Day by day

Monday

Running 4,5 km – from home via Slammertorp rd then on the illuminated track and back through the center, good round.

Tuesday

Resting

Wednesday

Resting

Thursday

Resting

Friday

Resting

Saturday

Resting

Sunday

4,4 km in Altorp with Jenny. I felt like crap, the running was bad, the trail however was great so I hope to do it a few more times before the snow sets in, and the company was splendid as always. Love to run with Jenny, it is something I always look forward to.

This Week

Last Week

I had to take a break because I have this muscle in my right hip that started to act up. It has done that before and always when I increase the distance or the speed of my runs. Usually I can match it around with putting some short distance runs between the long ones but this time it did need some proper rest.

I am not certain whic muscle it is but I have been to several physicians a few years back and they agreed it was not the actual hip that was the problem but a muscle that is a wee bit too short to actuate properly when I am running. Stretchning it works a bit but in the long term strengthen it by running slow and careful is what will help.

But today I was at it again, a nice 6,5 km run in 8:15 tempo, felt really slow for some reason but it actually isn’t – not compared to my usual speed on this distance. But anyway, it’s getting better and I think I will get a 10 k run in before the end of the week again. But a slow one. And a bit of walking if necessary to calm things down.

The downside is the lack of sidewalks. It is a narrow road, 30/40 mph but people generally seems to drive a lot faster and the lack of sidewalks makes it a risky business to go running here in the dark so that is not recommended. I did my runs in the afternoon and that was ok though I had a close encounter with some stingy nettles trying to avoid a car at one time. I was running in shots.

Last day I ran in the War Memorial park, rather central to the Basingstoke city and it was a different experience. Lots of people there, children and dogs playing and then a number of drunks yelling offensive words at people walking (and jogging) past. Quite the experience when I answered back and decided to not run past them again

Day by day

Monday

Starting of from the hotel at London Rd. and then around Basing Commons and back again. A nice route actually with asphalt the whole way. Made a couple of wrong turns on my way back but it did not matter, I was not out to do it on any particular time, I was just happy to go running.

Tuesday

Another round similar to Monday run but farther away in a bigger circle and checking out that nice old railway bride (and the pub on the other side, where we went back in the evening to grab some drinks and a meal) and it was a beautiful run! My legs was a little tired but I managed a steady and nice pace anyhow.

Wednesday

Rest

Thursday

Rest

Friday

Around the War Memorial park in Basingstoke City. Nice place in general except for the drunks being rather offensive there.

Saturday

Rest

Sunday

Rest

This Week

Last Week

Better than last week, still under the 20 km I want to do in a a week on average (or more really) but still okay considering traveling and all that. Tempo is not so bad, running in unfamiliar terrain and so on, and the condition figures (mainly VO2max and ventilation) seems to be on the right track still.

I have decided that next week will be really good working out

Day by day

Monday

Rest

Tuesday

Jogging at Järvafältet. My nice 8 km route there was begging for me to come out and it felt really good. Nice tempo as well, around 8 min/km which is not bad considering…

Wednesday

Rest

Thursday

Slammertorp route here in Kallhäll. All the way, the most hilly part as well. 7:33 tempo and a nice runners high actually.

Friday

Resting

Saturday

Resting

Sunday

Resting

This Week

Last Week

Not enough workouts really, will regard this week as a maintaining week but not very developing. Although I managed to up the pulse a bit with some good VO2max results as well. Next week I will be running in Basingstoke so we will have to see how that works out

Spotify link

Podrunning 100 min

All in all about 1000 km driving this weekend. Taxing but I managed to squeeze in three pretty good runs this week actually, so I am pretty happy with the stats anyway although the time and distance could be better.

I have felt a little protest from my right knee the last couple of long runs. Easing off on the tempo a little bit and see if it clears up. My right hip which is always a little painful after long runs and might need some extra stretching is also making itself known, at least it was on the second run but not the thrid and last run of the week.

Day by day

Monday

At home running the favourite track around Slammertorp. Working it a bit this time and getting 5,4 km out of it with start and finish on asphalt straight from home.

Tuesday

Rest

Wednesday

Rest

Thursday

Järvafältet 8 km. A good one but I felt the hip a little bit here. And also slightly the right knee, nothing too bad just a bit of a reminder to not go too fast, too long too hard.

Friday

Resting

Saturday

Resting

Sunday

In Malung before visiting with my sisters and then driving back home to Stockholm again. Did a 7 km run in the woods, great trail running, always up and down, no flat terrain here! Definitely challenging and sometimes too steep to run, had to walk just for that reason

This Week

Last Week

Kicked back a bit compared to last week, spent less time working out and less km done of course. Everything else follows that except that my training programme upgraded by condition to an activity class of 7,5 which means that I have to work harder from now on to achieve the same kind of training effect as before.

Although several runs felt rather shitty this week I also had a very good one. Strange how that works really, my sunday run which was going to be a nice slow jogg for about 8,5 km over Järvafältet and back again was terrible. Hard winds did their thing but I also had trouble pushing on and I ended up walking short periods to get my muscles back in order.

Day by day

Monday

7 km in Svinninge with Jenny and Linda, good run, lots of hills, about 200 height meters to cross which definitely was a good workout!

Tuesday

4,3 km asphalt in Kallhäll – one of my old runs that I really like sometimes. Felt good this one.

Wednesday

6,5 km to Jakobsberg and back again on the other side of the rail tracks. A new fave of mine with about 2/3 on asphalt and 1/3 on gravel road.

Thursday

Resting day

Friday

6,5 km to Jakobsberg and back again, this time personal best for the distance!

Saturday

Resting day

Sunday

A miserable 8,5 km run that never felt really good. It was just painful from start to end but I managed to get through it. 8:40 tempo.

This Week

Last Week

Did about 10 km more this week than last week. Can explain why my legs are a little bit more tired this Sunday than what I want them to be. But I onlu spent about 30 min extra in workout which means my pace has picked up a bit. Average pace was 8:19 compared to 9:06 last week which is definitely a difference.

I spent about 1000 kcal more running this week than last. Good development really. Heart rates are the same but one interesting thing stands out, the ventilation has increased. I think I know which run this is, that was the friday run where I was running much harder than normal and had to really think about breathing to get enugh oxygen in.

