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...

First:: If you are curious, see my updated previous post. Marius got a picture of the tiny clip used for the commercial.  [Gorgeous sky] That time of year has come around again, and of course we are at the cabin in Synnfjell for some mountain life. Grandma was with us this time, but Katrine (Marius' sister) is in southeast Asia for a class trip/mini vacation. I've only gone skiing twice this week because my half-marathon in Bergen is on Saturday the 26th, and I want to make sure I'm in running form. Every day Rigmor and Tron ask Grandma (87 years old and previously broken hip) if she would like to go skiing with us. I'm glad to say that she hasn't put on the skis. Marius and I drove up on Monday evening - and I did the driving! I need to get the feel back for driving a manual. I'm included on Marius' car insurance now that I am 25. Tuesday we went on the usual loop called "Seterrunden" - or "summer farm loop". A seter is a farm ...

Back in February I was contacted by Cheil Worldwide, an advertising agency, about using a clip from one of the videos I made from my underwater adventures for a bottled water commercial in South Korea. We weren't sure whether this was a scam or the real deal. Mom was convinced it must be a scam, and Marius was also skeptical. For a couple valid reasons: How would they find my video among the thousands of others on the internet? They couldn't send a check and Pay-Pal was "unstable" in Korea, so they would have to do a bank transfer...a little strange for Americans since we live in the 1950s and still use checks when the rest of the developed world doesn't. I felt confident after a series of email exchanges that this was the real deal. I was offered $300 for 2 seconds of footage that I took while snorkeling in Mexico. The footage will be aired for 6 months. And ta da! Here you have it. The commercial for jeju samdasoo bottled water in Korea. I tried to s...

[I love this picture - Marius is a great photographer] [Over looking the valley with our guide, Raul] [Aguazul] We departed San Cristobal and drove east. We noticed that it was just getting warmer and warmer, but Tron would still wear jeans and a shirt. First stop on the 6 hour drive was Aguazul - a set of cascades that were lined with an endless row of stalls where locals were selling their crafts. We walked up and down the river probably about a mile each way. You could opt to take a wooden barge across the other side of the river, but it looked a bit dangerous without the option to use a life vest and the barge was right between two waterfalls. We watched from the sidelines instead. [Our breakfast stop] We drove to the town of Palenque, and stayed there for two nights. We got up before 6am to begin our drive to Yachilan, an awesome site of Mayan ruins on the boarder of Guatemala. Along the way we made a pitstop at a roadside cafe that was built int...

Marius and I are about 90% moved in at the apartment we are renting in an area of Oslo called Sagene. The living room is mostly finished, except for the bare walls. There's some open holes from the previous owners that I'll cover up with pictures that we have. The kitchen is much smaller than we're used to, but it's good at making us clean up right after cooking to have space to do other things. The couch is a pull out - visitor ready!  [Those boxes should be gone once we get a bookshelf and TV table] [Old pictures from the early 80's taken by Mom and Dad are on display - how Hipster of me] The bathroom just needs a shelf and towel rack, but it was messy so I didn't take a picture of it. The bedroom is also a bit of a mess with clothes that have to be sorted into summer and winter clothes...this is a dilemma for Marius since he has so many shirts.  The area is really nice. Only about 2 miles from downtown Oslo. I have yet to master the pub...

Now you can see how our Mexico trip progressed... [Start in Mexico City - finish in Playa del Carmen] After three days in Mexico City and the surrounding area, we flew to Tuxtla Gutierrez. The temperature increased about 20 degrees F. The airport was at a higher altitude, but over the course of the next week we would descend to near sea level. We were picked up by our new guide, Raul, a very pleasant man who was very knowledgeable on Mexican culture and history - and was particularly good at recommending restaurants and dishes. [Cañón del Cañón del Sumidero]  He drove us to Cañón del Cañón del Sumidero, where we were taken on a boat tour of the canon that he compared to the fjords in Norway. We experienced some slight racism when getting on the boat by a local who was unhappy that our guide had us wait for him on a bench toward the front of the line, and proceeded to tell us that "the boat should only have Mexican blood". The man then ran to the front of the l...

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...