141 days left...

... and today it was quite windy and icy to run. After yesterdays little faster run (booster race) I decided to run slow and not so far this evening. Tomorrow I will rest and fetch my mother who's coming to visit me and my family for a week. She's a great inspirer to me. She is almost 75 years old and still walking and jogging every day! In 1983 she was the second runner in the WC marathon for veterans which I'm very proud of. Talk about nice genes I perhaps got from her... ;-)

Elton with my mother who was in second place at veteran WC marathon 1983.

Next week there is a winter holiday here in Sweden and also we teachers have holiday. I will run and XC-ski a lot. Perhaps even jogg with my mother, the former marathon runner :-) Better train more then!

Just met one to say hello and smile to today. Good feeling!

Easy, Light and Smooth!

/Flexirun

142 days left...

... and today I ran myself without my dogs (Elton and Adam). I went out quite slow and just increased without being tired att all. When feeling free and the breathing was ok I started to increase the speed every mile.When having a good feeling I normally chose a little harder trail.

Longing for summer!

This time with som nice hills that usually breaks me down. Today I didn't have that feeling at all in my legs. Instead I could increase the speed a little every mile and this, my friends, is my proof of: Easy, Light, Smooth and then... FAST!
If interested you might check this link from todays run with all the times per mile and also the track profile.

Well, this is the run mile per mile:

1. First mile was just to get warm and coming into my running. 9:01 min
2. Second mile included the first hill. Short but steep! 8:21 min
3. This mile was a flat and a little downhill. Recover after hill. 8:06 min
4. A mile with 3/4 mile climbing. Long hill run. 7:28 mi
5. Fifth mile was downhill but in darkness. Just the stars and me and I let the legs roll. 6:40 min
6. Slower recovery mile. But no stop. Run what ever... 8:36 min
7. Last 0,91 mile was in 9,25 min. Recovered and not even a feeling of any lactic acid. :-D

Met one person I could say hello to and smile to. Well, it was dark... but I did it though!

Easy, Light and Smooth... and then Fast!

/Flexirun

143 days left...

... and I do run regularly 31-37 miles per week. When running with  Elton and Adam I don't run so fast and long. Well, sometimes I do run a little longer with Elton. He's the younger dog (8,5 years) and can do runs up to about 10 miles. Adam, the older dog is 10,5 years and with him I do about 2-3 miles. For me that's like recovery-runs. It's very nice with company though :-)

Today Elton and I ran 4 miles in about 41 minutes. A normal pace with Elton but sometimes a little faster. When then running/walking 1,64 miles with Adam it took about 28 min :-) Lot of things he wanted to smell on... Well, recover for me after the run with Elton.

Guess I will do about 18-20 miles before the weekend and then a little longer run Saturday and Sunday as usual. Have been thinking of how nice it will be when the snow is gone and I can do real long runs. Have a plan doing about 25 miles and then eat lunch and drink in about one hour and the go out there agin and continue to run. The firs run is not a problem but the second run I will increase very slowly so I get used to the feeling and the load. Gonna be nice runs!

Well, Elton and I meet som people with dogs who greeted us and smiled! :-)

Normal day for a polar runner... ;-)

Easy, Light and Smooth! No shortcuts there...
/Flexirun

144 days left...

... and rest day! Went home to a friend who is a cyclist. He rang and told me what kind of fork I should have to my mountainbike. A fork with gasshocks! Well, nice with friends who are expert in their hobby. I only use my bikes (mountain and racer) as complement to my running. Well, I can ride a bike but I've got limits when fixing with them. Learning though :-)

Short blog today depending on a little late and I had som stuff to do for tomorrows math and physics.

Pics of my racer and mountainbike with a crashed fork. Well, now friend called and told me he got a new, much better, one. A fork with gasshocks! Sounds nice... :-)

Here's my dream! An Indian...Sigh...

Well, no run today but at least I met someone to Hello and smile to when out with Elton :-)

Easy, Light and Smooth!

/Flexirun

145 days left...

