i'm back... from wherever

hei,

it's march already. the first big event is done. the olympics. nice. i've been in whistler for more than one month together with the norwegian team and i think i can say it paid off. norway's cc and biathletes won 8 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze medals. sweet. i enjoyed working with the teams, it was an amazing time.
now i'm back on track and in trondheim. three papers for a conference were written, which caused some additional challanges before the olympics - but it worked out. it seems as i increase efficiency with approaching deadlines.
the recent days were much more relaxed. i took a strong cough with me from vancouver - whereever it came from ?! well, so i took the chance and caught up some hours sleep - can't complain about that either.

what's next?!
Oslo - Holmenkollen. the skiers have world cup down there next weekend, the biathletes come straight after that. I'll take a closer look on the tracks, snow and skis - the 2011 world champs are not far away anymore ;-)
After that i'll start my personal season pretty soon, easter trainingscamp (hopefully without snow) and austrian sprint champs are coming soon. Let's see how much i can pimp my shape within 6 weeks of time. there is fortunately more time until the WOC here in Trondheim.
last week - before i decided to rest because of my cough - i did two street orienteering trainings which felt ok - my body still knows how to run. wow. i'm impressed.
else
i'm heading for ice hockey for the future. hehe. i did what you have to do in Canada - i bought skates, ice hockey gloves and finally a stick here in norway. 2 days of practice, 1 tournament and one half broken shoulder later am i still motivated. it's fun. stupid that the ice starts disappearing already...
cheers felix

Dreads over

...Deads - January 2009 - October 2009.

Well, Saturday evening the time has come.

What more to say...?

Line shining like a star ;-)

Hu og Hei

This weekend was time for the legendary Hu & Hei orienteering "marathon" in Bymarka. It's tradition in 50 years that this race is organized by NTNUI - Saturday is the prolog called "snuskeløpet" - where everyone can to run to 5 controls out of about 20. 15" start intervall makes it even more challanging, because you have to draw the controls yourself...

Anyway, I managed to choose 5 good ones and came back faster than the others - nice. So I could open Hu & Hei on sunday with a lead of two minutes. But 2 minutes at this 29,7k race through the marches are not that much ;-)

I started quite conservative - tryed to use mostly the small pathes. That was maybe smart but due to that I collected more meters climb - you can't get everything ;-)

Espen, who started 3' behind me chaught up just before the 2nd control - not only that, but also Erik Jonsson showed up there. He was just on the way out from the control when we crossed the marsh.

So came an interesting leg. In Hu & Hei you always just get to know where the next control is, never the whole course. Which makes it extra exciting because the course planner might save some surprises for the later legs...

I lost my compass somewhere between the changing room and the start. Which is 15min. Due to that I just came there about 7min before my start and finished with changing about 1min before my start I fugured out: No compass today. (Not that important in a race which lasts for 4,5h just orienteering..) So Espen chaught up, but he destroyed his compass already in the race... Together we have chosen the same route to control 3 - climb up to "Herbandammen" and straight on from there.

Well, usually I'd use the compass to check now and then, but in this case - no chance. Finally I ended up in the open area. Great view. But not down at the lake but on top of the hill. 30k are obviously not enough ;-) Espen did the same - even a bit further to the right - but I havn't seen him anymore since then.

Due to this and one more stupid routechoice to the 4th one I just passed on about 6th position. I filled up my camelbag once more, ate more bananas and a honeybread and headed out again. Wet, cold tights didn't feel that nice on tired legs - it felt like cramps were just around the corner (but they never showed up - seemed I learned something in the adventure races about drinking and eating the right stuff, hehe). The decathlon the two days before made me feel really stiff but after 20k my legs got better and better. I overtook Knut Sveinung Rekaa and Simen Olafsen but in the same time Martin Hoset became my satillite up the climb to Bosbergheia - the highest point in Bymarka.

From there it was just 6k left to the finish. I decided to speed up on the path but Martin wasn't impressed by that. So I thought about something else - different route choice towards the 8th control. I ran around the hill before the control - which was a bit longer but I got a nice path straight to the control. On the way I found lots of mushrooms but no trail. mmmmh. after i little while it showed up.. So I was alone at the control and remembered the last one next to the lake at the cliff. I felt really good, my legs could move much faster than in the beginning and so I could pass Erik in the climb . nice feeling. at least for me.

