Category: In English

The day after ö till ö

On By lillahjarnanIn In English, Resor/travel, Tävlingar/races4 Comments

I don’t even know how and where to start. Maybe 18 months back, a morning 3 h run in Redmond Watershed, a cold morning in April. Anna was the first person I met that have heard about Ö till Ö, my dream race. We met and decided to go for a short run. Anna asked how much time I had and I answered 3 hours and she said that it sounds like a nice, short morning run, I think I like you already. Our short runs gave us a lot of time to talk. I think we talked about the race very run we did for a few months. The only problem was that I didn’t swim very well. When they released the lottery tickets we got so excited so we bought 4 and waited for the big day. Anna moved back to Sweden, I broke my elbow and my wrist in a bike accident but we stayed in touch waiting for the lottery result. And I started working on my swimming, just in case.

The race is divided in about 65 km running and 10 km swimming, you run over 24 islands and swim between. You swim in your shoes and run in your wetsuit. It is called the World swimrun Championship and most of the participants apply on merits. You need to win a couple of Ironmans and World Championships in swimming to get a spot and its people from all around the world that applies for the 100 team spots. Interesting crowd. And we got a team spot for the magical race September 2nd 2013 Stockholm archipelago, Sweden. And after a lot of training, thinking and basically learning how to crawl I found myself looking out over Sandhamn harbor dressed in a wetsuit and a heart beating like never before.

We started in the back row and did a short 1,2k run and reached the sea. The Baltic Sea. I cannot tell you how worried I’ve been about the swim part of the race, the almost 10k ocean swim. We started out really slow, tried to find a nice pace. I somehow got a bit stressed, started to swallow saltwater and vomited after about 50 meters. Anna didn’t even notice so we just kept on swimming. We reached the first island after 1650 meters of swimming, one long mile and I felt good for finishing the first long swim. And then we started climbing cliffs, chasing cut offs and we never stopped.

The running part was almost no running, it is everything but running. You climb cliffs and try to get through really bad terrain. We kept a good “running” pace the whole race, we kept moving forward but we didn’t go fast enough. We knew from the beginning that our problem would be the swim part. We did ok, kept a steady pace but we didn’t swim fast enough. We had to chase every cut starting with the one at 9am and we felt stressed like crazy. When we reached Ornö after racing 10 and something hours we heard a big thunder and it started to rain. We checked the time and realized that our legs did not move fast enough to take us 20k to south Ornö before 6pm, the last cut. On a normal day we could have done it but not after 10 hours of racing. We decided to jog the 12km to the next energy station and take the boat back. And we felt pretty ok with it. We knew that we did our best. Maybe we could have made it if we had a better day without jetlag, sleeping issues, more swimtraining… but we did what we could that day. And it sure was an interesting day.

I will try to describe the islands, the swims and the surroundings another day but I still feel too tired to even think about it. My body hurts on few places but I am surprised it’s not worse. I have big bloodblisters under my big toes and a messed up toe from running with a rock under the nail for 10 hours. It feels like my left calf is about to fall off but I am sure it will get better soon. My lefts foot is swollen and unstable from twisting it a million times. But my biggest concern, my left elbow feels ok. I am trying to sort out what happened in my head. I did drink and eat the whole day but I could have done better, as always. We rushed to every energy station/cut and felt like we had to grab something and leave in a few seconds. I had a cold cup of coffee at the 2.30pm station, best cup I’ve ever had. And someone handed me a piece of Twix after the 1,4k brutal swim and it felt like I got a million dollars in a piece of chocolate. Heaven. All the volunteers and race staff did a fantastic job. We felt safe with all the boats around when we swam. We spent two excellent nights at Sandhamn and Utö and could not have asked for more.  

We had the equipment worked out pretty well, but you learn from your mistakes. My paddles really helped me but it also took time to get them on since my fingers turned purple after the first swim. Even if we had big hooks for the rope we used for the swims (and some runs) it was time consuming since our fingers didn’t work. I have to use ear plugs when I swim in cold water but that took time too. Everything gets difficult when you are cold and it took me hours to figure out that I was cold. Spending a whole day in a wetsuit is not very much fun but it worked. It felt pretty cold after a while and we only got the arms out a few times on the bigger islands. The problem with the wetsuit is that your heart rate gets higher, you have a constant pressure over your chest and that makes it difficult to push on your runs. It steals energy when you run. And it takes too much time to get your arms out so it is easier to suck it up and run. I didn’t say many words during the whole day. I am usually the one that talks when we run and Anna is the quiet one. I heard that Anna tried to talk, ask questions and get me prepared for the next swim or run but I couldn’t answer. My lips couldn’t move, I had to look down at my feet because of the terrain and I was too exhausted to waste my energy on words. I heard her but I couldn’t answer but I heard the answer in my head. Scary. It probably means that I didn’t eat enough. I also had the map and course memorized in my head but could not remember one single island. I had the distances written on my left leg on my suit but I couldn’t focus long enough to read. We just kept moving.

