Monocle Monday

On the high-speed train back from work, I indulge in a moment away from everything with the April issue of Monocle. From Seminyak to Portugal via Café Prückel in Vienna, its pages fill me with equal measures of nostalgia and excitement about the future.

Apparently, that feeling is quite different from how most people seem to view the world these days. As Gordon Brown writes in today’s The Guardian, decades of near-zero growth have left many Europeans convinced that the future will be bleak and that they can only do better if others do badly; zero-sum beliefs that help explaining, at least in part, the support for far-right parties and their short-sighted protectionist policies.

I am not a conspiracy theorist, but…

Which, of course, is how every conspiracy theorist begins.

Still, as I was reading the final pages of The Three-Body Problem, all my years of arguing against Malthusian pessimism suddenly took on a strangely cinematic coherence. In the novel, the extraterrestrials – the Trisolarans – realize that, given the pace of human technological development, they will not be able to conquer Earth by the time they arrive four hundred years from now. Faced with this problem, they devise a long-term strategy:

“Given a time gap of [four hundred years], the strategic value of any traditional tactics of war or terror is insignificant, and they can recover from them. To effectively contain a civilization’s development and disarm it across such a long span of time, there is only one way to: kill its science”.

“The plan focuses on emphasizing the negative environmental effects of scientific development […] in addition to highlighting the negative effects of progress”.

By amplifying environmental anxieties and recruiting the most misanthropic strands of ecological thought – while playing on humanity’s deep-seated longing for judgement and moral reckoning – the Trisolarans succeed in cultivating a kind of fifth column within humanity itself.

For a fleeting moment, I confess, I found the thought comforting: perhaps the reason I keep running into the same arguments in my academic writing is not that intelligent people sincerely disagree about technology and growth – but that they are unwitting agents in an alien plot to stall civilization.

Alas, the real explanation is almost certainly less dramatic. There is no extraterrestrial mastermind. Rather, many contemporary Malthusians seem to lose sight of the longer arc of human development. Moral outrage at how humanity treats nature in the present – an outrage I share – can easily obscure the possibility that scientific and technological progress might also be the very tools that allow us to repair, decouple, and ultimately transcend those harms.

No conspiracy required. Just different temporal horizons.

Summer is here

After the morning rain, it was suddenly summer here in Gothenburg with the temperature climbing above twenty degrees (and, yes, I have finished reading The Three-Body Problem, more on that later) and blue skies. As such, the family finally invested in a charcoal grill to have on the balcony for that authentic Turkish Airlines experience.

Pouring up a glass of pinot noir from Patagonia, I received an approval of my summer vacation, with enough days left to spare for Anna’s and my long-planned trip to Argentina in October. Beyond grilling, I have otherwise spent most of the day fixing the last things in the new apartment but at least I had time to also go for 12 km of running in the afternoon sun for a total of 72 km this week, despite taking three days off, so, all in all, I am a happy bunny.

Puglia

It is now 44 years since our local half marathon “Göteborgsvarvet” was organized for the first time. Following the original course from 1980, five hundred runners of all capabilities set off this morning in 6:30 min/km pace in a guerilla race with no road closures of any kind. Obviously, the cars had no choice but stopping as the “elephant herd” made its way across town and over to Hisingen.

Running next to Anna and her new Altra Via Olympus 2, I was so impressed by her stable and controlled effort as she set a new half marathon PR with plenty of energy to spare. With the real version of Göteborgsvarvet coming up in three weeks for both of us, it is fantastic to see her bounce back after her head injury last summer.

Back home, I made some Orecchiette con Cime di Rapa for lunch. This classic dish from Apulia is a bit difficult to recreate as “broccoli rabe” does not really seem to exist outside of Italy, so instead I had to use some regular broccoli.

Back to long runs

 

After not running for four days, it felt fantastic to head out in the morning sunshine and do my first longer run on asphalt since November. Maintaining a steady average pace of 5:36 min/km, I got to see the ferry arrive from Denmark, and take in the wide-open sea before heading back over Marieholmsbron to our new home in Lunden.

