Party hardy

On 27 August, 2015 By lillahjarnanIn Blandat/mixed, In English, OkategoriseradeLeave a comment

This day turned out most excellent. So far. We are all trying to squeeze out the last of our summer vacation. The weather is cooperating. Days are hot and nights are… not. It’s getting dark and cold but nothing some candles and a heater can’t take care of. The barbeque is still working hard. Maybe too hard. Food is good, maybe too good sometimes.

Try outs are rolling on and it seems ok. Hard work, sweat but no tears. Always a good combo. I think it will be another great season.

I went to pick up some shirts and a dress at the dry cleaners today. I am there quiet often and the little lady behind the counter is getting more and more chatty every week. My dress didn’t get cleaned because of the fabric, they didn’t think they could do a good job. No big deal. But the little lady with a very cute Asian accent tried to give me a grown up talk, enlighten me a bit. First of all she loved my dress and I must say that I really like it too. Then she told me… “Ms. Charlotte, if you are going to party hardy don’t wear a nice dress. You are only going to stand up and look pretty in a dress like this.” I felt a little bit puzzled, I didn’t really ”party hardy” wearing the dress. But I thanked her for the nice advice, paid and got my clean shirts and started walking out. The she called me back and said “stop wearing black and white dresses all the time. I keep track! You only clean black and white dresses, striped, polka dot and solid black.” Well thanks, I guess I am going dress shopping. So to all my friends, I will start to party hardy in my not so nice clothes. Whatever that means. Bring out the champagne, I am wearing shorts today. I was thinking of bringing in my good sleeping bag and a couple of down coats I wore in Alaska but I am really afraid she will give me some more creepy advice.

I bumped in to a friend that I haven’t seen for a while, that is always nice. I think I need to do better job keeping in touch with friends. I switched gyms and since a year back I don’t hang out with my regular crew on a daily basis, I think this needs to change.

The zoo like feeling around our house changed. The lovely deer family is gone. I guess they ate all my vegetables and moved on. The veggies dried out a bit with the nice and warm weather so I guess it didn’t taste as nice and juicy as always. The bunnies that more or less lived in our back yard moved on last week. They got a few new family members and are now living in the bushes. All good, they got a little bit too friendly. They looked at us when we had dinner outside and more or less asked if we actually made reservations because they were there first. The new zoo members I don’t really care about that much. Raccoons, not my favorites. And a cat that looks half eaten by something big. He insists on hiding in our garage. But since I will never become a crazy cat lady I am running around with a broom chasing the poor thing but really trying to speak nicely at the same time. I am more of a deer or moose person than a cat person.

Back in town

On 18 August, 2015 By lillahjarnanIn Barnen/kids, Blandat/mixed, In English, Resor/travelLeave a comment

The beauty of getting up really early. I am still searching for it. I used to enjoy running early, greeting the sun, slowly see the forest wake up. Waking up before the newspaper arrives, before coffee tastes good, before the TV news starts.

We are back home and life is slowly getting back to normal. A month away is a long time. There are new houses in our neighborhood, new asphalt on 85^th. Jetlag hit me hard this time again, it doesn’t get easier. I woke up early and waited for the gym to open at 5.30. Back home after 7 for a second breakfast. Watching a movie at 8 with kid #2 that is up early too. I hope the day lasts longer than yesterday. A few more minutes every night.

Thanks to all family and friends in Sweden. We all had a great time. Next time, please get this weather thing straight. We have enough rain and cold winds at home 😉 Thanks for letting us borrow houses, beds and cars. And thanks for your time. If we missed you, there will always be a next time. We got a few days out in the archipelago celebrating an important birthday. The weather finally turned around and the sun came out. Thanks for letting us stay in the annexe. We will be back! And we feel very honored that Bosse the dog even considered jumping on to the boat when he saw us, even if he missed and ended up in the water.

We are looking forward to a bunch of visitors for Christmas and we are secretly hoping for company for Thanksgiving.

