The Loft

While passing through Brussels tonight, Sofi and I got to check out "The Loft" which had this peculiar mix of global sophistication and human misery that some airport lounges have on a Friday night. Now waiting at the gate for our Airbus 319 “Soares dos Reis”, named after the national art museum in Porto, we still have about three more hours of flying left until we can touch down at Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon. With the race cancelled, our plans for the coming days are quite open but we still intend to head down to Alentejo and Porto Covo.

Cancelado

On the bus out to Landvetter airport, I learned that my 57k ultra race on Sunday has been cancelled due to extreme heat. With the temperature expected to climb above 30 degrees in the shade, calling off the race was obviously the sensible decision. Considering that I have not yet fully recovered from my cold, I am in a way happy since it means that I will not be tempted to do anything stupid. Still, after my great disappointment in Tallinn and a full week without any running, I was really looking forward to head out there along the Costa Vicentina and challenge myself.

Having met up with Sofi around lunch time, we are now waiting in the SAS lounge for our evening flight with Brussels Airlines. It is a testimony to the sad state of public transport in Sweden that one has to have 6+ hours of padding when planning these kinds of multi-modal trips. And, to be sure, her original train from Örebro was indeed cancelled this morning due to signals failure.

Dune

One of the great rewards of being a parent is seeing what books your kids pick up and how they get absorbed in different worlds. After reading books such as 1984, Normal People (sic!) and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children over the last year, Eddie is now half-way through Frank Herbert's 1965 sci-fi classic Dune.

Bringing back fond memories of playing the classic strategy game with Gabriel in the early 1990’s as well as watching Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 epic movie somewhere above the Atlantic, the Dune universe is one that puts less emphasis on technology and more emphasis on the politics of humanity, how our institutions may change over time and the pivotal role of myths. And, in the middle of it all, lies the desert with its everlasting pull on my imagination.

Fifteen years ago

Just before moving to Australia in 2008, I took the bus over to Öland with my parents where we went walking along the beach and stopped for coffee at Kaffestugan Ida Beata in Stora Rör. Once on the other side of the world, I very much remembered the moment above, to the extent that I was almost certain that I had already posted the picture here on Rawls & Me.

Darker roast

Drinking dark roasted coffee from the backstreets of Naples (a city which according to The Guardian epitomises the present like few other) as I am trying to soothe my suddenly sore throat. With Covid cases left, right, and centre, I plan to work from home today and do my best to recover in time for my Sunday ultra in southern Portugal.

Yesterday, I drove down to Halmstad with a few more boxes in a grey Peugeot 208, passing signs pointing to Tjolöholms castle, Grimeton and the Ringhals Nuclear Power Plant, each with its stories and memories. Now stranded under a blanket at home, I should finish grading a few papers and then make some more coffee.

A different castle run

While few things beat running along the waterfront to the castle in Kalmar, today I took Eddie for a longer run down to Gunnebo and its pretty castle grounds. Heading out just as the sun was rising, we saw plenty of deer munching away in the gardens of the super-rich in Skårs (where most houses tend to have a Tesla and a golf cart parked outside) before reaching Stensjön where I was very tempted to go for a morning swim (but ultimately decided to wait until Saturday and Porto Covo).

Shoot-out

Today, I went over to Hisingen with the kids to play some laser tag which we have not done since moving from Umeå. Playing with 20+ people, we had loads of fun and I have promised the kids to return for a longer game post-Portugal. 

Having started the day with a 15k pre-dawn run with my Silva headlamp, during which I almost fell over a couple of abandoned motorbikes out on the trail which was kind of scary, I felt that I had my fair share of action and was desperately craving some comfort food. As such, I made another batch of chantarelle risotto with guanciale for dinner which was just perfect and also good carb loading for my planned long run tomorrow morning as I hope to put another 70k week behind me.

