Hello all.
We're moving back to Denmark in 10 days. Soon, our house will be a confused mess of boxes. Our belongings will go back to the storage space and we'll be gone from here. There are so many things we will miss, but there are things to look forward to as well. Tomorrow, we will run sweet trails in 95 degree weather. In 11 days, we'll be running on the very acceptable trails around Naestved; it will be 60 degrees.
I got close to my oldest son. I could have gotten closer, and hopefully I will next year. Now, he has seen that I keep coming back. At one point in the future, he may live with us and my ex will get Natali. Maybe we will switch for a year. Christian will miss him more than anyone.
The Girl says we are coming back in a year. Back to the US, yes. La Crosse; we're not sure. The Girl has many conflicting career plans, only one of which brings us back here. The truth is that we don't know what the future holds right now, but the one avenue that leads us back to La Crosse is a good one.
I'm about to start a new job that will be very unlike my current one. In the last 20 hours, I have seen broken bones, irregular beartbeats and two miscarriages. Soon, every single patient will have cancer. They tend to be very worried and they bring their children and friends. In Denmark, many patients are paranoid that they are not getting the best care available. In general, that's not true, but the media can be very critical of doctors, so patiens tend to be a little sceptical. I have had problems with this in the past; I stress out easily.
I've thought about starting a fast training group in Naestved. We'll see how that goes. The runners are there, but it will take some energy and initiative to get a critical mass going. The Girl has made it clear she wants to part of it, but if a few fast women show up, she may show up too.
My next races are two trail marathons (Skovloeberen and Skovmaren). I am in shape and am hoping for top 3 in both races like last year. I have thought about running the Nordvest 100K, which is a new 100K trail race. It may be the only 100K trail race in Denmark, actually. I don't know if I am ready for a 100K, but it would be fun to try. We'll see.
But honestly, this is what I really look forward to: for life to get into a rhythm. Natali in school, the boys in day care. The Girl's study humming along. The Dark Danish winter approaching. Friday nights at the FladsaaHallen pool. Intervals on the treadmill and on the Herlufsholm loop. Getting a new winning streak going.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
Afton 50K
I was feeling really unmotivated going into the race. I felt so good this winter and spring, with my 11-win streak and all. Once it got hot, I just started feeling lazy. I'm not just running less, I hardly do any core work and swim much less. I was at work last night; it was slow in the ER, and I realized that a few months ago I would be doing push-ups and planks forever. Last night, I was eating gummi bears and watching the Tour.
Anyway, I met Aaron Drevlow before the race. Aaron, with whom I was battling at Chippewa. I told him my spring fitness was gone and he said something like, "fitness doesn't go away in a few months", and I thought maybe I could eek out a good race, after all. Aaron looked friggin' strong, by the way.
Apart from Aaron, I recognized Craig Hertz from Duluth. Other than those two, the top guys were all unknown to me. We took off slowly, but then it strung out going up the first hill. I let go of the front group coming down to the first aid station. I thought it prudent to start slowly, but although it felt slow, it did not feel easy.
I ran that whole first loop by myself, kind of getting into a zone. I started feeling a little better on the snowshoe loop right before the end of lap one. No runner's high per se, but a couple of sections of effortless joy. I have written about this before: if it's a good high, it feels lile I am about to cry. There were no tears, though.
Steve Quick appeared in the warm mist, like the soft-spoken wiseman that he is. I yelled something like "I haven't seen anyone is 2 hours. How far up is the next person?" He took what seemed like 30 seconds to think it over and then uttered the single word "minutes", as if that was supposed to help me. The Girl is certain that he was messing with us, to ensure that I would finish 5th and she would finish 3rd, just as he had predicted.
Shortly aften the halfway point, I passed the early leader (Tim Scanlon). He had dropped out, from the looks of it. Maybe at mile 20, a walking Aaron Drevlow suddenly appeared. He looked dead, but to his credit he was able to shift gears and jog it in, while encouraging other runners.
