274 days left and I got wings on my feet!

Well, once again sorry for not been writing for a while (15 days). I'm working as a teacher daytime and studying some medical genetics at evenings. But anywhere between I do... run! Alone or with my dog Elton which is a great friend.

Remember this little fellow?
Here he's about 12 and 40 years later he ran 137,88 mi in 43:57:04 h.

Until today I had two projects planted in my mind. First of all run the 208 mile relay between Trondheim (Norway) and then a 48 hour run down south in Sweden. More exactly in my old hometown: Skövde (Skoevde).

What drives a runner to run more after a 137 mile run all alone for about 44 hours. Why more? Well, don't ask me. It's something in my mind just want to do it. I have no problem mentally. I just run and enjoy every step... Think that's what #ELS is about! Enjoy and just float...

Elton

Today one of my daughters, Ingrid, called me on the phone. I had a class and couldn't answer right away. Called her up when there was a break and she was at the gym. 3,5 month ago we ran Stockholm Marathon together. Her very first marathon and I was so proud of her. I asked her what she wanted and then she told me there was a great medal after ten (!) times. Then she asked if I wanted to follow her again next year. I said: Course I will!

Then she asked if I rather would running fast, alone, this time. I said: No! It's more fun to run with You! And project number three is on! Beginning of June it will be Stockholm Marathon, June 25-28 I will run the 208 mile relay and at the end of August I will run the 48 hour ultra down in Skoevde (my hometown where I did start my "career" as a runner.

Today there was snow up in the mountain. That's ok but I think I'm longing for the next coming summer already. Depending on the nice projects that I have scheduled myself for :-)

A sweet cloud-berry up in the mountains.
Where I use to run when summer :-) 

About a week after The Run.
Smiling even more then ever :-)

Left, right, left, right... On and on and on...

Me and my mental coach Anders Stävhag.

Well, still smiling! :-)

Alone but so happy!
Thank's all that people who did follow me live and through Internet.

Saturday two days ago some really good friends from my hometown came visiting me and wanted to go out in the mountains with me as there guide. Of course, I put up and showed them this part of Sweden. The days before it was rainy and also the day after! Crazy luck with the weather I must say :-)

Here, and perhaps all over the world, it's very popular to run up in the mountains. Guess it's not only about the hard physics that it takes. It's also about the mental part. It's very beautiful up there...

Great landscape! Nice runnings!

Well, when running in my yellow shirt and black tights people identify me from The Run and want to talk about it, say hello and smile to me. Sometimes even people in cars honking at me and waving.
So fun and perhaps also what I wanted all the time. Friendly people! The running really has helped me with that I think.

Never forget to say hello and smile when out running! It really can do miracles :-)

Easy, Light and Smooth! #ELS
/Flexirun

290 days left and: "I'm Back!"...

... Terminator once said. Well, I'm no terminator just an ordinary runner. Well, ok! I did run around The Great Lake here. 137,88 miles in 44h, 57min, 4sec. Well, not a super-great time but the cause was to come around the lake... and I did it!

When running I didn't use my cellphone that much. Instead I got information from my family and friends by the way. It was unimaginably to understand how many people out there who was following me on the app Endomondo and in the local newspaper Östersunds Posten. Still can't believe how I could inspire that many...

Well, I just did my run and I want to thank You all who inspired me out there when running and I got a lot inspiration back from You all!

Me doing The Run of 137,88 miles...

Yesterday I did a run for 17 miles and felt just great before, under and after. Think my little overworked tendon in back of my right knee is healed to 100%. Still I must be careful and listen to the body before I do a little harder runnings but that's ok :-)

The St. Olavs relay goes from Trondheim to Ostersund.
In 4 days I will run about 208 miles with a friend!

As I wrote here 12 August 2013 I do have a new project "running" with a great friend. First I was going to do a 4-day relay of 208 miles called St.Olavs race all by myself but decided to do it with a friend. We will have a meeting where we decide how to implement the relay. It's a bit logistics that must be fixed with. Like car, food, where to do the shifts etc. Going to be SO FUN!

On todays 6,27 + 1 mile run I met some people and: All of them smiled and said a friendly Hello! When running yesterday to the city and back a friend in a car hooted at me :-) Fun!

Well, 290 days left to the 4-day relay and I can not wait... ;-)

As usual: Say Hello and Smile and everything will be much more fun!