And here comes the strange part. I almost cried one hundred times because it hurt so much. My left calf could barely move forward and every step felt all the way up to my brain. The stress was the worst part, the constant chase after minutes and cuts. It was cold. The terrain was brutal. One wrong step on the cliffs and you fall and break every bone in your body. But I loved the swimming parts. The body felt light and pain free (if you don’t count bad calf cramps on the longer swims) when I jumped into the water. We had one long 1,4k swim in bad waves from NW that sucked the energy out of us but it still felt better than running. And I don’t even like swimming.

I heard myself say never again in my head over and over again, this is a race for crazy nuts and extremely mentally strong people. But when we talked on the boat on the way back to Stockholm today I hear myself answer yes, I will do it again if we get the chance. I know how to do it now. I have never experienced anything like it and I could not imagine before what it would be like. Indescribable. Something happens when you’ve been out for 6-7 hours and you can’t compere it with a short marathon or a shorter swimrun. A terrible and a fantastic day. And somehow the bad parts and the pain fades away after a nights sleep. I wonder when they release the lottery tickets?

How do you prepare for the unknown? Some good advice.

On By lillahjarnanIn In English, Okategoriserade, Resor/travel, Tävlingar/races, Utflykter/outingsLeave a comment

It’s getting closer, 20 days left. We are prepared, as ready as we can be. But I have to admit that I am nervous and a bit anxious. How do you prepare for the unknown? Maybe that is the thrill, to not know what’s going to happen.

We have our gear picked out and tested but there are still a few questions. How much water, food, some extra stuff that need to be considered. Two weeks until I leave, 20 days until race start. I am dancing weather dances and are hoping for a beautiful day and no wind and waves. Fingers crossed.

I have followed my plan and should be on track… But giving some good advice on the way, just in case.

If you can’t carry it, you probably don’t need it.

You’re the boss of your own circumstance, so make good choices.

When given the opportunity, wear a costume.

Give lots of hugs to everyone you care for.

When frustrating things happen, keep them in perspective. It can’t be that bad.

Try to learn the rules of football

Get oil changes on time; check the tire pressure, take care of your car.

Whimsy is essential.

See the beauty everywhere.

Allow yourself to be moved

And don’t forget to wear your seatbelt.

Another dull training post

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Life is back to normal. We’re home in Redmond. Doing just about nothing. Hanging out, waiting for try outs, school and race day. We’ve had a nice month in Sweden with friends and family. I’ve had 5 good and long swimrun training days with Anna (and 3 with Henrik) on different locations around Stockholm. It’s been good, it’s been fun and it’s been sweaty.

If you’re sick of my training posts, don’t read this. Click away.

I had a swimrun day planned today. Good thing I am jetlagged, I woke up at 4.15am ready to have breakfast and grab my backpack and leave. I did cheat today, I choose to swim in the pool, didn’t feel like swimming 3 miles by myself in the lake. And it’s not easy to find training company that wants to swimrunswimrunswimrun… for hours.

My legs didn’t like running today but somehow I finished my 20 miles divided up in 3 runs. Swimming felt good and I tried some new paddles that worked really well. I may have to rethink my race gear again. The goal for today was to eat better along the way and I think I did pretty well. I had a moment after the second mile in the pool when I had problems adding miles together. Interesting. And singing out loud can also be misinterpreted as entertaining when it’s actually a sign of low energy. I took an extra food break and filled up on goji berries and other good stuff.

I still have a strange lovehate relationship with swimming. Some days are awesome, some days I feel like spitting swimming in the face, turn my back and walk away. I am going to be honest and not sugar coat anything. I complain a lot the day before I have those long training days and I complain after when my hips feel sore and old but I really enjoy the endless days of swims and runs. It all comes down to this. When you feel that you are close to the end, maybe one swim or one run left, it feels disappointing that it’s over. At the same time I have conversations with myself along the way. Should I walk, should I quit? Who is stupid enough to run here on a hot day? Why do I have to swim again? This is when it happens, when you turn your thoughts around. This is what matters. And you kick it up a notch for the final effort. It feels so good to be done and it feels good that you didn’t give up.

I checked my watch after finishing and walking to the locker room. 3 miles swimming and 20 miles running and I feel great. Not really tired (but very hungry). If someone walked up to me and asked for running company I would easily get changed to something dry and tag along. Isn’t it amazing how much a regular body can take? A middle aged, medium fat body that carried 3 kids, broke a few bones and dislocated a handful of limbs.

You can always go further. And it’s worth every step.

And favorite song this week:

Back home

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We are back! We arrived after a long trip with 8 suitcases and one dog. Heavy suitcases and a dog that felt very happy to get out of his box and find a bush after a very long time. It’s good to be home and it was good to be away.

We all slept better than we thought we would and our morning has been filled with gluten free panncakes and lattes, many lattes. We’ve started to unpack but it will probably take us days to finish. The only problem so far, one bag filled with blueberry- and rosehip soupmix, two big boxes exploded and left a nice scent in one of our bags. We brought an incedible amount of candy and books, and it will hopefully last for a year.

photo

Thank you all for dinners, lunches, crawfishparties, walks, runs, coffeedates, hugs, talks and swims. Thanks for making our month in Sweden great!

