Viking Ships + Half Marathon + Night at the Opera

When I got to Oslo a little over a month ago, I decided to register for the Oslo Half-Marathon, despite that I would have just a little over a month to train for it, which is potentially inadvisable, but a month felt like a long time! This weekend, it happened! The weather was beautiful and I figured that if I was lucky I could keep up about 8:00 miles and cruise in at around 1:45. The start line was so fun, there were people dancing above the course, music playing and so many people. When the gun went off, I started running with the 1:45 pacer, but that felt really slow, so I started passing people. I was going at about 7:40 mile pace, but I checked in on my breathing and how my legs were feeling, and everything was good! I was so happy the entire time, and I kept thinking about the cross country team at home who had a meet on Saturday as well, and felt like I was running with them,

even though there is an entire ocean between us. I ended up coming in a little under 1:39, finishing 13th in my age category and as the first American woman (which is easier when you're in Norway, but still cool :) ). When I got to the end, my friends were waiting for me. They just missed my finish, but it was really nice of them to show up!
That night, some friends I have made that were running either the half or the full marathon (and some others) gathered for a celebratory dinner, which was so so lovely.

On Friday, several of us went to check out some viking ships at a museum near Oslo. There were 3 big viking ships that had been found in big burial mounds, as well as other viking era artifacts and an exhibit about viking battle axes. Super cool!
After getting back from the museum, my friend Katie and I went down to the Opera house, because we had not yet been and figured that it was time. The Opera house is right by the fjord and has this big sloping roof that you can walk up. After we had wandered around the top of the Opera house for a while, we went inside for a bit and found a program of the shows that are being put on this year, and decided to get tickets to a show called "War Requiem" for Sunday night. As is

probably evident based on the title, the show was very intense, but also extremely beautiful. A lot of christian imagery and exploration of the idea of how war affects children.

All in all, a very eventful weekend, and I didn't even leave Oslo!