Chasing two rabbits II - Oxford Half 2017

The second rabbit is caught, too! 

What a wonderful experience Oxford was a couple of weekends ago! Not only because I actually achieved my goal of improving my half marathon time, but even more because it was a weekend shared with so many friends and so full of precious moments. We were a total of 37 people who traveled together; 33 runners from our club Varegg and 4 supporters. Like in Holmenkollen in 2015 and Amsterdam in 2016, traveling and running with friends is like being on a school trip, with so much laughter that your cheeks and your stomach ache the whole time!

The trip was incredibly well organized by our friend Karl-Magnus, and for the rest of us it was simply to follow his instructions. Most of us stayed in the same hotel, which was 200 meters from the start, full of history and charm, and perfectly convenient. We arrived late Friday night, and the race was on Sunday, so we had the whole Saturday free. We spent it sightseeing Oxford, relaxing and visiting the race village. My friends Mette, Marit and I were placed in start pen E, which read finish time 1:50 - 2:10. We found this a bit too slow for our goals, so we decided to change start numbers to pen D, for 1:45 - 2:00.

The start of the race was 9:30, and the start of the hotel breakfast was 7:30, which I found a little too late. Frank and I had instant oat meal in the hotel room already at about 7 am, and then we went down to breakfast to have coffee and meet the others. At around 8:30 we went out to warm up, around 9 we were back in the hotel to leave our jackets and so on. It is so convenient to have a hotel room so close to the start, exactly like we had in Trondheim. There was no need to leave a bag at the race village.

For the race my intention was to follow the 1:50 flag for as long as I could. It was so pleasant to start at an easier pace than what I usually do, and the first 10 km felt really easy. Around half way I started to struggle a bit, and I saw that my heart rate was a bit too high. At the same time, we caught up the 1:45 flag, which made me decide to slow down a bit. At the slowing down I made a mistake. I was watching my average pace thinking that it was my current pace, so I slowed down a bit too much and discovered it only after a km. After that I managed to get up my speed back to the intended pace, and managed to keep going more or less at steady pace until around 18 km. Until that point I could see my flag guy a couple of hundred meters ahead of me.

Then my stomach started acting up. I have never experienced this during a race before, but suddenly I had a very urgent feeling of having to use a toilet. I didn't know what to do. It was impossible to keep the speed, but could it actually pay off to stop? I calculated that if I took the time to use a toilet (or go behind a tree), I would lose my chance of a PB. But finally I actually stopped completely, and waited a few seconds. Fortunately the short stop helped a lot, and when I started running again the stomach did not bother me more. But now I had to really speed up to be able to go below 1:53, which was my goal. The last kilometer was tough, and I gave it all I had, and had to spend a little time on the ground to recover after the finish. The time read 1:52:22. About a minute better than my previous PB from Tromsø!

Fortunately the feeling of fatigue disappeared quickly, and then it was time to celebrate! Many of my friends got PBs, and some of them by several minutes! The course is very flat, surrounded by many historical buildings and interesting sights, so it is a very pleasant half marathon. Perhaps the best part was the race bags we got at the end. Free long sleeved t-shirts for everyone! They had separate bags for men and women, the t-shirts in men's and women's sizes, and the bags containing goodies, specially designed for men and for women. Really a very nice touch.

We were all impressed by the quality, the design and the functionality of the shirts. No commercials, just the race logo. I've already used mine a couple of times! I must make a comment on race t-shirts in general. Also in Trondheim the race t-shirts were very nice, with no commercials. They were not free, but really cheap when ordered at registration (75 NOK, about 8 EUR). As you might remember I rated Trondheim above Tromsø, I can also add that Tromsø race t-shirts cost 450 NOK (about 50 EUR)! Yet another reason to give thumbs up for Trondheim and Oxford.

Six half marathon races so far this year, which is more than ever before, PB in each of the courses, and overall half marathon PB twice.

2017 is turning out to be a good rabbit year :-)

Last race of the year, a little whisky, and some reflections

Join a running group!

I've said that before, I'll say it again. If you have an interest in running, there is nothing like being a part of a running group.

You have of course your family, friends, and colleagues, but nobody can understand you like your running buddies when it comes to training and competition goals, injuries, frustrations, joys, victories, and failures. With who else can you talk for hours on a single injury history, or on a training period towards a competition, or on heart rate zones? Who else will always cheer you, encourage you and motivate you whatever your goals are, and comfort you and give you pep talk during your down periods? And every now and then you can be even lucky to make a new friend for life, getting into deeper topics and opening your hearts to each other.

