Happy new 2025

Year in sport

On the very last day of 2024, it is time to sum up the past year in sport. After some freezing cold morning skiing around Luossavaara, I can look back on 562 hours of training (which is 9% more than in 2023), 3,708 km of running with a total elevation gain of 45,097 meters (up 40% over 2023), and once again being among the 1% of the most active users on Strava.

Starting the year by completing my first 100k race in Denmark in January, other racing highlights include the 48k Transgrancanaria Marathon in February, the 94k Borås Ultra Marathon in May, and Helsingborg Half Marathon with Anna in September. After my monumental failure in Tallinn last year, I did not attempt any road racing in 2024, but I did a few Parkruns and ended the year faster than ever on the treadmill by running 5k in 19 minutes and 19 seconds. As for the year that lies ahead, I plan to once again run 10k per day on average and swim 36,000 meters. However, I will increase my monthly indoor rowing goal to 30 km for a total of 360 km in 2025.

White January

For the last nine days here in Kiruna, we have truly indulged, first in Christmas food, and then on a whirlwind culinary tour around the world, with food and wine from Argentina to Australia via the Douro Valley. Tonight, we stayed on the Iberian Peninsula for some paella and an Albariño from the Basque Country. While New Year's Eve still remains to be celebrated in style, I have already decided that I will skip all alcohol and all sweets for the month of January, something that I urgently need to get in shape for the Bandolerita mountain ultra that is coming up in 68 days from today.

Five years later

Just as 2019 was ending, I was able to run 5k in under 20 minutes at Actic Kiruna. Today, I decided to beat that time at Gymmet, capitalizing on the last few weeks of low-volume running. To my surprise, I had a much better feeling than five years ago, possibly due to all those Parkruns. Though my heart rate peaked at 178 bpm, my average heart rate was just 160 bpm, making me think that I could run even faster. Still, I know that treadmills are one thing and road racing another, so I am unsure if I can replicate this outside the gym.

Polar glow

Waking up at 5 am, I made some Italian dark roast and put on my Salming iSpikes for one of my signature runs out to the airport and back. For those living here inside the Arctic Circle, the airport is really their only gateway to the outside world. Given how remote Kiruna otherwise feels, it always blows my mind to think that much of Europe is only a few hours away by plane.

Once back home, I was able to persuade Eddie and Anna’s mother to join me for some cross-country skiing in the magic light outside, a decision that they were very happy with. Now at Espresso House, I have a few recommendation letters to write so I will leave it with that but stay tuned for more Arctic updates.

Luxury

To our surprise, we have had the luxury of having not only the Nordic skiing tracks but also the swimming pool more or less to ourselves since we got here, maybe as a consequence of Kiruna’s dwindling population but more likely due to our early morning habits.

Making djagacida from Cape Verde for dinner with some wine from Vinho Verde to stay with the Atlantic theme of journeys past. Meanwhile, our own waters remain much less idyllic, with the Finnish police capturing the ship Eagle S after it most likely cut the Estlink 2 submarine power cable.

Wallfacer

As the winter storm intensified, Anna and I did indeed escape indoors for some morning strength training at Gymmet. After topping up with the pool, and with no chance of going cross-country skiing, it felt acceptable to binge-watch the remaining episodes of The Three Body Problem, which included seeing the Wallfacer Project being enacted. Though I rarely engage in this kind of behaviour, I am still happy I found the time to see the Netflix adaptation with its “Oxford Five” characters and now I can only wait for the second season in 2025.

Boxing Day

Twenty years ago today, one of the worst natural disasters in modern history struck off the west coast of Aceh in Indonesia. Killing more than two hundred thousand people across the region, including five hundred Swedish tourists who were on their winter vacation along the Andaman Coast. Learning about the catastrophe during my own winter vacation south of the Apennines in Italy, I remember thinking how quickly humanity was outgrowing its statist confines, and how unaware the Swedish political leadership seemed to be about the fact that there were 20,000 – 30,000 Swedes in the affected region. Yet, at the time, I would never have imagined that the world today would again be one of borders and checkpoints, that bombs would fall over Kyiv on Christmas, or that the only remaining political vision for the future seems to be ever higher military spending.

