Aptasvaare

After spending four hours on the train from Luleå, the legs were itching to go for a first mountain run so, borrowing Anna’s dad’s Volvo, we drove past the airport and out the space campus for a climb up Aptasvaare and its old-growth forest. 

Running in the midnight sun, we were treated to expansive views of both the Kebnekaise massif and the city of Kiruna from the peak before enjoying some really fast flow trails (to speak mountainbikish) on the way back to the parking. With that, it is time to officially kick off Trailmester 2024!

Hooja in Luleå

Last night, all of the family joined seven thousand of others at Södra Hamnplan in Luleå and sang along in their Hooja favourite songs. Coming from Gällivare, Hooja definitely had a home game, and I got a receipt on the value of my strength training as I took turns having William and Eddie on my shoulders clapping.

Staying at the same hotel as Hooja, the breakfast room was packed with fans. After working out at the gym, the plan is to go for a family run through Luleå followed by some swimming at Pontusbadet before taking the train to Kiruna tonight.

Luleå mornings

Waking up around 4.30 am after eight hours of solid sleep, I laced up my Cliftons and went for ten faster kilometres around the city centre of Luleå in a run that slightly reminded me of my mornings in Stanley Park. 

Halfway into my run, I passed a fox mural, and, as we all know, no summer run is complete without a quick swim in the buff. Now back at Scandic, it is time for breakfast with the rest of the family.

Rice paper

Making smoked salmon rice paper bites for starters, we had one last night in the summer heat on the veranda at Ängtegsgatan. Yet, already by midnight, the rain was pouring down and thunder could be heard at a distance. Waking up again at 1.30 am, I simply could not fall back asleep so when the alarm went of at 3.30 am, I had already been awake for two hours listening to the heavy rain outside.

With many people starting their summer vacation today, Landvetter was a complete zoo, and we barely made it through security in time, but all of that is forgotten now as Tyke Viking is plying its way along the fabled “Norrlandskusten” up to Luleå and I get to sip another blue cup of SAS coffee. Feeling much better in my left heel, I am super excited about the coming week of mountain running but, first, time to check out Luleå.

Aspen

Taking the train up to Jonsered shortly after 6 am, Anna and I followed up our midsummer run with another 10 km along Gotaleden and Lake Aspen this morning. Stopping in Rådjursviken for a swim, we were treated to an incredible morning in the forest, reminding me that you do not have to travel around the world to experience the most remarkable things.

Once in Lerum, we took the train back to town and Café Wærnet for a highly instagrammable breakfast. Already checked in for our flight to Luleå tomorrow morning, our next task is to get everything packed but hopefully I will also find the time to swim 2,500 meters so that I can secure the June 5k swimming trophy on Strava. Yet, all Strava trophies aside, this morning took an even happier turn as I just learned that my dear wife got her first high-ranking publication accepted in the journal Hypatia!

Grilled apricots

Back in Gothenburg, I limited myself to six slow kilometres of running in the morning, a short Teams meeting on the veranda about a possible grant application, and a tiny can from Birichino in Monterey (it is the 26th of June and Breakthrough Season after all, even as this was the very last Dialogue). But I did go all in with the apricots and the lake swimming, first a morning swim with Eddie and then an afternoon swim with William. And grilling apricots with lemon cream cheese and prosciutto simply cannot go wrong.

As for the 20th anniversary of The Death of Environmentalism that I just missed at Cavallo Point, I will end this post with a few words from Ted Nordhaus' latest dispatch:

“And yet, the thing that is most remarkable about the Death of Environmentalism, the reason that it has endured, is that despite getting many of the particulars wrong, it got almost all of the big questions right. Global warming is centrally about building a new world, not restricting the old one. It is primarily a technology, investment, and infrastructure challenge, not a regulatory problem. Success requires swimming with, not against, the currents of social, economic, and technological modernization.”

Ångström

After a sumptuous breakfast at Elite Academia, William and I walked up to the Ångström Laboratory where Mattias was waiting to show us around. With his eyes wide open of wonder, William got to change background radiation detection filters on the roof and measure radioactivity in the lab in addition to receiving a crash course in nuclear physics, all in two intense hours.

Later over lunch, I had a chance to talk to Mattias a bit about what factors that are holding back a rapid nuclear buildout in response to climate change and the possibilities of using waste heat from nuclear reactors for direct air capture of carbon dioxide. For me as a social scientist, it is invaluable to be able to ask questions to someone who understands not only the underlying physics but also has extensive experience from the nuclear industry. Now on the train back to Gothenburg, we could not have hoped for a better visit or trip overall for that matter.

Uppsala

As someone with a PhD from Lund, I have always had a slightly complicated relationship to Uppsala, Sweden’s oldest university town (founded already in 1477), but over the years, I have been here more times than I can count, especially as my sister used to live here for half a decade.

