Changes in Latitudes

Friday we headed up to Stranda from Oslo and had some great weather. Pancho had torn his toenail on a run last Monday, so we didn't go on any extensive hikes since he decided to limp because he didn't like the bandage on his foot. The views as we got closer to Stranda were full of steep mountains. We stopped by Trollveggen (The Troll Wall) and Trollstigen for some pictures before I checked in for the race and got my kit. Trollveggen "Look at how pitiful I am with my paw wrapped in a bandage. Give me attention" A troll hiding out at Trollstigen Saturday I ran the Stranda Fjord Uphill Race in a part of Norway called "Sunnmørsalpene." The course was originally planned to be a 10 km uphill race ascending 1300 meters; however, due to unexpected bad weather (mainly high winds on the mountains), the course was rerouted to be what they thought was 13 km and still an elevation gain of 1000 meters. The race route and elevation I did n...

I'M AN ULTRA RUNNER!  Saturday was the EcoTrail Oslo race. The race this year includes five distances: 10k, 20k, 30k, 45k, and 80k. Marius ran the 20k and I ran the 45, but I'm going to say 45+ because my two gps devices both calculated at least 47km. It started out chilly at Holmenkollen. Some of the 80km runners were passing through as we lined up to start. There they could get bananas and waffles and fill up on water. The whole first half was lots of uphill on gravel roads and some technical terrain. I really enjoy the technical terrain, as it feels more like I can take little pauses and hop around. I have to concentrate a lot more on where my feet land, so I don't have much time to conjure up negative thoughts. There was supposed to be an aid station after 15 kms (the first hill), but a mile after that I finally came to the aid station. All of the stations were off by at least a mile. It was hard to estimate how much water I was able to drink and if I reall...

A last minute decision to run the Bergen famous Stoltzekleiven Opp... An email was sent around to the Institute asking if anyone else wanted to join Team Fisken ("the Fish") and run the Stoltzen Opp since they had some left over spaces available. I decided 'why not', and went for it.  I did not properly prepare for the race, in my opinion. After a busy summer I crammed in training for the Fjord Viking and then was sent on a survey for two weeks in the Barents Sea. The best way I could think of training up for Stoltzen was doing some hard spinning for half an hour. I ended up doing three 10-minute intervals at least every other day. I hopped on the bus Friday morning 50 minutes before race start not knowing who the guy I was supposed to get my bib from. I got off the bus and had to book it uphill to Fjellveien and then run to the start - I figured it was a nice 20 minute warm up. I was taking this race waaaayy too lightly since I had very low expectations of...

Today I revisited the race which was my first half marathon. One of the races that started it all. I was there for two things: get a new PR on the course and become a Fjord Viking. Marius dropped me off and we took a quick look at the sports expo (not super impressive), and then I rushed outside to start warming up. We were really lucky with blue sky and warm temps...well sorta lucky. I really don't like running in the heat because I need more water. More water stops = slower finish. Marius cheered me on at the start and then had to go because he has a soccer game today too. Between the 4th and 5th kilometer, I saw Marius' car driving towards me with the sunroof open and he was holding a little American flag out of the roof of his car. I got a good kick of adrenaline then, but then I was really starting to struggle. Bigger races have more runners, which also usually means more people cheering. It's amazing how much cheering pumps you up when you're racing. So I...

Part two of the Fjord Viking saga complete! Very satisfied with my performance today at my first 10 kilometer road race. I haven't done too much speed work, but I impressed myself. Marius, Pancho and I drove to Knarvik and after getting my number I had 15 minutes to get warmed up. Marius and Pancho cheered for me at three different spots along the course, and even ran along side me early in the race. And of course Pancho did not like it when he and Marius had to run away from me. My only complaint was how hot it got once the sun came out and towards the end I felt nauseous (probably a combination of effort and poor hydration). I took one quick sip of water around half way and just tried to maintain a pace under 5 mins per km. I averaged 4 mins 38 secs per kilometer...Very pleased with that! This race had a good amount of participants - the perfect amount. Not too crowded, but also not too few. I was very happy with my results, even though I didn't PR in the 10km. It is t...

Last night was the Knarvik Xtrem trail race - 10.7 kilometers of slippery, wet, muddy, rocky, mossy terrain. It is the first of three races in the Fjord Viking series; of which there are a total of 52 people are registered (12 of them women, including myself; 3 of us in our age class). The next race is a 10 km road race on September 3rd and a half marathon the next day. I took the bus after work to Knarvik, and had a bit over an hour to burn. I walked from the bus with another runner all dressed out in Salomon brand gear, I figured him for a brand fan...turns out he (Stian is his name) is a sponsored runner and won the race! He was very humble and gave no clues that he was so good. I got my number and tried to find a smart spot to leave my bag since they didn't have a baggage service - too many locals driving cars I guess. I was number 315. After a couple minutes of light jogging I watched everyone else warming up. They looked super professional: top brand trail shoes, good f...

June 11th I ran my second trail race in Lillehammer. The first being EcoTrail Oslo in May. This race was really fun, even though I could not have music to keep me going. Trail running makes me have to focus on my form and where I step, so the race really felt like it went by really fast since it was so refreshing running through the woods. Marius and I drove over on Friday night, and thanks to how long the day is, we had beautiful views the whole drive. Due to a rock slide we had to take a detour that added an hour onto our drive, but it turned out to be very fun. There were lots of sheep wandering around the roads giving us a good laugh, and trying to squeeze around corners with cars coming in the opposite direction kept us awake. We got to the cabin at 2:30AM and went straight to bed. Lambs crossing the road on our detour Lucky for me, I didn't have to start running til 1PM on Saturday. The weather was perfect for running. Not too much sun and a nice breeze. I d...