... and I start my day, as usual, with breakfast and a walk with Adam and Elton (dogs). Then I "loaded" for WC XC-Ski Sprint-Relay. Not as crazy as it sounds. It's two skiers do about 3 km times 3 rounds each (totally 6 rounds) and they change every 2nd round. Very interesting and fun! Lot of tactics so almost any team have chance to win. Well, Sweden got two medals of silver! Both the Swedish women and men did came on second place. Cool! Also must say: USA was the winner of of the ladies and Russia of the men. Well, it was very fun watching it!

Magnus and I on todays XC-ski. It was about 32-33F and we had good glide.

It was a wonderful day and we did 6,65 miles together :-)

A nice view on our way.

When do activity some hot blueberry soup is just fine!

Well, another day in paradise and there will come more I think! Now Elton is waiting for a Easy, Light and Smooth evening run :-) Will not be a long run but perhaps about 3 miles I guess.

PS Some nice recipes of drink (will take nice bars another time)

Blueberry soup to bring when run or XC-ski (especially for SMALL TOWN RUNNER)

1. 1/2 L (250 g) fresh or frozen blueberries + 2Tbsp sugar
2. 5 dl water
3. 1/2 Tbsp potato starch
4. When running add just a little salt. 1-3 Tsp maximum! Taste how much

Mix berries, sugar and water in a saucepan. Omit the sugar if the frozen berries are sugared. Boil the mixture. Mix the potato starch with 1/2 cup water. Add mittee in a fine stream with stirring. The soup is then just boil. Done!

Met som people in the XC-tracks Yes! We said hello and smiled too!

/Flexirun

146 days left...

... and today I did a little longer run with Elton, the dog, who follows me a lot. Running with a dog normally is a little special. Depending on type of dog and age of the dog. It depends how far you can run. Homo Sapiens is perhaps the type of land life with the most endurance so when running with my dogs, they determine the run.

The only thing I have planned is, at least, my 31-37 miles per week. It will be increased, a lot, don't worry about that :-)

Eight month ago I was frustrated about my running. I have done a lot of crazy things in my life. Probably to get kicks or fuel injections of endorphines! I normally is Easy,Light and Smooth in my personality but it is something laying there far away in my head saying to me: Do it, try it! You only live once Claes! That and to inspire other people is also giving me so called kicks.

The 12,85 miles today felt almost nothing in my body and legs. Depending a bit on Elton but that's absolutely fine with me. He is amazing to have as a running friend. The feeling to know you kan run much faster is great. It's not so much of really run fast! For me, just to know I can gives me the motivation not to stop running. When the snow is gone I will show myself, ond perhaps others, that running slow and far, like I'm doing, is one way of running that not only give you a lot of endurance but also speed!

Today I brought blueberry soup when running. Blueberries are full of antioxidants which help to protect the body's cells by reducing the formation of free radicals. You might pic the berries yourself and make the soup, but you also can buy it in stores. It's a lot of sugar in blueberries (glucose and fructose) so it's full of energy. Sometimes I put some salt in the soup to compensate for my dehydration. When running a little longer I also use to bring sandwiches. Only the soup then is not enough!

I will compose some prescriptions over soup, energy bars and some nice smoothies. Try to fix it in tomorrows blog. OK!

In the middle... 3-4 deers :-)

Today me and Elton met som people! Now they said hello and smiled to us! :-D

Easy, Light and Smooth.... well, and Fast!
/Elton

147 days left...

... and time for som writing again. Well, a wonderful day even if no run because I instead helped my daughter with some math. today it was some applied derivations and she did just fine. Well don Julia!

I didn't run this day but will tomorrow instead. I will go up with my dogs, as usual, 06:00 am and eat a great breakfast consisting of porridge, dark bread and juice. I will bring hot blueberry soup with som salt in it. A very important ingredient! Sometimes I also put in som coffe too. Taste like ---- but very good for bringing the hydration balance in shape. You should try it!

Have a nice weekend everyone and say a nice Hello! and give a Smile! to the one you meet!

Soon will my bare foots run again... :-)

Easy, Light, Smooth... and Fast!
/Flexirun

148 days left...

