The Alpaca Race

Living here in Gothenburg, I keep finding new local races that I just have to take part in. Like Rambo Mosse last year, I think this one will be quite memorable. Set in Hisingsparken, the Alpaca Race on 9 June is on a looped technical course with each loop being 10.6 kilometres with 600 meters of vertical gain and loss, all designed to mimic the elevation profile of UTMB.

Considering that I already have both Borås Ultra Marathon and Halland Beach Ultra lined up for the summer, I opted for the shorter version with just three loops for a total of 32 km, 1,860 meters of elevation and one ITRA-point. However, when rowing at the Örgryte gym earlier today, I felt tempted to change my registration to the longer 53 km edition, but I guess there is a limit to how many ultra marathons one can do in the same year without risking injury. In this way, I will also hopefully come back early in the afternoon and be able to spend some weekend time with the kids, rather than feeling completely exhausted. Beyond indoor rowing, I have spent most of the days with different online meetings, including one about our future master’s programme which I am quite excited about, before making fish tacos for dinner.

The little math wizard

Over the last year, William (who is turning ten this year) has been taking part in different math camps and shorter evening sessions at Chalmers University of Technology; activities that have brought him so much joy. As a parent, it is simply wonderful to see him exploring abstract concepts with other kids who share the same fascination for maths.

Red Coast

Given the present political climate, I have grown increasingly curious about the domestic success of Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem, especially after hearing about the honesty of the scenes set during the Cultural Revolution. With one of the main characters also being a graduate of Tsinghua University where I spent part of my Marie Curie exchange in 2011, I decided to order the book so I would have something for summer afternoons on the balcony. Yet, its pages quickly pulled me in, even more so after reading this critical text, so I guess I will have finished it long before the temperature starts picking up.

Having made pancakes with local eggs from our friends on Styrsö, I look through the UTMB World Series calendar, thinking that maybe there will be a Mount Yun race in April 2025 as well. Located about 300 km northeast of Xi’An, it would be a fascinating journey into the interior of China, especially since Anna speaks Mandarin. For the moment however, all running is on pause as I have come down with a cold, which is a bit annoying since I was already behind with my running goals for this year but, as always, health comes first. 

X2000 mornings

After a marvellous Sunday at Styrsö visiting Holger and Walter, I am now on my way to Halmstad with SJ high-speed service 481. Boarding the newly refurbished trainset in the morning sunshine, I am reminded of past commutes along the same tracks, even if the interior quickly gives away that it is no longer 2008.

Today, I will mostly have meetings and thesis supervision before heading back to Gothenburg with another high-speed train. With 260 km of commuting back and forth, it really helps that I can work so well on the train.

3x Styrsö

Sourdough

After all my international travels, I really appreciate being at home and on the ground as I open a bottle Herdade do Peso from dreamy Alentejo. Blending two grapes, Antão Vaz and Arinto, this white wine is an instant recommendation but unfortunately Systembolaget does not have it.

Making cod with estragon for dinner, my finance suffered a setback today when I found another excellent neighbourhood bakery called “Cum Pane” whose sourdough bread all of the family just loved. Otherwise, this Saturday began with a few minus degrees as Anna and I ran around Delsjön shortly after 7 a.m., before it was time to clean the house and administer an oral makeup exam for my organizational communication class. Clearly, there is something rather old school with having an oral exam on a Saturday, even if on Zoom.

A free bib

Yesterday, I mentioned that I would consider registering for Göteborgsvarvet in mid-May. As if the local daily Göteborgsposten (GP) had been reading Rawls & Me, I was surprised to find a free registration in my inbox this morning courtesy of GP, which was particularly helpful as the regular registration appears to have sold out.

After running a couple of seeding races and the virtual edition back in 2020 (which also happens to be my half marathon PR), I look forward to finally running the real race on 18 May. Give how little speed training I have been doing, I have no particular ambition except finishing with some dignity. Now, time for our weekly Zoom-meeting with the department.

Marathon dreams

After my colossal failure in Tallinn last year, I was tempted to give up on road marathons and focus exclusively on ultra trail running. However, going through my wardrobe and finding a pair of Hoka Carbon X2, and then seeing the sunshine outside, I could not resist going for a few faster kilometres on the pavement around the neighbourhood at lunch, and apparently that was enough to bring back those funny marathon dreams. With Gabriel having registered for Göteborgsvarvet on 18 May, I am seriously considering joining him, even if it would only leave me with a week to recover before Borås Ultra Marathon, something that I have come to regret in the past.

In any case, as for half marathons, I am going to do the joint jogging event “Retrovaret” in 6:30 min/km pace with Anna on 27 April.

Borderlands

Today, I took the kids up to Jonsered for a full day of live action role-playing in the woods. Set in The Borderlands between three kingdoms, Eddie and William had tons of fun with their new friends Holger and Walter, while I got to hang out with the other parents at the fireplace, so now I really smell like a cask of Laphroaig.

For lunch, I was able to grab one of yesterday’s Korean salads from Togogo at the central station for 50% off which was both a bargain and a nice flashback to my past life on the other side of the planet.

While the kids were role-playing, the rest of the world is holding its breath for what comes next between Israel and Iran. Clearly, striking other countries’ embassies with missiles is not a smart thing to do if you want to de-escalate an already tense situation so last night’s massive counterattack was perhaps not that surprising. Still, it just serves as a reminder about the lack of positive long-term visions on all sides. 

Slippery slope

Having left the kids at school, I started off in high spirits at Kungsportsplatsen shortly after 8 am this morning. Even if the skies were dark, it took an hour before the rain started falling just as I was climbing up Getryggen. 

Running in shorts, I soon realized that I had again underestimated how quickly one gets cold, but I nevertheless continued for two and half more hours along wet and slippery trails towards Jonsered. Knowing that the next section to Lerum would be on exposed cliffs with a lot of vertical over Goråsbergen, I decided to throw in the towel and take the train back to Gothenburg. Waiting at the platform, the rain really intensified, making me certain that it was the right decision.

Once at the railway station in Gothenburg, I had a large portion of fried rice, but it still took a long warm shower at home to somewhat restore my body temperature. After Denmark, I had promised myself not to underestimate the risk of hypothermia again but, apparently, I am a truly a goldfish at heart. As for Gotaleden, I will make a new attempt when the sun comes out.