Söndagscykling

After my big ride two days ago, I have been eager to hit the road again and check out more of Västerbotten. Opting for a slightly shorter ride today, I went up to Stornorrfors hydroelectric power station which is one of the biggest in Sweden with 600 MW capacity, generating about two terawatt hours per year. From there, I took the road via the glittering Bjännsjön to Max for a plant beef avocado burger.

Boglands

Before moving to Västerbotten in 2014, I do not think I had ever run through boglands. Mud for sure but this particular subarctic form of wetland or “myrmark” was something I was not familiar with from where I grew up in Kalmar, and obviously even less so from Melbourne or Seoul. With Grössjön and its vast surrounding boglands just south of our house, I have become quite fond of this form of running as it is very gentle on the legs yet still helps building strength. Only downside is that it takes a bit of time to clean the shoes (and myself) afterwards.

Gran Fondo

One of my dreams with the new Stålhästen bike has been to complete a 100 km ride or the Strava version of a “Gran Fondo”. After a morning of PhD supervision and the booking of train tickets to Kalmar in late June for Eddie and me, I set off for my longest ride ever, first to Sävar and then back in a big loop around Tavelsjö, taking me about four hours in total.

As in the past, I was taken back but the incredible landscape around Tavelsjö, our local version of Dalecarlia, with its mountains and lakes. Sadly, there will not be any Tavelsjö Half Marathon this year due to Covid but hopefully I will get a chance again in 2022.

Trails

Last summer was one of incredible trail running experiences and, judging by today, I am in for a lot more “stiglöpning” (to use the lovely Swedish translation). Thanks to the municipality, my favourite local track is again runnable after the storm in November and it could not have been more beautiful. 

Adelaide Hills

While Anna and I are still waiting for our first shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, my friend and co-author Jon in Sydney was able to get his yesterday which was kind of surprising given that we are the same age and how slow Australia has been with its overall vaccine rollout (obviously, there is less need for a vaccine when there is no community transmission). In the best of worlds, this is still an indication that Australia is pondering a post-covid future when travelling will again be possible. Otherwise, for the moment, it feels like my interaction with Australia is mostly limited to being envious of the scenic bike rides that my friends in Adelaide are doing on Strava and drinking excellent wine from the same hills. For the latter, I opened a #småparti bottle of Pike & Joyce chardonnay to go with a long-time favourite dish here on Rawls & Me.

Authoritarian skyjacking

Before the pandemic, I often found myself in the airspace of Belarus, en route to either Istanbul or Doha. However, not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined what transpired yesterday, that a state, being a signatory of the Chicago Convention and an ICAO member, would use a false bomb threat and fighter jets to force a flight that was merely passing through its airspace to land so that they could detain a journalist.

Recharged

With my Polar watch labelling my nightly recharge “good”, I decided to try my luck with some faster paces around the lake this morning. While I could still definitely feel Mörbylångaleden in my legs, I was happy about being able to run 10k in a little of 46 minutes without killing myself. Back home, I made a rather upgraded breakfast and I now plan to spend the day with the kids, hoping to read a bit in Lucia Berlin’s A manual for cleaning women.

Cauliflower

Browsing recipes, I could not find anything interesting at all. When I had almost given up, I recalled seeing some great vegetarian recipes on the BBC website a while back. Delighted I decided to make “spicy cauliflower & halloumi rice” which turned out just as yummy as I had hope. Tomorrow school is closed so I will have a third day at home with the kids. Before Anna goes to work, I hope to make a brunch recipe from the same collection.

Rest day in the snow

It is the end of May and, waking up to snow on the balcony, I cannot help but feeling slightly depressed. My original plan was to start the day by running the remaining 10.5 km needed to reach 100 km this week but, feeling all the accumulated stress in my legs, I think I will take a rest day.

Three years ago, I was sipping iced americanos in the port of Gothenburg with the temperature close to 30 degrees. But all things considered, I really should not complain. Overnight, 21 ultra-runners died from hail and freezing rain in the Gansu province in northern China as they were taking part in a 100 km race. While I try to tell my mother that ultra-running is very safe compared to many other sports, this is clearly a tragedy of extreme proportions, reminding me that as beautiful as mountains are, they can indeed turn deadly.