... and me and Elton did a little late run today. Well, at least we did run which is the most important. People checking my information from Endomondo tracker perhaps think: How slow does that Flexirun really run? Must say I don't care that much of the speed when running. Instead I run often and vary my runs a lot. The longer runs I try to do in 6-6:30 pace with drinking and eating so I'll keep stabilized inside my body with all kind of energies (solid food, hydration etc).

Todays run was nice, even if late, with Elton. No XC-ski so far this week because my son got a little cold. Well, more run then :-)

Today WC in XC-ski started and the Sweden got one silver medal in sprint through Ida Ingmarsdotter, a great swedish XC-skier! Yippie!!

Well, time to get som sleep. Perhaps I can get 7 hours before dogs wanna have breakfast and then go out for their morning-walk :-)

Elton and I met som people, and dogs, to say Hello and Smile to! A drop in a ocean but at least a way in right direction for The World... :-)

Last summer, on a run with Elton, when passing by a grave from 450-500 AC.

Yes, the local area is an old one...

Easy, Light and Smooth!
/Flexirun

149 days left...

... and todays run I did myself. Elton had his day of rest. It was a change in temperature this evening so it was foggy. High humidity but not so cold fortunately. I just had my dinner so I was a little stuffed... First 2 mile was a little hard but then it was getting more easy, light and smooth. Well, it was not my best run ever but... I did it! The most important thing.

The countdown goes on and I feel just alright. Planning for increase of my running because I don't want to stagnate. I probably will do my increase Saturday- and Sunday morning. My family will not be so affected in my exercise then. No one ever is awake before 10 am here but me and the dogs so I guess the increase only affects on me :-)

The weather was alright when coming home from work...

Didn't meet any people today... I think! To misty to know ;-) Remember to say "Hello and smile!"

Easy, Light, Smooth... and Fast!

/Flexirun

150 days left...

... and Elton and me ran a quite slow 6,3 miler this evening. It's not very cold here now but still snow though. It's hard to run very fast even if you use so called Ice bugs. Running shoes with spikes... Well, for me it doesn't matter that much. I'm not heading for any low times. At least not yet ;-) I sometimes do my runnings a little faster just for fun and get surprised of the endurance and strength I've got inside me :-)

I've now been running about 30-40 miles every week for 7 months and my body really answer good to the exercise/runnings. I feel strong both physically and mentally. That's usually the signal to increase the load in my runnings. Muscles have a kind of memory one can say. Therefore it's important to "fool around" with the body a little so you don't just run in the same mode and pace every time. If something happens when you run, or compete, the body just wouldn't do as told.

I know I've got the spirit, technique and body to run. I also believe in being open minded to myself and others. I have a wonderful family who support me just being there. Even my dogs support me :-) All those things are important to, perhaps not to succeed in running, but it helps. It's more important for the body to run than not run. It's more important to run a little shorter runs very often than run not very often very long runs. I do run very often (dogs) and also some long runs but not to often. The body must get a chance to recover and grow for the next run.

Well, a lot of words but I do hope some of it will go straight to someones heart...

The Run will go around this lake...

I really long for the snow to melt away so I can run 100% Easy, Light and Smooth again!

 Elton, who almost have run as long as me this 7 month.

He's a 30 miler per week! :-)

Today Elton and I said hello to 5 persons and 6 dogs. The humans did smile and the dogs used their tails to show it!

Easy, Light, Smooth... and Fast!
/Flexirun

151 days left...

... and today I have some rest. At least my legs and arms (run/XC-ski yesterday) do have some rest though :-) Instead I helped my daughter Julia to do some derivative math. Fun to help!

Today it began to snow again a little but it's not so cold which is good. No problem to breath when doing hard exercise. Sometimes it can be dangerous breathing really cold air. You might get asthma...

Yesterday me and Elton ran 8,33 miles and after every mile I just felt better and better. We ran mile 6 to 7 in 7:38 min and the last quarter of that mile was in 5-8 inches of snow! I was thrilled it went that quick.

