Cold, darkness and some rewards.

It's suddenly cold and dark in the morning when I cycle to work. This morning I needed wool socks, mittens and a hat. It was just a few weeks back that we were strolling around in short skirts and sandals and it's a chock for everyone when we all of a sudden need winter clothes. Now we have to find all those thousands of little mittens for the girls, the thick socks, the hats and the scarfs. In the same time it's a bit cozy, the air is fresh and we all sleep better when it's cold and dark...

I was a good girl this evening, going out for interval training in the darkness. Sometimes I do miss a partner to run with, especially during these heavy interval training sessions, God knows you need to be stubborn to finish running up a steep and long hill 10 times in a row... After this heavy evening training I rewarded myself with a good stretch:

And some fast carbs:

It is Thursday after all...

It might be a good thing winter is coming...

Lovisa got a late birthday gift from my dad and his wife. They think they found the perfect gift since Lovisa is such a physical little girl... Secretly I think it might be a good thing winter is coming, just thinking about all the accidents and scraps these rollerblades will cause makes me weak...

Grande visit from Canada!

We've had the most amazing weekend. Thursday evening H:s sister and husband arrived and unfortunately they've already left but it was so great to see them. It's hard to know what to prioritize when you want to spend time together and get the best out of Stockholm from a sightseeing point of view. We were lucky with the weather and the Abba museum was one of the highlights of this weekend:

 Dani and Real as Anni-Frid and Benny!

H and me found a heart...

 The girls found a helicopter that they didn't want to get out of...

Dani writing in the guest book...

My cool family...

Yesterday we went to my dad's place and the Canadians got to try a bit of the Finish sauna tradition. 15 degrees in the lake and it's starting to feel a bit cold when you jump in the water after a nice sauna...

Beautiful Dani

It's sad to notice that the children completely lost their French. When we moved to Sweden, almost two years ago, Lovisa only spoke French. When she started daycare a few months after that, she started to speak Swedish and somewhere along the way she completely stopped speaking French. I do believe she understands quite a lot but she doesn't speak a word... She's making an effort though, the book before bedtime is now the Swedish-French dictionary (completely voluntarily)!

This weekend was filled with laughter, talk, joy and love. It's tough to be apart from your family and it's hard to catch up when you only have a few days together. But we did our best and to summarize I'd like to say: "Thanks for all the generous love and thanks for all the fun"

Have a safe flight home.

Because I'm worth it.

Shopping with two good friends, talking, laughing, eating and drinking. Just what I needed. And look what I bought, a little treat now that fall is upon us...

Stockholm halfmarathon!

It's always the same, I didn't feel ready to run a 21 km race when I woke up Saturday morning at all. Tired, bad night's sleep and heavy legs. But anyway, the sky was blue and it looked like we were in for a very nice day... I prepared a picnic since H and the girls, for once, were coming with me to cheer me on and enjoy beautiful Stockholm. I did a bunch a sandwiches, coffee, packed cookies and soft drinks. I figure I have to take good care of the few fans I have and maybe they want to tag along for my next race too...


I took a warm shower and got dressed, painted my nails so they matched my adios boost, very chic indeed! I certainly believe that I run faster if I look better, make perfect sense - right!?


After lunch I took of to the city to get my number tag and I already felt the pressure on the metro when a man started to chit chat asking me if I was running the halfmarathon, what time I was expecting to run in and so on... I finally reached "Kungsträdgården" and got my number tag and my timechip that I had to attach to my shoe. After that I met H and the girls. The girls tried to do their best to make me taste their incredibly huge icecreams but I resisted and nervously chewed on a small pack of raisins instead...


Then I kissed the family goodbye, waited in line for half an hour to pee and then I had to rush to my start group and that wasn't so easy, it was really crowded! I just made it in time!

Just before the start...

And off we went, the start was a mess, it was so crowded it was impossible to run. Between 1-2 km we ran through a tunnel- "Klaratunneln" - and my Garmin lost it's satellite signal so I wasn't sure how fast or far I've been running. Between 3-4 km the crowd loosened up a bit and I found a nice pace, it felt easy and my legs alert. It was hot and every 3rd kilometer they had a refreshment station with water, I skipped the first station but after that I always took 2 glasses, one to poor over my head and one to take a few sips from.

Around 12 km - running by the Swedish parliament building with a nice feeling...

After running 13 km the track got a bit trickier and steeper, running around beautiful "Södermalm". I didn't exactly know my total time I've been running and my legs started to feel heavy and a bit stiff. Struggling closer to "Slussen" I realized I was going to make it and nothing but an accident could stop me from finishing this race, I had the energy.

