Something bit my butt

I should have bitten my tongue...

"If you are feeling great and completely out of pain, don't tell anyone",  a wise friend told me. Just a little too late... About three weeks ago I was feeling great, my form was steadily improving, and I remember telling several people during a training session that for the first time in almost three years I was completely free of pain, I didn't feel any discomfort what so ever in my legs.... And then just two days later my hamstrings started to complain... I have been struggling with them since then, but I have some hope that the situation is getting under control.

How did I get there in the first place? I honestly don't know what I did wrong. As I was writing in an earlier blog post, improved form is the foremost danger of injury. You start running faster and longer, and then one thing might lead to another. However, I was really being cautious, not running more than before, and not pushing for sprints or max HR. It could actually be that the triathlon weekend, although it gave varied training, was a bit too heavy with the kind of training I was not used to. Seven sessions of 90 minutes each, all within 48 hours. Hamstrings started complaining shortly after that, with a few really painful "lumps" in the muscles at the back of my thighs.

The worst part of starting to feel some pain that could be the start of an injury is not knowing what to do. "Shall I back off? Shall I stop running completely for a week? Shall I run short and slow runs? My form was so nicely improving; will everything be ruined if I have to stop for a while?" Once you decide what to do, then you relax and start focusing on your new plan. You have to decide wisely though. Loosing a week of running now could be so much better if you can stop the pain from developing into a consistent injury, which might make you loose several months of running later. I think I have managed to reverse the pain now; and this is how I went about it:

Backed off from running for about two weeks. I decided not to take any risks. I stopped running and weight training on the legs, to give them some rest. The triathlon weekend had made the threshold much lower to go to the swimming pool, so I swam several times a week during this time. I also had the opportunity to go cross country skiing, which worked perfectly in this period.

Compression and ice. I frequently applied ice on the hurting parts, and used compression around my thighs. Several days I wore both my tightest compression shorts and a compression band underneath my clothes. I still have two half liter bottles filled with water, in the freezer, and I take them out and place them under my butt when I am sitting, sometimes even when I go to bed.

Positive thoughts. Like: "Even if things get worse and I cannot run for a while, there are so many other things I can do. I can bike, I can swim, I can go to spinning classes, I can row, I can do more strength training, I can do Stoltzekleiven and Ulriken regularly, ...." Or: "If I cannot run Bergen City half marathon, then it was really fortunate that I signed up for Ironman in Haugesund. I can concentrate on the swimming and biking part of that, hoping that the legs will be in shape to start running a month or two before the race."

Massage. Poor Frank.... He massaged me (and still does) every day to loosen the lumps. Having tried all sorts of therapists during my previous injury period, I knew exactly where to press and how hard. I could of course go to a massage therapist again, but the very hard and painful pressure is not really working for my body. I did consider needling, though, because that works much better. But so far the massage has worked pretty well. The lumps are decreasing in size day by day and getting less and less painful.

Yin Yoga. Wow! Why did I not try this before? I think I know why. Probably because there is not enough workout in it. Actually there is no workout in it. Yin Yoga is simply about relaxing, stretching gently, holding the stretch for several minutes, letting go of all tension, and not pushing harder than what feels comfortable.  I have done this several times now, and it actually takes a few times before you realize how it works. At the first session you think that you are relaxing but actually you are not. There are so many small muscles all over the place that really need some practice to completely relax. It's just wonderful. I could never have imagined. I really really recommend it to all runners.

Heavy slow resistance training.  Although it is my constant intention never to stop with these exercises, I had been neglecting them recently. After giving the legs a few days of rest, I took up HSR training regularly, and I immediately started to notice improvement. These are the remedy to every injury! There are HSR exercises designated for every part of the body. And there is the added bonus of getting stronger by doing them.

Back to running. But not too fast and not too cold. I decided to try and see what worked. Flat fast running brought back the lumps, whereas uphill running worked much better. So the concentration is on the uphills these days, and the flat running happens mostly indoors on the treadmill. My legs work best when the surroundings are warm, and I try to avoid icy conditions.

Bike roller. After every run I sit on the bike for about 15 minutes and roll easily to loosen the legs. This actually seems to work wonders.