Statement and a promise
If I stay healthy and not get injured I will run a 10K just for You friends, who's reading this adventure to my 140 mile run this summer. I will try to do the 10K under 40 min again...
I will promise, once again, for doubters that one can run fast even if not doing any quality exercises. Remark I'm  not saying that quality not is good. I'm only saying you might run quite fast with a lot of endurance training too.

Before winter (november I think) I did run 5 miles in 30 minutes. And that's just after about 4,5 month of 31-37 mi/week :-) I use to say: Easy, Light & Smooth and in fact there is a fourth word too. You might guess what it is by now! Yes, Fast!
I haven't been using that word for more than seven month, consciously. I also use to say: "If you want to run long? You need endurance and that is what you got when running a lot and rather far slowly. A lot of friends wonder what I'm doing when running like I do. Often and slow and sometimes long too. Well, they know about the Easy, Light & Smooth but not that I also get fast from this training. All I have to do is... just move my legs faster. I got the endurance that's needed for it. Run is fun!

Easy, Light & Smooth for 20 miles.

PS After 20th of July 2013 there will be a lot of pics and movies to put out on this blog. I also would be very happy if a lot of people will tweet and write comments on this blog to support me on my run... The Run!

Even if I sometimes not get a "Hello" and a "Smile" back... At least I said "Hello" and "Smiled". Next time perhaps they dare to answer :-) I'm happy!

Easy, Light & Smooth!

/Flexirun

152 days left...

... and it really feels good in body and brain! Weeks total was like this: 31,13 miles running and 6,01miles XC-skiing :-)

When you feel a little worn in legs and mind but you still don't want to stop training (running) then it's time to do perhaps just another type of exercise. You'll see! Your body will recover, which is the real training and also your brain, or motivation also will recover and start to burn again. All this is like go up a stair. But remember to take one step and one stair at the time...

These are not any extreme or magical things about running. Every person probably have his/hers way to do the running but generally: If You want to run long, you must run long when running. But not all the time! For me it's better to run often and very long sometimes. Perhaps every 2-3 weeks I run about 25-30 miles in a row. At least 5-6 runnings per week between 3-10 miles and then the 25-30 miles on that. When having dogs I sometimes run 2-3 times in a day which gives me about 5-12 miles totally :-) Thank's dogs! You're the greatest of all!

Well, today I stopped twice to talk to some people on our run (8,33mi) so Elton and was running a little faster sometimes, like intervalls or tempo. Nice! The mile 6-7 we ran in 7,38 min (the last 5th part was in 8-10" of snow!). The power is there! Guess I'll do under 40 min in a 10K if necessary and that feels great. Once again I have don very little so called quality training but instead I've got a nice endurance and strength :-)

Found this wall outside a club in town!

What? What do you mean: -Not running!

Today I stopped talk to people who said "Hello!" to me and we did smile!

Easy, Light & Smooth!

/Flexirun

153 days left...

... and todays exercise was XC-skiing with my son and very Easy, Light & Smooth. Oh, almost forgot! Me, my wife and the dogs went for a 3 mile walk too :-)

I hav a friend who is a very good XC-skier and also amazing taking care of the equipment. I must say he did a very good work. The glide was perfect! Thank's a lot John! You did the XC-skiing great today!

I took Elton for a shorty, just 4 miles, but that's better than nothing I use to say! Better to run than not :-)

 A proud Elton following me on todays run.

Remark his yellow west! We can bee seen easily in the evenings :-)

The run was easy but it felt very good so I will do a longer run tomorrow instead, after the XC-skiing in Davos on TV. Soon WC and that's fun to watch I'll say :-)

Today me and my wife ate fajitas!

I did the salad but my mind was thinking of something else...

Well, now begins social life here! Take care and always say Hello and Smile to the ones you meet..

Easy, Light and Smooth!

/Flexirun

154 days left...

... and me and Elton did run 6,4 miles this evening which means 18,84 miles so far this week. So I just got 18,44 miles left up to my 37,28 miles left ;-)

When friday I first work all day, go shopping for the next coming week, fix dinner and then it's time for me and Eltons Friday-run. Still a lot of snow here but not so cold though. Well, the run was ok and it's nice to have it done :-) I was running with my Nike Free Run 5.0 and they're alright even in cold and snow. Little slippery but... ok! The more hard it's to run now the more easy it will go when the snow is gone :-)

Well. tomorrow I will run a little longer again and if the weather is ok me and my son probably will go do som XC-skiing again. Nice!

