yoghurt. You can now either eat it just like that, or put it in the freezer for a few hours and then eat it as an ice cream.

Petra's pancakes: Mash a banana and add two eggs and plenty of cinnamon. Stir until it is smooth. Now you can make one big, or two or three small pancakes out of this. Just lightly oil a pan, and fry them just as normal pancakes. Be careful when turning, as the consistency is a bit loose. Surprisingly sweet!

Banana and yoghurt treat: Roast a few chopped nuts (I like to use walnuts and almonds) in a small pan, and then add a sliced banana. Stir until the banana slices are warm and soft, and add cinnamon. Now add this hot mixture to a bowl of plain yoghurt. It is fresh and sweet, warm and cold, at the same time. Surprisingly filling and really tasty.

Whatever-you-have-in-the-fridge smoothie: This is very much inspired by Petra. She put her variant on Instagram one Sunday, and 5 minutes later I had mine ready with the ingredients I found in the fridge and freezer. You can really use almost anything you want, as long as the tastes go together. I used: A little bit mango sorbet that I found in my freezer, half a banana, a few frozen cloud berries (multer), one cup of no-fat no-sugar (Yoplait double 0%) blueberry yoghurt, and a little bit fat free chocolate milk (Tine Styrk). Add all these (or similar) ingredients into your blender and pulse for a few minutes, and its ready!

Enjoy!

Keeping up the motivation - Blåmanen

Yesterday morning, as I was getting ready for Blåmanen race 2, I asked myself: "Why am I doing this?" The weather was not exactly inviting; it was rainy, foggy, and windy. My injuries (left knee and right buttock), although slowly getting better, were acting up a bit, and I had a slight cold. The answer to the question was easy: "Because I want to!" But why did I want to do it? I did not have a simple answer to this question. In fact just a little more than a week ago, I was sure I would not do this race...

After Oslo half marathon and Stoltzekleiven, I had the feeling that I would not want to participate in races in a long while. I was enjoying having reached my initial goals and going back to my normal training sessions. On the other hand, for the first time since I started my serious running adventure, I did not have a planned race ahead, and this gave me a feeling of limbo. While we were evaluating the reached goals and discussing new goals, my trainer Ketil came up with the ingenious concept of A and B lists of races. The A list contains the races which I know for sure that I want to participate in, like Bergen City half marathon, Bergen Fjellmaraton, Skåla Opp, and Stoltzekleiven, all in 2015. The B list is for upcoming races that can be fun but are not as important as the ones on the A list. The B list, he suggested, could contain the three Blåmann races and the Fana winter carousel of races, to start with. I could do them at an easier pace, more like regular training sessions rather than races, and I could decide on the go which ones I wanted to join and which ones I felt for doing fast. It sure sounded like a good plan, but I did not understand the full impact of it until later.

The genius of the B list is that while you think you're not ready for the things on it, your mind slowly starts preparing for them. And since they are not that important, you don't get stressed about them. A week ago on Saturday, out of nowhere, I woke up thinking "I want to do Blåmanen race number 2!" I have no idea why the wish to do it came exactly then. A week earlier I had signed up for the third race which will take place November 15, and at that point I was sure that I did not want to do the second race. Suddenly I felt ready. I cannot describe how happy I am for this decision, and how grateful I am to Ketil for paving the way for this. Yesterday ended up being one of the most incredibly fun days in a long while!

Of course many of my team mates from Melkesyre would participate, and I was very lucky to have especially Cathrine and Tina with me. We decided that we wanted to start about half an hour before the fastest racers, so that we would be at the top just before they would arrive. The plan worked amazingly well! We started together, and finished within few minutes of each other. Great to know that one is not completely alone on the track, and wonderful to cheer on the faster people who were on the way up while we were going back down. I had decided before the race that I would take it easy so that I would not risk worsening my injuries. For the first time ever I was only watching my heart rate and not the time. I knew that Ketil did this sometimes, and he had instructed me not to push too hard, so I wanted to try this out. I set the goal of keeping more or less constant 162 in HR, which is my threshold value, and this worked really well. I was feeling very good, no pain from the injuries, enjoying the track, and in the end I was pretty pleased with my finishing time. A wonderful new experience! Now I have the answer to the question why I wanted to do the race: it's because of this feeling of accomplishment and success at the end. Every time a race works this way, it gives motivation for new races.

Yesterday evening there was the Blåmanen races celebration dinner and party, and almost all of Melkesyre was there. I had so much fun, and I kept getting reminded over and over again how incredibly nice all these people are, and how unbelievably lucky I am to know them and to have joined this group. Every single time I am with them I get inspired in so many different ways. They all have their very interesting stories, and there is so much to be learned from each one of them. At the same time, they are all so funny and entertaining. The more I get to know them the more enthusiastic I become. What an amazing group!