What's the plan ahead? Simple. Just keep doing the things that work and stop doing the things that don't. Keep the positive thoughts, although I did notice a slight worsening of the form. My HR is a little higher now,  and it is easy to fall into negative thoughts like "but things were going sooo well, why did this have to happen now?" Then I tell myself to stop whining and remind myself of all the much worse things many people are struggling with everyday. This is in fact nothing in comparison!

Set your priorities right, keep you spirit high, enjoy life in every way that you are able to.

Triple triumph - Blåmanen race 3

Yes yes yes! Sometimes everything goes better than expected!

Blåmanen race 3 was yesterday. A bit sad that it's all over for this year. I have heard this from several people this past week - we should have Blåmanen races all the way to Christmas! Yesterday's race was perfect in all ways, in fact in more ways than I could have expected or even dared to hope for. Just an hour before the race I was not sure that I would be able to participate, but then everything worked out in the best possible way.

On Wednesday during a test run of the third race together with Fjellgeitene, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my ankle. It was so painful that I decided to stop and simply walk back, not to risk any injury. And then started of course several days with worries and wondering about whether I should participate in yesterday's race or not. I have a few long distance running goals for 2016; was it worth risking a long period without being able to run again, just for a single race? On the other hand, I had this kind of sharp pain at the exact same spot once before, and then after a couple of days everything was fine.

What would life be without the caring, compassion and advice of good friends? I discussed the matter with many people. Several of my friends who have had long time trouble with their achilles tendon advised me the be cautious. And a long term achilles injury is exactly what I am most afraid of. But my trainer Ketil and my friend Irene, who is a physiotherapist, concluded from the description that it is probably not the achilles, and as long as it is not painful I should simply participate in the race. Yesterday morning I had still not made up my mind. My plan was to warm up with my proper asphalt running shoes, and then decide depending on how everything felt. I used kinesiology tape on my heel after watching some youtube videos on how to apply it, and during the warm up I had no pain what so ever. At the end it was when talking to my friend Roger just before the race that I made up my mind. He said "that's not the achilles, that's just some simple ankle pain. I get it sometimes, too, and then the day after it's gone". Yes! Exactly my experience, so I decided to race. And it all went so well!

Thanks to breaking the practice on Wednesday, and not running anymore until yesterday, my legs were completely rested. This last course of the Blåmanen races is my favorite. It is also the one I know the best, as I practiced it twice last year before the race, and went there several times again after the race.  The weather was beautiful! Big sun from a cloudless sky. And cold enough for all the mud to have frozen to give a steady, albeit pretty slippery here and there, surface to run on. I used my shoes with spikes and they worked perfectly.

So many heroes yesterday! I got so much help all the way up; it was simply heavenly! On the first flat part I was running with Cathrine and Tone, and we were laughing all the way. On the Fløyen turns, in fact all the way up to Fjellhytten I had the company of Hans Erik. Just like last year! So reassuring to have the same feeling as last year, where this was the race I did the best. This is our course, Hans Erik! Just before we reached Fløyen, we met many of our Melkesyre friends who were doing the regular Saturday intervals. They stopped and cheered vigorously. And then came Bjarne, as always in the middle of the steepest hill! I was so happy to see him, and he kept me company during the worst part. Just at Fjellhytten, Jan Erik was cheering and taking photos. And from Fjellhytten and all the way to finish I had the company Aldona who was just in front of me. I cannot describe how great it feels to be surrounded with all this goodness and kindness. Thank you so much everybody, I owe you all big time!

The best part was that I felt no pain whatsoever in my ankle (and of course my hamstring injury was completely forgotten for the time being), so I was exceptionally happy, cheerful, and not the least grateful all the way. The sun was shining brightly all the time, I found myself smiling all the way, especially towards the end when I knew that I would actually be able to finish without having to stop or slow down due to pain. And then my finish time.... 57 minutes!!! OK, still one minute worse than last year, but one minute better than last week's race, which is for most people a faster race. Last year, I had exactly the same time on both races, 56 minutes. This year, 58 on the last and 57 on this one. So in a sense I did better than last year, given the circumstances.

I feel that I am the luckiest person in the whole world!

Back on track: Skåla Opp 2015

Finally racing again!