Friday evening was the annual Little Christmas Whisky Race with a party afterwards. I must admit that I am still struggling to get back my form. I was 4 seconds faster this year than last, but the ground and air conditions were perfect, so I should have done better. OK, so a marathon breaks you down, but think of all that training I invested in before Amsterdam. Should that not pay off now when the fatigue is gone and my energy is back? I could easily get buried in this kind of negative thoughts were it not for the frame around the race. With the whisky bar at the finish at the top and the party down at the club house afterwards, there is no way one can feel down after such an event. So yesterday, instead I found myself thinking about how fun it is to get older.

Yes you read right. When I say this to my younger friends and colleagues, they are always surprised. Perhaps I would also have been if I heard it in my twenties from people in their forties. My goodness, I remember how sorry I felt for them then. When my older colleagues at that time spoke about reading glasses and graying hair, I pitied them. Still they were the ones to have the most fun at parties, and I was always astonished by that. (I mean, like, isn't life almost over?) Now I know why. As we get older, as long as we are lucky to keep our health, life gets easier on many plans. Kids are growing and can take more and more care of themselves, you have reached a level in you career,  for most the economic situation improves, and you get more time for yourself. If you, at this point in life, start investing some time in a rewarding activity, like sports, and on top of that find a group of people to do it with, then life becomes a play ground and you are back to the joys of childhood all over again.

Just think about the race and the party afterwards, and all the people involved in organizing such an event. Carrying food, drinks, and fire wood up to the finish area, registering people and timing the racers, preparing the party, baking cakes, doing kitchen duty, cleaning afterwards, .... And how effortless and easy it all goes when there are so many people who are willing to contribute. It is always like this. There is always somebody who takes initiative to organize a party, a dinner, a weekend trip, a training session, a mountain hike, you name it. With all the extremely sad things going on around the world, I feel so blessed to be surrounded with all this kindness and positive energy.

My experiences from my local club Varegg, with my Bergen running group Melkesyre and Fjellgeitene, and my Istanbul running group Istrunbul, who embraced me so warmly for the brief time I spent there, make me think that running groups all around the world work in this positive way. If you're rather interested in biking or swimming, or other sports, there are groups for those as well.  I follow online quite a few such groups both in Bergen and Istanbul, and they all seem to burst with positive energy. There is no reason to hesitate. Don't do it alone.

Join a group!

Back in mountain business: Ulriken Opp 2016

Sorgen forgikk meg på Ulrikens topp...

Third race and third personal record of 2016! Yesterday I participated in the Ulriken Opp mountain race. It has two versions; one of length 1.7 km with elevation gain 410 m, and one of length 3.6 km with elevation gain 605 m. With almost no mountain training since December, I did not dare to do the long one. Moreover, I had done the short course two years ago, and I wanted to see if I could beat my time from then.

In 2014, my first time in this race, the short course took me 26 minutes and 45 seconds. Last year I was in shape to do better, but I could not participate due to injury. This year, I did not know what to expect. Since the Christmas Whisky Race in December, I have not been running up mountains. However, I did start uphill interval training three weeks ago, and I have done a few trail runs involving steep hills. My general form has been improving, albeit slowly, since I started running again in September, and my time at Bergen City half marathon was better this year than in 2014. So I had some hope of beating my time from 2014 also in this race.

But not practicing at all is really a drawback. With no form improvement, just practicing the course a couple of times can improve the race time with at least about a minute. Fortunately, when I was in Bergen about a month ago, I had a go up Stoltzekleiven, which was faster than I had expected, and that gave me some additional hope and mental confidence that I would be able to push myself yesterday.

The first couple of hundred meters of the short course are not as steep as the rest, and it is easy to do the mistake of running too fast at this point. It never pays off! I think I was able to do it more or less correctly. Then it gets steeper, and it is important to find a pace that is fast enough but still saves your energy for the last part. The last 700 m are brutally steep, and then you just have to go with all that you have. I was so lucky that many of my friends from Varegg/Melkesyre/Fjellgeitene were standing by and cheering at this last part of the course. I had in particular outstanding help from Åshild just before the stairs at the end. Not only did she cheer and push, but she also started running by me! With her help I started to run and kept running all the way to the stairs. At the finish, I was totally exhausted and my arms ached badly, which for me is a sign that I did my best (I think it is lactic acid creeping all the way up). As threw myself at the feet of my friend Michal who came to finish just before me (and whom I tried to catch all the way), I was very happy with my finish time: 25:12. One and a half minutes better than 2014!

