Runner´s high

New life

2007-09-11T23:14:00.000+02:00

Well....lot´s of stuff has happened since March! During April my back was still hurting like hell, but I had come to terms with an operation not until October. But then they suddenly called from the hospital April 20th and asked if I wanted to come in four days later. They had got a cancellation from another patient. After two minutes I said yes.

The following Monday I went to the hospital. I got a nice room at the hospital hotel, and in the afternoon the surgeon came to visit and to talk about the operation. He still seemed like a nice guy. The next day I went to the operation floor, where I waited a few hours. Just before 11 am they came and told me that it was my turn. So I walked into the operation room, laid down on the table and got some heavy drugs...

I just remember that they told me that now I could sleep. And I did.

The morphin sleep was abfab, and when they tried to wake me three hours later, I didn´t want to. I slept more or less the whole afternoon, until the surgeon came back to me around 7 pm and told me about the operation. Everything seemed fine, and he had picked out my troubling disc.

The following night was kinda hurtful, but I managed with a lot of drugs. At one point I thought I would scratch myself to blood, but they said it was the reaction when the morphine is leaving the body.

The next morning I walked all by myselft to the toilet, and in the afternoon I went home!

Going down

2007-03-30T14:46:00.000+02:00

This week I have tried to further cut down on my medication, but that is obviously a little bit too early. I have done it three days in a row (from three times a day, to two).

I have a little bit more pain, but it is still possible to live with, so I´ll see for a few more days.

I am going to Northern Norway for my easter break. The town Tromso today got the green light from the main sport organisation in Norway to apply for the winter olympics in 2018. So maybe I have to try out some of the slopes there! :-)

Happy Easter everyone! Enjoy some days off filled with motion!

Away from the knife

2007-03-26T14:32:00.000+02:00

I went to my doctor again on Friday (time for new sick leave). We agreed that since I feel a little bit better, I should try to keep away from the surgeon´s knives as long as possible.

I have started to work a little bit again. For the last few weeks I have been going two hours a day, and from today I´ll be at work for three hours.

I do feel a little bit better, and I hope this is an ongoing progress.

But I am fully aware that it will not be any half marathon this year...! :-)

5 month anniversary

2007-02-27T17:14:00.000+01:00

It´s not really a day for celebration, but tomorrow is it 5 months since my back was OK. I have finally called the hospital to ask why I haven´t heard from them yet. Then they told me that I won´t hear from them, until 3-4 weeks before the operation date...And that the operation-que is 8-10 months long...

So this morning I went to see my doctor again, and he wrote a letter to see if the health authorities will pay for an operation at a private clinic. They only have a waiting time for 1-2 months. So the norwegian bureaucracy moves on.

What else? The exercises which I have been doing the last week and a half are actually helping. I still take my daily doses of morphin, but now I have a few hours every day where I´m "pain free". Amen.

Pain free ?

2007-02-18T15:07:00.000+01:00

A doctor recommended me the book "Pain free. A revolutionary method for stopping chronic pain". It arrived by snailmail on Friday, and yesterday morning I spent the first hours in bed reading the first chapters. This american author thinks that all pain can be cured through physical exercises, not surgically.

So - he promises me that the pain should subsides after a week of doing five exercises for 20 minutes every morning.

I can´t say anything that I am willing to do the exercises, and would be very happy if they would work. I have done some similar exercises earlier, which had no special effect, but maybe these are exactly the ones I need.

In the first exercise I sit on the edge of a chair and squeeze a pillow between my knees (three sets of fifteen). Then I lay down on my back with my feet up on the chair and do the pillow squeeze. In the third exercise I lay down with my forehead on the floor and my arms resting in the "don´t shoot, I give up"-position. This position should be held for six minutes.

The fourth exercise is a static extension, where I kneel with my hands on the floor under the shoulders. The back should sway and my hips should be in front of the knees. This position should be held for one minute.

In the last exercise I sit down against a wall with my shoulders and head against the wall for a minute.

I let you know if this really is a revolutionary method...!

Still waiting

2007-02-15T23:38:00.000+01:00

The university hospital of Ullevål sure takes it´s time to do their paperwork. It has been two weeks since I met with the surgeon, and still no answer about the time for the operation. I am trying not be be inpatient, but if I haven´t heard from them on Monday I´ll call to ask what is going on.

I had a few bad days last week. Not only do I have an constantly aching back, but I also got a flu. So all my good medicine was fighting the fever. The good thing about fly is that it is actually OK to lie in bed and drink coca cola. The second good thing is that it get´s over. In just a few days.

In the mean time I am trying to think positive. And some nice things are happening. Just before the fever got to me, I got a phone call from a recruiter. My name had been dropped as interesting for a position, so he wanted me to come to a job interview. And since I was intrigued by the call, I took an extra pill and went to see the guy on Monday. He said I would hear from him on Tuesday.

But I´m still waiting...

Examination

2007-02-01T23:00:00.000+01:00

Today I met with the surgeon at Ullevaal hospital who said that because of my great pain I can have an operation if I want one. I got to look at the MR-photos of my spine, and could see where the damage is. He explained briefly what they will do, and mentioned the risks. But his main message was that this is a simple procedure:

I´ll come in one morning and go back home the next day.

But - I still don´t know when it will happen. There is a line at this public hospital, and they will let me know next week. Hopefully this will be over in a few weeks.

Hospital

2007-01-23T15:04:00.000+01:00

This morning I went to the hospital for my appointment with a back(pain)-specialist. She had a quick look at my photos and a quick examination of my body, which concluded with an operation. (In her opinion I should have been there at least 1-2 months earlier).

But I also need to see a surgeon, and I got an appointment with one next Thursday. He will make the final decision about operation.