Topping up my run with 1,200 meters of swimming at Valhallabadet with Anna, and ten km of biking back and forth to the pool, I can now with good conscience put another Triathlon Thursday behind me and focus on the four theses that I have to grade before tomorrow's seminar in Halmstad.

The Alpaca Race

Living here in Gothenburg, I keep finding new local races that I just have to take part in. Like Rambo Mosse last year, I think this one will be quite memorable. Set in Hisingsparken, the Alpaca Race on 9 June is on a looped technical course with each loop being 10.6 kilometres with 600 meters of vertical gain and loss, all designed to mimic the elevation profile of UTMB.

Considering that I already have both Borås Ultra Marathon and Halland Ultra-Beach lined up for the summer, I opted for the shorter version with just three loops for a total of 33 km, 1,860 meters of elevation and one ITRA-point. However, when rowing at the Örgryte gym earlier today, I felt tempted to change my registration to the longer 55 km edition, but I guess there is a limit to how many ultra marathons one can do in the same year without risking injury. In this way, I will also hopefully come back early in the afternoon and be able to spend some weekend time with the kids, rather than feeling completely exhausted. Beyond indoor rowing, I have spent most of the days with different online meetings, including one about our future master’s programme which I am quite excited about, before making fish tacos for dinner.

The little math wizard

Over the last year, William (who is turning ten this year) has been taking part in different math camps and shorter evening sessions at Chalmers University of Technology; activities that have brought him so much joy. As a parent, it is simply wonderful to see him exploring abstract concepts with other kids who share the same fascination for maths.

Red Coast

Given the present political climate, I have grown increasingly curious about the domestic success of Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem, especially after hearing about the honesty of the scenes set during the Cultural Revolution. With one of the main characters also being a graduate of Tsinghua University where I spent part of my Marie Curie exchange in 2011, I decided to order the book so I would have something for summer afternoons on the balcony. Yet, its pages quickly pulled me in, even more so after reading this critical text, so I guess I will have finished it long before the temperature starts picking up.

Having made pancakes with local eggs from our friends on Styrsö, I look through the UTMB World Series calendar, thinking that maybe there will be a Mount Yun race in April 2025 as well. Located about 300 km northeast of Xi’An, it would be a fascinating journey into the interior of China, especially since Anna speaks Mandarin. For the moment however, all running is on pause as I have come down with a cold, which is a bit annoying since I was already behind with my running goals for this year but, as always, health comes first. 

X2000 mornings

After a marvellous Sunday at Styrsö visiting Holger and Walter, I am now on my way to Halmstad with SJ high-speed service 481. Boarding the newly refurbished trainset in the morning sunshine, I am reminded of past commutes along the same tracks, even if the interior quickly gives away that it is no longer 2008.

Today, I will mostly have meetings and thesis supervision before heading back to Gothenburg with another high-speed train. With 260 km of commuting back and forth, it really helps that I can work so well on the train.

3x Styrsö

Sourdough

After all my international travels, I really appreciate being at home and on the ground as I open a bottle Herdade do Peso from dreamy Alentejo. Blending two grapes, Antão Vaz and Arinto, this white wine is an instant recommendation but unfortunately Systembolaget does not have it.

Making cod with estragon for dinner, my finance suffered a setback today when I found another excellent neighbourhood bakery called “Cum Pane” whose sourdough bread all of the family just loved. Otherwise, this Saturday began with a few minus degrees as Anna and I ran around Delsjön shortly after 7 a.m., before it was time to clean the house and administer an oral makeup exam for my organizational communication class. Clearly, there is something rather old school with having an oral exam on a Saturday, even if on Zoom.

A free bib

Yesterday, I mentioned that I would consider registering for Göteborgsvarvet in mid-May. As if the local daily Göteborgsposten (GP) had been reading Rawls & Me, I was surprised to find a free registration in my inbox this morning courtesy of GP, which was particularly helpful as the regular registration appears to have sold out.

