Ironduck 2004

It was not my intention to do this. But in the middle of the week, I got this unbearable urge to do it. After all, we were going to Fredrikstad anyway, to support them. My body was surprisingly fine after last weekends crew race. Just like normal of the days after doing an ironman, I was high and had limited contact between my body and brain. I just had to do it.

It was great to meet the others at early Saturday morning. All the other 9 made their ironman debut. Some of them were not what you would normally consider as fit for doing an ironman. But they all had the urge to do it, even if this was covered by nerves before the swim start. It was early atumn and rather heavy fog.

I could not get rid of Bent during the swim. He was like a lovesick whale. It is strange how 10 people can appear as a pretty huge triathlon swim pack. I was just a bit more than normal tired during the swim. At T1, we were all together. There were really no sense or urgency there. People were just happy to have survived the swim.

Starting on the bike leg, I forgot everything about my plan of going slowly. Fredrik must have infected me with his kamikaze-sickness. I was hunting Steinar that was in the lead and I biked as fast as I could. After a couple of hours, I was only 2 minutes behind. I was going to get him. Not to win, but just to get in front of him for a moment. It is not clear to me how this made sense.

I had found a race fuel food that worked perfectly well this summer. I learned it from Rune Høydahl that won HP Norseman this year. Bread, olive oil, smoked salmon and scrambled egg. The only problem with the food was that Hege could not find me. She had been working as crew and then she had been driving around the bike leg to find me. After 3 hours she did. Then I was more hungry than polite. I did not really hunt for Steinar anymore.
The bike leg had a totalt ascent of 1,100 meters . It is difficult to find a flat circuit in Norway . 180 km’s at the bike can be very lonely when you do 30 km laps with only 10 competitors..

At the run I felt strong. From my navel and up. My legs didn’t appreciate my decision to run. I taped my left leg in T2, but that was not at all successful. I missed my daddy, who had such a success with the tape last weekend. (My messed up ankle was operated a couple of months later and I was able to run properly shortly after).

I gave up after 18 km’s and started a long night’s walk toward the finish in Anne Sofie and Bent’s garden. The good thing about being slow was that Hege could walk with me. That was super nice. After 32 km she even gave me a hamburger.

The idea of having transition zone and finish line in the garden at the farm was great. It was a beautiful place, filled with people cheering and barbequing. They thought we were doing great, no matter how slow we were. And the finisher t-shirt was fantastic!

HP Norseman Xtreme Triathlon Crew Race 2004

After an extraordinary cold and wet Norwegian summer, we had no hope for pleasant conditions under the crew race in the last weekend of August. We got what we deserved, Bjarne Boge from Eidfjord, Fredrik Mandt (HP Norseman handyman) and me.

It was very wet and windy, and the darkness was complete. The water was measured at "below 14 degrees Celsius". We jumped off the small boat at 4.40 am. Swimming in the darkness was cool for us, but not for the people in the boats, as they could not see us. The waves didn’t make it easier.

Bjarne will spend the winter learning to swim. He gave up the swimming after 45 minutes. His lungs don’t appreciate cold water.

Fredrik is my niece’s boyfriend. I would loose my honour in the family with another defeat of him. My plan was to beat Fredrik by about 20 minutes on the swim. Things went ok in the start. The cold water didn't worry me because I knew it would be worse for Fredrik, as he would stay in the water longer than me. After a while, I seemed to loose my direction. The wetsuit was borrowed from a friend of mine and it didn’t fit me. The cold water circulated freely. The swim never seemed to end.

I arrived in 1,52 and I was 40 minutes slower than last year. Fredrik was almost ready to leave on the bike. I was totally helpless, rather confused and extremely cold. My caring wife kicked me on the bike towards the mountains. She was not worried, as DNF is not an option to her.

You don’t stop a man from Eidfjord very easily, so Bjarne decided to use the day on a duathlon, same distance except the swim.

Fredrik has an excellent athletic potential, but he doesn’t connect his brain to the rest of his body. So, as usual, he pushed it to the max up the first mountain. He got me with 40 minutes on the first 40 km’s. I was 1,10 behind my schedule from last year. The race was kind of done. I only concentrated on eating and drinking. Half way through the bike leg, at Geilo, I got the message that I kept the same speed as Fredrik.

The bike leg gave us very strong headwind and heavy rain most of the way. It was not very pleasant and it was obvious that this would become a long day. My wife Hege pushed me to eat and drink a lot all the time. It was a bit much, but she can be rather cruel. So I ate.

At the transition zone in Austbygde, my father was ready to tape my left ankle completely stiff, as I have not been able to run since May. Thanks go out to my mother, who let daddy tape her ankle every day the last week in order to learn the technique.