DeMoor

Last year, for the inaugural DeMoor virtual race, I did the full marathon version around Nydalasjön but this year I went for the half marathon distance. Joined by Elin, we had first planned to repeat our time trial and do a wild race along the river but with Mörbylångaleden just ten short days ago and the weather being far from perfect, we decided to instead do some trail running around Hässningberget with the goal of getting as much elevation as possible. Sadly, the trails were super slippery this morning so in the end we had to throw in some road running as well but at least we were able to get a total climb of 440 meters. While not much of the “race” perhaps, it was nice to have some calm time in the forest.

Lunch seminar

After being promoted to distinguished university teacher last year, I have been invited to talk about my teaching on a number of occasions which has been super rewarding. Unlike when I talk about climate change, people tend to just be happy and excited about what I have to say, making me sometimes wonder if I should not switch academic gears and move into the scholarship of teaching and learning full-time. Today, I was giving a talk as part of a lunch seminar series which, again, left me in a very good mood and excited about trying new ideas in the fall.

Before the seminar, I was able to submit the manuscript that I have been working on for review and also swing by the gym for some strength training. Like back in September, Strava is running a strength training challenge this month which really helps in terms of consistency with a minimum of four sessions per week.

Minefield

Finishing the last sentences of the article that I have been working on this spring, I am still undecided whether or not to insert an endorsing reference to “Cynical theories” by Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay, knowing very well what minefield that I would be entering into. In comparison, trail running in crazy speeds through the forests of Tomtebo is entirely safe, and besides it earned me another Strava crown this morning... #humblebrag

After all the procrastination that has gone into this article, it is funny how every word is suddenly there even as I realize that, by next week, I will start all over again with a new text and a blank slate. Guess the same goes for cooking. In the latest COOP magazine I found a recipe for feta cheese salad with toasted sunflower seeds, spinach and basil that I can wholeheartedly recommend.

Capsicum

It has now been 1.5 years since my last flight with Turkish Airlines and I sorely miss their in-flight cuisine (yes, that must be one of the most Tyler Brûlésque sentences in a while here on Rawls & Me). Luckily, I discovered that my father-in-law had bought some pepper when I was away so, tonight, I was able to reproduce one of the most classic dishes of Turkish Airlines, served with a glass of red wine from South Africa as well as the May issue of Monocle. Otherwise, I started the day with discovering some new trails just outside my door. Considering how much I have criss-crossed these forests it is strange that I can still find new places to run after five years.

Elliptical

I do not know if I am impressed or terrified by some of the things that I see on Strava, like one guy here in Umeå who often does sessions of 2-3 hours on an elliptical. I totally get the benefits of cross-training but, seriously, what kind of mental strength does it not take to stand there for hours at end? Today, I at least managed to row for six kilometres straight at USM even as it took all the “pannben” that I could summon.

Otherwise, this week looks kind of busy so I am not sure if I will be able to squeeze in any more gym visits. For dinner tonight, I made a carrot soup with lots of ginger and lemon in the rain.

Hässingberget

This afternoon, we decided to make a family bike excursion to Hässingberget, located about ten kilometres south-west of Umeå. Since this would be the longest ride that Eddie has ever undertaken, we knew things could get ugly and they quickly did. But Eddie soon recovered and fought on valiantly with this bike for the rest of the 32 km ride. And once at the mountain, William surprised everyone by running up the technical trail (category 4 climb) so fast that I had to put in some serious effort to keep up with him. From the top of Hässingberget, we got a fantastic view of Umeå and the river valley. Back home, we all agreed that we should try to do more such grand family adventures.

Grössjön

For the first time ever, we left the kids alone for a bit longer while Anna and I went over to Grössjön for some trail running. Even if most of the snow is gone, spring is still hesitating, and it was certainly a different landscape from Öland. Hopefully, Anna and I will be able to repeat this feat later in the summer. 

Back to running

After taking two days off, I am back to running again after Mörbylångaleden. Taking it very gentle, I was surprised to find that, for the first time in many months, I had absolutely no pain in my left Achilles tendon. I cannot explain the physiology behind this but if the pain does not come back, it would be a rather unexpected side-effect of running extreme distances.

Official

After reviewing all documentation, I now officially hold the Fastest Known Time on Mörbylångaleden with a grand marginal of 43 seconds. To celebrate, I made an Asian shrimp salad with mango. With this behind me, my next race will be the virtual DeMoor half marathon with Elin in about a week from now and then, as Malkars 21k in Kalmar most likely will get cancelled, “Fjällmaraton” 100k in August.

Recovering

Yesterday, I took an ATR-72 back to the North where I was greeted by two boys who suddenly felt so grown-up. While I was away, William had crashed with his bike so his knees truly looked like those of a six-year-old when he turned up at the airport in shorts. Luckily, nothing serious so now it is just the dad struggling after his little run on Öland.