Fiuza

While Sofi and I are heading south to Alentejo and the Costa Vicentina where my 57k trail ultra will take place next Sunday, I stumbled upon a can from Tejo today which is located about 100 kilometres in the opposite direction from Lisbon. 

Making Bolognese to keep the kids happy, it is Friday evening, and I can look back on an intensive week which culminated yesterday with a full day of teaching quantitative methodology for the first time in my life. Contrary to my fears, it all went really well, and the students seemed to genuinely appreciate not having a math wizard but rather a fallible human being as their teacher.

Margaret River

About three hours drive south from Perth lies Margaret River. One day, I will make sure to visit Western Australia but for now I make salmon with olives and toasted pine nuts to go with a glass of “Small Things”. 

Earlier today I decided to withdraw from the Australian Political Science Conference in late November as even my travel budget has some limits. But when the time does come, I at least have the perfect after-swim wear ready thanks to my new grey cotton terry polo from OAS.

Q407

It was a long time coming, but now I finally have an office at the top floor of the Q-building at Halmstad University. Though most of my books are still in storage on the second floor, I hope to get everything up on the shelves by the end of this week.

After having used the Øresund trains for my first month of commuting, I am now using SJ’s high speed service for a few weeks, meaning that I get to eat a complimentary breakfast in the mornings and, occasionally, top up with a Caesar wrap in the afternoon.

Flume Ride

About three decades after my last visit, I found myself back at the "Liseberg" theme park this afternoon. While it normally falls upon Anna to do all the wild crazy rides, that was obviously not an option given her lingering postconcussive syndrome, so I had little choice but volunteering. Dead afraid of rollercoasters, not to mention spinning things, I was at least able to bargain down my participation to one ride with “Flume Ride”. As you can tell, I was thrilled beyond words ;-)

Headlamp

It was with a heavy heart that I learned that Tjörnarparen will not happen next year. After almost completing the 100k course back in February, I was so much looking forward to returning to the forests outside Höör and setting the record straight once and for all. This means that the 100k distance remains as elusive as ever but hopefully I will soon find another race where I can try my luck.

At least, I have of all the gear I need to run really far, including a 500+ lumen Silva headlamp that I bought specifically for Tjörnarparen. Heading out shortly after 6 am, I got to experience some lovely trail running at daybreak, stopping a few times to take photos before returning home to pancakes and boardgames with the kids.

Yogur con naranja

Saturday morning and time to do the weekly laundry. Between washing machines, I went for 2 x 7.5 km of running, discovering Redbergsparken and its panoramic views of central Gothenburg. Once back home, I made a sumptuous brunch to make up for some of the 3,000+ calories that I burn through every day according to my Suunto.

Nothing Wrong With Old Skool

The other night, I rediscovered a chenin blanc from Western Australia that threw me back to those beloved antipodean shores. With a fun taste of green apples and tropical fruit, I think it is up there with DeAetna Bianco as one of my favourite white wines right now.

Book club

After running both the 2.5k and the 5k loop in Skatås many times, my legs suddenly felt full of energy this morning, so I geared up and took on the longer 10k loop. Flying up the hills, I really wondered where all this energy was last Sunday in Tallinn?

Having finished all my preparations for my statistics class next week I went down to Café 77 to read a bit more in Larry Bartel’s Democracy erodes from the top that we will discuss in Halmstad on Monday as part of our department book club. Though I would say that the anti-democratic currents of our time run deeper yet, just think of many climate activists, I still think that the basic argument of the book is sound, that conventional conservative parties have used the opportunities afforded by populists to entrench themselves in power.

'Nduja

While Anna’s and my friend and fellow marathoner Andreja gets to check out dreamy Matera in southern Italy, I was at least thrilled to find some ‘nduja at ICA Focus last night, reminding me of that autumn five years ago when I decided that my first marathon would be in Amsterdam.