Every day I'm counting down to The Run I really want the day to come! It's going to be a great day when I put my Free Runs on my feet and slowly start my 140 mile journey around the lake Storsjön, where I live. Then finish it up with a halfmarathon gonna be a absolute thrill!

Often I listen to some kind of music when running but very often I also listen to the nature it self. Where I live there is cars and so but not very much though. That means you easy can hear birds, grasshoppers etc around you when running. It also happens you meet all kind of animals. Often I see deers, sometimes moose, tracks from bear etc. I'm not afraid meeting animals and Elton doesn't care as long it's not a bear around. Then he gets worried and don't want to go further. Kind of warning to me so it's just to talk loudly or sing a song and go back the way I come from...

Our lodge up in the mountain. A fallen tree last year after a storm. I did a lot of wood out of it.

It's here we have a lot of Brown bears and every spring you'll se marks on trees around...

Well, today I didn't meet anyone out on the run so I said "Hello" and "Smiled" to Elton instead!

Easy, Light & Smooth!
/Flexirun

155 days left...

... Today Elton and I ran again. Felt fine! We ran a little faster but with stop, Elton does that a lot sometimes, the average speed was 9,46 min/mile. Well, it doesn't matter so much. I will not run so much faster when doing The Run. Just longer than 7 miles though.

I feel great, both physically and mentally, and that's great I think. Then I can focus on going further in my training. Soon weekend again and time for a little longer runs again. Guess I might do about 31 miles this week. Little less than last week but ok!

It's night here now so I can't write to much this time. Have to work tomorrow :-)

A friend who's going to follow me on my 140 mile run.

Please don't forget the "Hello" and the big "Smile". Thank You! :-)

Easy, Light and Smooth!

/Flexirun

156 days left...

... and no run today. Lesson in physics tomorrow and also run then instead. Well, Elton wants to rest today too... or ;-)

Perhaps I got someone to freak out now?

Well, guess 140 miles is probably much worse...

Have had a lot things to get done with this week so the time to run for me and Elton wasn't really there, so far, this week.

Well, this is life. Sometimes it doesn't go like you want it to but I think that's alright. Im' flexible!

Just a couple of month now and spring will arrive here. Nice, because then I can go barefooted again and do runs with not so much clothes on. Guess it's going to feel very easy, light and smooth then. especially after all those nice weeks of runs all through the winter :-)

Hope you feel ok and have got lot of new friends out there to which you said hello and smiled to!

Easy, Light & Smooth!

/Flexirun

157 days left...

... and todays run was 4,92 miles in 1:01:45 h. A loooong time but nearly 4 miles I run with Elton and it was Easy, Light and Smooth all the way. After Elton I run with the old fellow Adam and we walked a bit in that mile we jogged. Well, it felt superior in my legs now after Saturdays run for 24,53 miles. Good with a couple of days with rest! Even if the run took some time I did a run and that's most important. Better to run a little than nothing at all.

Don't ever forget that when recovery, is when your body build itself up!!

 Elton waiting for his run. Hey, Master! Come on!

Today we celebrated Semlans Dag (The Semlan Day). It's a cake with cream and almond inside. Very good! Full of sugar and other unhealthy things ;-) Well, if one run so much one also can eat a Semla now and then I guess! I normally eat it with warm milk... :-)

Semla!

Well, this must be all for today folks out there and remember... Say hello and smile! :-)

Easy, Light and Smooth!

/Flexirun

158 days left...

...sometimes you must do things not related to yourself (running) to help other humans out with their problems. Well, sometimes it's small problems and other times it's bigger problems. Today I helped my second daughter with some math. Nice to help her out :-) because she really wanted it an was so full of inspiration about succeeding.

The meaning of this evening was for me and my son to go do some XC-skiing but... no! Instead a daughter needed me. That's ok and I walked the dogs instead which was good for my little stiff calves since my 23,77 mile run two days ago. The rest just will do me good!