Almost all goals of 2015 got killed by injury, and Stoltzekleiven was the single personal record of last year. With that background it feels indescribably wonderful to break my previous records on all the races of this year so far. Perhaps it is not entirely correct to speak about a record for the Deer Race of February, as it was the first time, but since it gave me my first class victory ever, I think it counts. For next year, I set it as a goal to do the long course with the aim of finishing in less than 40 minutes. Of course the main goal is to manage to stay out of injury...

Shit happens; look forward, be dedicated, and surround yourself with good people!

I take my city back - Bergen City Marathon 2016

Back in Bergen, back at my very first half marathon course.

Bergen City Marathon took place yesterday, and I was one of the thousands who participated in the half marathon. It is a wonderful feeling to be able to race this distance again after struggling with injury the whole of 2015. With no street races since January 2015, and no half marathon races since September 2014, I really did not know what to expect and what to aim for at yesterday's race. The 2014 version of this race was my very first half marathon, and I finished in 2:00. If I had been able to participate last year, I would aim for something like 1:55. But this year? I restarted street running practice just three months ago, and I did not have a proper estimation of my form.

I came to Bergen already a week ago, and ever since I arrived I felt my legs heavy, my joints aching, and my injured hamstrings tendon very tense and painful. I figured out that the best thing I could do to prepare for the race was to rest properly. So, during the last week I only had an easy mountain hike on Monday and a short run on Wednesday. Thursday my legs started to feel better, and on Friday they were better than in a long time. I felt ready and confident that I could at least finish.

Bergen City Half marathon course is truly beautiful; it takes you by the sea, by the mountains, along a lake, along the fjord, inside two parks, and at the end some city streets. However, it has a total elevation gain of 255 meters, so it is not an easy course to speed. For a negative split, though, it is perfect. The main elevation gain is done between the 3rd and the 8th kilometer, which forces you to slow down, and then it is mostly downhill or flat for the rest (except a small killer hill at the 18th km). For the first 3 km it is completely flat, and I felt very good and fast. My tempo was around 5 min/km for that first part, and my heart rate not above threshold.

Then started the uphills, and I think I went a bit too slow there. The thing is, I have this lactate threshold value of heart rate 162 from an August 2014 test. I don't know if this is still accurate for my current form, but I did not dare to pass it in the first half. The resulting speed up the hills was not as high as I was hoping. The good news is that I felt pretty good at 162 and not at all like pushing it too hard, and on the flatter parts I could speed up to pace 5:15-5:30 min/km without reaching that heart rate. At the downhills I went as fast as 4:30, and my heart rate went even down then. But at some point I started suspecting that I was feeling a little bit too good. As far as I can remember I was in pain more of the time in the two previous street half marathons I raced. This time at the 15th km, I was thinking to myself that I was enjoying myself too much and I should try to increase speed.

I did increase a bit, and after the 19th km, I gave it all, and my speed for the last two kilometers was around 5 min/km. The last 500 meters were pretty painful, my legs started to stiffen. I ended up with 1:58 as my finish time, which is 2 minutes better than my 2014 time at this course, but 4 minutes worse than my time in Oslo in September 2014. Before start I had a slight hope of 1:55, but in the end I was really happy to manage below 2 hours.

Every race gives more experience and new wisdom. This particular race ended up giving a tremendous amount of wonderful treats in addition. Many many of my friends from Varegg/Melkesyre/Fjellgeitene were either racing or cheering along the course. Our son Aksel added to the joy by following us on the course and taking pictures. I heard my name called out so many times during the race and every time it gave me a new boost of energy. Afterwards it was great to gather for a drink in the sun, and in the evening there was a big dinner party where I could catch up with many friends some of whom I had not seen for a long while. My running buddy Berna from Istanbul came to Bergen just for this race, and she was very warmly welcomed by my Bergen group. Her performance was outstanding; although it was only 6 days after her last half marathon in Madrid, she improved her time from then by 3 minutes yesterday! Frank was also very happy; thanks to my advice about full rest this past week, he had a new PB of 1:35!

It was a wonderful day.

Relapse, recap, restart

"Throw me to the wolves and I will return leading the pack."

I read a training blog newly that started with "A completely wasted year". It was about a year of injury, and the person was set back in form to where she was a year ago. Exactly my situation! However, my feelings about the year 2015 are quite different. Alright, so 2014 was an amazing year of many completely new experiences... How could a year of injury and frustration match or exceed those accomplishments? Unexpectedly enough, in 2015 I challenged myself to try even more new things, I learned a lot more, and I made friendships for life, all thanks to my passion for competing, and some even thanks to my injury.