Me on a mountain-run...

Easy, Light and Smooth!
/Flexirun

RUNNING AGAIN!!

Hello friends out there! Well, I'm not writing that much since The Run around the lake here but I will write every weekend. Or perhaps right after the weekend. This Saturday and Sunday I was up in the mountains and tried to run a little. I did two runs and didn't feel anything at all in my tendon back of my right knee. So happy I can't tell!

Only real pain I got was soreness and lactic acid but that's like heaven if compare to that pain I had from the injury! Once again I'm so happy to run again :-)

Pictures below is taken on my way up to the top behind my lodge in the mountains.
I went ALL WAY UP! About 1620 ft in 2,5 miles! Pictures below was taken on the way up to the top Sunday 18th Aug. :-)

I really loved every step today! Muddy, but I loved it!
Not injured and no pain at all :-)

Lovely views on the way up to the top of the mountain...

Up, up, up! Never give up! Soon there!

The goal is reached! Finally at the top.
My legs really hurts with lactic ;-)

Me at the top when I could stand again...

Little rest before running down again.
Much harder to go down than up I think...

Ferns have been on earth for about 350 million years
and dominated for 100 million years...
Lot of them on this mountain.

Well, I did meet some people walking and course I did say Hello and Smiled to them! They asked who I was running in the mountain like that... and I told them :-)

Easy, Light and Smooth!
/Flexiriun

The New Project...

... circulated in my head long before The Run was finished. I'll say before the run around The Big Lake even was a thought! This relay has been in my mind for a couple of years and I've always been thinking of running it all alone.

This new cause will be something else than The Run, when I did run 137,8 miles all alone. This time a very good friend and me will run a 4-day long relay between the Norwegian city Trondheim and the Swedish city Östersund. An Easy, Light and Smooth distance of 208,28 miles (335,2 km).

Well, this time I will try to run for a specific cause. When do The Run I only tried to spread the lifestyle of running and run #ELS.

Exactly what kind of cause it will be I’m not sure of yet but perhaps I can get help from some little bigger companies. My friend and me have to discuss this thru and find a cause we both want to struggle for.

Now, what kind of run are we going to do then? Well, I think I’ll begin with the history about the relay then about the competition it self. Last I will try to describe the strategy to come thru 4 days of competition with just 2 members in the team.

The history of St. Olavsloppet

King Olav dies in Stikklestad July 29, 1030...

... and was canonized in 1032.

St. Olavsloppet (race/relay) established in 1988 and is a road relay between Östersund and Trondheim, start alternating between the cities every two years. To participate in the St. Olavsloppet is an excellent target for keeping fit, keep in touch with friends and colleagues, all need to be trained and the most important thing is to socialize, enjoy and have fun. Little like #ELS I might say :-)

St. Olavsloppet is the goal of wellness and welding gang in companies, villages, associations, institutions, organizations and more.

The race follows the scenic St. Olafs trail of Alsen, Åre, Sandvika and Stikklestad and is named after the Norwegian king Olaf Haraldsson, who ruled between 1015-1030. King Olaf was killed in the Battle of Stikklestad July 29, 1030. At this very point, King Olaf became the Nordic holy saint.

2013 organized the race for the 26th time

The 4-day relay from Trondheim-Östersund is about 208,28 miles
and the first race was 1988.

The race consists of four daily stages over approximately 330 km and the majority of the race is run on paved road. The teams are both racing and exercise types, but the majority is exercise type.

The races starts in Trondheim June 25 and will finish in Östersund at my birthday June 28 :-)

The race is arranged by Jämtland-Härjedalen Athletic Association in Sweden and St. Olavsloppet A/S in Norway.

The race is also sanctioned by the Swedish and Norwegian athletics federations in a very close cooperation with municipalities and industry.

About the competition

Every day contains between 10-18 parts to run and I guess it would be the best to do two runs each per day. One in the morning and one after noon seems to be best. We will run two times each and then between 9,5 - 17,5 miles. Going to be very fun!

Tracks profiles below must be read from right to left as they are from this years race!

Day one is not that hard really. Quite #ELS one could say ;-) Couple of hills but not like day 2! A good first day I think.

Day 1
Trondheim - Levanger Norway
60,71 mi (97,7 km), 14 parts to run.

