Without even asking SR, I was a click away from signing up for the Miami Marathon this Sunday. I am completely manic and need to find a marathon to PR in - like now. When I saw that airplane tickets were over $800, however, I sighed, and thought like a rational person for the first time since I had run my 20 miles.
But, seriously, what is going on with me? I ran my fastest time yet today. After running a 20 mile tempo just two days ago. But I guess I can't keep throwing these treadmills times at you without giving you more details (fessing up a little)
1. I have the grade at 0.5%.
2. I take two bathroom breaks that are not counted in the overall time.
3. I subtract time for getting up to running speed.
The amount of time I subtract from the three treadmill startups used to be 45 seconds each time but I realized today it actually only took 30 seconds to get up to speed. So my 20 mile interval times had to be adjusted to the following:
Last Wednesday: 20 in 2:23:43 (at 0% grade)
Sunday: 20 in 2:24:31
Today: 20 in 2:23:06 (13.1 mile split was 1:33:24)
And I should probably subtract even less because even walking gets you somewhere.
So, is this training regimine so crazy that it just might work?? Or am I asking for injury? Should I keep doing it until I start getting slower or should I mix it up more? (can't help thinking of the line from a great song "you'll find the Lord in repetition" - who can name this band or song? :)). I just like it so much better than stupid intervals which I always feel just build bulk in my thighs.
Speaking of bulk, my weight has held at 108 lbs (49 kg). I like it there. I'm keeping it there. No more anorexic thoughts.
For today, I'll leave it at that. Except to say, my favorite running song while in Mammoth was this from the Minnesota native, Jeremy Messersmith.
The song I listed to over and over for 2 hours and 23 minutes to day was this (I have mentioned it before, but now you get the video).
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Monday, 23 January 2012
Honduras: the capital of crime
I have mentioned that I have been a medical volunteer in Guatemala. When I signed up to volunteer in Honduras and SR volunteered to take the kids there with me, we clearly did not know what we were getting into. Honduras, despite being the country to the east of Guatemala, it is not like what Michigan is to Wisconsin.
Honduras has the highest homicide rate per capita in the world: 86/100,000 and continually rising. That means nearly 1/1,000 people are murdered in this country! Just to compare, Guatemala’s murder rate is 39/100,000 and the USA’s is 4.8/100,000 and Denmark’s 0.85/100,000
When I mentioned to the Unite for Sight coordinator that I was brining my family along, we soon realized that this was perhaps the first time ever a family had come to volunteer at this site – and sight-seeing trips to Tegucigalpa were not exactly encouraged. SR clearly would not be able to stand being trapped in a little room with two little boys for 10 days. And I was suddenly in the unthinkable position of being a mom of a breastfed little baby who needed to leave for 10 days. So I absolutely dreaded the trip for months. I became depressed (as alluded to in earlier blog posts) because I had committed to going but could not stand the thought of leaving little Mattias.
The more I read about Honduras, the more it worried me. I would need to be accompanied by a local guard any time I was outside of my room. There would be no freedom, no exploring. I felt so bad for the people living there and was consoled with the thought that perhaps I would do some good for these people.
I had nightmares almost nightly about my upcoming trip.
The Lorax and I sat on the couch two nights before my departure and cried, held each other. He had just three days earlier started in his new Waldorf school. He was just getting used to life in La Crosse and now I was leaving, his rock, his “mor” and now his “mom” and he understood entirely.
But…
But then something happened. I was hurriedly packing, as always unprepared, as always panicking, but as always also making time to check email. And there it was: an email from Unite for Sight. They explained that the Peace Corps had that day pulled out of Honduras. There were too many security concerns for the volunteers. Crime has been escalating there related to drugs and often directed against foreigners. They wrote these words “we would understand if you decide not to volunteer in Honduras at this time”
YES!!!!!!!!! Yippeee!!! I wrote back after telling SR. I told them I would prefer not to go. (I am now scheduled to go, and hopefully with the whole family, to Ghana next February. It is so much safer there and we are starting to look forward to it).
After I was no longer going to Honduras, I felt alive again and happy. I honestly didn’t know it was weighing on me so much until the weight of it was gone. It was nearly 0 degrees F as we picked up The Lorax from school, but all I felt was warmth. The warmth of my boys. (I just started crying while writing this.) I had this desire to simply sit in the house for days with them and never stop being near them.
I could now look at the pictures from our trip to Mammoth and enjoy them, knowing SR, Mattias and The Lorax were mine, all mine, and I wasn’t going to die in Honduras leaving them behind. We are a family and I am the mom, a proud, happy mom!
Run in Yosemite - completely alone, mid January!