Exactly one year ago, a long time dream came true when I got to experience the famous Skåla mountain in Loen by participating in the Skåla Opp 2014 race. It was a great experience in many different ways, and most importantly, it was at the top of Skåla I met some of my Melkesyre friends for the first time ever. Little did I know at that point how big a part of my life they would become and how much they would come to mean to me during the year that has passed since.

This year's Skåla Opp race, which took place on Saturday, was if possible even a greater experience. Not having raced since March this year, and not having had any endurance training since January, I was completely uncertain about what to aim for or what to expect during this year's race. My Stoltzekleiven form is better, but my endurance is much worse, on the other hand my legs are considerably stronger, however my resting heart rate is higher.... Some pros, some cons. What to expect???  I decided that anything better than 2:30 would make me very happy.

I started out with a good pace from the start but I made sure to keep my heart rate well below my lactate threshold, not touching 160, for the first 4-5 km. By then the first 1000 meters of the total 1800 meters elevation gain is done. After that my plan was to allow my heart rate to get close to 170, however this turned out to be pretty impossible. Although the climb gets tougher around the sixth kilometer, and I went as fast as I could, my heart rate went actually down. The advice from my physiotherapist Ane was "push it real hard, but don't race". I interpreted this as "race, but not at the expense of worsening your injury, so slow down if something becomes painful". Fortunately my hamstrings tendon behaved better than in a long time. It actually gave much less discomfort than during the slower and easier hikes in Jotunheimen just a couple of weeks ago.

I finished the race in 2:15, just two minutes worse than last year, which is a wonderfully encouraging surprise. Skåla seems to be telling me that everything will be OK. I even had a better feeling throughout and after the race this year compared to last year. I was less exhausted during and after, and my legs recovered much more quickly. Mentally it helped a lot that I had company, as I walked with my friends Hans Erik and Solveig from the start.  It gives energy and strength to have the comforting presence of friends close by. In fact Solveig and I kept together almost all the way to the finish, upon which we were interviewed by the national broadcast channel. The best news for me, though, is that my injury has behaved incredibly well also after the race. Normally, after a tough training I would feel some ache in the injured area, but this time I felt nothing at all!

An even more motivating achievement was that of my friend Jeanette at this year's race. You might remember that she won her class at last year's race, whereas this year it wasn't certain at all whether she would be able to participate. She injured her knee in April and had a surgery in May, and consequently has not been running for the past four months. But she did participate, and she was only a few minutes behind her personal best from last year, becoming number three in her class this year! What about that??! I think it is such an incredible performance, in fact a hundred times more impressive than if she had improved her PB with a few minutes without an injury. I was even happier about her result than mine; it gives such an amazing boost of energy, hope, inspiration and motivation, and it proves once and for all: nothing is impossible! We celebrated our victories in the Skåla lake...

It is such an indescribably nice feeling to be racing again. The mental and the physical push, the calculations in the head all the time, the pain, the incredible rush of adrenaline before the start, and the flush of endorphins and the intense feeling of happiness at the finish. Oh how I had missed that, and how I got reminded why I love racing. Of course the best part this year was the endless celebrations with my Melkesyre, Varegg and Fjellgeitene friends at the top and later in the evening. It is simply wonderful to be a part of such a group of positive, inspiring, kind and fun people. I cannot believe my luck...

Just to make the whole experience complete, an added bonus this year was Frank's participation in the race for the first time. He finished in 1:55. As soon as the registration opens for next year's race we will both sign up!

Coming up this weekend is Storehesten Opp 2015...

Top of the world

For those determined to fly, having no wings is just a detail...

In the middle of a period mostly characterized by injury and rehab, I am having the time of my life. I can hardly believe it myself. It turns out that it is possible to get back your full enthusiasm and runners' high without being able to run and compete as normal.  Miraculously, I am enjoying myself as much now as I was when I was running everyday and competing in every race, half a year ago. Of course the fact that my injury is getting better is helping a lot, but the improvement is extremely slow. It is so slow that I now think it will still take me several months to be able to start running properly. But it's not a problem! There are so many things I can do, and I can do them in increasing intensity and length. The good news is that the fall season is full of steep mountain races, which mainly involve fast walking and not much running, and I think I can participate in them as planned!