I passed Jordan Hanlon with 5 miles to go, and was able to push a steady pace until the finish. I got 4:06, 4th place. The race was won by Forrest Tracy in 3:55. Dang. I'm far from that level. I'm ok with the time and the way the race progressed. I'm a man of the far north, and even high 70's is way too much for me. After a few miles, I looked like I had just emerged from a lake; I was that sweaty. For the first time ever, I took salt tablets and, amazingly, I didn't cramp ip at all. I always thought salt caps were mainly placebo, as I have never seen low sodium in any young, healthy person. Maybe it was coincidental, but I am taking them at my next race, too.
The Girl. The Girl. She is a klutz, for sure. Some kind of abnormality always happens to her, so there is an actual, official finishing time and a if-the-sasquatch-had-not-tripped-me finishing time. At Afton, she lost part of her CamelBak tube and had to run back to get a belt instead. She did well, though, and finished 3rd in 4:49. She is in killer shape now; Afton isn't really her type of course. If she doesn't get injured, she will set all kinds of PRs this fall in Denmark. She was very proud of "relatively chicking" me, ie. finishing higher among the women than me among the men. Pretty soon she will actually chicking me, I think. And all joking aside: I'm very proud of her.
She is a little manic right now, not taking rest days and wanting to sign up for different races every day. The big question is whether she is doing Challenge Copenhagen on August 12. I am trying to talk her out of it, just because her running is going so well.
Anyway, I met Aaron Drevlow before the race. Aaron, with whom I was battling at Chippewa. I told him my spring fitness was gone and he said something like, "fitness doesn't go away in a few months", and I thought maybe I could eek out a good race, after all. Aaron looked friggin' strong, by the way.
Apart from Aaron, I recognized Craig Hertz from Duluth. Other than those two, the top guys were all unknown to me. We took off slowly, but then it strung out going up the first hill. I let go of the front group coming down to the first aid station. I thought it prudent to start slowly, but although it felt slow, it did not feel easy.
I ran that whole first loop by myself, kind of getting into a zone. I started feeling a little better on the snowshoe loop right before the end of lap one. No runner's high per se, but a couple of sections of effortless joy. I have written about this before: if it's a good high, it feels lile I am about to cry. There were no tears, though.
Steve Quick appeared in the warm mist, like the soft-spoken wiseman that he is. I yelled something like "I haven't seen anyone is 2 hours. How far up is the next person?" He took what seemed like 30 seconds to think it over and then uttered the single word "minutes", as if that was supposed to help me. The Girl is certain that he was messing with us, to ensure that I would finish 5th and she would finish 3rd, just as he had predicted.
Shortly aften the halfway point, I passed the early leader (Tim Scanlon). He had dropped out, from the looks of it. Maybe at mile 20, a walking Aaron Drevlow suddenly appeared. He looked dead, but to his credit he was able to shift gears and jog it in, while encouraging other runners.
I passed Jordan Hanlon with 5 miles to go, and was able to push a steady pace until the finish. I got 4:06, 4th place. The race was won by Forrest Tracy in 3:55. Dang. I'm far from that level. I'm ok with the time and the way the race progressed. I'm a man of the far north, and even high 70's is way too much for me. After a few miles, I looked like I had just emerged from a lake; I was that sweaty. For the first time ever, I took salt tablets and, amazingly, I didn't cramp ip at all. I always thought salt caps were mainly placebo, as I have never seen low sodium in any young, healthy person. Maybe it was coincidental, but I am taking them at my next race, too.
The Girl. The Girl. She is a klutz, for sure. Some kind of abnormality always happens to her, so there is an actual, official finishing time and a if-the-sasquatch-had-not-tripped-me finishing time. At Afton, she lost part of her CamelBak tube and had to run back to get a belt instead. She did well, though, and finished 3rd in 4:49. She is in killer shape now; Afton isn't really her type of course. If she doesn't get injured, she will set all kinds of PRs this fall in Denmark. She was very proud of "relatively chicking" me, ie. finishing higher among the women than me among the men. Pretty soon she will actually chicking me, I think. And all joking aside: I'm very proud of her.
She is a little manic right now, not taking rest days and wanting to sign up for different races every day. The big question is whether she is doing Challenge Copenhagen on August 12. I am trying to talk her out of it, just because her running is going so well.
July 2012 running log
3: Last HPT before Afton.
7: Afton 50K. 4:06, 4th place. See report.
10: 30K on the bike. The Girl could hold my wheel on the flats. Holy crap!