I am happy that something is happening at last. Even if I don´t know when the operation will take place, I can see that there will be an end to my misery. Even though I know that an operation can be risky, the doctor said it was a simple procedure.

Serious

2007-01-15T16:18:00.000+01:00

My hours in heaven didn´t last long...It was soon back to "normal", and on Friday my doctor decided to give me both stronger medicine and sick leave. And he wrote a letter to the hospital...They will decide if I´ll need an operation, or if it is best to just wait and see (and hope) that the discs will slip back by themselves.

On Saturday I went for a new scan, to see if things have gotten worse since my pain have escalated so the last month. I´ll get the result in a few days.

In the meantime I´ll go to my brother´s place where I´ll get entertainment (thank God for sweet auntie-children) and lots of hugs.

Oh happy day

2007-01-09T09:06:00.000+01:00

So, the new year started the same way as the old one. But yesterday, my pain left me for a few hours (still druged though). I havent´t felt so good since November. It was a fantastic feeling, and gave me hope. Today I´m back to normal, but a bit more optimistic than I was just two days ago. Not quite correct, my pain is more moderate.

Today I didn´t want to lay down during my 5-minute walk to work. Progress?

X-mas wishes

2006-12-22T13:11:00.000+01:00

A new back please....or just a small part so that I can walk every day.

Best wishes to all the runner´s - I hope you get a lot of runner´s high in the next year - and if you want the northern light to sparkle over you while running - go to Tromsø and join the Polar Night Halfmarathon on January 6th!

Merry, merry!

New strategy

2006-12-09T13:41:00.000+01:00

Since Tuesday last week my back has made my life a hell...I had to go to my doctor again to get some more medication, and has increased the number of pills I´m taken (from 3 a day and back to 6). I haven´t really noticed any difference, because it still hurts when I stand and sit and walk.

My physiotherapist says it is difficult to treat my injury because it is two of them. And the thing that is good for first one, is bad for the other, and vice versa.

So the last few days I have started out something new - and hopefully this will put an end to all the misery. I will slow down my life. Cut down the working hours, and not have full programme every night. I just have to try to be patient, and rather lie on the floor doing my small exercises and reading a book (by the way: I can recommend the Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuks novel: My name is Red) and writing Christmas-cards, which I earlier never had time to do.

Hubris

2006-11-29T18:17:00.000+01:00

In Ancient Greek hubris referred to actions taken in order to shame the victim, thereby making oneself seem superior. Today it means exaggerated self pride or self-confidence, often resulting in fatal retribution.

I don´t know if I am suffering from constantly hubris, but I am starting to wonder. When I feel alright, I act as I would be fine, and do things that comes back to me a few hours after.

Take for example yesterday. I felt great - almost no pain and my body was like a feather I could do anything with. So I ran up and down some stairs a little bit too fast, until my colleage asked my if I knew hubris.

Just a few hours after I could feel it. I was hardly able to put my left feet down, and I could feel the pain all the way from the back, down my thighs and all the way to my ancle. The only thing that helped was to lie on the floor. And today I had to go home from work after an hour, simply because I was unable to sit or stand.

Oh, greek tragedy.

(Temporarily) Hurray!

2006-11-16T10:22:00.000+01:00

My physioterapist had some good news for me this morning: There are some progress! The last few weeks I have been doing some exercises to train my muscles far down in my back, especially on the left side, where my problems are.

My problems lie in the L3-L4-L5-area (according to the X-ray). The gel from the discs are into the space where it shouldn´t be, there are the nerves and the spinal cord. The gel is pressing against the nerves which causes pain.

The muscles are now getting stronger, and therefor they give the problem area some rest, so that it can start to heal.

This was really good news. And I´m celebrating with a coffee with cinnamon....mmmm.

Sunday walk

2006-11-12T17:51:00.000+01:00

All weekends after my back pain started, I have tried to get out to walk. Last weekend I went up to Norefjell, but this weekend I went to Sognsvann again (for the first time since I can´t run).

I try to be a little bit active everyday, but it is all in all clear that my activity level is going down. I have to lie down from time to time. For all it´s worth, I am glad that it´s November and chilly and already people think it´s good enough to go into the sofa and drink tea and eat chocolate.

I am also trying to do the small exercises which my physiotherapist have told me. She can feel that the muscles on the left side of my back is weaker than on my right side. So that´s gotta change.

Back therapy

2006-10-30T15:17:00.000+01:00

I had my first appointment with the physioteraphist Friday morning, and the second one today. Already she thinks that the simple work out I have been doing this weekend has begun to take away some of the pressure around the nerve root in my lower back, which causes my pain.

Today I learned a couple of new exercises which should help even more. My therapist is positive about the progress, so I should probably feel the same. My problem is that I am not used to constant pain, so I feel rather low now and then.

A nice walk in the forest can help, and yesterday my goal was Lutvann. A nice water in Østmarka in Oslo.

Two prolapses

2006-10-24T13:29:00.000+02:00

The results from the X-ray came today, and it showed that I have two prolapses in the lumbosacral columna (lower back). My doctor gave me a few more painkillers, but told me to lower the dose because the side effects can be quite unpleasant.

So - on Friday I have my first ever appointment with a physiotherapist. And maybe I will try the barefoot running recommended by Justin.

Goodbye Bejing!

2006-10-12T10:50:00.000+02:00

After a visit to my doctor I have realised that I have to say goodbye to my participation in the Olympics (he he). Anyway - the back pain might be quite serious. On Saturday I will be x-rayed, and then he will look at the results. I have also got some strong medicine in cause that it´s just an immflammation.

And I can no longer run (but walk).

