Test run

 Every day we go through so much. Some days are easier and others harder. Right now, my life is a bit complicated. And, that together with Bipolar disorder makes life interesting. Today that meant trying to say what I feel, but also to keep it civil. This, since my mind, wants me to be a raving lunatic at this someone. Going for a run then is a good thing. It gets me outside and shuts my mouth. But on the downside, I might go a bit too fast... Like today.

Today was "Test day". I was both annoyed at someone, and also wanted to run 5 km below 30 min. So, I went out too fast. I knew that from the start and tried to lower my speed. I so wanted to go fast. In the end, I had to walk two short stretches during the second part of the run. Despite that, I actually did the 5 km in 29 min 40 seconds. I am flabbergasted.

The run was hard, and I had to fight against myself. Focusing on me running. Listening to a book was a distraction, and my body burned. But I did it. Seeing that 5 km time is a major boost to my mind! Although, my threshold pace and heart rate didn't improve. 

When home I did some strength training. This is the one part of the program I don't enjoy. The upside is that I do notice the difference in my body, and that is cool.

Today's run in total with warmup and cooldown: 7,2 km in 44 min.
Today's book: Christmas at the Island Hotel by Jenny Colgan.

Short Endurance

Time for a recovery week. It always feels weird when they show up since I go from 1 h runs to 30 min. Today's run was a 30 min one. Went slow and focused on keeping a low heart rate. Chose a route which goes by a beach near us. Had a long discussion with me if I should go 5 k just for fun or follow the 30 min. I ended up going only 30 min. Tomorrow is test day.

Today's run: 4,4 km in 30 min.
Today's listening: Christmas at the Island Hotel by Jenny Colgan. Light listening I don't have to focus 100 % on.

Särö Västerskog

This morning I had a 35 min run planned. I decided to investigate Särö Västerskog again since I loved what I saw yesterday. I walked down the hill from the hotel to the main road and started running. Passed Blomstermåla on the way to the forest and Villa Furuhäll (Swedish). That is one magnificent house with a story.

Shortly after Villa Furuhäll, Särö Västerskog showed up on my right side. I turned into it and just started to follow different paths. The forest was beautiful, and I kept a close eye on my pulse since I wanted to have a good run. I still felt a bit sore after yesterday's run.

I ended up following the yellow loop twice. After that, I left the forest to get back to the hotel in time for some yoga before breakfast. 

Right below the hotel is a small beach, and it looks like there's a jetty there in the summer. This weekend has done me a ton of good, and I hope to come back here soon. My mind has really lifted.

5 km in 39 min.

 

Särö Runt

Today resulted in an awesome running experience. We decided to run Särö runt, as the hotel calls this loop. It was supposed to be around 6,4 km. Särön is an island outside of Kungsbacka in western Sweden, and part of it has a nature reserve, Särö Västerskog. 

We started out by running through a small forest patch from the hotel down to Säröbanan. I found this patch yesterday. This part is a really nice wooded area with broad paths. Nice on the legs and soul.

After that, the loop followed a small channel dividing the island and the mainland. Here we took a detour to see if we could run over a bridge I know of.

I wanted to see it and hopefully run over it. Unfortunately, the ice earlier this year had damaged two of the bridge supports. It was now too risky to even walk over it. We then backtracked to the island and continued with the loop.

Sweden has a set of rules concerning public access to nature called Allemansrätten. One of the parts of this is that you can not cut off access to the coastline unless your house is too close. This means that most of the coastline of Sweden is accessible for walking or in our case running.

On this loop, some parts were proper paths. They were really nice and easy to run on. We also got to the above-shown parts where you can go, but it is a bit trickier to run. Running right on the edge of a cliff heightens one's alertness. I loved it.

Then we came into Särö Västerskog, and it was beautiful. A part of the loop went through the forest, and some went on the stone cliffs and shoreline. This part was a lot of fun, and even if I walked some, I loved it. Back out on the road, it felt weird. It was so flat compared to earlier. There we could really see some of the houses on Särön, which are exceptional to view.

This is a loop I want to run again. In the future, it will be fun to see how I develop as a trail runner. I hope this loop will help me see how it goes.

Today's long run: 7,3 km in 1 hour. A few parts were really technical for me.

Säröbanan

Today had a speed workout on the schedule. I decided to run it on Säröbanan (Swedish), close to where we were going to spend our weekend at Säröhus. Since being hit with my allergies I have had some problem with my speed. So, I was nervous about how this workout was going to go.

I need not have worried. It went good even if I would have loved it to go faster, but sometimes one has to accept that the body can only do so much. Allergies are a bitch. I ran 26 min one way and then turned to run back to the hotel.

The run went right by the ocean, through areas of family houses and this small gorge. The sun was bright, and it felt like a good run.

Today's run: 8,25 km in 53 min. The distance is slowly growing.

Tempo run

Feels nice getting to push me for a longer period, but also hard when allergies are running havoc in my body. Did my normal route when about 5-6 km is called for and the weather was still nice. It really tickles me when I see speeds below 6 min/km. Would love to run 5 km in under 30 min again. Maybe one day I will get there.

Today's run: 6,8 km in 44 min.