11: an hour on HPT. Wasn't really sore, but both achilles tendons were hurting, the right more than left. After a while, it felt more like an injury and I had to stop.
12: Feeling injured. Freaking out.
13: feeling a little better. Still very spooked.
16: Intervals on the treadmill. 11x 600, escalating from 10 mph to 11 mph. Achilles felt tight but then stopped hurting afterwards.
18: Intervals on the treadmill. I forget the times.
20: Quick litte 8 or so miles in Hixon. A little Achilles tightness. I have decided to run through it.
22: "Almost a marathon" with the Girl, Alicia and Divesh. Hot!
7: Afton 50K. 4:06, 4th place. See report.
10: 30K on the bike. The Girl could hold my wheel on the flats. Holy crap!
11: an hour on HPT. Wasn't really sore, but both achilles tendons were hurting, the right more than left. After a while, it felt more like an injury and I had to stop.
12: Feeling injured. Freaking out.
13: feeling a little better. Still very spooked.
16: Intervals on the treadmill. 11x 600, escalating from 10 mph to 11 mph. Achilles felt tight but then stopped hurting afterwards.
18: Intervals on the treadmill. I forget the times.
20: Quick litte 8 or so miles in Hixon. A little Achilles tightness. I have decided to run through it.
22: "Almost a marathon" with the Girl, Alicia and Divesh. Hot!
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
St. Paul Trip
Natali, Andreas, Cora (their step-sister), Christian and I went to St. Paul last week for 3 days of big city vacation. We stayed downtown and only once got into our car (to go to the zoo). We got lost in the skywalks but were able to navigate around the city on foot.
We saw the science museum, which was fun. My dad runs the science museum in Copenhagen and I worked there for several years, so it's always fun to compare one museum to another. I like the Minnesota science museum. We caught an I-Max movie that thrilled the girls and scared the boys. The giant cuttle fish gave Andreas nightmares.
The zoo was hot but fun. The dolphin show was a highlight as was the monorail, which essentially shows you the whole zoo in 20 minutes.
On day three, we saw the historical museum and the Capitol. The Capitol building is not as cool as the Madison one, I will say. In Madison, we always walk up to the top balcony, even in mid-winter. That did not seem to be possible in St. Paul, although there was some construction going on.
Here are some very artsy photos (we thought), taken during our many walks around town or by the river.
The heat was bad, although this week got even worse than last week. There were times when my insisting on walking almost caused a mutiny:
Or when Christian and his 4-year old personality became too much for the older kids:
This weekend, we go back to the Tiwn Cities for Afton.
I don't know. I tried running in 100 degree weather today and almost passed out. I mean, it's like standing next to a fire, except the fire is everywhere around you. I get short of breath just standing still when it's this hot. It's supposed to cool down a little on Saturday, but I don't do well with heat, so I am going to have a low threshold for dropping out. Danes really should not be out in this kind of weather; we only function in the 50-70 degree ribbon.
Steve Q linked to the ultramn.com website, where I am apparently the favorite to win. It does look like the big hitters of previous years are staying away (Pat Russell, Brian Peterson, Wynn Davis, Chris Lundstrom etc, who would be soaking in the St. Croix by the time I made it in). If it's not insanely hot, I will start out and see how it goes.
Spectating might be more fun that running, as the Girl is also doing the 50K. After being injured for most of the spring (but still PRing and winning races, mind you), she is back in business. The very fast Eve Rembleski is running, so the Girl won't win, but as readers will know, she is tough (aka a little stupid) and actually likes running in heat. She says she will start out slow, and with the way her training is going, I think she will be doing nothing but passing people throughout her race.
And to make it perfectly clear, if there is any chance that I am about to get "wifed", I am dropping out ("due to heat", of course) immediately.
We saw the science museum, which was fun. My dad runs the science museum in Copenhagen and I worked there for several years, so it's always fun to compare one museum to another. I like the Minnesota science museum. We caught an I-Max movie that thrilled the girls and scared the boys. The giant cuttle fish gave Andreas nightmares.
The zoo was hot but fun. The dolphin show was a highlight as was the monorail, which essentially shows you the whole zoo in 20 minutes.