And the lovely new header picture is from Death Valley.
Just to ruin this sentimental blog post, I have to tell you what a week of altitude training + a little happiness has done for me:
I ran 3 20 milers in the past 5 days!
Wed: 20 miles in 2:22 (treadmill at 0% incline)
Thurs: 12 miles slow (treadmill at 0.5% incline, and same for all of the following)
Fri: 20 miles slow
Sat: 13 miles, just under 8 min per mile
Sun: 20 miles in 2:23 (again, treadmill at 0.5% incline), while talking with new triathlete friend, Lisa
Totally excited about these times that predict at big marathon PR (3:10???? dare I dream?). I am also so grateful to SR for suggesting I run at an incline on the mill which took the problem pain out of my left hamstring almost immediately. Now tomorrow: no running!!! (I have to force myself to take a break).
Honduras has the highest homicide rate per capita in the world: 86/100,000 and continually rising. That means nearly 1/1,000 people are murdered in this country! Just to compare, Guatemala’s murder rate is 39/100,000 and the USA’s is 4.8/100,000 and Denmark’s 0.85/100,000
When I mentioned to the Unite for Sight coordinator that I was brining my family along, we soon realized that this was perhaps the first time ever a family had come to volunteer at this site – and sight-seeing trips to Tegucigalpa were not exactly encouraged. SR clearly would not be able to stand being trapped in a little room with two little boys for 10 days. And I was suddenly in the unthinkable position of being a mom of a breastfed little baby who needed to leave for 10 days. So I absolutely dreaded the trip for months. I became depressed (as alluded to in earlier blog posts) because I had committed to going but could not stand the thought of leaving little Mattias.
The more I read about Honduras, the more it worried me. I would need to be accompanied by a local guard any time I was outside of my room. There would be no freedom, no exploring. I felt so bad for the people living there and was consoled with the thought that perhaps I would do some good for these people.
I had nightmares almost nightly about my upcoming trip.
The Lorax and I sat on the couch two nights before my departure and cried, held each other. He had just three days earlier started in his new Waldorf school. He was just getting used to life in La Crosse and now I was leaving, his rock, his “mor” and now his “mom” and he understood entirely.
But…
But then something happened. I was hurriedly packing, as always unprepared, as always panicking, but as always also making time to check email. And there it was: an email from Unite for Sight. They explained that the Peace Corps had that day pulled out of Honduras. There were too many security concerns for the volunteers. Crime has been escalating there related to drugs and often directed against foreigners. They wrote these words “we would understand if you decide not to volunteer in Honduras at this time”
YES!!!!!!!!! Yippeee!!! I wrote back after telling SR. I told them I would prefer not to go. (I am now scheduled to go, and hopefully with the whole family, to Ghana next February. It is so much safer there and we are starting to look forward to it).
After I was no longer going to Honduras, I felt alive again and happy. I honestly didn’t know it was weighing on me so much until the weight of it was gone. It was nearly 0 degrees F as we picked up The Lorax from school, but all I felt was warmth. The warmth of my boys. (I just started crying while writing this.) I had this desire to simply sit in the house for days with them and never stop being near them.
I could now look at the pictures from our trip to Mammoth and enjoy them, knowing SR, Mattias and The Lorax were mine, all mine, and I wasn’t going to die in Honduras leaving them behind. We are a family and I am the mom, a proud, happy mom!
Run in Yosemite - completely alone, mid January!
And the lovely new header picture is from Death Valley.Just to ruin this sentimental blog post, I have to tell you what a week of altitude training + a little happiness has done for me:
I ran 3 20 milers in the past 5 days!
Wed: 20 miles in 2:22 (treadmill at 0% incline)
Thurs: 12 miles slow (treadmill at 0.5% incline, and same for all of the following)
Fri: 20 miles slow
Sat: 13 miles, just under 8 min per mile
Sun: 20 miles in 2:23 (again, treadmill at 0.5% incline), while talking with new triathlete friend, Lisa
Totally excited about these times that predict at big marathon PR (3:10???? dare I dream?). I am also so grateful to SR for suggesting I run at an incline on the mill which took the problem pain out of my left hamstring almost immediately. Now tomorrow: no running!!! (I have to force myself to take a break).