Today, I am here with William as we are visiting the Ångström Laboratory, and as such, I had the privilege of starting the day with a morning jog together with my favourite running buddy along the Fyris River, passing the cathedral, the famous university library Carolina Rediviva and a Pelle Svanslös-themed playground for those mandatory photo ops.

Vilgot, revisited

Eight months after our last visit, William and I took the morning high-speed service to Stockholm to see his cousin Vilgot and, boy, what a difference eight months make when you are one. So, from baby carrier to beach walking, we went down to Söderbysjön for Vilgot’s first steps into the water and a refreshing swim for William, my sister and me.

Now on the train to Uppsala, William and I are heading up to the Ångström Laboratory for some nuclear experiments tomorrow with the one and only Mattias Lantz who kindly offered us a visit. With William being very much into physics, I think the two of them will have a lot to talk about.

Poké fusion

Christmas, Easter, and Midsummer are all celebrated with herring in Sweden. Today, I decided to venture into some fusion cooking for lunch by making a poké bowl with ginger, rice vinegar, and, yes, herring. As for the result, I would give it a 7 out 10.

Otherwise, I am taking a break from the running today and instead wrapped up my indoor rowing for June at NW Örgryte. Hopefully, my left heel will be back to normal soon enough but, from what I am reading on the Internet, I really should take this a bit seriously even if it means falling behind with my running goals.

Roasted grapes

Tonight, I made a recipe with toasted red grapes and feta cheese that was just divine. Together with a long-time favourite white wine from the slopes of Etna, it was the perfect midsummer dinner. So, with that, happy midsummer to you all!

Midsummer tartlet

Despite some pain in my left heel which, according to the best science, is caused by “excess usage of the heel bone” and the “pounding on hard surfaces” (does that ring any bells?), I joined Anna for 20k of trail running up to Jonsered this morning. Once at Brödfabriken, we celebrated with a second breakfast followed by their special midsummer tartlet.

With the commuter train taking eight minutes back to Sävenäs, it almost felt like an insult considering how hard it was to run the trail in the opposite direction. For now however, we will wait a little bit for the UV factor to come down before taking the kids up to Delsjön for a midsummer swim.

Early mornings

Though still an early riser, I have struggled to get back into the morning running routine, mostly out of fear of accidentally waking Eddie up. Today, however, I was able to discreetly sneak out shortly after 5 am and go for a long run down to Mölndal. 

With the skies still cloudy, I was all alone at Rådasjön, so I dared a quick swim before heading back home in time to take William to his fencing class. After fencing 3 x 3 hours this week, he is totally sold on the sport and wants to keep taking classes throughout the fall.

At noon, instead of clouds, it was UV galore, to an extent that almost reminded me of Australia as William and I had lunch outside at “Café con leche”.

Snippets of summer

While much of southern Europe is baking away in another heatwave, the summer has been fairly absent here in Gothenburg once we got into June (May was incredible on the other hand). Yet, between the clouds, there have been some wonderful moments, like yesterday on Anna’s and my afternoon run, that make up for all the rain.

With the journal review submitted and all grades uploaded to Ladok, I suddenly find myself with a few days “free”, not really enough time to start a new project, yet too long to just do housekeeping. In any case, I have a research seminar coming up tomorrow on Samuel Moyn and human rights that I look forward to.

Hönö

After consuming about a thousand “hönökakor” in their lifetimes, it was time for the kids to take the ferry over to Hönö this morning. Though we skipped all pricked soft white bread, we had a grand day out, hiking along “Kuststigen” through Ersdalens Nature Reserve.

Otherwise, I kicked off the day with 15 km of running with Eddie biking next to me across the bridges of central Gothenburg. Having submitted my article to the British Journal of Political Science yesterday, I will spend the coming week tying up some loose ends, such as a review for the Journal of International Political Theory and making sure that I have all the literature I need for my autumn classes. Among those, I am particularly happy that I will be back teaching political ideologies in September after a two-year long hiatus.

Back to Parkrun

Two weeks ago, I did Parkrun next to William as he was setting a new PR but today, we decided that each family member would run in his or her own pace. In my case, that meant that I could fully feel the accumulated stress of the last three weeks of ultra racing and 5,000+ meters of elevation gain as my heart rate quickly shot up to 180. After a few faster kilometres, I was completely spent, struggling to even finish in under 23 minutes. The good news is that Anna did really well, setting a new PR and getting hard proof that her training is paying off.

Grand Fitness

Over the summer, Nordic Wellness is giving its top-tier members free access to their new brand of premium clubs called “Grand Fitness”. With complimentary breakfast every Monday and Friday, plus a bit of PT time, I of course had to try it out even if I am super happy with my current gym at NW Örgryte.

