So, running is coming back again, still need to improve muscular toning and then start working up to the distances I used to run before the summer when I fell off the wagon. However, I feel the energy is coming back already, stress is dwindling as the kilometers tick away when I go out jogging and all the benefits are doing me well!

But now it is time for a new goal. This is to reduce weight with about 15 kg of my excess weight and the goal date is March 31st 2012. It is a decent goal, meaning around 0,5 kg a week until then and so it should be possible without having to go on a starving diet. Keep jogging and just eating smaller portions, less junk, get the breakfast habit going (even if it will be just a protein drink) and be more careful in the evenings to not eat more than necessary.

I have done it before. I can do it again. I need to do it again and so this starts today. Weigh-ins will be wednesday nights after supper but before running (if it is a running day).

My electronic scale claims to be able to discern body fat and water content as a percentage of total body weight. Although I am skeptic to how accurate this actually is – I certainly will log it as well and see where that takes me.

Body Loss Table

Good week this week, started quite good on Monday with 4,5 km running and then pretty much nothing until Sunday for another 4,4 km. Not very well disposed this week but there has been lots to do and I have gotten home tired and out of what. Better next week!

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

Basingstoke was a bit of a strange place to me. Very sort of run down in the centre area, sad looking people in most places but once you got out of there to the Old Basing area it was different. Much nicer. So I did most of my running out to the east of the actual city and I liked it quite a bit actually.

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

A nice week but a little slow on the training side because we went to our summerhouse for a bit of holiday and I did one 5k run there around the lake. They have built a new gravel road there in order to be able to run timber from the woods out of the area but this road is hardly worth the name, it was soft and difficult to run, lots of potholes and fist-sized rocks strewn about and it was also quite hilly, not surprising actually. After that we came back home to Stockholm again and I had a really nice run together with my friend Jenny.

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!

Week 28 started out with a good contiuation of the previous couple of weeks with a 5 km run on Monday before I left for the Summerhack meeting in Skutskär. While there I found this beautiful bike/jogging trail going all the way to Rullsand, one of the finest beaches in whole of Sweden so I started out on Tuesday by running almost all the way there and then back again, making some 6,5 km.

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!

The training is going well despite the extremely hot weather we are having. I have started my holidays now so my training is done outdoors exclusively since I don’t wanna go into work just to use the gym there.

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.

I did it! My first 10 km run tonight. Not very fast at all, instead I forced myself to run really really slow keeping the heart beat low and not considering the pace or the time really just letting the kilometers drop away.

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.

Not the same thing as streaking that is, but I have been running every day since Sunday and I am starting to notice results. Condition goes up very fast and now I need to let the muscles and ligaments catch up. I am back at about 6 km and are working my way up to 10 km slowly in low tempo but still jogging. Yay.

There are just seven weeks to Midnattsloppet now and I have not been getting the exercise necessary. Time to change all that, there will be some training every day now from short runs to weight lifting, treadmill, forest and asphalt running and not more than 1-2 resting days a week. Together with a better diet and no alcohol what so ever I think it may still be possible.

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.

Today the training will consist just of a walk. I have gotten a major cold that I have been incubating a few days but this morning I was really under the ice. Therefore no more cardio training this week but the weather is so good that I want to make a walk around my favourite track tonight.

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!

A weak week. First run was just 2,84 km and without much enthusiasm at all, just felt wrong and difficult. Then on wednesday another runt that went 6,2 km and in a little better tempo as well, I was pretty happy with that one. After that I just screwed up the rest of the week unfortunately.

Better luck Wk 19!

Here is my 60 minutes podrunning Spotify link. This version includes also a warmup phase 6:03 and a cooldown phase that is 4:36 with softer music.

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!

Week got completely shot out the window with the schedule and there was really just one day of good training, monday.

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.

6k done! Now two more weeks trying to make that my standard distance and then another increase with about 1800 meters that will take me to 7k8 and then another couple of weeks on that distance before attempting 9k7 which will be very close to my 10k goal for August.

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.

Here is my 45 min podrunning list of music. Works great to run to. This list however is without warmup and cooldown so it is just that, 45 minutes of nice jogging music ending with a United States Marines march when you are really tired.

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!

Finally gotten the act together again to do some serious workouts. Three workouts this week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the treadmill at work. And also one last week, the first one in 8 weeks! Great running actually and does not feel that bad.

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.

Here is a mixtape list for running 30 minutes that includes a 5:43 warmup and 7:09 cooldown and 30 min of actual running. I originally had a James Last song live here but it did not fit well with the audience applause and stuff so it has been replaced.

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!

Running taken up again. Two times now on a treadmill at work and that’s actually not bad at all. I thought I would hate it dearly but it does work actually.

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 am so bad at the running and exercise things right now that I ought to be ashamed of myself, or at least a little embarrassed.

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…

Monday: 3 km run

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.

I had one proper quality jogging last week but that was a really good one, my ordinary 4 km run.

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.

Been awfully bad now for the last couple of weeks again. Feet has still had problems with the urtikaria rashes which has made it hard to run and I don’t really fancy other forms of workout that much. Swimming would be an option but it takes a lot of time to go there and do the workout and come back showered and all.

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.

So two runs this week. Starting to get back into the habit is hard however. I really miss the shape I was in a month ago but I will get there soon!

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.

My last logged run was september 7 and today is october 7. I set out not knowing what my condition would be like but my usual warmup walking rendered about 15 bpm higher heart beat than I remembered so that was definitely an indication that it was going to get tough.

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.

Still nothing but things are getting better. Now the flu is gone and I have only the urticaria to battle. Right know I have a blood filled blister under my left foot but I hope it is gone soon.

Then I’ll go jogging again!