Always fun with local races

Back in June I did a short sprint in Woodinville. It took me under 30 minutes to drive there. It was small but well organized. A perfect race for both beginners and experienced athletes. The short race report is, swim was bad due to lack of swim, bike OK, run OK. Second overall and I won my age group :-)

Norway, Holmenkoll relay and vacation

May is a perfect time to go to Norway. You have the famous Holmenkoll relay and of course the national day May 17.

The whole family boarded the Icelandair flight here in Seattle May 8. Goal, land in Oslo, Norway mid day May 9.



Henrik ready for the flight.

The pilots at Icelandair had decided to have a 12 hour strike on Friday May 9. So we had to stay in Iceland 12 hours longer than planned. We got a hotel room, but it would be nicer to be in Norway with family.





12 hours later than planned we landed in Norway. So we got to be around 2.30 after a long day. Well Saturday was competition day for me. I had a spot at my brother's running club's team. The team rand in the senior class where you find young, skinny and fast runners. Even without jet lag it would have been hard. The Holmenkoll relay is a 11 miles and 15 stages relay around Oslo. The stages are everything form 600 meters flat to 2,5k. Some are hilly and some are downhill or flat. I had the 5th stage, 1240 meters with uphill in the beginning and end, and flat and downhill in the middle.




Fearless Racing Team at Bislett stadium.

The cool thing about the Holmenkoll relay is that you meet old friends and compete against or around many sports star. I spotted several Olympic medalists.

My run went ok, but nothing more. I had problem getting up to speed, but then again I have not done a lot of speed work either. With some more rest I should have done 5-10 seconds better, but I had fun. 90 minutes after the run, I ran another stage for my brother's employer. This was in the company class so it was mostly for fun. I ran the first leg and did ok. Hard to run fast when your legs are really tired before start.

After the relay I was tired.

Soaring Eagle Trail Run Race Report

YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

The 2014 race season has started and my legs are feeling it. I decided to start this season in the woods. Or to be more accurate, in the local forest park here in Sammamish: Soaring Eagle Park. The Seattle area has a lot of low key trail running competition so I signed up for the 5 mile race.

The last interval workout before the race was awful so I was not sure about my shape.



As a member of the Fearless Racing Team I made sure my race gear was correct. Well, the new kit is in the mail so I went old school with a cotton t-shirt. I raced like everybody else in cotton t-shirts back when I was young and fast, so this most be the slowest race I have done in a regular t-shirt.



The trails at Soaring Eagle Park are full of elevations changes and have a lot of twists and turns. On Saturday I ran through the course but could hardly remember 10% of the terrain, and I have done a lot of running in that park before. The course was challenging and a real trail run course.

Race morning I could feel that I had a race. I always get more nervous for running races than triathlons. But luckily this was a positive nervousness.

The start of the race was a small parking lot, but the organizers had everything us runner needed. I have to say this was a really positive race.



Some last minute reading before start.



Then it was time to get to the start line. And since this is Seattle, no one wanted to stand in the first line. It was kind of funny.



The race organizer counted us down and said go, the 2014 race season had officially started.

I was in the lead after 10 meters. That said a lot about the field of the 5 mile race and not so much about my running abilities. But no matter what, leading a race is really cool. The first kilometer was on a gravel road, before the course started on single track trails with mud and turns. I tried to speed up down hills, look as much forwards as possible without doing face plants and when I had time look back to see what was going on. After 15 minutes I could not see any athletes. I was in front totally alone :-)

I tried to run in an even effort level, but my legs got really tired of shifting directions. I could tell that I got a little more clumsy at the end, but I kept myself on the feet and managed to even sprint for the finish. My time on my watch was 38.22.

 

My big take away. I had a lot of fun and it was a blast to be in the front for a whole race. Now I am looking forward to next race where I most likely will get killed.

Running form, speed and how a fast run looks like

Triathlon is like all endurance sport hard. Long distance triathlon is a slow and long fight against fatigue and slower speed. For some (like me) the fatigue start early on the running leg, but for others later. But it will come and it will be painful.

After every Kona you will find a discussion about running speed. Especially this year when the men run slower and the fastest women ran a 2.50 marathon, third fastest overall. But the big question is; can you look at a runner and then tell how fast they are.

