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.

Was triathlon better before?

If you are active on any message boards you will quite often read about that the sport of triathlon was better before. That the sport has changed from a tight knit group of friends to this new “thing”. But was triathlon better before?



First of all, any sport was better when you just found it either alone or with your friends and had great pleasure doing the racing and training. This is not unique to triathlon. But it has nothing to do with the sport, just how an individual appreciate the moment.

 

I did my first triathlon at the end of the 80s. I did it with the same group of people I did cross country skiing with. The sport was not new for us, we had been exposed to triathlon since a long distance race had been organized in our area since the mid 80s (Hof). We also had don multisport as part of cross country skiing training, swim-run, swim-run-rollerskiing, so the thought of multisport was not new. Was triathlon fun, yes. Was it hard, yes. Was the sport better than now? No.

 

These days the races are better organized, they are safer and you can even get equipment. A friend of mine did Hof triathlon (Ironman distance) without a wetsuit. 17 degree water and 3.8k swimming was cold. He started the bike with a feather jacket to warm up. These days you can get a good wet suit for $200.

 

Conclusion: every time you find something new and you are really enjoying it, it will soon be the good old times. You maybe had more fun, but the arena you did your sport in did not matter as much as you think.

What we should do is keep focusing on why we are doing the sport, the enjoyment of the challenge.

Post Olympic stress syndrom

The Olympic is over and now it is back no a normal day and night routine. It is hard to sleep when all of my favorite events starts around 2 AM. So how did my two countries Norway and the USA. Norway did OK, got a lot of medals but had problem with skis and the male cross country skiing team. The US did not have the games they had expected after a strong start of their up and coming cross country team. But luckily the sport is more than the Olympics.

A friend of mine from Drammen and my cross country days sent over some pictures. Those were the days.











This is my friend Anders who became Junior Norwegian Champion in relay, he was on the same team as Ole Einar Bjorndalen. That is cool :-)

And yes I am still training and it is going just fine. I am easy when I am suppose to be and now manage to push the intervals.



But I am trying to be fearless in my training (or at least in my choice of t-shirt)

Training in January, back to the future

I kept moving the months after Norseman, but it was more to keep moving than to get fitter. Fall is also the busiest time at work for me combined with a diet full of cookies around Christmas, January could not come at a better time. And January has been good.

Since I am my own coach now I have the pleasure to find out how I will work out. Should I be the TSS and threshold king, a Strava master or a boring Norwegian. I will be a boring Norwegian and it is a reason for that, it is science. I am actually going back to the way of training that I did when I was young, had speed and hair. I am going to be polarized.

I will follow the structure of polarized training, easy on easy days and hard on long intervals days, two hard days a week. If you wonder how this model works check out this presentation from Stephen Seiler, you get it http://www.canal-insep.fr/fr/training-periodization-deep-root-cultural-heritage-and-innovative-paradigms-2013/ei_13_10_va_pr_stephen_seiler-mov

Also I will recommend the discussion on Slowtwich http://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/Polarized_Training_-_Interesting_Lecture_Video__P4931310



Trying to look smart on the treadmill.

With the polarized model it is important to keep the effort down on easy days, and up on hard days. I am now doing 4x8 both on the bike and running. It is hard, but I know it will work. So how did I do in January? Not bad according to this.



I have start using the training diary from Olympiatoppen. It fits this kind of training better than Trainingpeaks.

 

 

Google "Norseman triathlon", and there I am

I just googled Norseman triathlon and on the front page as number three is my blog. This just confirm that I am obsessed with this fabulous race and that I maybe should go back one day :-)



 

Training and competing is FUN

I have taking part in a discussion about what role triathlon has for individuals. And guess what, not everybody agreed. For me, training and competing is fun. Being a triathlete is not what I am. I am a person who also competing in triathlon. But I am also a husband, a dad, an employee and a geek.



I have a feeling that many of the most serious age groupers newer competed in endurance sports when they were 12 – 20 years old and now are trying to catch up. This is of course just a guess. But I think that if you have trained on a high level before you can relax a little more since you put the sport in a bigger picture. The sport is not the picture.



I like to run in the rain, in the cold and in warm weather. Why? Because I like to run, it is enjoyable. If I did not like to swim I would have done duathlon.

 

In the end for me competing and training for triathlon is an activity, not my life. So I have fun doing it, I have fun when the pain sets in, I have fun when I pass someone on a race, and I try to get back to the fun zone when someone pass me. Triathlon is not a description of my life, how I live my life is.

 

[caption id="attachment_363" align="alignnone" width="640"] This is how I have been feeling the last two weeks, being in a fog.[/caption]

So how is training going Halvard?

It is almost Thanksgiving and then Christmas. This is the busiest time for me at work and my wife has been traveling a lot this fall for her work. As you can see I have all the excuses lined up already. But luckily my off season training has not been too bad.