I left Austbygde 50 minutes after Fredrik. I don’t know how it happened, but I was actually able to run. Not fast, but I could run. My ankle was kind of ok and I felt kind of strong. After 90 minutes I got the message that Fredrik was partly walking and I was only 30 minutes behind. I took the start number out of my pocket for the first time this day. I had been too ashamed of my poor speed, but now things started to look like a race. Then I was 20, 15, 10 and 7 minutes behind when we reached the mountain in Rjukan. The report was that Fredrik was looking very ugly. Unfortunately someone then informed him that I was closely behind him.

Up the mountain I attacked and Fredrik pushed. 10 minutes, then 15, then 8 again. I was partly running, but I could never catch him. Bastard. He got to the mountain check point, after 37 km , 15 minutes before me and I was lost. Fredrik’s guide and support up the mountain was my brother in law. He has spent his life in the mountains. My guide and support was my friend Vidar. He is good at so many things, but he smokes heavily and he got both his knees operated this spring. Of course I had to carry his things, wait for him when he hyperventilated and find the route myself. I am totally lost in that terrible mountain. It was completely dark now, cold and a very strong wind. It was a long march up to the cabin, but rather funny if you have a strange sense of humor.

No surprise that Bjarne and Fredrik was waiting for us at the top. Fredrik was annoyingly happy with his own performance. His 16 hours 39 was far from impressive, but he was there 45 minutes before me. After one hour at the cabin we did the 2 hours walk down the mountain. There is no lift for the crew race.

The best part of the race race was the opportunity to share the experience with my family. And I got my beautiful black t-shirt. Next year I am going to beat Fredrik so badly.

Nok tomsnakk, Moss - Horten...

Nå er det nok tomsnakk. Til neste år skal det skje. Jeg har skremt opp gode venner hjemme i Skien. En slik utfordring kan få dem til å begynne å trene. Saken har ruget i hodet lenge nok. Jeg bare må ha Moss - Horten på CV'n. Det spiller ingen rolle hvor lang tid det tar. Det handler bare om å fullføre distansen. Om å svømme ruta til Bastøy-ferga. Det er en klassisk distanse.

Hvem vet noe om forholdene i den fjorden? Hvordan plukker man riktig tidspunkt mhp tidevann og strøm? Hva er viktig å kjenne til? Sjøtemperatur, strøm, bølger, brennmaneter og skipstrafikk. Hva annet må man tenke på?

Jeg kan nesten ikke vente.

Hvordan få en slapp mosjonist klar for en ironman neste sommer?

Disse rådene er publisert i Kondis sin treningsdagbok. Er ikke sikkert at de er smarte. Men publisert er publisert...

Selv om fysikken din ikke er så imponerende, kan du gjennomføre en lang triatlon. Du kan til og med klare det uten å hate så veldig mye underveis og etterpå vil du påstå at det er det største du har opplevd. Nest etter det å bli far. Forutsetningen er at du er skadefri, har trent endel og at du har veldig lyst. Jeg ikke prøvd å gjøre dette uten sterk motivasjon, men tror at det er værre enn å trekke ut alle visdomstennene på samme dag.

Hvor mye må du ha trent da? I sommer ble jeg fraløpt av en kollega rett før målgang på Norseman og han påstår at han ikke trener. Han er gammel skiløper. Gamle skiløpere har så fantastisk fysikk at de ikke behøver å trene. Jeg gjetter på at vi andre trenger minimum 3 økter og 4 timer pr uke for å komme komfortabelt igjennom.

Hvordan skal du trene? Jeg vil derfor nøye meg med å gi deg noen mer generelle tips om forberedelsene. Tips før din første ironmandistanse:

Tren allsidig og tren for å holde deg sunn og skadefri. Dersom du har passert 30 bør du ikke glemme mage og rygg.

Dersom du ikke kan svømme krål bør du skaffe deg en instruktør som kan lære deg å svømme bryst effektivt. Det går nesten like fort som krål, men krever mer av beina. Med våtdrakt flyter du oppå vannet. Meld deg på svømmekurs!

Ta noen lange svømmeturer i sjøen til sommeren for å teste utstyr og mage. Med full mage og store bølger er du sjøsyk selv etter at du har parkert sykkelen.

Hold på den treningsteorien som fungerer for deg. Men den ukentlige rolige langturen er viktig.

Bruk lang tid på å glede deg til sommerens konkurranse. En ironman er like mye en mental reise som en fysisk utfordring. Med gode forberedelser tror hjernen at du har det morsomt, selv om kroppen hater.