Needless to say, I have by now also signed up for the Fana winter carousel races...

Losing weight and keeping it down

About 17 years ago, I was around 25 kg heavier than I am today. I was extremely unhappy about the situation, and I kept trying various low calorie diets. They worked for a few weeks, but I was unable to keep up with them over longer time. With two toddlers I found it difficult to find time to exercise, and I thought that everything would be fine if I just started exercising. When I finally started running about 15 years ago, I did indeed lose some weight, but only about 5 kg. I was quite frustrated that exercising was not helping more; I was after all running 2-3 times a week, and I had even started to do the Stoltzekleiven races! What more could I do? What I know today is that exercising alone is not enough. A run takes perhaps 400 calories off, but if you just eat a big muffin you get back all those calories...

After a lot of frustration and trying and failing in lots of diets on my own, what finally saved me was signing up for a Grete Roede course. I was really skeptical to start with, and honestly I did not actually believe that this would help me. Fortunately I had two friends who were also interested in losing weight so we signed up together. A Grete Roede course lasts 7 weeks (8 lessons), and you are in a group of 10-15 people who want to lose weight, some just a few kilos, some perhaps more than 20. You meet once a week, you are weighed by the teacher, your weight loss is announced to the others (but not your actual weight), and then the rest of the session you discuss experiences, what happened during the week, and get guidance and instructions from the teacher. The real clue is that you write down what you eat, and keep close track of your food intake; every single thing that you put in your mouth!

We were lucky to get the kindest and at the same time the most strict teacher you could think of: Anlaug Totland. She was so direct in her instructions that it was easy to just do exactly as she said. To my huge surprise I actually started to lose weight. At the same time I was eating much more than before; I could eat unlimited amounts of vegetables and salad, and this was a big revelation to me. I did not need to be hungry to lose weight! Who would have thought of that? I learned so much about nutrition during the first course, and for the first time in my life I realized that what I needed was not a diet but a life long new way of eating. I also had to learn to stop feeling sorry for myself. I always thought I was so unlucky to put on weight so easily, while others could eat much more and still stay skinny. Now I had to learn to just deal with it! Just think of it as a kind of an allergy. During the first course with Anlaug I lost 8 kg.  I continued on to two more courses with her during which I lost 10 kg more. In total 18 kg in 6 months!

Unfortunately keeping my weight at more or less that level continued to be a challenge. During the last 10 years, whenever my weight increased more than 3-4 kg I went back to a Grete Roede course, and every time it helped me get back on track. Instead of considering this a failure, I tried to embrace it as a great help to regain focus whenever I started to struggle. About 4 years ago I had two courses with the sweetest teacher ever, Elise Hetlevik, and she turned out the be Anlaug's grand daughter! Elise is very young, but she has an incredible energy and an impressive authority as a teacher. I followed an "active" course with her, where we had 45 minutes of a really tough spinning session after the weighing every week. Great concept! And guess what: 2 years ago I had to repeat the process, but this time with Elise's mother, and Anlaug's daughter, Linda Hetlevik! Wow, what a family of great motivators and incredibly positive and cheerful women! After getting once more back on track with Linda, for the first time I also signed up for the "keep your weight down" course. This goes over a whole year; you meet with your group once a month, and the goal is to simply stay focused. I think this is perhaps the most important course of them all, and I regret that I did not do this after the first three courses more than 10 years ago.

Nowadays, for the first time in my life I believe that I will be able to keep my good eating habits and my weight down more easily in the future. The fact that I am running more often and longer, and in general practicing and working out several times a week is of course helping a lot. Having regular personal training sessions is also a great way of staying in focus. My trainer Ketil and I discuss nutrition almost in every session, and in the beginning we also had the exercise of me writing down what I eat and Ketil analyzing it. We made a few changes in my diet, to make sure that I get enough nutrition to recover from the training without putting on weight. Although it was not one of my goals for the PT sessions, I did actually lose 4 kg since I started with them in March this year. I still want to lose a few more kilos, but the situation is quite different now. Earlier, I ran to lose weight, whereas now I want to lose weight so that I can run faster. On the other hand I still want to get stronger, and building muscles and losing weight at the same time is a delicate matter. Fortunately, Ketil is an expert also in this area with even personal experience that is both great motivation and excellent example to follow.

I know some strong people who have managed to lose substantial weight on their own. I think writing down what you eat is a very good method that has helped many people. There are nowadays many apps that you can use on your phone, and you can even scan the food in the store to get the calories directly calculated. You can also join online weight watching clubs, register your progress and share experiences with others. But if you are struggling to do it on your own, please don't waste too much time.

Get help! It works!

