Changes in Latitudes

April 26th was my third half-marathon. It was intended to be my marathon debut, but some injuries to my heels set me back two weeks on training, so I had to postpone. I couldn't get a refund, so I went for the half-marathon anyways. [Eve of the race] Bergen is the best in the spring. The morning started out with overcast, but the clouds quickly dispersed just before I had to be at the start line. There was a "felles oppvarming" (group warm up) 15 minutes before the race. I found a friend (Knut's sister) who was also running and we started out together. It was her first race, and when the gun went off, she too took off. I think she forgot that we had a good climb ahead of us. The loop began at historic Bryggen and continued along the side of the mountains, including at 4km climb. There were a couple of inclines along the route, so I was glad I did not do that marathon since it was the half-marathon loop twice around.  [Course map and elevati...

The Bergen City Marathon officials have just released the course map, and I'm so excited! I'm continuing my marathon prep strong and steady, but I haven't been able to put in a solid long run since I arrived to Norway since we have gone skiing both weekends. Now that Marius and I are moved into our new place in an area of Oslo called Sagene, I will use this week to run around the area and explore a bit. Saturday I should run a half-marathon as fast as I can as part of my Garmin training plan. I've recently had some issues with both of my achilles from two different ski trips, so I am taking a break from skiing so much. Yesterday I did a 21 km ski trip with Marius, his parents, and the neighbors. Today the Engebrethsens are out on a shorter ski trip while I rest my heels. All this time thinking about the marathon has me tempted to sign up for the Oslo Marathon, which will take place September 20th. My goal is to run at least 5 marathons before I'm 30. Totally...