Am I ready?

So, tomorrow I travel to Oslo to run another half marathon... in fact, THE half marathon... I am ready (I think), and hope to beat my time from last year; 1:49:21. I'm also a bit scared... what if I do not make it? Humm...

Well, I've been training for this, and here is how my last week and half has been:

Startet of on Monday (last week) with a 21km run around two lakes; Stokkavannet and Hålandsvannet. They are both on gravel and quite hilly. I love running this run, and tires to do it every now and then. Today I ran at a fast'ish pace and managed to finish at 1:35, which I am very happy with. The run was not stressful, I managed to keep it steady, had a stady pulse and finished without being exhaused - loved it!

Tuseday I had another own bodyweight training with Troy. It's amazing how small movements can make me so tired! Muscles I didn't know I had burns and I am almost not even moving. Hopefully it's what I need to get stronger :)

Wed, Thu and Fri I didn't train at all. Pretty sore muscles... and had some long nights at work, plus was suddenly invited to Kaizers Orchestra - can't say no to that ;)

I spent the weekend with my family on a cabin in Røldal. I wanted to go there to hike in the moutains to boost my "walking up hill" muscles. It was super even with heavy rain and low hanging clouds. Walked a few hours both Saturday and Sunday and felt refeshed and strong afterwards. It's just so lovely walking alone in the mountains, feeling your body work and enjoy the nature. We truly live in a fantastic country :) I also got to test my new ultralight shell clothing and are extremely happy with them. Not a single cm was wet afterwards :)

This week I've been training with Troy, plus had my second part of the brattkortkurs. I decided not to run, and save my strenght for Saturday. Hopefully I'll find it was the right descition...

First steps towards mountain climbing

This week has been crazy... last year we were chosen to arrange Aker Solutions annual trasurehunt and dinner, and it all happened on Friday. I must say, coordinate 22 teams into 5 posts, order food, drinks, filmcrew, arrange all post descriptions into envelopes and buy all kinds of weird stuff is much more stressful than you think. But it all went perfectly well, and as far as I know everyone had a supercool trasurehunt, dinner and party afterwards :)

Trainingwise I had a few days off after the halfmarathon, but was back with Troy on Wednesday. We did a drill of "own bodyweight" exercises and promise you, it's been a long time since I did any kind of strenght training. I loved it though, and really felt my body needed it.

Today (Sunday) I did the first part of the Brattkort course. All inndoor climbers in Norway need this course to be able to belay others. I really learned alot, and are looking forward to start climbing more. Well, what I really want to learn is to climb outside on cliffs and ice, but.... I have to start somewhere, and belaying others is key to climbing. Hopefully the autumn will hold back a few weeks so that I can have at least a few climbs outside before winter is approaching ;)

Inspiration!

I just want to share with you...

My very good friend (who was our guide on Elbrus, and also will be on Aconcagua); Jakob Urth, is just now in Kathmandu, Nepal to start his new adventure "Himalaya Challenge 2013". This project is BIG, he'll climb two mountains above 8000 meter by himself, meaning no oxygen, no fixed ropes and no guides. I am so impressed about his honesty, respect and passion for mountains, people and nature.... he truly climbs these mountains the way they should and deserve to be climbed.

Follow Jakob on his adventure here: http://www.topas.dk//himalaya-challenge-2013.html, and read his diary here: http://www.topas.dk//himalaya-challenge-2013-dagbog.html

I wish Jakob a wonderful trip and adventure, and I am sure it will be both challenging, tough and extreme, but also magical, amazing and fantastic - Live your Dream :)

First milestone done!

Yesterday I finished the first milestone towards Aconcagua; Stavanger halfmarathon. As you know I have not been training to much after the summer, so I was very curious on how it would be running a long strech like that. I finished on the time 1:58:03, and are very pleased. My legs felt fine all the way, I tried to keep a steady pace and keep the pulse low. I saw early I could never beat my Oslo time, so I foucsed on running steady and keep up the spirit.

I find it amazing how you sink into your own thoughts and stop seeing what is around you when running such long runs. My sister, Kine, asked me how it is to be at 2km and know you have 19 to go... and not give up... how to explain that? I'm not sure what others do, but I do not let myself think negative thoughs. I believe if you start paying attention how it feels, how long it is to go and the way to get there it is over. I force myself to think positive, convince myself it is a nice run, set milestones in the race, focus on running towards the finishline, and not counting kilometers. Days before the run, I picture the route in my head, and find a spot where "the turn" is. With that I mean where I stop running from the start, and start running towards the finish line. For me this helps. Running this long is a mental game, and after doing it now 6 times I feel I've found what works for me.

My next race is in Oslo 21st September. There my goal is to beat 1:49:21... which is my best time ever. I know I must work more on my stamina before that, so the coming weeks I'll focus on interval training and semi-long runs. If you have any tips for me on how to boost stamina, I'm happy to hear about it :) 

So, you may wonder, how do the feet feel today... honestly, my hips are killing me! It's like I'm 100years old, with a iron belt tight around me. Other than that I'm not sore at all, knees and ankles are perfectly fine, and no muscles hurts. It's only the hips... but I'm sure after a few days rest I'm fit for fight again :) This coming week I have a lesson with Troy, my PT again. I'm looking forward to get started with focusing on building strenght and to do something different than only running. I need more than running skills to carry heavy gear up mountains ;)