On day three, we saw the historical museum and the Capitol. The Capitol building is not as cool as the Madison one, I will say. In Madison, we always walk up to the top balcony, even in mid-winter. That did not seem to be possible in St. Paul, although there was some construction going on.
Here are some very artsy photos (we thought), taken during our many walks around town or by the river.
The heat was bad, although this week got even worse than last week. There were times when my insisting on walking almost caused a mutiny:
Or when Christian and his 4-year old personality became too much for the older kids:
This weekend, we go back to the Tiwn Cities for Afton.
I don't know. I tried running in 100 degree weather today and almost passed out. I mean, it's like standing next to a fire, except the fire is everywhere around you. I get short of breath just standing still when it's this hot. It's supposed to cool down a little on Saturday, but I don't do well with heat, so I am going to have a low threshold for dropping out. Danes really should not be out in this kind of weather; we only function in the 50-70 degree ribbon.
Steve Q linked to the ultramn.com website, where I am apparently the favorite to win. It does look like the big hitters of previous years are staying away (Pat Russell, Brian Peterson, Wynn Davis, Chris Lundstrom etc, who would be soaking in the St. Croix by the time I made it in). If it's not insanely hot, I will start out and see how it goes.
Spectating might be more fun that running, as the Girl is also doing the 50K. After being injured for most of the spring (but still PRing and winning races, mind you), she is back in business. The very fast Eve Rembleski is running, so the Girl won't win, but as readers will know, she is tough (aka a little stupid) and actually likes running in heat. She says she will start out slow, and with the way her training is going, I think she will be doing nothing but passing people throughout her race.
And to make it perfectly clear, if there is any chance that I am about to get "wifed", I am dropping out ("due to heat", of course) immediately.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Flashes From A Wild Few Months
Hi all.
I have not written much in the last weeks.
Life is good. This break-from-real-life period in La Crosse is coming to an end. It has been a wonderful time that I will always remember, but we are starting to look forward to going back to Denmark.
Perhaps the best thing has been seeing my two oldest sons, Christians and Andreas, bond. 4-year old Christian worships 8-year old Andreas, or "Big Buy" as he calls him. From the moment Andreas enters the house, Christian is never more than a foot away from him. Except when Andreas hides, in which case Christian looks like he is about to have a stroke and desperately pleads for help in finding his brother. Andreas is a gentle boy and is quite patient. He makes up complicated games and will play Legos, build forts etc. for hours. Watching thoese two develop a healthy relationship has been the highlight of these last 6 months.
Andreas used to be really ill-behaved and spiteful. I used to dread spending time with him. I would ask him to do something and he would blatantly ignore me. He hated coming over and often made a point of asking what time it was, so he knew exactly how many more minutes he had to spend with us. But all that has melted away. I realized last month that I really enjoyed having him over. It just sort of snuck up on me.
In a month or so, his dad will disappear once again. I hope the good vibes continue and can tide us over until we are back (for good) in a year.
Christian is my favorite child right now. He is 4, but still, miraculously, has not developed any privacy filter. He is so easily excited, and he tells me everything. This weekend, I ran along Lake Superior in Duluth, the night before Grandma's, with Christian in the babyjogger. We talked about every little detail we saw. He is such a happy boy; a boy who has never seen any kind of misfortune.
We are so close. I put him to sleep every night singing the "Superman Song" by Crash Test Dummies. He is so tired from being outside all day at the Waldorf school that he starts to snore long before the bridge. The other night, we were talking about who he liked best, mommy or daddy. He said daddy. How many 4-year old boys do that? He said mommy the next day (looking at me with a mischievous smile) but I'll take my one victory.
I frustrate the Girl by going to Walmart. And I shouldn't go; but that's another topic for another day. There is a shopping cart, which has two plastic seats made for kids. He loves that cart, and finding it (there are 3 total, but he thinks there is only one) is a major objective to him every time we go. He sees the bright lights of Walmart (which he calls "biblotikken", a baby Danish word that is a mix of store and library). He starts to moan and gyrate, thinking about the shopping cart that he will locate and board. He looks and cranes. He speaks only English now, but I speak Danish to him, so certain concepts have no English translation. The "special cart", which he pronounces "becialler vogn", is one of them.
