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