Pics from sunday's 'potato run'
Sundays are more quiet, with less cars on the roads. There is no rush, or so it seems. Usually I avoid roads for running, but when aiming for a certain destination, for example visiting friends or relatives, it happens I pick the straightest line. Even though roads and pavements are duller than dull they can have their moments.
The past sunday’s run however wasn’t really one of them. Legs felt tired after running everyday for a while and I completely lacked energy. The snowfall rubbed my face with cold soft nails. The pavement slippery with a fine layer snow just covering the icy surface. I had to struggle all the 13 K’s without really enjoying it. Many times I felt like walking but luckily found some motivation to push forward, stopping only for snapping some photos along the road.
Compared to walking running is much more agreable. First: it goes faster, about twice as fast. Then there is the beauty of movement, the rhythm, the coordination, the flow. You also have the sense of endurance, the farther you go, becoming a perpeteum mobile.
I’m often asked about my next running challenge. But I didn’t really pick one yet. Actually it feels better running not for something else but for “this run”. Like breathing, not for later but for now. I believe my passion for trail running have influenced me to think this way. Trail 
running is about the moment. Being in the moment. Being free. In Nature there are no directions. Just suggestions. Thinking of it as a cake you can start with the middle. I used to do that when I was a child, eating the centre of the cinnamon roll, the best part first. That’s how I see trail running compared to road running. Road running is for potato eaters. I want the meat.
Footsteps in the snow can lead you to hidden parts of Nature.
There you can rest and listen to sunny birdsong and two crows argueing.
A lone man is sitting on the ice and fishing. “Do you get any fish? ” I ask him when I pass.
“Just small ones”, he replies with a smile.
It’s another day with at least –5 °C and blue sky.
Running comes easy with light feet and clean, crisp air,
taking in the beauty and feeling the pleasure of running with whole body and mind.
Climbing steep slopes to catch the warm afternoon sun.
The only way to stop the noise when the outsoles of my adizero xt’s meet the dry, packed snow is stop running.
That’s when I better hear the birds.
Standing on a hill looking into the sun.
Watching smoke raise from the tall chimneys in the harbour.
How I love the peacefullness of being in Nature.
The breaths of clean air.
The strong feeling of connection.
The sounds of silence.
pics from the run
During today’s evening run I notice that the layer of snow is heavier, thanks to milder temperatures. Not super wet but more packed. Running alone in the forest trying not to slip on the ice underneath. I brought the mobile phone just in case… Looking out for eyes reflecting the headlamp’s long beam. Looking out for holes in the ground between the rocks.Passing the blueberry bushes from last summer. After picking blue gold for an hour or so I rested with a book in the evening sun against a smooth rock. Letting the last warm rays caress my skin. The blueberries never seemed to end. I used to dream about blueberries. And if it wasn’t for the ticks I would have slept with them. Now the blueberry bushes are sleeping under the snow, like this evening when snowflakes dance in the air. From the ridge I have the thousand lights from the western suburbs of the city. During daytime you can see the sea from the ridge, with its islands.
It’s a familiar sight for me, having run here the last 10 years – 1/4 of my life. Nowadays I also consider this forest a part of me. The trails – especially “my trails”, the rolling hills and waiting trees. The parallell ridges and ponds. The sounds and smells. When I lay down to do my push-ups my hands feel the ground. Coming back home about an hour later, or maybe more, I didn’t count the minutes. I guess I was busy with feelings of happiness and beauty. 
Inspiring trail-run with elite running partner:
Meet a young orienteering champion like Erik Öhlund at the trailhead. Show him your best trails during a 1h40min hilly run on heavy snow, and realize there is room for improvement. Lots of room. But I knew that. With 1,08 as PB on a half-marathon he competes with swedish top elite runners. Directly afterwards our run he went on to do some speedwork.
Erik Öhlund
Luke-warm after-run protein smoothie:
Put into the blender: frozen blueberries and aronia berries, bee pollen, HealthForce’s Warrior Food (raw vegan complete protein powder), goji berries, sea salt, cinnamon, barley grass powder, honey, olive oil, cold and hot water. Cold smoothies will have to wait.
Steam boiled mixed veggie soup:
Start with preboiled kidney beans, add peeled tomatoes and steam boiled cauliflower, broccoli, garlic, onion, carrot and water into the blender. Spice it up with some fresh chili, turmeric, black pepper and salt. Add some olive oil and butter for more flavor.
