Elgon Running Club, Kenya.

 Nairobi City Marathon 24.07.07

Hello again!

Yes, as many of you may know, I have been a runner since 1969 and have always loved challenges.

Pretty early I realized that the longer the distances were the more I liked it and the better it went.

Challenges can be of various kinds and by chance I came into contact with Edwin Kibet Maluche from Elgon in Kenya. For a number of years now I have tried to help him with his running club, Elgon Running Club, and the runners he trains.

The very special thing about this club is that apart from the fact that it consists of very competent runners, Edwin also invests in ladies and para-runners (runners with certain disabilities). EVERYONE can join!

Part of Elgon Running Club.

Mt. Elgon

On the sports field.

Well, you probably already saw in the title of this post something about a marathon race in Nairobi on July 7, 2024.

Yes, Edwin will go there with some runners and I helped a little so that another 5 runners will get to go and test their ability. I know they will do their best, which is actually what is important. Do your best!

Okay, I guess that might be all for this time!

Try a little SMILE!

Try a HELLO!

Try to check AROUND CORNERS!

/Flexirun (back again)

Ascension Day in Sweden usually means a day off.. or two.

 

May 1st and a 4 day long holiday waiting.

It is always remarkable to come up in the mountains springtime. So quiet and peaceful but also some noice from all kind of birds coming.

"Here comes the sun"

About 25-30 reindeers visiting.

Me and Malte on our daily walk.

Unfortunateley my right calf has had a bit of trouble with muscle tear so I have decided not to run Stockholm Marathon 2024 as planned. It´s sad but as they say: "With age comes wisdom!".

However, my son did run for the 5th time, without "hare", and did very well in the heat (about 28-30°C).

I just spoken with my friend Edwin, the running-coach from Kenya, and he told med members from Elgon Running Club will compete in the Nairobi City Marathon on July 7th 2024.

Remember Rodgers? One of the very BEST blind runners in the world. You may please follow them at Nairobi City Marathon 2024.

I also will start writing my blog again but this time the focus is not all on me but at least as much on the runners from Elgon Running Club.

Well, as always friends. Take care, smile and dare to say Hello! :-)

Easy, Light and Smooth!
/Flexirun

One week off! Or rather... a LOT of weeks!

Hello everyone!

How are You? Alright I hope.

For those 

I haven't used any social media since 2022-03-07.  Or matter in fact for over two years now...

Yes, people ask "Why?" and I got quite a few responses to that. But those answers are mine and no one else's. I do apologize to those who perhaps wonder what have happened to that smiling runner up north in the middle of Sweden.

But what I can say is that the feeling without social media is exactly like the feeling when I was training in front of the "Storsjön" (Big Lake Run) around. Pretty much no one in my immediate environment knew anything about the plans except you who read my diary/blog. The feeling is absolutely priceless and I do think I reached a new level.

Autumn or fall here as the American says.
The colors are beautiful!

Doing things only for yourself without having to perform and think about what others will think is actually incredibly nice. I actually have the main role in my own life plan. Not as an extra or supporting actor, but the main role.

Some people asked me about my running after my illness and I only can say: "I still run!".  Not as much as before but more and more every week.

It's not only the miles You're running it's the views and meetings out there. It could be humans, animals or what ever You may meet out there.

It's about me and my meetings not about a picture with likes.

Me and my lovely dog Malte.

I'm signed up to Stockholm marathon once again but unfortunately I have a muscle tear in my right calf and it will not heal.. Well, I only have one right calf but more marathons will be coming.

Keep SMILING!

Keep saying HELLO to strangers!

Keep LOOKING AROUND CORNERS!

Keep going!

Reflection is not a bad thing

 

Brothers in Arms

 

 

 

 

These mist covered

mountains

Are a home now for me

But my home is the lowlands

And always will be

Some day you´ll return to

Your valleys and farms

And you`ll no longer burn to

be brothers in arms.

 

Through these fields of

destruction

Baptism of fire

I´ve witnessed your suffering

As the battle raged higher

And though they did hurt me

so bad

In my fear and alarm

You did not desert me my

brothers in arms

 

There´s so many different

worlds

So many different suns

And we have just one world

But we live in different ones

 

Now the sun´s go to hell

 

And the moon´s riding high

Let me bid you farewell

Every man has to die

But it´s written in the starlight

And every line in your palm

We´re fools to make war on

Our brothers in arms

/Dire Straits

Gregorians - Brother in Arms

From 0 to 42195 once again..