I wrote before that I think it is important to set alternative training goals to keep up your motivation and inspiration when you are injured. In fact, anything that gives a feeling of achievement and accomplishment has the same positive effect as setting running records. This weekend I went for something I was really uncertain whether I would be able to do or not: step on and walk to the edge of Trolltunga. This is a piece of rock hanging 700 hundred meters above the lake beneath it, and it is a very famous hiking destination in Norway. The trail to Trolltunga is 11 km long, with a 750 m elevation gain, and it takes about 3 hours to drive to the trail head from Bergen. Hence, if you want to do it in one day, you have to start out early, preferably do it during one of the longest days of summer. This past week Frank and I have been watching the weather report for Saturday, which was changing all the time, and as it started to look good on Friday we decided to go for it. Lucky or us, our Melkesyre friends as impulsive as ourselves, Laila, Ove, and Cathrine, joined on short notice, and together we hit the road to Odda where the trail head is located.

I had been checking the trail reports and knew that there was still quite a lot of snow on the path, so I was not expecting so many people there. It is, after all, quite a hike. All the pictures I had seen of Trolltunga showed only very few people on the rock, so I was thinking that this is a quite deserted spot. I could not have been more wrong! So many tourists!!! We were stopped at a parking lot 10 km before the trail head and informed that the upper parking lot was full, so we had to park at this spot and take a shuttle up to the trail head. This was all fine and we had a very pleasant chat with the shuttle driver who was very happy to be able to speak Norwegian for the first time that day. The trail starts very steep, pretty much like Stoltzekleiven for the first kilometer. Then it eases a bit, but it is still uphill for the next kilometer as well. From there on, it goes slight up and slight down, all in all quite pleasant walk for the next 9 km to Trolltunga. The views are unbelievably beautiful all the way, and we were extremely lucky with the weather, which turned out much better than predicted. The ground was covered with snow for almost all of the last 9 km, and fortunately for me, nobody in our group wanted to run. We went for a fast hike, and reached the rock in 2 hours and 45 minutes from the trailhead. We only ran past long lines of slow tourists, which there were hundreds of, every now and then, and I was extremely happy to be able to keep up with my group and not slow them down.

Although I had seen millions of pictures of Trolltunga and had high expectations, the view of it punched me in the stomach as soon as we reached it. Wow! I immediately wanted to close my eyes again; it was so disturbing to watch people balance at the edge of the rock. In real the rock is more spectacular than all pictures of it I had seen. I was prepared by the many cars in the parking lots and the lines of tourists on the path that there would be a lot of people, but I was still surprised to see how crowded it was. And then I understood how the pictures were taken with only very few people on the rock. It turns out that a very nice queue system has evolved: you have a friend standing at the plateau next to the rock to take your pictures, you enter the queue and wait for your turn, and then the rock is all yours until you are done and leave the scene for the next person in line. I have a strong anxiety for heights, and I was really not sure whether I would be able to go on the rock. I made Frank promise me beforehand that would force me if I refused. I was even considering the option of taking a small bottle of wine with me and drinking it just before :-). Standing in the queue turned out to be very good mental preparation; you get to see all the people get out there do all their crazy things (naked guys, turning wheels, jumping, dancing, etc), and you get more and more convinced that you can do it. When you are finally on the rock, it feels even safer; it is tilted slightly upward and it is quite broad, so you don’t see down (unless you go all the way to the edge), and you have a feeling of being on the same plateau as your photographer friend and the rest of the crowd. I would be very happy to just go out there, but I managed even to do several jumps, and the feeling of achievement was really wonderful. How anxious I had been I could see only afterwards, as I was really shaking all over and my heart rate was 138.

We spent quite a bit of time up there. Had our lunch, and went back on the rock one more time! As we headed back, it got sunnier and hotter. We were completely sunburnt by the time we were back at the trailhead after about two and a half hours. We had left Bergen at 8 am in the morning, and at 8 pm in the evening we were down by Hardangerfjord, in Odda, to have dinner. It was such a lovely evening, nice and warm, and we sat outside by the fjord during our meal. We left Odda at around 9 pm and reached home at around midnight; exhausted and happy. I am surprised that tourists seem to appreciate this place more than the locals; it is just a day’s trip; and the part of the trail after the first steep part seems really perfect for a run. I simply don’t understand why we did not do it before.

