01.05.2015 Christine Lystrup
I’ve been asked if I can blog about my way toward Coastman in August this year. Going forward I’m going to write a about my training and my thoughts towards this year’s big, hairy goals; doing a half ironman in Haugesund in July and get me through Coastman full iron distance in August.
My name is Christine Lystrup. I am 31 years old, married and the mother of a boy of 1.5 years. I work as a personal trainer outdoors with my own company. I like the outdoors a lot, and long walks are the thing. In 2011 I biked the length of Norway alone, I’ve trekked Jostedalsbreen in just two days and I have climbed high peaks. I like sailing, kayaking, climbing and all outdoors activities.
I tend to like outdoor activities that are long and hard, and outside my comfort zone, so the dream of an Iron-distance triathlon emerged fairly quickly. I can remember that I read an article about triathlon when I was a teenager, and since then it has been a big dream of mine to try this. I think I’ve read and watched most of what is online of Norseman, I read books and blogs about people who are doing this sport and I feel I have been properly inspired. In many ways, I’m a tough girl, but in other areas I can be a bit insecure, so it was only last year that I dared to enroll for sprint triathlon. I had just become the mother of a little boy who would not sleep, and we were sick a lot, so the preparation for my first race in Auklandshamn was rather poor. But I started the race with minimal cardio, but finished the race with cramps in both my legs and a huge smile on my face. This I would do again.
I entered the half Ironman in July last year, with trembling fingers on the keyboard. I had butterflies in my stomach already then. Could I do this? In autumn, I spent a lot of energy thinking about whether I was going to make it, instead of focusing on what it would take to finish the race. But I participated in a triathlon swim class in October, and from being almost drowned after 25 meters of swimming, I can now freestyle at least 3,000 meters and still have some energy left. I began to think that yes, I might manage to get through the race in Haugesund. I used my stubbornness, made small specific training goals (like participate in the local marathon carousel) and the results were that my training got more targeted.
During a nice Sunday walk with my family, I told my husband that I had a dream of once finishing a Iron-distance triathlon, and that one day, yes one day I would sign up for the new race “Coastman”. When we got home that day my husband and I each sat down with our computers. Suddenly my husband says; “I have signed you up for Coastman 2015”. I got my coffee stuck in my throat and managed to utter a little “huh?”. Yes, my husband was serious, and I saw in my e-mail inbox that I had received confirmation of that I was enrolled. My first thought was “You can just forget this!”, but then again it does not take a lot to challenge me either. After a few days with butterflies in my stomach, I decided to do my best to finish the race within the cut-off time. In the process, the nerves and all doubts about half ironman gone … Now it is Coastman that is the real goal.
I’m no expert at triathlon, and I have no idea if I will be able to finish Coasman within the cut-off time or whether my body would withstand the training towards the race. If I had I been a sensible person, I had probably spent another year to get ready for the full Iron-distance. I learned as I said to swim freestyle this fall, I pulled out the bike that I have inherited from my husband in February this year, and I’m a snail at running. I’ve been training a lot earlier, but I’m very new to training this focused on a endurance race. But one thing is certain; I’ll do everything I can in advance of the races so that I will be able to do my very best. I’m stubborn, I’m used to give myself “Big, hairy goals” and I love to work out. In addition, I got my triathlon training plan from Kari Lingsom, so now it’s just up to me.
Please follow my journey to finish Coastman Norway 2015. I need all the support I can get 🙂 You’ll find updates here on this blog going forward. I am also on Instagram under “Christine Lystrup” and the blog