Just before I came to the lake I saw Martin again. He was just 30m ahead of me... ok. I prepared myself for the long lasting sprint. (Martin recently ran the 1500m in 4:03 or something like that) when I climbed up next to the cliff I could see a control and decided to get lower again - wrong choice. The control hang on the upper end of the cliff and this saved the second place for Martin and me from a crucial sprint at the end.

Anyway. I'm happy with my run. It was a really nice sunday trip. Espen won, congratulation - I think he did an impressive race. I'll try again next year - then I'll keep the lead...

Primal Quest – the hardest race ever done...

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It was my major goal for this year – finishing Primal Quest. The organizers claim that it’s the most challenging human expedition race. So far I can judge that – it’s true. We came to South Dakota without special expectations, I did some research about the most interesting things to do and see in the area but that was it. Mount Rushmore – with four American president’s faces in stone is probably the most known thing about South Dakota.

Well, back to the race. It started with a marathon through the prairie – followed by further foot orienteering. After that we faced numerous kilometres of gorgeous single trails and unforgettable cave orienteering. The two hardest sections for me were the long trekking stages which were both about 100k long. Due to wrong shoes I got blisters everywhere, changing socks, insoles and using body glide didn’t really help… Finally I got awarded “worst feet” from the medical staff after the race – sound really painful, but fortunately the human body shots down the pain after a while – thanks, I appreciated that a lot...

The highlights of during the race were definitely the amazing rope section. We faced a spectacular 100 meter jumar, 3 very exposed zip lines and 3 80-100 meter rappels.

Another unforgettable experience was when we biked cross the prairie right in between wild hordes of buffalos and many other animals – looked like in Madagascar 2 – no joke! – There we also chased a huge buffalo down a single trail – it was a bit scary in the beginning but it seemed that our bad smell banished the bull hehe

Later in the race when we biked back from the (also) amazing Badlands we had to stop once in the middle of the night because a huge herd of buffalos decided to cross the road in front of us – we stood still for several minutes (!!).

Once all of them passed, they just seem to stare at us – chilling feeling when hundreds of reflective eyes are concentrated at you….

The end of the race caused us some problems – we lost our Roadbook while repairing a flat and all together we lost about 3-4 hrs by looking for it. Without that we might have ended up in 5^th spot, but actually we are also really happy on the 7^th. It’s more about getting to the finish and that’s what we did.

The days after the race are now quite special. The body is stuck in deep tiredness, plus that blisters all had to be opened and disinfected. Also both legs swell up and take some time to get back to normal. All of us walk around in robot style. I’ve still not gotten back the feeling in the tip of three fingers and also some of the toes are not 100% fit. I guess, it might take a few more days before I can get back to normal…

My goal before the race was to get to know myself and my team mates better – I’d say that I did so. I got to know many things about myself. For example didn’t I know that I could sleep while walking, paddling or being in the water. I almost fell asleep during biking, but fortunately nothing bad happened. Furthermore could I figure out that my body works pretty well even if I just had 2hrs of sleep. I assume that’s because of the orienteering job I did all the way. So I had to pay attention and be focused. During the end of the first long trekking I could work with my pain threshold. Blisters in combination with my shin tendinitis made each step remember able. I just told myself – you just made 5minutes with the pain and it didn’t get worse, so you’ll make another 5’. I continued several hours with this tactics. It worked, yeah

Coming to the finish was really nice. Lot’s of people were cheering for us and shared our happiness, both at home via our blog and in Rapid City. It’s a nice feeling to have finished a race which is such a challenge and kept my attention for several months. Now I’m heading home to relax. No further plans

links:

our Blog from Primal Quest

Primal Quest

Pictures from PQ photographer

Some of our pictures

Primal Quest is getting closer...

About 11 days to go to this year's highlight. Primal Quest in South Dakota. 960k of wilderness. I'm looking forward to it. These days are busy - preparing the last things - equipment, food, checking the area as good as possible, getting familiar with the weather there, etc.

Here are some pictures from there - seems to be quite nice ;-)

Rapid City is on the upper right part (find the little yellow flag)- there the start and probably the finish will be. In addition there are three more marks on this picture: Mount Rushmore is famous for the four presidents in stone. A similar monument is "Crazy Horse" a bit further to the vest. Harney Peak is the highest top in the Black Hills with 2207m - which seems to be a really nice area. Lot's of wilderness. Further to the south east there is the Wind Cave National Park. 280k of caves. We'll get to know some of them at least ;-) Even further to the east the nature changes totally - Bad Lands National Park - pure stone, no shadow. Can be tough to "run" through. Especially after one of the common thunder stroms which transforms the clay into a really sticky, heavy mass. mmmhh.
Here are the Bad Lands... Up and down - everywhere...
Great view from Harney Peak - somewhere in the Black Hills. I guess, we'll get there too.

