Up here there is freedom!

"Nu er jeg stålsat, jeg følger det bud,
der byder i højden at vandre!
Mit lavlandsliv har jeg levet ud;
heroppe på vidden er frihed og Gud,
dernede famler de andre."

I’m resolute now, respond to the call
that bids there are heights to wander!
I’ve lived out my life as the lowland’s thrall;
up here there is freedom and God withal,
the rest merely grope down yonder.

The above are the last lines of a famous (and very long!) poem by Henrik Ibsen called "På vidderne" (On the heights) from 1863.  The poem expresses Ibsen's fascination with wandering in the mountains, and in fact it is the first document where the (nowadays very widely used) Norwegian word "friluftsliv" (outdoor life) was ever used in written form. Recently I find myself agreeing especially with the conclusion expressed in the above last lines.

As you might remember, my running adventure started about a year ago with the decision of participating in Oslo half marathon in September 2014. As I increased my mileage and started to get more experienced, I was sure that long and flat runs would be my "specialty", at least when it came to races.  The intuition was simple: I would probably never be fast enough for short races, so if I wanted to do something "impressive" I should go for distance and endurance. What I did not consider in the beginning was the concept of uphill / mountain racing.

Of course I have always loved hiking in the mountains. Alright, "always" is an exaggeration, because I had never ever done this before I came to Norway as a 16 year-old. The pictures are from my first mountain hike in the Norwegian mountains (near Førde in Sunnfjord), and as you can see I had some lack of motivation on the uphill parts. In particular, I found the downhills followed by uphills really annoying; what is the point of going down now, when we have to climb even more to get to the next top? Why on earth are we actually doing this whole thing?? Fortunately, it did not take long before I got captured by the wonderful feeling of reaching a top and being able to see the amazing views offered by it. Since then I have preferred mountain hiking to hikes in forests, etc. As long as one is on the west coast of Norway, there is actually no other interesting way to hike. During a year I spent in the US, and during various visits to countries like Germany and the Netherlands, I had many forest hikes, and I was able to confirm how much more rewarding I find climbing up to a top and reaching a view point.

Despite this background, when I started my longer and more frequent runs in the beginning of 2014, and especially after I experienced the Bergen City half marathon in April 2014 as a huge success, I was expecting to become a mainly half marathon runner. Nowadays, as you know, I participate in all sorts of races, but my favorite by far has become the mountain and uphill races! In fact I think this is also the area where I can perform the best and have the most potential. This was perhaps first triggered by the Bergen Fjellmaraton in June 2014, and probably I started considering it more seriously after Skåla Opp in August 2014, but I think I actually realized that I could be pretty good in this kind of racing during the Blåmanen Opp races in November. I realized that was able to get close to and even beat many who are much better than me in flat races! In addition, mountain races are much more gentle to the body than flat races; you use your muscles but don't get high impact on your joints. After a flat half marathon race, I need at least a couple of weeks recovery time, whereas after a mountain race the recovery time is much shorter if hardly any at all.

Of course my fascination for mountain running is also both motivated and supported by the people who have inspired me the most in this adventure. My personal trainer and good friend Ketil whom I really look up to and learn so much from all the time (and get told off by every now and then...) is an experienced mountain runner. The same is true about my Melkesyre friend (in fact Mr Melkesyre himself!) Bjarne, who is an incredible motivator and whom I receive a lot of invaluable advice and help from all the time. Famous mountain runners and champions, like Sverre, who are so generous to share their experiences and to teach me new tricks, have most probably influenced my preferences as well. Last but not least, having good friends, both within and outside of Melkesyre, who are willing to participate with me in uphill and mountain races, and in particular training sessions, have made this kind of races definitely my favorites.

I will of course continue to participate in flat half marathons, and who knows maybe in a year or two I might even feel ready for a full marathon. My aim is to get better and better, and I really enjoy (and find very useful!) moderate speed 21 km training runs. But I see now that this kind of race will probably not become my main "thing". I want to do a few half marathons every year, always including Bergen City, and perhaps traveling to other cities for fun. But I cannot imagine myself regularly participating in local half marathons, repeating the same course over and over again. I think I will need the motivation of a fun and enjoyable course or a new place for this distance or longer on flat courses. I also run 5 km and 10 km races nowadays. I do try to get better and better in these as well, and I get very motivated and inspired when I get a good rank. However, I consider this kind of races more as speed and mental training rather than racing.

Next uphill race on my B list is already on January 28!