Well, it has been a very long time since I was out there running as usual. More particularly 6 years!

When you suffer a physical injury, it can in some cases over time turn into a mental crash. Some things you can not control but it is just to crash, cry and talk about what happened.

However, it has been shown that it is not bad to possess a good physical status with good condition and some strength or endurance. Mental crashes are something of an "everyday thing" which always happens during the race when you are an ultra runner.

It is really nice to be back, with a lot of help from good friends, and start to exercise again. My ambition is to run Stockholm marathon with my son once again. Not to run in a specific time but to have a good feeling and reach the goal.

Me and Malte (my dog) in my cabin up in the mountains  where I  build me up physically and mentally before my run around the lake here (221 km) 

Me out on a nice run again!

My ambition from now on is to run, feel good and enjoy Life and the nature. Time and distance is not an option anymore. Or at least not when I'm planning my workouts! Anything can happen when it feels alright!

Just so peaceful!
This is the key to my kind of Life.

Please listen to Your mind and Body!

Always smile!

Always say Hello to strangers!

Always check around the corners because it's where the Life is hiding!

Just never give up! I decided to blog again. :-)

After so many years of sickness I now may say I'm alright again. I do not want to write about it anymore now but will instead focus on upcoming runs. Sure, I'm turning 60 years this summer, but it is said that without experience it will usually be a little more difficult.

I am very far from the physique I had until Christmas 2015 when I could basically run "any distance". Runnings of almost 60 km sometimes and  both two and three running sessions in one day.

I almost lived running..

Where I live!

Well, You may think, what now then? Am I going to stop running? No, I will not stop running but I will run in another way perhaps. What I mean is I will not log and I will not share in Facebook or Twitter anymore.

I have discovered that many people think it is more important what others think than what the run itself is for themselves. A little tragic I must say..

My friend and running buddy always!

Just so calm and life-giving!

Well, in the seventies (1970-1979) I was a "skater". Below I´m 60 years old and in the Täby skatepark with my grandchild Tage. We had so much fun and I just loved it! It´s NEVER to late living right now but it might be to late to do it tomorrow.

Me and Tage in the skatepark.

In the bowl again.

Well, not like in the 70:ies but..

Me and my grandchild Tage

I still try to help my friends from Kenya even if I have had some tough 6 years now but I really think I have come out on the other side. Not as the same man but.. still a man.

I have decided to continue running and try to help my friends in Kenya as much as I can.

Emanuel Naibei won the Lagos City Marathon 2021 in 2:11:37

I have also decided to work only 80 % for 2 years and the n go down to 60 % which means I can live and be with my lovely dog Malte. Yes, and run a little more and.. just be!

I also must say I don´t use Facebook (Meta) or Twitter anymore!

Take care out there and never forget to:

SMILE - SAY HELLO! - CHEEK AROUND EVERY CORNER

Take a stand

How difficult is it to take a stand? We make about 2,000 decisions, big and small, every day without even reflecting on it.

On the other hand, when we are faced with a slightly "larger" decision, one can feel a certain anxiety and worry that the decision in question will be "right". I think it's a bit strange because I always try to make my decisions on some kind of scientific basis. Sometimes it gets good and sometimes.. better!

I made a decision as a mathematician a few days ago. It must be said that it was not just a purely scientific decision, but it was about some subjective things that are thought as well. I left Facebook! Exactly why I did it has to do with a long time of thinking.

Our brain only works with one thing consumption, which means that it is almost never allowed to rest in this digital world we now live in. Only ONE generation of 100,000 generations is born with a mobile phone in hand.. So most generations have a brain that has been developed for 200,000 years to NOT multitask.

That is one of the reasons why I want to limit my digital use. I want to get my dopamine from REAL events and feel that I do not have to share them with others because then it will be more or less a compulsion to go out with my dog Malte on the runs.

I KNOW that mathematical algorithms are NOT better than human thoughts. Possibly AS good and above all FASTER at analyzing many variables at the same time but once again - NOT BETTER! I do not want to be analyzed and calculated on the Internet or at least LIMIT the whole thing as much as I can.

So I could stop using digital and social aids, you might think. I agree but start by limiting myself. I still do run but not as far or much as I use to do. I think, once as a mathematician, I have come into a new dimension in a way.

Where my own feelings are worth more than social points on FB, Twitter, Instagram etc. The real world is more than enough for me!

Take care out there and:

Keep smiling!

Keep saying HELLO to strangers!

Keep LOOKING AROUND the corners!

Keep DARE to DARE!

/Claes