World Cup in Oslo

After 2 weeks without any running I started with 20' on monday earlier this week. No pain - which was nice. So I continued to increase the work load every day a little bit. On wednesday I ran the model event and managed already 1h orienteering without problems. Let's say - the leg was ok but the orienteering was far from that ;) My feeling for distance and direction were gone and I struggled with several controls.. nice training!

Thursday the Model Event got already better - still no problems with the leg. I tried to run some controls fast which worked out quite well, but I never felt fast, rather tough in both my legs and brain.

Friday: Middle Distance. It was my first orienteering race in weeks. The timing wasn't perfect neither was the selfconfidence. I stopped several times short before the control finding out that I actually was right, nevertheless the time losses were huge even without big mistakes. I ended up on 60th place (of 94) 9:50 down on Carl - who made an amazing race! Respect.

Saturday: Long Distance. I had mixed feelings before the race. What should I do? Run? If yes - the whole course? Full? Take it easy? Next friday I'll start the next Adventure Race (Explore Sweden Monster - ESM) what if my leg starts hurting again? Will I recover from a hard race within 6 days and does it actually make sens to run when the shape is bad and WC points seem out of sight?

I ran all. I got eager during the day and thought if the leg starts to hurt than it's nice to get to know now because the chance that i comes back during ESM would than be very high (I can't rule that out anyway). The race was nice - I enjoyed it. 29 degrees, 14.5k. Several times the group I ran with made small mistakes in into the controls - I didn't join their extra loops and thereby I gained some places which was nice. One control (to 13th) I again had the feeling that they were wrong and followed my own plans - and missed the control. I got tricked by an "open" white nose - so 3min were gone... the remaining 7k I ran mostly alone. Physically I felt good ( in respect that it wasn't so fast ;) until the end. I just got several blisters on my feet - but nothing serious. Finally i ended on the 64th place. Whatever.

Now it's time to reload and prepare the final things before ESM. There we'll race over 1069k - expected time for the winners is estimated with 4d 5h... let's see

Unwanted break...

Instead of getting nervous before Jukola's first leg I'm sitting at home. The reason lies in a tendinitis down in my shank which I carried away from the first Adventure Race in Sweden. My body actually felt really well after the 52hours race, but that wasn't the whole truth. Carbohydrates and proteins can be refilled quite fast whereas tendons need some more time to recover after such great efforts. I started to train too early so the tendinitis got worse and stayed even longer.

After several days without running I headed already off to the airport but just minutes before I got on the train to the airport I cancelled my starts at the NOC and Jukola. Ellen Moen (medical doctor) and Siri Hagman (physiotherapist) confirmed my presumption and advised me to

rather take a break straight away instead of extending and enhance the risk for a long lasting tendinitis.

mmmh.

BUT - there are lots of positive sides as well! I get healthy, can do other stuff, relax mentally and physically, get organized before we move, etc. A couple of days ago I used the time and went white water kayaking for the first time. It was fun! White water kayaking is part of Explore Sweden's adventure race, so I'd have to practize it anyway.

By the way, I survived without further injuries ;-)

Definition of Fun: Merrell Challenge

Our Adventure Racing Team organized Scandinavias probably funniest adventure race last weekend:the Merrell Challenge in Oslo. Vigleik did an amazing job organizing everything during the previous weeks (action plan, mystery events, great prizes, promotion stuff, etc.) so that the more than 50 teams could really enjoy the event!

Shortly summed up what the race was about:

The race took the teams through an 3-4 hour adventurous course with many challenges. The course was kept a secret until one hour before start. A total of 5 laps and 10 mystery events challenged both the physics, the team work and the mind. Several of the mystery events were impossible to pass unless the three team members worked together.

The 5 laps were: 1. Mountainbiking, 2. Navigation, 3. Paddling, 4. Mountainbiking and finally 5. Adventure Run. All laps started and finished at the “Merrell stadium”. Between and during the laps the teams had to solve the mystery events. These consisted of:

• Carrying one team member who got the feet strapped together
• Passing/climbing a log obstacle
• Passing a soapy/slippery wall/floor
• Pass a river using a cargo net which was stretched by use of a wire
• Transport a log over an obstacle
• Roll a tractor wheel around a short and hilly course
• Svimming
• Wading
• Crawling through watery pipes
• Mud crawling

It was great fun to watch the teams! Enjoy the pictures!