Well, a hard working day tomorrow so I must go to bed to be fit for fight!

Elton may symbolize todays rest like this... :-)

Don't ever forget to smile when say hello to someone you meet on the trail when running!

Easy, Light & Smooth friends!
/Flexirun

160/159 days left...

160 days left:
I didn't have time left for writing Saturdays longrun. Well, here it comes though. I went up 06:00 with my dogs, Adam and Elton, to make food and take them out for a morning walk. After my own breakfast I changed to running and went for todays longrun. I could have run faster but that's not my goal. I run in such a pace so I can run as long as possible. Sometimes I do run faster just for fun but not this time.

I normally listen to some kind of music when running and I also track my run to safe on my Mac. It's nice to do a diary over my runnings. This run was a 4h 8min 11sec which was good. Primary it's the time out there running that's important for me. Secondary how far I get. Here you can se my longrun at Endomondo. It's fun because you got a lot of information such as: Distance, Duration, Average speed, Max/min altitude etc. :-)

I did run Friday (6,56 miles) and felt a little stiffness in my calves when starting Saturdays longrun. Well, kind of training start a run with stiff legs :-) I had a average speed of 10:07 min/mi (6,15 min/km) which was ok. Perhaps a little to fast I'm afraid... Well, everyone got a personal pace so I can't run to slow either. At 12,7 miles I stopped to change gloves (wet) to dry ones and also ate some bread and drank some blueberry soup. Nice! The weather was great. Dark when starting the run and som fog. After about 1h 30min the sun was shining a bit and it was really nice. This was the point when heading back. Well, not the same way back but on the other side of the bay. It's a round run!

This evening my friend and adventurer, Anders Stävhag (http://stavhag.com/), was home visiting me for some mental coaching. Very nice with dinner, some beers, and mental coaching. Anders is a great man full of positive vibes!

I made sushi for dinner which I really like!

159 days left:
Well, Sunday I didn't run and it start snowing so me and my son will go XC-skiing on Monday instead. XC-skiing is fun though and really a good kind of exercise. Not much to say about Sunday because I didn't do anything but walk the dogs, watch biathlon at TV (WC), resting in the sofa... Nice!

Today I "only" said hello to my son (didn't meet anyone else) and smiled to him! How about You? :-)

Easy, Light & Smooth!
/Flexirun

161 days left...

... and today's running was a bit cold. It was -1,4°F but that's ok if one put on more layers of clothing. Several thin layers are better than one or few layer(-s). It's not the thickness of a layer that keeps you warm. It's the several layers of air that hold you warm. Air is the best isolation ever!

I also use to protect my airways from to much coldness which can go as far as asthma... One better be safe and protect as much as one can.

When start the run it was cold but sunny

 Nice view and I felt so Easy, Light & Smooth today!

 Well, it was a little frosty out there but also some really nice views

Ok, today I've chosen to write a little about coldness, of which we have a lot of here a couple of months every year ;-) Tomorrow I will do a little longer run. The outlook of the weather was very cold but it seems not to be so cold anyway. I will bring both food and warm blueberry soup so the run will be as Easy, Light and & Smooth as possible :-)

PS It's all you friends out there who really inspires me to do The Run of 140 miles...

Remember to say hello and smile to the ones you meet!

Easy, Light and Smooth!

/Flexirun

162 days left...

... and the temperature has been decreasing all day. This morning it was 14°F and now, this evening, it's -4°F. Well, it has been a good day at work and the weather has been just fine with a lot of sun. A friend of mine helped me fixing my XC-ski equipment. Skiing is not like running, when you don't even need shoes to run. Skis must be fixed with so you can ski in different types of snow and temperature. Even the humidity matters.

Well, depending on the low temperature and the little late time I decided not to run today. I run regularly so I'm not worried pass a day or two depending on weather, family etc. Guess I'm an emotional runner in that way.

My friend fixing with my skis. Take some time but it's wort it!