After some research, I discovered that the previous FKT holder Robin had forgotten to record the first kilometre of his run so my marginal was actually around six minutes. Showing great sportsmanship, Robin enthusiastically congratulated me while promising to beat my time later in the summer :-)

With the school closed today, I am looking forward to a slow day at home with the boys, cleaning the house and trying to get things organized. Last summer, I made a photo book about my running which Anna’s dad was kind to bring with him from Kiruna. Looking through the pages with the different seasons, it is like everything is forgotten, and that it really is the seasonal variations that gives living here its charm.

40 seconds

Taking the bus at 5.40 am, it was finally time for my great adventure. Starting in Ottenby, the first 25 kilometres were incredible with the Baltic on my right and a steady breeze but, once I got to Skärlöv, the real test began as I had to cross the World Heritage landscape with absolutely no shadow and the temperature rising. As a mirage, I finally made it across to the church in Kastlösa where I could refill my water bottles and drink. However, by then I had already become dehydrated so I suffered from headache for most of the remaining run despite filling up with water on all publicly available taps that I could find (as per the FKT-rules, I was not allow to purchase anything or ask other people along the route for water).

Much like I had expected, the psychological dimension was the hardest as my Salomon S/Lab Ultra 2 shoes gave me absolutely no problem whatsoever throughout the run. Several times I was close to giving up. As I got closer to Färjestaden, I figured that problems with the signage had led to quite a few detours and that my window to beat the previous FKT was quickly closing. For the last kilometres I ran with maximum effort, with my heart rate climbing up to 180 which felt not so good. In the end, I reached the finishing line at Träffpunkt Öland with 40 seconds to spare and a total time of 9 hours, 57 minutes and 55 second. My average pace was 7:01 min/km compared to the previous record holder who had been pacing 7:11 min/km. I have now submitted my claim to the FKT website and I guess I will hear back in a couple of days if it is accepted. Quite funny, you run 85+ km and it all comes down to less than a minute.

Overall, I am super happy about the day even if it entailed some suffering. While I had SPF 30 on my head and neck, I completely forgot to put it on my legs so they are quite badly burnt. Otherwise, I have learnt again what I already knew, that hydration is key.

Origin

Waking up shortly after five, I went for a 10 km deep history run along the sea in my Hoka Mach 4. The warm morning air felt incredible after this long and cold winter as I circled Svinö and Ängö before returning to the hotel for breakfast. 

Last week, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists published a rather disturbing piece on the origin of SARS-CoV-2 which I definitely recommend reading. My own chemical-biological knowledge is obviously insufficient to say anything about the claims made in the article but it does appear well-researched and balanced to me. 

As for the actual pandemic, the hotel I am staying at is otherwise a good example of what Sweden got wrong; intense focus on surface disinfection but no one wearing masks. Despite that the WHO has long signalled that contact transmission is really not a thing when it comes to Covid, there are still signs everywhere to sanitize your hands. Meanwhile at breakfast, people were clustering in groups and talking loudly to each other. Luckily, I was able to find a quiet corner where I could sit down and enjoy the calm before going back to my article writing.

Not in Västerbotten anymore

Samsonite

For the first time since January 2020, I am packing the big Samsonite suitcase and not only my small Muji carry-on bag. With the dark covid-clouds clearing, it looks like I am checked in and good to go for tomorrow morning. Inside the bag I have my Salomon running vest, tons of nutrition, and everything else I might need along Mörbylångaleden on Wednesday. Taking a break from cleaning and packing, I was even able to snatch another neighbourhood Course Record. With an insane 94 Strava activities over the last four weeks, I feel as ready as I can be...

Storm debris

Before Anna went to work, I was able to go for a short trail run around Klasmyran, the first this year. To my disappointment, the trail is not yet runnable as there is still plenty of packed snow and ice but also, which may take a while to fix, lots of fallen trees and branches after the storm back in November. I think this picture of where the trail used to be shows just how much clean-up that is needed: 

Still not knowing if Mörbylångaleden will happen, I have postponed packing for now but I will have to make a final decision tomorrow when check-in for my flight opens.

Twelve who ruled

Though unusual, I did not feel like cooking dinner tonight so instead I decided to swing by Ruccola’s wood-fired oven to pick up a “Pizza alla diavola” with beef and feta. I know, not the most ecomodernist thing to do. 

Rather than being busy in the kitchen, I spent the time rediscovering Robert Roswell Palmer’s classic treatise on the French Revolution. 

