Relaxing Evening

Hot yoga followed by sauna, cold shower and floating in a skin temperature pool. That was my free and relaxing evening after a dreadful day at work with headache and nausea. Wish this was something I could do more regularly, but a monthly membership fee of 699sek is simply not in my budget right now.

Rounding off the evening with a visit to Blackbird, a vegetarian restaurant that everyone seem to live, for dinner with a friend.

Life without the kitties sure makes it easier for afterwork adventures, but I do miss them terrible much. Falling asleep was nearly impossible last night.

When Sweden met Australia

I'm currently sitting on a delayed train heading back home to Gothenburg. I've spent a week in Stockholm, together with my parents and Rhys and his parents. We have all had a lovely time.

Thursday started early at 6.00 AM at the airport, picking up our guests. We had a peaceful morning and lunch at home before making way into the city. We walked through the southern island, took a ferry and ended up at the park theatre for a Midsummer night's dream, performed in English. It was lots of fun.

Friday was spent celebrating the Swedish midsummer. Rhys took his parents for a quick coffee and lunch inside the city, as mom and I prepared the midsummer dinner and cake. I also made some flower garlands, very quickly as we were running out of time. We took the car to the nearby celebration area, which was jammed packed with people. Dancing around the midsummer pole was rather cramped, but we were all doing the famous frog dance before heading home for dinner and cake.

Saturday was a day spent singing and dancing at the Abba musuem. The evening was first spent in Koh Phangan's jungle with tasty Thai dinner. We then took the stroll to Katarinahissen for a beautiful view as the sun started to set.

Sunday took us on a tour through the City Hall and then on the ferry out to Drottningholm Castle and it's theatre, two places I've never been. The City Hall had many hidden treasures and shame on me for never realising that the local government/council of Stockholm actually used the place daily for deciding the faith of the capital. We also took a tour off the 250 years old theatre out by the castle. It was very special as they are still using all the original scenery and mechanics. Rhys and I actually got to go backstage and produce wind and thunder with these original devices. It was a lot of fun and I have to make sure to make visit next year for a real show.

Monday was sadly Rhys's last day, but we managed to cram in a visit to the Vasa musuem in the morning. I've never see this huge ship, forever famous for sinking after 1000 meters on its maiden voyage. It baffles and amazes me how big and detailed they were able to build back in the days before machines and proper measurement. After a quick lunch at home we had to take Rhys out to the airport. We first missed our train and then had to drive all the way to the airport.

Tuesday, or today as it also is when I'm writing this, has been a day filled with journey. I managed to drive us wrong, twice, as I tried to take us to Skokloster. In the end we had to give up on the idea of making a visit to Skokloster before having lunch in Sigtuna, as we also had to make it in time to Arlanda as Rhys's parents had their flight to catch. We had a nice time in this little peaceful town, filling our tummies with tasty food from Tant Brun.

And now I'm on the last part of the adventure, slowly getting back home to my empty bed. Feels a bit sad going back as I don't even have the company of my kitties. But I will head over to Vienna next weekend, so I do have that to look forward to that at least.

I Made a Promise, Mr Frodo

Last time at the chiropractor I made a promise, to go swimming once before going back. I saved that to this weekend that we've just had, so that Rhys could help me as he's a very good swimmer than me and I need lots of help and practice to improve my crawling.

Well, things didn't go as planned. And today is Monday, the day I have that next appointment with my chiropractor. Guess who went up at the crack of dawn and went to the pool before work. Because I made a promise!

It was actually a really nice way to start the day.

June goals

Summer is here upon us and since I'm saving most of my vacation for a long Christmas-vacation, it means that I'll still be working. But I do have a week in Stockholm to look forward to later this month followed by a weekend in Vienna, so it won't be all work and no play. Actually it seems to be lots of fun, only one weekend unplanned as my parents are currently visiting.

Due to all the fun plans I don't have many goals. Mainly two. First one is to complete my "30 days of yoga" challenge and second goal is to finish a watercolour painting that I've been working on for ages. There's also my goal of trying something new with the hair, but it no longer needs to be in the list as I've become more creative on my own with this hair of mine.

I should probably put "start physical exercise" on the list. But I feel very intimidated by the fact of getting a session with a PT and I don't want to hurt myself by working out in the wrong way.

May notes

Spring is now over as we're leaving May and get headed into June and summer.
May have been a really good month, even though I've barely done the things out on my goal-list.
I've run my first race ever, mended my bike (it's broken again though) and last weekend I took an extra day off and had four sunny days with my Rhys. We walked through the Slottsskogen daily, saying hi to all the seals, penguins and baby goats (so fricking adorable).
Earlier in May I had my mother over for a weekend of shopping, eating and spending time together. She stayed and cheered on me when I did the race which was lovely.
Due to getting visits almost every weekend I really didn't have much time for mermay and more ambitious creativity. And June is going to be quite similar I fear. So that little dream of mine to start Etsy this summer are delayed. But that's okay.
That basically sums up my May. Now let's head into June and.

New Challenges

Starting today I'm doing a 30 days of yoga challenge, following this playlist by Adriene. It will surely be a well deserved change for this aching and stiff body that I've neglected since I got it. My shoulders and whole chest are in an awful state to say the least. A visit to my chiropractor and wonderworker is going to happen soon to help my body's healing process.

