ABOUT THE RACE

NORSEMAN is the world’s toughest Long-distance distance triathlon. It is also the most northern, taking place at the same latitude as Anchorage in Alaska. The race is a travel through some of the most beautiful parts of Norway. It is not a normal circuit-race as it starts in a fjord and finishes at mountain Gaustatoppen at 1,850 meters above sea level. Total ascent is 5,000 meters. The water temperature is normally about 15.5 degrees C, and the air temperature normally ranges from 6 to 28 degrees C through the race day. 160 of the participants are allowed (if they make the cut off times ) to finish at the top of the mountain. The others are allowed to finish at the mountain plateau.

The race is limited to only 250 competitors. The competitors need to bring their own support. The prize to the winner is the same as to the last to finish at the top of the mountain; a fabulous black t-shirt.


Norseman is the race any hard core triathlete should do once in a lifetime.

www.nxtri.com


MY EXPIRIENCE OF THE DAY

Before the race

Wake up call at 01:30 , and breakfast with milk + serial at 02:00. Out of the hotel room with my wetsuit at 03:00 , meeting my support team of the day (JPG) : Anders Kvaal and Hans Jørgensen. My Back was hurting , but some BENGAY took care of that (JPG). Did I remember all equipment? Did Hans make the bike 110%? Some nerves this morning, some stress , but that`s just part of the game :-) We put the bike and bike gear at checkpoint T1 , and entered the boat. Shit, I did not go to the toilet yet, and my stomach felt like El Ninjo. Entered the boat at 03:30, together with 235 other maniac's from all over the world.

I got some time sitting chatting with my other team mates Rune Stålstrøm and Ivan Christophersen. Don`t really remember what we talked about during the 1 hour of boat transport, but probably just complain about me not able to go to the toilet :-)

Take a look at all these super fit guys, they all look very fit , how can I beat at least 80 of them? I just have to! This is my goal! They all was eating foot and drinking at the boat, I had forgot everything at the hotel room…

The swim 1:27

At 04:50 we jumped in the water , preparing for the 3,8 km of swim. Still dark, but we could see the lights of the city Eidfjord far, far away. The day before people announced that the fjord was full of small whales (similar to dolphins) , they are quite social, and would like to play with you :-). Some swimmers heard them , but I was wearing earplugs, and very foggy goggles .

I crawled the whole 3,8 km , and had to adjust the course several times. And after 45 minutes I could se the sun started rising. Beautiful!! Take a leak, and one more :-). Was starting to get a bit seasick of the sudden waves, do I need to throw up? Keep it in!!(JPG) Suddenly I saw the goal, finally!!!

Exit the water at 1 hour and 27 minutes(JPG) , and by T1 my support (JPG) Anders helped we du equip the bike gear (JPG) .


The 180km bike ride 8:20

I got the advice from former Norseman winner , Rune Høydahl, to try and burn only fat during the bike leg. For me this means I need to keep the heart rate at 125-140 during the entire Bike Leg. I kept my watch on the Garmin Edge 705 , and took it very easy (maybe too easy) in all climbs, thinking not to ruin my marathon. Anders and Hans gave me mostly bread and water , not much sugar. I ate actually 18 pcs of bread , 2 sliced of Pizza , + some protein shakes. Overfed?

The first 40 km

This climb up Måbydalen (JPG) was something I was not looking forward to... From 0 to 1300 meters above sea level , in just 40 km (JPG) . I used no bottles on my bike, just water in my Giant Cascade backpack. In the tunnels the air was ok if you like the smell of Carbon dioxide (JPG) . Using my Rain jacket ,and short gloves I started freezing after 35km , I told my support I needed to change to warm clothes at Stavsro. (JPG)

My goal was to keep 12kmh on this distance, but I managed 15kmh. Happy :-)

The 50 km to Geilo

Beautiful Hardangervidda(JPG) , What a scenery! In my head I was proud to show all foreign athletes what a beautiful country we live in (JPG) ! With strong side wind from the south, I was happy I did use my 38mm carbon wheels, those guys with 58 or 80 mm ZIPP was struggling a bit. I used the distance to feed allot of bread and pizza. Starting to drink some Maxim with water. Managed to get my total average to 21,5kmh when entering Geilo.

