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.

Söndag

On By lillahjarnanIn Blandat/mixed, Tävlingar/racesLeave a comment

En kort och varm halvmara efter frukost med Brjann där vi båda fick chokladmedaljer och stumma ben. Efter det, familjemästerskap i minigolf. En hård match med en ganska jämn utgång. Vem som vann tänker jag inte avslöja.

Efter rundan handlade vi mat och fann denna:

Slimcado-Avokado lite, 50% mindre fett och 35% färre kalorier. Va? Inte klokt.

Fann detta på twitter (Runnersworld) och kände att det var passande efter veckans långa timmar löpning som jag gissar har blivit runt 10 mil. Nu blir det en lugnare vecka med långsammare löp och massage.

Och kanske något annat än löpning?

foto: runnersworld.com

Another dull training post

On By lillahjarnanIn In English, Träning/trainingLeave a comment

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:

Vad vi gör när vi kommit hem

On By lillahjarnanIn Blandat/mixed, Träning/trainingLeave a comment

Vi är vakna konstiga tider på dygnet.

Vi sover, mest hela tiden.

Äter nygrillad majs och ananas.

Vi ligger i soffan och tittar på tv på alla möjliga tider på dygnet.

Vi läser ikapp all post och tidningar som kommit.

Vi äter Red Mango frozen yoghurt och frozen lemonade.

Vi äter enchiladas och quesadillas med massor av guacamole.

Vi springer.

Vi simmar i sjön.

Vi kör bil utan tak och tittar på den blå himlen.

Vi är på gymmet kl 5 på morgonen och undrar varför ingen annan är där.

Back home

On By lillahjarnanIn Blandat/mixed, In EnglishLeave a comment

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.

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

Sista veckan

On By lillahjarnanIn Okategoriserade, Träning/training, Utflykter/outingsLeave a comment

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.

Övriga dagar har sett ut ungefär så här:

3 stora barn och en klämd mamma

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Caroline på väg upp för ett slott

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Badväder varje dag

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Och mycket bad med kläderna på

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Och så lite Stockholmsbilder

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Mer badväder

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Kusinmatlagning

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Sommarjobb

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Och så lite mer bad

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Vecka 3

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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.

Idag hasar vi vidare och åker och badar.

Week 1

On By lillahjarnanIn In English, Träning/training, Utflykter/outingsLeave a comment

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.