Date for 2010 event is set to June 12^th. The goal is to double the number of teams to 80-100 teams.

www.merrellchallenge.com - with all the details, results and pics.

Media echo after Tieto Enator Adventure Race

>Per Christian, me, Vigleik and Lina<

My first adventure race together with Team Merrell Haglöfs Multimania at the Tieto Enator, also called Open Nordic Adventure Racing Champs turned out to be a really nice success. Both for me personally and our team.

>perfectly organized just an hour before the start <

My personal goals were to survive the race. I was very curious about who my body would handle this challenge. I was in charge to navigate all the way which was a nice duty with much responsibility. During the first kayak stage I had to select the route choice over up to 15k of open water which I've never down before.

> never padled that long or far before in my life<

Considering wind and waves has never happened in the forest so far :-) it worked out well. I struggled more with the partly poor map quality due to missing essential information which resulted in two mistakes up to 15min time loss (not that much compared to 52h competition time though).

>Our TA - Transition Area - really cool!! - me last, as usual ;)

The race itself was really cool, we faced lots of different challenges starting actually already the days before the race coz of missing or late arriving equipment and has still not ended - like the tendinitis in my shank. Down under u'll find a selection of some pictures - there are more to see on my web album.

>Linda and Vigleik try to get up<

We received lots of media attention after the race, which was really nice! I added some of the links below:

http://www.ostlendingen.no/article/20090529/SPORT/773278809/1108#

http://www.friflyt.no/index.php?pagenr=12&articlenr=57033

www.kondis.no 2 articles. one at the frontside, one on the side of "Hedmark" page.

http://www.sleepmonsters.com/racereport.php?page_action=rep&race_id=6828&article_id=5825

>down the waterfall or carrying the damn heavy boats one 1k?<

>Tired? I recommend a cliff jump at sunrise - that opens your eyes!<

>27000kcal later...<

If you want to see more pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/zweagnase/TietoEnatorRace#

Sommer Plans..

It’s been a while. Well, i’m still alive and right now i do what it seems that I can do best – I travel. More accurate, I sit in a plane from Oslo to Trondheim. I do this in average once a week – but actually I don’t want to think too much about it coz I might figure out that I travel far too much…

What has happened since?!

In sports: I started my orienteering season in Sweden, Training and Tiomila. I continued it in Trondheim with several Sprint Cups and more training sessions and I’ve almost finished it it already too. Why? Adventure Racing rules now!

This year I’m part of the Norwegian Multimania Team. We’ll start at three races in from May until August – which will be enough ;) In May we’ll do the Nordic Championships in/around Karlstad in Sweden – it’s a 'easy' 50h race . After some weeks of relaxing – which is actually not really true – because I’ll be testing Skis with the Biathletes and Cross Country Skiers up in high altitude in the middle of Norway. From there I’ll head straight to the Nordic Champs (in Orienteering, this time). Jukola will also take place this year… and two weeks after that it’s World Cup in Oslo on my schedule.

That was June.

In July:

EXPLORE SWEDEN. An adventure race over about 1000k… should take about 1 week or something like that. I guess, I’ll get to know some new sides of my body there ;)

Later in July Line and I will take some vacation somewhere. For me mainly sleeping probably…

And in August Vigleik, Per, Linda and I will conquer the USA – or more accurate the ECO PRIMAL QUEST. That’s our main goal this year – another exhausting adventure race in South Dakota. 600 miles, unsupported – means we just have one box each with equipment for the whole race and no one to prepare some food, fix things or help us with anything. We’ll make it.

Anyway, Training goes good. My body get’s used to long bicycle rides up to 5h and my dreads are still in shape. I like it.

… Yesterday I got my new favourite play mobile – Specialized Expert Carbon. Looks beautiful. I took a little ride – it convinced me, I’ll keep it. Furthermore, my swimming improves – due to my kayak training – I spend at least as much time in the water as in the boat… I have hopes that there won’t be too much waves during the kayak sections of the adventure races… I mean 80k… that’s too much to swim ;)

My study also doesn’t stand still – it’s at least the reason why I know almost every flight attendant from Norwegian Airlines… nice guys, by the way.

..My other favourite activity at the moment (besides eating) is looking for apartments. Line and I have to move out from the Student apartment by the end of June. She finishes her study soon and I’m no student longer myself, so welcome to the real world. We have been to some apartment showings, but haven’t found the right one yet… We’ll also make that ;)

links:

Explore Sweden

Eco Primal Quest

Tieto Enator Adventure