The 41 km to Uvdal

OK, the next 41 km will be in strong headwind and 3 climbs (JPG) over 3 mountains elevated more than 1000meters, so I did not expect to get my average speed more up, but focused to try to keep at 21,5kmh level in each bottom. I did one climb at the time, and struggling to keep my heart rate below 150 in the 8 degrees uphill. Each uphill was between 6 and 8 km long (JPG) . My support handed me food and drink during the 9-10 kmh speed I managed to have (JPG) . Still eating bread, and some water with flavour.

The 20 km climb to Imingfjell

The most scary part of the bike lap; the climb of 1200 meters to Imingfjell. Anders and Hans was running next to me (JPG) , probably yelling “KEEP GOING” or something. Thank you guys (JPG) !!! First 10 km up to the mountianplatou in 8 degree hill, then 10 km on the platou in strong headwind, and cold cold rain (JPG) . This part was slow, and my crew was worried if I could make the cut off time, and be amongst the top 160 participants to get the Black T-Shirt.

The fed me well with food and drinks, since I must prepare for the marathon. All OK, and still got some energy to smile to Hans (sitting in the warm car) for the photo !


The 35 km to Tinn

The fun part of the bike ride, average speed almost 40 kmh, but the road was bad, so I dared not to use my tri-bar clip-ons, kept the hans on the bars, please no accident now!!


The Full Marathon 42km climb to the Mountain 5:42 (JPG)

Finally! To meet Truls, Gary and Therese at T2 (JPG) , was quite emotional to a tired body, thank you guys!

I knew running was my strongest discipline, and during the T2 change to running, Anders told me I had 165 athletes in front of me, meaning i needed to pass at least 6 of them to finish with a black t-shirt. I had no worries, since my legs felt strong, but knees and back was hurting like hell. I changed(JPG) rapidly into my running gear (JPG) , and set off for the marathon.

The 25 km to Rjukan

This was the fun part(JPG) . But my stumack was “el ninjo diablo”, not going “big time” to the toilet in 50 hours. After 5 km, I told my support team; “I need to go, BIG TIME!!!” , just behind a barn aside a road I got rid of 2 kg. Wow, that was good!!!.

I felt strong , and passed 20 competitors during the first 21km. 1:47 was my time on half marathon(!) , and I still felt very strong when entering the foot of the mountain at 25 km. I was now number 145 (JPG) , Great!!


The 7,5 km to Cut off at Gaustablikk

My Crew member Gary Turner joined me here (JPG) , to run next to me during this 7,5 km climb up to 1000 meters.

I was still very strong, all other was walking, I was running. This was fun!! I eat a lot of sugar, drinkning coca cola, and passed another 20 competitors!! Therese and Anders was cheering (JPG) ! I felt like a mixture of Lance Armstrong and Mike Tyson, I ignored the pain, just wanted to beat a lot of slow walking competitors. I heard afterwards that nobody else was running up here :-) This is my proudest part of the entire day.

During the medical check I put on some warm clothes, and headed for the next checkpoint 5 km away.

The 5 km to Stavro

Easy part, slowly uphill, and I walked next to Gary, how talked and talked to keep my mind of the horrible pain in my knees and back. My body was full of adrenaline. I knew the Black T Shirt was mine , unless I had a total breakdown, or an accident. Thank you Gary , for all the nice support!!

The last 5 km mountain climb up to 1886 meters

Here I was just happy, just 5 km to go, could it be true that the normal time of these 5 km left should be an hour and a half? I got on my backpack, containing warm clothes, drink, cellphone , and food, and staring to climb in the footsteps of my support team member Gary Turner, after putting on new socks on my sore feet (JPG)

The rocks was big (JPG) , and the hill was steep (JPG) ! The goal was at my reach! Gary kept talking , and other support members was yelling (JPG) “GO ON, YOU CAN MAKE IT” on their way down the mountain, giving me the energy to climb the final steps (JPG) to victory (JPG) over my self and the precious BLACK T-SHIRT (JPG) !


RESULTS

15 hours and 42 minutes , 137 place ot of 235 starters!

www.nxtri.com/results


THANK YOU!

Thank you all my lovely friends supporting me during the preparations, race day, and the day after

Anders Kvaal - Main support
Hans Jørgensen - Mechanic and food support
Gary Turner - Runner Support
Truls Gran - T2 support
Therese Kvaal - Food and cheering during the T2

My beautiful wife Othilie and my beloved 3 children, allowing me to spend 1 and a half year of my life to train hard for this!


I love you all!!

Jørn Lundsør