My first Brutal-blog, and since it’s the off-season (serious training starts in January), there’s not many great training or racing stories, but it’s a nice time to introduce myself…

When I started my triathlon-career I knew that one day, I wanted to do an iron-distance race… It seemed impossible; as a recreational cyclist I guessed the 180km bike part wouldn’t be a problem, but running a marathon? Or swimming 3.8km? So I started to run, and tried to start to swim (it took me a while to learn that!).

A few years later (2013) I raced in Roth (totally different than a Brutal event, but still; a bucket-list race for every long-distance triathlete!). The race was unforgettable for many reasons, and one of those reasons was that I was doing something that I thought was impossible just a few years before… 

And it was that feeling of impossibleness that was addictive, and that’s what got me interested in this crazy little race in Snowdonia…

Little over a year ago I first heard of ‘The Brutal’… And, as probably everyone who reads about it for the first time thinks, I thought “a double iron-distance race… That’s impossible!” (not to mention the Brutal-ness of the course itself!). But a little voice was born, somewhere deep in my head, and once in a while it would say “do you remember that insane race in Wales? Would be a nice adventure…”. 

Usually the best way to shut up that little voice is to just give in and go for it, but somehow this time that didn’t seem like a sane idea…

But mid season I decided to enter the 10km Big Brutal Swim; I loved the idea of swimming further than I ever swam before, but mainly, I wanted to get a feel for the course of The Brutal. A friend told me that one of two things would happen during my trip to Wales; either I would run ‘the “easy’ lap around the lake’ (which is definitely not an easy lap…), and I would decide that it was doable, or I would run that lap, and I would decide that it was way too tough… In both cases, the result would be the same; I would want to race The Brutal… I realised he was right, and that somewhere deep in my mind the decision was all-ready made…

So the trip to Wales was no longer about finding out if I dared to pursuit this crazy plan, but it became a training weekend, exploring the course. During the Big Brutal Swim I loved the camaraderie among competitors and crew, and during the weekend I ran a few times around the lake, and partially up Snowdon, knowing that next year it would be slightly less relaxed… 

Now it’s December; I signed up for The Double Brutal, and while planning my season with my coach I start to realise that it’s going to be a year filled with a lot of hard work… It’s getting slightly scary; what have I gotten myself into now… At the same time I’m really excited, since 2016 will be a year filled with a lot of beautiful miles of swimming, cycling and running and great races which will lead up to that one long weekend in Wales…

I’ll keep you posted on my Road to The Double!