We enter Walmart and his little green eyes scan the cart area. When he sees the cart, he yelps, jumps a foot into the air and scream "daddy, I found the becialler vogn!" He has no sense of all the people smiling at him. He is a little happy blond boy, and he makes people smile wherever he goes. It's amazing.
Natali and I have grown apart a little. She spends a lot of time with her older step-sisters and her friends, That's OK; I will get her back in a month or so, when we go back to Denmark. We are still best buds, even if we don't spend every night together like last year. I was eating lunch the other day (after a long run in the hills, of course). Suddenly Natali biked into the back yard with her step-sister. They stopped by to visit, just because they were in the neighbourhood. We talked for a while and they left on their bikes. She is only 11 but acts like a teenager already.
My running is strange. I have been putting in almost nothing but long runs, and it seems like I am in OK shape. We were talking about doing a 10K this weekend, and I was thinking of PR'ing. That's a 33:20, so I wanted to see where my speed was at. I went to the YMCA and did one of the speed workout that I did this winter. Turns out I am much slower now! Like almost a minute over a 15 minute session. I repeated the same thing yesterday and it got a little better, but I am still very far from this winter.
Maybe I am naive, but I didn't think I would be this slow. I run fast on the trails, sometimes "bombing" the long downhills. So I didn't think I would lose that much sharpness. Of course, the next two races are Afton 50K and the Half Voyageur, so speed is not all that important. Nevertheless, I think I will do one speed session on the track or treadmill (if it's really hot) every week from now on.
I have not written much in the last weeks.
Life is good. This break-from-real-life period in La Crosse is coming to an end. It has been a wonderful time that I will always remember, but we are starting to look forward to going back to Denmark.
Perhaps the best thing has been seeing my two oldest sons, Christians and Andreas, bond. 4-year old Christian worships 8-year old Andreas, or "Big Buy" as he calls him. From the moment Andreas enters the house, Christian is never more than a foot away from him. Except when Andreas hides, in which case Christian looks like he is about to have a stroke and desperately pleads for help in finding his brother. Andreas is a gentle boy and is quite patient. He makes up complicated games and will play Legos, build forts etc. for hours. Watching thoese two develop a healthy relationship has been the highlight of these last 6 months.
Andreas used to be really ill-behaved and spiteful. I used to dread spending time with him. I would ask him to do something and he would blatantly ignore me. He hated coming over and often made a point of asking what time it was, so he knew exactly how many more minutes he had to spend with us. But all that has melted away. I realized last month that I really enjoyed having him over. It just sort of snuck up on me.
In a month or so, his dad will disappear once again. I hope the good vibes continue and can tide us over until we are back (for good) in a year.
Christian is my favorite child right now. He is 4, but still, miraculously, has not developed any privacy filter. He is so easily excited, and he tells me everything. This weekend, I ran along Lake Superior in Duluth, the night before Grandma's, with Christian in the babyjogger. We talked about every little detail we saw. He is such a happy boy; a boy who has never seen any kind of misfortune.
We are so close. I put him to sleep every night singing the "Superman Song" by Crash Test Dummies. He is so tired from being outside all day at the Waldorf school that he starts to snore long before the bridge. The other night, we were talking about who he liked best, mommy or daddy. He said daddy. How many 4-year old boys do that? He said mommy the next day (looking at me with a mischievous smile) but I'll take my one victory.
I frustrate the Girl by going to Walmart. And I shouldn't go; but that's another topic for another day. There is a shopping cart, which has two plastic seats made for kids. He loves that cart, and finding it (there are 3 total, but he thinks there is only one) is a major objective to him every time we go. He sees the bright lights of Walmart (which he calls "biblotikken", a baby Danish word that is a mix of store and library). He starts to moan and gyrate, thinking about the shopping cart that he will locate and board. He looks and cranes. He speaks only English now, but I speak Danish to him, so certain concepts have no English translation. The "special cart", which he pronounces "becialler vogn", is one of them.
We enter Walmart and his little green eyes scan the cart area. When he sees the cart, he yelps, jumps a foot into the air and scream "daddy, I found the becialler vogn!" He has no sense of all the people smiling at him. He is a little happy blond boy, and he makes people smile wherever he goes. It's amazing.