I am not reinventing the wheel when it comes to my training. I am trying to build on the training I did with Coach Tony DeBoom. He got me from the sofa to the top of Gaustatoppen in less than two years so it would be stupid to not learn from it.



Here you have my principles:

• Learn to know yourself


• It is about endurance strength


• Have fun

Learn to know yourself

What does that mean? I am trying to get a good understanding of my body and use that as a data point for decisions making. I am not blindly following any measurement devices but try to use them as a supplement to training, mostly to keep the effort down when I have easy training. It will take time, but I feel that I am starting to get to know my body better now.

 

It is all about endurance strength

Let us be real. I am not swimming fast, bike fast or run like a runner during a long distance triathlon. It is not about the speed, but the strength to keep going. So my running intervals are usually 5x5 minutes uphill, I will also do threshold runs. The goal is to build endurance, not so much the capability to run fast with a lot of acid in the legs like a 1,500 meters runner. On the bike I do two sessions of low revolutions a week. I have good experience with those from my build up to Norseman. Swimming – let’s get back to that in 2014.

Have fun

Training and competitions are about having fun. Yes I can have goal, but the most important is the fun factor. If you take what you do too seriously when it comes to sport, being afraid of failure will be the most dominate thought and suck all life out of the experience.

My speed at Norseman - in YouTube format

I did not race Norseman, I tried to survive. Now I can get a glimpse of my speed. The athletes placing one step in front of and right behind have made YouTube videos. You can even see a slow moving Halvard.

The guy who beat me.



The guy I crushed ;-)

Norseman 2014 - my little contribution

The lottery is over and happy athletes have gotten their spot at Norseman 2014. I have already been asked questions from several athletes lucky enough to get a spot, and I answer as good as I can.

I also got this nice feedback on Slowtwich from one of the elite women.

An article about me on www.skiaktiv.no

Saturday I had a nice talk with Ingeborg Scheve from the Norwegian endurance web site www.skiaktiv.no. Skiaktiv is focusing on endurance sports like cycling, running cross country skiing and have started with more triathlon coverage. Since I got interviewed it is quite obvious that the site is also covering more average age groupers and not only the fast ones.

You can read my interview here

On the front page of my company's intranet site

I had a nice surprise Monday morning when a picture of me was on the front page  of my company's intranet site. I guess it is OK to be known for something other than being a compensation and spreadsheet nerd ;-)

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.

The Norseman 2013 video is out, and I am in it

For Norseman fans the official videos have always been a place to go for motivation when training is hard, the weather is bad and mood is down. Watching the athletes jumping of the ferry, battle the conditions and harvest the reward at the peak of Gaustatoppen can make even the hardest triathlete soft.

The 2013 edition is out and it is great. Even better, I am in it. You can see me at 4.27 of the video entering T2. But do not blink, I am there just for 1 second.

One of my favorite pictures in the video is a aerial shot of the first part of Zombie hill. Damn, it is steep.



So here you have the video.

Norseman 2013: the conclution

I did it, I managed to accomplish my goal; finish at the peak of mount Gaustatoppen and get the black t-shirt. What I also set out to do was to enjoy the journey, and even though it was painful it was also enjoyable. Here you have my wrap up and conclusion of my race experience.

 

Before the race

You can race Norseman, or you can enjoy racing Norseman. I enjoyed racing Norseman, and one important part of it was the days before the race. I enjoyed spending time with my brother and dad. The drive to Eidfjord was nice, spending time in Eidfjord meeting other athletes, support crew, race organizers and take part of the social swim just added to the experience.



The swim

I swam in 1.15 in difficult conditions. I am really happy with that. I managed to not drink and of the salt fjord water, kept my legs still and actually managed to have vertical forearm once in a while. My finish was the best, trying to get up from the water I had a big fall. Even I had to smile. Overall, the swim leg went better than expected and gave me a good start of the day.



The bike leg

I was number 80 after T1 and number 80 after T2. How did that happen? The bike leg was challenging, it was long, steep, windy, rainy, cold, but also beautiful. I used 7.50, not only was that the longest I have ever been on the bike, the 180k is the longest I have ever biked. I manage to focus on myself, I did not use any power meter or bike computer. I was riding with a GPS and used the HR monitor to keep effort down in the last hill. What I am most proud of is that I raced my own race. I did not care if anyone passed me, I knew the biggest enemy was myself, not other athletes.

 









The Run (walk) leg

I got the amazing message that I was number 80 out of T2. I had the black t-shirt in reach, I just had to run a marathon and climb a mountain first. Knowing the fitness level, I knew I had to focus on myself during the run. It had to expect to have several athletes pass me. The first 20k went smooth to be me, I got passed but I was within myself. Then I got hit by my lack of eating and my energy level hit bottom. I can only blame myself. But when I got to the hill I knew I could enjoy the rest. Well, I was tired and the hill was steep and long. But I was walking with my brother and I knew I would get the black t-shirt. The rest of Norseman was more a journey than a race, and I was ok with that. I had a hard time from 32k - 37k, but then we hit the trail and we where joined by my dad. The last 5k are hard, but they went really good. And then I could se the finish and it was all over. The run leg went well, especially taking my fitness level in to consideration.