Tren på å spise og drikke under trening og lær deg hva kroppen tåler uten at magen slår seg vrang. Finn noe du synes smaker godt, for du blir ganske uggen utover dagen. Dersom konkurransen ender i havari er årsaken mest sannsynlig at du har bommet på næring (eller dårlig løpsopplegg) og ikke manglende trening.

Nei, du behøver ikke å ha gjort en kort triatlon først. Vi er skapt for lange distanser.

Tren med riktig intensitet ved hjelp av pulsklokke. Du skal aldri oppleve melkesyre under en ironman.

Norseman Xtreme Triathlon 2003

Her er innslaget fra Nrk Norge rundt etter det aller første året av Norseman, i 2003. Nrk følger Fredrik og meg gjennom løpet. Vi synes Nrk lagde et veldig bra innslag. Det viser ganske bra åssen Norseman var med bare 21 deltakere. Vi var spente på om vi ville klare å nå toppen. Med tv på slep tok vi oss helt ut og prøvde å smile pent til kameraene underveis. Det var faktisk ganske slitsomt. Fredrik skryter av eksplosiv muskultatur etter målgang.

Kalmar Triathlon 1999

Back in 1984 I signed on to do the first ironman distance ever in Norway . I was 17 and lied on my age to be allowed to enter. I had finally learned to swim a year before, after I almost drowned as a kid. And I screwed it all up a few weeks before the race by doing “Den store styrkeprøven”, 540 km at the bike from Trondheim to Oslo . My knees were totally messed up afterwards and I couldn’t start. Then I spent almost 15 years at the couch, saying “…one day I am going to start training to become an ironman..”.

I trained for 12 months. I bought an old racer. And I bought my own wetsuit in Kalmar the day before the race. I had been very weak all July and didn’t feel strong at all when going to Sweden . But Kalmar was like coming home. Cars came with proper triathlon bikes on the roofs. I had never ever met a triathlete before.

15 minutes before the start I laid on my back, in my new wetsuit, and I was so tired I could hardly lift my arms. I have never felt tired like that afterwards, except at the finish line. When I did put on my goggles 60 seconds before the start, the rubber band broke. I was the last man to enter the water, but it was warm and calm and the swim was nice. The swim was crowded with people like my self, doing 50 meters free swim and 10 meters breast. We all went zigzag. Things were going fine, but I did one very big mistake. I swallowed lots of water. I finished at 1 hour 39 and there were still bikes in the transition zone.

After 30 minutes at the bike, I started to throw up. And I kept doing so every half an hour during the rest of the day. I got into the routine and tried to eat and drink properly, as I knew what was to come. I realised that the water I had swallowed had seriously messed up my stomach. My speed was excellent for the first 80 km’s, above 30 km/h . Then I faded. My speed the next 100 km’s were below 25 km/h . Of course my bike was not well prepared either. So I had to keep the gearing thing stable with my hand all through the second half of the bike leg. The first time is supposed to be difficult. It was a relief to leave the bike and put on my running shoes.

The run was 4 rounds of 10,5 km . It was a warm and sunny day with 28 degrees C. I drank and ate well. And I throw up every half an hour, as regularly like a Swiss watch. The first 14 kms went ok and I kept a pace at a bit over 6 minutes pr km. The first 10,5 km round was 1 hour 10. Then I hit the wall. I was freezing cold, I throw up heavy and outside my 30 minutes interval. I lied down in the red-cross tent for 15 minutes. Then I walked slowly towards the transition zone. I tried to measure if I could still make the cut of at 15 hours, but my brain didn’t work. The second round was 1 hour 55. Red cross must have reported to the race doctor. When I came to the transition zone, the race doctor didn’t like my looks and told me to leave the race. It takes more than a Swedish race doctor to make a kid from Telemark leave the party.

Things always goes up and down. Except the food that went down first and then up. I ran slowly but with a sense of control at the third round in 1 hour and 24. I thought I saved energy for a little sprint at the final round. The final sprint was about 5 km. At the last 5 km I was zombie. A friendly female Swedish competitor took care of me and followed me to the finish line. That was smart, because I had lost my sense of direction. I could not remember the roads even if it was the fourth round. She told me that she would only do an ironman this one single time. I knew I had to do this again. The last round was done at 1 hour 29. The kids followed me the last 50 meters . I was proud. They also.

I was not much of a company after the finish. At 11 pm Hege took me to the hospital, because I could not stop throwing up. There were seven other fresh ironmen there. It was a warm day. I got intravenous liquid and at 3 am I felt fine and walked back to the camping ground.

I was totally high, happy and energetic throughout the first month after the race.