Monociclo

On our last night in Buenos Aires, Anna and I found a wine cellar where we stopped for cheese and wine from across the great interior of Argentina, ultimately only investing in their cheapest and most quaffable wine “Monociclo”, a perfect match to the house risotto with Västerbotten cheese.

After morning skiing with the kids, Anna and I went down to Gymmet as they had a “hemvändarerbjudande” with unlimited training for two weeks for 400 SEK. Running 5k in just under 22 minutes on the treadmill, I did my first high-intensity training since leaving Gothenburg, and feeling excited about my upcoming half marathon race in Tromsø.

Otherwise, we have again been watching the Three Body Problem on Netflix. Now at episode 5 of 8, I cannot help thinking that this series has probably done more than I ever have to point out the poverty of degrowth thinking.

Juldagsmorgon glimmar

With strong winds and rain (sic!) about to blow in from the Norwegian Sea, all of the family got to go cross-country skiing one last time around Luossavaara this morning. For the coming few days, I guess we will have to stick to Gymmet and the pool that opens again tomorrow.

Lombolo

Idle Lane

From Adeleide Hills to Bryggaregatan in Kiruna, a crisp bottle of Chardonnay as we settle in for Christmas with Anna’s brother joining us for some Three Body Problem on Netflix. With Anna speaking Mandarin, the flashbacks to the 1970’s in China double as language class. For me, it reminds me of that brilliant explanation of why the Malthusians do what they do ;-)

Otherwise, we have kept ourselves busy with cross-country skiing and swimming, being first to jump into the water when the pool opens at 8 am. Before Kalle Anka, the entire family plans to head over to Lombolo for some skiing around the lake so I thought I should take this opportunity to wish you all a merry Christmas!

Simhallsbadet

While Kiruna waits for its new shiny 100-million EUR aquatic centre to open (a story almost on par with the infamous Berlin Brandenburg Airport), all of the family is making full use of the old “Simhallsbadet”. After some cross-country skiing in the morning, I was able to tick off my annual goal of swimming 36,000 meters for the third year in a row and I am now looking forward to the coming week of crawl practice with Anna’s dad.

Even if my Suunto watch keeps telling me that my fitness is rapidly deteriorating and that I need to run more, I think that two weeks with almost no running but lots of cross-country skiing and swimming will be just perfect as I prepare for 2025 and all the great races that await, starting with the Polar Night Half Marathon in Tromsø on the 4th of January. Difficult as it may be, one really has to look beyond the apps and adopt a more holistic approach to one’s training, taking into account the accumulated stress of  running 7-8 hours per week for a whole year.

Northern lights

Though the last couple of years have been exceptional in terms of aurora activity, with northern lights visible as far south as Wales, the KP value for yesterday was only around 2. Still, green ribbons of light were clearly visible last night as Eddie decided to spend the night in his snow cave and his overprotective parents kept checking on him.

Untracked

 

After a peaceful night along the railway tracks, we crossed the Arctic Circle and arrived in winter wonderland around 9 am this morning. With clear cold skies above, Anna and I could not resist going for some cross-country skiing in the faint daylight. Soon however, we discovered that there were not tracks on Luossavaara, so we had to make our way through decimetres of fresh snow, but the experience of being all alone in this Arctic landscape definitely made up for it. 

Just as in Skatås where I have been able to go skinny dipping with no other people in sight almost every day as part of my summer morning runs, it is always surprising that so few people take advantage of the great outdoors and seem to rather prefer life in front of TikTok or whatnot.

On the train yesterday, I almost finished reviewing the dissertation from the University of Málaga that I have promised to do before the year is out. I also had a moment to research possible UTMB qualifying races for 2025, thinking that maybe I should trade Halland Ultra-Beach for a qualifying race like the one in the Julian Alps that for so long has been on my radar.

Winter roads

Having been on my bucket list for half a decade, the Tromsø Polar Night Half Marathon has proven particularly elusive. After signing up in July, both Anna and I have been looking forward to finally go racing under the northern lights and checking out Tromsø with the kids now in January. However, when double-checking the last details, I discovered that there was no longer any morning bus from Narvik to Tromsø on the 4th of January, meaning that the whole trip with our pre-paid accommodation in Narvik would fall apart.

