Lång dag som börjar gå mot sitt slut. Klockan ringde 5 imorse och då bar det av mot Stockholm och Görväln för ett sista långt swimrun pass med Team Totally Lost plus en vältränad kompis. Lite regn, mycket värme, stilla vatten och fina stigar bjöds det på och vi kände oss riktigt nöjda med dagens insats när det började närma sig lunch. Nu hänger våtdräkten på tork och den har lyckat skaffa sig några hål på bakdelen efter allt klipphasande. Nu är det mest vågträning och finjustering kvar innan det drar ihop sig.
Dagarna går och det är lite drygt en vecka kvar till vi åker hem. Datorn strejkar så det är lite svårt att få till ett inlägg.
Vi har hunnit gjort en hel del, träffat vänner, badat, varit på Grönan, vandrat lite på stan, varit i skärgården osv. Vi är lite sega, semesterlunken har tagit över och dygnet har vänt på sig. Vi är numera på svensk tid, viket tog nästan tre veckor.
Jag har varit och testat ö till ö banan med Totally Lost. Bil, skärgårdsfärja och promenad. Två dagars swimrun träning från Utö och uppåt, vilket är banan baklänges. Vi simmade och sprang, eller klättrade över klippor, i dagarna två och vilade upp oss i tält över natten. Det blåste mycket, alltför mycket enligt min smak. Höga vågor och svart vatten.
Vi har haft en fin dag på Grönan med kusinerna. Nya attraktioner och lite blåst men Stockholm är ju svårt att slå.
We are home away from home, in Uppsala, Sweden. The sky is blue, trees are green and the city is empty. We have been away for a week and it feels like a month. Our suitcases are unpacked and we have made a mess of the whole house. We have shoes, swimsuits, towels, clothes, water bottles… everywhere. We have basically filled up the house in a week. My parents are very patient and extremely calm even if they have 4 guests in the house.
We had a few lovely days in Skåne, the very south part of Sweden. A couple of days at the beach, swimming in salt water, eating sandy sandwiches and watermelon, fighting mosquitos after dark and the yearly ferry ride over to Denmark. I love this part of Sweden and I think we have spent every summer there the last 40 years. It is vacation. Packing lunch and filling the coffee thermos in the morning. Your pockets filled with sand and seashells at the end of the day. Falling asleep on sandy sheets, messy hair for days and sun warm cinnamon buns. I might even take another trip there before we fly back home. But I think I need to give the kids a few days before I start planning a new long car ride.
The first few days here went by fast. Jetlag seem to create forgetfulness, I can’t remember what we have done. Traveling takes endurance. It is a long flight, a long night without any sleep and the kids have really high expectations when they step off the plane. I’ve felt tired since we arrived but I am sure it will get better. The kids seems to do pretty good, at least they can sleep. They are floating around doing nothing…they read, bake, meet with friends, run, watch the clouds…
We had a Team Totally Lost reunion Wednesday. A longer swimrun in Görveln north of Stockholm. It was great to get together again after 7 months on different continents. We will have a few more opportunities to meet and swimrun before I take off. We will meet on a different location tomorrow, new trails and new waters. I will try to remember to bring the camera.
The girls and I left Redmond Friday around lunch and took our first steps on Swedish grounds Saturday in the afternoon. No sleep for more than 24 hours. The kids did great as always, they are travelling pros. They plug in their music, get their books and zone out. The only thing they complain about is screaming kids and smelly people.
It’s good to be back. Not much have changed since last summer, maybe a few new houses and shops but that’s all. We managed to stay awake until 9.30ish the first night, not bad actually and slept until 11.30 and thought it was morning. It never gets dark here. After sleeping and waking up all the time I started reading at 3 and forced myself to stay in bed until 4.30 before I went for a run. The sun was up but the city was sleeping. After a couple of kilometers I ended up down town and started meeting people that was on their way home from pubs and restaurants. That never happens in Redmond or Kirkland. You meet runners, commuters and animals at 5ish in the morning but never drunk people. I met a few paperboys with their bikes and a lot of birds. I ran into two scared hares by the castle and a deer behind the hospital. No cars for more than 75 minutes but the bikes are still around. Summer in Uppsala is very sleepy, no students and kids. And it is not every day you get to run on cobblestones that’s been in the same place for hundreds and hundreds of years.
