Saturday 9 April 2011

Oh it's such a perfect day

I know you're dying to find out how today's long run went. The 90 km run from Varberg to Gothenburg, a part of which I was to run with my brave running buddies. But I'll deal with those little details in a second. First things first. An important question has to be answered: was it shorter tights weather?

The sun was shining, the thermometre showed 12 degrees in the shade but the wind was blowing at a pretty impressive speed. I decided not to take any chances and freeze my calves off, so I chose my long tights, which I could easily roll up to my knees if I wanted to. Which I did in the end.


After much deliberation about the arrival time of my buddies in Särö, I changed my plan and joined them in Kungsbacka instead. At that point, the first ”casualties” had already left the group. Luckily no injuries were involved. Just tiredness. Hans was the only one from the original group that was still up and running at this point, 65 km from Varberg, and Carl and I ran with him for about 5 km. Then he asked us to kindly keep running while he took a pause. We wished him luck and continued running, hoping that he'd be ok and make it to Gothenburg on foot.



The route was familiar to me since last autumn's group run. Carl and I chatted about everything under the sun, it seemed: fossils, genetic memory, house prices, work, holidays. Oh, and running, of course. My stomach had been empty almost from the start, due to the starting time confusion, but it felt more like an irritation than hunger. I considered taking the bus when I reached Billdal because of this, but once we got there, it felt like I was very close to my destination, so I kept running.




Carl's foot had been bothering him for a while, so he chose to stop and take the bus home. I was almost home too, so we said our goodbyes and I ran to the pizzeria. I'd been thinking about this pizza since my stomach gave the first hints it might be empty. Once I got home and took a few bites, however, I had to force the rest of it down. I started freezing, too. I wasn't feeling too well. I had a hot shower, which helped momentarily, but as soon as I got out I started freezing again. To make matters worse, I started feeling sick too. My stomach was making a point that the pizza was a bad idea after all.

Shame about these after-run symptoms. It was truly a perfect day for running, and I enjoyed every minute of it. 23,5 km of sunshine and good company.

3 comments:

  1. Well done for keeping the ultra guys company! I love pizza but never fancy one after running. I've heard there are quite a few ultra runners who eat them whilst racing...can't imagine what that must feel like?

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  2. Strong stomachs or a skill honed to perfection? :)

    Tack Lotta! :D

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