Now, after 4 km of indoor rowing and 12 km of treadmill running, I am back to struggling with my paper at Da Matteo which feels like a true throwback to my days as a PhD student.

Crunch time

With the summer on pause, I am working as hard as I can to finalize my article on the limits of emissions sufficientarianism but with school out and “fritids” closed today, there has been a constant flow of interruptions. Hopefully, I will make more progress during the coming days, but this is really crunch time, thus fewer updates to Rawls & Me. But at least, I can report that Lilla Sur’s limited-edition spelt bread was a perfect balcony treat and that I am seriously considering going for the full ten loops at next year’s Alpaca Race.

Alpaca

With stormy winds coming down from the Norwegian Sea, yesterday turned into a true trail adventure as I took on the Alpaca Race. Taking place in Hisingsparken, the course consisted of a 10.6 km loop with some of the more technical trails that I have ever attempted with plenty of climbing on exposed rocks, roots and mud.

After a bit of sunshine near the starting line, the rain started, only to be followed by hail and thunder, eventually turning the whole ground white. Occasionally, the sun would return but each loop took progressively longer to complete as water kept accumulating in the forest. Having ran 70 kilometres this week even before starting, and with Borås Ultra Marathon only two short weeks away, I soon realized that I had grossly underestimated this race.

Still, 6 hours and 24 minutes after starting, I crossed the finishing line, securing one ITRA-point and feeling forever grateful that I had not signed up for ten loops. Looking through the results, there were so many DNF, with only two runners out of 16 completing the 100k distance. Also, among those who only ran three loops like myself, about half ended up not completing the race. So, all in all, I am happy with my performance.

Voting time

Equipped with my finisher jacket from the Transgrancanaria Marathon back in February, I went down to the city library today to cast an early vote in the European elections as I have a trail race coming up on Sunday.

According to the election compasses that I have tested, I should vote for the liberals, something that I guess is a reflection of being pro-nuclear, pro-euro, and pro-integration in general. Obviously, that advice ignores more fundamental questions of social justice and how deeply I identify myself with the political Left (despite all its contemporary shortcomings). At least, there is no doubt that the Sweden Democrats is the party that I most strongly disagree with.

Otherwise, I started the day with grading followed by a 10k run with Anna across town to the Alchemist café near Vågmästareplatsen (an area that has truly changed since I lived in Gothenburg 15 years ago) for some really good coffee.

Retrovarvet Trail Run

Back in April, Anna and I did the 21k Retrovarvet together with five hundred other running enthusiasts. Today, some of the same people organized a trail run in Skatås along the 18k-trail which also felt very social and welcoming.

As anticipated, yesterday was one crazy day but, in the end, I made it back to Gothenburg with the train. Thanks to nine and a half hours of sleep, I felt entirely human when waking up this morning and my good mood then got a further boost when I learnt that Kalle has secured a postdoc position at the Department of Sociology in Umeå. Having seen first-hand how many fantastic friends he has in Umeå at the graduation party, I am happy for him being able to keep his social life intact.

Graduation

I do not even know how to begin summarizing the last couple of days. But Kalle gave an excellent defence of his PhD, I got to see so many old friends and we all had an incredible party at Druidgården last night. With Kalle being my first PhD student to graduate, my tears were not that far away when the committee announced that they had unanimously decided to pass his dissertation shortly after 4 pm yesterday.

Now already aboard SK27 and on my way to Halmstad for a full day of work, my Suunto is yelling at me that the last three nights have all been way too short and that I should prioritize sleep. However, I beg to disagree.

Because, had I stayed in bed at Hotel Winn, I would have missed yesterday's half marathon around Nydalasjön with my colleague Veronica who is now planning a return to Kullamannen for the 100-mile edition, and I would not have seen how, what was once our house, has been transformed since we sold it in 2022.

Before returning to work, I would like to once again say thank-you to Kalle for these five years and express my gratitude for the kind and generous words in the introduction to his PhD:

"As I prepare to celebrate the completion of my doctoral studies, the first (and coldest!) beers will undoubtedly go to my terrific supervisors Magnus Blomgren and Rasmus Karlsson. Not only have you generously read, commented, and discussed each of the countless drafts that I (not seldom way past our agreed-upon deadlines) have sent your way, but you've also guided me through exactly all other aspects of life as a PhD student. People often say that academia can be an unwelcoming environment, but that is very hard to believe for someone who has had the pleasure of having you two as supervisors. Sure, I've left some of our meetings with more questions than answers, but I've also always left feeling more inspired and confident than before. I'm not exaggerating when I'm saying that this thesis wouldn't have seen the light of day without your invaluable support."