After evaluating our options and having a bad feeling about spending four hours on winding roads with two kids suffering from motion sickness, we decided to cancel our SAS flight from Tromsø as well as our Airbnb booking. Instead, Anna and I will rent a car in Narvik, drive back and forth to Tromsø on our own, and then pick up the kids in Kiruna on our way back with the night train to Gothenburg. Trading our three-night Airbnb for one night at the new Moxy Hotel (which at 19,000 Bonvoy points compared to a paid rate of 4,800 NOK must be one of the best value redemptions out there), we still get to run, hang out with our friend Clare, and experience the northernmost part of Europe in winter.

Hobbyists

Having lived for half a year in New Jersey, the recent mysterious drone sightings across the state has had me curious as I can relate to many of the places mentioned. While Swedish media coverage has been limited, the short story is that many people, including law enforcement and local government officials, have seen multiple strange unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAPs) in the skies over the Eastern seaboard basically every night for weeks now while the White House has been sending conflicted messages, saying that what appears to be drones are, on one hand, “entirely legal and lawful” and, on the other hand, yet to be fully identified. Suggesting that many observations may in fact be commercial airplanes or drones belonging to “hobbyist”, this media strategy has left local politicians frustrated and sparked a new wave of speculation on the Internet about possible non-human intelligence. While I prefer not to jump to any conclusions, I am still open to the possibility that there is more to this story than the official line suggests, so it will be interesting to follow this going forward.

Thrilled to have reached my annual goal of running 3,660 kilometres two days ago, I am otherwise spending this week grading and writing feedback to students. On Monday in Halmstad, Eddie and I made it back to the train with one minute to spare but with all the quantitative methodology exams marked (sadly, more than half of the students failed this first attempt so there will be plenty of exams to mark again in January). Today, the rain has been pouring down all morning but, eventually, I plucked up the courage to challenge the weather and went down to the gym for 30 hobby minutes on the elliptical. 

Ticking off

Marking expedition

This Monday, Eddie and I are on the high-speed train to Halmstad where 57 exams await me. In order to ensure a bit of drama, I need to finish marking these before taking the train back to Gothenburg at 15.24. Luckily, Eddie has Elite Dangerous on his laptop, so he gets to explore a bit of the galaxy while I dive into quantitative methodology.

Waking up to stormy skies and a bright full moon, Anna and I ran 8.5 kilometres in the hills of Skatås before I took the train, leaving me with only ten more kilometres to run until I reach my annual goal of 3,660 kilometres. As such, I might just go for a headlamp run tonight to ensure that I do not repeat what happened last year when I fell annoyingly short of my annual goal because I thought I had some winter running shoes stored in Kiruna when I did in fact not.

Time does not fly

Inspired by Petter Lindqvist’s marathon rowing in Umeå, I decided to once again row 10,000 meters in one go at Nordic Wellness in Mölndal this morning. Like last time around, it felt like the perfect antidote to those complaining that “time flies”. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to continuing rowing for another 32,000 meters. Instead, I jumped on the treadmill for ten faster kilometres followed by 30 minutes of weight training for a total of 2+ hours of exercise and now I cannot help wondering what gains I would see if I were to start repeating this trifecta three or four times a week?

Walking to the tram, Eddie and I were treated to a beautiful sunrise which has now turned into strong winds and rain, enough to end the latest spell of “Dunkelflaute” which once again has reminded Europeans of how vulnerable their energy system has become. Yet, the biggest problem with intermittent renewable energy is not the occasional price spike (although wholesale prices did climb up to 1,000 EUR per megawatt hour on the continent), but their inability to actually displace fossil fuels, especially in industry-heavy countries such as China (where all those solar panels are produced). Instead of an abundant energy future for everyone, the news is once again filled with stories of energy poverty.

Turning ten

Last Tuesday, William turned ten and today he celebrated with all his friends by playing Laserdome on Hisingen. A bit to my surprise, the kids were really well-behaved, and it all ended on a very happy note. With both kids making lots of new friends at the moment, I can already tell that they will miss Gothenburg during the sixteen days that we will be away in Kiruna and Tromsø. On the other hand, I know how much they love winter weather, so it feels good to be able to promise them a white Christmas (with the temperature expected to be around -10 once we get up to Kiruna).