I think what I am most happy about 2015 is that Frank joined the Varegg/Melkesyre/Fjellgeitene family, and we now share almost all of our training and competing experiences. We have had more outdoor experiences together this year than the total of many years. In addition to training and competitions, we had many spectacular travels to some of the most famous mountains of Norway. We even explored the mountains of Italy, both competing and having fun. All these travels happened thanks to and together with our Melkesyre friends, and I am eternally grateful for these adventures.

Of other new experiences and highlights of 2015, the relay races in the spring, in particular the national Holmenkollen race, stand out as a lot of fun. Partly due to being injured, I also got more serious about open water swimming, and participated in my first official swimming race. I got to fulfill my dream from last year about training for triathlon, and finally participating in Os triathlon. This is something I definitely want to do more of. My new official best time at Stoltzekleiven is really what saved 2015, as it is the only real performance achievement of the year.

It would have been great to be able to conclude the year on a super positive note, but as I have learned so well this year, things do not always go as planned.  Just as I was finally back on track, on the way to full recovery and my old form, I had a relapse of my injury last week. It came unexpected. After the first shock and some panic, I calmed down surprisingly quickly, mainly thanks to my physiotherapist Ane. Although she was on holidays, she called me when I texted her, and she instructed me to completely rest for a week, to hopefully cool down and reverse the relapse quickly. Taking her advice this time has been so much easier than in the old days. Of course being surrounded by a lot of family due to the holidays, and the really bad weather outside has helped, too. I immediately started to make alternative plans for the coming months, just in case I might again have a longer period away from running. I have even started to look forward to those alternative activities.

No matter how my injury behaves in the close future, I know that 2016 will be a year of even more new training experiences, as I will be spending the first half of the year in Istanbul, my city of birth. I am already in touch with possible new training buddies, with plans of running, strength training, biking, swimming, and other activities. I do have a humble new year's wish, though: that I will not be blogging about injuries in 2016...

"Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."

Becoming a goat: The Little Christmas Whisky Race

Goats just wanna have fun...

Several weeks of wonderful fun with tough racing and hard partying culminated on Friday with the Little Christmas Whisky Race, organized by Fjellgeitene. I have been mentioning Fjellgeitene in several posts, and what better opportunity than now to devote a whole blog entry to them? After an unbelievable form improvement and (for me) amazing achievements in 2014, I had many goals and hopes for 2015. Unfortunately most of them had to be canceled, as the year was characterized by injury, rehabilitation, recovery, and trying to regain form. Two of my goals for 2015 were achieved though: a new official record at Stoltzekleiven Opp, and becoming a proper member of Fjellgeitene.

In fact, it was largely thanks to participating in the Stoltzekleiven training sessions of Fjellgeitene that I managed to do well at this year's race. Although I had a couple of unofficial personal records during last winter, after the summer holidays I was finding it hard to achieve the same; not even close. Fjellgeitene organized a lot of interval training sessions during early fall, which were just perfect in many ways. First of all, since it was intervals we did not keep track of total time, and thus I did not get depressed by possible bad times. Second, and even more importantly, we had so much fun after the sessions, like swimming in the lake at the top, or exploring (to me) totally new paths in the mountains.

After that I have tried to join the training sessions of Fjellgeitene whenever I had the opportunity, and when the described training felt right for me. This is the thing: the average form of Fjellgeitene is quite a lot better than mine. To not slow the others down or ruin the practice, I try to choose well. The strength training sessions are just perfect. When it comes to the running sessions, for the moment I join them when the description says "relax". I know that it will then probably be a zone 3 for me, which is perfect when it fits my training plan. Sometimes a route and an anticipated completion time of the session is given, and then it is very easy to decide whether I can and want to do it.

As with Melkesyre and Varegg otherwise, a lot of laughter is involved in the training sessions of Fjellgeitene. Several of my friends join all three group's training sessions, and consider themselves a member of each of the groups, like myself. Although some people clearly identify themselves mainly with one of the groups, it is really more like a big happy family. This was also obvious at the Little Christmas Whisky Race and the following party. A short but brutal evening race, starting from just above Sandviken Hospital, following the turns of Munkebotn up to the lake, and continuing on the main gravel path up to the area where the drinks are served at the top of Stoltzekleiven Opp. It is about 2.5 km long, pretty steep, and the estimated time is around one's time for a 5 km flat race. The best part is the whisky bar at the top when you reach the finish!

