Arild Tveiten is a fast age grouper from Norway who has been doing this triathlon stuff for quite some time. But like the interviewer, this Norseman bound athlete just recently became father of twins. A random coincidence indeed.

Slowtwitch: We are glad to have you here.

Arild: The pleasure is on my side. It’s an honor to be here with you guys. Even in Norway slowtwitch is well known, and I’m checking your site out almost every day.

ST: Good to hear and we really had to interview you for this feature. Your twin girls were just born a few weeks after my twin boys and that is a cool random coincidence. Plus it seems we will meet next summer at Norseman. Is that correct?

Arild: Yes we will definitely meet. And it’s cool that we both now are parents with twins. Since your boys are a little older than our girls, I hope you have some good advice. And if you have some tip on how to put in the long rides within the feeding period every 3 hours I would love to know.

ST: Well, no good advice yet, but I will let you know when I got smart tips to share. You actually did Norseman back in 2005 when only Bjorn Andersson was able to finish on the top of Gaustatoppen. Were you bummed you were stopped before the final climb or were you glad it was over?

Arild: When I got the message up on Zombie hill I couldn’t care less. I was so tired after a tough race day and was glad it was almost over. But then I forgot that we have to run down again to the new finish line. On the way down the legs told me it would actually be better to finish at the top of Gaustatoppen. And the moment I crossed the wrong finish line, I understood that I just had to come back one day.
I have unfinished business on the mountain. Due to different priorities the last years (Ironman Hawaii 05,07 and 10) next year will be the comeback year.

ST: So it is all about unfinished business when you are returning to Norseman in 2012?

Arild: Yes and no. Yes in the way that I had to be on the top of the mountain one day. And my race resume isn’t complete without a Norseman race. But the main reason for me doing that race at least one more time is that I want to really challenge myself in a race on Norwegian soil. So the main reason is that I will check what I’m capable of doing on that course. It an ultimate test for yourself.

ST: Was that race in 2005 the coldest triathlon you have ever done?

Arild: Yes. I think so. But I’ve raced other races in very cold weather, so it wasn’t anything to write home about. So I didn’t felt the temperature was a challenge.

ST: You have been doing triathlon for quite some time now it appears. Even before the sport became popular.

Arild: Yes. I’m one of the few that have been doing the sport for more than half of my life. It started for fun with a local race in 87, and I was 16 then. It was not many here in Norway doing that sport back then. So when some of the juniors on the national team make fun of me if I can’t follow them in hard training sessions, I just ask them to shut up and asked them how old they were when I got my first medal in the national championships.

ST: We know you do all distances, but do you prefer longer over shorter or do they all find you well?

Arild: I do prefer longer distance myself and have done 18 Ironman races so far, 5 of them in Hawaii. But since I work with some juniors racing ITU races now, I really got my eyes up for that kind of racing (sorry Slowtwitch), and I will hopefully be able do more of these races next year.

ST: What do you do for Polar?

Arild: Main part off the job is sales related as a key account manager. But I’m also the product specialist and in charge of the education part, or how to use a heart rate monitor to optimize training. Heart based training is very popular in Norway and today we have a marked share of app 70%.

ST: But you also work as a personal trainer?

Arild: Yes, I like to stay busy. Some years ago people asked me for advice regarding training, and I started to do some coaching besides my full time job at Polar. The last years I have done more of it.

ST: And apparently you wrote a book on running.

Arild: You have good sources Herbert. And as far as I know the book isn’t translated into English yet. But you’re right. I found some free time during the cold, dark winter months and wrote a book about running training with a friend. It’s called "best i løping" or translated into best in running. So If you want to improve you running this is the book you should have in your library.

ST: Now with the babies in your life do you think you still can do all those things and train?

Arild: No, I think that is a little too much. With the babies I want to spend more time together with my family and I take consequences of that and will take one year of from the Polar job. So hopefully I will get more time both to the family and Norseman training.

ST: When you say you are taking a year off from Polar, is that fairly normal in Norway for dads to get that much time off?

Arild: No. I’m just in a lucky position. But that said, we have a good welfare system in Norway and I’ll have 12 weeks paid by the government during that year. The rest of the year I use my savings and will be doing some coaching stuff.

ST: We are very jealous. How much have you been training a week until now?

Arild: I have never been a guy doing lots of hours training. I’m more focused about training effectively. Over one year I average about 500 hours. Big week are up to 20 hours, regular ones around 10 hours. But quite constant all year round, except the last two weeks.

ST: Have you gotten any good advice from other parents?

Arild: I have a triathlon friend of who also has twins, and he, and of course other friends with small children have given us a lot of advice. But you really don’t understand the situation before you’re in it. One advice we got was to synchronize the twins regarding feeding and changing diapers. Unfortunately no one told the twins the same. So they are not aware of the advantage yet. But if you have any advice I would love to hear them.

ST: We just wake the other one up when the first one is ready to eat. Hope that makes sense.

Arild: Yes that is normal for us too. It seems that they are ready for some food right now. It is just one hour since we finished the last meal, so of course they are hungry.

ST: Can you now even think about what event will be next, other than diaper changing?

Arild: Actually I don’t know. I will probably do some small locals running and triathlon races in spring and early summer. But main goal will be national long course championship and of course Norseman.

ST: Anything else we should know?

Arild: I want to thank my lovely wife Anne for being so patient about my hobbies and job. I know it take up too much time sometimes. And rumors regarding butter shortage in Norway are a little exaggerated. It’s a tough time, but we will survive. To all slowtwitchers, stay healthy, train smart and race hard! And I am really looking forward to seeing you and your family next summer.