Here you have a good collections of running styles and speed. Without knowing the splits, how easy is it to know who will be faster over 42 kilometers. Maybe not everybody should run like a runner, since this is triathlon and not every athlete has a runner to pull out after all the biking?



Looking at the videos, reading all the articles and listening to the broadcast and all the podcasts talking about Kona made me go back to one of the best videos about running in triathlon. Todd Kenyon has pointed out a lot of specific about the run and the potential for more than just one technique.

Norseman is done, now what?

When your bucket lists just has one race and you have done it, it is time to start thinking about what is next. What do I want to do with my triathlon/sport life in 2014? Should I get some new goals or is it time to just enjoy being active and race for fun?



Why should I have a goal in the first place? A goal not only helps making training more structured, it adds motivation and it simplify the athlete experience by taking out noise. All of that is good, but it can only be as good at the goal itself (God I am getting philosophical here). So the next question is; what is a good goal? Norseman was a good goal for me. That race had several factor of my life incorporated so it was easy to get excited about and motivated for. Now I need to find other races with qualities that are interesting and make the heart rate increase.



So far I am looking into Wildflowers in California, Pacific Crest in Bend Oregon or maybe I should do a triathlon camp with a lot of trading at a nice and challenging place. For 2014 I will not work out more, but I will race happy and enjoy being active. My list is not finished, so right now I do not know what I will do in 2014.

My Garmin files from Norseman

My Garmin files, they are big since I used a long time.......

Swim:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/357308708
For some reason the GPS stopped working after 3,000 meters. The swim should be a L not an I.

Bike:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/357308913

Run (walk)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/357308965

In deph analysis: the swim

One week has passed and I am down from my leg pain and Norseman high. Norseman was everything I had hoped for and more. What a race, what a journey.

But back to the swim. Almost every Norseman athlete has seen the videos of the jump of the ferry and cold athletes in T1. This is Norseman, the unpredictable swim. But what met me the Thursday before the race? Eidfjord was warm and the fjord was flat and beautiful. I took part in the social swim Friday morning and got a chance to test out most of my equipment. Also I thought all the other swimmers swam really fast, but I always feel that before a race. The water was quite nice and swimming with a hood and earplugs was really helpful.



Eidfjord is a beautiful place to swim when the conditions are nice. I had the chance to talk with Jeff Glasbrenner, what an inspiration.



While the weather on Friday was really nice, the weather forecast for race day was not. But on the mandatory race meeting the organizer said the swim will go on as planned and that the temperature was good. I was happy.

Raceday

Woke up early after a bad nigh of sleep. But that was no surprise. Walked down to T1 with my brother and got my bike checked in. Then I start focus on the swimming, now it was me, the ferry, the jump and 3.8 kilometer of water ahead of me. Last good luck from my brother and on the ferry I went.



Sitting on the ferry is just like the videos and pictures. It is excitement, nervousness and long lines for the restrooms. The heart is syncing up with the ferry engine and when the engine stops, so did my heart. Now it was real. The gate open and we all walked to the jump. I made the jump and kept my goggles. The swan to the kayaks and start the waiting game. It felt like hours but then the horn went of and Norseman 2013 started.

I felt ok, but got hit my some big waves and headwind. Luckily I did not swallowed any water and kept cool, got into an ok rhythm and tried to focus on keeping a good form. I did not feel that I swam fast but tried to keep a positive attitude. As most athletes I swam close to the shore. After a while I could smell bonfire. Land was in sight, but so far away. I was sure I could see the earth curve, but I guess I am just a slow swimmer.

After 3 kilometer I made the turn a the only buoy. Now it was only the home stretch left. Some more waves made that stretch to stretch out quite a bit, but than I saw the end. Of course I managed to fall down and made a big splash.

I ran into T1 and was met by my brother. I could see a lot of bikes still there and my brother told me that I had used 1.15, that was just 5 minutes behind my best of scenarios, and I had done it in challenging conditions.

Looking back I am really happy with my swim. My Huub Archimedes 3:5 is a good wetsuit for me. I am glad I used a neoprene hood and sock. I did not freeze at all. Overall I had set myself up for a good Norseman with a solid swim.



