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Showing posts from July 28, 2024

Norseman Race Week

The past few days have felt rocky but everything is going smoothly. I say rocky because I have been feeling a rollercoaster of emotions this week. There's something about this race (and it's history) that makes me feel nerves like I've never felt before. And it's been two weeks since we said good bye to Campy. Despite having completed 2 XTRI events and 19 Ironman events, this race requires a lot of respect and I don't want to assume that just because I have long-distance experience, that everything will go smoothly on race day. I know Karel (and Honza) are there to help me get to the finish line and they will give me great energy throughout the day. Swim finish The past few days have been all about getting the body ready for the race - priming the system. Aside from some rain and wind on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, the weather has been spectatular here - sunny and warm (in the 60's during the day!).  Tuesday was my "big" day of training with...

Hello from Eidfjord - the Norseman race venue

  Over the past three days in Rjukan, we saw every part of the run course, as well as T2 (transition from bike to run). With Norseman XTRI being a point to point race, it was really good to spend a few days at the race finish, getting to know the area. I booked two different dates for the same Airbnb in Rjuken (race finish) so that we could return to the same familiar Airbnb as when we arrived to Norway. The owner also allowed us to leave some of our stuff at the place, which was very kind. It seems like everyone knows the Norseman event so the owner was very understanding about our situation. Knowing that we will be super exhausted after the race on the 3rd, it's nice knowing where we will be sleeping that evening.  I haven't been feeling the best since arriving to Norway. I assume all the mental exhaustion with Campy was wearing me down. Today I felt super tired, despite sleeping almost 9 hours. The sun sets very late here in Norway (after 10pm) which also makes it hard to w...

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 w...