It feels like it’s been two months since I spent time at home. Before Sweden, Alaska happened and I had a week at home in between. That week was filled with great friends visiting from Sweden and nightly sweats, no sleep and nightmares. The nightmares ended after a few days with my parents. This time I slept through jetlag, I was too exhausted after the race. I also kept on eating lots and lots of food, somehow I felt starved weeks after. For the first time in a long time I didn’t feel like moving around or working out. Lucky me, I had really messed up feet so I could not wear shoes for weeks, so no running. When I finally got out for a run I actually felt good and Caroline and I even joined a gym. Caroline climbed and I tried to rehab my shoulder but I spent most of the time people watching. That will be another blogpost. Wow people. I don’t know if I am a very changed person from living abroad for 8 years or if Swedes changed. Maybe a little bit of both. I even visited a CrossFit box for a workout. That made me more homesick than ever. I really miss BelRed and it will be good to get back on track.

I did a Costco run yesterday and had an Alaska flashback seeing all bars and snacks that I will never eat on a normal day. I think this race will follow me as long as I live. And I can’t wait for the next adventure. And it will hopefully be sooner than later. Hopefully without close to death experiences. I can take feeling like a human piñata a few weeks after but not the nightmares.

School is around the corner and the kids have days filled with school stuff and try outs. It’s a bit different from elementary/middle. A few years ago the most important thing was crayons, markers and notebooks. It’s all money now…parking permits and fees. But I think I will take them getting some new markers and sparkly pens… I am still an elementary teacher, it’s the best part of the year except from the last day of school.

So, basically everything is the same here as it was before summer. We are still the same but different. Kids are still concerned who’s the tallest of the three of them even if they stopped growing. I still get excited when a package shows up on our doorstep even if I ordered it myself. Amazon delivered a new waffle maker today. Do we still shop at Amazon after that very intense article the other day?

Still wondering if the kids have figured out that I have no clue what I am doing. But it seems to work.

Come fly with me

On 26 July, 201526 July, 2015 By lillahjarnanIn Blandat/mixed, In English, Resor/travel, Utflykter/outingsLeave a comment

Some of us are on vacation or home, it’s difficult to know really. Home or away from home, who knows anymore. We live out of suitcases so I guess it’s vacation. A lot of things have changed since last time. And a lot of things have changed since we moved. I can’t always say what it is but it’s different. Maybe it’s us. Uppsala feels a lot smaller and everything feels close. A walk downtown took forever 15 years ago, now it takes me less than 15 minutes. A run around the closest trail is done in 20 minutes, very frustrating, that’s just a warm up.

The flight over had no surprises really, just plain boring. I think I might have grown since last time, it felt like I didn’t have any space for my legs. We had a few hours in Amsterdam and had the opportunity to listen to people speaking Dutch. I didn’t understand a word so I really had to listen up and concentrate. How can your brain shut off like this. It’s been 20 years or so since I said a word in Flemish or Dutch but how can I forget everything? And how can it be 20 years? The only words I can think of is schaar and fiets. It feels like yesterday when I walked the foggy streets of Leuven and bumped into the prince of Belgium.

And a small cappuccino in Holland is not the same as a small cappuccino in Seattle. I think I’ve been away for too long. One sip and it’s empty.

https://open.spotify.com/track/4hHbeIIKO5Y5uLyIEbY9Gn

It didn’t take us long to adjust this time. I think the kids felt ready to be full time Swedes on the flight over. But the weirdest thing is when people address us in English in stores and on the street. Do we look different? I had to explain that I speak Swedish in a store in Stockholm and the woman behind the counter looked surprised. What is it that makes us different? The hair, the clean faces with no makeup, (we are on vacation and I couldn’t care less) the clothes? It’s very obvious that some things are very popular here and not at home. Swedes love Polo Ralph Lauren in bright colors, Abercrombie and Fitch (ouch) and Converse, it doesn’t matter if you are 10 or 65. Let’s just say that I don’t think you should walk into a A&F store if you are over 18. And no short, skinny, colorful pants on men.

The first week passed really quick. Dinners, fika and some reading time. My plan to visit every CrossFit gym around is not working that well. I can’t wear shoes because of my toe and I still can’t use my right arm/shoulder because it’s in a weird way frozen and out of place. I’ve been squeezing my toe into a pair of shoes and have tried to run as far as I can without shooting pain. My longest run so far – 50 minutes. And it only lasted that long because I had to run back home. It can only get better.

So, what changed since last time.

The grocery stores are overflowing with new dairy products and apparently lots of people think it’s very healthy to eat kvarg (curd cheese or quark) It was called kesella a few years ago but to make it more trendy someone renamed it and did some clever marketing.

There are hundreds of different yogurts. Who eats all the different kinds and when?

