4 weeks to go

It's now less than 4 weeks until the half marathon in Gothenburg when I'm running Göteborgsvarvet. I have done a few longer runs but the last time I did 15 kilometres I had such a sore back and knee afterwards that I haven't wanted to do a longer run since then. I did 9,5 km run on Sunday and felt fine afterwards so hopefully I can continue now without any problems in the next few weeks. I have been consistent in my training all year and feel as prepared as I could be I think. I don't want to overdo my training since I want to keep my health and strength until the race. I'm gonna be sore afterwards, that's for sure. But it's gonna be worth it as long as I manage to complete the run and I'm determined to do it!

I wonder what the weather will be like on the day, hopefully it won't be too hot since the race is during the day. My start is at 14:50 in the afternoon, I'm in the special charity group and my start number is 38259. If anyone wants to follow me and how I'm doing during the race, you can send a text "GV 38259" to 72700 ;) It costs 30 SEK.

One thing that I haven't been able to do yet is to find out if my stomach can handle the sports drink. I will have to go for a run during the week and bring some with me to see if it works ;) I hope it does since you'll hopefully get more energy than from water!

My training has looked like below in the last while, gonna continue running for 3 more weeks but I've decided to rest in the last week:

Week 10
Monday: Bodypump 55 min
Wednesday: 10 km run - 10km/hr

Week 11
Tuesday: 5,47 km run - average 10,94km/hr (interval training)
Thursday: 14 km run - 9,94 km/hr

Week 12
Monday: Bodypump 55 min
Friday: 10 km run - 11,23km/hr

Week 13
Thursday: 6 km run - 10km/hr

Week 14
Monday: 10 km run - 10km/hr
Wednesday: 10 km run - 10km/hr

Week 15
Wednesday: Spinning 55 min
Saturday: 14,95 km run - 10km/hr

Week 16
Wednesday: 5 km run - 10km/hr
Friday: 5,5 km run - 9,43km/hr
Sunday: 9,5 km run - 10,18km/hr

I was hoping to do a 16-17 km run before the race but I have given up the thought of that. I think it's better to leave it until the 21st of May. I'll take the train down to Gothenburg in the morning and then back again in the evening. I'm hoping that somebody will come and meet me at the central station later on that night to lift me off the train ;)

Sun sun sun and a clear blue sky

What a fantastic day and what a fabulous weekend, I don't want it to come to an end! I'm feeling so happy right now and I'm enjoying every minute. After a lot of wine and cheese last night it felt like a good idea to go for a walk around Lötsjön before breakfast. When we came back we enjoyed a lovely breakfast on the balcony in the sun and it was really hot, almost 40 degrees in the sun and 22 degrees in the shadow. This is amazing considering it's only April, but it has been like this for the whole weekend and I'm not complaining at all. It feels like the summer is only around the corner but of course it's not gonna continue like this. It's just that you can very easily get used to walking around in shorts :) After breakfast we went sunbathing for about an hour, it felt really weird putting on a bikini in April but I was not the only one doing that, that's for sure ;)

In the afternoon we thought it was time for an ice cream with sprinkles and my god it was yummy. Walked around for a little while and had a look in one of the shops down in Sundbyberg that has a lot of lovely clothes. Bought nothing, I was just looking ;) Later on we went to Kungsholmen to have a coffee at Mälarpaviljongen. We were not the only ones there and the queue was so long that we decided to go somewhere else instead. We walked up to the café Frida & Jag and bought our coffee. Unfortunately we had to sit in the shadow but it was so warm that it didn't matter. I also enjoyed a lovely Ceasar salad together with a refreshing Firefly drink (I wanted to have a Ceasar salad at Solstugan yesterday but they don't seem to do them there any longer..). On our way back to the car we walked by Rålambshovsparken and there were loads of people in the park. Everybody seems so happy and you hear talk and laughter everywhere :)

Now I'm back in the apartment again and I'm feeling a bit tired. I'm more tired than usual but I think it's due to my allergy and also from the medicine I'm taking. I'm just gonna chill out tonight and get ready for work tomorrow morning. Luckily we have a short week ahead of us so it doesn't feel that bad after all.

