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

Went running again again at Järvafältet. One of my harder runs for a while actually, it was raining and I was not sure how to dress properly. I mean, I know what to do generally, if you are hiking you use an outer shell, a warm sweater and a moisture transport inner layer that keeps you dry but when you go running or do other high pulse activity the outer shell rather acts like a plastic bag, meaning that even if the rain does not soak you, your own sweat will in an hours time or so.

Gore-Tex or similar functional garments don’t have the capacity to transport enough water vapor, especially not when it is raining on them and so it seems that wool is the way to go. Keeps you warm even when it is wet. Functional t-shirts and fleece sweathers would also work, especially microfleece, they transport loads of moisture but keep you warm even if they are soaking wet.

And then there is the wind. Someting more tightly wowen in wool would probably be best as a middle layer. So a functional tee, a wool warm layer and a microfleece sweather, together would probably be a better combination than what I was wearing today.

I had just a runner’s jacket and trousers, a functional tee. Socks and underwear as usual in cotton.

Above you can see the route I was running today.

More info on the run here.

I have had a break from the running for nine days but today I took myself out again and it was terrible. Can’t believe how fast you loose the hard earned condition but I also know by now it comes back rather quickly, a coupl of more runs and I should be going great again.

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.

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

This week I was working with the radio systems all the week and I managed only two workouts which felt a little bad but that’s life sometimes. On Sunday I left for Basingstoke, UK for training with Motorola on their TETRA system so the next week is all about running in Basingstoke.

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

For the longer runs that lasts up to 100 minutes of energetic exercise. I really like running to most of these songs and they give me a lot of energy.

Spotify link

Podrunning 100 min

An eventfull week by many counts, first of all the new organisation settled at work, and moved desk to a new location. Some people gone, a bit of confusion as always. Then out doing field work, pretty tired in the evenings, decided to take it a little easy on the running and in the weekend we went to Malung, about 350 km north of here to celebrate my fathers 70th birthday.

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.

This week was actually very good, personal best on one run (6,5 km) and generally good workouts all over. 5 workouts in the same week and over 4 hours spent running. That is exactly what I was going for so I feel really good about that.

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.

This week, easter week was a very good week actually. Foodwise we kept in check and I had some really good runs including my first 10 km run this year. Weather has been perfect for outdoors activities so it has been a real pleasure to be outdoor this week. Dun has been nice and warm but in the nights the temperatures drops down and best runs are done in the afternoons really.

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.

I have not been writing much about my workouts here lately. The reasons are that I, as usual, lost the continuity in my workouts when the snow came, it is of course entirely possible to run in snow but I am not a very keen snow-jogger I must admit. Running indoors, while good for stuff like interval training is making me more or less mental really after a while. I actually read a book las time I ran my usual 5 click on the treadmill, that’s how tedious that is, staring out over the usually empty gym. I wish there was a TV set to watch the news or something while you are beating the treadmill.

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.

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.