The Last Few weeks

The last few weeks I have been quite busy. I've been to a ski camp with my ski team here called team Kollen. Team Kollen has members from clubs all around Oslo. I ski for the club Heming but there are other skiers from clubs like Lynn as well. I can't remember all of the names. We started out the first day of that camp with a 2.5 hour ski. We got dropped off at a location about 2.5 hours away skiing from where we were staying so we could go for a long ski and not have to turn around. There were huge uphills and huge downhills. My rollerskies are slow in Norway so I was constantly getting passed on downhills. I settled into my cabin with my teammates the same age who were great. Next day we woke up and did uphill running intervals L4-5. 6x5 min running up the alpine mountain with 3x1 min sprinting up the alpine mountain when we were finished with the 6x5. This workout was hard but I felt pretty good. In the afternoon we went for a 2 hour classic ski with double pole focus. The next day was a 12k time trial for men and 9k for women (I think). I actually had a good race and finished near in the middle of the pack with boys anywhere from born in '94 to '91. In the afternoon we went for an hour run and did strength as well. To finish the camp off the next day we did a 3 hour run in the morning then headed home. I felt great in the run which I was happy with because not all 3 hour runs are easy. I slept very well after that.

The two nights after the camp Marianne and I went to a rowing dinner party with some people which was a fun time. I saw some people I had already known and met some new people too. Many of the kids were actually going to the US with full rowing scholarships. The next night I went out again with some people I know pretty well now, and some new people as well. I had a great time with this group.

Now for the past few days I have been enjoying the last few days of summer doing some 5x4 min intervals two days ago, a strength workout with Heming, and a 2 hour 10 min classic rollerski today. Tomorrow I will do a 3 hour run with Heming. This is usually a large event where kids come out (they don't run quite that long), and parents join as well. I think it's a great way to add more people other than serious athletes into training.

Tonight I'm going to the movies with some girls. We will watch inception. Funny enough, besides Marianne, all 3 girls are named Andrea. I did the math and 1/6th of the people I know are named Andrea.

Here are a few photos I've taken lately. Not as many as I'd like to, but it's hard bringing a camera around all the time.


Some dancing... I think I was a bit surprised as I saw the picture being taken.

The Mountains of Lillehammer

Yesterday I arrived back from the Madsens cottage in Lillehammer, which is up in the mountains. It was a really good time. Their cabin runs on solar and wind energy. It was really cool. We stayed up late playing cards and talking, woke up late everyday, ate a lot (a ton), and trained everyday. It was nice being away from things like the internet. I actually lost track of what day it was at one point.

Also, we got to rollerski a few times at this amazing rollerski and biathlon facility right near our cottage. The loop we skied was 4.3k and there was a 30 point world class biathlon range with more paved space than you could ever imagine. I thought Fort Kent was good but this took it to a whole new level.

Here are some pictures I took of the last 5 days or so.


A rainbow I saw from the house



Marianne feeding the sheep some salt


The sheep started following me...


Marianne is a skilled photographer


Petter Northug is even on the bread here... Skibrødet means ski bread


Marianne and I eating some dinner.


A view from the top of the cabin.


Usain Bolt came to Lillehammer and somehow
I got a picture of him

Hard workout and meeting new people

Yesterday I woke up at 1:00pm and had a casual breakfast. The Madsens are quite relaxed during vacation time and like to wake up a bit later than during the rest of the year. I went for a rollerski with Marianne and two of her best friends from team Kollen which I will be skiing for and training with. We did 5x5 minute intervals up a 10k hill which leads towards Holmenkollen as you will see in the picture I have taken. The intervals were kicking my butt. V1 technique is definitely not my best so it was a very good exercise for my fitness as well as V1 and v2. After I went home, had a snack and prepared for my biking tour of the city Oslo. Ellen, Ragnar, Marianne, and I met up with my new friend Martin (also a very good skier) biked around the city a bit and then went out to dinner at a nice restaurant. We were actually sitting next to a table with one of Norway's richest celebrities (quite cool). After dinner Martin, Marianne and I went for an ice cream cone and talked for a while on a bench down by the ocean. After, we went home, watched a bit of TV, then went to bed. A great day in all.

Today I went and played some football (soccer) with Martin and some of his friends who were all very nice. One kid Anders will be starting in my class at Berg. Marianne was away at her grandmothers all day and spending the night there so I hung out with Martin and had dinner at his place with his mom and brother. We had fish. I actually really liked the fish. Yes, you may have just taken a double take. I did enjoy the fish. After dinner I went to a Start soccer team with Andrea Rognstrand and a friend of hers. Start is one of the teams in Norway's professional soccer league. It was a great time even though Start lost the game. Now I am home and spending way too much time on this blog. Tomorrow I will leave for the Madsen's cottage in the mountains for some days where we will be hiking, running, etc. I'll definitely bring my camera and take some pictures. Here are some of the pictures I've taken so far.


Here is a picture of the view of Holmenkollen
from at the top of where we finished our intervals


Marianne and her friend from team Kollen at
the top.


Ragnar building Marianne's new closet


Marianne is quite the builder herself


A view from the plane coming into Norway


A bad picture of me with Holmenkollen
ski jump in the background. Quite tired
from uphill ski intervals as you can see.