I participated in this race also last year, and had so good memories that I signed up as soon as the event opened for participation. Last year, I completed a test run in 24:54, and I was expecting something around 24 minutes for the race. But on the evening of the race, the ground was covered with snow and ice and my completion time was 26:04. I was still very happy with that time, which was just seconds within the time of many of my friends. This year, though, I kept getting around 27:30 during training sessions, and was again feeling a little bit the same frustration as before Stoltzekleiven. At the race, it went better than expected, although not as good as I could have hoped for: 25:24. No matter what, the whisky session at the top was a wonderful reward.

So lucky to be part of such an amazing gang, and so many things to look forward to in 2016!

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!

Not quite there yet - Blåmanen race 2

Things take time...

Blåmanen race number 2 was yesterday. As fun as always; I just love these races! But it is time to realize that I am far behind in my running form compared to last year at this time. OK, so it should perhaps not come as such a big surprise. I have, after all, just started running again, and the longest I have run since January is about 12 km. Last year at this time I had completed three half marathons within the last six months... Well, at least I have been able to keep my uphill form; I cannot describe how happy I am for this year's record at Stoltzekleiven. That is in fact my only registered accomplishment of 2015, so it saves the year. Although I participated in a lot of uphill races this fall, they all involved (for me) fast walking and not running. And that is the clue. I have lost a lot of speed when it comes to running, and it is taking me time to get it back.

Last year I completed the Blåmanen race 2 i 56 minutes, and I did not even push it. This year; 58 minutes... I probably did not push it as much as I should this time, either. I had a good feeling throughout the race, and was not that exhausted at the end. I also saw afterwards that my heart rate did not go as much up this time as the first race last week. So I could, and probably should, have pushed a bit harder. Or perhaps not. Who knows?  I am still in recovery, and perhaps I am avoiding to reverse the healing of my injury this way. By pushing not too hard. I don't know. What I do know is that I should focus on the positive.

I am extremely happy for:

1. I can run again!!!! I can run almost as much as I want. And I know that my form will come back; I just need to work hard and give it time. The most important thing is that my injury seems to be getting better and better all the time. Just a couple of months ago, I was not at all sure that I could ever run as I wanted again. I now start believing that I can. And I am extremely grateful for that.
2.  I am participating and having incredible fun at various races. And I get so much compassion and encouragement from my friends. One of yesterday's heroes is Ove. At the beginning of the uphills I was having a hard time, and he kept talking to me all the way; gave encouragement exactly where I needed it. It felt easier and easier as I got used to the pace. And Bjarne with his camera in the middle of the course, taking pictures, cheering, giving advice... I was actually looking forward to seeing him and wondering where he would pop up, and that thought helped keep me going. And then Patricia and Solveig handing out drinks and cheering just before the last hill, and Christian and Åshild at the finish. Thanks so much guys! And Roger when he came to finish; always a caring clap on the shoulder. I feel the luckiest in the world to be surrounded with these people.
3.  There are so many fun things going on throughout the winter. On Wednesday I participated in a test run of yesterday's race with Fjellgeitene. These guys are amazing. I now finally dare calling myself a fjellgeit (mountain goat), too. When registering for races it will be now my standard to write "Varegg/Melkesyre/Fjellgeitene". There will be a test run of the last Blåmanen race the coming week, and then the race itself, and then more races, and training for them. Looking forward to all of that! I also have some long term goals, which I will tell you about in due time. In the meanwhile, I tell myself:

The most wonderful time of the year: Blåmanen race 1

One down, two to go!

The Blåmanen races are on! Yesterday was the first one of this year's three races. I came home from Paris Friday evening, and I was very tired after a week with early mornings, long days at work, and little sleep. Still yesterday morning I felt very ready for the race. I also felt very happy and excited because I knew that I would meet many of my friends whom I haven't seen for a few weeks. This race series offers one of the most fun race experience ever. I think it is because I seem to know about 80% of the participants. It is like a playground!

I had a test run with Frank a few weeks ago, which I completed in 1 h 04 min, and yesterday my goal was to go below 1 hour. Unfortunately, it did not work. I completed in just over the hour. Although I have been running and trying to push myself in Paris, I haven't had uphill training for the last three weeks. I went with really high heart rate throughout the race, and was pretty exhausted in the end, so at least I think I pushed as much as I could. Although slightly disappointed about the time, I am so happy about so many things around this race. For the first time in a long long while, I did not feel any pain in my thigh or butt while racing, and it was only my breath that was limiting me; not at all my legs.