The bread section is overflowing but I hear people complain about the lousy bread in regular grocery stores. It’s not comparable to the terrible bread in the US. I am overeating bread with extra everything.

Roast beef, cheese, ham, sausage, salami… so much more flavor.

All the roundabouts?? What’s up with those? I’m driving in circles!

IKEA is actually nice here. IKEA Seattle should really take an educational trip to a proper Swedish store. I almost bought a sofa and chair but realized that I don’t own a house here anymore.

A lot of people, young and old, throw in a couple of English words in a normal conversation. And add some bad words too. Shit, vi hade så kul. Oh my god, så jävla bra. Stop doing that, it makes you sound a little bit stupid.

Since when do Swedes say “Have a nice day”? I’ve heard “Ha en bra dag rå” in every store in Uppsala I’ve been in. No, no, no, it sounds ridiculous in Swedish.

And I still get the question “when are you moving back home?” every day. We are not moving back anytime soon. And yes, we live a normal life “over there”. We work, eat, sleep and read the newspaper. It’s the same as here but different. Very different. And I am happy that I get to enjoy both worlds.

I am not travelling with kids anymore. They are officially adults. I have stopped counting kids every time we stop somewhere and I actually want them to do things on their own. It’s up to them if they want to join me or if they want to do something else. I am happy to say that they usually want to join me. Former summers’ constant chaos and jetlag that made me wish for a cyanide pellet is gone. One nice things is that we don’t have phones. And that seems to make people around us more frustrated than we are.

Highlight so far, a visit at a moose park. Flashback to Alaska but less wild.

Body and injuries …or how to age 25 years in a week

On 20 July, 201520 July, 2015 By lillahjarnanIn Blandat/mixed, In English, Tävlingar/races, Utflykter/outingsLeave a comment

We ate, we moved and we actually avoided injuries. Nothing really bad happened. But even if nothing happens your body feels torn and achy after a week. Eric took a big fall on the bike but shook it off. It resulted in a huge bruise on the hip. It took a few hours to fix the bike in the middle of the night but after that he kept going. He fell down a steep hill and was lucky to hit a boulder that stopped him. He basically disappeared in the darkness. I took a couple of falls on the bike but nothing that hurt. It was tipping over because I fell asleep riding. One of those things that happens when you don’t sleep.

Feet: You can imagine what happens when your feet are wet for 7 days straight. We had our first river crossing 12 miles into the race, I got wet up to my waste. I went through 20 pairs of wool socks in 7 days but the socks never stayed dry more than 5 minutes. Crossing the glacier in ice and snow took us close to 2 days of walking and climbing. I had cold feet from the first step and got hypothermic the first night. When I finally took my boots off after 2 days my toes had changed color and shape. 4 days into the race I had blisters on every toe and around my heals but it was not as bad as I thought it would be. My toes and feet are still numb and I am on my second round of antibiotics for an infection. I still have trouble wearing shoes, but I finally got a pair of runners on and got a few miles in. I have a big toe that looks yummy.

Fingers/Hands: Bushwhacking in Alaska is not so different from bushwhacking in Washington. The only difference is probably the huge Devils Club that goes through everything, even gardening gloves. I had a bad infection under my fingernails from all the thorns when I returned home and my hands were covered in tiny blisters. It only took a few days to clear it up with penicillin but I am still completely numb and very clumsy.

Lungs: Got a lot of water in my lungs after the pack raft got caught in a strainer upside down. And a sore throat and stuffed up sinuses. Still working on that.

Hips: Completely seized up before the 70 mile bike. It was so painful to walk but if I managed to get up on the bike, and I was fine. Overload of pills for the last 3 days of the race. I still can’t lift my left leg and it looks like I’m 85 when I get in the car.

Shoulder: I had no strength in my right arm when I paddled the last days but could not really figure out what it was. Realized when I got home that it popped a little bit out of place. It’s now completely frozen and my shoulder blade points out. I can’t even lift a milk carton out of the fridge or hold it straight out. And my strategy has been to wait it out… it’s not working that well.

Bruises: All over the body from bumping in to rocks, ice, trees, falling, tipping over…

Tailbone: Coming down the glacier included a really steep climb down tundra and a bushwhack in the dark. I managed to glide and fall a few times which resulted in a very sore tailbone. We were all happy we still carried our ice axes for self-rescue gliding on the grass. I crushed my tailbone a few years ago and got the same feeling this time, including the bleeding part. Biking and paddling did not feel comfortable.