I have started using a new sports tracker on my Android phone called Endonundo and so far, for all similar softwares I have tested this one seems to be best of them all. I also love the BuddyRunner software but Endomondo does very much the same thing but has even better statistics.

Day by day

Monday

speed in the forest, 2.35 km in 6:36 tempo, pretty good for being me actually, I was very happy with that.

Tuesday

Altorp 6.7 km with Jenny, had a really good time as always and although I came home late it was a really good run that.

Wednesday

Resting, no training.

Thursday

My first 10 km this year. Eastern Järvafältet and that was good as well, but HARD. I was struggling at the end to keep it together and I had some walks in the middle of it as well but I did it even if it took me 99 minutes.

My first 10 km run this year

Friday

Short runt at home, a very slow run to just flex everything up a bit from the 10 km the day before.

Saturday

A 5km run a new route I have not done before. Down to the Görväln castle and then back home again. Beautiful run but some hills that was really straining and by now I am starting to feel the miles in my legs this week. Decided this was last for this week!

Sunday

Resting.

This week

Last week

10 km more than last week is not horse manure. Probably too much of an increase in a single week but I feel good nevertheless. Time spent training also increased to more than the double, not bad at all but my average time dropped with 30 s/km. Not too surprising, longer runs and more km into the legs. Spending almost 3 times the amount of energy on running as last week, yay, almost two days worth of food.

Average heartrate has dropped a bit, longer and slower running and perhaps a bit better condition as well but the max hartrate is very similar and shows that I am still about 10 beats from maxing out. Good thing, don’t wanna do that alone… tried it once and i had such a bad tunnel vision I thought I was gonna faint.

Training effect is a 4 which is great compared to a 5 last week which was overtraining. Getting better at keeping slow on the long runs and not over-excerting myself to the point of breaking down rather than building up.

Ventilation and breathing is up a little though VO2max seems very similar. A higher peak EPOC and a lower Training Effect just means I have leveled on the training effect scale (to a level 6.0 from a 5.0 where I started).

Tomorrow is a resting day and then monday is a free day, I will see if my good friend Jenny can manage a nice run together then, looking forward to the next time.

Weight wise I have gone up 0.5 kg this week. Still keeping diet but I have also noticed my legs are getting stronger. I believe I am building more muscle. This is good, it means I will be able to run faster and longer and increase my metabolic rate even when I sleep. Good stuff that.

First on Tuesday started out nice together with Jenny in Näsbypark, a 7 km mainly on asphalt but with a bit of trail as well. Good workout and lovely dinner as well. Got home rather late from that however, takes time going from Täby to Järfälla although you could drive there in about 20 minutes.

Second workout was my favourite route here close at home. A long startup and then two laps with a finish down at the lake. Chose the middle tough route on one of the laps, in total about 5 km and even if my condition is now improving after the flu it was still tough.

Third workout was a 5 km in Altorp together with Jenny again. Very good quality run, lovely weather, really really good run.

Battery change

When it is time to change the battery in any one of the following devices; pulse belt, foot pod, wrist watch connecting to the above, GPS pod, bike pod etc, change all the batteries. One lost stats when out is okay in a year but several is highly annoying. By changing all batteries at once you can probably go for another full year before you have to change them again.

Foot pod depletes unexplicably

Some foot pods, like mine from Suunto, starts when they feel acceleration. This means pretty much any vibration. Have your gymbag in the car for a few days when driving around? Keeping your sneakers in a backpack to and from work? Chances are the foot pod activates and depletes the battery without you working out.

Pulse belt depletes unexplicably

Pulse belts are usually activated by moisture. So if you keep it in your gym bag with your used workout clothes, chances are it keeps trying to find your pulse for hours and hours. Leave it over night a few times like this and it definitely is noticeable on the battery life. Some pulse belts like the Suunto is connected to the sensor and when disconnected it stays off so it does not suffer the same problem.

GPS pod

GPS pods generally has an on/off switch. Switch off when not in use of course.

But now the outdoorsy environment is back on track again, spring albeit very late this year is finally here, and it is definitely weather to go out and run which I did start off well enough and then suddenly came the flu and put and eand to my running efforts for about 3 weeks. My flu was not really that bad, about 4 days of fever but then a long recovery before I was actually feeling well enough to go running.

And now I am doing it again. Working my way back up into some kind of shape and I actually like it a lot − especially since my good friend Jenny has gone running with me again, we have been out three times now this year and every time is really good!

The routine is as usual, trying to get 3 quality runs in every week, no matter really the days, trying to get rest between the runs but I am actually about to violate this right now since I am actually scheduled to run tomorrow evening but I just can’t resist the woods right now so I will go and run a short but fun track, about 3 km is what I had in mind.

Me before a run at my favourite track

I have also limited my energy intake to about 2000 kJ less than usual (that’s around 500 kcal for you non-SI guys) which means I have started to shed some of the excess weight. I hope to be able to shed some 20 kg or so until the Kista race takes place in November. After that I should loose another 10 kg and I should have reached a reasonable goal weight for my kind of height but my first goal is to get 10 kg lighter. I think it will improve my running a lot.

I am starting my 3 rd week now of food planning (dieting sounds so dull, does it not?) and it is actually going pretty well. This weekend has been a bit over the energy budget however, it was also planned, the move night with the guys is once a month and that night I will drink beer, eat what I want and have a good time.

So that is what has been going on at this front for a while. I am also happy that some friends from Wales will be coming over this summer to do some hiking in the highlands and out in the archipelago. Need some fitness there as well since walking up- and downhill in the highlands carrying what you need is also pretty tough sometimes. I need some good maps to plan the trip which I have ordered both in digital and paper form, it will be really nice!

I have not been in these highlands for about 10 years so it will be like a completely new thing for me as well. I am planning for 2 nights camping out in the free, so I need to go through my gear to see the tent and everything is in good working condition as well as the backpack and hiking boots and so on. We are likely to go the first week in August as it seems now and I am so looking forward to it.

Example: 20 steps in 20 seconds gives you: 20 * 3 * 2 = 60 * 2 = 120

But it does not take the intensity into account just “jogging” which is similar to about 7 km/h of running generally (tempo 8:30).

