Tonight I would have loved to be at the premiere for MCKs MTB training. But since my own premiere on Saturday my arm has been killing. So I can't see any cycling for me for April. Now the goal is to be race ready for mid-May or at the lastest June.

So tonight I just ran along the muddy trail in the valley and then up the hill to Björndammsterassen. Normally I take another trail so my worst hill comes later but this was right from the bottom in Sävedalen. Serious hill indeed. By the time I reached the top of that I had decided to just keep going and run back down instead of resting. Aktiv återhämtning is a good way to do things. So then I just headed back home since I did not want to kill myself the first pass.

It has been raining all night and it was still going this morning when I woke up. What can I do when the snow is like this and the local roads are covered in wet ice? Well, I could cry. Or I could point out that this is because I found my skis. But instead I thought a good run in the forest would be the best choice. If I am numb for 3 days I will not get upset over lack of snow.

Heading up to Furulund for my 'favourite' route of about 10km is nasty even during the summer. There is no rest on those hills and with the wet snow it was an adventure in many ways. But it felt good to know I still have some kondition. My theory is that if I can run a half-marathon at a relaxed pace, I should be able to ski a whole marathon. And the 10km I just did is more like 15km in a flat place like Uppsala. So maybe Stråkenloppet next weekend will work.

I was a bit surprised that it started raining at exactly 08.00, the time SMHI said it would start raining. And it kept raining so I had to come up with a new plan for training which would not result in an afternoon of bike washing.

So I threw on my sexy running tights and headed out. Like every time I decide to start running, I drove to Lerum and the 2.5km trail at Riddarsten which has enough hills and variation to keep things exciting. It was not so bad to run in the rain except my glasses kept fogging up so I could not see. But the sweat was just washed away nicely.

I did 7.5km and it was pretty bad. This is not a good sign at all with cross season coming. Cross is all about maxing it for 40-50 min and that did not go well this morning.

Yes, I am still around but today was the first day I did something interesting enough to write about. On this semi-fine Påsk Friday I hopped into my car and drove over to Lerum and the Riddarsten motionspår. Why would I drive to go running??? Good question. Here are some reasons:

- The trail is soft grus which is good for my knee right now.
- The 2.5km length means I can stop if I feel sore. 8:an at Skatås would mean I would run 8km no matter what.
- The hill is lagom compared to Partille so it still gives something.
- The place is basically empty so no competition urges would kick in if people pass me. I need lugnt och fint.
- I trained here last year for GöteborgsVarvet so I know how fast I should be able to go when healthy and free of injury.
- In a duathlon you need to do 5km and then 2.5km after the bike so I don't have to think about distance.

When I got there, it was a lot more jobbigt than I remembered to get up the hill but I can't say that I prepared very well for this in terms of eating properly last night or this morning. So this meant high pulse almost immediately. Lap 1 was fine and Lap 2 I felt like I was pushing so I decided to stop after that.

Distance: 5km
Time: 24:13
Hr ave: 181

My leg felt pretty stiff but okay so I didn't want to push it anymore. My plan was to walk the 2.5km lap as 'cool down' but that 24 minutes had Hr ave of 138 which is not quite what I expected. Most of this was because it took 6 minutes to recover from the running. I saw this as a sign that I had done enough for the day.

It is Thursday again so that means time to drop by Sportlife Örgryte/Göteborg tennis club. In their lobby right now they have bikes from PitPro so I had something to do while waiting. Yep, if someone gave me one of those to ride at the XC races, I would not complain at all.

Anyway, today was time for hill intervals so I was all excited. However, during the 3.5km warmup I could feel why it is not so good to strength train the way I did one day before running. Aj it hurt everywhere and now my lårmusklar are not happy with me at all. So it was probably good that the 'hill' was not like the one we MCKare ran up last weekend.

The trainers said that we should run the 4x1min intervals (2 min vila) at a fairly steady pace. But mjölksyra is something for elit so if you run too hard you will wake up tomorrow and not want to train. Well, I wasn't planning on training tomorrow so of course I will run like hell and collect as much mjölksyra as I can. =) Afterall, I have 500m mountains in Norway to get over during the summer.

The first two 1-min were okay but my last 2 were horrible and I had no energy. Then after some strange co-ordination moves which just made my muscles hurt more, it was time for 4x30s intervals (1.5 min vila) and those I could manage better.

Finally it was time to 'jog' back down to the start but it was clear and downhill so I couldn't really help but try and pass everyone. As usual, I couldn't catch the top 5 but still I did well. They must think I am an idiot.

90 minutes of running on solid ice? Check! Now can we have some spring weather?

