Lately I’ve been running in the Hagaparken with a friend and yesterday evening we ran the complete round-trip around lake Brunnsviken. The round trip is about 12 km and we ran it in a leisurely 77 minutes. Running surely is a lot more fun when you have a friend with you. Those 12 kilometers felt much quicker than when I run alone.

I’ve only run 4 times this summer so running this kind of distance at “talking pace” is enough to literally destroy my legs. Haven’t felt this stiff and inflexible in my knee joints for quite some time.

I bought a new pair of gym trainers and after a short break-in period I’m quite happy with how they feel. This freed up my running shoes for outdoor running and about a week ago I did a trial run to see if they were still fit for the task. I ran to the marina and back, about 6km. Seeing how I haven’t run for a long time I figured a little pain or discomfort was to be expected and I did get a little sore in my ankles and knees, but this was nothing major. I was able to run the whole distance without resting and to my surprise I felt that I had gained a considerable amount of uphill climbing power.

I haven’t done a lot of running in the past few years but I’ve been thinking that I may benefit from some low intensity steady state cardio every now and then, to serve as active recovery. When you spend a lot of time doing cardio on an Elliptical trainer or do a lot of spinning and then go out running it becomes quite obvious how much more of a full body workout running really is. And I’m not just talking about the core musculature here. Since running activates more muscles, it feels like it also stresses the central nervous system harder in kind of the same way squats and deadlifts do compared to more isolated exercises. Running also puts a lot more stress on the joints and the connective tissues which isn’t a bad thing if you actually want to progressively build up the stability and shock resistance of those joints.

Some of my favorite classes are gone from the summer group training schedule at Sats Jakobsberg. Seeing how I’m not particularly interested in doing Body Pump three days per week for the next five weeks I need to find some alternatives. Besides running I will try out a class known as “Cross Training”. I don’t know much about this particular class, besides the fact that some guys who do a lot of Body Pump seem to enjoy it a lot. I will find out if I like it on Wednesday…

I’ve run 460 km in 20 weeks (an average of 23 km per week). My overall physical fitness has improved quite a bit during these last 5 months. I’ve lost some weight all round and I’ve gained quite a bit of muscle on my legs. I havn’t gotten very fast yet, but I have built quite a lot of stamina. I think that’s a pretty good result for my first outdoor running season.

Distance run this week: 15 km.

I made some hill climbs on monday. I snapped some shots for your viewing pleasure. I apologize for the bad quality and exposure, they were taken with a really lousy camera phone (and I make no claim of being a good photographer in the first place).

 

What you see in the images above is what I see as I run the last part on my hill section. The more I run the more apparent it has become that the road itself has special meaning to me as a runner. Running is not a battle against the road however. The real battle is fought in the mind of the runner. It is in this battle that I feel that the road is my ally. It is the road which carries me forward. As I look up ahead it becomes my guide, always keeping an even pace with me to encourage me to continue.

 

Another observation is that while the road is the central part of the image - it is surrounded by nature. I have come to appreciate nature more since I started running and I feel very fortunate to live so close to it. Without it, I believe, running would not have that spiritual feeling that it has. It surprises me that I could speak in such terms, but I think running has changed me as a person. So running not only has a connection to the concept of the road as I described above but it is a road in itself. Because running surely is a road to self discovery.

Looking at that last image of myself makes me think that maybe I’m not just catching my breath there on the top of the hill, but maybe I’m also bowing, as if paying my respects to the road I’ve traveled to get there. As if praying to the god of the mountain… I’m not a religious man, and doubt I ever will be, but given the context I find the image slightly amusing, nonetheless.

I mentioned in an earlier log post that I found running to be meditative. But I think it is more than that. However there is no way for me to express that in words. The reason I brought the phone with me to take pictures was because I felt inspired to maybe do a portrait of myself running up that hill. Unfortunately I doubt I will have time to paint anytime soon.

Week 18: 16 km.
Week 19: 15 km.

I ran 12 km today which marks another milestone on my road towards the half-marathon. I also tried some hill intervall training this week so overall it’s been a good week for running. Total distance this week: 30 km.