Nervus ischiadicus

2006-10-09T13:23:00.000+02:00

Four days before the race I began to feel some pain in my lower back. As a kinda nervous debutant I thought it was just my angst which materialised in physical pain.

But no, a week has passed and the pain is still there, and worse, it has increased. I hope it is just a muscle strain, but I fear the worst.

I have booked an appointment at my doctor later this week.

A small step for marathon, a big step for me

2006-10-02T13:39:00.000+02:00

Photo: Per Inge Østmoen, Kondis

It was hard to get my aching body out of the bed this morning. My body was in shock. 21 kilometer was probably not what it was expecting. Both of my knees told me already during the race that this hard-asphalt-running was out of their league, and as soon as I came in to Rådhusplassen, my body told me to get as many bananas as possible.

Although I believe that I could have been running a couple of minutes faster the last kilometers (but my knees said no to speed), I think I managed to push myself all the way. My HR max was at 186 and the HR average at 174.

It was a beatiful day and I enjoyed the sun, the water, the leaves that are green and the spectators who asked themselves "why are these people running, it doesn´t look that they have a good time at all".

So I tried to smile and although there were moments I thought it would be better to stop and walk, I kept jogging the whole time.

And I actually had a good time.

Ready, steady...?

2006-09-29T15:12:00.000+02:00

How are the prospects just two days before Oslo marathon?

Against:

* Last weekends beer-drinking and wurst-eating in Germany.
* Aching body - hopefully just my angst, not anything physically.
* This time of the month.
* Never done it before.

Pro:

* I have actually been training 2-3 a week for the last five months. So if I am not 100 percent prepared, I am so prepared that I fully believe that I can manage this.

No longer crisis

2006-09-20T15:16:00.000+02:00

Just before I was going to the Post office to ship my Polar watch away, I found out that maybe I should read the booklet that followed to see if it said anything about why the watch just stopped. Well..it did.

It didn´t say why the watch suddenly stopped, but obviously it happens (since they write a paragraph about it). So I just had to push all the buttons at the same time (not just one at a time which I had tried a few times), and reset. Voila!

Black Forest

2006-09-19T22:55:00.000+02:00

Startet a little bit too late yesterday (how on earth does people manage to have long workouts earlier than 8pm? I need to eat before a long session, and I need to prepare my dinner and then wait at least one hour before I start. So in total it usually take 3 hours from when I go from work, until I am ready to go outside again).

Anyway - went up to Sognsvann, did 3 loops (approx. 10 K) and then ran home (approx. 5 K). Was nice to run without the watch, even though I approx 20 times wondered how much time I had spent.

Had one banana after those first 10 K, and that did good. Didn´t get tired or hungry or anything like that.

But - after a little while it got really dark. I had trouble to see where I was running, and that stopped me from going on a 4th loop. I saw a few people that had headlights, but I´m not sure if it is any comfort in running with that.

Watch-crisis

2006-09-16T13:27:00.000+02:00

My Polar-watch retired on my Sognsvann-jog on Wednesday. It just stopped at 20 minutes, 21 seconds. I have realised now that I am a HR-watch-junkie: I am totally addicted to it.

So maybe it´s a good thing that it´s crashed, but still, I think I have to fix it before the race.

Northern run

2006-09-16T11:45:00.000+02:00

Are in Tromsø for the weekend, and tried a little bit of the Midnight Sun Marathon - route. Maybe I should come here next June to have a go?

Well, we´ll first see how the half marathon in Oslo goes. Maybe I´ll just go back to my normal jogging-routine (max 30 minutes).

What else about Tromsø: The air is fresh, the mountains surrounding the little town is amazing and the sea breeze is wonderful.

In the dark

2006-09-11T22:53:00.000+02:00

Suddenly is the autumn here, and when I went out at 8pm it was already getting dark. It was my last "long" run before the half marathon (17 K), and I should feel prepared now. I do think that I will manage the distance, but I still have a lot to go about the speed. Anyway - if I´ll do the half marathon in 2,5 hours, I´ll be happy.

When you run for two hours, your mind have a lot of time to wander. This is what I love about running, you can think of anything else but what you actually are doing. Although I have to admit that sometimes I get a little bit sweaty, tired or aching, so I start to think about running per se. Today I also got a little bit worried that I´ll get my period at October 1, which will make the event slighly more of a hassle. (Not to mention the pain). But as a girl with an optimistic mind, I soon thought of much nicer things.

Food, for example.

(And I realised that I was very hungry at least two times during my 2-hour-run. Once at 1 hour 10 minutes, and then again at 1 hour 45 minutes.)

In the valley

2006-09-05T22:35:00.000+02:00

OK - two beers and two cigarettes and just 5 hours of sleep was probably not the best preparation for Sørkedalsløpet today. But what can a girl do?

It was sunny, kinda crowded and the valley showed it´s best side, so the best I could do was to stay cool and not run too fast. The forest trail was a little bit muddy, but the forest itself smelled and looked good.

And of course I ran too fast. My time was definately not of the best, but I know now that I can run with a high HR for quite some time. My max HR was 187 (96 percent) and my average at 177 (91 percent).

Shorty

2006-09-03T21:33:00.000+02:00

Just a quick one to sort out my sore muscles after yesterday´s 14 K-mountain walk. Return Carl Berner along Ring 2. 24 minutes, 3,6 K, max 180, average 162. Nice temperature outside, but heartrates around 180 can´t happen on a longer run. That is just too much, and too tiring.

Fear of hights

2006-09-03T19:44:00.000+02:00

I have been working too much this week (from 8.30 am to 12 pm) which makes it impossible to work out! It doesn´t give me much time with my friends either...so when a friend invited me to a cabin in the mountain this weekend, I gladly accepted.