I will bring more socks and shoes next time. Even if they get wet it’s a nice feeling to put on dry shoes.

I think we all did well with clothes. I wore double jackets a few days and sometimes even triple. I even wore my down coat under my dry suite a few times. Glacier water is cold. I would bring one more down coat for the TA next time and one more sleeping bag to keep in my bin.

So, it’s overall pretty good. Nothing broken this time but lots of stuff to heal. It’s been nearly two weeks since I left Alaska and I think it’s the first time in years I don’t feel like working out. But if I had a bike around I would probably go for a ride. I’ve been out running the last 3 days, short runs. Lots of compresses and tape on my toe and roomy pair of shoes. I don’t feel tired, it’s easy breathing 8 minute miles but my body feels torn. I think it’s time to sign up for a new race to get the mojo back.

Food

On 14 July, 2015 By lillahjarnanIn Blandat/mixed, In English, Tävlingar/races, Utflykter/outingsLeave a comment

I wish I could say that it was all about bananas and rye bread, avocados and lean meat. Think sugar and carbs, chocolate and gummi bears. When you plan your food intake before a long race it’s all about calories. How can you get enough calories to keep going. If you do a race that is long, 2-3 days or so you can still pack fresh foods and vegetables. When it’s 7 days, not really. Like a shorter race we packed 6h zip locks and then brought enough zip locks to last until the next TA. Let me just say that I failed a little bit. I apparently have a big fear of starving. I ate more or less all my food during the glacier walk so without knowing I packed food for 4 days or so for the next leg and that gave me some nice extra weight in my pack. And I kept doing that until Robin stole my pack and my food and repacked it to his pack.

Food feels complicated before you start the race but then it kind of just happens. You eat all the time, and it’s not the kind of food you would eat on a regular day. It’s the kind of food I would never touch on a regular day. It doesn’t taste anything really, you just know that you need to eat. It’s granola bars, fruit leathers, fruit cups and nuts that works and every once in a while some candy. Jerky and gels doesn’t work for me. Robin was desperate to make me move faster on the bike at the end of the race and I feel really queasy when I drink 5 hour energy (or Red Bull) and try to avoid it but felt desperate enough to try it. Three minutes later I am on my knees heaving by the side of the trail regretting it. But it somehow worked and we did speed up a bit. And you only live once, I tried again midnight paddling. And I almost enjoyed the next one I had.

Ramen noodles, still a bit crunchy, tasted divine after 40 hours without food. But, I will never drink unheated chicken noodle soup from a can. Seriously guys, so classy.

After race: Give me food! Anything works. I have developed an ability to inhale food. Hotdog, 3 seconds. I found myself inhaling a large burger and an ice cream when I got to the airport at midnight. And then another burger. I knew this race would make me grow personally.

Sleep

On 12 July, 2015 By lillahjarnanIn Blandat/mixed, In English, Tävlingar/races, Utflykter/outingsLeave a comment

If you think you are tired, think again… it can only get worse. Sleep is an interesting thing. You can barely stay awake, your eyelids close with every step you take, every paddle stroke. You close your eyes and sleep a few minutes without stopping. And then after a few days you get into T.A. Drop your backpack and all of a sudden you feel so light, you take your shoes off and it’s party time. You know you need to sleep, it’s only a few hours until you need to pack up and go again but it feels so good to chat with the volunteers, drink something warm, warm your wet and stinky feet by the fire. You take your socks off and hold your breath waiting for the worst, and count your toes and nails.

I somehow lost a few hours when we got off the glacier. I am 100% sure I stayed awake since we walked on a dirt road. If you can sleep with your eyes open, that’s probably what happened. I had a bottle with warm tea in my hand and suddenly the tea felt cold and I asked how long we had walked. Over an hour. And I turned around and realized that I had no idea where I was. At the same time I saw a big group of deer dancing on the side of the road and a black bear waving. That road was of course empty but that’s how I realized I was hallucinating. And it kept going. I saw animals, TV screens and houses. The first time was after 20 something hours on the glacier. I saw a group of big houses and a big playground. And I was looking for the helicopter because it would be impossible to get there by car. And when I told Eric about the nice looking houses he just nodded and said that he saw them too… liar. I laugh a little bit and feel really stupid but at the same time I think I am so right and I am a bit sad that they can’t see it.