Probably it will be a little warmer at Saturday. Perhaps only 1,4°F which means I can run anyway. My ambition is to run around 5 hours... Well, exciting! Really hope for a nice weather at Saturday!

Hope you all did say hello and smiled to someone today!

Easy, Light & Smooth!

/Flexirun

163 days left...

... and today at lunch I went to a sportshop (Sportringen) and bought a portable thermos in which I can have liquid like hot/warm blueberry-soup (1L) in. I also can bring some food too. Well, I will try it out at Saturday on my longrun. I have plans for a 5-6 h run but it depends a lot on the weather. If it's to cold it will be a shorter run.

The portable thermos I got today. Will be exciting to try it out!

Today me and my son went XC-skiing and tomorrow I perhaps won't have time to do any exercise att all. Instead I will prepare two pair of skis. Maybe just a shorter run in the evening. Guess I will do a shorter run at Friday too. Not to long because of the longer run on Saturday. It's important to listen to your body. How it feels so I don't get injured or overtrained. Sunday me and my son will go XC-skiing again. Will be fun and it's really inspiring and motivational for my running.

Ok, runners! Did you say hello and smiled to other runners today? Good!

Easy, Light & Smooth!

/Flexirun

164 days left...

... and todays run was really nice. After active rest (slow run with Elton and som XC-skiing with my son) two days ago and total rest yesterday did the trick! After almost a week (58 mi) with more or less stiff legs but ok in the rest of my body I took two days off from running. The legs wake up from the dead and me, Elton and Adam (second dog) flew as gazelles in the snow. Well, there aren't no gazelles around here but deers and reindeers though :-)

It felt really good today and it was a very easy run even if we run 8,22 miles in 1h, 40min (!). Yes, I got som friends wondering what I was doing out there. Walking?! ;-) No, when running I ran as usual, 8-9 min/mile but we meet a lot of people out there on the roads today who stopped us for some run-chat. It's ok for now I think! What I miss in running I got back in inspiration. I will be alone with my son and the dogs from Thursday to Sunday which means: Training Camp Flexirun!! ;-)

I do have a small plan of running between 06-12 am at saturday. That means 6 hours of running and the goal is about 37,3 miles (60K). Will bring both blueberry-soup and some food. Perhaps a creditcard too... Just in case! This means I will run a ordinary weeks total in 6 hours. The mantra Easy, Light & Smooth will be tested for real now. I feel great and I'm ready for it!

Me, the trail and my thoughts...

37 mi you just wait!

Todays run was full of people and dogs. Lot of hello and smiles :-)

Easy, Light & Smooth!

Flexirun

165 days left...

... to The Run this summer. I still can't say I feel nervous about it. A little thrilled maybe, but that's just alright. I'm no psychopath... ;-) Well, yes I've been running all my life but never 140 miles (225 km) in a row.

I don't think much of: Why I'm going to do this and if I'm going to manage the run... I more have thoughts about my running. When I'm out there running and how wonderful it would be. I long for the run I'll say. This is something friends and others don't understan. Always they will find negative things like: chafing, blisters, inflammations, etc. Perhaps that's one part keep me going for The Run. I'm full of confidence to start, run and finish it. I use to think of how nice it's going to be out there. Every single step!

There's only one bad feeling coming up sometimes and that's: What if I get injured? Guess there's just nothing I can do about that so normally I don't think of it as an option at all. Well, maybe strange thoughts but I want to write them down so I can read them a week before The Run.

Perhaps this is a little deep thoughts for some people but not for me. These thought's are there to strengthen me in my faith to myself!

I never will forget as long as I live when promise myself never stop running. I began my running journey when I was only eight years old. I was nine when doing 6,2 miles (10K) in 45 min, twelve when running 10 miles XC-races. A lot of my running was about do lower and lower times and it nearly was breaking me down but I learned to love the running so much I didn't care about times when doing races. I guess this feeling of happiness when running unforeseen took me back to my running. Today, forty years later, I still got that feeling of happiness when running.

Well, runners, this is mainly why I want to run around a lake. Just: Run for fun!

Me when twelve years old running a 10 mile XC-race :-)

Say hello and smile!