Friday, 6 January 2012
An argument against treadmill pettiness
So I showed up at the Y the day after my 19:19 5k and got on the treadmill. I used to hate treadmills. I started out at an 8 minute per mile pace. This used to be a fast pace for me. I look over my shoulder and who is on the treadmill behind me, but SR's ex-wife? We talked a little. I actually really like her. It's hard not to. She is easy on the eyes, always smells nice, knows how to apply make-up and is just a clean, organized person. Basically everything I'm not. And suddenly I find myself thinking, despite being a woman with all of the best intentions, "has there ever been a more opportune time to flaunt my compact booty?!" (if you are thinking, "get a life, sea legs" then you're just about right). So I, of course, turned up the pace, thinking the whole time "I wonder what she thinks of my ass." Well, just when I thought my ass was probably looking its best, I turned around to see she was gone. 9 miles soon down. Maybe I should stop. In walks thin guy in long-sleeved shirt who looks like he can run. He steps on the treadmill next to me. I vow to myself he will at no point run faster than me. He starts at 8.5 miles per hour. Come on, is that all you've got?? Suddenly I've decided to essentially do a 20 mile tempo on my rest day. And then I can't run one more step. Or close to that. My medial hamstring on my left leg just locked up. Thin guy in long-sleeved shirt wins. And I am injured.
The next night, I went to yoga-lates, where you have the extreme challenge of drinking a latte with your yoga. I found myself in a class with two yoga instructors and the instructor herself. And I am thinking to myself - it says on the door "yoga is non-judgemental". Okay, well, I'm not judging anyone, but no one will out cobra me. That is until I am down in the push-up position and I fall clutching my sternum in pain, having momentarily forgotten about my sternal injury from falling down the basement stairs.
Will I ever grow up?
Probably not. Today I was out running again pain free; the hamstring injury seemed to be simply induced by the treadmill. As long as I stick to my minimalist shoes outdoors, I think I am in the clear. That is a relief since we are heading to Mammoth tomorrow and as there is not much snow, it looks like we'll be doing more trail running than skiing.
But a little on La Crosse, WI
Tonight I was listening to Steve Carlyon, director of La Crosse Parks and Rec say about the proposal to develop some of the Hixon Park Land as real estate:
"I have lived in many places all over the world and there is no place like La Crosse. Young professionals are moving back. They were educated here, saw the bluffs, and they can't forget them. The glaciers have never been here. It is geologically unique..."
I got tears in my eyes. You have to see it to believe it. More info on that bad development idea here:http://www.facebook.com/#!/SaveUpperHixonForest?sk=info
And this is how you will know you are in La Crossse: (I heard all of these recently)
"Hawkey" is a game you play on ice with a puck.
When you hear a joke, you don't laugh, you just say "that is SO FUNNY" and you have to say the last two words louder. Otherwise people might think what they said wasn't funny.
Finally, and this one I actually heard in Milwaukee and is a new verb since we left in 2008: to fellowship (v): ie, "the meeting is a great chance for people to fellowship."
Good times. I promise pics next post from Cali.
Running song of the day
Miss K by Deer Tick (thanks, Steve Q. I do like it despite the Wilco sound)
The next night, I went to yoga-lates, where you have the extreme challenge of drinking a latte with your yoga. I found myself in a class with two yoga instructors and the instructor herself. And I am thinking to myself - it says on the door "yoga is non-judgemental". Okay, well, I'm not judging anyone, but no one will out cobra me. That is until I am down in the push-up position and I fall clutching my sternum in pain, having momentarily forgotten about my sternal injury from falling down the basement stairs.
Will I ever grow up?
Probably not. Today I was out running again pain free; the hamstring injury seemed to be simply induced by the treadmill. As long as I stick to my minimalist shoes outdoors, I think I am in the clear. That is a relief since we are heading to Mammoth tomorrow and as there is not much snow, it looks like we'll be doing more trail running than skiing.
But a little on La Crosse, WI
Tonight I was listening to Steve Carlyon, director of La Crosse Parks and Rec say about the proposal to develop some of the Hixon Park Land as real estate:
"I have lived in many places all over the world and there is no place like La Crosse. Young professionals are moving back. They were educated here, saw the bluffs, and they can't forget them. The glaciers have never been here. It is geologically unique..."
I got tears in my eyes. You have to see it to believe it. More info on that bad development idea here:http://www.facebook.com/#!/SaveUpperHixonForest?sk=info
And this is how you will know you are in La Crossse: (I heard all of these recently)
"Hawkey" is a game you play on ice with a puck.
When you hear a joke, you don't laugh, you just say "that is SO FUNNY" and you have to say the last two words louder. Otherwise people might think what they said wasn't funny.
Finally, and this one I actually heard in Milwaukee and is a new verb since we left in 2008: to fellowship (v): ie, "the meeting is a great chance for people to fellowship."
Good times. I promise pics next post from Cali.