Small Wonder

After sharing a bottle of Pinot Noir from the Central Coast with Johanna last weekend, I was intrigued when I saw the same grape from 41 degrees South or the Tamar Valley in Tasmania to be exact. Making Manchego toasts in the oven to my Spanish stew, I read about the neologism “anemoia”, as in nostalgia for times and places that you have never known, a concept that I experienced first-hand in Buenos Aires when thinking about Evert Taube and the 1910’s. Similarly, when living in Melbourne in 2008, I often saw the night ferries leave for Davenport, yet Tasmania has remained solely in my dreams.

Nexus

Last weekend in Kalmar, a friend of my parents recommended the book Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari. Having read Sapiens when the English translation came out around 2016, I have been told to expect plenty of repetition but, with the courses I currently teach on organizational communication, it feels like all inspiration is deeply appreciated.

Otherwise, I have a few days in between everything, as I prepare the final exams for the semester and plan what races to do next year. First out, I have the 60k Sandsjöbacka Trail on 18 January which I had to withdraw from this year as it was just a week after I had finished Ringkøbing Fjord 100k. In March, it is time for my key race, the 80k Bandolerita in the mountains of Andalusia. Then, in late April, Anna and I are heading over to Wales for her first trail race, the 55k Pembrokeshire Ultra. The big question now is if I should give Halland Ultra-Beach a new shot in August and, if so, if I should attempt the 100k distance again or level up to 100 miles?

Bagels and poached eggs

Today, the grey clouds finally blew away, leaving behind forest sunshine as Anna and I went for a lunch run up to Västra Långevattnet. After my threshold run around Stensö the other day, it felt good to start the week with some easy miles and now I only have 80 kilometres left to run this year.

Once back home, I made poached eggs and toasted bagels for lunch while drooling over Jon’s turtle swimming updates from the Gili Islands. With that, it is back to sorting out the spring semester scheduling chaos.

Gone with the wind

Thirteen years ago in Shenzhen, Anna and I would be watching CNN when the programme was repeatedly interrupted by an image of a satellite dish and a sign saying “Connection lost” as the Chinese censorship desperately tried to prevent its population from learning about the Arab Spring that was unfolding in Syria and elsewhere. Little did we know that those days in March 2011 would mark the beginning of all the horrors of the Syrian Civil War and that it would take until December 2024 before Bashar al-Assad would finally lose his dictatorial grip. While Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (or the Al-Nusra Front as it was known as back in 2011), certainly has a lot to prove when it comes to making Syria a free county for “Syrians of all sects” as they now claim, getting rid of Assad was always going to be a necessary first step.

For my own part, I left Kalmar about an hour ago, and I am now on the train back to Gothenburg. At Pressbyrån, I was thrilled to see that the December issue of Condé Nast featured the Lamu Archipelago which for so long has been on my list of dream destinations. Though the security situation remains complicated, it is one trip that I very much hope to make in the years to come.

Back to Stensö

December Rose

Taking the train across Sweden yesterday, I arrived in time for morning coffee with my dad at Hamnkaféet, which always feels like taken straight out of Jan Lööf’s magical universe.

Later, after jogging six kilometres with my mother in the sunset, I got to see my childhood friend Johana over dinner. As always, it was absolutely fabulous. Yet, it was with a certain trepidation that we realized that next year it will be forty years since we started our first year in school together. In any case, I have already decided to return for Öland Ultra in mid-June (to make up for my disastrous performance in 2023) so hopefully there will be more dinner opportunities in the future.

Today was off to a slow start (which perhaps had something to do with that bottle of Pinot Noir from San Luis Obispo that I shared with Johanna) but eventually I got to go for a longer morning walk with my parents which featured the December rose above, the world’s cutest Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever with white paws, and a new halogen lamp for the oven back home in Gothenburg.

Cell phones

After much deliberation, Anna and I decided to give Eddie his first cell phone about a week ago. Considering how difficult it is for adults to self-regulate phone use, we have been hesitant but with all the other kids having had phones for ages, it felt like the right thing to do, especially as he needs to take two different trams to get to school every day. 