 

You would think this kind of excitement was enough for a week, but actually the past week had more to offer. In the middle of the week, before this hike, was the fantastically informal and fun race of Fjellgeitene from the Fløyen mountain to the Ulriken mountain in Bergen. My goodness I love these guys; they are so including in all their activities. The race was organized as “take your own time and report it afterwards”;  can it be simpler and more ingenious? I decided a while ago to participate, but not run, just walk. I am so fortunate that many of my friends in Varegg and Melkesyre appreciate the easier pace these days, and in the end we were quite a big group to start at Fløyen three hours before the planned finish time at Ulriken. I walked the first half, and ran the second half as it was pretty windy at the top and one needed to keep some speed to keep warm. Due to the easy start and the long warm up, I felt really good in the second half and I ended up running pretty decently. I even caught a few of my friends who had started running earlier. Lesson learned (again!): starting out easy always pays off in the end! On top of everything, when descending from Ulriken with Fjellgeitene, I learned a completely new path! After having this mountain in my backyard for almost 20 years, and having climbed it in various paths a million times, it still manages to surprise me. What can I say?

Count your blessings... and never grow up!

As good as it gets

It's been a busy week. On Monday I managed to squeeze in time to do both my rehab exercises and a close-to-record go at Stoltzekleiven. But then I was on travel from Tuesday to Friday, and I did not get to do any of my routine training. I had in fact very optimistically packed a whole mobile physiotherapy center with me, but the days consisted of late nights and very early mornings, and in the end I was just too tired to do anything else than sleep when I was in my hotel room.

 

I had had three consecutive days of hard exercise before leaving, and I thought at least that the rest would be good for me. However, sitting still for long hours for four days seemed to make everything worse. When I finally got home Friday evening I was feeling stiffer than ever, and the injury seemed to have worsened. I felt an urgent need to get moving. Fortunately, the weather report for Saturday was wonderful and I had already agreements with several friends for going to the top of Gullfjellet. On Saturday was the Gullfjellet Opp 2015 race, and I had decided several months ago to participate. Yesterday, instead of cancelling my plans, I participated in the class for fun, where your time is not registered. As the weather report turned nicer and nicer, more and more friends decided to join. Not all of them the race, but many of them the slow fun walk up. In the end we were many who took it easy, and it was such an incredibly nice day. We started early enough to get to the top just before the winners, so that we could cheer them into finish, and enjoy the excitement there.

Interesting enough, the topic of the conversation many times during the walk up was how important it is to rest and listen to your body, and how we are not really very good at it usually. We all enjoyed so much to take an easy pace walk up and just talk and lough all the way, and have time to stop and enjoy the views and take photos. And we kept asking: "Why don't we do this more often? Why do we always run?" I felt so lucky that I had so many friends who decided to do the easy walk this particular time rather than the race. Although the weather was sunny at the start, it got more and more cloudy as we ascended, but then it started to clear up more and more as we got closer to the top. Exactly at the moment when we reached there it became completely clear and sunny. Wow, could we have been more lucky?!

I very often find myself feeling lucky. On the other hand, I am sure that in reality I'm not more lucky than others, but somehow I spontaneously end up taking things to be my luck. If a nice coincidence happens I get so excited. In the middle of all injury and rehab at least I feel that I have been very lucky with circumstances around the competitions that I missed. Like on Saturday, I am sure it would have been much less fun to race, especially since more friends did the easy walk than those who raced. In Bergen City Marathon 2015 it was raining heavily, and Bergen Fjellmarathon 2015 was so muddy and slippery that improving my time from last year would probably not be so easy. So in a way I am not that sorry that I could not race in them. And I did participate in some sense, since I was there and cheering and having fun. Another piece of luck hit me last week when the Storehesten Opp 2015 race was cancelled due to too much snow. I have been to this peak once but not during competition. I was planning to participate this year, having my time registered, but not pushing it beyond my injury. This would have been fine, but you see I have a bet with my father-in-law, who sat a limit last year on how well he thought I could perform. I am sure to be able to beat that limit, but probably it would not have been possible this year. So the cancellation of the race suited me just perfectly!