A better formula is might be this:  Weight (kg) * time (hours) * speed (km/h)

And the morning was stressful, several phone calls from near and far about everything at the same time and then some problems with the systems I am responsible for but around noon I remembered that I was called to the blood donor bus, just around the corner from where I worked. I thought that “twenty minutes of lie down is exactly what i need now” so I went there and  got hooked up to the vampires (actually they were all very nice ladies).

Then after a while, after being drained of a pint or so, I started feeling quite nauseaus and the lady attending to my blood letting came to the rescue. She asked if I had eaten and I had to confess that I had skipped brekkies and also postponed lunch until “later”.

The stare I got was something similar that I only remember from my youth after breaking my moms favourite crystal vase with an indoor ball game I just invented. The look said it all “seriously… and you have been doing this for how long?” well, ten years at least… I never skip brekkies on a day of leeches but this morning was awful.

Back at work I had a nice sushi lunch and then everything got back to normal again. Well home again I decided to go out and do a nice short jog. Usually I skip workouts on the same day that they have sucked me dry but I decided to take it easy. I noticed two things, one was that it wasn’t a problem, if anything I felt well rested and full of energy, which is interesting but that may be because I skipped last weeks long run in the weekend and instead went for a 2 hour camera walk taking some autumn pictures.

The second thing I noticed was that my pulse was about 10 bpm higher than normal for a given excertion rate. Normal I believe after being drained, just interesting to see that in reality, so I decided that a 2,5 km run was good enough for today and then went back home again.

It’s getting cold now, I could see some frost glittering on the street pavement and the air was crisp and chill. At first I was a little cold around the feet, my jogging shoes are definitely not winter shoes but after the first km the feet was just great, then my hands felt rather cold instead but the long sleeves of my running jacket solved that problem. Gotta get a pair of nice gloves because this winter I would like to keep running outdoors as long as possible really.

During the blood letting process I also had a nice conversation with one of the nurses, it was interesting to learn about the iron in the body and especially related to sports. It is said that runners often lower their blod iron content after running, especially longer workouts, some believe it is the result of crushing of red blod cells in the feet or compression of the capillaries or some sort. Noone seems to know for sure however just that if you measure the iron content before and after a marathon for example there is a definite difference.

Apart from to low on iron can lead to fatigue and problems with transporting oxygen around the body too much iron is dangerous, even lethal. In Europe there is also a few percent who suffers from hemachromatosis, a medical problem that makes the iron content in the blood too high, there has been examples of runners such as Aran Gordon who started having problem that gradually got worse to the point where he almost died  and after a blood letting  where suddenly fine again – for a while, it is a slow killing disease and a genetic problem.

The reason why it is more common in Europe than in other parts of the world is that the disease actually protected us from The Black Death. The plague infection is rather effectively hindered by the excess iron content in the blood but because about 1/3 of the population was killed off by the plague this gene is now rather prominent over here.  It was not until 1996 that the reason for hemachromatosis was known and still lots of people believe that more iron is always better.

Fertile females have rarely too much iron in their bodies, the monthly bleeding is seeing to that, together with other hormones that also seems involved in regulating this but as much as 22% of the males in a study in Iceland was found to have excess iron in their bodies. This has also been linked to a number of problems such as Alzheimers disease since iron flows into the brain straight through the blood-brain barrier.

Iron overload seems to be increasing with age in males and females also after the menopause and all in all this is just as a good reason as any to give blood regularly. In fact it is just as likely that men over 40 and women over 70 to suffer from too high iron levels than suffering from shortage of iron in their blood. Something to think about because until just recently the medical corps seems to have only considered a too low iron level as a problem.

I don’t think that even after a good blood letting as such today I actually get anemic, I seem to recover very quickly, already the day after I notice no difference to normal really. The hours after the actual draining I can be a little bit more thirsty than normal, the body is compensating for the loss of fluid of course.

My Hb was 153, well in the upper range of what is normal (about 130-155) so it was about time to give blood.

My foot still hurts a bit when walking. It is not a sharp pain, it’s a dull something inside that is linear to the amount of pressure I put on the forefront part of the right foot.

The first two runs this week was both the same track around the most hilly part of the Slammertorp track. Great and the second run I did it all without any walking at all, considering the inclines in this track that’s a record for me.

Did a 10 k run on Saturday and it started out pretty well but then I started feeling tired and cranky after about 3 km and the rest was increasingly painful. The last 3 km was interrupted by short walks now and then and uphills. I ended up with a pain in my right hip and another one in my left sole but they are both dissipating rather quickly. But it was painful and tiresome and on the whole not a very good experience at all.

Next week will be better!

What is not so nice is that i gained another 2 kg during my absence. That’s something to deal with now, less carbs in the food, more protein and overall less calories and more physical exercise.

After my tuesday run I started having problems with my right foot. A pain inside that does not want to go away and gets worse after walking around for a day. It does not seem to get too much affected by running short distances  but this week was mainly resting the foot and getting some anti-inflammatory NSAID medication I hope it will be better next week.

I know it will!

It’s done. Well the main tough work is there, we now have a completely renovated bedroom with a really smart storage solution under the bed, we have a new hallway and we have redecorated the ceilings, walls and floor. We stripped everything down to the bare concrete and then built it up again. Finally everything is in place except some small details that we can do later on.

Monday: 7,95 km – gravel roads at Järvafältet
Tuesday: Resting
Wednesday: 7,95 km – gravel roads at Järvafältet
Thursday: Resting
Friday: Resting
Saturday: 5 km – asphalt in Täby
Sunday: Resting

So the workouts have resumed again. Monday I went to my 8k track at the Järva fields, it was great the first 3 km, then my hip started telling me it wasn’t really happy and the last 3 km I alternated between slow jogging and fast-paced walking. It was pretty tough and I had to walk a lot on the last 4 km. I believe in total I probably walked 2,5 km and jogged the rest.

On wednesday I did the same route again and this time I managed to jog the full 8 km with only a very quick stop for some stretching and then moving on. It felt really good that night in the forest, I could barely make out the road ahead of me in the starlight but I had my Clas-Ohlson cap with built-in lights to guide me when it got really dark.

Saturday we had the movie night with our friends in Täby and I managed to squeeze in a 5 k run together with my friend Jenny around Näsby Park which was wonderful, despite the light drizzle and rather cold weather, it was definitely pleasant anyway. Must be the company.

