To be Frank and honest with you all, keeping up with our next presented athlete at Bergen Triathlon will take it's preparation. Meet Frank, the ninth participant to be presented in our meet the participant series. 

Q: What is your name?

FDK: Frank Denis Kristiansen

Q:  Where are you from and how old are you?

FDK: Oslo and turning 40 this year.

Q:  How did you hear of Bergen Triathlon and why did you decide to do the race?

FDK: Actually it was the news letter that goes around with the Oslo triathlon competition (Olympic distance). Looking at the profile of the race and its surroundings, it took me short time to decide.

Q: Is this your first triathlon or have you a triathlon track record?

FDK: This will be the 8th long distance since 2006. My results are

Norseman 2006 # 7 overall, Kalmar 2007 DNF(too many flat weels..) 11.54.42

Brazil IM 2008 #1 agegroup, #13 overall,  9.10.44

Kalmar IM 2008 #1 agegroup, #7overall, 8.51.46

Hawai IM 2008 #38 agegroup, #198 overall,  9.46.16

Kalmar IM 2009 #2 agegroup, #10 overall,  9.14.37

Barcelona IM 2009 #2 agegroup, # 20 overall,  8.52.04

 

Q: What is your best triathlon/sports memory?

FDK: The one I did in Barcelona Challenge last October is in a way the best experience, finishing 2. of all amateurs with 8.52.04. I finished 27 seconds behind winner without really knowing it before after the race. If I knew it I would probably worked a bit harder.. It was the fastest I have done looking at every discipline separately, with much less training than before. I was a bit  faster in Kalmar the year before, but it was the T1/T2 that were faster there. Before the competition in October I dropped all the knowledge of building up to a competition and tried what fits me. During the competition I never looked at the pulse, and I felt good and “relaxed” all the time. I didn’t even get any source from the running and recovered very fast. Normally there is always a struggle of some kind during the race and some aftereffects. And in fact I had the runners knee(langdistansekne) and had to stop every effort for a little run the day before the competition. I was ready to walk the rest of the run at any moment. So this was really a great experience. It seems that the body need time to get used to this kind of endurance.

The first Ironman I did, Norseman in 2006(one year after starting triathlon and nr.7.overall) was a great experience as well, realising that I can keep on the whole day. The Final in Hawai in 2008 was just too warm for me..

Q:  Which of the disciplines in Triathlon is your favourite? Any discipline you don't care much about?

FDK: There is no one of the discipline Im specially good at, except that I'm quite OK with all 3. I am self-learned swimmer and runner, but the cycling level I have from training with Rye sportsklubb expressteam (red: see below for details). I'm always just a bit behind the fastest in all 3, but it is probably the endurance that is the K-factor. It doesn’t help to be a fast cyclist if you destroy your legs on the bike. It is the running that is critical. In fact it is the last half of the marathon that it is all about. The rest is “warming up” as I see it. So you need to use just the right amount of energy all along and always keep some in reserve. So during the race I just follow my own speed. Every attempt to push above a limit has dramatical consequences.. I experienced that in Kalmar this year.

Q: Many of our participants have solid achievements in other sports like swimming running or cycling, but also others. What is your sport background and which results are you proud of?

FDK: From my youth I did judo until starting university studies(Norwegian master in ’86). A small but very good sport that works with the whole body. I did some cycling, but in the amateur world doing Trondheim-Oslo in ‘87-’88. Much later, in the end 2004 I went to the doctor to examine my health situation. I felt really in a bad condition, as if the body was blinking red light. The doctors said everything was ok, but I didn’t believe him. So I started training winter 2005, from a little to gradually more. That summer I rediscovered Trondheim Oslo and discovered triathlon, and went on to the next level. I was a part of the winning team (expresslaget Rye)  in T-O 2007 and 2008. So I have some background in cycling in the amateur’s world, meaning not professional. In 2008/2009 I was half-professional triathlet, with my work Snøhetta as an important participant/sponsor.

Q: What is your goal at Bergen Triathlon 2010?

FDK: First of all I want to enjoy the surroundings and the race. An Ironman is as I see it a competition with yourself. I liked specially the bicycle part that “suits” me. All competitions are different from each other and it is difficult to compare them. I never have specific goal of overall time, except from the run. Ok, that’s not totally true, but I don’t focus on it during the race. I just realised that if I wanted to beat the Norwegian record of 8.40.00 I needed to be professional triathlete, and that is out of the question. I dream of running sub 3 hours, but that is on a flat course. I guess that wont be the case in Bergen. Also I don’t know who else will attend the race, so we will see on raceday :) But I think it will be a great race for the public! Maybe even in rain..
 

Red. remarks: Trondheim-Oslo is a traditional Norwegian Gran Fondo (bike event) - a non stop ride of 540km. It's by many considered the "manhood test" for Norwegians, and if you finish within 24 hours it's considered ok. It has an over 40 year old history, and by Norwegians not familiar to cycling, the first question you get when they hear you do cycling normally is: "Have you finished Trondheim Oslo". It's more known than Tour de France by many Norwegians (at least until Thor Hushovd started winning stages), and I think it also was one of pro-rider Kurt Asle Arvesen's first bike races as he came to bike racing from cross country skiing. Anyway....the ride has a team competition, which more or less has evolved into a giant team time trial but on normal road bikes and not TT bikes. Each club starts with 30 riders in Trondheim at an interval starting arrangement and the times of the ten best finishing riders are summed up to complete the clubs results in the team competition. It has grown quite prestigeous, and the club SK Rye from Oslo has been the dominant club in the race, and they was the first club to average over 40km/h over the 540km.