Eidfjord the day before, what a place.

Norseman 2013 Race Report

I did it, I raced Norseman 2013 and I accomplished my goal finishing at the peak of mount Gaustatoppen and get the black t-shirt. Here you have my experiences before, during and after "the race".

Traveling

My Norseman adventure got off to a great start. I got upgraded by Icelandair and could enjoy good legroom and nice service from Seattle to Reykjavik. I took this as a good sign for what should come.

Before the race

I landed in Oslo Wednesday and was met by my brother. We drove over to his house only 25 minutes away and I could start putting my bike together and get some food in me. My bike had survived the flight and everything worked, but to be on the safe side we went for a short ride to tightening the bolts with a torqued wrench at a local ski and cycling store. On the way my front wheel got a flat. No panic, the tube got changed and all the bolts torqued. I used the rest of the day to catch up with my brother, his family and to eat, eat and eat.

On Thursday we packed the car and drove to the beautiful town Drammen to pick up my father. I am not sure if I was more happy to race or to be with family, but this is the essence of Norseman, you can do both. We drove up beautiful Uvedal so I could take a peak of the last climb up to Imingfjell. That climb looked long and steep. Then we drove the rest of the bike course in reverse. The three climbs after Geilo (91k) were all long and hard, but I did not feel that they were intimidating. We had a stop a Dyranut, the highest point of the bike course, it is after 40k. This was the first time I could see that Norseman was happening, cars with bikes and skinny people in lycra with logos on it. The drive down to Eidfjord is beautiful but also scary. The first hill of Norseman is LONG, STEEP and HARD.

Since I got my spot late, the only rooms I could managed to find was not what I would call hotel standard.



The rest of the day was used to walk around and to just enjoy being in Eidfjord. I was getting ready.

Friday before the race

The morning started with the classic Norseman swim a 9 in the morning. The water was beautiful, flat and not too cold. As always I think everybody is swimming so fast, so everything was normal.



It was fun meeting all the Americans. I tried to give them some advice about the course since I knew it a little bit better. I also had people coming and talk to me based on my posting about Norseman at Slowtwich, I guess I sparked some interests for the race :-) Of course I spent money on Norseman gear. I need to look good for my next sprint triathlon.

At three o'clock the race meeting started, now it got real. The race meeting mostly went through safety and looking back on race day I understand why. Norseman is extreme, but it is extreme with focus on safety, kudos to the organizers. I used the rest of the afternoon to organize the equipment, food, eat dinner and went to bed early for a bad nigh of sleep. And yes, during the night it started to be rainy and windy.

Race day

I woke up 1.45, this was it. I could feel it, the day I had for so long prepared for was finally here. It was scary but also a happy feeling. Now it was time to get to T1.



At the dock the Norseman ferry was saying good morning to me. The place was full of nervous athletes and really tired support crew. My bike got checked, you need working lights and a reflective west at Norseman due to riding in tunnels. It was time to get the last good lucks and enter the ferry.



The mood on the ferry is special and just like what you see in the Norseman videos. When the ferry has found its right position and stops we all waked towards the opening gate. The jump was ahead. This was it, this was NORSEMAN.

Norseman 2013

The swim

The jump was easy, the water was not too bad. I was swimming with a neoprene hood, ear plugs and neoprene socks. After the jump I swan to the kayaks and find a position close to shore. After 10 minutes the ferry blow its horn and off we went. The first thing that hit me was a wave followed another on and another one. The swim was not too choppy but breathing could be challenging. I focused on staying calm and was trying not to swallow saltwater. Personally I felt the swim went slow. My goal time was 1.10 with ideal conditions so I was surprised when I exit the water in 1.15. Of course I had a big fall when I was trying to get out of the water, at least it was entertaining for the crowed.

T1

Wetsuit off, wool socks and arm warmers on. Not a speedy transition but ok.

The bike leg

Luckily you have some kilometers to get warm before the first climb starts. Norseman uses the old road when possible, it is narrow but the scenery is stunning. Then the climbing started and it was steep, steep and steep. I was using 36 - 28 and just focused on spin my legs. The minutes started to tick along faster than the kilometers. After a while I got to Voringsfossen and my first meeting with my support, my brother was shouting EAT, something he shouted a lot that day. The rest of the climb up to Dyranut was not pleasant. The combination of steep hills and hard and cold headwind made the first 1/4 of the bike ride something to remember, and it was just an introduction to the rest of the leg.

