Walpurgis

For once, it is not snowing on the last day of April here in Umeå. Not that the magnolia is blooming either as we are still 1,240 km away from Lund, not to mention another thousand kilometres from Niederösterreich. But William has made the loveliest card and, running through the forest this morning, the cranes set the scene for Walpurgis Night as in Faust:

“Und über Flächen, über Seen

Der Kranich nach der Heimat strebt”

For the occasion I am making shrimp toasts followed by pasta with asparagus, olives, and almonds together with a glass of Grüner Veltliner. 

Completely unrelated, I realize that I forgot to mention that the article that I have written with my PhD student Kalle is now online and freely available to download thanks to the university’s open access agreement.

Turn that doorknob

In my fantasies, I wake up long before the kids, skip making coffee in the Bialetti as to not wake the kids up and instead grab a cold Starbucks drink from the fridge, before going for a really long run in the forest. In reality, despite skipping the coffee, the kids were wide awake, so it took a while to get started. With Anna having to work all day on her PhD, I also had to cut my run short, opting for 10 km around Grössjön where there was still plenty of ice and snow on the trails. Nevetheless, it was a great run and I got to see both cranes and a really cute white hare who seemed to have missed that spring memo.

Seth James DeMoor often talks about how important it is to “keep turning that doorknob” as in being consistent with one's running. Looking back on April, I think I have been exactly that. Even if I fell 27 km short of running 300 km, I was still able to run 73 km more than last month, while rowing 28,000 meters and swimming 6,000 meters. All in all, I feel that I am on a good trajectory leading up to Fjällmaraton 100k in August and Chiltern Wonderland with Elin after that.

Treadmill torture

It should come as no surprise that treadmills were initially conceived as atonement machines for prisoners, causing the incarcerated to suffer and hopefully learn from their sweat. Along similar lines, I ran 10 km this morning at USM in a 4:16 min/km pace, reminding me again how hard it must be to run a sub three-hour marathon as that is the exact pace that one must sustain throughout.

Afterwards, I attended the successful dissertation defence of one of our PhD students who has written about the construction of “safety” in public spaces. On the bike home, I then received an e-mail telling me that my grant application for hybrid learning environments has been approved so, with Anna back from Växjö, it felt perfectly appropriate to end the week by returning to Turkish Airlines with the house pinot noir from Marlborough.

La Vieja Fábrica

Despite that it was -4 degrees this morning, I decided to take shorts for my river run with Elin, a decision which luckily turned out to be quite okay thanks to the warming sun. Nevertheless, I would be lying if I did not feel a bit cheated after being able to run in El Retiro for a couple of days. At least, I got to keep some Lufthansa milk chocolate from the trip and a jar with marmalade from the pseudo-Danish brand “Den Gamle Fabrik”.

Post-pandemic

After all that has been, life has finally returned to the great cities of Europe. Though face masks are still a thing here and there, and compulsory when taking a taxi for instance, it is difficult to imagine that, not so long ago, all these cafés and bars were closed and the country in lockdown.

Now at Barajas, we have fully stocked up on sunshine and memories, much like back in 2017. As a finale of sorts, I went for five fast kilometres this morning through the floral scent of the Retiro Park, running up the hill as I was blinded by the glowing rising sun.

3x Madrid

St George

Waking up to skies blue enough to make California jealous, we took a taxi into town with snowclad mountains in the horizon. With all trees in bloom, Madrid was even more irresistible than usual as we sat down for a café con leche near Puerta de Alcalá, watching the runners of Madrid Marathon pass by. Though I had initially planned to run myself, the complicated logistics and my lack of recent training made me decide that the race was better enjoyed this way. Afterwards, we walked further up into the “Salamanca” area to St George's Anglican Church for Sunday service.

Hofbräuhaus

Two decades later, Sofi and I are back in Munich, if not on a winter Interrail so on a short stop en route to Madrid. Though highly predictable, we of course had to go to Hofbräuhaus before stopping by in Frauenkirche for a moment of silence.

Now high above the Alps, we have about an hour and a half to go before landing at Barajas. Cheating on the FFP2 mask mandate, I order a cup of black tea with Streusselkuchen while reflecting on the plasticity of space and time. It is indeed puzzling to think that this world exists only a couple of hours away from Tomtebo and my everyday life as a dad.

Sehnsucht

For a blog like Rawls & Me, it is strange that a search for "Sehnsucht" only comes up with one post. Maybe because it is too obvious.