What really takes me back every time I come back here is the smell. The smell takes you back years and years gives you a sense of deja vu. The beautiful smell of flowers, trees and grass that takes you back and memories turns up in your head. You start thinking of people that reminds you of roses, jasmine and lilac. The nice smell of coffee outside the market, fish outside restaurants, the smell of the river that goes thru Uppsala. It gets very clear when you don’t smell it every day. And when I finished my run and got back into my parents garden I smelled the tomatoes from the green house. That is a lovely way to start your morning.
I went to the pool this morning, that is not as relaxing as running. You need to bring your own towel, lock, shampoo, fins, buoy… I forgot how that works. Surprisingly I met a few people I know 6 in the morning. Very nice. I swam the 50m lanes and felt out of breath and tired. It looks like it is regular crowd that swims at this pool and I was clearly the outsider. A couple of old ladies in the slow lane took me to the side, against the wall by the sauna and asked if I planned to come back, in a very friendly way. And they say Swedish people are cold and unfriendly… I am part of the group ladies 85 and up now, the cool group that somehow manage to walk in and out of the pool without getting their hair wet.
We packed our swim bags and left after breakfast this morning, headed up north to Lynnwood. Brjann decided to come with me, he probably had a feeling he needed to be there for support. (Thank you!) Martha Lake 1 mile swim, that’s only 1,6 km. Not much! My problem was that Martha Lake is not a pool, it’s an actual lake. And I had to leave my flippers and my shoes at home.
It was a nice day for a swim and it was a big crowd getting ready by the water. I felt too calm, it felt easy. The water was warm, sky was blue and I will be on my way home in a heartbeat. Yeah, really.
We all got in to the water in waves. The 2 milers took off and 2 minutes later it’s time for us with the pink caps. I decided to go slow and took off. And here we go… I’ve got this! I swam beautifully last night into the sunset. Not a problem. Easy!
I stopped breathing after 5 strokes and then I basically never started again. So I decided to breaststroke for a while to calm down. Tried to go back to crawl and no… not breathing again. Gliding on one side… not breathing. Awesome, it’s going to be a very long mile. Brjann swam beside me and told me to inhale/exhale and go on my back for a while. Not going to happen, I just need to move forward. One buoy down, two to go. Let me tell you, this was the longest mile in my life. I could have jumped on one leg faster than this, in the water. But now I know I can breast stroke for 1 mile.
The interesting part is how I felt. I guess this is how you feel when you panic but stay in a very good mood. I didn’t understand that I panicked until after I was done, I just thought I had breathing problems. It felt like my wetsuit was too tight over my chest, like I put it on wrong. I had problems with this a couple of weeks ago but it’s been all good since then, getting better and better every time. Last night when I swam I felt like a million bucks, fast and strong.
We chatted the whole way, breast stroking slow around Martha Lake. I had time to check out houses and boats and I realized pretty fast that I will be the last one in. The only reason I didn’t turn back was that I don’t do DNF’s. My heart rate was really high the whole time, too high. I could actually feel my heart in every part of my body, it was all over. And my breathing, not good. After the second buoy I heard wheezing and and squeaking. Was that me or my wetsuit? Have no clue?
And then we walked up from the water over the finish line. I am pretty sure Brjann and I were the last in and that’s a first. Interesting day! I thought I would feel exhausted after but not at all, so I guess my heart worked really hard but the rest of my body was gilding around Martha Lake house watching. It would be so easy to pack up the wetsuit and never get it out in the sun again. But that will not happen. We all have good days and bad days. And I am pretty sure tomorrow will be a better day. And now I’ve done the first leg in my race and I only have to do 5 more miles that day. Not too bad.
Have you seen Piglet and his magic earmuffs? If you don’t have time to watch the 10 min video I’ll explain why I posted it here. My flippers are Piglets earmuffs. Piglet can’t ice skate without his earmuffs, I can’t swim without my flippers. Magic flippers!
charlottebrekkan.com 