Napping is great. Sitting on a tree stump, laying down on rocks, standing and leaning on your poles, floating in the pack raft… everything works. A rescue blanket on and it feels like the Four Seasons. I used a lot of blankets. As soon as I stopped someone wrapped me up knowing that I would be a big problem if I got cold again. 10 minutes felt like 8 hours. And when you finally get in to a TA, get some of your wet clothes off, get your sleeping bag out and lay down on the asphalt or the gravel, it takes less than 20 seconds and you are out.

Sleep got a bit more complicated after the race. Exhausted the first short night in a too hot hotel room, woke up like the Michelin man. Swollen. Could barely open my eyes and legs, feet, arms, hands, etc. were double sized. Flew back the second night and thought I would get a good night sleep on the plane but stayed awake the whole flight. And then, finally home. And the nightmares started. I woke up staring out the window at the mountaintops (our neighbors’ house) and couldn’t find a way to get down from the glacier. Steep climbs, lots of ice and no shoes. And all my gear was gone. The rope was tied wrong. Sweaty and breathing really hard, impossible to sleep. And I woke up coughing, not able to breathe, under water. And it goes on… I wake up every night looking for my shoes… I am really looking forward to a good night’s sleep. And a long, slow run with dry shoes.

Surviving Alaska

On 10 July, 2015 By lillahjarnanIn In English, Tävlingar/races, Utflykter/outingsLeave a comment

Expedition Alaska is over. It was all we could wish for and so much more. 7 days of extra everything. Every single step had a meaning and not one mile were there to fill the course or get teams from one activity to another. Even a 7 mile hike became a 10 hour steep climb uphill with a view, with all your gear in your pack. The course was designed with a purpose. This race followed the footsteps of the classic races from the golden age of Adventure Racing, when races included survival and adventure in the same sentence. When it came to the term survival, I think we got value for our money. Chip on our team summed it up one morning saying OMG, they are really trying to kill us, every day!! And that’s how it felt. Things could go wrong the whole time but we managed to stay alive and keep moving.

Before I write more gibberish I need to mention all the volunteers. The small group kept everything running. They had our gear in place, they made the TAs great and kept everything running smoothly. They probably got less sleep than the racers. Warm water and noodles, fire pits and endless smiles… what more can you ask for. Thank you all! And the team… Thank you guys!! You saved me more than once and I am pretty sure I wouldn’t be alive without you.

For many racers this race ended early. People got injured, sick, and cold and got airlifted from the course or got picked up by boat. Our goal was to stay together, all four as a team until the end. I’ll have to admit that I had my moments when I just wanted out, to be beamed up, transported to a better place. But those moments usually didn’t last more than a few minutes and you keep going and forget that there’s another world outside the race. I also felt my limits a few times and that’s even worse when you feel like your body can’t take more. Paddling and rafting the last two days really got to me and it felt like I couldn’t move my arms. I realized when I got home that my right shoulder was really out of place and frozen so that gives me an explanation why. It’s still a non-working body part that acts like an alien.

When I think back to each and every leg there are a few things that stands out, that I will remember as long as I live. The glacier was in every way fantastic but also so unpredictable. We managed to do well, slow but steady and without any surprises or falls into crevasses. The route we took got a bit longer than expected but we stayed out of trouble. We started out the glacier trek with wet boots after a grueling river crossing. It’s been a long time since I felt so cold. I thought I would get frostbite on all 10 toes, it took days in to the race before they got the right color again.

The Soul Crusher (day 3-4) really crushed me. I felt broken and ready to go home after day 4. We hiked with all out pack raft gear for a long day and ended up far away beside a river in the middle of the night. We fell asleep on our rafts on the riverside after deciding to wait for daylight. We all woke up 45 minutes later so cold that we couldn’t take care of ourselves. We were lucky to have another team close by that helped out with fire and sleeping bags. Second round of close to hypothermia. We warmed up for a few hours and took off. The visibility was bad and I didn’t make a corner. I ended up on the side of the river, caught in a strainer upside down. I couldn’t flip out of the boat and I got all tangled in branches. I heard bad words echo in my head thinking this is it, what a horrible way to go. And then I saw Chip pulling, dragging me out and I refused to let go of my paddle. After puking up water and sitting for a few minutes it’s time to go again. It took me hours to get back in the game and I will be forever grateful for the rescue and guidance for the rest of the pack rafting in the race. I left all my confidence at the bottom of that river and I wouldn’t have made it without the team.

