Bergen Triathlon. The northernmost ironman distance triathlon in the world. 140.6 miles swim, cycle and run. A completely new course, a significantly larger entry and, for 2010, gale force winds.
Long distance triathlon is never easy. A 2.4 mile open water swim, cycling 112 miles and then running 26.2 miles (a full marathon) is hard work. Although I was using Bergen as a training race, I was in the running form of my life, swimming and cycling well and having notched up my first win of the season just a couple of weeks before, was confident of a good result.
Flying out the day before the race was not ideal but saved money and time off work. I met a couple of other British guys waiting for their bikes at Bergen airport and we shared stories of races gone by on the bus ride into the city centre. The race takes part on Askøy, a small island a short distance to the east of Bergen and my plan was to camp near the race start to save hassle of getting there first thing in the morning, hopefully get slightly more sleep and keep costs down. So I put my bike together in a little square in the town centre, much to several locals intrigue and made my way to the pre-race briefing.
There were several small changes to the race due to conditions. Spring had been colder than average and during the week the sea temperature had dropped even further forcing the organisers to move the swim to lake. As a result, even getting to the water for this race was hard work and involved climbing over a crash barrier and down a steep ramp which had been built. [Making my way down the top of the ramp] It also meant the out-and-back bike course went even further north (but only by a bit) crossing two cattle grids. With 4 bike laps making up the distance we had to rattle across cattle grids a bone shaking 16 times.
After the briefing, one of the organisers, Jan, gave me a lift to Kollevågen in the south of Askøy and as they had spare room in one of the race crew cabins, I was spared having to pitch my tent in the increasingly strong winds. Shortly before the summer solstice and at a significant latitude, it was still incredibly light when I finally got to bed later than planned shortly before midnight.
A restless handful of hours later and it was time to get ready to race. I had a small breakfast and made the short walk to T2, the second transition area where you finish cycling and start running. I set out my running kit and then cycled the couple of miles to the new swim location, organised my bike kit (much more clothing than normal due to the weather conditions) and got ready for the swim. I pulled on my wetsuit, thermal rash vest, wetsuit cap, swim cap and goggles just in time for the start. The water was freezing and I struggled to catch my breath as we "warmed up" for a few minutes.
The starting horn set us off and although I was still finding breathing hard, I managed to set a decent pace and after the first 100m or so latched onto the back of a line of 4 swimmers towards the front of the field. As far as I could make out there was 1 guy up ahead, then the 4 and me in 6th. After a few more minutes the left hand pair of swimmers started to pull away from the right hand swimmers so I moved over and went with them. Coming into the first turn buoy, I believe I was in 4th.
A shock awaited us after the first turn. The strong wind was now directly against us and whipped up some significant waves. I hardly ever get to swim in waves so flounder when it gets choppy. Swallowing water, not getting in proper breaths and not being able to see over the waves to the next turn buoy made it very hard work. I stopped several times and was sick a couple of times but reached the second buoy and headed back to the start. The second lap was similar but the cold water started to take its toll and my legs cramped up during the final time battling against the waves. [Out of the water in 10th]
The swim - run transition is normally a quick affair over and done within a couple of minutes.
But with the conditions as they were, I took the time to put on socks, a long sleeve thermal top, a wind proof gillet and full length gloves. I hadn't realised during the swim how cold I had become but I was struggling to get dressed and a race crew member came up and rubbed my arms and legs to try to warm me up (thanks Kjell). A massive 7 minutes later and I was out onto the bike course.
Strong, at times gale force, winds aren't fun to cycle in. Fortunately, most of the time the wind was either a head wind or a tail wind which made going slow and coming back fast. There were parts, however, with side winds and at times it was very hard to stay upright, usually passing over bridges which, I will admit, made for a scary ride. Out of the bike course I noticed a big industrial wheelie bin which had been blown over and a temporary road sign with two concrete blocks on the base which had also been toppled by the wind.