Summary of this week

The week then ended with a 2 day session at Yasuragi japanese spa outside Stockholm. It was wonderful.

I went to Järvafältet and did my 8 km favourite track there. First 4 km went pretty ok, slow but nice, keeping heart rate down going for distance and time rather than intensity, but then I had to stop and stretch my hip that became a bit painful. Had I been smart I would have choosen to start out with a 3-4 km run, not a 8 km, but I managed to get back by alternating jogging and walking.

I do feel that my condition is not that bad but my legs are quite uncustomed to the business of running again. But if I remember correctly from my last pause it takes a couple of weeks to get back well and proper and then everything will be fine again.

It was dark so I ran with a flash light in my hand, I had forgotten my cool cap.

And Lauren – I am sorry, I have forgotten to send your cap to you. Will do when we have unpacked everything that was stowed away for the renovation.

Turns out the batteries however was depleted in it, although it looked like they where half-charged when I checked them at home so I left it in the car and started on a path I sometimes go by bike and I know fairly well.

Bodaäng-Kalkviken-8km

It was a magical night, a bit of fog over the open fields, the road was a little soft after the rain but that was great for the legs after doing a tougher round on asphalt the other day and I ran through the wonderful farm at Rocksta where I could hear the horses in the stable and there where cows in the fields. The air was cool, around 16°C and it was just lovely being out in this wonderful weather.

During the whole run I met two people. One lady on a bike fairly close to the starting point, maybe 1.5 km in to the run and then on my way back around 5.5 km I met this guy who was lost on his bike trying to get back to Jakobsberg. I gave him a road description since I know this area pretty well by now and he thanked me.

During the whole run I stopped the clock twice, once to check my bearings when I tought I had gone the wrong way (I didn’t but I ran back and forth a few hundred meters off clock to check) and then when I gave the lost guy some directions.

The path is a little bit hilly, one bigger hill close to the beginning and then some smaller ones and longer stretches of uphill/downhill. I kept a great pace based on my heartbeat trying to never exceed 150 bpm instead work on my endurance today and it worked great I felt so good the entire time it was a shame to stop.

The sun was setting in the long slow way it does up in the north in the summer time, we have sunsets from about 19-21 with the light slowly fading away and although it was pretty dark when I got back to the car it was just lovely from start to end.

This path can easily be extended to 10 km or even 12 km just by slighly changing the route. I think I might go for the 12 km next time. I hope my friend Jenny joins me then.

Jenny who started running in 2006 and then had a couple of stops since she’s had two children since that time, runs at a tempo that is a bit higher than mine usually but this was really good, she could slow down and I could work on getting a little better tempo in to my run. Not to mention she’s just such a great person and nice to talk to so we had a really good run although we took a couple of wrong turns so the 6,7 km yellow track at Altorp became about 7,7 km instead, no problem there.

Tonight I am going for a run where I live so that will make it 3 runs this week.

Then I have less than two weeks before Midnattsloppet to train for it, I am not worried but I need to get a quality week of running in and then a long distance run and some rest the days before the actual race, I think that will be good.

And of course more runs with Jenny!

So a light on the forehad and a cap to keep the light rain out of your face would not be a bad idea?

Well here it is.

49:- SEK at Clas Ohlson store

This is a proper cap in nice material with their logo on the side and which got 5 LED lights built into the cap rim that will show you the road in the darkness. It is powered by 2xCR2032 (wristwatch style) batteries and will light for many hours on the roads and in the woods while keeping your face dry (from rain).

And for the price, buy two!

The light switch is in the cap, easy to reach and hitten under the fabric. Turn it on and off as you please while never missing a stride!

Then one day of resting the legs and hacking in the night (Carpe Noctum as we say) before setting off on my next run all the way out to Rullsand and back again completing a full 10 km if I include the warmup and cooldown walks as well, it was a beautiful run with loads of energy and the kilometers just ticked away as the legs moved. Not too fast either just a great running experience with the exception of the mosquitoes and flies that set on in the woodland parts of the track.

That was it for week 28.

In wk 29 I started on Monday with a tempo based run with lots of hills, the ordinary long track at home 3,5 km one lap and did a pretty good time despite being intervals and kept a 7:23 tempo on average. On Tuesday I did my second 10 km PLUS warmup/cooldown (Kallhäll-Ängsjö-Kallhäll) so in total about 12 km actually but the running part was 10,9 km. This was asphalt for the full length with the exception of the first and last km that was gravel road.

This run was also a really good one, I even though parts are extremely hilly on this run but I managed with a few walks to get the pulse down again to jog at a really steady pace most of the time. Tempo was about 9:07 min/km which is slow but still, for being me not bad at all, I was really happy but very tired when I got back home. A bit overtraining here if I believe the training watch I am using.

On Thursday I tried jogging again but it was terrible, I just went home after 2 km that felt terrible. Bad sleep from the heat and not enough fluid as well as the 10 clicks from 2 days earlier was still in the system, it was better just give it a rest actually.

Saturday I visited a friend in Täby, Jenny B and “borrowed” her usual track. Took a few wrong turns there so her 5 k run turned out to be a 6 k run for me but did well and it felt really really good!

Sunday was another first for me, running trail! I have heard much about it so I did myself a map over the trails in the area and laid out a 7 km run on them. It was not fun. It was just BRILLIANT! I have never really had so much fun running. Roots and fist-sized stones, slippery boulders, wet pine needles and loose branches as well as mud, cold water streams to jump across, a little bit of old forgotten gravel road and then back into the woods again.

There was a mist all through the woods, permeating everything and the really tricky parts I had to negotiate half crawling but it was challenging, hilly, technical, lovely and just something I really really enjoyed doing.

Challenging is an understatement. Compared to running on even ground this is so much more difficult, you got to keep a cool head and THINK all the time in order to not put yer foot in the wrong place and slip leading to a sprained ankle or even breaking something. When you get tired you have to be even more careful of the footing but it was just great.

I am going to keep doing trails more often now that I know how fun that is!

Wk 25 saw 4 passes all between 2-4 km but wk 26 I ran every day, 7 workouts in total and it was great, the legs felt really good. Of course i ran shorter and easier between the longer tougher runs but active resting seems much better than just not running at all!