Holidays in Sicily

Yesterday F and I booked a week in Sicily this summer! We're going to Giardini-Naxos which is located on the East coast and we're staying in a hotel size smaller that has its own little rock beach. If we want to go to the sandy beaches it's only a short walk away. I can't wait for my holidays, I love having something to look forward to :)

Map of Sicily

View from the hotel

The beach at the hotel

But you can't complain about the weather in Stockholm right now, it has been absolutely gorgeous all weekend and it seems to continue. I'm gonna go for a run in a second, I'm not looking forward to it but I've promised myself that I'm gonna head out again. Hopefully I have the energy to do a slightly longer run than we did the other day, I should be able for it since I haven't had any more of the back and knee pain.

Feeling a bit tired today, my lovely hayfever is here and I woke up today with very puffy eyes :( The medicine I'm taking is making me tired as well. My body is sore from the inlines session the other day and I still have sore arms from the golf on Friday, ha ha. We went to Ulriksdal golf club and I tried it out for a few minutes. Don't know if it's my thing really but I quite enjoyed it I must say.

I hope you're all enjoying your Easter holidays cause I'm undoubtedly enjoying mine!

Easter Eggs and 30th birthday

The other day it was time for the yearly Easter egg delivery in work and we all received an Easter Egg each full of sweets :) Yellow marzipan cakes with Easter chickens were also served and it was yummie!

It was also Robin's birthday and we had set up balloons and birthday signs at his desk to surprise him when he got into work. We gave him a present and a survival kit that I think he appreciated.. I hope so anyway ;)

Today I'm working for a couple of hours and then the plan is that F and I are gonna do some inline skating. I have a borrowed a pair of inlines from Sofia to try it out and if I like it I can buy myself a pair later on. The weather is absolutely gorgeous and it's supposed to be like this over the Easter holidays. Can't complain about that! Will be nice to have a few days off to relax, looking forward to it :)

Dinner on the balcony

Don't you just love this spring weather!? No more winter jackets, hats and gloves.. I've had a good day in work today and got quite a lot done. After work myself and Lena went to her local Thai place to get a takeaway and then we sat out on her balcony in the sun. It was absolutely fantastic I have to say. I don't think it was as warm as it was yesterday but it was still very nice :) I had a Massaman curry and it was lovely. Then we went inside and chatted away for a while before I headed home again.

Now I'm sitting in the couch and I've just read the magazine Varvet which came in the post today, I received all the details I need for Göteborgsvarvet - the half marathon in Göteborg. It's less than 5 weeks away and I'm getting a bit nervous about it. Had a sore back and knee after the 15 km run I did on Saturday but I've rested since and it feels better again. Tomorrow I'm gonna go for a shorter run at lunch time, hopefully that will be ok.

I fancy a cup of tea right now so I think I'm gonna get up to make one and then I have to pay some bills. Reckon I'll have an early night since I'm still tired!

Sjung Nu concert

On the 15th of May it's time for yet another concert with the Sjung Nu choir and I'm really looking forward to it :) There are only two more singing sessions and then it's time to rock n roll! At this minute I know the majority of the songs but I still need to practice a bit more. This year we're singing a couple of songs with Lisa Nilsson and Stephen Simmonds, should be good.

Today the weather has been fabulous and I just love waking up when the sun is shining. I had an earlier start than I normally do today since I had an appointment with my dentist.  I'm always dreading it but everything went fine and she see said my teeth look good :) To celebrate I went to Citygross this evening to buy a BIG bag of sweets!! ;)

Just received a lovely phone call. I'm gonna go to bed now and will probably hit the pillow with a big smile on my face. I'm one lucky girl!

AW @ Hotellet

The weekend is here! :) The week flew by as always but I was still happy when I woke up yesterday morning and realised it was Friday. I started the weekend with an after work with Louise, her colleague and some other friends. We met up in Hotellet and had some rosé wine with sprite, yummie :) We had a little table at the back of the place outside and there were loads of people. You can definitely tell that the spring is here and that everybody is enjoying the fact that you can have a drink outside now.

