Sunday, November 8, 2009

RtNP#17 The Dream Inspires

This is my documentary on the Worldwide Festival of Races run that I did on oct 11 2009. I took part in the Dream Inspires event, held in Oxford Uk, where I ran the 10k distance.

Sorry that it took so long to put the episode together and I also apologise for the audioquality which is a bit poor in some parts. This is the first time that I have done a recording/editing project of this proportion and it has been a challenge but also interresting and I did learn a couple of new tricks to try to get it as audible as possible.

Running together and meeting the people were great and it's a memory that I will keep in my heart forever.
I hope you can sense the athmosphere of joy and friendship as you listen.

In this episode ..
..you can hear me talk about my trip to Oxford as I run by myself around my home but you can also hear parts of the recording I did while running together with friends along the Thames and in the city of Oxford

Links..
..to things mentioned:
 The Music ..
.. is from the PodShow Podsafe Music Network, at music.podshow.com
In this episode you can hear:


Contact me by e-mail (address in link to the right) or post a comment below.
Subscription to this podcast can be made by using the links to the right.
Listen to this episode here.  (right click [save-as..] for download).

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Back home

I returned home safely earlier this evening after a fantastic holiday in Oxford, UK.

Thanks to everyone that made it a special and memorable event.

Thanks also for sharing your photos, my photos from the race didn't turn out too good, I'm afraid. Probably because my glasses were all wet and fogged up because of the rain, so I didn't really see what I took pictures of. I more or less just pointed the camera in one direction and pushed the button, not the best way of doing it.

I had the recorder going for the whole race and I listened through the audio last night in my guesthouse and once again on the bus this morning. That left me with two main thoughts:
  • 1. I had such a great time running with you all. It was really fun. and
  • 2. How...! am I going to edit this into something that will be interresting to listen to.
I ended up with 2½ hours of audio and the quality is both good and not so good. Soundlevels are all over the scale, some of the conversations are a bit hard to follow and there is also a lot of noise. - Useless? - I hope not. I have a few ideas.

All of it has great value for me to listen to, because I was there and this is what I experienced but for a regular podcast listener it is probably not so interresting.
Anyway I'm determined to give it a try, we'll see if I can succeed. It would be fun to be able to share our run from my perspective with you all.

Hopefully the next edition of the Running the Narrow Path podcast will contain audio from the Dream Inspires Run.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

RtNP#16 Busy Times

Sometimes there are just not enough hours in a day, or maybe it's the way we plan our days that is wrong. Anyway I managed to record on a run and this is what came out of that. Hope you'll enjoy it.

In this episode ..

..you can hear me whine about a hectic week as I go running in the forest for what might be the last time for the season.

The Music ..

.. is from the PodShow Podsafe Music Network, at http://www.music.podshow.com/
In this episode you can hear:

  • Ty Hall and the EZ3 - Pirates Gold
  • Charlie Crowe - 007 (bkgr)
  • Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro)


Contact me by e-mail (address in link to the right) or post a comment below.
Subscription to this podcast can be made by using the links to the right.
Listen to this episode here.  (right click [save-as..] for download).

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Interresting run in the forrest.

I had a great time in the forrest today. The weather was beautiful, a bit windy but that didn't bother me. I started out on my favourite loop, the one that I call the Oaktree - Yellow house loop. As it turned out I ended up running only parts of the planned tracks but that only made my run more interresting.

Usually I'm all alone in the forest but today I met a lady on the path in the middle of the forrest. I said: "Hi" and she replyed: "I'm lost. Can you help me?" She was out looking for mushrooms and got lost. I gave her directions for how to find her way back to roads that were familiar to her. From what I understood she was far away from where she thought but knew the location I pointed out to her and should find her way back to her car from there. I asked her if she had found any mushrooms and she had found some but for the last hour or so, when she found herself lost in the woods she had lost interrest in the mushrooms and stopped looking for them.
I hope she made it to her car allright. I'm sure she did. From the point where we met and out to the road it was less than two kms and a path or small road to follow all the way. Fairly easy if you don't panic or something.

After a while I came to a place where there is another path going in to the forrest, a path that I always thought looked so nice and often wondered where it leads to. Today I decided to find out.
It turned out to be a wonderful detour to my usual loop. I took me back to the track after a while. Going this "new" path is about the same distance, I think, but keeps me off roads and on nice soft paths instead so this might be my new regular Oaktree - Yellow house track.

On one of the new paths I met a runner (I don't think I've ever met one in the forrest before) He was followed by a girl (his daughter?) riding a horse. So I stopped for a little bit not to scare the horse. It was a nice break to the usual lonliness. And also fun to realise that other runners/riders also like the nice paths around here.

At one point I had to turn back because the path I was following kind of faded out into nothing. I went back and made another turn and found myself back on the road i usually run.