Running song of the day
Miss K by Deer Tick (thanks, Steve Q. I do like it despite the Wilco sound)
Monday, 2 January 2012
10 lb weight loss, 5k
I have been feeling overwhelmed thinking about catching you guys up on what has been going on here in the US. I realized today that the only way I will get anything written is if I simply write about today.
And no, I have no New Year's resolutions, no best of lists. I am just not in that comfortable place in life where I can look beyond making it through each day.
But I guess you need a little background. SR is finally here and we have moved into our rented level of a house in downtown La Crosse, WI. The location is perfect. We can walk to the library, the YMCA, the food co-op, the bluffs and the Mississippi. The Lorax's new Waldorf school (where he starts when we get back from Mammoth Lakes, CA Jan. 15th) will be a bit of a trek, though, at 3.5 miles away.
SR left for a 36 hour ER shift last night. I ran to the grocery store with the kids in the freezing cold dark windy Wisconsinness and then we had a great night that involved a lot of bathtub nudity.
Today was the first sort of normal day in our new lives.
I set the alarm for seven. We ate breakfast: The Lorax ate four pieces of toast with Nutella and I ate a bowl of oatmeal with Fiber One on top. (Have you ever noticed that organic oatmeal tastes like dirt? I'm trying to figure out if I like that or not).
Then we arrived at YMCA number 1 in Onalaska. As we walked to the entrance from the car, both boys errupted in tears. They had never experienced such cold weather. And the wind!
I had trouble walking with the huge bag and Mattias in car seat because a couple of days ago I fell down our basement stairs and think I got a hairline fracture in my sternum or ripped some pectoralis muscle tendon insertions.
The YMCA here is holding a little treadmill 5k competition, so I decided to work that into my interval workout today.
It is so awesome how effortless running feels now that I am 10 lbs lighter (lost 10 lbs in the last two months). I dipped down to 108 lbs, but have now stabilized at 109. I always used to think this weight was too light for 5'6", but I've changed my mind. (basically, I needed a new challenge now that there are no races around here and weight loss was it. No I didn't decrease my running. Last week was 113 miles.)
Treadmill today:
2 mile warmup at 7:30 pace
1 mile interval at 5:58
run to toilet
recovery 1 mile at 7:30, no pause
1 mile interval at 6:08
recovery 0.4 miles at 7:00 pace, no pause
3.1 miles interval (5k) in 19:19
2 mile cooldown at around 8 min pace
I have decided to give up that stopping completely between intervals becuase I think it is injurious. I had thought I was going for a sub 19 5k, but then forgot to add that extra 0.1 miles into the equation while running. But it was still a PR. Of course I won't list it as an overall PR, but a treadmill PR (if I ever make that category).
I then did 15 minutes of core. It is hard to find things that don't hurt my sternum.
I got the kids. The Lorax ate lunch (two apples, two bananas and half a ham sandwich) and they had given Mattias a bottle of formula. I have not quite been able to keep up with his needs, so he gets about half a bottle a day above what I can produce. It may have something to do with my weight loss or it may not.
We then drove to the YMCA in La Crosse, where I could get more free day care!! :D I did 20 minutes on one of those machines that is sort of reminiscent of a Nordic Track but modernized to resemble an elliptical. I then did 50 lengths in the pool (just signed up for Copenhagen Challenge ironman yesterday, so I can't neglect swimming!). I picked up Mattias and The Lorax and we went to the Y's indoor playland. Good times. Seriously, it would not have been a good day for playing outside.
When we arrived home at 2:00 pm, The Lorax and Mattias both took a 3 hour nap and I worked. Ahhh. And had my second bowl of oatmeal for the day and a couple pieces of lefse.
I then cleaned for an hour, listened to Public Radio with Mattias watching me. He had an absolute explosion in his diaper and all over the high chair. Wow! It had been 5 days since the last one. The joys of giving formula. (SR is going to have a great time with that while I am in Honduras for 10 days at the end of this month.)
The Lorax had organic blueberry mini waffles with Nutella and ham circles (created by me with a bottle cap) for dinner. Sorry I just keep tossing organic out there, but I love the fact one can buy such cheap organic food in the US.
Right now we're sitting and watching Barbapapa in French, thinking of Piccola Pinecone and Marie Aline. And there is some hippi-ish sounding sitar music being played on Minnesota Public Radio.
Running song of the day Ärlighet Respekt Kärlek by Kent (great for intervals)
And no, I have no New Year's resolutions, no best of lists. I am just not in that comfortable place in life where I can look beyond making it through each day.