We left Oslo Friday late afternoon, and drove for 2,5 hours. On Saturday morning we got up and drove to Gjendevatn. Then on the boat for 20 minutes to Memurubu, before climbing the mountain Besseggen.

It was quite a challenge given my fear of heights, but when I am able to focus solely on the mountain and climbing it without looking down at the same time - and down here means a few hundred meters straight down), it was a really nice trip.

We spent 6 hours, including probably one hour break and a few stops because of queing.

Today it´s time for a easy jog, just to be sure that Tuesday´s run won´t be any problem.

Power jog

2006-08-28T22:51:00.000+02:00

A little jog before bedtime tonight: Half an hour: St. Hans-haugen, Bislett, Suhms gate and Kirkeveien (just under 4 K). Nice temperature, good to be outdoor and know that this is just peanuts - although my heart really have to work in some of the hills (can´t say anything else when my max is 181!

I starting to realise that if I have to run for a long time, I shouldn´t go over 160. I probably should stick to 155-158.

Cooler is better

2006-08-27T18:34:00.000+02:00

So, it was time to do some running again. From now it´s just getting serious. Trying to sleep enough, eat properly and do some exercise..he he.

Today I went to my favourite area: Sognsvann. Apart from the fact that I now know that I should avoid Sognsvann at Sunday afternoon (this is not only MY favorite area, but apparently half of Oslo as well - and on Sundays this include walking the dog, the baby, the grandparents, the lover - or all at the same time. It leeds to quite a zz-jogging to pass all this (now that I have some speed on my jogging, that is :-)

Anyway - did three loops a 3,3 K and then run/walked home (approx 5-6 K). Did the three loops in one hour five minutes, which makes it a lot better than my last attempt on this. If you count five minutes a lot better!

It might also has something to do with the temperature. Five degrees less today (21 C) than last time. Next Sunday I´ll try to add a two more loops.

Two lessons

2006-08-23T18:00:00.000+02:00

Today´s jog (home-Galgerberg; approx. 7,5 K) learned me two lessons:

1. I need a cap or something like that when it´s raining. I am not with water in my eyes, especially not when it is mixed with a little bit of sweat and therefore is salty. It irritates my eyes.

2. I run much better when I get something to drink underway. So I just have to find out how much - or how little - before my stomach starts to say no thank you.

Other than that: I ran in 50 minutes. If I keep this pace (quite fast, but also a few stops at red lights...), I´ll manage to run my half marathon in 2 hours 30 minute. On September 5th I´ll do a test on how I behave during an actual contest. I will have a go on Sørkedalsløpet - which is 11 K.

Holiday jog

2006-08-20T16:02:00.000+02:00

All this summer´s holidaying is not good for my regular training scheme. I take my shoes with me, but for some reason I end up not running as much as I have thought. I went to the Baltics and managed all in all to have three runs (the beach was really nice for jogging). It should have been twice as much. I had one long run (1,5 hour) and then two smaller one´s. Both of them bad. The first because I had a beer a few hours earlier and the second one was ruined by too heavy rain. I like to run in the rain, but when it´s pouring down so much that I can´t see a thing, then it´s time to stop. The good thing though was that it became a good intervall run. I ran as fast as I could for as long as I could see, then I had to stop to get some water off my face...

Today it is six weeks before the half marathon, so I should get my feet back on the track.

Asphalt jog

2006-08-03T22:05:00.000+02:00

Tried a new loop tonight: home-Carl Berner-Galgeberg-Vålerenga/Ensjø-Tøyenbadet-Carl Berner-home. Did it in one hour and five minutes (probably around 8 K). Tried to keep my HR around 150 - and managed almost all the way (apart from the hills - that is impossible). Got a little tired the last 15 minutes, so walked most of the last K.

A nice evening in Oslo. Pink evening sky and happy people all over the place!

Intervall to Carl Berner

2006-08-02T21:44:00.000+02:00

Felt kinda exhausted this weekend and didn´t manage much beside from a little walking and music-listening (See Summer Soul at St.Hans-haugen).

Ran twice around Sognsvann on Monday, but forgot my watch, so I understood after a while that I am totally addicted to my pulse watch.

Today I took a mini-intervall training. My programme said 50 minutes, but I just did half...(actually less than half). Ran to Carl Berner and back in 21 minutes (3,4 km). Ran slow over there and then two x two speedminutes followed by two minutes of slower running. My max HR was up at 185, and I got fairly sweaty from all this.

Maybe I should try it tomorrow as well, I am sure I need some intervall training to pace myself more.

Half halfmarathon...(almost)

2006-07-27T22:35:00.000+02:00

So - today was sort of a small testday. The temperature has fallen a little bit (only 26 degrees), and the was a little breeze. So off I went around Sognsvann. Met a collegue, so I chatted for some minutes. Did three loops around Sognsvann, which is 9774 meter. Ran the first loop in one go, and the two others after the principle of run/walk. That means 9 minutes of running and then one minute walking (or oneandahalf minute...). Spent one hour and 10 minutes in total. My pulse is still too high, I guess, average was 163 and max was 178. I still wonder was my max HR is, maybe I have to chech one day...

Anyway: was kinda very sweatty after finishing, but think that I could have managed more. And that I actually are able to run for a while. The half marathon isn´t quite that scary anymore.

Running with a non-jogger

2006-07-27T11:09:00.000+02:00

A very easy jog around Sognsvann with a non-jogger yesterday. It´s only 3,3 K, but sometimes even that is quite much. I had forgotten how hard it get be. Did the loop in 29 minutes, so that wasn´t bad for my friend. (But the winner in the race Sognsvann Rundt Medsols did it in 10 minutes, but that is out of reach anyway...)