As I said, Sportlife has running passes at Skatås on Thursdays so if you are a member at any of their gyms, just drop by. There were about 30 today which was surprising considering that 8:an was covered in ice pretty much all the way around. It wasn't so bad to run since you are just sort of flying over it. So running on ice is way easier than cycling on ice.

The theme was supposed to be fartlek (no jokes, I promise) but it was light jogging for the first. Then they decided to try some intervals but said that they should be steady without mjölksyra. Huh? I thought interval meant 'kör som FAN!' so that you fall over during the last one. It was 2-4-4-2 minutes and it was supposed to be 1 minute rest between. But after the interval we all had to turn around and go back so that the whole group would be together again for the next. So it was a longer break. Using my method, I was 6th fastest in the whole group which felt good. The others at the front were also doing proper intervals.

Then it was more light jogging and I was starting to feel pretty dead so the pass was a success. For 'fun', they threw in a couple of '8 lamppost' intervals where it was sloping a bit up. Oj oj did they feel lovely. And after that it was about 2km downhill back to the start.

Yes, I am in pain. Yes, it was a good pass. Next week's theme is hill intervals. Excellent. But the 'hill' on 8:an was nothing compared to my Partille hills so I should be well prepared.

This winter has really killed my cykelträning and I am wondering what to do with all this running experience. Last year the answer was to run a few races until GöteborgsVarvet and then I switched to MTB to race Billingeracet with basically no cycling at all. I finished Billingen but it could have went a lot better.

So how can I make the best use of all this running now and the months of April and May? The answer...Duathlon! Duathlon comes in many forms but mainly it is running, cycling and then running again.

Precisely at the right time (April-May), there are 4 races listed under Duathloncupen 2010 on duathlon.se. These are unfortunately all around Stockholm so if there is a Göteborg equivalent, please let me know.

The 'sprint' distance is 5km running + 20km LVG + 2.5km running which would be the perfect length during cross season. And the SM distance is 10km run + 40km LVG + 5km run which is perfect for MTB marathon training.

Where do I sign up? This is perfect for me!

Now it is time for me to give a very good promotion for Sportlife because today's members benefit was well worth my 299kr/month. From v8-19 on thursdays down at Skatås, they offer some quality running passes. I know that GöteborgsVarvet has their sessions on the weekend but I found them less useful than tonight.

I had to run about 2km just to make it on time due to bloody Västtrafik so I was warmed up and ready to go. But tonight was about various types of strength training under the heading of Löpteknik/löpkoordination. So my arms and legs were getting all stretched and people walking their dogs got a nice look at our group hopping on 1 foot or other strange things. But this really helped. And unlike BodyPump, you could actually get it without 3 weeks of trying.

There was a guy from Hisingens CK there who heard I was from Mölndals CK and said 'So you ride with the fast boys...' Damn right I do! =)

After Göteborg receives the worst snowstorm of the year, running is not the first thing one would think of. But what the hell...it is Sunday. The sun was shining.

This was pure torture running in uneven footprints in 20cm deep snow. Like running 5km in sand. I had no grip at all and my feet and legs were getting so twisted that I could have joined Cirque de Soleil.

Time: 59:44.3
Energy: 838 kcal
Hr peak: 189
Hr average: 164

Distance? Good question. I took the short route around Furulund forest because I could hardly run. But on the way back down the Landvettervägen hill which was ploughed, I kept going and took a loop around Allum. This was mostly to untwist my body and to see how many people would stare at me for running. The answer? Many!

Since it is Valentine's Day, I thought I should follow my heart with my Suunto T3 heartrate watch. But I will not be a cheesy romantic since I am single and think this 'holiday' is a bit silly.

So, today I did the whole 7.5km trail up at Furulund so the total distance should have been 12.7km. But measuring where I thought I went on Eniro gave me 11km. So I really have no clue.

Time: 1:04:17
Peak hr: 193
Average hr: 171
Training Effect: 5
Energy: 1002 kcal

The numbers don't lie...this is a tough route. On the flat parts my hr was down to a more reasonable 160. Going downhill I sped up so I never really rested. But having the watch motivated me to make a good time so I would have something to work for later. Obviously I need to get this under 1 hour.

Good pass. Bad träningsvärk Monday guaranteed.

Since it was still nice and snowy out, I went for a run basically the same as yesterday. This time when I got up to Furulund I turned right on the 5km trail instead of going straight and was faced with a monster of a hill. =) What a great trail. My performance was not any better than yesterday but it will do.

I have two complaints though. The first is my stupid Samsung Galaxy Spica phone is shite and will not unlock itself. So I could not take a picture of the nice hill. So it looks like I will end up taking my camera anyway. Stupid smartphone. And second was the running club that I met on the trail twice. None of them said 'hej' even though I was. I guess only cyclists say 'hej' to each other. So these two things made me angry enough to find the strength to get home after my second 8km run of the weekend.