Sport yoga:
During the past 11 years I haven’t paid too much attention to stretching. But that’s not the only reason have I picked up yoga as complimentary training. I felt that yoga is needed not only to need to get stronger in my weak parts but also because it’s time to build a solid base, thus no cheating anymore. Time to be responsable for the whole body.
Raw salad with nuts, feta and sprouted seeds:
Red cabbage in thin slices, cauliflower, cashew nuts, sprouted pumpkin and sunflower seeds, red pepper, olive oil, feta cheese, carrot, apple, chili, spring onion and red onion.
Many athletes spend a lot of time and money on training and equipment but don’t care too much about optimal nutrition for performance, recovery and immune defence. Cheap carbohydrates and proteins can however only take you that far. If you open the door to the world of superfood and natural supplements you will find plenty of interesting stuff. Maybe it’s time to raise your goals?
Astaxanthin – increases strength, endurance, recovery time and immune system
Beet juice – endurance booster
Warrior Food – high quality protein supplement
Bee pollen – increases energy, vitality and stamina
Barley grass – alkalizing, reduces oxidation, mineral support, rebuilds the blood
Spirulina – all the essential nutrients, strengthens the body’s defence mechanism
Chia seeds – for sustained energy
Glucosamin/Chrondroitin – reduce inflammation and joint pain, speed up recovery time
SuperViragon – immune defence booster against colds and flu
Systemic enzymes – improves digestion and nutrient absorbtion, softens stiff joints
Acai / Antocyanines (Medox) – powerful purple antioxidant reduces oxidative stress and boosts immune defence
Maca root – regulate and support endocrine health, metabolism and energy levels
BoKU Superfood – a green superfood powder for optimal daily nutritional intake
Blessed with sunny days lately running comes easy, despite the cold. Soo much light. Soo much silence. With the snow covering guiding trails there is more room for freedom of choice but I also discover new trails, beautiful narrow trails leading to hidden parts of the forest. Every once in a while I have to stop and listen… and just enjoy. But then the ultra races of summer remind me so I gear up and continue with strong strides and a smile. And by the way, today I tested the new Montrail Rockridge trail shoe: very light and lovely I must say, with great traction and happy toe-off. Definitely something to look out for. Happy trails!
I wasn’t supposed to run today, cause I felt tired after four consecutive days of crispy winter running in temperatures between -8 and -12°C. Fresh deep untouched snow. Sunny clear blue sky. Hmmm… But I love to yield to the temptation – especially when it comes to trail running. That’s the way running should be. A celebration, a temptation, filling you with desire, making you happy like a little kid on christmas day. A little bit later I’m kicking snow with a smile. Working the legs up and down the steep hills, soon stronger, soon faster. When it’s difficult it helps thinking of the UTMB (Ultra Trail de Mont Blanc, 166K and +9400m). I don’t know if I will do it again this year, but I sure would like to – under 30 hours!!
Slickrock running in Arches Nat. Park. Moab. Photo: Peder Sundström. Runner: me
However, racing isn’t the purpose. It’s only an option. I try to enjoy every run instead and make it as beautiful as I can. I mean really enjoy it. To be in the moment. Loving it. Living it. Running in a snowy slient forest with thick piles of white on every little tiny branch is sublime. Following fox trails. Following natures shapes. Falling with a grunt UFFFF…while descending a steep rocky slope . Luckily falling soft on the snow. Maybe I’m getting to old for this..?? Playing around alone in technical terrain. But I like it soo much. I Love it. It’s freedom – both physical and mental. I chose; nature just present the options. But I really should bring my mobile phone, just in case…
I have had my share of close encounters. Slipping on ice and crashing into rocks headfirst. Getting lost in the desert at night (Slickrock trail in Moab, without headlamp it’s hard to find your way down) and in the Amazon jungle (Jungle Marathon 2nd stage 2003). Once I sprained the ankle bad during a swim & run session in the archipelago outside Göteborg. It was early summer, maybe 15°C in the water, and a long swim back.
Adventurous trail running isn’t without risks. Ask top mountain runner and adventure racer Danielle Ballengee, who slipped on a patch of ice and fell 8 vertical metres during a trailrun in the backcountry of Moab, Utah a few years ago. With a pelvis broken in four places and three cracked vertebrae she couldn’t move and had to struggle to survive in the cold. She was rescued two days later, thanks to her dog Taz. Read the amazing story here.
Holidays are over, time for a fresh start and that’s why january is “The Detox Month of the Year”. Time to get rid of the toxins of 2009. A full body detox accordning to Jon Barron starts with Heavy Metal, Colon & Intestinal detoxification. Phase two: Kidney & Gallbladder Flush. Phase three: Liver & Blood cleanse. Barron use to stress the necessity of colon cleansing and on his website he quotes the old saying “Death begins in the colon”.