Week 1

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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.

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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.

Back in the hood

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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.

Taylor Mt Half Marathon

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I ran Taylor Mt Half Marathon today on very sore legs but it was a beautiful day. I really had second thoughts about running today but who wants to DNS if you’re not injured.

The day started out pretty good, I could walk down the stairs. Happy, happy. I’ve had really big issues with my legs for a few days, they have been so sore it’s been ridiculous. I had to slide down the stairs on my butt yesterday morning and getting in and out of the car has been a really painful experience. I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt like this, not even after a full marathon. And for no reason.

When I parked at Taylor Mt 45 minutes before the run it was 22C but when we all took off at 9.30 and disappeared into the forest someone told me it was 29C. It was hot and muggy from the start and it got worse after few miles in the race. I don’t want to complain about the nice weather but it takes a few days to get used to. I chatted with a few people before we started and a few of them had high expectations about their time and pace. They actually finished after me and must have been really disappointed since they expected to finish 45 min earlier. I think the course and the heat surprised a lot of people. I managed to get a bit lost at the end and finished 13.69 miles, a little bonus.

Taylor mountain is a great place, beautiful trails and very green. The trails were overgrown by nettles and blackberries and I even saw wild strawberries on the side of the trail. It was a lot of mud and a couple of creeks we had to run in. The perfect place for a trail race. What more can you ask for?

To sum it up: Muddy, hot, sweating buckets, more mud (I love mud), rocks, horses, lovely people, nice volunteers, lots of elevation, wasps and bees. Loved it, love trails, love mud and everything about overgrown trails. Washington is a gorgeous place. I did not like the fact that my legs killed me, I had to walk pretty much downhill but there will soon be a new trail race to run on strong and happy legs.

And this might just be the best running song for June:

Sore legs and probably going crazy

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Summer and soon July. Two months to go, about 60 days or so. Almost no time. It’s been a busy spring, school, work and miles. Lonely miles most of the time. Lots of time to think. It is almost time to fly back for the summer and switch gear.

I’ve been incredible tired the last few weeks. I don’t really know what it is. Summer tired? Lack of sleep? Vitamin D? Who knows? Or this is what happens when you turn 40? On top of that I started getting really sore legs in the beginning of the week so I took Tuesday off. And it made it worse. After taking good friends to the airport today I got out from the car after a couple of hours in traffic and I felt like I added on 40 years to my body. My legs are so sore I can barely walk. If I sit down I can’t get up, if I stand I can’t sit down. Going up the stairs… not happening. I would love a hot bath but getting in and out of the tub is out of the question.

I ran this morning, really easy 6 miles and it felt like 12, 16 or 20. It is interesting how it works, how your mind talks. I heard voices today. Voices that told me to walk, to turn back. I did walk a bit, downhill. I am really ridiculous sometimes, I talk to myself, in my head. Not out loud, I am not that crazy…yet. I tried to tell myself this is when it counts, to keep on running. You can always go further, try a little harder. So what if it hurts a bit, get over it. Who wants to quit? Let me tell you, it was pathetic. These conversations usually happens after +2 hours on an endless road when you feel hot, uncomfortable, tired and hungry and not after 30 minutes on Power Line Trail.

It is interesting how your mind works even on a short run when you have a bad day. You are so uncomfortable. And why are you doing this to yourself? It all comes down to your head. What will you do to get over those thoughts? How will you handle it, turn your thoughts around. I really need to work on keeping my mind clear and stop listening to myself.

But then it ends, you finish and it wasn’t too bad. The time was ok, maybe not fast but nice and steady. Today, you are a little bit better than you were yesterday. Because you didn’t quit. Easy!

But I still have very sore legs.

One of those days…

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That feeling you get when you nail a workout. Not so much today. 150 minutes of suffering, trying to convince myself that I love life. Trying to sing very quiet, think happy thoughts, transfer myself to a happy place. It is not very often I don’t enjoy training. Almost never.

 

 

Some days are worse than others. And some days are just bad. Like today. Destructive thoughts, bad breathing, unfocused, trying to talk myself into cheating and cutting it short… Glad it’s over. And of course I finished, but not with a smile. Started out by staying in bed an extra hour, trying to go back to sleep. That hour between 6 and 7 when you feel so tired but you are already awake so it is impossible to go back to sleep. Made bad breakfast choices, ate too much and had a latte instead of the double espresso.

I think the water was colder than usual today, freezing. My goggles leaked, my foot, my arms and shoulders felt sore, my legs were crazy tired and I forgot my elbow brace. Had no power in my arms and swear that I had 15 more strokes/25yds than usual. And my boeye didn’t float. It was raining and I choose to run in hotpink Brooks Cadence, super slippery. It was muddy, the sky was grey and I had to stop at every stoplight. When I finally got into the right pace than it was time to swim again. Hepp, love training. One of those days.

Happy midsummer to all of you back home. We will have our herring, Jansson, meatballs and potatoes tonight. But without the snaps.