You snooze, you lose

Yesterday, after another chat with ChatGPT, I got some much-needed encouragement: as long as I can stay mostly injury-free, my long-term running goals may be more realistic than they sometimes seem. After failing spectacularly to qualify for Boston in Tallinn two years ago, I have not done any serious road racing, yet I keep seeing improvements, even without much targeted speed work. Similarly, while I have been frustrated by my poor performance at Sandsjöbacka and disappointed by the cancellation of the Bandolerita, I have a full summer of races lined up where I can truly push myself. The most ambitious of these: finishing my first 100-mile race in August, something I would have considered utterly impossible a decade ago.

In the end, it all comes down to how hard I am willing to work. With that in mind, I got up at 4:30 this Sunday morning and ran three loops in Skatås, racking up 333 meters of elevation gain. As expected, I was completely alone at this ungodly hour, though I did get to say hello to a few deer. And yes, there was still some coccyx pain after the hammock incident, but I got it done, and that is what counts.