Waking up half past four, I am now on my way to Madrid with Sofi. On the first flight of the day, I got to read a bit in Maxim Grigoriev's Cities which brought up the concept of "Sehnsucht" among foreigners in Berlin, somewhere between Wedding and Tblisi.

Bonnet

After a few grey days, the sky cleared up just as Anna joined the rest of us here in Kiruna. Celebrating that her dad is turning 75 in less than two weeks, we went over to the newly opened Scandic Kiruna with its skybar located on the twelfth floor for a glass of Bonnet champagne and breath-taking views of the snow-covered countryside. Seeing the winding road leading out to Kurravaara, I decided to repeat the same hilly long run that I did back in January 2020 when I was training for South Devon Ultra. This time all went well for the first 25 km but, for the last five km, I had intense stomach cramps. I also got quite burnt from the strong sun that was being reflected by the snow, but it was nevertheless a great run that I will definitely do again when I am here.

Comfort zones

After reading about Lucky learning to ski as an adult in Courchevel, I thought I should move outside my comfort zone and give it a try myself. Heading up with Eddie to Luossavaara, I sadly had some sizing issues with my ski boots and struggled to get the binding right, but at least I managed to bring some joy to the kids' slope before escaping to the nearby café for a cinnamon bun.

Despite the humiliation, I am eager to return later this week and rent a bigger pair of ski boots. Like swimming or cycling, I realize that downhill skiing is a skill that makes life richer, especially as I dream of one day being able to go ski touring in Vindelfjällen.

410 cm

This year has seen a new record in Kiruna with an insane 410 cm of snow falling over the winter months. For those who do not speak Swedish, I should maybe mention that the sign says that dumping of snow is not allowed.

The light and the dark

Equipped with a copy of Mikhail Shishkin’s “The light and the dark”, I took the train north for eight hours yesterday with the kids. While I only got around to read a few pages, we had a great trip together, passing many tiny stations such as Nattavaara. 

After a few days of PhD writing, Anna will join us here in Kiruna where the light was just as blinding as I remember it from that Easter three years ago. From the deepest winters to the brightest of summers, Kiruna is really a place of extremes. To kick off my week here, I went for a highly nostalgic airport run, thinking of when this was my gateway to the world, taking me everywhere from the Far East to the great deserts of the Southwest.

Chain Reaction

For a business selling bikes, I think “Chain Reaction” from Northern Ireland has a pretty cool name. Completing a challenge they had on Strava by riding 100 km, I am really looking forward to when I can take my blue Stålhästen out for a spin again. Today, however, I am at the office, trying to get some structure to a book chapter on ecomodernism that I have been invited to write by my old friend Marcel in the Netherlands.

Finding balance

Despite waking up shortly before 5 am, I decided against running this morning. Over the last weeks, I have unconsciously been sliding into counting kilometres again, even setting a very conscious goal of 70 km per week in Strava, rather than basing my running on how my body feels. While I know very well that training is as much about resting and absorbing the training as it is about the actual workout, I always want to do more and faster, especially now with my new Kinvara 13 shoes. Yesterday, I really had to force myself to run five and not ten km on the treadmill...

Lion’s roar

On one of the last nights of my road trip around the North Island of N.Z. back in 2008, I stayed at a youth hostel called “Lion’s Den” in Coromandel Town. Sharing my room with five lumberjacks, I did not get much sleep that night. Even if I am normally insensitive to snoring, this was somehow of a different magnitude.

Passing Systembolaget after the gym, I found an Australian red wine called “Lion’s Roar of the Barossa” which turned out to be just perfect when recreating my favourite Turkish Airlines dish. With 60k Turkish Airlines miles expiring before the end of this year, it will hopefully not be that long until I get to try the real thing again.

Kinvara

After four years of constant pounding on the treadmill, I decided to replace my Nike Zoom Structure with a pair of brand new Saucony Kinvara 13 based on a strong endorsement by no other than Seth James DeMoor. After five kilometres at USM this morning, I can understand why Seth gave them such a high score as they were really fast and furious, not to mention how much the yellow colour stands out in the locker room.

Molly

Two years ago, I bought a book about Molly, a middle-aged woman who takes up ultra-running. While training for the scorching Badwater Ultramarathon, she turns off the aircon in her car and drives around Las Vegas in the middle of summer with her teenage daughters in order to prepare herself for the heat that awaits her on the course. Along slightly similar lines, I took the kids out for 21 km of biking today in the snow but at least they got to stop at both Leos indoor play centre (zebra above) and at Max for hamburgers, so I think they were quite alright in the end. Nevertheless, they kept telling me that other parents are not this evil and that other kids get to go by car.