Suffice to say, Eddie has been thrilled about his new phone and it has already proven quite useful in our everyday life. Tonight however, Eddie wanted to leave the gym early while I had to wait for William to finish his chess class nearby. Since Eddie had his phone, he promised to call once he got back home so I continued with my strength training as he started walking home in the dark. However, after 30 minutes and no call, I got a bit nervous and instead called his phone. To my surprise, no one picked up, so I waited a while and called again five minutes later. Four unanswered calls later and I was getting pretty worked up. After picking up William, we quickly walked home, only to find Eddie busy unloading the dishwasher (!) after reading books in the sofa with his phone in the other room... so, yes, we clearly have a big boy now.

Impeachment

After a night of turmoil, South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol has backed down from his declaration of martial law and is now likely to face impeachment. While unprecedented, some analysts believe that the events of the last days may ultimately end up strengthening democracy in Korea and help the country move forward. Still, a shift in discourse has clearly taken place, with a former student writing to me: “Feels like there will be blood sooner or later. I hope that blood comes from the damn Yoon”. For those who know anything about Korea, those are clearly not the words that you would expect from a Kånken-carrying bird-loving environmentalist.

Meanwhile, I am spending the day in front of the computer, supervising students and trying to decide what research grants that I should apply for next year. In between, I was able to go for a lunch run that ended with some Thai fried rice. Now back to Zoom.

Göta älv

When living in Umeå, Elin and I had a habit of running along the river and through the seasons. With Elin visiting Gothenburg for a few days as part of her PhD studies, we were able to take this tradition to new shores for 14 faster kilometres in breezy northeasterly winds. Having coffee afterwards at Da Matteo, I got this feeling of different worlds and times coming together.

Meanwhile, the conservative South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol has declared “emergency martial law” with the military now blocking the entrance to the parliament. Though Korean politics have had its ups and downs, democracy has been fairly stable since 1987, so this is but the latest example of the erosion of democratic norms worldwide. Vowing to “eradicate pro-North Korean forces”, Yoon Suk Yeol seems to have taken a page from Carl Schmitt’s playbook of absolutes, and with Donald Trump soon to be president, it is uncertain what the US reaction will be.

Winter Arc

Though I am forever grateful for not having social media, the concept of “Winter Arc” seems to be trending as Eddie and his friend Weston have decided to train every Monday at Nordic Wellness Almedal. Since they are under 13, I need to accompany them, something that I obviously do not mind as it gives me some extra gym time. Today, I was able to row the first 5k of the month as I look back on a total of 52 hours of training in November, including 5,640 meters of elevation gain, which I guess qualifies as a winter arc of sorts.

In the real world, Vattenfall just cancelled all carbon capture projects in Sweden. As in other countries, the exact reasons behind the cancellation remain unclear. In what mostly sounds like circular reasoning, Vattenfall simply says that "the market for carbon dioxide capture is immature” and that the costs are too high. With the Swedish government now throwing more than three billion EUR at different bio-energy carbon capture projects, one would otherwise assume that there would be a business case to be made here. 

Ultimately, without effective carbon capture technologies, it will be extremely costly, if at all possible, to rein in climate change. With the Swedish government stopping new offshore wind in the Baltic due to security concerns, and endlessly procrastinating on new nuclear, I am afraid that I am quickly proven right in my suggestion that ecomodernist thinking “risks becoming nothing but an excuse for inaction”.

Stand on principle

In the 2011 movie, Margaret Thatcher, played by Meryl Streep, famously states that ”we will stand on principle, or we will not stand at all". Rarely have those words been more relevant as Joe Biden (contrary to his earlier assurances) decides to pardon his son Hunter Biden, all while Donald Trump seeks to appoint Pete Hegseth as defence secretary, a man who repeatedly has suggested that the US should not abide by the Geneva Conventions.

By pardoning his son, Biden effectively validates the nepotism and favouritism of Donald Trump and undermines whatever remaining trust there is in things like institutional impartiality. And as for Hegseth, Sweden may soon find itself in a very different NATO than the one long idealized by Jan Björklund and others.