Making a Calabrian lunch with the ‘nduja, lots of basil and garlic roasted cherry tomatoes, things are a bit upside down for the moment as W has come down with another nasty cold. After a few online meetings in the morning, I nevertheless went for a recovery jog up to Skatås. With my legs screaming at me whenever I was going downhill, I have decided to wait a year or so until my next road marathon as the physical toll is really quite brutal.

Race photo

Today, Tallinn Marathon published some photos from Sunday. While I look truly miserable on the ones taken towards the end, I apparently had plenty of energy on this one taken about 15 kilometres into the race.

Walking around like an ageing duck today, I guess it will be a few more days until I am back to sprinting but at least I was able to go for a lunch swim in Halmstad after my lecture. 

Autumn fog

With Arlanda covered in dense autumn fog, we had to wait for over an hour on the tarmac in Tallinn before our CRJ-900 was finally given permission to start up the engines and head out over the grey Baltic. But now, as I am eating breakfast high above the clouds and look at my medal, I feel no regrets about my race strategy yesterday even if it led to failure. Though I would probably have been able to run 3:45 without difficulties had I gone out less aggressively, that would still have been 25 minutes short of the Boston qualifier limit and no faster than my previous marathon efforts. At the end of the day, dreams are far more important than results.

Looking back at the last year, the difference between my races is quite striking. In April, I finished Diablo Trails 50k as number 45 out of 110 runners despite 2,000+ meters of elevation gain. Similarly, in early July, I was ahead of all women at Trailövik with 836 meters of climb. Compared to my marathon result yesterday, this tells me that I really should focus on doing mountain ultras where I can make full use of my leg strength so I am quite happy about being registered for Transgrancanaria in February 2024, especially I still have five months to train in the hills of Skatås.

Tallinn Marathon

After strolling through the old town in Tallinn and visiting the Ukrainian restaurant “Odessa” on our first night in Tallinn, it was finally morning and time to go racing. Feeling strong, Elin and I set off with thousands of other runners through Lindamäe Park, before doing a couple of loops towards the west. Pacing around 4:30 min/km, I was running next to Elin for the first eight kilometres with an estimated finishing time of around 3 hour and 17 minutes. At the second aid station, I fell behind a bit, but I was not far behind her at the 10 km marker when passing 45 minutes and 31 seconds into the race.

Seeing on my Suunto watch that my heart rate had been 180+ for those first ten kilometres, it was obvious that I had been going out way too hard. Maybe it was insufficient recovery time since Jönköping Marathon two weeks ago, maybe it was the cold that has been lurking in my body for the last few days but, at the end of the day, I think the most honest explanation is that I simply did not have the fitness level to sustain this high pace. Once Elin had disappeared ahead of me and I got the half marathon marker, my expected finishing time was down to 3 hours and 40 minutes, making me realize that the race was essentially lost. Still, I kept going with a heart rate between 160-170 for the next ten kilometres until I figured that I would not even be able to run sub four hours after exhausting myself so much in the first ten kilometres. As such, I started walking sections to get my heart rate down while trying to enjoy more of my surroundings.

Ultimately, I finished with an official time of 4 hours and 9 minutes, feeling completely defeated. Soon afterwards, my spirits bounced back though when I learned that Elin had indeed done what I had set out to do, finishing with a new impressive PR of 3 hours and 19 minutes! Just, wow!

After recovering a bit, Elin and I then had a lovely evening in Tallinn, first dipping our feet in the Baltic next to the brutalist concrete amphitheatre “Linnahalla” built for the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics before enjoying a fabulous Georgian dinner in the garden of the restaurant “Tblisi” which I can wholeheartedly recommend.

SK1744

Halfway across the Baltic aboard an ATR 72-600, the last time I was in these parts of the world was when Anna and I visited St Petersburg five years ago. With the gates to Mordor now firmly shut, I am still thrilled to tick off another country and look forward to exploring the old town of Tallinn together with Elin as we are getting ready for the great race tomorrow. For the moment, the weather forecast suggests that we will have warm and sunny weather (with some chance of overcast skies in the morning hours), so conditions are perhaps not optimal. Nevertheless, I could not be more eager to take on my sixth official road marathon race and hopefully securing entry into the 2024 Boston Marathon by running in under 3 hours and 20 minutes.