I felt back in shape again, so the body seem to cope now. Maybe I should try a longer route today...?

Still exhausted

2006-07-26T00:02:00.000+02:00

I thought that my bloodloss from yesterday couldn´t affect me today, but it probably did...I wanted to run several times around Sognsvann, but I had to give in after one (3,3 K). It took me 25 minutes (had to walk the last 500 meters...). Well, I´ll try to rest tomorrow, and then take another easy jog on Thursday, and a longer one this weekend.

PS: But the bath in the water afterwards, was perfect. I love these hot summer nights!

Loss of blood

2006-07-24T22:16:00.000+02:00

Well, I did´t really figure it out why I felt so fatigue until the end of my second lap around Voldsløkka tonight. I should have guessed earlier. I just thought it was strange to be so tired and exhausted. First I thought it was the heat (25 degrees), but then it hit me: This morning I went to give a away 450 ml of blood at the hospital (in Norwegian: "The blood bank")! No wonder my body can feel the loss. I think the human body has around 5-6 litres of blood, so almost half a litre is quite a lot, actually. You figure it out! (the percentage I mean)

Holiday

2006-07-20T22:41:00.000+02:00

After two weeks of holidaying (relaxing + a few runs, one session of squash and painting a boat house) I´m back in the city again. These summer weeks of July are really strange - it seems like 90 percent of everybody has escaped some where else, and the few of us left has the area for ourselves.

So I spent my Thursday night jogging all the way up to Maridalsvannet and back. My plan was to Stilla and back, but since I felt kinda good, I took it a little bit further.

It all took one hour and 30 minutes. I realised that I run best after 30 minutes, and that my knee starts aching after 1.30....so I should start some strenghtening training for that poor knee and maybe some good interval training to get my pace up.

The cold facts are: Heartrate max 175, average 150, 710 kcal.

Shiny sun

2006-07-01T18:46:00.000+02:00

The summer is definately here again, and today there was 25+ in the shadow. Went up to Sognsvann and ran one time around the water. Not many other people were running, probably because of the heat and maybe a lot of people have already left on holiday. Used 20 minutes around the water (3,2 K). A little bit too fast for me, but OK for a check. Result: Not quite there were I want to be....I wouldn´t exactly be able to keep this speed for 21 K...my HR max was 187, average at 174. Way too high!

Wet wet wet

2006-06-27T22:35:00.000+02:00

It´s raining today again...for jogging it´s rather nice (as long as I can look through my glasses). The temperature is perfect - 13 :-) And when it´s raining it´s not so many others outdoors - which suits me!

Tonight I jogged rather slowly to Voldsløkka, did 2 rounds a cirka 10 minutes and came back. All in all: around 5 K, 38 minutes, max 178, average 163 and 342 kcal (almost makes up for the nice chokolate I had after dinner, mmmm).

Short sprint

2006-06-25T20:54:00.000+02:00

Not much time today - first looked at England-Ecuador - and tonight there is a concert. So ran Kirkeveien, Sognsveien, Ullevålsveien and Collettsgate. Walked fast the first five minutes, then ran quite hard.

Total of 20 minutes. Max heartrate at 182, average 160.

It´s funny that my back doesn´t hurt when I run. After a massage yesterday and a hot bath this morning, I hope it´s giving in now.

One hundred days to go

2006-06-23T16:45:00.000+02:00

Today it´s 100 days to my big hairy goal this year: Oslo half marathon. I have started a new training programmme to see me get through this. That might be a challenge. My back is giving me a lot of pain these days. I´ll try to rest tomorrow, and then we´ll see!

It´s raining...

2006-06-22T22:48:00.000+02:00

...not men (they were probably all indoors watching Brazil-Japan), but really really raining. I was soaked, but it´s nice with all this water after several weeks with sun and high temperatures.

Did a very short trip (return Carl Berner) in 23 minutes. The distance is still 3,4 km, and I tried to keep the pace down. Didn´t really manage that (max HR 174, avg 161) and felt still a little bit tired after the long jog on Saturday.

But really nice to run in the rain :-)

Hot in the forest

2006-06-17T19:27:00.001+02:00

Well, you can definately say that it was a hot day! At least 25 degrees in Nordmarka, and I didn´t envy the marathon runners at all. So I tried to fill them up with water and XL1.

I jogged/walked to/from the drinking station at the Nordmarka Forest Marathon. It was suppose to be 7 K (one way), but with all the trails in Nordmarka I find it almost impossible NOT to be mistaken. So I think I got myself a couple of more K´s at the beginning.

The hard facts: In total: 2 hours, 38 minutes. 1344 kcal. Max HR 181, average HR 162/153.

One toe on my rights foot is kinda aching, but other than that, nothing more than very sweaty and a little bit tired.

Faster faster

2006-06-16T00:20:00.000+02:00

So, today was time for some intervall again. It turned out that I just ran quite pacey for 1,5 K and then one minute fast, one minute slow the next loop around Voldsløkka. Walked for 12 minutes to get there, and jogged slowly down to Alexander Kiellands place afterwards to get my bike.

In total 45 minutes. Max heartrate was 177, average 144 and a total of 323 kcal.

PS: My bike is not very cooperative these days, and I just realised when I picked it up and the tire is still flat, that I probably should go to a workshop to get it fixed. And that means that I have to run a total of 14 K on Saturday in the Nordmarka Forest Marathon to get to the drinkstation where I will be...that´s a nice challenge! Luckily it will probably be a big pause in between those K´s!

Norwegian wood

2006-06-14T23:34:00.000+02:00

The annual Nordmarka Forest Marathon in Oslo is coming up on Saturday. I will not be running, but thought that this is a perfect excursion and maybe try to pick up a few good advices. So - I volunteered to stand and give something to drink to the woody athletes.