But I guess you need a little background. SR is finally here and we have moved into our rented level of a house in downtown La Crosse, WI. The location is perfect. We can walk to the library, the YMCA, the food co-op, the bluffs and the Mississippi. The Lorax's new Waldorf school (where he starts when we get back from Mammoth Lakes, CA Jan. 15th) will be a bit of a trek, though, at 3.5 miles away.
SR left for a 36 hour ER shift last night. I ran to the grocery store with the kids in the freezing cold dark windy Wisconsinness and then we had a great night that involved a lot of bathtub nudity.
Today was the first sort of normal day in our new lives.
I set the alarm for seven. We ate breakfast: The Lorax ate four pieces of toast with Nutella and I ate a bowl of oatmeal with Fiber One on top. (Have you ever noticed that organic oatmeal tastes like dirt? I'm trying to figure out if I like that or not).
Then we arrived at YMCA number 1 in Onalaska. As we walked to the entrance from the car, both boys errupted in tears. They had never experienced such cold weather. And the wind!
I had trouble walking with the huge bag and Mattias in car seat because a couple of days ago I fell down our basement stairs and think I got a hairline fracture in my sternum or ripped some pectoralis muscle tendon insertions.
The YMCA here is holding a little treadmill 5k competition, so I decided to work that into my interval workout today.
It is so awesome how effortless running feels now that I am 10 lbs lighter (lost 10 lbs in the last two months). I dipped down to 108 lbs, but have now stabilized at 109. I always used to think this weight was too light for 5'6", but I've changed my mind. (basically, I needed a new challenge now that there are no races around here and weight loss was it. No I didn't decrease my running. Last week was 113 miles.)
Treadmill today:
2 mile warmup at 7:30 pace
1 mile interval at 5:58
run to toilet
recovery 1 mile at 7:30, no pause
1 mile interval at 6:08
recovery 0.4 miles at 7:00 pace, no pause
3.1 miles interval (5k) in 19:19
2 mile cooldown at around 8 min pace
I have decided to give up that stopping completely between intervals becuase I think it is injurious. I had thought I was going for a sub 19 5k, but then forgot to add that extra 0.1 miles into the equation while running. But it was still a PR. Of course I won't list it as an overall PR, but a treadmill PR (if I ever make that category).
I then did 15 minutes of core. It is hard to find things that don't hurt my sternum.
I got the kids. The Lorax ate lunch (two apples, two bananas and half a ham sandwich) and they had given Mattias a bottle of formula. I have not quite been able to keep up with his needs, so he gets about half a bottle a day above what I can produce. It may have something to do with my weight loss or it may not.
We then drove to the YMCA in La Crosse, where I could get more free day care!! :D I did 20 minutes on one of those machines that is sort of reminiscent of a Nordic Track but modernized to resemble an elliptical. I then did 50 lengths in the pool (just signed up for Copenhagen Challenge ironman yesterday, so I can't neglect swimming!). I picked up Mattias and The Lorax and we went to the Y's indoor playland. Good times. Seriously, it would not have been a good day for playing outside.
When we arrived home at 2:00 pm, The Lorax and Mattias both took a 3 hour nap and I worked. Ahhh. And had my second bowl of oatmeal for the day and a couple pieces of lefse.
I then cleaned for an hour, listened to Public Radio with Mattias watching me. He had an absolute explosion in his diaper and all over the high chair. Wow! It had been 5 days since the last one. The joys of giving formula. (SR is going to have a great time with that while I am in Honduras for 10 days at the end of this month.)
The Lorax had organic blueberry mini waffles with Nutella and ham circles (created by me with a bottle cap) for dinner. Sorry I just keep tossing organic out there, but I love the fact one can buy such cheap organic food in the US.
Right now we're sitting and watching Barbapapa in French, thinking of Piccola Pinecone and Marie Aline. And there is some hippi-ish sounding sitar music being played on Minnesota Public Radio.
Running song of the day Ärlighet Respekt Kärlek by Kent (great for intervals)
Saturday, 17 December 2011
Skinny, lonely women and the Danish-American Transition
As we stood by the baggage carousel once again at Chicago O'Hare, I surveyed what remained in my life: 3 suitcases, two boys, a baby jogger. Rolls (and a little Brie) fom the plane. We were all tired and how would I wheel all of this out the door alone? And why had I said good-bye to my whole life once again?
Just the day before I had run Skodsborg Marathon.
Just the day before I had run Skodsborg Marathon.
Rasmus let me run since I'd be with the boys for two weeks without him. I ran the hilly trail marathon in a comfortable 3:32 (well, 3:29 when I came through 26.2 miles), taking second overall, first woman and, as far as I can see a female record on that course (!). I felt awesome. I guess for a lot of reasons. It's about running, it's about loving this area of the world, the people, the life that has become my own. Eating a lot at aid stations.