By the end of Wk 26 I did my first 10 km ever. It is difficult to tell you how good that felt. It was not a high paced run or anything but just to be able to go on for 10 km without stopping was a big win for me.

Wk 27 had 5 workouts because I had a bit too much other things to do on two of the days but I was pretty happy with that, the Suunto training watch has upgraded me to activity class 8,5 which is very high on the scale but also means I have to work harder in order to maintain the training effect I am looking for. This is an indication that my condition has improved a lot since I started on activity class 7.

The legs need to get stronger, now that the condition is improved it is easy to run out of strength and fuel and in this heat water… I generally do not bring a flask of water when I go running mainly because I don’t like carrying it in my hand and I don’t have any belts or similar for carrying additional drinks with me. I might get that some day but for the short runs I do these days it is generally enough to drink before and after.

But last saturday got me thinking when I tried to repeat the 10 k run I did the week before it just stopped working after 7 km. I was definitely in the zone up to that point but then I started getting into all sorts of trouble and when my right thigh muscles started to cramp up painfully I decided enough is enough and walked back home without pushing my luck.

This week seems to be just as hot and frankly, last nights run was not really cool at all even if I started at midnight it was still hot. Incredible.

My favourite lap times five, it’s about 1800 meters and then down towards the beach and back going home again.

And it actually felt quite nice. Right now my feet hurt a little but during the running it just felt good. Strange that, I hardly thought I could make it and then it even felt good. I’ve been training at a too high pulse as usual before.

The demons to fight are excessive food intake, the heat outside as this is the hottest period in Sweden with temperatures reaching 30ºC it is better doing pulse-high activities in the evening rather than in the mid-day sunshine. Such as my 2.1 km run today which was tough but I still felt good after it.

I am currently developing my exercise schedule based on good advice from funbeat.se the greatest training community in Sweden right now.

Two good runs on monday and wednesday this week however, another 6k run on Monday and intervals for 4km on wednesday finished by steep hillclimbing that really got the pulse up.

Now, I will give this cold tomorrow to get in shape and then I want to start training on monday again.

Oh, and I got a new pulse training book today with lots of examples of different types to run to, intervals, hill running, distance jogging, and many other things, I’ll get back to you with a review when I know more!

Better luck Wk 19!

This is the list I currently keep in my android phone for a good outdoor run. The songs are a strange mix between soft and hard with a lot of love for Electronic Body Music of course.

(Yes the photo above was taken by me.)

1. Warmup – So Klingt Liebe – And One – 6:03
2. Running – Lucifer – Blutengel – 5:38
3. Running – I Feel Love – The Blue Man Group – 5:13
4. Running – On Fire – T-Connection – 7:26
5. Running – Mambo Witch – A Split Second – 7:48
6. Running – Headhunter (Live) – Front 242 – 4:40
7. Running – Above – Blue Man Group – 2:46
8. Running – Ruder Than You – Liberator – 2:45
9. Running – Dammit – Blink 182 – 2:45
10. Running – Sent to Destroy – Combichrist – 6:23
11. Running – Radioactivität – Kraftwerk – 7:23
12. Running – Sultans Of Swing – Dire Straits – 5:36
13. Running – Cherry Blossom – Nitzer Ebb – 5:>30
14. Running – Det Vete Fan – Movits – 2:57
15. Cooldown – Do you want the truth or something beautiful? – Paloma Faith – 4:36

All in one glorious running package!

Regard wk 17 as a recovery and rest week but now I am ready for wk 18 to keep running my 6 km both indoor and outdoor.

I think it is possible. I have increased training dose a bit but allow for rest in the weeks also. After a long run outdoors I generally schedule a short one on the treadmill, I have noticed that short runs (2 km or thereabout) increase the blood flow and lowers the recovery time after a long run. While in the gym I also do general strengthening exercises for stomach, back, arms, shoulders and upper back which seems to be helping also.

This week has seen a bit more rest than usual mostly depending on the really bad weather and I am going to make one more run tonight aiming at the 6k again.

But I also got a great motivator this week, my new sports watch. A Suunto T6c runner’s watch with pulse belt and foot pod measuring heart rates as well as speed and distance. The best thing about it is that is has a very advanced way of measuring the heart rate, it does not just measure the number of beats in a minute, but it also measures the time variance between the beats. By sophisticated methods it is thereby able to calculate VO2 profiles as you work out and using them it can tell you the quality of the work out.

If you are working out too hard for a period it will tell you to schedule a few workouts with lower intensity. If you are slacking off and not developing your strength, endurance, speed or cardiovascular functions it will tell you to step it up.

It also has a really great interval timer which is great, you can set it for any kind of intervals and it will alarm you to start or stop your intervals based on time or distance.

It also has a very accurate barometric altimeter that shows you the terrain profile of the track you run, much more accurate than any GPS based measurement I have seen, in fact it is accurate to within a couple of meters providing the barometric pressure does not change too much.

The software for this training partner is among the best I have seen. It is great for a stats buff like myself who loves, and finds motivation from, statistics on how I am doing. I love running the same track over and over and note if I am doing the first or second lap faster than last time and so on. Really great stuff that.

The watch also changes your parameters over time, it just recently told me my condition was a step better than I thought when I entered the initial parameters so it has automatically notched it up meaning that to achieve the same training effect as before I have to run longer or faster. Depressing stuff but probably true. In the process I have also lost another couple of kg of excess weight.

Above is the heart rate curve for my last 5 km run. It shows also clearly the intervals that I was doing (6 speed intervals with jogging between) and that my heart rate was varying quite a bit at the start, this happens if I have not been sleeping well the night before and then does workout.

The next is the speed/distance curve where ther intervals are even more pronouced. The first little plateay is a warmup walk before starting to run. The pace is very even as well which indicates that I am running on a treadmill, outdoors the speed varies much more with the ascent of the track.

EPOC is the Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption graph. This is an interesting graph. By measuring the heart rate, speed and distance, time and the variance between the heart beats (the harder you work out the more even the heart beats) the system can calculate how much stress you put on the system and graph how well your workout was in terms of cardiovascular stress.

This was a level 4,8 workout which is a highly improving level. After such a work out it is recommended to make a more low profile workout as a recovery, keeping to an EPOC level of 2-3 rather. If you go as high as level 5 you need several days of rest before training again.