The bike section of the race started ok, the stomach problems which had started during the swim continued however and very early on I was sick again. At the half way turn around at Herdla on the first lap I ditched my own drink which contains protein and switched to the race drink which only has carbohydrate and should be a little easier on the stomach. It helped, a little, but I was still struggling to take in nearly enough fuel. I counted myself as being in 9th place at that point, close to 8th and 7th and with a bit of lead on 10th and 11th.
On the first main climb of the return leg, my chain came off and got stuck between the frame and the chainring. It took a while to wrestle it free and 10th place passed me just as I got it fixed. I passed him back before long and got back to the start after 96 minutes. Not quick but the conditions weren't great. Keep this pace going and although a few strong bikers might catch me, with my running form I was confident I could make up time on most of the field during the marathon.
Sadly the early pace didn't last long. Maybe I started out too hard, I definitely had nutritional problems and soon into the second lap I started to struggle. It seemed to take forever to reach Herdla again and this time I stopped for a couple of minutes to eat a banana and take in some more sports drink. The race crew expressed concern and although I played down how badly I felt I shared their thoughts that it might not be wise to continue. I decided at this point to forget about aiming for a good result and instead conserve as much energy as possible and get to the end.
The return was horrendous and despite the tail wind I took about as long to get there as it had taken me against the wind. Shortly after the half way point I stopped at a little lay-by, got off the bike and lay down for 5 minutes. I was just getting up to head off again and a crew member, Eirik, ran up with a pump in his hands and asked if I was ok. Brilliant race organisation. From that point onwards, I told myself that I would only have to cycle this section one more time. The rest did me a little good but I still made very slow progress back to Herdla for the third time. When I got there I stopped and sat down for 10 minutes to eat, drink and recover a little more. Again the race crew were great (thanks Bjørnar et al), taking my bike from me, fuelling me up and suggesting I shelter from the biting wind behind a nearby house.
I slowly completed the third lap and continued back to Herdla, the northernmost point of the northernmost long distance triathlon in the world for the final time. Again I stopped and took a long breather to prepare myself for the final 14 miles of the bike course and the small matter of a marathon afterwards. Without going over the top, I attacked the final return leg much more aggressively than I had been the middle two times. With a much better feel for the course I could really see how the course suited a strong biker. If you were aggressive with the shortish-sharpish hills you could get over or most of the way over them without losing too much speed. If you were struggling, however, they were enough to slow you significantly and prolong your suffering. I completed the 112 miles in a disappointing 7hrs 45 but at least I had completed it.
The second transition wasn't quite as slow as the first but was still slower than usual due to having to take off gloves and long sleeve thermal top. I hadn't realised earlier (nor could I figure it out at the time) but stuffing my kit from T1 into the bag provided for my wetsuit meant it was sitting with my wetsuit off to the side so I couldn't dig out any much needed spare gels. Not a big problem, the first feed station on the run course wasn't far.
I set off at a comfortable but decent pace and it felt great to be off the bike and running. The first km or two was quite up and down, no massive hills but more than enough to feel 9hrs into the race. It wasn't long before I started passing people, but some of these were wearing a wrist band (or two) showing they had already completed one of four laps. The feed station soon arrived and I took a drink and some "sport chocolate" and carried on running. We had a tail wind for most of the outward section of the run lap but again there were a couple of sections where it came from the side and I found my feet getting blown together as I attempted to run along and the sea was being blown over the road.
I reached the turn around, one eighth of the way through the run in good time. I turned and the wind hit me. It was like trying to run through treacle. It was seriously hard work and my pace dropped massively. But I continued to make up time on the other athletes and felt strong as we hit the more sheltered but hillier section leading back to Kollevågen. Making it back there was a great feeling and I ran around the "house" and collected my first band to show I had completed by first lap.
It started to get a bit harder somewhere along the second lap. I can't remember where exactly but my pace dropped off a bit. My right knee also started to hurt a little and I decided to switch to a run-walk strategy to give it a bit of a break and hopefully allow me to keep a decent pace when I was running. Strictly keeping the walk sections to 15 seconds at first meant I was losing little time and getting a bit of recovery. I collected my second band and completed the half marathon in good time and set off for the penultimate time. 
