I finally made it to Norway after a very long 36 hours without sleep. During the flight over I just couldn't manage to rest so I went on to watch about 4 movies and dominate the rest of the flight crew for 3 hours on the in-flight Trivia Challenge. I traveled over night so losing the sleep really hurt me later in the week. Once I got in I traveled constantly up until the day before my race. The race is located in a very remote area of Norway known only as Skjolden. This area sits in the "heart of Norway". The longest Fjord of the world lies outside my door step of the luxury hotel they provide elite athletes coming to compete. This Fjord is called the Sognefjord. If you have never seen a Fjord, visit Norway, the view is remarkable and unlike anything I have ever seen.
My first night I stayed in Bergen, home to the late Jon Tvedt a close friend of mine I met last summer. I couldn't help but think to myself I wonder where Jon used to run and picture in my head that maybe he once crossed the same paths I crossed that day. Bergen is quite beautiful, situated between mountains in every direction. Once I came to the race site I was greeted by the race director, whom speaks little english, but loves to try and chat with you in Norwegian/English (a new language I suppose). Quite the famous man in these neck of the woods. His last name Fortun is seen all over the area, in fact, there is a town as well as a river with the same name and from what I know this is no coincidence as his family has been around the Skjolden area for years.
Below are a few pics from my trip so far. Some are from the top of the Fanarak, the mountain I ran as my warm up for my European mountain running season. The race fared well. I ended up 4th losing to two very fast Kenyans and one Norwegian runner. I felt a bit jetlagged and too add to misery I wore the wrong shoes!!! I expected the course to be muddy and due to little information on the course I was not aware of the terrain. Needless to say I slipped up and down the mountain for the next hour. After about 4 km I was introduced yet again to the Norwegian way of mountain running, which is pretty much what I would charaterize as mountaineering or rock climbing. Most of the Norwegian races are more of a scramble, so not much running. To give you an idea of the difference here, Jon Tvedt is one of Norway best mountain runners ever. He beat me at a major race in Norway last year by a few minutes! Then we races at the World Championships in Mountain Running and I beat him by a few minutes. With the rocky races it helps to be a person who more of a hiker I think. During the race you also much carry a rucksack weighing a munimum 2.5 kg or else you will be disqualified. Carrying weight up an already steep mountain made the race even more of the experience. The greatest experience is the walk down however. In Norway its quite the tradition to run up the mountain for races and then enjoy the scenery by walking down the same path. Exhausting and time consuming it may be, but the pictures you can take are unbelievable. Check below....
This is part of the Sognefjord.
Behind me you can view part of another of Norways famous landmarks, Glaciers
Here with Christian and the celebrity of the town in the flesh, Mr. Fortun
On the boat ride across the Sognefjord. A huge relief, as the road travel along the fjord's are terribly freightening with traffic coming within 5 meters of each other on single lane roads!
Remarkable views of mountain sides and water falls such as this one can be seen from Bergen's downtown area (Sentrum in Norwegian).
This window caught eyes, not just mine, I promise (:
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