And then there was O'Hare Airport. I was glad to see my mom, but fell asleep on the way home, not knowing what life would bring. But happy I had some Diet A&W Root Beer at my side.
We've had a number of mornings in a row waking up early: 2:30, 1:45, 2:30, etc. then when the child care opens at the YMCA, I am there! And so are lots of other moms. They are thin, maybe a little hungry, maybe in a bad mood because of that. Or perhaps they're lonely and bored. Just like me. What am I doing in Oconomowoc? Maybe I could make some new friends. Maybe I should get my act together and contact my old friends...
SR has two weeks left of his fellowship. Then he will be joining us at our new rented house in La Crosse.
In the meantime it is the kids
, me, my parents. I need to get adjusted. But even my work is over the computer via VPN to the hospital intranet in Denmark. I look at Danish peoples' eyes from the US. Wild. I'm just so glad it works.
At times like this, I never feel like focusing on getting fast. I just want to lose weight. It's sad but true. I am down to 113 lbs. I was between 118 and 120 just 2 months ago when we were in the US. It's a way to get control, of course. But when the woman at the Y saw me with Mattias and said "you are so skinny and you just had a baby!!??" I should have been happy, but I wasn't. Is my life about being thin and in shape? Or um.
This morning I woke up with the boys and there was snow outside. I was happy, too, because SR had read me a letter from Værn om Synet (Vision Protection) saying my PhD project had been awared 200,000 kroner! (like $40,000, though less now that the Euro is doing so poorly). My mom watched the boys while I went for a snowy trail run, 17.5 miles, watching the sun come up and life was more than okay. I got home and told my mom I was going to make a lot of food for Christmas this year for us and the relatives from California: æbelskiver, rød kål, sild, ris à l'amande. I can't just forget that life in Denmark (I just hope this does result in less work for my mom and not just weird, bad food. Anyone who really knows me knows I am not joking.).
And some running music:
Danish of course:
Church of the Real by I've Got You on Tape
Finnish with a Danish record company:
Ode to the Bouncer by Studio Killers
Thursday, 8 December 2011
Bon hiver
Estoy de vuelta! I'm late wishing you all "bon hiver" since our first snow was a couple weeks ago, but who knows what it is like in your part of the world.
All is well here. And in just 4 days we're moving back to the US for nearly 8 months. So I figured I had better post some pictures before I don't have access to them anymore! Plus I got SR to babysit (this is the time I normally go to Spanish) while I blog. I never thought it would come to this, but with two kids, if one doesn't need something the other one does. And it wasn't doing a lot for my psyche to ignore them while writing a blog post.
I've missed a lot of you readers. Granted, I've heard from some of you via email and followed some of your lives on Facebook.
Just in case you were wondering, I have not been exercising less. It turns out Mattias loves the babyjogger and he loves going to exercise classes at our gym.
He also kind of likes sitting there in the kitchen while I cook.
Here is Thanksgiving.
And some sadly pastel Christmas cookies that The Lorax chooses to cover up with his piece of cinnamon roll.
Go figure, he also likes playing (not sure why this is sideways).
All is well here. And in just 4 days we're moving back to the US for nearly 8 months. So I figured I had better post some pictures before I don't have access to them anymore! Plus I got SR to babysit (this is the time I normally go to Spanish) while I blog. I never thought it would come to this, but with two kids, if one doesn't need something the other one does. And it wasn't doing a lot for my psyche to ignore them while writing a blog post.
I've missed a lot of you readers. Granted, I've heard from some of you via email and followed some of your lives on Facebook.
Just in case you were wondering, I have not been exercising less. It turns out Mattias loves the babyjogger and he loves going to exercise classes at our gym.
He also kind of likes sitting there in the kitchen while I cook.
Here is Thanksgiving.
And some sadly pastel Christmas cookies that The Lorax chooses to cover up with his piece of cinnamon roll.
Go figure, he also likes playing (not sure why this is sideways).
But Mattias HATES it when I sit down at the computer. This is his trigger to start crying. So every minute he is sleeping, I am working on my PhD project. And finally, I'm caught up!
As for running, I might as well not keep it a secret any longer: my new goal is to run the 100km Copenhagen Ultra in April (when back for work) in less than 9:30. If I do this, I can be an alternate on the Danish national team. And, if I switch my citizenship, I may be able to run the world 100k championships. Lots of if's here. I feel the need to mention that our big training race for this will be 3 days of Syllamo in the Ozark Moutains (150k over 3 days). And that will be a lot more fun than the flat 100k.