Running my last kilometers, enjoying every step!

With the goal in sight!

After finally reaching the goal after 1 hour 51 minutes and 15 seconds off running, I felt that I still had some energy left, I probably could have made it sub 1:50 this beautiful, perfect day but I was to scared of hitting the wall since it was my first halfmarathon I ran and I never, ever ran this distance before. But for sure, I'm going to do it again!

Happy about the day, the race, the crowd, the weather and myself!

A day with my girls.

I have a day off with my girls since the daycare is closed. We slept in a bit, played, did laundry, went to the park and now back home for some "fredagsmys" with popcorn in front of the tellie. Oh beautiful September - I want to inhale this fresh air and enjoy the weak, warm sun forever...

Darkness.

Tonight I went for my last run before Saturday's big challenge. It was only the darkness that revealed that it's actually September and not July, the temperature was around 19 degrees after 8 pm and I was only wearing shorts and a chemise. The air was fresh and the evening beautiful. I can hardly remember how cold and winter feels like!




When I got home I rolled out my gym mat and my gym ball and did some strength and stretch training. The gym ball is really amazing, so good for your whole body but maybe best when it comes to your core since you always have to tighten your whole corset of muscles doing the different work-outs.




Tomorrow I'm cycling to and home from work and after that my legs are going to have a well earned rest before the big race on Saturday - 21 km, I never ran that far in my entire life...

Happy birthday Lovisa!

The anticipations were high on Saturday morning and I could finally answer "Yes, it's today we're having your birthday party!" when Lovisa asked for the 100th time if it was today her birthday party was going to take place. 2 pm the guests started to arrive and we were so lucky with the weather so we had the party outside. 10 children and 15 adults spent the afternoon together and it was so nice. The children jumped on the trampoline, ate goodies and cake and played while the adults talked, ate and enjoyed the lovely September day.

 Homemade goodies for the adults (OK, OK, I didn't make the chocolate decorations but I did make the muffins and the frosting)...

 And for the children...

Lovisa blowing out the candles on the "Anna-tårta"

After a wonderful day we all slept early and well. Sunday was the true birthday and the celebration continued, we had lunch at a fastfood resto that starts with the letter M... 

This was yet another lovely day so we took off to the king and queen's home "Drottningsholm" and walked around in the huge garden. Lovisa didn't quite understand why we couldn't visit the queen and she thought it was really weird and funny to have a guard outside your home...

The girls were not allowed in...

Beautiful Drottningholm...

But I think we do have to complain to the king about his parking, the high edge in front of the cars destroyed not only our front but many others too... Be aware if you're visiting the king, don't drive to close to this edge!

And today the celebration continued at the daycare, Lovisa brought icecream for everyone and they sang to her and she got to wear a crown... Phew, now I think we celebrated enough - she's really 4 years old!

Hopeful...

I ran 15 km to work this morning without feeling any pain in my knee... I just might be able to run the halfmarathon next weekend! Here I am in my cozy changingroom:



Now time to prepare this weekend's big event - Lovisa 4 years old. Have a great weekend everyone!

August sum-up and thoughts about Sthlm halfmarathon...

Hmm... A runners-knee and a cold later, here's the past month's running/excercise (and the whole year!):

January: 50,1 km
February: 42,3 km
March: 39,7 km
April: 38,5 km
May: 61,0 km
June: 103,9 km
July: 165,6 km
August: 84,5 km Cycling: 504,2 km Strength training: 6 times

Total during 2013: 592,8 km

I'm pissed off at my knee. I mean, I was in great shape and then it hit me, right before my 10K race and about one month before Stockholm halfmarathon. The positive thing about it is that I really started to do my strength training more regularly and I do stretching, with focus on my legs, almost every day. I've been cycling to work every day and I've been running ridiculously short routs (1-2 km) before my strength training as warm-up. I ran 5 km yesterday and my knee felt fine, no pain! So this weekend I'm planning to run a longer route and if that works I'm going to give Stockholm halfmarathon a go. I may still have a chance to reach one more goal of 2013...

At least August gave me one of my goals - 10 K sub 50 min despite a hurting knee...

Preparing.

On Sunday it's going to be four years ago Lovisa saw her first daylight. This we're going to celebrate on Saturday with a big party and we are busy with preparations. Fortunately I have some help...

 My helpers...

 Mummy's cookies...

The helpers cookies...

Four years old... I can't really believe it...