I didn't manage to run the full loop today because I found that I had been out a bit too long and we were expecting guests so I made a shortcut and ran the main road back home. My run today turned out to be 8.5km and even if I had hoped to go a bit longer I was really happy with what I accomplished.

I had such a great time today, exploring new paths and I found it quite interresting to meet theese people. It seems that I'm not the only one to keep the paths open.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

RtNP#15 A New Thing

I think most of us are using different equipment to help us with our training. And even for a short run around the block it might take a while to get ready because we have to strap on, not only our shoes and running clothes but also several technical devices. If the "things" are helping us getting motivated, it's a good thing.

From now on I will be strapping on a new thing for every run I do and I sure hope it will make my training better.


In this episode ..

..you can hear me try out a new gadget which I hope will be useful in my training. I'm also talking a little about what the Worldwide Festival of Races means to me.


Links ..

.. to things mentioned.

The Music ..
.. is from the PodShow Podsafe Music Network, at http://www.music.podshow.com/
In this episode you can hear:

Contact me by e-mail (address in link to the right) or post a comment below.
Subscription to this podcast can be made by using the links to the right.
Listen to this episode here.  (right click [save-as..] for download).

Thursday, July 30, 2009

RtNP#14 Updates

I suspect that I have a number of listeners that might not be interrested in running but listens to this podcast every once in a while to keep up with me and my family and what we are doing. So in this episode there are a few updates about us, besides the running related things that I also talk about.

In this episode ..

..you can hear me running a bit too fast to be able to speak properly. Or maybe I'm not in such good shape after all. You can also hear my daughter play a tune on the cello.

Links ..

.. to things mentioned.
The Music ..

.. is from the PodShow Podsafe Music Network, at http://www.music.podshow.com/
In this episode you can hear:


Contact me by e-mail (address in link to the right) or post a comment below.
Subscription to this podcast can be made by using the links to the right.
Listen to this episode here.  (right click [save-as..] for download).

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Injured :(

Apparently I hadn't trained enough to do a half marathon. I did complete the race but at the last part of the race my knees started to hurt. It seems that I injured my left knee during the race and I have had problems running since then. My right knee is ok again and hopfully the left one will heal soon. On todays run I managed to run for about 4 - 4½ kms before I felt the pain. I guess that's good because earlier the pain started much earlier.

Any ideas how to heal faster, anyone? I've tried most things, such as massage, ice and heat, liniment, stretching, rest and prayers. What else is there? I guess healing takes time and patience, but it is not fun at all. I have been running three times a week almost every week since December, struggling through snow and cold without a single problem. And now, when the weather is warm and nice and I really would enjoy running - I cannot.

I guess I should make myself a recoveryplan. What if I do my old leg strengthening program and stretches daily. - That have helped before. I should probably shorten my runs too, to a distance that I can run without pain, That would be 3½ - 4 kms based on my experience today. OK that's what I'm going to do, and now that I've written it down here, I can't cheat, can I. I guess I could log it all on Buckeye Outdoors too, that might make me even more disciplined. Yes my decision is made - recovery plan starts tomorrow, and I'll be back running as usual in notime. (I hope)

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

RtNP#13 My First Half


In this episode ..

..you can hear me talking about the Gothenburg Half Marathon. Telling you some of the things I experienced during the race.

Links ..
.. to things mentioned
To see pictures from the race, visit http://www.marathonfoto.com/
Select race - Goteborg Half Marathon 2009
Last Name - Wilhelmsson
Bib Number - 56640


The Music ..
.. is from the PodShow Podsafe Music Network, at http://music.podshow.com/
In this episode you can hear:


Contact me by e-mail (address in link to the right) or post a comment below.
Subscription to this podcast can be made by using the links to the right.
Listen to this episode here.  (right click [save-as..] for download).

Monday, May 18, 2009

Gothenburg half

I finished my first half marathon in 2:21:27.

More info later.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Counting down

Only a few days left before the Gothenburg half marathon this Saturday.
When I received the race information a few weeks ago, I got really nervous. It struck me that this is for real. Now I feel comfortable about it. I have never done anything like this before so I don't know what to expect but I figure that if I only can be at the right place when it's time for me to start, I'll be ok. Then I just have to follow the crowd I guess. I'm sure it will be crowded, over 50 000 entrants. And even if there will be some that doesn't show up, there will still be a lot! of people there.

The race starts at 2 pm but I'm in startgroup 16 (out of 19) and we are scheduled to start at 3:46 pm.
Based on my 10k race last week and also on things that I've heard and red during last week, I have now formed a race plan for myself. My plan is this: Enjoy the event!
I'm not going to focus on time. I am going to check my splits to see what happens but I'm not going to let the split times matter that much. The main goal for me now is to reach the finnishline and to have fun on the way there. If I could do that in 6min/km I would be so pleased but if I'm going slower, that's fine too.

I haven't decided if I'm going to try to record some audio during the race. It would be fun to be able to share that with you in my next podcast episode but I guess I'm a bit scared of what people around me are thinking. On the other hand I will probably be rather anonymous in the crowd so it might be safe. It also depends on the weather. The forecast said warmer temperatures this week, and that could mean anything above 10C /50F.

My bib number is 56 640, if anyone want to check my result or something. It might be a challenge though, since the website is mainly in Swedish.
I'll let you know how it goes, here on my blog and I intend to tell you all about it in my next episode of the podcast.

21.2 kms is a bit longer than I have run before and it will surely be demanding at the last part of the race. I'll be fine for the first 10 - 15 kms, - 18 maybe, but then... we'll see.
I'm sure it will be fun though and I'm really looking forward to this Saturday.

Gohenburg half marathon

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Race report

Today I ran a 10k race in our town. The race is held in the evening, starts at 6:30 pm, it's a really nice event organised by a running club. I don't really know how many runners that took part. My guess is around 100. The race goes for two laps on parkways and roads in town. It's well organised with many people that helps around the track with stopping traffic when the track crosses roads and also people who directs you into the right path when there sometimes are many options. Many runners, including myself, use this race as a dress rehearsal for the Gothenburg half marathon.

I ran this race last year in 1:02:18 and my plan this year was to go faster than that. My 10k PR was 57:57, and I was aiming for 55 minutes this evening. I had thought a lot about a plan or strategy for this race. I think I do much better if I have a plan to follow. So my plan was to run the first 5 kms at a little under 6 minutes each km and then have strength left to speed up a bit for the second half.

This is what happened:
Just before the start I met an old friend and we chatted a little about everything and nothing, and suddenly I heard "GO" and we took off. I started my stoppwatch (I thought). I was running with my new watch because it has a memory for laptimes and I thought that if I push the lap time button every km I don't have to do so much calculation in my head. Later in a race I find that to be difficult, probably due to lack of oxygen in my brain. After about half a minute I looked at my watch and it hadn't started. I must have pushed the wrong button. OK I estimated that we were about 30 sec in the race so I pushed the right button and thought that I'll just add 30 sec to my total time and the first km lap. the other laptimes each km should be ok. No big deal.

As always, I got carried away and started out too fast.
1 km - 4:29 and add 30 sec thats 5 minutes. Still enough oxygen to figure that out. Way too fast. Have to slow down.
2 km - 5:30 Still a bit faster than I had planned. Slow down a bit.
3 km - 5:36 Better but could slow down just a little bit more to be strong enough at the end.
4 km - 5:30 Faster? but I'm slowing down, am I not? At this point I gave up my plan and formed a new one: I'm feeling great, why not go on and try to hit the 5:30 for a couple of kms more, and we'll see what I can do at the end.
5 km - 5:32 Perfect! according to my new plan. My wife and daughter applauded and cheered me on at the halfway point. That is always a source of energy. Now I really started to enjoy the evening. The weather was nice, around 15C (60 F) and the sun was shining. The wind was a bit cold but it wasn't too bad. Many parts of the track were quite nice. Soft walkingpaths - that I like.
6 km - 5:44 I walked for a little bit at the waterstop. Maybe I walked for 15 sec. Perfect again! Really enjoying this race now. Feeling strong. I think that only one runner passed me for the last couple of kms.
7 km - 5:32 I am really good at this! I even overtook a few runners at this point. I am great! I can do anything!
8 km - 5:38 not too bad. Only two kms to go, lets see if I can speed up a little.
9 km - 5:13 yes! I could go faster! ok this is it, only 1 km to go, give everything you have now Krister. I wonder if I can overtake the guy dressed in black and white a little bit ahead of me. Yes I can! go go go.
A few hundred metres before the finnish line I passed him and I felt great. My wife and daughter cheered and I finnished the race in 54:04 a new PR. I ran the last km in 4:54.
I was really tired but happy with myself and what I had accomplished.

I had a great race even if I was a bit angry with myself for not starting my watch at the right point. My watch showed 53:40at the finnish, 24 seconds off from the official time so my mistake at the beginning wasn't really a problem. I was also a bit confused when my first plan didn't work. My second plan was better. Maybe I don't have experience enough to form a race plan. This was my fourth race, so far. But there will be more. Racing is a lot of fun.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

RtNP#12 New Shoes

Spring is here, even more so now than when I recorded this episode. Here is a picure of the flower I mention on my run. We call them Tussilago, that's part of their latin name. From what I could find out I think the English name for them is Coltsfoot.

A little later in my run I stop and listen to a couple of birds, their song didn't come out as good in the recording as it did listening to them "live". The birds are Skylarks and to me they too are very much associated with spring.




In this episode ..

..you can hear me finding signs of spring. I'm also amazed by natures transformation this time of year. I talk about buying broken things, that besides beeing annoying also gives you a lot of extra trouble.


Links ..

.. to things mentioned

The Music ..
.. is from the PodShow Podsafe Music Network, at http://music.podshow.com/
In this episode you can hear:



Contact me by e-mail (address in link to the right) or post a comment below.
Subscription to this podcast can be made by using the links to the right.
Listen to this episode here.  (right click [save-as..] for download).

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Tagged

I've been tagged, to be honest I think I was tagged long ago but have got away with it so far.
Now it is probably about time that I put down some things here, things that maybe you didn't know about me. If you go on reading this you can considder yourself tagged and that means you are supposed to give us some facts about yourself on your blog, but there is always the opportunity of cheating. I'm actually cheating a bit myself here, because I'm supposed to write down 25 things but couldn't come up with that many. Here they are:
  • I grew up on a farm. But since I gave this information away in #11 of my podcast, I have to come up with something more - What about: I know how to milk a cow, ride a horse and drive a tractor. At least I think I remember how it is done.
  • I sang in differrent choirs for many years, and enjoyed it very much. I don’t remember the songs though, but will forever treasure the memories, the friends and the “team spirit” we had in some of the choirs.
  • I have been married for 21 years this summer. We had a Greek orthodox wedding.
  • I own a LandRover SIII, 109STW (with a broken gearbox, unfortunately) The car has turned into a renovation project that I don’t really have the time for.
  • I don’t subscribe to any newspaper at the moment and seldom watches the news on TV. I don’t want to know about all the evil things people do to each other.
  • The only University degree I have is in Modern Greek. I don’t practice the language enough though, I can understand an everyday conversation quite well but find it hard to say something myself.
  • I keep a list of “Birds - seen and/or heard in/from our garden” together with my youngest daughter. On this years list we have almost 10 birds so far. We hope to get to see a lot more shortly, as the migrants returns for the summer.
  • I write with my left hand, but use both hands equally for most other tasks.
  • I have only sat foot on a treadmill twice. When I was consulting a physiotherapist for a knee injury some years ago. And when I was trying out a new pair of running shoes, only a few days ago.
  • I have never had any weight problems so far. At health examinations they usually seems to think that I need to put on some weight.
  • My favourite food is - almost everything really, but I avoid fish and dairy products because of a stomach issue. Even beer is a bit of a problem sometimes. I don’t miss the fish and the yoghurt that much, but a nice cold ... mm I’m getting thirsty...
  • I enjoy to read books, I prefer a mystery or a thriller but also like travelogues, memoirs or maybe something about historic times.
  • I have tried hanggliding once. It was a bit too difficult for my liking. I never got the hang of it. (-oh sorry, couldnt resist that comment.)
  • I like to solve crosswords, I find sudoku a bit boring but have found that it is great for falling asleep.
  • I survived a carcrash at age 24. A little while ago I realized that I have now lived as long after the accident as I had before. - Strange, the last 24 years seems to have passed much quicker.

Ok, now you might know me a little better.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

RtNP#11 A Beautiful Day















This episode was recorded a while ago but unfortunately I haven't been able to get it uploaded until now. - Sorry about the delay.

You can see some photos from the track here.



In this episode ..

..you can hear me run my longest run ever, so far, talking about nothing special, really. But enjoying my run, the weather and life in general. Hope you'll enjoy it too.


Links ..

Runway - Patrick's Podcast

The Music ..

.. is from the PodShow Podsafe Music Network, at music.podshow.com
In this episode you can hear:

Blind Alley - Fire and Ice
Geoff Smith - Hello Hello

Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro)



Contact me by e-mail (adress in link to the right) or post a comment below.
Subscription to this podcast can be made by using the links to the right.
Listen to this episode here.  (right click [save-as..] for download).

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

RtNP#10 Timeless Podcasts




Kungsfågel - the bird I've been mentioning in some recent episodes.





For this episode I have tried new ways of podcasting. I think it is a bit like running, you have to try new challenges to see where your limits are. Now I'm wondering if I'm not getting pretty close to the edge of what I can do. Or maybe (just like running) the more you train the better you become.
I have had a lot of fun producing this episode, and I even got my family involved. The fact is that all of my family is participating in one way or another.










A few photos from my run can be viewed here. Unfortunately there wasn't enough light for my camera that day.





In this episode ..

.. you can hear me talk about some of the not running related podcasts I listen to. I am also talking about the future of our runningpodcasts, and to find out about that I'm visiting myself in another time.


Links ..


The Music ..

.. is from the PodShow Podsafe Music Network, at www.music.podshow.com/
In this episode you can hear:

Contact me by e-mail (adress in link to the right) or post a comment below.
Subscription to this podcast can be made by using the links to the right.
Listen to this episode here.  (right click [save-as..] for download).