Today was one of those beautiful sunny days so I had to take a run this morning. Even if it was -4C and pretty slippery, how often can you run in scenery like this...

Of course my body felt like shite and running was just pure pain today. But I haven't been able to run for 2 weeks so I should not be so shocked.

And maybe one can see from this picture that I looked a wee bit tired. But I was bright and colourful. No wonder the dogs were barking so much. =) With this picture I can also see why people say I have a mustasch and that is apparently not a good thing. I guess the 3-day-unshaven look is too 00-talet now.

Purely by accident I have found a place absolutely perfect for hill training, no matter if you are on bike or running. That place is called Paradiset. =)

Since these hills are short, steep and cover quite an elevation change, I will make a map of each so you can enjoy them yourself. I could see a lovely GP bana for MTB there.

Once you get up two monster hills, you enter the forest where I took the green/white 7.5km one 'for fun'. Killer terrain running indeed!

Distance: 13.3km
Time: An eternity
Höjdmeter: At least 300m

Now that I have done this, I won't need to do any silly spinning tomorrow at Sportlife. Now...UCI cross!

Since it is finally 'warm' again, I decided to do one of my 'spring tills jag spy' sessions. Nothing works better for endurance. The hills would give me some type of interval but other than that it was pretty steady.

The twist was I had with me my new Samsung Galaxy Spica phone which is a way better deal than anything from a certain fruit company. =) Their Android ap 'My Tracks' is supposed to follow you by GPS and then plot it on Google Maps. At first I couldn't get any contact with the satellite so I ran up the hill and tried again. Then it worked surprisingly well, even in the forest.

The first 2km was straight uphill so this is the summary from Björndammen, along the 5km trail and then back down the hill to Allum.
Total Distance: 7.56 km
Time: 51:27 (bit slow but it was snowy/icy)
Höjdmeter: 232 m

You can also get a nice graph of elevation and speed over time/distance plus the track on the map. Really cool. And when I can figure out how to get those pictures to here, I will.

The big surprise here was the 232 m of climbing. Add to that at least 75m from my place along the hilly little trail up to where I started the program and you have one hell of a running course. Try that in Uppsala!

I can't wait to see how this works on some of my favourite bike routes.

Canadians celebrate Christmas on 25 dec so my plans for today are probably not very traditional. And when some guy tells me he has 'dålig samveta när du springer förbi', perhaps running is not what I am supposed to do on this fine snowy morning.

This is the weather I have been waiting for...just above 0C, no wind, squishy snow everywhere in the forest. When you get this chance in Göteborg, Kalle Anka has to wait. I started with a nice 20 min warmup which took me up the massive hill a first time and conditions were fine. No slipping. It was time to throw in a few intervals to make the trip less of a gubbtur. First was a mini hill up to Björndammens terass...about 15s up. A good one to start with. So that was 2 times there.

Then I had to try the more serious hill which was a more gradual and steady climb of the type which kill me on the bike...almost a minute up this time.


The first 2 went well but I could feel my lack of training at the top of the second one. So my last was about 90s and a real bitch but who said interval training was supposed to be pleasant?

I ended with some terrain running which was fun but slow, then my spurt finish which was a fine finish to this 45 min.

Anyway, I just want to wish all of my readers a Merry Christmas and I hope you will keep visiting next year.

I suppose I should not be surprised. Running 9km on the hills here without any preparation is bound to give one nice dose of träningsvärk. So like after all good running passes, I am like a slow gubbe when it comes to stairs.

My genomtänkt training plan says that I should repeat the same run again today. But now I think I will stay inside and take a few intervals on the trainer. Maybe I might even try a few pushups if I feel for it.

I am trying to find some way to keep some form for CX without actually riding my CX. It is too dark by the time I get home so I chose running because it is about the only exercise I know that leaves me as dead as cross.

And boy did I find a knee-buster of a course. After about 1 km, the trail was uphill for 2km, levelled off for 500m and then continued up for another km. Beautiful, in other words. And downhill was ganska jobbigt also but for different muscles.

So this was 54 min of fun which is fine for someone who hasn't been running very much without my bike. This also gets a few bonus points for the surrealistic light off my pannlampa and the perfectly quiet forest.

I was looking for things to keep me training throughout the winter and I found the Polar Night Halvmara up in Tromsö, Norway. It is January 9th which would mean running on ice/snow and would almost certainly lead to injury but there is something fantastic about that city. The thought of running in complete darkness next to water, mountains and probably a bit of northern lights sounds like the spiritual experience of a lifetime. Should I do this?

I also managed to get a start position for Birkebeinerittet next year which was quite a pain.