At Dyranut I needed to put on a jacket, it was cold. My brother was prepared and we had a fast pit stop. Finally I could enjoy the flats and downhills towards Geilo. But what met me, more cold headwind. The few times I got sidewind it felt so easy. But it was nice to get some speed on the bike and the downhills gave me a chance to fuel and relax a little. I understood that managing the legs was the key for getting the black t-shirt.

I was quite shocked when I got the message that I was number 80 at Geilo, had I open too hard, it did not feel that way. But I decided to take it easy the next four hills. I did not want to blow my legs apart by racing like an idiot. After Geilo Norseman has four long climbs followed by some challenging descents. And on raceday it was windy. I keep my heart rate down on the climb up to Kikut, looked at all the nice cabins and rode into some freezing rain. Yepp, now I did not have just headwind, I had frozen rain also. The descent was cold and tricky. The road condition was not good so I could not cost down. I had to stay on top of my game.

At the beginning on the next climb I was met by my brother. I told him that I needed my neoprene gloves. As always he said take it easy in the hills and EAT, EAT and EAT. I let my legs spin up the hill. For some reason the hills at Norseman are harder to ride than they look on the race profile. At the top I got new gloves and it felt good. Two climbs done, just two to go.

Next climb I followed the same recipe, I kept an eye on my heart rate and kept it as close to zone 1 as possible. Due to the weather and the fact that I had been out for many hours I could feel that my body have had to work. But I was within myself and had control. After the third climb it was a long descent. The road conditions were not good so I could not relax at all. But I had been riding 125k and just had the last climb left, and it was a monster.

The climb up to Imingfjell is 10k long. It is not too steep, just grinding. I was following my plan and let some other athletes pass me. The top of the climb was not getting closer fast enough, but suddenly I was in the last turns. At the top my plan was to smile and enjoy the 10k false flat. But now the weather was really bad, strong headwind, fog with 20 feet visibility and heavy rain.  I had to ride 36 - 28 on the flat to keep going. My brother tried to yell something to me from the side of the road but I could hardly see him, and I did not hear him at all. I will remember those 10k at Imingfjell for the rest of my life. A little side note, I was biking in a trishorts the whole way so it got sometimes chilly on my leg.

After Imingfjell I managed to get down the switchback without any big problems. Those were tricky and I talked to one athlete who did not see one of the turns due to fog and went off the road. The last 20k is following the river down the valley. The road here is so bad the resurfacing was planed for 2013, sadly for me it will happen is September. I am not sure how my wheels survived some of the potholes. But it was bumpy. Close to T2 I passed the church where my mom us buried.  It was special and I choked up, but it was a nice experience. Bike split 7.50

T2

Getting off the bike was nice. Getting new and dry socks even better. My brother was there as always and gave me one last advice before the running, EAT.

The run

When I ran out of T2 I got the message that I was number 80. This was crazy. I knew then that if I did not do anything stupid I would mange to get the black t-shirt. That was a nice feeling. I rand out with a box of Coke, it was helpful to keep the speed down and it was nice to get some calories. I was jogging along and the kilometers ticked off. I actually did not feel too bad. I was of course starting to feel tired, but I also had a feeling of control. The run course is 20k flat, 5k false flat and steep climbing the rest. I took some strategic short walks between 20 and 25k, my brother had to fix his car and of course that is when I needed more fuel. But this is Norseman and some of other athletes support teams gave me some thing to drink. During the race my brother had done this to other athletes.

One of the things you remember from competing in Norseman is the first time you see mount Gaustatoppen on the run. It is unreal. The mountain is so high and so intimidating, but you also know that the only thing you want is to get to the top. I made it to the bottom of the hill in ok shape. I now knew I would get the black t-shirt and could stop racing and start enjoying. The last hill is 16k/10m and has the name zombie hill, it turns fit athletes into zombies.



The hill starts at the bottom of the valley by the power lines and finish at the peak, it is hard.