Frank and I arrived the start well ahead of time. We had both decided to start individually before the elites, Frank a little later than me. We were extremely lucky with the weather, which was sunny between heavy showers the night before and the following afternoon. After getting our tags for timing, saying hello to our friends, and warming up a little, it was time to start. I was chatting with people and missed my friends who started a couple of minutes before me, so I was alone most of the time. The track until Sandvikspilen was extremely muddy. In the beginning I was trying to jump from stone to stone, but in the end I did not care anymore where I stepped. Sometimes I was down into the mud up to my knees, which was fine except that I was afraid to lose my shoes a couple of times. As I was getting close to Sandvikspilen, which is the end of the steepest part, I was feeling pretty tired. Then I heard the voices of friends who were cheering and taking pictures. It was wonderful to have Bjarne, Helge, and Cathrine there at the top! They made sure that I kept going at a moment when I wanted most just to stop, or at least slow down.

As usual, all the time I was wondering whether I had started too hard. Compared to our test run, I gained a minute until Sandviksbatteriet, another minute until Sandvikspilen, another minute until Brushytten, and finally another minute until the end, so I seem to have run pretty evenly. I was hoping to be significantly better at the race than at the test, since I had significantly lower heart rate at the test, but I had forgotten all about the backpack... I did not have a backpack at the test, while at the race a backpack of at least 1.5 kg is compulsory. I must remember to train with a backpack (or lose 1.5 kg until next Saturday!). Since this was the first time I did Blåmanen race number 1, I have no previous recorded time. So at least I can hope for an improvement next year. In the meanwhile I am really curious to see whether I will be able to improve my time in the next two races, compared to last year. Already looking forward to next Saturday!

Thank you Varegg!!!

Getting ready for the Blåmanen races again

It is soon time for the annual three races up to Mount Blåmanen in Bergen!

Last year the Blåmanen races gradually grew on me. I could not participate in the first one due to travel, I participated in the second one mainly for practice, and I really raced in the third one. The experience was so great that this year I actually planned my travels so that I can participate in all three Blåmanen races. I’m coming home the day before the first race, and leaving again two days after the last one!

Three races; three different courses. Thanks to them I learned great new “hidden” paths on my everyday mountains. And learning never ends; last week it was time to check out the course of the first race. I have never done that one, and since I will be on travel until the race, Frank and I did a test run of it on Friday. But first we had a stroll last Monday to learn the part of the course from Fjellveien via Sandviksbatteriet to Sandvikspilen.

Easier said than done! The stroll ended up taking a couple of hours, because we spent a lot of time trying to find the correct path and eventually enjoying the views.

The start is easy: from “The lady” just above Varegg club house, it goes left and down on Fjellveien, passes the start of Stoltzekleiven and the “BKK building”, shortly after which it takes off to right and into terrain. For a while it all seemed pretty straight forward, but then we started to go back and forth several times and just ended up hitting inaccessible huge rocks. We had read the description and we had studied the map, but in the end we had to ask a nice lady whether we could follow her to Sandviksbatteriet. It turns out that you have to turn left at a point that does not at all look like the continuation of the path. Why are the more established looking parts of the path there when they lead to nowhere??

After feeling pretty stupid for a while, we were soon taken aback by the beauty of the path and the nice views that it offers. From Sandviskbatteriet it was easy to follow the path to Sandvikspilen and the top of Stoltzekleiven. We just went back down via Skredderdalen, but the course of the race continues to Brushytten on the main gravel path, and then on the asphalt road up to Blåmanen.

For the test run of Friday my plan was moderate pace and moderate heart rate. It went easier and faster than expected, although the path until Sandvikspilen was pretty wet and muddy: 15 minutes to Sandviksbatteriet, 35 minutes to Sandvikspilen, 55 minutes to Brushytten, and finally 1:04 to the top. I feel ready!

I really like the course of this first race; I think it fits me well, as it requires quite a bit of climbing on steep uphills and not just running on moderate uphills. In that respect the second race is the worst for me, I think, as it does not involve steep terrain parts. My favorite, though, is and will always be the third one. I cannot forget how surprised I was by the secret character of the path from Skomakerdiket up to Fjellhytten, almost a bit scary at first, and that was the one I actually trained for and did well at. It was one of my best race experiences ever.

See your city from a new angle; join a race!