I’m looking for a good off season, base and build program, specific to the Norseman.
Any info about the the race from someone who has raced Norseman?
i recommend hills. both on the bike and especially on the run.
gaustatoppen, the mountain you run up will show you every missed opportunity to run up a hill or do a hill workout.
start to get used to cold water. the sooner the better 
I live in Colorado, so hills i can find without trying. Im not regeistered yet, but will attempt to in Oct. How long after applying for entry
do they notify you that you’re in or not??
i’m also applying for 2013…
My plan for the upcoming season i to make a longer base-period, as the race is in late 2013… Im gonna train though smaller races during the early season and have those as B/C races…
No doubt that hills will be your friend for the next year, but i live in Copenhagen, Denmark… Im gonna have a really hard time finding those hills… the longest and steepest hill around here, takes no more than 5-7 minutes to climb… 
Well… i’m gonna do hill repeats and loops then
I would also suggest to do your strength training during the base-period along building your endurance.!
I might have to use a treadmill for uphill running, so practise long uphill runs…
Do anyone have the route profile of the running ? - im thinking of the altitude data! it would be nice to make the treadmill running like the actual route…
Cycling steep grades is essential, and don’t underestimate the need to practice your downhill skills too, as many positions are gained by the good downhillers on some of the switchbacks. The run is really 25K of honest running, followed by the 10% grades of Zombie Hill, another 5K of rolling run, then the last rocky 5K trail of Gaustatoppen. If you have access to mountains, a good hike after your usual bike/run workouts can be beneficial. The course profile is available on the www.nxtri.com website. You can download the detailed profile through the link they provide to the Google maps version of the race map. Read the race manual and website carefully. They put a lot of thought and good information into it. Good luck with your training!
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start to get used to cold water. the sooner the better
I saw the video. How cold the peeps were getting out of the water. I’ve been in the water 2 deg south of the Arctic Circle. It was to your bones. I would say as much training as you can get in the North.
I don’t know the latitude, but I’ve been skiing in Norway. Gets light a long time before the sun comes up. It inscribes an arc in the Southern sky. I don’t think this would affect your race, but if I were doing this, I wouldn’t want it to be the first time I’d been swimming like that. Be interesting to see how far up in Canada/Alaska you would have to go, for those of us in the Western Hemisphere. Also, how the tides work up North in the fiords. If the race waits for slack tide.
I’m thinking of applying for the lottery and was wondering if there’s a fee for the lottery or if you pay after you’ve been selected and accept. I’ve searched and can’t find an answer. Being in Georgia I would have a hard time preparing for the colder temps but have some ok climbs within driving distance.
No fee for their lottery, but once you are accepted you auto pay. I have applied for several years in a row and never got in the race.
The waiting period is only ~3 weeks. After knowing of many people who have never gotten in, I wonder just how their quotas are set up.
It’s on my must do list, but who knows when I’ll be able to.
I will apply and hopefully be lucky and get a spot. Someone wants to go to Kona, I want to go to Gaustatoppen.
BTW I am from Norway currently living in the US. PM me if you have any questions. My family is from the foot of Gaustatoppen so I have spent quite a bit of time there:-)
Also applying for 2013. If I cant get on ill try Celtman and again if I cant ill do horseman (yes thats the name…). I wish they would run 2 days on this race every year and then we would all get double the chance to actually race it. cant wait for it to open.
My plan for training is to cut out some of the distance and add a lot more hill work for the bike (just due to time constraints, otherwise I would add both!). For the run too, more hill stuff.
To the other poster, I work in Denmark 3 days a week and yes its quite flat but you can find a few hills and I would just do then over and over and over as fast and hard as you can. How about in door trainer? I had a go on a watt bike yesterday and I have to say it was a damn fine bit of kit and if I could I would have one! loads of set programs to test you self on too.
A view of the gold at the end of the rainbow - the Gautablikk finish hotel, August 4, 2012, looking good after a long day of Norseman…
Here you will find high quality pictures from 2012.
They are taken by Kai-Otto Melau
http://www.melauphotography.no/blog/?p=756