Go go go!

It´s oh so quite

2006-06-11T23:56:00.000+02:00

Running along the Aker river at night is very nice. Tonight I headed off for my "long run" at 10 pm. Not many people out on a sunday night (maybe because of the football in Germany...?). Anyway - it´s nice to run when the river floats next to you and the birds sing a summer praise.

One hour, 15 minutes (up to Stilla and back). Average HR 143, max 169. Total of 540 kcal.

Nighty nighty

2006-06-09T14:57:00.000+02:00

After making tortillas Thursday evening I ran out for a short jog at 11 pm. Maybe a little bit to late, but with the bright summer nights in Oslo, it is surprisingly many that spend time outdoors at that time. Especially dog walkers.

Ran twice around Voldsløkka and then home. 4 k - 30 minutes.

After cold

2006-06-06T22:39:00.000+02:00

After three days of flu (light fever on Friday and then a cold), I was feeling better today. Still a running nose, but that doesn´t bother me that much. So today I took my "Sunday long run". From Arkitekt Rivertz place along Kirkeveien and down to the main entrance of the Vigeland Park. And back again.

All in 49 minutes (my schedule said 50 minutes...so that was carefully planned). Went up to max HR at 175 in the hill up from Marienlyst, but the average HR was at 149. 5,7 km. Burned 379 kcal.

Walk-jog

2006-06-01T22:41:00.000+02:00

Lost my tuesday workout to the annual meeting of International Reporter. So..today I went for an hour walk with my sister and then some minutes of easy jog twice around Voldsløkka. Somewhere along the 1 hour and 49 minutes my HR went quite high (maybe a mistake again, or maybe the quite hard Havnebakken). Anyway, these are the hard facts: Max HR 224, average 132 (and 674 kcal).

Was hungry when I came back so I made a couple of crispbread with liver pate and pomegranate. Very delicious, hmmm.

So it seems

2006-05-28T18:29:00.000+02:00

A longer slow-jog on the menu today: Up and down to Nydalen, by the River Aker. Quite nice in the sun :-)

Did 48 minutes, max 169, average 151, 374 kcal.

Yesterday I found out that the route around Maridalsvannet is 12 km. I will try that in two-three weeks.

Slow hill

2006-05-27T11:00:00.000+02:00

It´s nice and sunny in Oslo again, after a couple of weeks of heavy rain and chilly temperature. This morning it´s 14 degrees, then you can imagine how cold it has been...

Anyway, my programme said "hilly run, 11 minutes, zone 1". I found that a quite difficult task. Is it possible to run up a hill and still be in zone 1?? Not this gal.

So I tried something similar, ran once around the St.Hans-haugen. Tried to keep it veeeeery slow. My Polar did again some very funny things in the beginning (I don´t think it like going out...?), so my max was at 172 (this was after 20 meters, so I think it´s an error) and my average was at 145 (this is also problably a little bit lower, since my max is wrong). A little bit more than 11 minutes (23 and 165 kcal).

All in all: nice with a sunny day, the flowers are out, the jog was slow and therefor I had time to look, smell and feel. Lovely.

Useful about max

2006-05-26T14:21:00.000+02:00

I have found it quite difficult to understand how to figure out how much 50,60, 70 percent of max HR is. But this swedish site makes it easier. I haven't measured my max yet, but it's probably a little bit over 190. That means that 60-75% would be with 139-159, harder from 172-178 and really hard 178-192.

Difficult easyjog

2006-05-24T22:22:00.000+02:00

After dinner of potato and sausage (and a little bit of salad), and then chokolade for dessert, I felt rather stuffed going for my "tuesday easy jog" which was scheduled by my programme. Well - I tried to do an easy jog, but it is really difficult to run so slow!! I went back and forth Carl Berner´s place. Did 27 minutes (the programme said 20 minutes), max HR 167, average 150 (and 207 kcal). 3,4 km.

Delayed jog

2006-05-22T22:50:00.000+02:00

I didn´t have time to do any running this weekend (bad excuse, but that´s my feeling), so I tried to make up for that tonight.

Expanded my street-route and ran Kirkeveien, Suhms gate, Bislett, Waldemar Thranes gate, up Iladalen and then home.

Did it in 39 minutes (walked the five first and the five last). My average HR was 155, and my max was 202 (still some trouble with my Polar, or was it just me who went a little bit tired in one of the steps on my way home). Anyway; quite satisfying, no difficulties and I could have taken a longer route...that will happen next weekend (according to my training programme).

Intervall

2006-05-18T23:12:00.000+02:00

So after finishing an article before deadline tomorrow, I took a jog. Strangely enough the pouring rain from today just stopped before I went out ...a little bit too late (10.30 pm). So I decided to skip the "easy jog" from the programme, and do some intervall in the Jet-Hill (the moderate uphill from Uelandsgate to the Jet Station - probably just over 200 meters...)

After some explanation from Petter Marki (see comment on the blogpost under) about why my heart rate - according to my watch - yesterday went bananas, I figured out that I wanted to try to test my max HR. Well, it turned out that my watch also today wanted to have some fun with me - so today my max HR went up to 280 - ha ha!! :-)

So, so much for the test today. Anyway - I looked at my watch from time to time - and ran the hill - from moderate jogging and speeding up - five times. And I think I maxed at 192. But I didn´t feel completely exhausted, so I probably still have a little bit left.

Did a little loop around Lovisenberg after that, and came home feeling sweaty.

Strange heart rate...