Level 1 is very low intensity training building a base but not stressing the cardio-vascular system really.

Level 2 is a maintaining level, you will maintain what you got but not improve your endurance much. However you are still improving muscles and building up to be able to take more stressing workouts.

Level 3 is improving rate, you are now improving your cardio and endurance quite a bit.

Level 4 is greatly improving (doing intervals for example) but you should not work out at this level for more than 2-3 times a week and make sure to rest or have low-intensity workouts between.

I have now entered myself into the midnattsloppet race that will take place on Södermalm here in Stockholm on Saturday the 14th august this year. The race is 10 km on asphalt through the summer night in Stockholm. I have been to watch the race a couple of times but I have never even thought I would be in it one day.

I am in starting group 7 of course, the last people to start jogging and I hope to complete the full 10 km in about 75 minutes.

Entrance fee is 340 SEK.

What have I done? 167 days left to train for it… that’s about 23 weeks. And I will be needing them!

Have fun!

Contents:

1. Eye of the Tiger / Survivor [4:06]
2. Panzermensch / And One [5:05]
3. Walk Away / Dropkick Murphys [2:51]
4. Mercy Me / Alkaline Trio [2:49]
5. Menschenfresser – Klubmischung / Melotron [4:55]
6. Battle without honor or humanity / Tomoyasu Hotel [2:29]
7. Walking on Sunshine / Katrina (formerly of the Waves) [3:55]
8. Isn’t it funny how your body works / Nitzer Ebb [3:47]
9. Arroganz Der Liebe / Melotron [3:48]
10. At Midnight / T-Connection [9:44]
11. We Run Through the Jungle with Our M-16s / The US Marine Corps [1:29]

All in one glorious running package!

As usual the first run after a down-period was terrible, but I soon found my pace back and the condition is growing on me and I managed after just 4 runds to do a 5 km run again. Which is the goal distance of the C25k programme of course. I feel great but need more time to really get into the habit. They say that the workout habit needs about 5 weeks to form so I need to keep doing this.

The really good things is that the running at the gym from work is not bad at all and with the kind of temperatures that we are having and the treacherous ice and snow out there, trying to run trails in these conditions will probably just end with me needing a hip replacement or something, better to stay indoor another couple of months.

The treadmill actually interfaces with my el cheapo pulse watch. Not bad for a 59 SEK watch and HRM band actually, and that’s great. I can set a time, a speed and a target heart rate and the machine will then adjust inclination to achieve the target heart rate, all I need to do is to keep running the distance. When the time is upp there is a cooldown period.

My feet are a little sore after each workout but that’s just to be expected, I’ve gone all “tenderfoot” again after the break from my workout routine. Back on the bandwagon again is the melody.

Speaking of which, I have designed a Spotify playlist for 30 min running with warmup and cooldown which will be useful both in the gym and in the woods when that day comes. Another playlist for 45 min running and so on will be added.

Most of these songs have a really high bpm to get your tempo and step cadence up to close of 180 steps a minute but they vary a little which your running also should.

• WARMUP: Clint Eastwood – Gorillaz
• RUN: Born to Boogie – Hank Williams Jr.
• RUN: Vaterland – Melotron
• RUN: Up Tempo – Leo Kottke
• RUN: Rocka På – Markoolio
• RUN: Bloodshot Eyes – Pat Benatar
• RUN: Breakthru – Queen
• RUN: Shame, Shame, Shame – Aerosmith
• RUN: Lakeside Drive – Nitzer Ebb
• COOLDOWN: Jamo – Cooldown Mix – Skyway

Warmup: 5:43, running 30:00, cooldown 7:09, total 42.9 minutes

And of course, here is the spotify link. Load your mobile spotify client up, select to use offline for the playlist and then keep running! Off-line mode is great since it does not drain your battery as fast and you can keep running even if your 3G coverages is not so good where you are running.

I’d love more tips on good running songs!

Bonus is that the machine can read my pulse belt so it means I can do really good pulse training without effort, it is really easy to regulate speed and incline on the machine whilst running so you can keep the pulse in the zone all the time.

Doing round of about 3.5 km in 30 mins at the moment, will set out to increase over time up to 5 km and my goal is still to run “Midnattsloppet” in August which is a 10 km run.

A summary of each week’s training will be posted. I am aiming for three runs with one day of rest between them and then two days of rest in the weekend. Right now the runs will be the same all three but I will later divide them into shorter runs with intervals for speed, longer runs with slow tempo for distance and recovery runs.

I will go down to the gym at work on monday and see if there is some way to start jogging again. Outdoors is just too slippery right now although the cold is nit si much a problem for me.

Wish me luck…

I then had muscle pains for a couple of days and then the christmas party time set in full fledged! I had no less than three christmas parties to attend to this year, from work, with friends and again this weekend with more friends. It has been fantastic in every way and then finally the snow came as well. It now does look like christmas but it has not done me well in the exercise scheme, the roads are perilous to run now but since it is close to christmas I will see if I may sneak down into the exercise gym at work and find a cross trainer or something similar to work out on.

I mean it, I need to get more exercise and the weather and road conditions are just not really that fit for running right now. Fortunately snow rarely lasts that long here in Stockholm, it will be fine for running in no time.

Apart from that life just got in the way a lot training wise and I managed to squeeze in some long walks. All in all a not so good week but I will do better.

But, I did another 4 km today and it felt pretty good. My usual track around the Slammertorp cottage (2 laps on the easy path) and the time was about 8:30 min/km so not bad for not having been out much the last couple of weeks.

Gonna do better now, I promise. Feet feels nice tonight actually.

Did two runs this week, both of them were horrible, the first was a 4 km run at an extremely low pace, 9:15 min/km and today I did another one at 8:40 min/km but that was only a 3 km run. My body really did not want to run today so it was all in my mind really. I had set out to do 4 km today as well but my body refused to do more than 2. So we reached a kind of compromise on 3 km. Not that good really but I think it is going the right way slowly. Next week it will start feel better I’m sure.

And it did. I managed to get around 2 laps of my usual track and it took 37 minutes to complete 4 km. However even if the tempo of 9:15/km is just a sliver better than walking real fast, I actually did it. I tried to keep my pulse around 160-165, I have found it gives me the best burn workout I can get. At this heart rater I can keep going for some time without stopping and it gives me a good workout with plenty of sweat.

