photoshop convention was a success!

The Photoshop convention was a success yesterday. At least, as far as I could tell.

Photographer Jens Haugen was first up with 2 sessions. His photography is quite impressive, and it´s always exciting to learn tips and tricks from other photographers. Afterwards came Martin Evening, photographer and Photoshop guru. He has written books about Photoshop for several years, so watching him show us tricks was exciting, and not to mention the brand new goodies from the just released CS5 version!

Then finally it was my turn to talk, for about 40 minutes. I had been pretty anxious this whole week, and not slept at all the night before. But it seemed to go well. No glitches, and even got a few laughs from the 80 or so people watching. After my solo performance I was joined by Stig and the 2 of us had an hour together with "tips and tricks" as our theme. It all seemed to go really well, but it´s hard not to be biased when you´re in the middle of it.
Afterwards we went to a bar in Aker Brygge to have a beer. I was SO releaved it was all over, and incredibly exhausted.
I can feel it today even... my body feels like a big hangover. And it was not from the beer.
I have posted more photos on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=223117&id=567466062

final preparations: butterflies big time!

This week has been hectic as I have been preparing for the Photoshop convention on Thursday. I will be speaking for about 35-40 minutes alone about Photoshop and then together with Stig for another full hour. To add on to the pressure, I will follow Martin Evening who is a Photoshop guru and has been a part of the Photoshop team since the beginning.
I am really looking forward to his speach though.
You can find more info on the conference here http://www.igm.no/
But for tonight I´m having butterflies big time, and I´m sure I won´t sleep very well... again.

video: Sentrumsløpet

Espen did a great job filming and putting together this short video.
To watch it on youtube go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yI0mU62cEg

race report: Sentrumsløpet - 10 km run

This was my 6th time running in the 10 km classic run in downtown Oslo.
Luckily the sun was out, so even though it was a little bit cold, it was perfect weather for shorts.
I had my doubts on whether I would be able to match my time from last year. I`ve been training pretty good this winter, but I have not really been keeping up with my running.
I ended up next to Trine in the starting area. We were both discussing our expectations and we both were hoping for around 41-42 minutes. The gun went off and a sea of runners flowed through Karl Johans street, towards the castle. Its a pretty cool sight. There were 5000 runners this year!

Already at the 1 km mark I could tell that Trine had a much better run than me. She was slowly pulling away, and I could not keep up. But I found my pace and had to keep that.
I love the path that Sentrumsløpet goes. We run up to the castle and pass it on the right. Continue further up towards Frognerparken and run straight across that. There are always a lot of spectators in the park. We then curve back down and eventually end up at Aker Brygge. Lots of spectators here too. Then the final curve around downtown and then the final sprint back down Karl Johan, where we started.
My pace was pretty steady throughout the whole race, but since my average was around 4:20 per km I knew it would not be a new PB for me.
I ended up with 43:33.
I placed 117th in my 40-44 age group (out of 443).
I`m still pleased with my results. Now I just need to keep up with my running ;-)
Oh, and Trine got 41:27. Very nice!
For all results go to www.sentrumslopet.no

race report: Bø Sprinten triathlon

The triathlon season has started! Finally!

And for the 3rd time for me it was Bø Sprinten.
750 meters swim (indoors pool), 20 km cycling, 5 km run.

After a hectic Saturday morning I finally managed to leave my house, a little late, and drove down to Bø, Telemark. About a 1,5 hour drive from Oslo (I may have broken a few speed limits). Signed in at 9:30 and was able to warm up in the pool for about 20 minutes before the heats started at 10.

I was curious about my swim time, since I have not swam a lot this year. I managed to swim in 12:56 though and came in 8th place total :-)
(my swim time last year was 12:09)
Several heats followed me so we had to wait quite a while until the cycling started. In fact we would not start until 1 pm.

I did not mind too much though because I wanted to make sure my bike was properly set up. My bike has been inside my living room for about 6 months, so I was glad I could take a little test ride while I waited. Another last minute thing was switching out the shoe laces with the stretch laces on my jogging shoes. (nothing like waiting until the last minute). Obviously it´s been a while since my last triathlon.

Finally the cycling leg started, and since I had the 8th best swim time I was 8th out of the gate (3 minutes 39 seconds after the first guy).
The weather was sunny and the temperature was nice (well, a little cold), but the winds were insane!! And as soon as I got out on the roads I realized that it was mostly side winds. I tried to use the tri-bars, but it was all I could do to not lose control, so I had to use the regular handle bars most of the time. After only a few minutes I was passed by a couple of guys. And more would pass me before I reached the half way point. No worries though. I just concentrated on keeping a nice cadence and not waste energy on the winds.
At the half way point, 10 km, I clocked in at 19 minutes. Not bad. I was hoping for a tail wind on the way back, but no such luck. The wind was coming from everywhere it seemed, and in gusts, so I just held on tight and tried to just keep a good cadence. I managed to use only 18 minutes on the way back so I was pleased. 37 minutes total on the bike, giving me a 32 km/h pace, which surprised me in those winds.

Into the changing zone, on with the jogging shoes, and I ran out. The winds were increasing, and it seemed like I was running at a 45 degree angle heading into the winds. This was a loop taken 3 times. It was supposed to be 5 km long, but my GPS measured 4,3 km. I managed to keep a very nice pace, and no one else was able to pass me on the run. It was a fairly flat course, and the dreaded hill from last year was now gone. I crossed the finish line after a 20 minute run.

I ended up in 18th place, out of 42. My total time, including the swim, was 1:10:41, about 14 minutes behind the winner. It´s impossible to compare my times from last year since they changed from mountain bike to road bikes (thank God), and the run track was changed as well.
It felt great to be out again, cycling and running, meeting up with the other triathletes, and just having a good time. I think my skiing this winter has paid off.

My photo album:
http://www.hustephoto.com/ph_BoSprinten_2010/

Bø Sprinten´s photo album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/106115835099005412782/BSprinten#

Final results:
http://www.hustephoto.com/ph_BoSprinten_2010/BoSprint_halvolympisk_170410.html

hustephoto: new design!

I have finally re-designed my photo site: http://www.hustephoto.com

video: skiing in Hafjell II

Just for fun... check out how incredibly fast I´m going ;-)

video: skiing in Hafjell

one final ski weekend

Just when I thought I had packed away the skis for the year, I get invited to a weekend in Hafjell to celebrate Kurt´s birthday. I could not resist of course.
The weather was great! I went skiing for a couple of hours on Saturday, while the others were enjoying a more relaxing past-time at the "after-ski".
The bottom photo is the "cabin" we stayed in.

The view from the cabin where you can see "Fakkelmannen" (the man with the torch) which was made for the ´94 Olympics.

skinny tires finally!

Finally!
I could use my road bike to work and leave the heavy offroad bike at home (which sorely needs a spring cleaning, poor thing).
My commute to work this morning was 16 minutes, instead of 20.
The roads are dry, the sun is high and I´m feelin´ fine :)

naturally skinny?

I need to get this T-shirt!

it is snowing again!

I really wish this would be an April Fool`s headline. I really do.
We are now in April, and there is still plenty of snow on the ground and the temperature rarely rises above 40 F.
On this Thursday morning, during my Easter break, I was getting ready to go for a run. I look outside and see that it is snowing.
Again.
Could somebody just tell me that this is an April Fool`s joke and that tomorrow will be sunny and nice? :-)