Me, Emma and Louise enjoying a Friday drink at Hotellet

Today I have a busy schedule. I've just enjoyed a lovely breakfast in Sundbyberg and in about an hour or so I'm planning to go out for a 15 kilometre run. I'm dreading it a bit because I haven't done any running outside this year yet apart from when we were in Lanzarote last week but hopefully I'll be doing ok. I keep my fingers crossed that my knees will be ok as well. But hey, everything should be alright as long as I'm wearing my new running socks ;)

Later on we're heading to Farsta for a little birthday do and straight after that we're going all the way to Vallentuna to have dinner with Kim, Lisa and Benjamin :) Can't wait to see them again, it has been over two months now I think.

Proper running socks

The other day when I went for a run on the threadmill in the gym I tried out my new running socks that I bought last weekend. You might remember that I had problems with blisters on my feet when I started running and I still haven't got rid of them completely so I thought what could be better than buying proper running socks!? ;) There is actually a big difference so it was a good buy. I love the way they put L and R on the socks so that you won't put the wrong sock on the wrong foot. It must be just in case you forget where your big toe is located? ;)

Tonight I attended the second part of the photo course with Jonas Borg and my colleagues. We learnt all about ISO, the right white balance, Kelvin scale and how to edit your photos in an editing program (quick fixes). It is amazing how easily you can make your photo look great rather than good. It has been a very inspiring course, I have taken some notes and I'm eager to start taking photos to try everything out. Lets hope I can take some nice photos this spring!

Spinning class

I had planned to go for a long run in the gym last night but got there quite late so I only had time for 5 kilometres, it was quite a nice run anyway and I ran faster than I normally would. Today Lena pursuaded me to go down for the spinning class, I haven't been to one for at least a year and it's not really my thing. I wasn't too excited about it beforehand but it was a great class and I really liked the instructor. She also had good taste of music ;) It was a tough workout and I was sweating loads but Lena and I were very happy afterwards!

Last night F and I started to watch Flashforward and we watched three episodes. Ehrmm, well at least two.. On the third one I accidentally "closed my eyes" a couple of times and started breathing heavily, don't know what happened there ;) I like it so far anyway and I'm looking forward to watching more episodes.

Now I'm back in the apartment and I'm planning to cook some dinner and then watch Sveriges Mästerkock on telly, one of my favourite programs at the moment. I've just been to the recycling station to drop off loads of clothes that I don't wear anymore, feels great. I also went to Alvik to pick up a parcel from Mollys scrapbooking. Hopefully I'll have time for some scrapbooking this weekend, dying to get into it again!

Home sweet home

I'm back in Stockholm after a lovely week in Lanzarote with my partner in crime - Maria. We left last Saturday and arrived on the sunny island after almost 6 hours on a plane. Unfortunately we were placed in the last row so we couldn't lean the seats back :( Also, since the toilets were just where we sat, there was a constant queue for them which meant one or two bums right up our faces..! Apart from that everything went really well and we were quite happy leaving work for the week.

The weather has been alright but it was quite cloudy in the beginning and we only got one or two hours of sunbathing a day. However, it got better in the second half of the week and we really enjoyed two full sunny days before it was time to leave again. We've had a lot of nice food, we've been drinking great wine, we've done a lot of walking and I even went for two 10 kilometre runs while we were there. We've read books, we've laughed and enjoyed each other's company and we've relaxed on the beach. It was such a nice break and I got the time to recharge my batteries. Now I'm back in work again and it's time to go to bed so that I'll have the energy that I need for tomorrow!

The lovely beach in Puerto del Carmen - Lanzarote

Packing

Finally the time has come to say goodbye to work for a week and to greet Lanzarote. It has been a very stressful week so I'm extremely tired right now and I haven't even started with the packing. But I'm gonna get on with it straight away so that I can go to bed to get some sleep. We're getting up early tomorrow morning, the taxi will come to pick us up at 6:30 already.. Oh well, it's ok since we're on holidays! :)

I haven't done any scrapbooking for ages, hopefully I'll find some time for that when I get home again. I'm reading Em's creative side on a regular basis, it's such a nice scrapbooking blog and I get a lot of inspiration from my dear friend Emmeli. Today I stumbled upon a lovely layout that she has created and posted on her blog, see below: