RtNP#38 Lightheaded

After a few technical issues I now hope it will be possible to download and listen to this episode.

First there was a bit of uneven audio levels in the recording that I had to fix, and even if I did my best, the level is still a little up and down. Hope you can put up with that.
Next issue I faced was a problem with the hosting service and I had to go through a new learning process to figure out how to deal with that. Without the help I got from Nigel and the Podcast Nuggets site I'm not sure that there would have been an episode at all. Thanks Nigel!

So, in this episode you can join me for a very pleasant winter run and you can also hear me talk about my first experience running with a proper headlamp.
Here are a few links to other things mentioned:

• The Midpacker's Lament audio book

• Run World Radio

• Running Podcasts.org

 The music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com

•  Dave Percell - Into the Light

• Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro) 

Contact me by e-mail (adress in link to the right) or post a comment below. If you want to get in touch. It's always great to hear from you.
Subscription to this podcast can be made by using the links to the right.
Listen to this episode by clicking the headline for this post. (Right click(save target as)for download)

RtNP#37 Low Clouds

 HAPPY NEW YEAR

and welcome to a new season of running and podcasting. This is a recording from my first run in 2012, a run that I really enjoyed and if my running for the rest of the year will be only half as good I'll be very pleased.

The music in this episode is a bit different from what I usually play but I hope you like it. This time it's from a concert that I wish I had been able to attend.


The intro/outro music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com
Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way

If you want to get in touch, please send an e-mail or post a comment below. It's always great to hear from you.
Subscription to this podcast can be made by using the links to the right.
Listen to this episode by clicking the headline for this post. (Right click (save target as) for download)

RtNP#36 Running in London

On the weekend of the 8-9 of October, I and my family visited London and this episode of the podcast covers some of what we experienced.

We did quite a lot of sightseeing together with our very good friend Paul. London is a great and interesting city and with only a couple of days to spend I think we managed to see a lot. But I'm well aware that there is much more to see so I guess we have to go back some day.

On Sunday Paul and I ran the WWFoR half marathon together and our conversation during the run is the main content of this rather long episode.

Please send an e-mail or post a comment below if you want to get in touch. It's always great to hear from you.

Subscription to this podcast can be made by using the links to the right.

You can listen to this episode by clicking the headline for this post.

RtNP#35 Friends

Unfortunately my michrophone was a bit out of place when I recorded this so there is a bit of puffing into the mic in this episode - sorry about that.
But if you can put up with that you will be able to experience a bit of drama. I will not give away too much here but there is a report from the scene of a minor natural disaster aswell as a severely stressed podcaster, much too late for a meeting. In fact it might bring to mind a rabbit, known from the litterature, who keeps looking at his watch repeating how very late he is.
There is also a segment where those of you that are learning Swedish can practice your skills.

The music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com.

• Bill Kahler - Feet Make The Path
• Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro)

Links

• Run Yank Run

The bird that scared me was a Jay.



Please send an e-mail or post a comment below if you want to get in touch.
It's always great to hear from you.

Subscriptions to this podcast can be made by using the links to the right.

You can listen to this episode by clicking the headline for this post.

Skräcklan half marathon

I've said that I wouldn't run any races this year... but today I went ahead and did my second race this summer. I had planned to run a long run this weekend anyway so why not do it together with a bunch of other runners.

The race took place in the nearby city Vänersborg and was organized by a local running club. There was both a full marathon and a half marathon taking place at the same time and on the same 8km track of roads and parkways. The full marathon was 5 laps around and the half was 2 ½ laps. I entered the half marathon race but since I hadn't signed up in advance I had to be there a bit early to register. My wife Georgia came with me and after I had registered we went to have a cup of coffee while we were waiting for the start.

The weather was nice for running, 15C/59F, cloudy, not much wind. I had wished for a bit of sunshine to brighten things up but the environment was really beautiful anyway.

I don't really know how many runners there were in the two races but my guess is that we were less than a hundred, probably closer to fifty than a hundred. It's not a very big race but in my opinion those races are usually a lot of fun. Two years ago I did the Gothenburgh half marathon together with 50 000 runners and today I did this race together with a lot less runners and I have to say that I prefer the smaller race.

We started 100m in front of the full marathon runners and the moment of the start was a bit vague since the start signal was produced over at the other starting line but it all worked out just fine. Since we were running 2½ laps we didn't do a full 8km first lap but had to take a shortcut after a few kms and come back to the later part of the loop. But that was no problem because one of the volunteers was standing there pointing us all in the right direction. The second and third lap we ran the full 8km loop. The first half of the loop was mostly on roads but the second half was on beautiful parkways along the lake Vänern, some parts among trees but for quite a long distance we had a beautiful view over the lake. The track was well marked out and the race well organized

Ok, my experience of the day... I started out too fast. At least according to the plan I had made. Based on my last long runs I was going to aim for a 6:30/km pace but after a couple of kms I found that I was running a 5:30 - 6:00 pace and I was a bit worried that I would run into problems later in the race. At the same time I felt very good and even if I tried to slow down a bit I seemed to be running at the same pace so I stopped worrying and went with the flow. I was run/walking with a 3:1 ratio and followed the intervall timer as strict as I could. The 3:1 ratio is how I have been training lately and it suits me good.

When you are the only run/walker you tend to be rather lonely, I mean that even if you are surrounded by the same people most of the time and you pass and get passed by them all the time, you don't really keep the same speed as they do and you can't really "cling on" to anyone. When you are running they are too slow and when walking they are much too fast. So I did my own race without that much help with the pace.

I kept on running and felt good for most of the race and with 6kms to go I did a prediction of my finishing time and found that there was a tiny possibility to finish under two hours. The time showed 1hour 28 and with 6kms to go and a 6 minute/km pace that would give me a finish time of around 2hours and 5 minutes. Ok for a little while I toyed with the idea to speed up and try but then I would have to run almost a minute faster per km for the rest of the race and I soon gave up the idea. The pace I was running was very pleasant and why take the risk of ruining it all. I decided to just keep on and enjoy the event. As it turned out I must have kicked up the pace anyway and I finished in 2:01:22 on my watch. The official time isn't up yet so there might be an adjustment to that later on but I am very happy with myself and also a bit surprised. I did beat my earlier half marathon PR with 20(!) minutes.

RtNP#34 Heather and Rowanberries

I brought the recorder with me on a run in the forest. It was a great evening and a great run. The forest had changed its charachter since my last run. It now had a scent of autumn, not strong but it was there. I found it a bit sad but also uplifting. I love the autumn air but I also love the warm summer. But I guess you can't have both and the change is only natural so the only thing to do is to accept it and enjoy every season, and every day for that matter, for what it is and absorb all the good there is.

In this episode I talk mostly about my running over the summer months.

The music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com

• de Phaser - Glorious
• Mathew Ebel - Lost My Way (Intro/Outro)

Please send an e-mail or post a comment below if you want to get in touch. It's always great to hear from you.

Subscription to this podcast can be made by using the links to the right.

You can listen to this episode by clicking the headline for this post.

Kraftprovet 11.6 km

I finally made up my mind and entered the race "Kraftprovet" today. I have thought back and forth for a few days and have had a hard time deciding wether I should run this race or not. Yesterday I met a friend who had made his mind up and he said to me "ok, see you at the starting line then" And I guess that was the kick I needed, so I met him at the starting line and we passed each other a couple of times in the beginning of the race, then I lost sight of him but knew that I was ahead of him, which felt satisfying. (I actually beat him with 6 minutes :-)


The forecast said 16C and light rain wich I thought would suite me. As it turned out it must have been quite a few degrees warmer, no rain and partly sunny. I had dressed for rain so I was a bit warmer than I would have liked but every now and then we ran in areas with a nice cool breeze and some people had also put their garden hoses out to spray the runners and that was also helpful.

I learned a lesson running into the first garden hose fontain - your glasses also get wet - that made my vision a bit blurred until my next walkbreak when I got the chance to wipe them off with my shirt. When running into the next hose shower I took my glasses off and held them away from the water, that worked fine. Lesson learned.


I ran/walked with a 3:1 ratio as strictly as I could, with a few adaptions around the water stops and also at the most brutal hills, and for the last bit I turned the intervall timer off and just ran.


Parts of the track were on rather narrow trails and that made the running part of run/walking a bit difficult. When walking many runners passed me but when running I wanted to go a bit faster than the crowd around me and it was sometimes impossible to pass them as the track wasn't wide enough. That might have slowed the total time down a bit but in return I guess it also gave me a bit of rest which maybe made me stronger for the later part of the race.

Closing in on the finish I passed quite a few runners and that felt really good, then suddenly, out of nowhere, came a guy in a grey shirt and passed me. That woke something up inside my head and I thought "Oh no you don't.. no way I'm letting you pass.." I managed to catch him up and we ran side by side, speeding each other up, towards the finish. Finally he was a bit stronger and reached the line an armlength ahead of me. But we ended up with the same time in the result. (ha, gotcha)

This was the first time I entered this local race and I'm glad I did. I met a lot of friends before and after the race and I also found that many other friends were out watching the race. As they recognized me and shouted my name I got extra power from somewhere, maybe from the joy I find in their concern and interrest in what I'm doing. I hope for a cool day for next years "kraftprovet" and will most certainly participate again in the future.

I'm very pleased with my run. Before the start I said that if can manage 1 hour and 15 minutes I would be happy but was open for a time towards 1:30. As I passed the 5k mark just under 30 minutes I was surprised and then the 10k mark at almost exactly 1 hour. That made me feel even stronger and very pleased with myself. I ended up finishing at 1:09:12. I heard the speaker call out my name and my time just as I finished. It was a lot of fun.