Perhaps it was psychological but the third lap was a real struggle. My knee, although not bad, was not happy and I was worried that I might be risking serious damage. I considered walking for the rest of the race but decided against it. The walk sections had increased to 20-30 seconds and were more frequent now. At the feed station half way to the turnaround I stopped and sat down for a minute. Despite the increasing difficulties, I was still passing people and maintaining my position with a couple of others. They would pass me while I was taking a breather and then I would pass them back. The penultimate turn into that strong head wind was crushing. I stopped briefly to catch my breath before pushing on.
The third and final band and run around the house was a huge boost. Determined to not stop anymore I grabbed a bit of food, headed off with renewed vigour and stopped about 50m later. I felt like I needed the toilet so stopped at a facility which makes your typical portaloo look like a high class en-suit. Still mid-race it seemed like a luxury. In a way it was a wasted minute or two because I didn't need the toilet. But pulling my trisuit top back up I felt something in a rear pocket and realised I'd put a gel there in the morning but hadn't had time to take it before the swim start. I'd carried it around for 134miles without realising, oh how I could have done with that concentrated shot of sugar and caffeine earlier on. Of course it went down very well at that stage instead.
Setting off, again, for the final stage and I quickly reeled in a couple of competitors who had passed me during my loo break. I felt great, cut my walking breaks right back to 15-20 seconds and reduced their frequency into the bargain. Even with the short walks I was nearly back to my initial pace and I didn't spend a single second taking in any extra food or drink. I don't think I walked once in the final return leg against that horrible wind. I certainly didn't walk on any of the hills coming into the final few km as I saw another competitor not far ahead and, not knowing if he was a lap or more behind or not, was determined to run him down. I did so just about 600m from the end and shortly after spotted another competitor a little further up the track. I increased my pace and started closing him down as well. Coming up the final little hill, 200m or so from the finish, I caught him. I could see he increased his pace as I came along side him but I gave my all down the other side of the hill and sprinted for the finish line, putting an (un)comfortable ten seconds into him.
Having finished I was presented with a quality medal and race top which are both very much treasured whereas most such race freebies hold no value to me. I put on an extra layer or two and headed into the "house" where there were race refreshments. Sadly being a vegetarian I was not able to enjoy the burgers or spring rolls which looked so tempting but a waffle, bun and salad were very welcome.
I was cold, tired and hungry but delighted to have finished. I didn't realise quite how cold I'd become however and a member of the race crew suggested I huddle up by the cooking fire and got me a blanket. Soon after he got me another couple of blankets and then went and got the rest of the clothing I had with me. A pretty medic promptly came and checked up on me and before long she had given me her superbly warm jacket and was rubbing my arms to help warm me up. The early stages of hypothermia have their perks sometimes. Soon I was whisked off in a nice warm car back to the cabin I had stayed the night before and warmed myself up in a very welcome shower. So, once again, top marks and big thanks to the race organisers for a superbly and safely organised race. There are only three things I would like changed if I was to come back and race here again. 1 - zero wind. 2 - veggie burgers. 3 - pretty medic to join me in warm shower.
For some reason I slept very well that night and awoke mid morning with stiff but (surprisingly) barely sore legs. My cabin mate and I went to another cabin and shared breakfast with them then headed back to Bergen to offload various bits of race kit. I squeezed my bike back into it's box and spent the last hour of my short stay in Bergen in a small park. There was a sculpture there which resembled what I imagine a whales rib cage would look like. Kids were climbing all over it and it was refreshing to see them being allowed to do so without some over-keen warden telling them to stop.
Back at the airport, I caught up briefly with two I'd seen the day before the race. They had both dropped out early on during the bike. At least some of us Brits are sensible. They were amoung nearly 1/3 of the field who didn't finish, the largest portion of which fell afoul of swim conditions.