Pain is temporary, glory is forever!
Almost a year ago I took the challenge from my good friend Magne and signed up for the toughest race in Oslo. I have to admit, I've had second thought about this several times. Not because I don't like running or training. The reason is; whenever I get a start number, I tend to go all in. It becomes a ghost in my head. I have to perform. Often better than my skills. I lack the capability to lower my shoulders and enjoy the moment.
Before start
A short overview of the race:
Profile
"It's a hill. Get over it."
- Seen on the back of a runner's T-shirt
Well the name of the hill is spot on! After an easy start you run into the steepest hill you can imagine. Some call it "the wall". I'm not even close to be able to run up this hill and my heart rate jumped into the red zone immediately.
Wyller is not as steep as Hell Hill, but it has an average gradient of 22% so I guess you can't call it flat. All the way up I managed to keep my heart rate in the red zone. Carefully trying to balance on the edge of collapsing.
Finally a chance to get the heart rate under control again. I tried to keep the intensity up even if it is downhill and flat. It's hard. The muscles are full of lactic and screaming for air. I managed to keep the heart rate in zone 4 during this stage.
Yet another incredible steep hill. When you enter this hill it's important to keep the spirit up. It's steep but it is not that long. Heart rate back into zone 5 again.
Still going strong
It sounds easy to just sprint to the finish line, but at this point your whole body is screaming in pain. It's screeming STOP! All you can focus on is ignoring your own brain and continue running.
This picture is taken 1:30 after I crossed the finish line. I was not able to focus on the camera so I just clicked a couple of times and hoped for the best. The picture shows exactly how I felt.
"Hills never get easier, you get stronger."
- Greg LaMond
Happy after finishing
