We arrived in Tromsø tired. It was another good plane ride for the kiddo, but we were still not caught up on sleep. None of us slept on the plane. It took us a moment to figure out where our Airbnb entrance was. Once again, we were still too tired to actually comprehend the directions that were given to us. We made our way inside our little apartment and quickly got the kiddo down for a nap. We also took it as a moment to catch a little snooze. Elijah’s nap times came in handy for all of us those first several days. Once Elijah woke up, we decided to go grab our bibs, so that we could be race ready. It was an easy walk down the street to the city hall.
I was getting giddy over the cute little cobblestone streets and the European feel of the town. I love European cities and towns. I am overcome with this intense desire to never leave when I am walking around. It is something that I have never experienced back in the states. To be honest though, I do get giddy over seeing new things in general. I just love experiencing new cultures and seeing new sites. However, there is just something about a European town. It was a bit rainy out, but I was enjoying it. We got our race packets and continued to do a little more exploring.
Honestly, I am starting to forget what happened each day specifically, so I’m sorry if my days run together. At some point we made it over to a little free museum which was odd, yet enjoyable. Art out of fish skins can be interesting! We kept trying to find a place for dinner and were continually denied. Apparently reservations are key around there. We reverted to a grocery store and ended up making most of our meals for the long weekend.
Saturday afternoon before the race, the sun decided to shine a little bit for us and the mountains came out. The marathon started at 8:30 in the evening. It was chilly standing around for the start, so I added an extra layer that I was very hesitant on. Oh well! I did it anyways. The first half of the marathon was absolutely wonderful. Brent and I were feeling great and moving along to set a PR for Brent. It was a bit warm for me with that extra layer, but I was managing. Around mile 17 or so, I started to feel it in my hips. This was close to the same point as I started to slow down at my marathon in Boise. Brent and I kept slowing down and started to do a run/walk with about 6 miles left. We saw my sister and her co-worker on the other side of the road working their way towards to half marathon finish. We wished we were at that same point, about 2 miles ahead of us, but we kept getting slower. I was getting emotional. It was late. It was getting cold and rainy (I was finally thankful for that other layer!). I was tired and ready to be done. I came across the finish line where my sister and dad were waiting, not being able to hold back the tears. I was an emotional wreck, but I finished. We quickly made our way to the apartment to eat a little and sleep.
Little man decided to wake up shortly after we got back. He was not catching on to this whole time change thing. My parents were so great to take care of him, as the three of us tried to get some sleep. We woke up, had some homemade breakfast and set out to do some more exploring. We were able to make reservations at an amazing restaurant that served some spectacular seafood. We ate whale, melt in your mouth salmon, crispy cod skin, among other tasty dishes. We could hardly stand it. The food was so delicious. We didn’t do a lot the rest of our weekend in Tromsø, but we wandered the streets, visited the Polar Museum, took a long walk to the top of the island and recovered from the race. I want to go back and explore the hiking trails one day. There was so much beauty beyond the streets and the town. We did like Tromsø, but I really fell in love with our next stop.