I think it is important to pay attention to the good things that happen and register them as good luck. I am afraid too many people rather pay attention to the not so good things, and just register those as bad luck, without observing the good things. How can you ever be happy if you do that? If you feel sorry for yourself, especially if you think your bad luck is the fault of others. Of course we must allow ourselves to feel sad; after all what is life if you don't experience the whole range of feelings? But try not to get buried in sadness or despair for too long. And please don't misunderstand, I am not talking about real life crises or serious illnesses; I know that not everything is possible to get over just thinking positively. But for a normal average everyday life, where not much extraordinary is happening, I think having the ability to get excited about the little good things and ignore the not so good things, is a step towards happiness. Fortunately physical exercise makes you able to do exactly that! With endorphins running in your body all the time, all you see are birds, flowers, and the sun. I read an article last weekend which I found very interesting. A famous Norwegian psychiatrist says that we should all have 0.5 per-mille alcohol in our body constantly. I agree completely! :-) But you can indeed achieve the same or even better effect with physical exercise.

Today Frank and I repeated last weekend's discovery, the path from Munkebotn, via Dræggehytten, to Rundemanen. I just like this path more and more. This time I was even able to run parts of it, my first running steps in a long long while. The weather was even nicer than last weekend, and although we were a bit too late for the regular Sunday meeting of Melkesyre at Brushytten, guess what: yes more luck, they were still there when we got there!

Every single day offers many options. Make sure to choose those that will make you happy!

The snow wins: back to skis!

My enthusiasm about running with spikes on snow and ice has been challenged. During the past few weeks we have received in Bergen much more snow than usual, and my favorite running and hiking arenas, up in the mountains, have been covered with deep snow. Running with spikes works perfectly on hard snow and ice, but it is challenging and tiring on soft and deep snow. Last Sunday I had a great hike with Benedicte up to Ulriken, which went perfectly up the steep path to the top, but we were very much slowed down on our way down via the longer path, which was covered with deep and soft snow. We were up to our knees in the snow; we could take some steps without sinking and then had to take quite a few deep steps, which made it really difficult to get a good "rythm". (In addition, I almost disappered in a small river hidden under the snow and had to be rescued by passing by skiers!) Tuesday evening Frank and I had a really nice hike up to Rundemanen, in perfect winter weather with the full moon appearing above Vidden just as we arrived on top of Rundemanen. This time the snow was hard and nice all the way, but still difficult to run on, because the hard part was a thin and uneven stripe in the middle of soft deep snow, and it was again difficult to find a running "rythm" as we had to place our feet exactly where other feet had been placed.

Hence it seemed time to start thinking about skiing. As one of my favorite Norwegian songs by De Lillos expresses it so nicely:

"En fisk kan puste under vann  
En fugl kan fly høyt over sky  
Men det finnes en ting som bare mennesker kan  
Nemlig å gå fort på ski  
Vår Herre ga oss denne mulighet til å gli"

A fish can breathe under water
A bird can fly high above clouds
But there is one thing only humans know how to do
Namely to ski fast
Our lord gave us this opportunity to glide 

So why not take this opportunity? Around Bergen there are many nice cross country skiing arenas with groomed trails. With the amount of snow we have had recently, they are just perfect for fast skiing as an alternative training instead of running. However, I had only touring skis, since I usually do my skiing in the high mountains far away from Bergen. Touring skis are broader than trail skis, and they have steel edges which makes them much easier to navigate off piste and on loose snow. The drawback is that they are quite heavy and not really appropriate for groomed trails, as they slow you down substantially on the narrow trails. Still I loved my touring skis, and all these years I have been unwilling to let go of my steel edges. I learned to ski when I was 17, and struggled a lot, especially with up and downhills,  until I got skis with steel edges. Only then I got the real taste of cross country skiing, as the steel edges make it so much easier to break downhill. Since I was not born with skis, as many native Norwegians are, I am still uncomfortable when the speed gets high, and I need to be sure that I can break and stop on my way down, regardless on how hard and icy the snow is.

