runningyana

After 5 months of training, over 1.618 training kilometers, and countless gels, the big day has finally come! But before going into the race, let’s start 24h before the race:

27th of May 2022 – The prep is on!

I was filled with a surreal feeling leading up to the Oslo EcoTrail – Am I really going to run 80 Km tomorrow?! I went into tapering 14 days after a big mileage week with a 56k training ultra. I ran the final workout just two days before the race, a 5k shake-out, and I felt fit, fast, and ready to rumble 80 km.

The forecast for race day is Olso was perfect – 16°C, cloudy with a bit of rain and wind. So I decided to run in a short/short combo and pack a lightweight rain jacket in my running vest just in case.

Here’s some of my equipment I took with me:

28th of May 2022 – Race day!

3:30 a.m and my alarm went off. A big advantage of living in the north: it is already day bright outside at this time. After having my go-to breakfast (a bowl of oats with banana) and getting ready it was time to get to the start at Elgsletta Aktivitetspark in Olso City.

At 6:00 a.m it was go-time for the first group of runners, which I was in. The first 8 kilometers went through the city and it was already a bit of a challenge because some of the route marks were removed. Luckily I was in the leading group with the men and we all had the GPS track on our watches. After that, I found a comfortable pace and started to click off the kilometers up the Akerselva river, passing a handful of other racers.

My pace felt a bit though but I wanted to cover the runnable parts in a good time before it got on the more technical trails. The first 10 km to Hønefoten passed very quickly, and I downed my first gel after an hour as planned. The first major climb was up to Fragervann (Km 13-18) lake, where I started to alternate between walking and jogging. Scads of campers were spread out along the edge of the lake, enjoying a quiet morning in their tents. Some of them barely noticed racers running past, while a few took it upon themselves to cheer.

Besides some nasty passage through the cross-cut forest just past Fagervann, I enjoyed the technical trails to Kamphaug and down to Skjærsjøen (Km 20) – you could tell that I was in my element. On the descent towards Sognsvann, I hung onto a couple of men, slowed down, and focused on getting in some more calories and fluid. There was a water station at Km 10 which I just passed because my plan was to refill at the first bigger aid station at Km 30. So with that in my mind, I continued as I have planned with my nutrition (a gel, bar, or pack of chews every 45 to 60 minutes and a sip of water/electrolytes every 20 to 30 minutes).

I felt pretty good and strong but I was looking forward to the climb up to Vettakollen when I finally could hike a bit more. Along Songsvann (Km 25) were a couple of people cheering and clapping which really gave me the motivation boost I just needed for the final stretch to the aid station at Km 30.

The trails over the top of Vettakollen were very muddy and slippery because of the rain in the past few days. I was very careful to not crash this early in the race. My bottles were nearly empty as my watch told me 30k had elapsed, and I started to wonder how far it was to the (nominally) 30K aid station. It finally came into sight at around 32 km. I filled up my bottles and grabbed a slice of banana. Also seeing my partner (best support crew!) at Holmenkollen, just after the aid station, was a big motivational boost on top!

The wind picked up and it started to rain a bit as I alternated between walking and jogging up the pavement towards Voksenkollen (Km 37), chatting with a guy before leaving him for my own, silent company. 

On the rolling descent to Sørkedalen, I found myself in the predictable ‘OMG you are barely halfway how can your legs feel tired already’ dip. It helps to know the dip is coming; you just accept that this is kind of going to suck for a while. I started to fantasize to distract my mind from the slight pain in my right shoulder and hip.

I was starting to feel a little low on calories and picked up another banana and orange slices at the Sørkedalen aid station which was at Km 50. There was also the start of the 30K racers as some of them passed by with an aggressive speed on the narrow trails towards Fossum. Only a “Sunday Runday left” I told myself! My pace dropped and I knew my “hit the wall moment had come”. I started to struggle physically and mentally I felt pretty ragged by the time I got to the second to last aid station at Fossum (Km 60). somehow I managed to put myself together after another gel and some electrolytes. Also meeting my partner at Km 60 again who joined me for a couple of minutes, helped a lot to keep me going.

I was in ‘get this over with’ mode as I charged towards the technical descent of the Lysaker river. Keep it together, I thought only 20 more kilometers. This felt rather laughable – on most days 20K is a fairly long run! The single track along the rives was quite painful as I tumbled several times over rocks and roots (coloring my toes in a pretty blue tone). The descent was studded with punchy climbs that I walked up and ran down. There were numerous other racers on the singletrack, mostly from the 30K, cheering on me as they passed by. A tired nod and a smile were all I had left as a response. Near the end of the river, I started to think about the relentless kilometers of the road I was about to enter. In order to survive these last 10K, I swallowed down a caffein gel to push myself for the final stretch.

The final 10K runs between the E18 highway and the fjord, mercilessly in the open and on the road. The sun beat down and I started to feel very heavy, thankfully the caffeine gel started to hit and a final cheer from my partner gave me the energy to finish this thing – all I had to do was to keep moving!

My watch beeped and showed me that I had passed the 80K. A couple of hundred meters later I lept over the finish line, mostly just relieved that it was over. Finally sat down and gave a big toast to this great race. I finished top 10 in the female division and 3rd place in my age group.

Overall I’m more than happy with how this race went!!! The Oslo EcoTrail is truly a beautiful race and the nature around Oslo is just stunning. Take a look at the official website

The EcoTrail is an international race series that is held also in other cities such as Geneva, Stockholm, Warsaw, Phuket, Wicklow, Putrajaya, Madeira, Paris and many more! Check it out here.