New month and shorter showers

On 29 January, 201529 January, 2015 By lillahjarnanIn Blandat/mixed, In English, Träning/training2 Comments

This must be the perfect day to complain, feel sorry for myself and start over and get that darned try hard feeling back in my body and mind. Try hard! You want to be that person that goes all in. I think I’ve sank as low as I can and am working my way back up. I felt my tears behind my blinking eyes today, feeling overwhelmed and extremely tired but in a weird way excited at the same time. I lost my mojo and I think it’s time to take it back. I am of course the same person yesterday, today and tomorrow, a big bundle of joy. Drinking too much expensive, fancy European fizzy water, overusing Spotify, eating too much and too well but I will for sure take shorter showers, bike more and laugh every time I wear my swim goggles. That’s my plan. And I will stop drinking coffee after 9pm since I really enjoy sleeping.

I’ve been cheating. And it’s not like me. I have this perfect program set up for me that basically is set to make me successful and race ready. The January program gave me everything I could wish for and a little bit more. Did I do it all, the bike rides, the run intervals, the swims? No. Somehow I misread the handwritten piece of paper and added on a few runs, subtracted a lot of swims and bike rides and added on a lot of CrossFit classes. A lot. A big math fail. I taped up the program in the laundry room, on the way out to the garage. I passed it 10 times per day. I checked it every day but somehow 1400m swims became deadlifts and rows, 20 miles bike rides became slow 2 hour runs in the rain and long slow hikes in the mountains. I even stopped and took awesome pictures on my runs and hikes, that’s low. My biceps looks pretty decent but my endurance sucks. I learned how to climb ropes all the way up to the ceiling but I forgot how to climb a mountain on my bike. I reached my low point the other day when I had to walk the last part of my regular hill. When I reached the top I met a coyote that eyeballed me and wanted to race. I talked to him, tried to scare him off, ran fast but stopped after a while and told him that I don’t care. I even explained to him that I cheated on my intervals the past months so he could run as fast as he wanted, I couldn’t care less. He lost interest and I walked back.

I started out the year sick, I had a cold that decided to take over my system and suck out the last of my positive attitude and my swimming ability. It can’t be good to rinse your sinuses with pool water filled with bacteria’s when you can breathe mountain air. January is almost over and my penicillin jar is finally empty. And the bottom line, it is so much easier to take a class or 10 or 15 than to go to the pool. Why? I don’t know. Is it the chlorine? The first cold 10 seconds that makes your heart skip a beat and almost stop? The breathless exhaustion after a few laps? The inconvenience of using a hairdryer after swimming? The annoying feeling when you have to share a lane? I tried, I did. I tried really hard. I went to the pool a few times. I even swam a few laps. But somehow I always found someone to talk to or a good reason to sit in the hot tub.

It’s almost a new month. A new month means a new training program. 28 new, fresh days of swimming, biking and running. And a few rare days of CrossFit. Fresh days, new days, new opportunities. With this new month comes a new way of living. After swimming today I realized that it’s time for “Gundeshowers” again. I am back to the months before ÖtillÖ when I ran around Redmond wearing a wetsuit as everyday attire and taking showers 2-3 times per day. You shower before and after swimming, after running, after biking and sometimes just because you need to take a shower. You waste a lot of time in the shower. Gunde Svan timed his showers. 28 seconds. That’s how long it takes to rinse and shake. You don’t even have time to start heating up. And forget about using both shampoo and conditioner. Choices, life is all about choices.

So, it’s time to start planning life around swim/bike/run sessions, around showers, flat tires, lunch breaks and snacks, hardboiled eggs and cashews, selleri sticks and nutbutter. It’s time to make better choices. And take shorter showers.

And if you wake up early May 23^rd and feel like a long bike ride please give me a call. I have a 112 miles ride that day and would probably love some company. The hot tub days are over and forget about chatting in the locker room, a warm latte with a friend or god forbid a long lunch date at the club.

Vår mitt i vintern

On 27 January, 2015 By lillahjarnanIn Barnen/kids, Blandat/mixed, Resor/travel, Träning/training1 Comment

Hela januari har hunnit passera sen sist. Dagarna har rullat på med läxor, finals och terminsavslut, en evighetslång penicillinkur, jobb och en kort resa. På östkusten är det snöstorm och här börjar träden knoppa sig. Kallt på nätterna och knasigt varmt på dagarna har det varit senaste veckan. Jag undrar när vintern kommer.

När man ska gifta sig lite kvickt i ett smaklöst kapell eller spela bort massa pengar på kasinon byggda när guldrushen fortfarande var på topp då ska man åka till Reno. Caroline och jag flög iväg till Reno med glatt humör och mycket tävlingsnerver för att vara med i en klättringstävling för ett par veckor sedan. Vi höll oss ifrån kapellen och alla kasinon men jag avslutade helgen med lite poker på flygplatsen. Några långa promenader och ett par kortare springturer var det vi hann med utomhus mellan tävlingsheaten. Nästa gång vi landar i Reno kör vi nog mot skidbackarna istället för att stanna i stan.