Today it was difficult to keep that rater even with the really slow running. On the second lap it started to creep up beyond 170 bpm and several parts of the track was done around 170-175 bpm rather than the 160-165 that was my goal.

So definitely I have lost condition. I have also gained weight these four weeks but that is about to come right off again as I start running more regularly so I am not too worried about that right now. And condition comes rather fast, especially when you start low

Even though my 7 km run looks distant right now I am sure that in 3-4 weeks time I might be able to repeat it if my health stays okay, that is.

Then I’ll go jogging again!

By Saturday night I was covered in urticaria all over my head and face, looking like something straight out of a 1950ies creature feature movie. Not a pretty sight. And it hurt — and the itching is hard to describe. Can’t give in to it though, that just make things bleed and scar.  I have had a rough night now but I have woke up feeling a little better actually. This might be because the human body produce it’s own cortisone in the morning or … perhaps I am slowly getting better.

I even played with the thought of putting a photograph of my horrible looks on my home page but then decided against it, the world might not be ready for that kind of disfigurement yet.

My better half Jeanette is having the flu and I believe that is what onset it this time for me as well. She’s feverish and coghy and tired and have all the classic symptoms. Even though I probably had a bit of that (last night my throat was a little sore) I think I got off the flu easy. Let’s hope this leads to something good, like immunization to A(H1N1) better known as the bacon plague.

My hands still hut a bit and I still don’t dare that perhaps I will now start to get better because I know when nightfall comes and cortisone in the body is switched to melatonine instead then these kinds of rashes usually gets worse. I go from cold sweats to hot spells regularly still.

And now the time has passed enough that I no longer longingly pass my sneakers in the hallway. I have forgotten the joy of running. I need to nurture the addiction once more and learn how to start slow. Not that I think I have lost everything but I believe there will be a couple of weeks of build-up before I can get back to where I was.

If I get better now…

I miss the running, my shoes are calling to me when I pass them by on my way out through the door. Tomorrow I am missing my sixth scheduled run in a row but I am not too worried about it.

So my first run this week was a shorter and slower run to just recover and this went well. I then did the intervals on Wednesday and that was really tough. Cardio and VO2 max training really. I put the intervals far too long to be effective, I will correct that for the next week. Instead of 10 min intervals with 2 min walks I will run 3/2 or 3/1 but based on my pulse rather than on time. I would then be able to run to 90% of maximum pulse and then walk it down to 80% or even 75% and then run it up to 90% again in intervals around the path I usually goes.

But the highlight this week was my fabulous long distance run. I set out slow, very slow, I got the advice to start “silly slow” and then just very gradually pick up the speed after the first click or so. Which I did, I then kept the pulse around 155-160 and I really had to hold back the first couple of kilometers.

Then I entered the Zone. Seriously. The feet pounding the ground just disappeared around me and all I was aware of was my regular, but not too strained, breathing and I could go on for ever like this. Uphill was not a problem, I just increased the cadence and lowered the speed and downhill I compensated for the loss of time keeping the tempo around 8:45 per km. That’s really slow, about 25% faster than you walk at a good pace of course. But it does not matter by being able to keep this pace for a full hour and not stopping until the 7 km was up I got a really really good workout.

The best really. I feel it in my legs, my foot soles are a little hurting but not that bad. During the running however no pains at all. Nothing, just pure floating over the ground, the full moon above shining down on the forest path that I regularly work out on. Instead of the normal 2 laps I do I did 3 laps and then down to the water line.

Really great. I feel so great it’s difficult to describe it. Just… WOW!

The southern loop was run three laps

6 Weeks to 6 km

I believe it will be great fun to keep doing this although my first day on this running schedule was not great. I had a hard time running pretty early in the workout and it was tough all the way through. Partly because I had not eaten properly today I believe and I had some wine yesterday which always makes the running more of a pain.

I have decided to have my training days mostly on monday, wednesday and saturday, it fits pretty well with my schedule.  It also allows me to get two days of rest before the long run that ends every week and the next week starts with a lighter recovery run.

I am going to post a resummée every week how I am doing and if I have been running any new interesting tracks lately.

August 29: So I have graduated from the C25k programme. I am now capable of running 5 km continuously without any walking and resting. Although the pace is not great, I do it in just above 40 minutes I feel very happy about this and now the continuation is to keep doing it three times a week. Tomorrow I celebrate 5 months as a runner!

I will of curse run and alternate between shorter and faster runs and slower and longer runs. For the coming couple of months I believe that there is no reason for me to go beyond the 5 km.

After that I might keep adding to it to go for the full 10 km that I want to be able to do by next summer. I have plans on running the Midnattsloppet (the midnight run) here in Sweden by then.

Thinking back I never really thought I would be here. I still vividly remember the first time I put my trainers on and my running pants and jacket and went out to run 1 minuter, wallk 1 minute and so on for 20 minutes. It was really terrible and now a 2 km run is hardly something to think about and a 5 km run can be done although I admit that I will they feel more like routine than a maximum

August 28: I did a recovery run today. Still feeling that last 5k run in my legs so I did a short 2k run today. It was great however, good speed and the feeling was lovely. Even though I felt the last run a bit I had no problems what so ever and in fact I think the short run just did me good.

Gretting the legs really warm again helped the recovery it seems. I feel great and I am looking forward to this weeks last run tomorrow which probably will be around 4-5 km again…

August 26: I have now returned from my holiday trip and I have been pretty good att keeping my exercise schedule varying the distances I have been running and lots of uphill training the past three weeks. Back up where we got the cabin it feels like everything is uphill. Now tonight it will be nice to test out how it feels on the old track again taking my normal 4 km run or perhaps going for another 5 km run if that feels right. We will have to see about that.

Most of my runs have been with short parts walking. The uphills are really killers when you have a bit of overweight. I have however lost another kg despite the holiday barbecues, drinking and snackning so I will be working on getting my weight down even further. Apart from that I don’t really have much else right now for you but I will be getting back to my regular schedule soon…

Two more weeks of holiday…

August 2: Today I have managed something I could not dream about about 4 months ago when I embarked on this silly quest. Not so silly any more, my general condition and health has improved beyond what I would have expected.