The map above shows my new running track. The yellow section is 4 km (one way), which makes for a good warmup/cooldown for the hill-interval section. I guess it would be better if it was closer to 1-2 km, so I could use more time for the intervalls part of my work out, but I can’t find a more suitable hill closer to where I live. The green part of the track shows the 400 meters long uphill section. The hill is called “Kvarnberget” and is actually tall enough to host a ski-lift. The height difference between the start and end part of my hill section is about 25 meters. The angle of incline increases as you approach the top of the hill which makes the last part especially hard. Running at maximum intensity I can barely manage 3 repeats.

A typical work out on this track consists of a 4 km warmup followed by 3×400 m uphill intervalls (mostly aerobic exrecise) and 3×100 m intervalls (mostly anaerobic) on the steepest part of the hill and finally a 4 km cooldown. The long intervalls take about 6-8 minutes (including rest and the run back down). The short intervalls take 2-3 minutes each.

This was the first week of school but I still managed to squeeze in 22 km of running. Homework takes precedence over exercise obviously so chances are that I will not be running a lot this fall. My legs are feeling a lot better/stronger now than in the past month so that is a big plus. I ran 10 km today in the rain and to my surprise I ran the distance 10 minutes faster than usual. All of the walking I get from when I go to school and back and when I walk from class to class up and down stairs really helps my muscles recover in between runs. I think my legs are ready for some hill training next week. I’ve scouted just the perfect hill too. I can hardly wait!

The temperature has dropped considerably during the past couple of weeks so right now it is just perfect for running. But it has also become more humid so I have to be careful not to catch a cold. I’m not sure what I should do once the temperature drops below freezing though. As I see it, I have 3 options:

1. Continue running outdoors during the winter.
2. Get a gym membership.
3. Invest in my own thread mill or exercise bike.

Running outdoors has the benefit that it would help build my stamina and general toughness. (I really want to try running in deep snow. Like Rocky in Rocky 4. It can’t be anything but great.) On the other hand, running in sub zero temperatures and on slippery roads could be dangerous and that is a big risk to take when I have important deadlines to keep.

Going to a gym to work out seemed like a good idea at first. Not only could I get on a thread mill, but there would also be other exercise equipment there that I could try. Spinning/Cycling for instance seems like a good alternative/compliment to running. But upon consideration I figure the 2 km walk/bus-ride to the gym and back could become a big de-motivator, especially with the tight schedule I have for the fall semester. I’m also not very comfortable exercising with a lot of other people. The roads on my way there would obviously be just as slippery as for option 1. It’s also a bit on the expensive side - especially since I’m not sure how often I will have a chance to exercise this fall considering the massive amounts of homework I’m expecting.

The third option, to buy my own exercise equipment, seems to solve the problems of going to the gym at the expense of versatility. The problem, obviously, is the huge initial investment.

Week 12: 32 km.
Week 13: 26 km.
Week 14: 0 km.
Week 15: 0 km.

I’ve been substituting my runs with walks during these last 3 weeks in the hopes that my blisters and knees would heal up. It’s apparent that the blisters and the bad knees is a result of my shoes approaching their expiration date. Healing is slow.

This weeks tally: 42 km. According to my notes I’ve run a total of 332 km since I started. I should be able to reach 500 km before the end of summer.

What worries me is that my shoes are already starting to loose their “bounce”. If I’m going to have to buy new shoes every 300-400 km this might become an expensive hobby.

I only ran two times this week for a total of 12 km. I had a fewer which lasted several days in the beginning of the week so I figured I ‘d play it safe and wait all the way till friday to do any more running. It took 3 km just to get the stiffness beaten out of my legs. Saturday was the same, but I think my muscles softened up nicely.

This is the weekly schedule which I intend to follow for the following 3-4 weeks:

Monday: 10 km normal speed
Tuesday: 10 km normal speed
Wednesday: 6 km fartlek
Thursday: rest
Friday: 10 km normal speed
Saturday: 6 km tempo
Sunday: rest