Natali and I have grown apart a little. She spends a lot of time with her older step-sisters and her friends, That's OK; I will get her back in a month or so, when we go back to Denmark. We are still best buds, even if we don't spend every night together like last year. I was eating lunch the other day (after a long run in the hills, of course). Suddenly Natali biked into the back yard with her step-sister. They stopped by to visit, just because they were in the neighbourhood. We talked for a while and they left on their bikes. She is only 11 but acts like a teenager already.
My running is strange. I have been putting in almost nothing but long runs, and it seems like I am in OK shape. We were talking about doing a 10K this weekend, and I was thinking of PR'ing. That's a 33:20, so I wanted to see where my speed was at. I went to the YMCA and did one of the speed workout that I did this winter. Turns out I am much slower now! Like almost a minute over a 15 minute session. I repeated the same thing yesterday and it got a little better, but I am still very far from this winter.
Maybe I am naive, but I didn't think I would be this slow. I run fast on the trails, sometimes "bombing" the long downhills. So I didn't think I would lose that much sharpness. Of course, the next two races are Afton 50K and the Half Voyageur, so speed is not all that important. Nevertheless, I think I will do one speed session on the track or treadmill (if it's really hot) every week from now on.
June 2012 running log
June 2012 Running Log
1-12: Lots of HPTs.
13: HPTs
15: 5 miles on the lakeshore bike trail in Duluth with Christian. Beautiful.
16: Ran some next to the Girl at Grandma's
17: Speed. 2 x 2 miles at grades (to 5%) in 12:20s and 12:50s. "4K intervals" in 15:20 or so. Much slower than just a few months ago! Ran at the Y due to the heat. Shocked at how slow things went.
18: Hot. Oak trail to HPT and one long BDT lop.
20: Speed. 2 x 2 miles at grades (to 5%) in 12:25 and 12:50. "4K intervals" in 14:56
21: 3x GDB and 2 Ebner Coulees on the bike
22: I forget the details, but my right shin and calf were getting tight. Took a few days off and then ran a 2 x 2 miles at grades (to 5%). Felt good with no pain. Fastest was at 12:15.
1-12: Lots of HPTs.
13: HPTs
15: 5 miles on the lakeshore bike trail in Duluth with Christian. Beautiful.
16: Ran some next to the Girl at Grandma's
17: Speed. 2 x 2 miles at grades (to 5%) in 12:20s and 12:50s. "4K intervals" in 15:20 or so. Much slower than just a few months ago! Ran at the Y due to the heat. Shocked at how slow things went.
18: Hot. Oak trail to HPT and one long BDT lop.
20: Speed. 2 x 2 miles at grades (to 5%) in 12:25 and 12:50. "4K intervals" in 14:56
21: 3x GDB and 2 Ebner Coulees on the bike
22: I forget the details, but my right shin and calf were getting tight. Took a few days off and then ran a 2 x 2 miles at grades (to 5%). Felt good with no pain. Fastest was at 12:15.
May 2012 Running Log
1-2: Some Chippewa recovery. Can't remember
3: 2.5 hours in the hills. Felt a little stiff but generally ok.
6: Some with the babyjogger
7: 15K with the baby jogger to and from the conference.
8: Long run around Fort Lauderdale. 30K?
9: A little jogging with Christian
11: Tempo work at Nashotah Park. That's actually a really nice place to run.
12: Left knee hurts a little after playing some soccer with the kids.
13: Glorious Hixon and HPT run.
14: Ran, swam and biked a little
15-26: Not sure. Nothing but long runs on HPTs
27: Med City Half Marathon. Strong headwinds. 1:18
28-: Not sure
3: 2.5 hours in the hills. Felt a little stiff but generally ok.
6: Some with the babyjogger
7: 15K with the baby jogger to and from the conference.
8: Long run around Fort Lauderdale. 30K?
9: A little jogging with Christian
11: Tempo work at Nashotah Park. That's actually a really nice place to run.
12: Left knee hurts a little after playing some soccer with the kids.
13: Glorious Hixon and HPT run.
14: Ran, swam and biked a little
15-26: Not sure. Nothing but long runs on HPTs
27: Med City Half Marathon. Strong headwinds. 1:18
28-: Not sure
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