Update from Norway for Norseman

 

The past few days have been rough. After we said good-bye to Campy, Karel and I had a really hard time getting back into our routine. Swimming was ok but it was hard to do intervals. I had a lot of trouble getting myself outside on the bike. The past 9 years I have walked Campy up and down our street a bazillion times so being on the street has been difficult for me as it reminds me of him. Running felt impossible. We were carrying around so much sadness and our house felt so empty. We had a constant tight feeling in our chest and randomly, each of us would start crying. But we know that exercise is important for our mental and physical health so we did the best that we could. 

On Wednesday July 24th I woke up around 5:30am and a little after 7am, I went for a 2350 yard swim followed by a 4 mile run. I felt like I was going through the motions. At 10:00am, we headed out to make our 3 hour drive to Atlanta. 

I pre-booked off site parking with Peachy airport parking and we parked in covered parking with international terminal drop-off/pick up. We arrived a little after 1pm and got into the shuttle shortly after. Surprisingly, we didn't have any traffic getting to the airport so our trip started off very smooth. 

After checking in and dropping off our suitcases and bike cases, we went through security and headed to the new Centurion Lounge. We spent the next 3 hours in the lounge, enjoying delicious food and getting a lot of work done. Although I love traveling, I was having a really hard time getting excited for our trip and my race. As hard as it has been to be at home without Campy, all I wanted was to be at home. Karel was also really struggling with sadness. 

I was nervous about all of the recent Delta issues and how it would impact our international flight but somehow, we had no issues or delays. We boarded our flight around 4:55pm, the flight left just before 6pm and we had a smooth 8-ish hour flight to Amsterdam. Karel and I both watched the movie Molly's Game, which was really good. I pre-ordered a lacto vegetarian meal and it was really good (the same dish I've had several times in the past - a tofu curry with carrots and rice). I was able to sleep for a few hours but Karel wasn't able to fall asleep - he just rested his eyes. 

We arrived to Amsterdam before 8am. We went through border control and then went to the Aspire lounge to wait for our next flight, which was leaving around noon. The lounge was nice, food was limited but it was still good to have some snacks and coffee. Karel slept the entire time we were in the lounge and I got a lot of work done. 

We walked to our gate to board our KLM city chopper plane and somehow we were upgraded to the only "business" class seats. It was just a normal seat at the front of the small plane but it was an unexpected surprise. We both slept during our 90 min flight. 

We arrived a bit late as we took off late from Amsterdam but we arrived to Oslo around 2:15pm. We picked up our bike bags (belt 10) and suitcases and made our way to pick up our rental car at Hertz. 
Once again, everything went smoothly and there was no line getting our Rav4 hybrid SUV. 

We picked up our car, loaded the bikes and bags (plenty of room) and Karel drove us to Rjukan for the first part of our 1.5 week trip in Norway. The drivers seem much more patient and considerate compared to Italy and we were surprised how many people speak English. Although the drive was around 3 hours, it was a really pretty. I wasn't sure what to expect in Norway but it reminded me a lot of Lake Placid, NY and Bend, Oregon. It was so green! We made a quick stop at the Spar grocery store in Rjukan (small store) to get a few things before making our way up "Zombie" hill - the 4+ mile climb with 4 hairpin turns which starts at mile 15 of our run course. This was our first time seeing some of the Norseman run course and it started to feel really real. 

We arrived to our Airbnb around 7:30pm (less than a mile from the host hotel in Rjuken) and the house was so much cuter than the pics. Amazingly, we did really well with traveling and didn't feel too exhausted throughout the day. But come 10pm, we were ready for bed. It's wild that there is still so much light outside at 10pm! We had a good night of sleep and Karel woke up around 5:30am (light outside) and I slept until 7am-ish. The weather was cool (in the 50's) which made for perfect sleeeping with the windows open. Our cabin is on the top of a hill so it is really peaceful outside without any noise. 

With Norseman being point to point and our first time in Norway, we decided to spend a few days near the run course so we could scope out all of the run course, T2, parking areas, and the final climb (T3). We can then drive the entire bike course (backwards) to take us to Eijford where we will spend the week there before the race start. We will then stay at the same Airbnb after the race until we leave Norway (I booked it for two different sets of dates and the owner said we can leave stuff at the place, including our bike cases, when we are in Eidjford). 

We took our time on Friday morning and around 9:30am we made our way down the mountain and went to the Rjukanbadet swimming complex. It was 13 USD per person (142 NOK). I swam 4200 meters and Karel swam around 3200. This was the first time that I didn't feel a tightness in my chest while working out. I actually felt really good in the water which was surprising after all of our traveling in the past 24 hours. After our swim workout, we enjoyed the hot tub. We made another stop at the Spar grocery before heading back up the mountain to our Airbnb. The Zombie hill is a kicker of a climb - averaging 10% for almost over 4 miles!

In the early evening, we went for a run around the area - which is a beautiful ski village. We ran on a rolling crushed gravel trail which serves as a cross country trail in the winter. I ran 3.8 miles and Karel ran 4.5 miles. I purchased NordVPN so that we can watch the Olympics on Peacock throughout our time in Norway. We watched some of the opening cermony before going to bed. 

On Saturday morning, we drove down the mountain and parked in a gravel parking lot by the road and went out on our bikes for a 51 mile (2:40 hr) bike with a little over 2300 feet elevation gain. We biked the 15 "flat" miles of the run course (which isn't entirely flat) and then biked around 10 miles up the final descend that goes into T2. I've watched so many videos of Norseman that I can quickly recognize familiar sights and roads from this iconic event. I felt good on the bike but didn't really push it. Karel wasn't feeling very good on the bike (he has his gravel bike with road tires) which made it even more difficult for him to stay on my wheel with me on my tri bike. 

After the ride we each went for a run. I didn't run on the course but rather, I took a side road and ran by the river. The scenery and nature is absolutely beautiful so while the course is ridiculously challenging with so much elevation gain, the sights are stunning. Karel ran for 40 min and I ran for 25 minutes. The rest of the day was all about relaxing and watching T100 and the Olympics (Time Trial cycling for women). 

On Sunday, I drove Karel to the start of the Gaustatoppen climb (which is the final 4.5 kilometers of the Norseman marathon). He ran/hiked to the top and then hiked down (it was really rocky so impossible to run down) and then ran back to our Airbnb for a total of ~13 miles in 3 hours (and close to 3000 feet elevation gain). I did a 8-mile run (1:07, ~400 feet elevation gain) by the Gaustablikk hotel - the first 5 miles on the road and the last 3 miles on the crushed gravel trail. I ran until I felt good (as my running hasn't felt good in the past week). 

I got a fresh sourdough bread loaf and 3 pastries at the bakery before driving back to the Airbnb. The rest of the day was all about resting and packing up our stuff at the Airbnb before we make our way to Eidjford, where we will be staying until August 3rd (race day!).