You can still run at an event even when you haven’t trained for it – but it’s not a good idea.
I didn’t train at all for this race. Since May (and this race was in September) I hadn’t done any running whatsoever. The only training was from the 5-week Rondanestien-Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella hike we had been on in June-July. We were pretty fit after completing that, but fitness can be lost fast when you don’t do anything for a month - and hiking also employs different muscles than running.
Orvellingen from the Fjellhotellet carpark
I don’t really know what I was expecting. It was an ambitious undertaking I know, and the course was far more challenging that it looked on paper. Still, I completed the race, even though I was among the last to do so.
With a new friend at the Rondane lookout
The Furusjøen Rundt is a spectacular course and who can’t be wowed by the silhouette of Rondane in the background. I think I may have been grabbing at any excuse just to go back to Rondane after our dream hike in June-July. Yes, okay, Rondane had well and truly captured me.
The fabulous scenery
What did I learn by running the Furusjøen Rundet? I learned that you should always have a race plan. Know where you’re going and what to expect. Know the terrain and how you’re going to run it. If you don’t have a race plan, then your race plan should never be what another runner is doing. Never pace yourself with another runner - as you never know what kind of race formula they’re following. Basically, don’t go out faster than you can handle. Think about how you’re going to feel in two or three hours and train for that eventuality.
Rondane on the horizon
After the failure of the Schwarzwald Marathon the previous year, I lost my way a bit as far as training and planning went. It didn’t help that I was sidetracked by the high I was on after hiking in Rondane and Dovrefjell earlier that summer.
Crossing the bridge
All I could think about was Rondane and how much I wanted to go back out there and lose myself in that sensational Norwegian wilderness.
Getting closer to Furusjøen
It was a challenge to integrate my head back into ‘society’ after the Rondanestien. So the Furusjøen Rundt was some kind of compensation, as well as a ‘must do’, to keep the running clock ticking over. What it definitely showed me is that you don’t get anything out, unless you put something in. Obviously!
Ultimately, the Furusjøen Rundt ended up being a stepping stone to a type of running which would help me bypass the marathon altogether.
I finished the 17.5 km in 2:09:00. Pretty slow, eh. Yeah, I realised that my main problem was not only a lack of training, but I also a lack of proper fuelling. At the end I was quite buggered and hitting the proverbial wall - despite the short distance. So don’t run on empty.