Art of the pivot

In one of his recent videos, Seth James DeMoor talked about the art of the pivot. It is difficult to think of a more important skill to master in these uncertain pandemic times. When my Malta flights were rescheduled for the fourth or fifth time, I pivoted to an 83 km solo trail run along Mörbylångaleden. Right now, even that seems uncertain so I was happy that Elin and I at least did not have to cancel our customary river run. 

Addiction

It is kind of funny but today I was only able to run 5 km in the morning (as in the usual Thule Cougar routine) since I had Zoom meetings all day, leaving me feeling strangely frustrated. Even if I know that I should cut back on my volume in anticipation of my FKT attempt on Mörbylångaleden next week, my body has simply become addicted to running 10+ km per day and it has proven to be a difficult habit to break.

Otherwise, I have spent a fair bit of time today setting up a new Lenovo laptop for my mother. It is really fascinating how much technology is improving even when it comes to seemingly mature things like laptops and I hope she will be happy with this giant leap in performance. After all the screen time, it felt good to make some salmon with spicy hummus and roasted vegetables for dinner.

Poggerino

On one of my first dates in life, I remember having lasagne and a straw-covered bottle of Chianti Classico, probably because it was the only wine on the list that I was familiar with. The setting was the Italian restaurant “Ernesto” in Kalmar and the memory came flashing back as I was preparing, yes, lasagne for dinner on this windy Wednesday.

Today, I have otherwise been reminded of California, first by a friend mentioning that Western States is coming up in June, and then by the news that Breakthrough Dialogue is being organized as an in-person (!) event in early August. Sadly, my own participation in the latter will most likely remain just as podcast-based as the first but still I think it is really cool that the Breakthrough Institute is taking this bold step into the post-covid universe (with all participants having to be fully vaccinated, something that is obviously easier to ask for in the US than in most other places). At least I still have my special “Breakthrough Dialogue” earphones from 2019.

The remainder of this week looks increasingly busy with lots of long Zoom meetings coming up. Even if it requires working at some rather odd hours, I have so far been able to keep up with my 3x weekly gym routine and, on Friday, I hope to go for a river run with Elin. Then, on Monday, it is finally time to catch that flight down to Kalmar for my big trail adventure along Mörbylångleden.

Obbola Backyard

While spring races are being cancelled left and right, I still remain optimistic about the fall once a sufficiently large percentage of the population has been vaccinated. As such, I paid the registration fee for Obbola Backyard on 25 September. While I have been hesitant about backyard races in the past, simply because I am not sure I will be able to stop before getting injured, there is something with their open-ended nature that is strangely appealing. For those who are not familiar with the backyard concept it is basically a form of ultramarathon where you are running a looped 6,706 meters long course with a new start every hour. To be allowed to start on the next loop, you need to complete the previous loop in under one hour. The person who completes the last loop wins the race while everyone else technically DNF (“Did Not Finish”). 

As I do not plan to do the Thule Cougar school routine in the fall (the kids will be too big), I plan to polarize my training more and take plenty of rest days, hopefully allowing for these kinds of crazy efforts in between :-)

Western shore

Even for Umeå, this winter has been exceptional in terms of snow. In fact, it is only during the last couple of weeks that it has slowly become possible to run in the forest again. This morning, my heel had healed up and I was able to do some trail running along the western shore of Nydalasjön in my Hoka Torrent 2. With regard to Mörbylångaleden, I am still undecided what shoes I will wear. As much as I like the Torrents, I am probably going to go with my Salomon S/Lab Ultra 2 that I originally bought for Tjörnarparen 100k.

Full stream ahead!

Majówka

After fifteen years, it is strange to think that there was a time before Rawls & Me but obviously there was. For instance, in the spring of 2006, Gabriel and I went for a short May excursion, or “Majówka” to the great forest of eastern Poland, known as “Białowieża”, one of the last remaining parts of the immense primeval forest that once stretched across the entire European Plain. 

Unable to run as I managed to get a piece of broken porcelain through my heel last night, I find myself stranded in my white sofa chair looking through old pictures. It is sad to read that logging has once again resumed in Białowieża, although at a smaller scale. As in Sweden, there seems to be few limits to the forest industrial complex.

Right now, I am ten days away from my FKT attempt on Öland but the pandemic situation in Kalmar remains particularly dire. Hopefully, I will be able to travel as planned. Right now it seems unlikely that Malkars 21k will go ahead as scheduled in early July, meaning that this may well be my one trip to Kalmar this summer.