But I have to remember I had the best ever support team with me and so much support from family and friends. Thank you all



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice surprise in my inbox

You do not need to win the lottery to become happy. Yesterday I got an email from a fellow Norseman participant, Inge Amlien. He sent me a picture of me on one of the last climbs of the bike leg. His support crew had taken the picture and he had found my name, search for my email address and then sent me the picture. That is such a nice gesture. Big thanks to Inge and his support crew.

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

I was interviewed about Norseman on This Week in Triathlon

Now I have done it, my first live interview. Last week I was lucky to be interviewed about my experience at Norseman. I hope I did ok even though I sound like the Swedish Chef from Muppet Show (chocolate moose anyone...)



 

In deph analysis: the run

I was not sad getting into T2. It was nice to get off the bike, take the wet cycling shoes and socks off and get ready for a hard marathon. What, I have to run a whole marathon and it is hard, now, after 1.15 swimming and 7.50 biking? Well, that is Norseman so I was ready.

Going out of T2 I grab a can of coke and got a really nice message. I was number 80, I knew that I could reach my goal. I just had to be smart on the run and do not push myself into red. I also had to not think of other athletes. I knew that with limited hours of training, my run would not be strong and that others would pass me.

With the can of coke in my had I started to run. My legs did not feel to bad and the first kilometers went without any problems. I fun fact, when we drove to my Grandma in Rjukan growing up I always this stretch around Tinnsjoen SO long. Now I had to run it as part of a long distance triathlon, history can be cruel.

My friend Russell Newlow passed me, he had running legs from the triathlon God and was steaming ahead. It was fun to watch. Other athletes also passed me, but not in the same speed. The whole run went ok so far. 5k, 10k, 15k, I was now running in a group. We still could not se the mountain, but we know it was there.

On the false flats between 20 and 25 kilometer I found myself in a dark spot. My support had to fix the car and I needed fuel. I have no one to blame but myself. I did not fuel enough early in the run, my brother offered a hand bottle with coke as an emergency and I should have run with a Fuel Belt. But this is Norseman and I got help from some others athletes support and also Mike Tate gave me a energy drink. All this happen wile the beautiful mountain appeared. Mount Gaustatoppen was so intimidating, but at the same time all I wanted was to get on the peak. I passed the first 21k in 2.02. Not bad at all.



My brother and the car was back and I in the was closing in on Zombie hill. The last 10 miles of Norseman has over 5,000 vertical feet to negotiate. Yes, it is steep and hard.



My brother was there and he walked with me the whole way. I started to get really tired, but I also felt so lucky. Here I was, racing the race of my dream, I knew I had the black t-shirt in reach, and I had my brother walking with me. I could not asked for better support.

The hill was steep but I tried to walk at a speed that was working for me. A friend of mine Lene Satterwhite had taken the drive from Oslo to cheer on me and seeing here was nice. I was closing in on the cut of point at 32.5k.

When I arrived I got the message;"good news, you will finish at the peak, bad new the lightening has taken out the elevator so you have to walk down". This was Norseman. First you have to reach the hardest finish in triathlon, then you have to walk down for 4.7k.

I struggled a little between 32.5k and 37k. I guess I knew I had made it and at the same time my body was in pain so badly. But when I arrived at 37k and the gate up to Gaustatoppen, my dad was there and said he would walk with me and my brother. That was a great moral buster. Now I would finish the race with both my brother and dad.

Walking up I actually felt quite strong. I must have been on a Norseman high. The top athletes were on their way down and were cheering on all us suffering age groupers. That was really appreciated. Those 4,7k are long and on a rocky surface. I walked, walked and walked. The peak closed in but not fast enough. And yes, I was in pain.

But then the peak got closer. The feelings start bobbling to the surface. I just had to walk the last bit and it would all be over. Just some more steps and I was there.

Then I crossed the finishing line. I had done it. Right there it all made sense. All the hours of training, the bad weather, the pain, the hard patches. I had done it. I sat a big goal in November 2011, I wanted the black t-shirt. Now I had done it, and I had done it with my brother and dad. Tears ran down my checks, the feeling of accomplishment was overwhelming. I was so proud of my support team, of all that had supported me, and I was really proud of myself. After 15 hours and 45 minutes of racing, and a way longer journey I had arrived.

The tomato soup you get after finishing is unbelievable. The closeness you feel to the other athletes and support teams are hard to describe. The though of soon have to walk down was almost fun. Walking down I was thinking of what the advice Stuart McCloud had told me, enjoy the journey and never ever give up. What a race, what a journey and it is unbelievable how much pain you can handle.

Walking down my brother still supported me. He with my father had 100% dedication to help me to reach my goal. Those two are some amazing people.