Day two is extremely hilly! Almost 1400 feet will be climbed... Guess we split the first part in two and also the second, hilly part, in two.

Day 2
Levanger - Sandvika, Norway
39,39 mi (63,4 km), 10 parts.

Day three we will have about 3,1 mi (5K) hill-run at start. Then we are in Sweden and a lot of running downhill :-)

Day 3
Sandvika - Järpen, Sweden
38,28 mi (61,6 km), 10 parts.

Day four will be running both uphill and downhill but nothing like day two!

Day 4
Järpen - Östersund, Sweden
69,90 mi (112,5 km), 18 parts

Our strategy

It's really not that much to say about the races but there are some "issues" to be resolved. Among other things:

• Run in the morning and/or afternoon
• Accommodation
• Sponsorship
• Run for a charity

Well, we will have a meeting about all this and also do some running together. But as The Run once, it's a lot of time left... ;-)

Please try to say Hello and Smile to the ones you meet out there when running or walking!

Easy,  Light and Smooth!
/Flexirun

Patience friends! Patience!

I'm writing on my next project. A great relay between Trondheim (Norway) to Östersund (Sweden). I will run about 208 miles with a good friend of mine and we will share the 4 days of running with each other in half.

The 4-days relay between Trondheim and Östersund
208 miles!

Once again be patience and I will soon be writing, at least every weekend, on this new project!

Thank you for following, inspires and encourages me!

Oh, don't forget to say Hello and Smile to the one You meet when out running or walking! :-)

Easy, Light and Smooth!

/Flexirun

Day Of The Run!

It has been a lot of rest this last week! I've got a lot of inspiration but not enough strength to write this very last page in my blog. What? Will there be no more blogging from Flexirun? Is the project at end? People perhaps might say. Well, just take it... #ELS! Sure there will be more projects in the future. Be assured of that friends!
This last year perhaps have been one of my best year ever as runner! There have been such great runnings, great people, great nature and... Well, just GREAT! A lot of people have inspired me and some say I have inspired them. Talk about a "win-win"-project! I can't mention all the names been involved in this project but my family has supported me all the way and I really appreciate that.

Thank's my beloved family!

Flexirun on The Run.
Alone but not... :-)

Well, ok! There's one that must be mentioned by name and that's - Elton - He's been following me on a lot of runs this last year. When feeling a little down and perhaps it would be much more nice sitting by the fire instead of running. He always looked at me with his happy eyes and wanted to run. Cold, dark, rainy didn't matter. Elton always pushed me out there on the roads and X-trails. Thank's Elton and I LOVE YOU!

Thursday, July 18, 2013
Well, the night before D-Day I slept very good and was not nervous, what I remember. All was fixed for tomorrow and it felt good to hit the bed. The bed I won't sleep in for the next 44 hours! ;-)

The Run

Friday, July 19, 2013
When Adam and Elton woke me up at 5:30 am to eat breakfast, fix a little with the dogs, pack the last things in the car it hit me like a thunderbolt from a clear sky! What am I going to do!?
I began to feel something in my body say: Hey! Claes, this aren't right! It's wrong and no good at all! At the same time something else told me: GREAT CLAES! Here we go! Finally it's time!

I now realized there wasn't no way back! My son soon would be awake to drive the car and my mental coach also will be on and follow my run all the way. The press have been writing about it. Also radio so all I really could do was to put my shoes on and start my run at 7 am :-)
Well, when sitting in the car on the way to the starting line I was not nervous at all. Only focused on the run and I just wanted to take of!

07:00 and I send on of just a couple of Tweets and FB-posts. I decided to focus on my running instead. Anders, my mental coach was doing all that stuff instead. After just a couple of miles I saw a dog and two people ahead me. Couldn't see who but it turned out to be some friends from my running-club :-) So nice of them to be up so early to support me. Almost fell a tear there :-)

I continued my run and people in cars on their way to work, waved, hooted and blinked with their lights. Touching! I could never in my wildest dreams guess people where so involved in my run!

Everything I've been writing about in this blog about "Say hello and smile to the one you meet!" and "Remember to run Easy, Light and Smooth!" just... come true! I'm so happy!

Well, yes I was running a little to fast but I had some very personal goals to, of which I can write now. I was thinking of how far I could run and not walk in a about 1 hour per 6,21miles (10k) and I also was thinking of how far I will com in 24 hours. Those where my personal goals and now after The Run I can say I've got a lot of experience about my body and how to drink and eat. This knowledge I perhaps would have missed if running more slow.