I guess most people don’t think much about detoxing. I wasn’t really into it five years ago while visiting a resort with a detox program on Ilha Grande, just south of Rio de Janeiro. But today it’s another issue. Now I am much more curious. I have realized that there are lots of people out there with knowledge about optimal health. If you don’t want to spend 200€ on a detox program you could at least start with cleansing your colon, to get rid of the plaque hindering optimal nutritional absorption. Or just make a soft start by eating at least 50% raw food for a month plus avoiding alcohol, sugar, coffee, tabacco and meat.
Of course there are skeptics who believe in medication only, possibly with the occasional jogging session, to stay healthy. They don’t really believe in antioxidants and probably it was never ’scientifically proven’ that sailors could avoid scurvy with Vitamin-C. So it doesn’t really count. We only need to listen to the doctors and take their synthetic medicine, because they know best (except maybe when it comes to healthy living, where we instead should listen to old Okinawans – especially if we want to avoid Coronary Heart Disease). But skeptics don’t really care about why there can be soo huge differencies between cancer rates in different cultures, and they are not really interested in cancer prevention, although it’s something that should concern everybody. According to WHO global cancer rates could increase with 50% to 15 million by 2020. And still there are doctors who say they shouldn’t work with disease prevention, and that there is no reason to worry cause we are healthier today than ever.
So if the doctors aren’t supposed to work with disease prevention, who should? For them disease is just a lack of pharmaceuticals in our bodies, a lack they are more than willing to correct with synthetic drugs. They say that we get all nutrition we need from a normal diet. My question is: for what? For staying alive? But what if I want to avoid disease like cancer? What about “optimal health”? Does this idea even exist in their minds?
Tips for the reader:
In Defense of Food. An Eater’s Manifesto, by Michael Pollan
Healthy Aging, by Dr Andrew Weil
Rock & Ice Ultra in Yellowknife is freezing cold and very long. Strong motivation is one of many key factors for succeeding. Runner: Adam Chase. Photo: Fredrik Ölmqvist
With 7 degrees below zero in Göteborg today’s run is optional. But I still remember yesterday’s white trails in the forest where I made the first tracks. The silent darkness and suspicious sounds. Running without music certainly works your imagination. I stopped many times, lacking of energy or motivation, but pushed forward knowing that thoughts or feelings like that come and go in my mind and I can mirror them and let them pass without any reaction, just like the lake’s surface mirror passing clouds. I can chose which voice to listen to.
So when the voice that normally guides me to new and different trail running adventures was quiet, I ended up running on forest roads. Boring. Only “running”, nothing more… Instantly it’s very evident that I’m responsable for my own happiness. Just going with the flow won’t lead me where I want to go.
In his book “What I talk about when I talk about running” Haruki Murakami writes about “runner’s blues”: “… I found I didn’t enjoy running as much as I used to. A steady fatigue opened up between me and the very notion of running. A sense of disappointment set in that all my hard work wasn’t paying off, that there was something obstructing me, like a door that was usually open suddenly slammed in my face.” (In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit.)
Endurance, practical knowledge about winter racing and survival skills also comes handy in The Rock & Ice Ultra. Photo: Fredrik Ö.
During the years I have realized that trail running is the authentic form of running for me. The concept of living an authentic life, or being authentic comes from german philosopher Heidegger, who picked up the thread from Nietzsche and Kirkegaard. In the book “Running & Philosophy, A Marathon for the Mind” Michael W. Austin have collected 19 essays written of philosophers for runners. One of the essays defend the slow running philosophy in being “a jogger” vs “a runner”. Considering my own non-competitive but rather lustful attitude towards running I might actually be “a jogger”.
If you’re looking for books on running you might also want to check out “Strides: Running Through History With an Unlikely Athlete” by Benjamin Cheever.
Or why not: “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall, who explains why we humans are evolved to run.
If you are into reading about the most extreme trail races in the world you’d probably like “Extreme Running” by Kym McConnell and Dave Horsley.
Did you pick yet your running adventure for 2010? If not, you might be interested in this new race: The Inca Run, in Bolivian Andes Sept 8-15, 2010. Race distance: 160 K in 5 daily stages – or: a non-stop ultra run for teams of 2. Expect route elevation between 2800-5100 metres. The organisation behind the race have run the popular Coastal Challenge a few years now. Read more here about running in the tracks of the Chasqui runners, the ancient carriers of the Inca culture. www.incarun.com
