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 :-)
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