2006-05-17T22:41:00.000+02:00

After a long "17. mai-frokost" to celebrate the National Day of Norway (which meant meeting at 11 am, everybody bringing some goodies to the table and then eating, drinking and chatting for hours...) I decided to clean my flat tonight. Which is definately to messy. I figured out I would do it with my pulse watch...It shows an average HR on 80 (not very surprising), but my max HR at 207!!! How is that posssible???? I have never been up in that while I´m running. Was it Eminem? (excellent cleaning-music) or was it while I washed the walls and roof of my bathroom?? I can´t figure it out...

What does this mean? Does it mean that my max HR is higher than I expected? I had figured out that it was something over 190 - which would be a little bit higher than the 220 - minus your age. In my case that would be 188...

Maybe I have to push myself really hard tomorrow to see.

Out of breath

2006-05-16T23:10:00.000+02:00

My training schedule said easy jog, but tonight I felt that is was quite easy to start (maybe because I didn´t start running up a hill), so I decided to speed up a little bit. I ran Kirkeveien to Ullevålsveien, down to Adamstuen and when I came to Collett´s gate I found out that I could take a detour around St-Hans-haugen. Speeded up some of the hills and that is probaby why my max HR ended up at 191 (average 164, 210 kcal and 23 minutes). Difficult to breathe some times, so maybe it was too fast in one of those hills...(or maybe it was good to push myself a little harder..)

Late night jog

2006-05-14T22:38:00.000+02:00

Came home from work just before 10 pm, and decided that I HAD to run just a little bit. And so I did. From Uelandsgate, up ring 2, passed Ullevål hospital, down Sognsveien to Adamstuen, over the hill and then up Collett´s gate and down to Uelandsgate again. I didn´t run very fast - but did it in just over 20 minutes. Max HR 176, avg 156 (197 kcal). I think I´m getting in better shape??

Nice temperature for jogging, and even if I ran from 10 pm, it was still not dark. It´s such a nice time with all the light!! :-)

Dugnad

2006-05-11T23:16:00.000+02:00

Well...no time to run when there is "dugnad" in the building. This is a Norwegian tradition where you gather a group and do some more or less dirty work together - all for free.

We were around 50 people doing some basement cleaning, painting, window washing and gardening. After three hours work we all got a beer and a hot dog....mmmmm....not.

Anyway - quite hard work - and definately musclebuilding (he he).

New shoes

2006-05-10T17:44:00.000+02:00

I got myself some new shoes today - Reebok Premier Road III. I´ll look forward to try them out. And hope I´ll be happy in them.

Stuffed

2006-05-09T18:24:00.000+02:00

After three days of birthdayparties with nothing else in my stomach than hot dogs, soda, chocolate and ice cream, I felt rather stuffed...My personal trainer had a day with easy jog on the programme which suited me very good. A little bit up the Aker river and then back down again. Still hot in Oslo! - 24 degrees celcius!

The result: 33 minute, max HR 177, avg 151 (258 kcal).

Hot hot hot

2006-05-04T18:47:00.000+02:00

And today the summer came to Oslo, + 20 degrees and shiny sun! Lovely! :-)

My training programme recommended an easy jog today. I jogged twice around St.Hans-haugen, and tried to keep the pace down. Not easy when there are a couple of quite steep hills (although not very long). Anyways - because of the temperature, I still got very warm and sweatty. Ugghh. So: 30 minutes, max HR 183, avg 158 and 248 kcal. (And I wanted to keep my HR at 150...)

Afterwork

2006-05-02T23:06:00.000+02:00

Two guys at work are also running/jogging, so we spent a few hours discussing and dreaming. One would like to go to Berlin with me - and the other one is planning to run half marathon in Oslo in October. I dream about the first option - but think the second one is more realistic this year.

So I signed up for a training schedule at Polar - and according to the schedule I should have been running yesterday. Well, I didn´t, so then I had to do a shorter version tonight. Finished work at 9.30 pm, was home around 10 and left right after.

Did a little bit of intervall-training (instead of the "easy 30 min" the programme recommended, but I´ll try to follow the plan in the future. So - I did my intervall not so far from my house, since it was after 10 pm and I didn´t want to go somewhere really dark so late.

I guess it is around a 400 meter moderate hill from Arkitekt Rivertz place and ut to the Jet Station. Anyway I jogged/run up and five times, each time up a little bit faster. Did a total of 27 minutes, max HR 190, average 151 and 221 kcal.

Sunday walk

2006-04-30T16:25:00.000+02:00

Still chilly and rainy in Oslo. Had a sometimes pacy, sometimes slow walk with my sister in Tåsen/Nordberg area. Total 1 hour, 22 minutes.Max HR 193, avg 128 (504 kcal). I guess the max HR came up one quit steep hill - was it Havnebakken?

After easter

2006-04-30T10:57:00.000+02:00

Skiing almost every day in my easter holiday, but the weeks after has been quite a downfall. But yesterday I ran for half an hour, not to bad. Rainy and rather chilly. Went up and down the Aker river. Max HR 187, avg 160 and 284 kcal.

Cold

2006-04-11T19:00:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was sunny and warm, today came a freezing breezy from the sea. A quick jog up to Nydalen and stopped to pick up a package on my way back home. 35 minutes, max HR 183, average 155 (302 kcal). Tomorrow I leave for a easter break, hope for sun and snow! (good combination)

Same old spring

2006-04-07T19:13:00.000+02:00

Oh la la, the spring is definitely here! Yesterday it was snowing, this morning the sun was shining, this afternoon hagel as big as peas came pouring down - and now the sun is back again. A quick 25 min twice-around-St.Hans-haugen tonight, before heading to my sister.