The walk

For the rest of the run leg my plan was to walk. Zombie hill is 10% so you climb a lot. My brother walked with me and we talked and talked. He was carrying all I needed and some more. I switched my tritop to a wool sweater, that was nice. How steep was it? My kilometer/mile time was 12.30/19 minutes. The first goal was to get to 32.5k, this is where you get the message if you can finish at the top. When I got there the race director told me;"good news, you can finish at the top, bad news, the elevator is broken so you have to walk down". This was Norseman.

From 32k and to 37k when the trail begin I was walking quite slowly. I was tired and just wanted to keep going. Then I saw the gate and the flags. This is where you are leaving the road and walk the last 4.7k on rock. It is not a trail, more a bad path on rocky rocks. Before I entered the trail one of the race organizers check my backpack. Due to safety you need to carry warm cloths and a flashlight. I got a burst of energy and even though I now walked with really tired legs the last kilometers did not feel too bad at all. I guess I was on a Norseman high.









And finally I crossed the finish line with my brother and my dad. I had done it. Right there it all made sense, all the pain was worth it. I had been focused the whole day and now I could relax and yes I cried. What a race, what a journey, what a support team.

At the top you get tomato soup and a blanket. Right there those were gifts from God. I looked at my watch. I had used 6.30 on the run and remember that I rand the first 21k in 2.02. The last hill is hard.

But this is Norseman and now me and my support crew had to walk down again. Yes my tired legs had to get off the mountain and yes it started to get dark. But everything was perfect after a perfect day. And now I am wearing black

Advice from Stuart Macleod (Norseman hero)

If you are a fan of Norseman and like me watched all the videos you can find on Youtube from the race you have most likely watched one with Stuart Macleod. He has not only been the star of the official Norseman's 10 years anniversary video. His support crew has given us three really good videos from 2010, 2011 and 2012.



 

From all the videos, my favorite moment is when Stuart is welcoming his friend Ian an the peak of Gaustatoppen. You can see how happy he is on his friend's Ian Brown behalf.

 

I reached out to Stuart and asked him if he would race this year. He will not race this year, I am sure he is going to enjoy Celtman or another race in his stunning Scotland. But Stuart gave to important advice.

• Don't forget to enjoy it.


• Never ever give up.

It is easily forgotten how privileged all us Norseman racers are. We build up to the race, travel to a different country and will get support from someone that is close to us. The journey of Norseman is there to be enjoyed.

 

Norseman is a long race and everyone will hit dark spots during the race. I will try to say to myself in Scottish, Never ever give up. I will keep moving, even if it slow, carried forward be everybody that support me and have help me to get to the starting line. Yes, I will never ever give up.

Here you have two of the videos Stuart is a part of.



[vimeo http://vimeo.com/14303223]

 

Why I am happy with my coach Tony DeBoom

The sport of triathlon  have more coaches than athletes. You can find advertising for coaches in print magazines and online. In my area several coaches have teams with their athletes, and if you search online you can find everything from fixed program to a high end customized program with a high end prize. So in this maze, how did I end up with my coach Tony DeBoom?



No not that Tony, this Tony



First I have to say something about my view of what is a good coach for me. My ideal coach will try to transfer knowledge, make me understand why I do what I do. If I get more knowledge I should be able to not only start a dialog about the training, but also give better feedback, and better feedback should give a better program.

I am 42, I am married, I have a kid, a job and triathlon is only one part of my life. I need a coach that understand how it is to be an age grouper with ambition to be a good dad also (not just to get an ironman tattoo).

I need a coach, not a dictator. I personally have never understood athletes being happy with a yelling coach, but on the other hand I am not a team sport of a guy......



So why Tony?

I had/have on goal, Norseman. I knew that it would be more practical to have an American coach, but it could be harder to find one who understood what Norseman is all about and also was a good fit for me. After I saw this interview with Tim DeBoom about his and Tony's experience at Norseman 2011 I knew I had to contact them regarding coaching.



Tony has made no promises other than that hard work is paying off, that ambitions should match what to put in, that the journey is as important as the race, that triathlon is suppose to be fun and that life will throw you curve balls.

He has given me the tools to make Norseman an epic journey. He has made me swim faster, bike longer and run happier. I have gotten a deeper understanding of how to structure triathlon training and also how to have fun.