Easy ways don't work

When we want to achieve something, I think most of us are inclined to first test out the easiest and the most effortless way. Unfortunately, in my experience, there is no easy way to success; if something sounds too good to be true, then it most probably is. If you want to achieve something that is important to you, you have to work for it (I am putting it in a bit nicer way than Britney Spears ;-).

Over the years, I have tried many stupid things when it comes to easy ways, both for losing weight and for getting into better shape. For weight loss, I tried all sorts of pills that promise you that you can continue to eat as before and you will simply become slimmer. You won't. I even tried pills prescribed by a doctor; thinking that they will work better. They won't. If you have a serious weight problem, the only thing that works is to change your diet. Not for a short time, and then go back to your previous habits. No, you simply must change your diet for the rest of your life. It is not easy. It actually takes several years to finally become fully comfortable with your new healthier way of eating, without falling back to the old habits. But it is totally worth it! (More about this in the next post.)

I have tried a few easy ways for getting fitter, too. After I started running and feeling in better shape, I thought it was time to tone my muscles. You see, at that time I wasn't really interested in getting stronger, just getting a better physical appearance in an easy way. A friend suggested Bailine, and it sounded like a great idea! In every session, you just lie there for 30 minutes with lots of electrodes attached to your muscles.  The muscles are stimulated and they work while you relax, and you get a work out without lifting a finger.... Well, for me this ended up being a waste of time. I did not notice any improvement of my muscle tone or shrinkage of my waist line; I actually put on some weight during this adventure! I know that some people are actually quite happy with the results that they get with this kind of muscle stimulation. But if you are physically able, then I think your time is so much better spent in actual strength training.

Although I had tried Bailine and was not really impressed, I still went ahead, after a couple of years, and bought a muscle stimulator for home use (the one in the picture). Again, I let myself fool by fancy ads. I was running even more now, and in quite good shape. I thought lying at a Bailine studio was a waste of time, but the home use muscle stimulator sounded like a better idea, since you could use it while doing other things in the house. Of course it did not work; what was I thinking? If you want to tone your muscles or get stronger, you simply have to work for it! However, in the end this did not turn out to be such a stupid buy after all. Since I started to run longer and more often during the last 6-7 months, I find the massage function of this device quite useful. Whenever I have an injury or pain, it helps a lot, along with foam rolling and compression, to apply some mild muscle stimulating massage... "Aldri så galt at det ikke er godt for noe."

Work hard, play hard!

Stoltzekleiven in our hearts

 

I can thank two vigorous women for being where I am today, who gently pushed me onto a path that eventually led me to become stronger and faster: my friend Benedicte and my sister-in-law Gro. You already know how Benedicte got me started on running, and how Gro got me started at Barry’s Bootcamp. Another thing that Gro got me into, many years before Barry’s Bootcamp, is Stoltzekleiven (Stoltzen for short). This is a steep hill in Bergen; about 900 meters in length and 300 meters in elevation, where there is a race every year in September.

Gro and her husband had been participating since several years, and Gro kept asking me to join and I kept refusing, until one day, 13 years ago, I finally accepted. This was not long after I had started running, and I felt in better shape than ever before. Gro, the kindest sister-in-law on earth, immediately took me on my first Stoltzen walk and assisted me all the way up. She was walking just a meter in front of me and explaining to me all the way how much was left and what was to come next, as well as encouraging and exclaiming how well I was doing. We completed this first walk up in 22 minutes, and Gro was ecstatic about how good this was for a first time. I participated in the race that year and made it in 19:35.

After that I kept participating every year unless there was something in the way, and my finishing times slowly improved. For several years I was around 17 something, and then, when I had been a regular at Barry’s for about a year, in the fall of 2013, I made a real jump. I felt really in good shape that year, and during training I made it to around 16:50 a couple of times. I was simply hoping to repeat this at the race... You can imagine how shocked I was when I actually ended up at 15:58! This was so much better than I was expecting, and I seriously thought that this was the best I could ever do. So I decided at that moment to never do Stoltzekleiven again. Just resign while at the top!

During the Christmas break 2013/2014, when some friends asked us to join them on a trip to Italy exactly the weekend of Stoltzen 2014 race, my husband Frank and I accepted gladly, since we were anyway not going to do the race. However, this was before I had set my goal of Oslo half marathon and started my PT sessions with Ketil… During the spring of 2014 my form very quickly and very surprisingly improved a lot, and I started to regret that I would not participate at Stoltzen 2014. By then I knew that I could beat my record from last year, and Ketil even predicted that I could come down to 14 something. So there I was, feeling sad that I would not do the race, and Ketil who has a solution to everything, suggested that I join the Stoltzekarusellen.