SR says that my setting ultra goals is an excuse to not get fast. The thing is, I am now certain I've never been faster. I just couldn't prove it until today.
We had run three races that were just odd. But two of them, I took second in overall!!
1. A cannonball marathon outside of Næstved up and down a hill, which I just ran as a training run. I ran it comfortably in 3:34 with a negative split, feeling I could maybe run it again.
I always forget to wear something to cover those nips. Oh well (that's yet another thing Mattias likes). SR had been going for a half marathon PR that day - on a tough route. He ended up with a time just over 1:16 - one should menion he got lost because he ran faster than the leadout bike. Thanks, Lasse, for the picture.
2. A half marathon on sand and seaweed (and road) (Falster Jagtmarathon). I had never thought of seaweed as a running surface but Jørgen showed us all differently. In fact, it felt like perhaps the most authentic Danish experience I have had. 
I ran the first and last 5k in 21 minutes, but the beach in the middle really got to me and I took a wrong turn at the end. Final time 1:40:07. This, somehow, got me second overall.
SR ran with the babyjogger, though took an alternate, non-weedy route.
3. A babyjogger mud 10k (Herlufsholm Serieløb). So I had no idea it would get so warm that the race would turn into a mud bath, but it did. I got stuck in mud going on an extreme uphill so that I needed to carry the babyjogger out, all the while slipping all over the place with Mattias in it and then the side wheel got stuck in the mud and fell off. But all of the while there were women fast and furiously trying to catch up with me so I had to sprint the runnable sections.
His blanket of course was blown off at some point, too. Final time was 51 something. Nothing to write home about but my entire body hurt like never before after that race. I was strangely proud and the good people of our town learned how entirely nuts I am. And I took second for the women!
Here a picture from the home stretch of the race.
You probably think you see my underwear there through my pants, but it's just my really white cheeks ;). And that track just to the left is where I run all of my intervals, just so you know.
So, SR was sick of me "frittering away (as Piccola Pinecone says) my speed" on these types of races. He was totally convinced that my every other day three hour runs on rest days were ruining my training. So, I got so fed up that today (after of course a 3 hour run yesterday) I suddenly decided to run a 5k on the treadmill. I had no particular plan as I'm still not used to km/hr so I just ran hard. Ha. And I ended up running a 5k PR! 19:33. (you may remember I had a previous PR of 19:20, but that was from a relay where the time was miscalculated (too fast) and I never corrected it). I just wish I had a race I could run to prove to the world that I am fast. But instead, I will work on"frittering away" my speed on Sunday, running a hilly trail marathon. And it will be great!
Lately I have been listening to Coffee Break Spanish when I run (have gotten through over 30 hours of lessons!), but today during my 5k I listened to "Vi to" by Medina. And that Maroon 5 song "Moves Like Jagger" is such a good song to run to provided you sing out loud and change the lyrics to "I've got to move my jacket!" Much funnier that way.
And if you want a song to simply curl up to in your warm house, appreciating your loved ones "Calgary" by Bon Iver (yeah "Bon hiver"), may be the way to go.
Monday, 7 November 2011
Løberen Skovmarathon: The Human Plasma Lipidome
Certainly there is something mania-inducing about running a marathon hard (that is what we did yesterday). Why is it that after going to bed at 11:30, I wake up at 4:45am wide awake, looking at my two sons next to me, bursting with love and filled with energy wanting to write a blog post? Well, my sympathetic nervous system is still on overdrive, that's why. (Chemicals, don't strangle my pen! (reference, anyone?))
And maybe we shouldn't run so many marathons. It has been 4 weeks since my 50k trail PR at the Glacial Trail and 5 weeks since both of our marathon road PRs in Milwaukee.
The race du jour was Løberen Skovmarathon, a trail marathon outside of the city of Hillerød, in northern Sjælland (is anyone who reads this even interested in where in Denmark these races are run? How many people, I wonder, who read this blog have gotten so far as to look up where Denmark really is, like precisely? (personally, despite having lived for two years in France, I did not know exactly where Denmark was before meeting SR)).
There were just under 200 runners in the marathon, though 2659 participants in the 10k, half marathon and marathon all together. Big race!
We have not run this before and didn't know if it was hilly or technical or what. But we knew it was all on trails.
They have this ingenious set-up where
Then you run around some of the periphery back to the start, where you have completed a half marathon. And then you do it all again (this time hopefully faster :).
Here is my favorite place on the route (pic by Tor Ronnøw)
and it is very representative of the race and of Fall in Denmark.
As is usual for me, I ran after pulse/perceived exertion. This leads me to start out very slowly because right when I start, my pulse surges. When I get into my groove, I start passing people, pulse unchanged. Yesterday was no exception.