Fox and I

Last night, I made chantarelle toasts even as the weather has recently felt more like summer than autumn. Returning from my “föräldramöte” at Eddie’s new school, I was again slightly shocked by how the other parents talked about using their kids’ phones to track them and how genuinely surprised the teachers seemed to be by the fact that our kids do not even have phones.

Having restricted my own phone use to when I am out and about, I am reading much more than I used to, most recently Catherine Raven’s book about her experience of befriending a fox in rural Montana. Now on the train down to Halmstad for the last lecture with my multi-level governance class, I will continue down to Helsingborg/Ängelholm Airport afterwards and, from there, start my journey towards the Estonian capital.

Back for more

Between refreshing my SPSS skills and lecturing about multi-level governance, I was able to squeeze in one more swim in the pool this morning as I have promised myself to stay away from running until Tallinn Marathon on Sunday. 

Today, Frida Stranne talked at our research seminar about her experience of online vitriol and being attacked in the media in response to her and Trita Parsi’s book about US foreign policy. Having experienced similar things after my Newsmill article in 2011, not to mention all those Facebook and Twitter debates about the Sweden Democrats, I know first-hand how brutal these things can be. In fact, it is one of the reasons why I decided to delete all my social media accounts back in 2016.

Commute

Back to blackboard

After using Sakai (Cambro), Moodle and Canvas as LMS for my courses, I am now back with Blackboard which I have not used since working in Hong Kong twelve years ago. Unfortunately, the graphical possibilities are somewhat limited compared to Canvas, so I am already missing my more advanced layouts.

As for missing things, yesterday, I took a Ryde over to Halmstad Arena for a lunch swim, for the first time since March and my skiing injury. With Strava having a 10,000 meters swimming challenge now in September, I am tempted to return already this week but perhaps better to save the swimming until after Tallinn. In any case, my Suunto 9 Peak did a perfect job with counting the laps.

Trust the taper

Just back from a morning run along Gullbergsån, I have decided to cap my volume this week at 50 kilometres. With Öland Ultra in fresh memory, I am trying to come to terms with the fact that it takes more than a week for my muscles to fully recover before a race. And considering how hard I plan to run in Tallinn, my legs need to be as fresh as they can possibly be in a week from today. As such, I am only planning to do two more shorter treadmill runs in addition to the indoor rowing (and perhaps a few thousand meters in the pool, assuming I can work out the logistics). Rational as all this may sound, it is still difficult to trust the taper and overcome the kilometre addiction…

Manchego risotto

Tradition dictates that early September is chanterelle risotto season but, a thousand kilometres away from Umeå, I decided to trade my signature “Västerbottenost” for Manchego cheese. Still, with both Umemilen and Höga Kusten Trail this weekend, I cannot help but missing the High North a bit.

In a week from today, I will be in Tallinn, getting ready for my mad marathon race the following day. I can already feel how I am getting increasingly germophobic and “maranoid” so I guess the coming week will be a bit of a challenge. Luckily, I have classes almost every day to keep me distracted.

Description

Waiting for the train to Halmstad, I am drinking a cappuccino while putting together a description for one of the modules I am teaching this fall. As such, and for those looking for their daily Swedish fix, here comes the result:

Under senare år har både forskare och debattörer börjat tala om demokratins kris och bekymrat sig för hur tidigare stabila demokratier snabbt ”dekonsolideras”. Särskild oro har uttryckts för spridningen av ”fake news” och förekomsten av olika påverkanskampanjer. Med utgångspunkt i Åsa Wikforss bok ”Därför demokrati” problematiseras relationen mellan sanning och politik. Vidare behandlas för kursen centrala teman såsom populism och experters roll i demokratin i förhållande till aktuella politiska händelser och beslutsproblem.