I thought sleep would be a big problem but it worked surprisingly well. Tired has a new meaning. You can be tired and keep going, and you can be tired and not be able to move. It takes a long time to reach the state of not being able to move. I remember the naps more clear than the race, like a great birthday present. Sleeping felt so good, even for 5 minutes. We took a nap at the 70 miles bike section by a river that I will remember as long as I live. I didn’t even take my backpack off, just laid back on the wet grass and closed my eyes. Someone got my feet up on the back wheel of my bike so my feet wouldn’t swell up. I snored so hard I woke myself up. The best nap of the race.

The race course was monstrous, evil, amazing, and didn’t have one mile were you could recover. I waited for an easy hike or bike, like a transportation to the next leg but the course just kept a constant ON mode. When you thought you had seen the most beautiful mountain top, lake, or ridgeline there was always a new waiting the next day. The landscape really took your breath away every day and night and you had the feeling that you were the first human to see this.

When we did the 30 mile paddle over Kenai Lake on evening/night 6 Robin tried to keep us awake and took us through the racecourse in detail. I must admit that I can’t remember some parts of it, and I don’t remember in what order it all happened, it’s more in chunks for me. I will write some kind of proper race report and post pictures when it all comes back. This is it for now. I am still waiting for the nightmares to end and my appetite to get back to normal, I eat every hour.

Chip, Eric, Robin – I LOVE MY LIIIIFEEEEE!

Home from Alaska…

On 9 July, 20159 July, 2015 By lillahjarnanIn In English, Tävlingar/races, Utflykter/outingsLeave a comment

…and so many things to tell. Happy to be alive and so glad I got to experience this epic race. So many experiences to share. Don’t know to how to start or where. Icecold glacier water, grueling, hard, tough, exhausting mountains, pain. A never ending glacier. Hypothermia. Gorgeous views, great teamwork, sleep monsters, fatigue, fear and tryhard moments. Falling asleep standing up, walking, sitting, paddling, biking… Never been so scared in my life but at the same time had the time of my life. Highs and lows. Need a few more days to process before there will be a story to tell. Need to heal my body and get more sleep, get over the nightmares and hunger.

17 days

On 10 June, 201510 June, 2015 By lillahjarnanIn Blandat/mixed, In English, Träning/trainingLeave a comment

It’s summer. Nice, warm days and long nights. We’ve had dinner outside the past week and the volleyball net is up for after dinner runarounds. We have a bunch of rabbits that moved to our yard but I feel like it’s a nicer family than the deer family last year so I’m just going to let them stay. They don’t take up as much space. It is nice, lovely, beautiful and all that. School is still in full swing for two more weeks. Finals and more finals. Lovely! Food changes a bit when it’s warm. Lots of barbeque, salads, fruit, cold yoghurt sauces, cheese and of course olives every day.

Less than two weeks to take off. And the weather is not very good in Alaska right now. I move stuff around from the car, garage, kitchen. I have piles of clothes in the bedroom. I have bins with stuff that goes wherever I go. I use most of it since we are still rafting, paddling, running and biking. My PFD smells and I am a bit worried that it will attract animals. I still need to get my bike in for a last tune up and there are a few things that I need to buy. I made a trip to REI today and I hope it was the last one. I might need a few bungees, food, more wool clothes since watched the weather channel this morning. And I probably need more socks. But I did the last body repairing today. Got my foot drained again and it will hopefully do well until after the race but still need a few days of rest before I see the result. It looks very blue right now so it can only get better.

What I am really thinking of is food. What to bring and buy. How much and what do you really want to eat after a few days without real food. And what about coffee? I am doing my best to cut back so I won’t miss it too much. I’ve got different kinds of jerky to try, espresso beans covered in chocolate (thanks Eric), nuts mixed with chocolate and all sorts of good stuff to try and decide before takeoff. I found bacon jerky, sounds brilliant! And so does salmon jerky.