To top off my training for today, I ran one hour before and one hour afterwards for a total of 19 km, bringing my weekly mileage again up to 70 km. After being sick and injured, I realize that the only thing that now stands between me and Fjällmaraton 100k in August is my own laziness, so I better sharpen up.

Vertical farming

Few things can melt the heart of an ecomodernist as much as seeing that the pea shoots at COOP were grown in a vertical farm. Making a parsnip soup with Italian bacon as an additional topping besides the pea shoots, I found another bottle of that highly quaffable chardonnay from Adelaide Hills after this long day in the snow.

The last winter storm

Waking up to an orange weather warning and storm winds, we quickly realized that biking to school was out of the question. Instead, we opted for a hike through the forest as the snowfall intensified. Almost at the school in Innertavle, we got picked up by Nova’s mother which was really nice, and the kids made it to school with about fifteen minutes to spare.

Later, with all busses cancelled, I had to walk down to the pool from work through the snow, almost reminding me of my winter adventure on Höga Kusten two months ago. Nevertheless, I got my 1,000 meters of swimming done so now I am finally on pace with regard to my annual goal of swimming 36,000 meters, something worth celebrating with a cookie and some coffee.

Dentist

Today, I was reminded of the very first episode of Alias when Sydney Bristow is in Taiwan, being tortured by Dr Zhang “Suit and glasses” Lee. Defiantly, Sydney states that “I have got nothing to lose” to which Dr Lee replies: “That not exactly true. You have teeth”.

Okay, maybe not that bad, yet I figure that it was not particulary smart to decline anaesthesia. 1,662 SEK and one hour later I was at least let out in time for our research seminar on collaborative water governance in Sweden and Finland.

Prior to the dark dental experience, I was able to repeat my power routine at USM which consists of five kilometres of indoor rowing and five fast kilometres on the treadmill followed by strength training. Ideally, I will try to do this at least twice a week going forward as I think it gives a good complement to the slower pace running that I am doing when going back and forth to school with the kids.

2,000 posts

Ten years ago, I composed my 400th post here on Rawls & Me. Now, 1,600 posts later, the blog has been everywhere from Accra to Zanzibar. As always, these kinds of highly secular anniversaries inspire me to look to the future, including Madrid with Sofi in a little more than two weeks’ time. Further into the summer, the plan is to finally make it to Northumberland in mid-June while Anna attends the BISA conference in Newcastle before having a few days of family vacation in south Sweden. For the moment, however, as the icy wind keeps whining around the corner, I am staying at home making tapas with Tortilla Española and a half-bottle of Rioja. 

Splish splash

Anna and I have a new weekly lunch swim routine by which we take the bus down to Navet, swim 1,000 meters and then go fishing at Sushi Yama which opened about a month ago in Utopia. While fairly time consuming in an already packed schedule, it is definitely worth it.

Skogspuls

Though not too far as William still has not fully recovered from his cold, I was able to go for the loveliest of trail runs this morning around Grössjön. With a fresh layer of snow on the ground but otherwise well packed trails, it was possible to keep a decent pace, and I am excited to give it another shot soon, perhaps even setting a new PR around the lake before the spring flood comes.

Remmarlöv

Just outside of Eslöv, not far from where my grandmother grew up, a new microbrewery has popped up, making “Skånsk Pilsner”. Together with an Aegean-Mexican crossover with spices from “El Taco Truck”, I arrived at the most delicious postmodern creation just as the snow started falling again.

Transactional economy

In exchange for some time in front of Minecraft, I managed to get the kids to go for a morning hike in nearby Grössjön. Seeing the snow-covered but well-trodden trails got me thinking that, rather than waiting for spring, I should go for a longer trail run already now before the melting starts. Still traumatized by Höga Kusten Winter Trail, I am not promising anything though.

Soviet hippies

This morning, I discovered Juliane Fürst’s new book “Flowers Through Concrete - Explorations in Soviet Hippieland” which I will definitely order once it comes out in paperback. Long fascinated by those hitchhiking through the sunset years of the Soviet Union, it is tempting to think of it as simpler times with the “West” being just an emancipatory symbol and not something full of its own contradictions.

With Anna away this weekend, I cannot leave the boys alone for long, but at least I was able to clock five faster kilometres along the lake in my old VJ Sarva Xante before returning home to make scrambled pancakes with bacon and maple as a second breakfast.