Svenska skolan har börjat igen efter juluppehållet och vanliga skolan är ju som vanligt i rullning. Förra veckan var det finals för alla barn. Några nätters sömn missades helt och ansiktsfärgen blev som vanligt blåvit. Det är skönt att det är över.

Volleybollen rullar på med turneringar på olika håll och kanter. Helgens körningar höll på att köra ihop sig en aning när klockan ringde kl 5.15 på söndag morgon. Ett barn behövde åka 2 timmar väster över ut på öarna, ett barn två timmar norr mot Kanada och jag och ett barn skulle in till stan och jobba. Brjann fick ta hand om den minsta och den äldsta fick sköta sig själv. Det löste sig och alla sammanstrålade framåt 9 snåret på kvällen svettiga och mosiga. Det blev en bit oxfile sent på kvällen för att knyta ihop dagen och ladda om med en ny vecka.

I helgen har vi en tävlingsfri helg för barnen. Själv sitter jag här och stirrar på skärmen och säger tyst ”hur tänkte jag nu”. Jag ska återigen tävla med alla starka och snabba ungdomar. Jag har en ny partner för helgen och han och jag ska lyfta tunga saker över huvudet samtidigt som vi böjer på knäna, vi ska skutta högt upp på lådor och springa ruggigt snabbt uppför backar. För att inte tala om släden på 200kg som vi ska börja med att dra 50 meter på asfalt för att inleda tävlingen. Och det ska bli kul.

Nu ska jag dra på mig shortsen och cykla ut i leran.

2014

On 6 January, 20156 January, 2015 By lillahjarnanIn Barnen/kids, Blandat/mixed, In EnglishLeave a comment

I started to write a very serious summary of 2014. It was plain boring, filled with big words, lots of beautiful adjectives and kind of a false happiness. So, I am starting over. 2014 became the year that we’ll probably remember for a long time. Good and bad, indescribable sadness, lots of “try hard” moments, happiness, love and sickness. Plague and cholera mixed with bright memories and pure happiness here and there. Life happened. And it has been a long year, a badass year.

When everything works and moves forward, life is beautiful. Add on a long hike in the mountains, a crazy race on an island, a chilly bike ride on single track or a trail run in the green woods, beside a bright blue lake and life is gorgeous, overwhelming and great. I’ve been lucky to have lots of days filled with all those awesome things and you want to store that in your memory forever.

This year has also had it’s bad moments. Life turns upside down when you, a family member or a close friend gets sick or dies. We have experienced a little bit of everything. For me worrying is the worst and my mind has been filled with fire breathing dragons and still is. You want health and happiness for all your loved ones. I sure have learned that it’s impossible to fix everything with K-tape. And it’s heartbreaking to realize that there are things in life you can’t do much about.

We celebrate 7 years in USA in a few days. It’s a long time. I know we have all learned a lot and still discover and experience new things every day. Life sure is different here. I am glad we decided to stay after our first few years. You don’t start living in a new country until you’re getting used to everything around you. The first years passed too fast. You drive around looking for the right kind of food, places to visit, things you like. You start meeting people, building up a new life, getting used to everything around you. And you get used to a new language. Who knows how to service your car, going to the dentist and get a new furnace in English. You learn new things every day. And you wake up 7 years later realizing your kids are growing up in a mixed cultural world and you freak out a bit. Will this ruin them forever, raising them as world citizens with attachments to more than one country? Will they be confused, never feel at home or maybe the opposite? I am hoping they will live with an open mind, curious and a badass try hard approach to life.

Climbing and volleyball are still our overall preferred sports. If you would ask Brjann, golf would get high on the list too. The kids are super enthusiastic and really motivated. We so wish we could do this full time but some of us still need to earn our high school diplomas before making any life changing decisions. I am still working on my swimming skills and are trying really hard to look good in goggles. It’s not going to happen any time soon. I am also trying to get hooked on road biking but the only thing on my mind right now is deadlifts and pull ups.

Two years ago I wrote a post for our daughters and I am including parts of that post again. I cannot remind them often enough how great they all are.

Be nice to your sisters, always.
It is ok to be homesick and long for all loved ones in our other country… they will still be there next summer.
Never get in a car with a drunk driver. Call home, any time.
Work out. As much as you can and as hard as you can. And it is ok to look sweaty, not very cute and feel like you are going to puke. It is actually good for you.
Always work hard in school, it will pay off. But remember, you can only do your best.
Never be afraid to ask for help.
It is ok to spend a lot of money on shoes, especially running shoes.
Don’t worry about love when you are 17, you have plenty of time. I am sure you will not even remember the name of the cutest guy in 12th grade when you turn 30. Life goes on.
Accept people around you. Nobody is perfect. Not even you.
Do your thing. Be different. But don’t wear too short skirts.
Travel as much as you can.
Laugh often and hard. And laugh at yourself.
Keep your eyes on the ball, in sports and in life.
Learn how to drive a stick.
Learn how to cook and bake bread. Enjoy food, it is good for you and it brings people together.
Change is good, scary but good.
Do things that scare you.
No tattoos or visible piercings. And no, I will not change my mind about this.
You are all three so much stronger than you think.
If you can’t think, go for a run, a long run.
Don’t stress… you have a long life ahead of you.