We have done some rafting the past week. We drove to Wenatchee Saturday for some speedy rafting in a fast river in almost 100 degrees. And we got some nice barbeque in Cashmere before the actual rafting. Cashmere, the center of earth. Really good barbeque. It felt like I was going to sink when the actual rafting started. I ate half a cow. We stayed local yesterday. We met up by the fall in Snoqualmie and blew our rafts up and took off. Got up after a few rapids and hiked back up and did it again. On the way to Fall City to pick up the third car a dog started following us, swimming behind our boats. We got our own Arthur. We thought it would be a bit of a problem to bring him to Alaska so we called his owner instead. A couple of beavers swam by too. Those would be even more of a problem to bring as mascots. We will conquer parts of a big mountain Saturday. Crampons, ice axes and ropes. Very exciting.

Rafting is interesting. I felt really worried a few weeks ago and I don’t even know why. Of course you can tip over, flip and get really wet. You can hit your head since there are rocks all over but that’s why you wear a helmet. I think it’s the feeling of fast moving water that is a bit scary. Well, it doesn’t feel scary anymore. More like an intense ride, a wet rollercoaster. But it will be different in freezing water with a dry suite on…

Stuff learned this week:

Driving to Eastern Washington for a quick bike ride, a short but intense rafting session or a hike is no big deal. It’s just a 3-4 hour drive and some mileage on your car. And then 3-4 hours back home when you are tired.

River rafting, it’s just fast moving water. You will somehow move forward. And get wet.

Blow up your raft. Your once crushed tailbone really hurt when you hit big rocks and get stuck in the river. It kind of moved all the way up your spine. But that’s a good thing, you’ll know that your nervous system works.

Sunscreen is essential.

An ice cream bar melts very fast in 100 degrees.

Your body gets tired from thinking too much.

Closer

On 4 June, 2015 By lillahjarnanIn Blandat/mixed, In English, Träning/trainingLeave a comment

23 days left. That’s what it says when I click in on the website. And I check every day just to be sure. Strange thing is that I could swear that it said 33 days yesterday. Anyhow, it’s getting closer. Alaska is happening.

Meanwhile in real life… A little bit of work and lots of fun. A very sore and tired body. It’s been days since I dressed in human clothes, my natural gear seems to be running shoes and tights or jeans if it’s a slow day, this has to change. My car has slowly turned into an adventure central. I could without a problem scramble out gear for a 24 hour race and feed a football team. Paddles, wet PFD’s, smelly boots, brown bananas, bikeparts, dried apricots, gloves for paddling, cycling and gardening, shoes and boots, water and a warm Pellegrino… And I can fit two fully inflatable rafts in the back. I am glad we decided to keep the old mothership for another year.

Only difficulty I have with lots of training-racing-bobbingaroundinthewater-life is the clothing. I don’t wear hiking pants. Well, I do but it’s not my thing. My thing is bright yellow or pink Nike’s, Lulu tights, tank tops, some days high socks in lovely colors, Patagonia dresses in nice materials… There are a few things I really don’t like wearing or it doesn’t excite me. I am not built for tight women sized t-shirts. And hiking pants…ehhh…I do own a few pairs…but there is something about hiking pants that is so unattractive. All those important things in life… So I got myself another pair of pants today. And I know for sure that I will be the only one on the team wearing pink compression socks.

We are still going through the gear and I am adding on new stuff every day. I’m searching around the house for stuff I haven’t seen since we moved from Sweden. I had a pair of rain pants that I loved and wore every day biking to work… missing, but found two other pairs. And how many coats do you need? And wool socks… I need more than 10 pairs…who owns 10 pairs of wool socks? Gloves – many, since I always have cold hands. Sunglasses for the glacier – still needed and I probably need snowshoes. Raft – check, bike – all good but needs a good tune up again. Dry suite – rented. Mosquito net, need to find a good one – muy importante, très important, erg belangrijk… well you get it.

I’ve been to REI every day the last month. I am that crazy person the staff avoid. I am turning every water bottle upside down, trying to stuff it inside my shirt to see how it fits and feel. I walk around making grunting noises around the hiking pants but I can’t get enough of the Smartwool baselayer. Shoedepartment… you can never get enough shoes… I walked around the backpack department for days with different backpacks on before I decided. I even tried to lay back on the floor leaning on it since that’s probably how I will sleep. And I ended up getting the same I had before but a bigger and a different color. And strobe light, who owns a strobe light? But I am happy to say that I have a raft that fits in my backpack without a problem. I still have about 10 more trips to REI before I take off. I should have applied for a job there months ago, it would have been much easier.

Time to mow the lawn…