After running a couple of seeding races and the virtual edition back in 2020 (which also happens to be my half marathon PR), I look forward to finally running the real race on 18 May. Give how little speed training I have been doing, I have no particular ambition except finishing with some dignity. Now, time for our weekly Zoom-meeting with the department.

Marathon dreams

After my colossal failure in Tallinn last year, I was tempted to give up on road marathons and focus exclusively on ultra trail running. However, going through my wardrobe and finding a pair of Hoka Carbon X2, and then seeing the sunshine outside, I could not resist going for a few faster kilometres on the pavement around the neighbourhood at lunch, and apparently that was enough to bring back those funny marathon dreams. With Gabriel having registered for Göteborgsvarvet on 18 May, I am seriously considering joining him, even if it would only leave me with a week to recover before Borås Ultra Marathon, something that I have come to regret in the past.

In any case, as for half marathons, I am going to do the joint jogging event “Retrovarvet” in 6:30 min/km pace with Anna on 27 April.

Borderlands

Today, I took the kids up to Jonsered for a full day of live action role-playing in the woods. Set in The Borderlands between three kingdoms, Eddie and William had tons of fun with their new friends Holger and Walter, while I got to hang out with the other parents at the fireplace, so now I really smell like a cask of Laphroaig.

For lunch, I was able to grab one of yesterday’s Korean salads from Togogo at the central station for 50% off which was both a bargain and a nice flashback to my past life on the other side of the planet.

While the kids were role-playing, the rest of the world is holding its breath for what comes next between Israel and Iran. Clearly, striking other countries’ embassies with missiles is not a smart thing to do if you want to de-escalate an already tense situation so last night’s massive counterattack was perhaps not that surprising. Still, it just serves as a reminder about the lack of positive long-term visions on all sides. 

Slippery slope

Having left the kids at school, I started off in high spirits at Kungsportsplatsen shortly after 8 am this morning. Even if the skies were dark, it took an hour before the rain started falling just as I was climbing up Getryggen. 

Running in shorts, I soon realized that I had again underestimated how quickly one gets cold, but I nevertheless continued for two and half more hours along wet and slippery trails towards Jonsered. Knowing that the next section to Lerum would be on exposed cliffs with a lot of vertical over Goråsbergen, I decided to throw in the towel and take the train back to Gothenburg. Waiting at the platform, the rain really intensified, making me certain that it was the right decision.

Once at the railway station in Gothenburg, I had a large portion of fried rice, but it still took a long warm shower at home to somewhat restore my body temperature. After Denmark, I had promised myself not to underestimate the risk of hypothermia again but, apparently, I am a truly a goldfish at heart. As for Gotaleden, I will make a new attempt when the sun comes out.

Seeking balance

Tomorrow morning, I plan to run all of Gotaleden up to Alingsås for a total of 75 kilometres of trail running. Right now, the weather forecast looks a bit ominous though so I might have to postpone this undertaking to next week or the week after. In any case, knowing that I would do this eventually was a good excuse when trying out a cinnamon bun from our local sourdough bakery “Lilla Sur” (which I guess is sort of the opposite of Big Sur?).

Otherwise, I have been happy to return to Nordic Wellness Örgryte which is really a very nice gym with its large windows and smoothie selection for post-exercise indulgences. Today, I just did 6 km on the rowing machine and then an 8.3 km virtual Nydala run on the treadmill.

Marcus Wandt

After eating my first ice cream of the season in the afternoon sunshine, I biked with the kids to Universeum to meet Sweden’s second astronaut, Marcus Wandt, who gave an inspiring talk about his experiences aboard the International Space Station earlier this year. Unlike those who have found his descriptions of space travel to be prosaic if not banal, I was touched by his image of how our planet in daylight appeared all alone against a dark void but how it, at night, suddenly seemed to be part of the larger cosmos.

