I'm at the airport waiting to board. An era is over and I have reminisced. Goodbyes were said to colleagues, friends and family and 7 months of laid-back La Crosse lie ahead.

My running is going well, as is the Girl's. We aren't 100% sure which races weare going to do, but the list so far looks something like this:

3 days of Syllamo in March
Ice age 50 (K for me; miles for the Girl.
La Crosse Marathon (Granddad's Marathon).
Voyageur 50 miles

The girl also plans a 100K in Copenhagen in April.

In between, there are plenty of shortsr races in the area. Plenty is not reallt accurate, but there are a few out there, like some half marathons within a few hours' drove and some shorter races in La Crosse.

I plan on running a ton and cross training on my bike and in the pool. For the unlikely reader who knows La Crosse, Bliss Road, which leads to the top of the bluffs, washed away last fall, so the biking will be hampered by that. Who knows, maybe it will be fixed by spring. That road has washed away like 4 times in the 6 or so years I have known La Crosse.

Wow, in 10 hours I will see the Girl and the two boys and tomorrow I will be back with Natali and Andreas. Not bad.

Running Log December 2011

3 bjergmarathon 3:45 or so. Fast last half.
4- some slow stuff. Legs generally tired after two races in 2 weeks.
11-12 long run saturday. 2 lakes with Nikolaj Sunday
14 long run in Copenhagen
15 ran to the hospital and up to the 26th floor a few times
18 forgot about the marathon Saturday. Great long run in the green tunnel and around the usual trails. 30k? Last 10km very fast.
20 Up and down Herlev Hospital. PR frok 2nd to 26th floor: 2:52
22 quick little 5k before going to bed
23 Great legs. Around 10 miles, fartleks. Very fast. Legs hurt the next day.
25 Another great run around Bagsværd Lake. My legs are finally over the back to back races earlier in the month.
27 Femveje in the rain. Legs were a little stale. Leavving for Chicago in an hour.

Oh no, I didn't!

I ran hard Monday, Wednesday, easy Thursday, and took Friday and Saturday off, because I had a marathon Sunday.

My week was strange, without a wife and kids. Work was hard, with all the research I'm trying to finish up and, unfortunately, no less that three of my clinic patients had relapses within two days.

So I was looking forward to the marathon. It was all planned out; the usual slow start, followed by a fast caffeinated second half.

But. As I was on the phone with the Girl yesterday, she asked "how did the marathon go?" and I realized I had the date wrong. It was yesterday! So that's definitely a strange end to a strange week.

Running Log November 2011

29: Treadmill 800s in Vangede in 14:36 and 14:16
27: Half-marathon "Næstved Cannonball", Lasse's alternative route. 1:16.02
24: Treadmill 800s in Næstved in 14:26 and 14:15
Skovmaren Marathon 2:55
Several treadmill 800s in 14s
Cross duathlon
40-50K-ish a week, but very intense workouts.
Weight very low (lowest 63.9kg in the morning)

It's December 1st and I'm in great shape.

After probably two years of no injuries, and a few months of decent training, I find myself in really good shape. Sunday, I ran a half marathon in 1:16.02, which is a few minutes off my PR, but it was windy, I ran alone, the course was very hilly, and I got lost twice. I don't know what it translates into but the legs felt like they could go for a PR.

On the treadmill, where I have been doing my speed work, I'm running faster than I remember running during previous peaks.

Only problem is that it's December and we're moving to Wisconsin in three weeks. I don't even know when or where our next race is going to be. Before we leave, I do have two tiny marathons, but these are on crazy hilly trails so the times won't mean anything.

What to do, what to do?

And you may be curious to know that my future will be decided today. I have to choose between two jobs that are as different as night and day. Some may know that I will work as an ER doc in Wisconsin until next summer, but then we come back to Denmark for the final year of the Girl's eye study (and PhD).

One job is in the city, at a university hospital, where I would work as a junior attending. There are about 20 hematologists in the department, the teaching environment is great, opportunities for research are ample, and I would have a group of diseases (plasma cell disorders) that would become my area of expertise. I would learn from an near-retirement plasma cell guru. But it's in Copenhagen, and we live in the burg of Næstved. Commuting isn't really an option in my mind, so we would have to move to the city, away from Natali's school, Christian's day care and the Girl's job.

The other job is in Næstved, in a smaller department, where I have worked previously during my fellowship. It's one of the last (if not the last) combined hematology/oncology departments in Denmark. (For some reason, the combined heme/onc concept has survived in America to this day, and is still found in community hospitals everywhere; but that's another post.) The hematology seen there is generally not overly exciting, as the complex cases are sent to the city for treatment. There are four hematologists, who are all nice, and with whom I would love to work, but I would certainly have to do a little oncology, too. That would be fun to learn, but it would also dilute my hematology skills. I would be a decent-sized fish in a small pond, with the usual pros and cons.

It would be nice to stay in Næstved, with our safe routines waiting for us in Agust, when we come back from Wisconsin. Career-wise, it's a no-brainer, of course.

I am meeting with the deparmtent chair in 3 hours and I still haven't made up my mind what to tell him.