But today I actually ran 5 km. Not very fast, the path is a wooden path with many hills up and down, some of them quite steep and taxing but I managed to keep a rather nice ongoing pace all through the workout.

Two more runs like that and I will have graduated from the C25k programme! I feel incredible really, I thought 4 km was tough enough but tonight it was a wonderful night. A slight fog and chill in the air. I sat out to do my workout around half past eleven in the night and I got back home again about half past midnight after having a nice wind down walk as well.

Lovely. No pains anywhere, no blisters, nothing from the knees or the hip I have felt slightly before everything just went really well. I am still a big guy of about 100 kg + but my health and stamina has improved immensely over the last four months.

Now the trick is to continue this and keep doing what is good at the same time as I will have to work out a diet with a little less calories in it!

July 31: I have mostly kept up my deal of the bargain so far and been runnint 2-3 times every week. I have now a new workout path I am running mostly on asphalt which is faster and less hilly than my wooden path but also a little harder on the legs. The last couple of runs went rather well but today was a tough one again. I have been taking more walks than usual and perhaps my legs was not very rested really when I set out today. After the first km or so I started alternating between something like 5 min jogging and 2-3 min walking and I managed to do my 4 km with intervals but I was very tired in the legs.

I hope the next workout will be better, I am considering going back to running my usual wooden path again next time. We’ll see!

I have been fine, no pains really anywhere that is holding me back, my condition is pretty good again and my legs are getting stronger although it takes a long time. I have not been able to go much beyond my standard 4.3 km really it’s been rather hard but there is no rush to increase the running yet. I get a good workout from these runs anyhow and that’s what matters most.

July 25: This week has been two runs so far. One tough on my normal track and this morning I went for a new circuit I have never done before and it went really well. More asphalt this time, I run a lot faster on that compared to gravel. Also not so hilly as my usual circuit, this one has one very steep hill and then one very long hill that just drains your energy a lot.

Even though I walked a bit this run I did my personal best on 4 km yet, 30 minutes 29 seconds! That gives a pace of 7:33 per km which is a personal best yet on 4 km at least. Yay!

The new circuit is mainly on asphalt but I don’t seem to be any worse off running on that compared to gravel and paths in the wood. Feel fine and strong. So far just two runs this week I will get one more run in Sunday night if it feels right.

Last week was the Summer Hack week and although I did one run I did not complete my other two runs that I wanted. Things just got in the way but I did play one match of “brännboll” a sort of Swedish version of Baseball and that was something I felt in my legs!

This week started better, a nice but hard run on monday. Today is wednesday but I am resting today so my next run will be tomorrow! See you then!

July 12: Level 8! I am getting there, though slowly, but I am getting there! Woohoo!

Another great run, though I felt the front side of my shins the whole way. Rather painful actually but I ignored it, lowered the pace worked on and got through the whole ordeal. Except for the painful shins the run was really nice. Next time I hope I will not have to feel them and then this would be really a great run actually

Still having a bit of trouble with the downhill running, need to let go and increase my speed there but I am not comfortable doing it, legs needs to be stronger than they are now. Don’t know, perhaps a few visits to the gym may be helpful for that. Gotta think about that (hate the gym).

I am slowly getting better at this. Even though I don’t feel like it when I work out at the pace I am going but the numbers don’t lie, I have started to pick up the pace a little from 8:45 to 8:20 or there around and on this hilly track that’s not too bad.

This weekend was full of junk food and resting doing nothing. In fact I was barely outside at all this weekend, save for this run and for a trip to the gas station (emergency supplier of potato crisps). So considering that I think it’s great. Next week is back on the wagon again.

On Thursday we are going to the Summer Hacking Camp in Skutskär. That will be nice, meeting up with all the nice people there and I hope I will find some nice places around there to do my running on. That should be interesting

July 10: Did another 4 km run today and the pace was around 7:45 min/km this time. I took the path down by the lakeside to the train tunnel and back again.  I just went out and ran today, I forgot all about my pulse watch and everything. Don’t really look that much at it these days, I know by heart so to speak where I am in the zone.

We had a few drinks yesterday so I was perhaps a little slower than I should have been otherwise but hey, one has to have some fun as well!

This was my sixth run on the 4 km level. I will be going for 4.5 km next time I run because I have already done 4.3 km and 4.2 km regularly. It is time for level eight!

Today's run, home to Trappeberg and back home again same route.

July 7: Today I was back on my normal path again runnit it in the “reverse” direction again so I can finish off with a longer down slope and start with the uphills. Started running just outside my door and then did 4.25 km in 36 minutes.

So slow tempo and everything went really good. Tempo 8:30 is no competition tempo but I did manage to run the full way without any stops or walking.

July 5: Did a new track today down by the waterfront, went off in a pretty high tempo and burned out around the third km so I had to walk a few minutes, muscles really stiff and tired, but even so I did a great tempo for me, 7:30 on average though this path is not so hilly.

July 3: Today was a rather tough set actually, my legs got really tired after the first 2 km so I resordet to walking/running the rest of the track I had set out to do. On the map below you can see the result. Almost one minute worse per km than usual. It was hot, humid, a bit of rain and it was later. All these things may have contributed and I was running in full pants rather than shorts because of the mosquitos and the raining yesterday. The heat is terrible for running. But fortunately Swedish summers rarely stay around 35 degrees for very long however so I will soon be back on track again.

I have realized I need to get a runner’s shirt however in a good soft material and with some pocket for my keys and MP3 player. I will go looking for something suiteable this weekend. I do have pretty good shorts to run in as well, they dry out very fast and are comfortable.

Legend: Black 0-3 km/h, blue 3-6 km/h, green 6-9 km/h, yellow 9-12 km/h and red above 12 km/h. Or if you prefer in tempo: Blue 20, Green 10, Yellow 6:40, Red: 5.

This track above is pretty good, hilly but without the killer slopes that the track closer to the lake has and it is usually pleasant to run on the track of gravel and wooden paths.

In two weeks I should be able to go 5 km (I hope) and thereby reaching my goal with the Couch to 5 km running programme that I have been following (more or less). Then I will keep at this level for some time until my body has the time to stabilize before getting into the next programme.

But I have so many nice places I want to run