I came through the half marathon in 1:43 on the button.
Relief. Not overwhelmed or underwhelmed. Just whelmed.
Feeling like maybe the burst of speed that came from pregnancy isn't going to give me much faster times than my PR in Milwaukee. Time to integrate some regular speed work.
SR ran in 2:54:17 and had a few second negative split. He took 3rd place in a really tight and tough field. Here he is modeling the "comfy, cozy" fleece from the Glacial Trail 50k. And I am modeling Piccola Pinecone's super cool French Canadian racing shirt.
I took second to the amazing Margrethe Frydenborg, below, who killed the course in 3:08:57!
Here was the podium, 3rd place Maibritt Skovgaard, MIA.
Very fine prizes: 500 kroner gift certificate to Løberen for me plus organic make-up, which is now the only make-up I own! Maybe I should give it a try.
Congrats to Henriette Lisse and Rikke Skudbøl on completing 2 marathons in 2 days! Congrats to Daniel Ditlev and Lars Bergelius on awesome PR's.
(sorry, my odd sense of humor is entirely to blame for the subtitle; this post has, as far as I can tell, very little to do with The Human Plasma Lipidome, which was the title of a review article in this week's New England Journal)
Now I return to studying towards my certificate in Global Health online.
And maybe we shouldn't run so many marathons. It has been 4 weeks since my 50k trail PR at the Glacial Trail and 5 weeks since both of our marathon road PRs in Milwaukee.
The race du jour was Løberen Skovmarathon, a trail marathon outside of the city of Hillerød, in northern Sjælland (is anyone who reads this even interested in where in Denmark these races are run? How many people, I wonder, who read this blog have gotten so far as to look up where Denmark really is, like precisely? (personally, despite having lived for two years in France, I did not know exactly where Denmark was before meeting SR)).
There were just under 200 runners in the marathon, though 2659 participants in the 10k, half marathon and marathon all together. Big race!
We have not run this before and didn't know if it was hilly or technical or what. But we knew it was all on trails.
They have this ingenious set-up where
Then you run around some of the periphery back to the start, where you have completed a half marathon. And then you do it all again (this time hopefully faster :).
Here is my favorite place on the route (pic by Tor Ronnøw)
and it is very representative of the race and of Fall in Denmark.
As is usual for me, I ran after pulse/perceived exertion. This leads me to start out very slowly because right when I start, my pulse surges. When I get into my groove, I start passing people, pulse unchanged. Yesterday was no exception.
I came through the half marathon in 1:43 on the button.
Here was SR coming through the half marathon quite a bit earlier in 1:27:11.
And then I said to myself - now you can really start running and I allowed my pulse to rise a bit. I picked up the pace to sub 7:30 min/mile. It lasted quite a while. I had thought a PR might be possible, but the hills and dirt wore me down too much, I guess. With 4-5k left to go, I became extremely nauseated and almost needed to walk. I thought I would throw up but didn't. I don't really know what happened, but certainly it was related to my being so nervous before the race and having to run to bathrooms/woods with stomach problems many, many times before we started. Plus I think I just reached the point of exhaustion. Better it happened at mile 24 than at mile 16 where it always used to hit me (yes, it is all about not starting too fast. I have learned SOMETHING after nearly 30 marathons and ultras).
My final time was 3:27:35. A 35 second positive split.
Illness
Relief. Not overwhelmed or underwhelmed. Just whelmed.
Feeling like maybe the burst of speed that came from pregnancy isn't going to give me much faster times than my PR in Milwaukee. Time to integrate some regular speed work.
SR ran in 2:54:17 and had a few second negative split. He took 3rd place in a really tight and tough field. Here he is modeling the "comfy, cozy" fleece from the Glacial Trail 50k. And I am modeling Piccola Pinecone's super cool French Canadian racing shirt.
I took second to the amazing Margrethe Frydenborg, below, who killed the course in 3:08:57!
Here was the podium, 3rd place Maibritt Skovgaard, MIA.
Very fine prizes: 500 kroner gift certificate to Løberen for me plus organic make-up, which is now the only make-up I own! Maybe I should give it a try.Congrats to Henriette Lisse and Rikke Skudbøl on completing 2 marathons in 2 days! Congrats to Daniel Ditlev and Lars Bergelius on awesome PR's.
(sorry, my odd sense of humor is entirely to blame for the subtitle; this post has, as far as I can tell, very little to do with The Human Plasma Lipidome, which was the title of a review article in this week's New England Journal)
Now I return to studying towards my certificate in Global Health online.
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