Easy, Light & Smooth!

/Flexirun

166 days left...

... and I had a little active rest today. Walked the dogs and did a run with Elton 2,3 miles in a slow pace. In the evening me and my son went for about 3 miles XC-skiing. Forgot the iPhone so there was no pics taken. Sorry! Well, there will be more time for XC-skiing and opportunities for nice pics.

Me after XC-skiing.

It's a nice sport in wich one uses all the muscles :-)

Another week starts tomorrow and it's easy the training follow rules that can be boring with similar weeks of exercise. One thing to do then is doing other kind of sports. XC-skiing, bicycling etc. At least I get more motivated to do my 31-37 miles of running per week when sometimes doing other types of exercises.

People sometimes ask me if my runs of 31-37 miles per week really is enough when this summer I'm going to run 140 miles. Well, the question really is justified I think but the body (my experience) is that it takes a long time to accustom, or harden, the body both physical and mentally. One can't do it over a night! I must harden the body slowly and now, after  4 month (July-Oct) I did about 110 miles per month and about 150 miles per month between Nov 2012 to Jan 2013. My 37 miles per week now feels just great and I guess my body really is getting used to the effort. Time to increase a little!

Well, you know it by now. Say: Hello! and also Smile to someone when your out running. It's a so called win-win concept...

Easy Light & Smooth!

/Flexirun

167 days left...

... and todays running I did without Elton. He needed some from yesterdays run so me and my daughter Ingrid just walked our dogs for about 3 miles instead. The weather was perfect for both XC-skiing and running. Sunny and not windy!

 Elton relaxing with Ingrid in the sofa. Nice!

Todays weather was nice and very inspiring to run in!

Well, Elton didn't follow me on the run today so there was no stops (!) and I could run in a quite constant speed (8,38 min/mi). I felt a little stiff in my legs but it disappeared after 2-3 miles. It can't depend on my soon 52 years... can it?! ;-) Then it felt alright all the way up to 9 miles when the road just disappeared in the snow. All I could do was to smile and just go ahead in 4-5" of snow for half a mile. When such things happens I use to think of the summer and how Easy, Light & Smooth it will go... then. It really felt good when the road was plowed from snow again and I could ran more light again. If it's hard when training just say to your self: -All this hard work will pay off in the end...

Tomorrow I will go XC-skiing with my son Magnus again. Think we're trying to do about 10 miles I think! XC-skiing is a very nice complement to running and you do train ALL your muscles in the body.

Well, time for som social life in the living room... perhaps one more beer ;-)

Toady I said hello to some people and they replied and I got some great smile too...

Easy, Light & Smooth!

/Flexirun

168 days left...

... to The Run. Well, a little stiff in my legs but I'm feeling great! Training goes as planned, even if I got  a cold for 11 days. A lot of training also means a lot of resting so I think the 11 days of cold doesn't mean that much anyway. Don't forget when resting the body is preparing for next hard training. The body learns from your exercises and prepare for the next. Resting really is training to and a very important though.

Todays training with Elton was 9,24 miles and the goal was about 10 miles so I'll say we fixed that. I'm not running so fast, people say who know I can run much faster. Why? Well, running 140 miles in a row means I can't run to fast. I must spare a lot of energy so I can reach the finish line after about 36 hours. Another thing where I live, you can't run so fast in all that snow we got here! I really wait for the spring to come so I can run much easier, lighter and smoother than I can do now. I also look forward to my "relax-runnings" I always do after my training. See, I do about 3 miles barefoot after the runs in my minimalist shoes. That's a nice feeling and good massage and a kind of yoga for my feet :-)

Well, there will be another run tomorrow but I think Elton is allright now and I probably have to run on my own.

Today I met an old lady with a dog and I said: -Hello! She smiled to me and said Elton was a nice dog and the she asked if I was "the runner with the dog". I told her I was and she said: How cool! The lady really did inspire me a lot :-)

One of the shoes I will use when running The Run. Very light and smooth!

When the trail and running is hard. Seize the moments when you met someone you can say: Hello! How are You? to. Then just run and smile!

/Flexirun