Twenty degrees, twenty-one kilometers

First, let me say we are working on getting a post-ski holiday blog post together ... and hopefully it will be worth the wait! Here is a little teaser

But today it was +20 and brilliantly sunny and skiing seemed a long time ago, and there were some other events to report!

After our trip north got cut short a few days (more on that later), Richard and I were even more committed to a little idea we had been batting around since the end of HalvVasan, namely, doing a long running race this weekend. We hadn't had many weeks for run training, but we had gotten in a couple of longer runs in the weeks before the Easter ski-travaganza, so felt it was within the realm of possible.

Richard had been eyeing an ultra marathon on the island of Lidingö, just outside Stockholm. The cool thing: one could also do a ½ distance, and the 26 km and 50 km courses shared the same course! This meant I could actually keep Richard company and participate (at least for a while) in one of Richard's crazy running adventures. He did a darn good job selling the merits and encouraging me to join and even managed to talk me into it. Everything seemed set ... until, that is, a mid-week game of volley ball led to an elephant sized problem:

Yes, check out that cankle! I think these are sufficiently gross in small format that I shan't increase their size any more!

Oddly, Richard felt nearly no pain, however the swelling and bruising have been rather incredible. So rather than prepping for the ultra, Richard has spent the last 12 days icing and elevating and icing the darn thing. And, despite his very best effort to be back on track for the weekend, he is still swollen round the joint:

Sunday, May 8 - has toes again, but is still missing a malleolus or two

This left me wondering what to do: I felt able for a longer race, not really interested in keeping up run training (since the last two weeks have involved no biking as a sacrifice for the run training) so felt like it was now or not again for a while, and my interest towards a longer running race had actually been piqued.

Friday night we made the call that the Stockholm race just wasn't a good idea fit for us anymore, but in lieu, we were lucky to have a slightly shorter and much closer to home race: enter the Gävle Halvmarathon!

So Saturday I rested and tried to recuperate a bit from the last two rather intense weeks of work with Laura Punnett, visiting scholar from U Mass Lowell ...

Oodles of data dispersion curves from some simulations I ran on a very cool data set of Laura's

 ... and this morning I joined our friend Hasse at the start line for the ½ marathon!

we might have been a bit nervous ...

I haven't run a ½ since 2005 when I ran my first ½ in Boston (2:03.33 -- uhh, slow), but I have now completed a lot more endurance type events, so even without a lot of run training going into today, I was only a bit nervous about how much it would hurt. Besides, it was WAY nicer weather than the cold, windy, snow-laiden-course day I experienced in Boston, so I was pretty excited just to spend a few hours outside!

Hasse (288) and me (193) sharing a patch of the route

At the end of the race, I am delighted to report I am getting faster in my 'old age', with an un-official time of 1:54 (official results up tomorrow). And I even enjoyed the vast majority of the experience, with only a few tougher bits to mentally conquer on the way! Actually, I think the bike ride home followed by the climbing of 48 stairs up to our flat might have been the toughest part of the whole experience! Hmm ... I just might try this distance again some time soon, especially if someone promises to carry me to our door at the end of it all :)

Look I am even smiling at the end!

Although I wasn't quite flying along those last 100 m like Hasse!

All the same, it was a bit of a bittersweet day as I was running without Richard, who took on the support role today and provided me and Hasse with water and encouragement at regular intervals which were much appreciated: it really was hot compared to recent weather and fluids were in high demand! [As a funny aside, Richard said runners behind me and Hasse picked up our discarded water bottles on several occasions and Richard had to chase them down to get our bottles back! Guess we weren't the only thirsty ones!] A big thanks also to Catherine and her brother David for coming out and cheering us on and providing fluid at a critical location!

So, here's hoping the ankle continues on its healing path, and does so pronto: I am not too sure how much longer Richard's patience can last, especially with this kind of weather! And maybe we will find another suitable ultra race (with non ultra option) to try out together: any suggestions?!?