Discovering Sweden

The only way to get used to my "new" country, is to embrace it openly- but with a tremendous amount of clothes on!

Time for run number two. I have realized that it will take some time to get used to the cold and get to my normal level of training. I am actually slightly worried about the race in April, and is actually considering the 50-mile version instead of the 100. With that, I can relax more in my training and give more time to adapt to the climate, the new job and everything. And give more time to my family and friends.

So, no freezing, that is the goal for now. This is what I tried today:

-Thick underwear (kalsonger)
-Long underwear, 50 % wool! (bought in Dressman of all places. Apologize to my panamanian and other latam friends, but Dressman sell clothes for men, no training stuff. Normally..)
-Thick socks, 100 % wool.
-Windproof running pants.
-Thick underwear (synthetic) on upper body.
-Another layer of fairly thick shirt/jacket.
-Windproof running jacket.
-Windproof gloves with fleece.
-Head-band, windproof.
-Cap/hat, thin
-Running shoes with spikes (the, in Sweden, famous Ice Bugs: http://www.icebug.se)
-Water-bottle, handheld
-Ipod (of course..)


Result:

-Feet, feeling warm and good
-Legs, perfect
-Body, feeling good, but got cold when I had to stop for a minute in the middle of the run. Easy to get warm again while running though.
-Hands, perfect
-Head, not good. Was ok first half, but when there was a slight breeze I got cold directly. Need to buy some completely windproof
-Face, ok. Thinking about what I should do if it gets slightly colder and a bit more windy.
-Waterbottle. Ok for about half an hour. Then I started to get ice instead of water to "drink"... This will be a tricky one, and now it wasnt even "cold"!!!



Run a nice 7.5 km run. Except for freezing a bit in my ears and left knee hurting a bit, it was actually pretty nice. It is cold for sure, but it is also incredibly beautiful! On the picture, I am passing the old headquarter of Ericsson at Telefonplan. I also remember coming with my father to his office there when I was a kid, playing "lunar landing" on his Texas programable calculator. That was really coooool!

There are so many things I rediscover now. The special feeling of pain behind the ears while running in cold for example.. But also the silence, which is emphasized with the snow. The snow is eating all sound, and with the cap on, you hardly hear a sound. Scary or magic? Pick your choice!

When I look at all the people, I think "wow, how can we live here? All nine million! Are we nine million crazies or what?". On the other hand, I think the climate makes us tough! Both Sweden, Norway and Finland have pretty tough dudes/dudas. We have to, in order to survive. Physically and mentally.

I realize now, thinking about when my dear friend Dino came to Panama last August to visit and run the marathon, that we are stubborn indeed. After only two days in Panama, he run a tough, tropical marathon. And made it! I know he suffered, his feet swelling up, cramps, everything, but I think the swedish mentality just kept him going.

We are a tough bunch! :-)