As for space-related things, millions across the continental United States are just now getting ready to watch the total solar eclipse as it enters Texas at 1:27 pm and exits Maine at 3:35 pm. For us up here in Sweden, there will be no full solar eclipse until 2126 when Rawls & Me will presumably have been discontinued so perhaps one should instead swing by Spain in August 2026 when there is another chance.

Moving in

The weekend has been crazy as we have raced to finish everything before Monday. But at least our first night in Gothenburg was truly lovely as we stayed at the new Clarion Draken, enjoying a drink on the 34th floor and a sumptuous breakfast. But after that, it has been non-stop with the boxes until this afternoon when we were finally done, and I had time to go for a long run in Skatås before picking William up at Chalmers where he has spent the weekend taking part in a math camp.

Running next to Delsjön in just a t-shirt, it almost felt like summer and quite a contrast from the winter in Kiruna on Thursday. Though all the moving meant that I fell another 35 kilometres behind with my running this week, I am sure I will find a way to make up for that soon enough.

2x Draken

Passing Umeå

Cruising at 33,000 meters, our Airbus 320neo just passed Umeå and its icy river delta. Having lived there for nine years, it is strange to think that all that transpired, all those memories, took place within that little corner above the red CFM engine.

Soon back in western Sweden, we will pick up an electric rental car at Landvetter and start the big logistic game as we are moving into our new, and hopefully permanent, home on Ängtegsgatan.

Snow brightness

Somewhere north of Gävle, the sky cleared up and I was treated to expansive views of Umeå and the Bothnian Bay on my flight up to Kiruna yesterday. Once on the ground, the quicksilver stood at -12 degrees but, with all blue skies, Anna and I were soon on our way out along the Luossavaara trail with our skis on.

The only downside with these clear skies is that it gets pretty cold so, waking up to -21 degrees this morning, we decided to go to the swimming pool instead which was lots of fun. And, to my great surprise, Eddie volunteered for some skiing after lunch so I am happy to see that all of the family gets a bit of exercise before it is back to school on Monday.

Rowing at Clarion Arlanda

Shower

For my two-hour layover at Heathrow, I was allowed through security already at the B gates in Terminal 2, which saved me a long walk and made it possible for me to check out the Air Canada lounge without feeling stressed. Though I had originally planned to visit the Singapore Airlines lounge, it appeared to be close due to renovations.

Luckily, Air Canada did not disappoint. After a hot rainforest shower with excellent water pressure, I felt quite refreshed and ready to try one of their made-to-order paninis with a barista latte and some fresh fruit, all very much to my liking. As for aviation-themed things, I can also report that I slept really well in my premium economy seat (again haven chosen a bulkhead seat with extra legroom), and as long as the price difference remains as small as this time around, I will definitely book premium economy with Air Canada for any future transatlantic travel.

Right now, the weather forecast for Kiruna speaks of temperatures down to -25 degrees and plenty of snow, so I guess I am in for quite a shock tomorrow morning. First however, I must make up for lost kilometres on the treadmill at Clarion Hotel Arlanda. With that, my big trip across the world is almost at its end and, as always, thanks for coming along.

Unbundle

Having been involuntarily downgraded from premium economy to regular economy for my afternoon flight between Vancouver and Toronto due to a last-minute equipment change, I decided to try out the option of ordering a business class meal while seated in economy which I guess is the latest in the ongoing trend of airlines unbundling their product offerings. Though they only had the vegetarian pasta left, it definitely tasted much better than it looked, especially together with some French red wine and the latest Condé Nast magazine.

Now somewhere over rural Montana, I got about three hours of flying left but luckily no shortage of student papers to comment on so I am sure I will be fine. With a two-hour layover at Heathrow tomorrow morning, I might even get a chance to take a shower and have breakfast in the Singapore Airlines lounge before flying SAS up to Stockholm and my hotel bed at Arlanda.