At about 31 miles (50K) and so happy!

The first 2,5 marathons I actually did run all the time. Could have run faster but I must remember The Run was about 5,5 marathons... After 31 mile I was having a break for 45 min to eat and drink.

Continued the run and it felt great! Lot of people was out following me and even more followed me live on the app Endomondo that was going all the time :-) Thank's people! Even the press was out and I've heard that people was up at night just to see where I was at the moment. Can't believe it!!

Me, The Run and some followers... :-)

After 24 hours of running and powerwalking (was faster than jogging cause I didn't need that long rests... Experience!) I've done 88 miles!

Saturday, July 20, 2013
After about 72 miles it was midnight. The night between Friday and Saturday. I now had 13 hours left to fix it to the start and there still was about 66 miles left to move. During the night I was powerwalking but the weather between midnight and 02:30 am was really bad. Windy and raining so I decided to take a nap for one hour (02:30-03:30). This was one of about 2,5-3 h sleep. The last 24 hours I sometimes did 10 min naps which was absolutely great. I felt very strong after those naps and could struggle for some more miles. Crazy!

Well, there was no chance to come to start at the half marathon but it didn't matter for me anyway at this point. I came to the finish in Ostersund, the town where The Run will end. Well, after 34:15 hours of movement and about 113 miles, I was standing at the goal. Hey, wait a minute! Yes, I was at the goal, but still a bay to go around, and 24,88 more miles! Well, there's nothing else to do than: Run!

I started the last movement and struggled on forward. Left, right, left, right, left, right... Even if tired I was very happy. People still where out cheering me up! When passing by my home there was a lot of people out to meet me. They had a party going on and I guess they have been drinking some beers to. No, I choose not to taste any ;-) Not until the finish-line!

Only about 9-10 miles left and midnight between Saturday and Sunday now arrived! When coming closer to the town Ostersund still people and cars was cheering me up and the last 5 miles I powerwalked like crazy all alone cause Anders got ill. Don't ask me where the power came from... somewhere. All I had in mind now was:

GO CLAES! GO! YOU SOON CAN REST AND SLEEP AS LONG AS YOU WANT!  GO #ELS!!

It's absolutely crazy how one can struggle on even when tired. Physically and mentally!

The Run took 43h 57min 4 sec

What have I learned from all this then?
Well, now I know I can run at least 2,5 marathons in about 9-9:30 min/mile. I know I might move about 88 miles in 24 hours (probably more if I  only will run in 24 h). I know there are a lot of nice people out there full of humanity... and many more nice things.

After 137,88 miles in 43h 57min 4 sec

The run would never have been possible if it were not for my amazing family.

My wife, Barbro, and my son, Magnus, who drove the delivery vehicle.

My daughters, Ingrid and Julia,  who followed me on Endomondo and constantly stoked at me not to give up!

Anders Stävhag, my very dear friend and mentally coach. 

All others who apparently followed me through both computer and physically present when it happened.

ICA Supermarket for drinks and food!

Gå och Löp butiken i Östersund!

ÖP - the local newspaper

100% Östersund

Always say Hello and Smile when out running!

Some people have asked me if I will stop running after The Run.
Well, no! There's always new adventures just around the corner and I already have a new project on...

Well, my friends! I've said it before and I'll say it again: Please say Hello and Smile to the ones You meet out there!

Easy, Light and Smooth!
Dare to follow Your dreams! No one can ever take them away from You!

/Flexirun

1 day left (9.5h)...

... and I have been packing the car, fixed with food, water, clothes etc. I feel great and it's going to be so nice to start The Run. The 140 miles I've been longing for almost a whole year now! If you want you can follow me live at Endomondo. Just click the little green man running the 19th July. Good luck and hope it works!

Well, the journey has been absolutely tremendous! I've got so many new friends all over the world and I hope they have been as inspired as I have!

This will be the last blog at this part of my journey. Well, I will write again, when reached the goal, but after that this journey has come to it's end...

But don't worry about that now! I already have projects in mind ;-)

Take care out there and promise to say Hello and Smile to all you met on your journey! Life will be so much Easy, Light and Smooth then! :-)

Easy, Light and Smooth!
/Flexirun

With Love from Sweden and Flexirun!