Stoltzekarusellen is a kind of trial Stoltzen race repeated four times, with two weeks’ intervals, starting a couple of months before the actual race. The really really cool part about it is that, if you are not registered for the real race, the last Stoltzekarusell race counts as having participated in the real race! The not so cool part was that the last karusell race was just two days after Oslo half marathon… would it be possible to make a good time with so tired legs? Still I found the whole idea really motivating, and I started participating in the Stoltzekarusell races. My finishing times for the first three were: 16:13, 15.23, and 15:08. It was incredibly motivating to keep improving and having these records registered, and I am extremely grateful to Ketil for having suggested this.

Then came the day of the last karusell race. As you might remember, I had serious pain behind my knees after the half marathon in Oslo, and I was really not sure whether I should participate in the last Stoltzekarusell. What if I made a really really bad time, perhaps even worse than last year? But I really really wanted to try, too… The two people I trust the most in these matters, Frank and Ketil, both said “Go for it!” (Ketil with lots of precise instructions about how to treat my legs before and after), so I went. And I managed 15:10!!! Oh how happy I was! I am pretty certain that if I could participate in the real race, which was five days later, I would easily make it to 14 something, exactly as Ketil had predicted several months ago.

I cannot describe how wonderful it feels to think that I can improve even further in the future. My Team Melkesyre has a training up Stoltzekleiven every Thursday, and this year almost everybody in the team achieved a new PR at the race. These people are all amazing and a great inspiration to me!

Next year, my goal is… (I don’t want to jinx it so I won’t write the number)… let’s say a substantial improvement!

Personal training

Getting a personal trainer (PT) is a surprisingly efficient way to quickly improve your form and eventually reach your goals. But what makes a good PT? I had no idea before I got one myself. When I signed up for a chat with a PT at Barry’s Bootcamp Bergen, I wrote the names of a few instructors, and asked to be assigned to one of them if possible. My selection criteria were simple: female or close to my age. I guess I wanted a potential PT to have at least some physical feature in common with me.

I got assigned to Ketil Ola Skjelvan, and I think by now you know how extremely enthusiastic I am about having him as my trainer.  In fact, all personal trainers at Barry’s Bootcamp are excellent; I see them in action with their students in the PT room, and they all do a fantastic job. The reason I consider myself extra lucky to work with Ketil is that his competence and experience match perfectly all the goals that I have set so far. Before a race, besides preparing me for it with exercises, he explains to me in detail and in pictures how the course will be (because he has of course participated many times himself), and how fast I should go at various stages. Every time I manage to do exactly as he says, it works just perfectly! I have reached all my initial goals so far, and many more that were set on the go, simply by following his instructions to the letter. Ketil is also incredibly good in predicting my race finishing times, which means he has an impressive overview of my form. I find all this very reassuring, and it gives me 100% confidence both in the path that I am following and in Ketil's expertise.

Unfortunately, I have heard stories about PTs in other gyms who are not anywhere near this. PTs fiddling with their phones or talking to others while you are doing your exercises… or PTs who are very encouraging and complimenting, but not pushing you hard enough. Based on my own experience, I recommend that you make sure that your PT:

• Gives you his/her full attention throughout the whole PT session
• Understands your goals and wishes, and makes a clear plan on how to achieve them, so that you know all the time where you are headed and why you are doing exactly those exercises
• Is super encouraging, motivating, and complimenting you on your efforts (as long as you are working hard of course)
• Acknowledges every one of your accomplishments no matter how small they are, and makes you feel like you are the best in the world
• Is sincerely interested in your questions, and has the right answers
• Pushes you out of your comfort zone every single PT session, so you become stronger every time
• Knows about injuries, equipment, and nutrition, in addition to having competence in training towards exactly your goal
• Makes you feel like a proper athlete

If you already have a PT and you are not getting all this, then I would recommend to have a chat with your PT, or consider changing. On the other hand, if you are not working properly according to your PT’s recommendations, then you will not get the results you want no matter how fantastic your PT is. Here are some guidelines which I think are important for you to follow for your PT sessions to work optimally:

• You simply must do as your PT advises you (also outside of the PT sessions) in order to reach your goals. If not, then you are wasting your time and money, as well as your PT’s time.
• Let your PT lead the way and be the boss, once you have agreed upon the goals. Don’t challenge his/her authority; he/she is the teacher; you are the student. (Asking questions is of course very good!)
• Have an open minded and positive attitude. Don’t complain about the hardness of the exercises or about being exhausted. This is exactly why you are there; this is what makes you strong.
• Be super focused and work hard during each entire PT session, don’t watch or talk to others who are training at the same time.
• Be honest about everything; this will make it easier for your PT to assess your form and your needs.
• If you are experiencing pain or injury, let your PT know immediately.
• Every now and then, ask whether you are doing all the exercises correctly, and ask your PT to correct you for any imperfections.
• Show your gratitude when you are happy about the results that you are getting.

Give it a try; it's really really fun, too!