Last week, though, with the confidence that all my running and competing experience has given me, and taking into consideration that I have, after all, been skiing in all sorts of conditions for many years now, I felt bold enough to purchase a pair of racing skis. They are so much lighter than my old skis, and I was pleasantly surprised to experience that they have quite sharp edges, too, though not steel. (I still think racing skis with steel edges are an excellent idea! Do they exist?) This weekend I had the opportunity to test them in Voss, about 90 km east of Bergen. I managed to break nicely on quite steep downhills, so I might finally be over my addiction to steel edges. And of course I had to also try skate skiing! This for me always looked like magic I would never be able to perform (trying it on touring skis always ended up in disaster). Even during my first attempts this weekend I ended up with my nose buried in the snow, but slowly I started to get the hold of it. Fortunately I was surrounded with family who are all experts, so I had several teachers with helpful instructions and tips. However, the tip above all, which really made the difference in the end, came from my youngest son Aksel: with the poles you have to push yourselft towards the left as you glide on your right foot! My moves are still very uneven and I am quite slow, but skate skiing turned out to be so much more fun than I could expect that I think I will practice at every opportunity in the future!

It's never too late to learn and try out new things!

Happy go lucky

In the last blog entry I wrote about how much I enjoy uphill and mountain running/hiking. Weather gods must have liked it! As an unexpected reward, I received during the past seven days beautiful sunny winter weather and five wonderful uphill and mountain running and hiking experiences.

Sunday and Monday evenings I had the pleasure of doing, for the first time in the dark, two hikes that I know very well. Sunday it was Geitanuken in Åsane in the northern part of Bergen. I really like this hill, as it offers a 360 degree view from the top, which is really rare for Bergen mountains. And Monday it was our own neighborhood hike from Nattlandsfjellet up to Nubbevannet along the ridge facing the city. Incredibly enough, I had never done this in the dark before.

As much as I enjoy hiking in the dark with a headlamp, Tuesday and Wednesday it was time to take advantage of the beautiful sunny weather and the daylight. I was lucky enough to be able to leave work early, and even luckier to have friends who could do the same to join me. Tuesday offered a 16,2 km course and a combination of hiking and running from Ulriken to Svartediket on the heights of Bergen, and Wednesday we went for a shorter version just up to Ulriken via the steepest path and down on the slightly longer path to the south. It felt incredibly good to enjoy hours of sun in the darkest time of the year!

As enjoyable as all these wonderful hikes were, the highlight of the week came Thursday evening during the regular Melkesyre training at Stoltzekleiven. This hill will never stop surprising me. Since 2001 it has given me a lot of memorable experiences and pleasures, along with a lot of pain, and it has constantly helped me to improve my form over the years. Until 2013, my best time ever up Stoltzekleiven was 17:15. In the race of 2013, after a lot of training during that fall, it rewarded me with an incredible jump to 15:58. In 2014, I managed 15:10 as my official race time, and improved it further to 15:02 later in the fall. It was in fact one of my announced goals to reach below 15:00 at Stoltzekleiven in 2014. On Thursday, 22 days overdue, it happened! I managed 14:40!!! The feeling is so amazing that I think I still haven't touched the ground yet since Thursday!

I must explain, though, that I did not do it alone. I got fantastic help from my Melkesyre friend and mentor Bjarne (whose official 2014 time is 10:22!). He was right behind me all the way up, giving me precise instructions on many things, like step length, placement of hands, how to follow the path, at the same time pushing me, albeit very gently, and most of the time telling me how great I was doing. I cannot describe how grateful I am to Bjarne for this amazing experience. It came at a very unexpected time. First of all, in the middle of winter and really off season. Secondly, I had been to muscle therapy the same afternoon, and I had been running and hiking several days in a row. In addition, as during all of the hikes described above, I was wearing spikes, which were extremely useful on the icy paths on the way down, but really not ideal on the bare rocks up the hill. There is more good news: Bjarne has pointed to several small mistakes that I am doing, and by simply correcting them I can improve my time further without necessarily improving my form.

Unfortunately I do not have a finish picture from the last Stoltzekleiven experience, but below is one from September 2014 which shows how I normally look when I reach the top (just that on Thursday it was far worse than this...)

The bottom line of this week's story is that nothing is impossible! Don't ever slow down on your goals and expectations. Plan your weeks as much as you can to take advantage of the possibilities that life offers at all times.

Seize the day!

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!