In the dark

2006-04-05T22:01:00.000+02:00

Did a longer walk&run up to Stilla (by the river Aker, pass Nydalen). Not many people out this late and the last bit up to Stilla is also in the dark. No lights by the roar, and quite far to the nearest houses. Kinda spooky...?? Was outdoor in 1 hour 15 min, max HR 187, average 158. Total 658 kcal.

My way

2006-04-03T21:19:00.000+02:00

A short two-round St.Hans-haugen tonight. Light rain and temp at 5 +. 28 minutes, HR max 192, average 162 (263 kcal). Tried to push myself up a couple of the small hills, and it worked kinda well...(at least my hearted pumped hard)...

Oh la la

2006-03-29T19:53:00.000+02:00

I feel soooo good! A 40 minutes jog in a foggy and rainy Oslo felt easy! I actually had to pace a little to get my HR up (not the usual three minutes fast walking and my HR is 180). Up to Tåsen, then Ring 3, down by the river Aker and ended up grocery shopping! 40 minutes, max 182, average 159 and 329 kcal.

Next time I will try to speed up a little...

Snowy Oslo

2006-03-27T19:26:00.000+02:00

After weeks of sun and cold weather, I finally thought that the spring was on it´s way. Well, it doesn´t look that way. Yesterday night it started snowing again, and the flakes has been coming down all day.

I got myself a quick jog on Friday, by Aker river up to Nydalen. 40 minutes, max HR 180, average around 150. 326 kcal. Looks like I´m still in bad shape and that my illness still affects my training. Puuhh...

No drive

2006-03-16T16:04:00.000+01:00

Went up to Sognsvann where the snow is still covering the road. I haven´t run in two months - this winter´s cold have been long and exhausting...And even if I did a very slow run, my heartrate went high and I walked the last kilometer..I didn´t want to push myself hard since I just recovered. Did total 35 minutes...max HR 178, average 149, and total of 279 calories..

Well, I´ll try tomorrow again.

Winter sick

2006-02-07T22:29:00.000+01:00

I wanted to have a good start in the new year, but a trip to freezing cold Budapest left me with a terrible cold (and fever a few days) which still makes me left with a feeling of little or no energy. I don´t even have the energy to walk, much less the idea of running! So I try to sleep a lot, so that when warmer times show up - I get up like a polar bear - awake after a long long long sleep.

(I can still recommend Budapest, though, the thermal baths are lovely - and so are the restaurants, the scenery and the city circus)

Brrrrrrrreautiful

2006-01-22T02:17:00.000+01:00

Minus 6 degrees in Oslo and heavy snowing the last couple of days. So I ran (well, jogged) twice around Sognvann after work today. 50 minutes and 7 K - not the fastest pace, but I thought I´d take it easy today. Tried to keep HR under 160 the first round, and then under 170 the next. Not tired afterwards, so that mean that I can speed up next time.

It was a really beautiful scenery. Lots of white snow on all the pines, people coming down from the woods on their ski and a pink afternoon sun. May it stay a few days!

Then we take Berlin

2006-01-16T22:55:00.000+01:00

I might as well put out my big hairy goal for this year - to run the marathon in Berlin in September. My german host father is celebrating his 70th year around that time, so I´m going to Germany anyway. Why not do a marathon while I´m there?? Ohh, Achtung baby!

Run under Aurora

2006-01-16T15:05:00.001+01:00

New year - new possibilities! Not much running the last month, but some really nice walks under the stars with the northern lights running over the sky. It is impossible to run yourself - the only thing you can do is to walk small steps with the face towards the sky and see the magic. I can only recommend Christmas above the Artic circle!

Sweaty spin

2005-12-14T14:58:00.000+01:00

With a couple of weeks of more December parties than training, I went to a spinning session at the local gym. The swede cycled through 4,8,12,8,4 minutes peaks. My legs shaked and I couldn´t get one of the shoes off the pedal at the end. Max heart rate was 189...December fat, off you go!

Dance all night

2005-12-06T01:47:00.000+01:00

This last week has been a bad one - regarding running - too much work - too many hours. But Sunday night I went to the Fugees´ concert in Oslo. And it was great! Th warm up bands sucked, but when WJ, LH and P finally came on stage, the ice melted. "Put your arms in the air", shouted WJ, and nobody dared to anything else. I danced for two hours, and walked out exhausted at 23.30. Today I have been busy cleaning the house, grocery shopping and cooking - hard work to invite 14 friends to dinner! But then it´s very fun when they arrive and the mood is great for hours! I like my friends!

Snowjog

2005-11-26T22:42:00.000+01:00

50 minutes of light jogging while snowflakes try to find their way to the ground. Finally winter? Max heart rate 184, average 149. Now I´m ready for tonights dinnerparty. On the menu is the traditional Norwegian X-mas dish PINNEKJØTT. That is salty lambs ribs with potatoes and yellow mash turnips. Very good, but very heavy and fatty.

Food for running

2005-11-25T23:04:00.000+01:00

In this article the marathon runner Paul Tergat explains how the simple school meal distributed through the World Food Programme enabled him to train to become one of the greatest runner´s of the world.

While the West have trouble with a steady growing oversize population - there are still people that are starving - every day.

Summary week 47

2005-11-25T22:49:00.000+01:00

It has been raining cold the whole week, and it has not been a good week for running. On Monday I went 1,5 hour walking/jogging, on Tuesday I walked pacey for 45 min, Wednesday was spinning on the menu (indoor swetting) and Friday only walk to/from work. Not a really bad week, but not really good either.

This weeks fun has been the buy of a pulse watch. It´s exciting to train with the watch on my arm - and it´s exciting to come home and see the result.

It´s raining

2005-11-25T01:04:00.000+01:00

End of November, and still no sign of snow. I don´t like the first 15 minutes of running in cold rain.