Earlier today I finally fixed the flat tire on my bike, which means I will start taking it to work starting tomorrow. It's going to be so nice not having to miss the bus every morning. And I'm of course wearing a helmet!

Since I'm going to get most of my cardio from riding the bike 7km two times per day, it is time to change my routine at the gym and do more muscle work. Have some research to do for that one, to get myself a good program.

As my crawl course finished last week it is time to start swimming on my own. Found out the other day that the outdoor pool will open on the 25th which is great since there's barely anyone using it on weekday evenings. I also found out that you can get a season pass just for the outdoor pool which is a lot cheaper than the regular card. So swimming on Tuesday will probably still be one, might get a bit flexible if I have anyone joining me.

And that's all the changes to my training clothes routines. Feeling very excited about the yoga and I'm really hoping it will help me get rid of my hurting chest and shoulders.

Back at the gym

After a week of rest I'm now back at the gym for my regular runs. My past week was filled with zero motivation and lots of crippling pms-anxiety​, so training was rather out of the question as going to work was hard enough. Today I'm still having zero motivation, but the anxiety is gone so it's a lot easier to force myself back here.

During the weekend I've made the decision not to do the triathlon next month, as I'm not good enough with the swimming and I also have no idea on how to transport my bike to the race area. For the same reason I will not attempt the Gothenburg classic as the swimming is even longer and the water filled with even more swimmers. It doesn't feel safe.

Next goal is therefore the midnight race, in Stockholm. Which will be bloody difficult because there is a hell-hill to climb... But challenge accepted.

(Can my nose please stop bleeding so I can actually start my run -.-)

Vårruset 2017

It was a rather cold but sunny evening when I joined 12.000 other women in Vårruset here in Gothenburg. I had my mum cheering me on as I did my best in this 5 kilometer long race. This was my first time running outdoors, usually I'm just on the treadmill, and it was a lot more difficult than expected. I think my biggest issue was to keep a steady pace as I ran past all the joggers and walkers. Ended up on a time around 40 minutes, don't know for sure since the watch I was using for time-taking was useless and showed 32 seconds as I passed the goal. I feel very certain that that wasn't my real time, but who knows for sure.

Though it was cold and harder than expected it was also a fun experience and I will be back next year for sure!

Still haven't decided if I'm going for the "Gothenburg classic" challenge. Mostly because I'm a bit short on money currently and the first race is on the 27th of May. It also falls on a day when Rhys is visiting, so I would have to drag him with me as well.

We'll see what happens. Should probably fix that flat tire of mine and start riding the bike to work first of all.

Bullet Journal

Poor thing. I've been completely forgetting all about my bullet journal during this last month. During the weekend I've been trying to get it back to life again with completely new layout. I think the last one worked against me because it was too difficult for me to get an overview. 

For May I've enlarged the monthly view, which will be my main-planner. On the next spread I've put my money-tracker and a weekly to-do list plus daily tracking of a few habits. I had to rip out a few pages, as I had already made the old template for the coming month. 

Here's the new monthly view, giving me a good overview of the coming month right away.

Tracking of economy and a simple weekly planer to keep track of tasks.

Knitting Update

The pattern I've chosen for my knitting project is very easy. The same can not be said for the yarn I have, fluffy mohair. Makes for instant tangles and messes if you're not careful. It also get a bit stuck on my knitting needles, as they are made of wood.
But I'm making progress. In fact had made it at least one third or halfway when I realised that I had done the pattern all wrong. I thought it said "increase with one" when it in fact said "increase with one on each side"...

So I had to redo everything past the waistband. And of knitting with mohair is a challenge, undoing is even harder since the fluffy bits seems to bond into tangles no man can undo. Took me a good half hour to undo.

It's a few days later now and I'm almost halfway to where I ones was. Let's not mess it up again.

Training Update

I've received my number tag for the race, Vårruset. Feeling really excited and can't wait for next Monday.

My running goes well. This Tuesday I ran 4,5km in 25 minutes. Felt exhausted the rest of the day, but also very proud.

My swimming goes alright I think, missed last week but I have a class today and hopefully I'll pick it up alright.

Since it is still rather cold here and with a lot of hard wind, I haven't started taking my bike to work. There's a big bridge to cross and it's horrible to do so when the hard winds blows since they make it impossible to breath. Rather scary feeling.

With the excitement building up for my first run, I'm thinking about signing up for the Gothenburg Classic. It consists of 50km on bike in May, 1km swimming in August and finally a 10km run in September. This would of course not count as a triathlon, but it does give you a diploma...

Where are those Endorphins?

Training has been difficult lately. I've lost all the motivation for it and the result hasn't been good. I thought that training was supposed to feel good, give you some well earned endorphins. But no, here I am just feeling depressed getting on this treadmill. I hope this is just some temporary mood-dip.

Okay five minutes up, time to start running.

Post Scriptum
This post failed to upload but I did not fail today in doing a little run (10min run, 3min walk, 10min run). And I felt mentally a lot better during today's run. Perhaps it isn't the exercise that has made me miserable, but the darn TV programs that's always on during my lunch-run. Emmerdale (hem till gården) and Absolutely Fabulous (helt hysteriskt). Why can't daytime TV show something decent?

Happy Easter little bunnies <3

Where are those Endorphins?

Training has been difficult lately. I've lost all the motivation for it and the result hasn't been good. I thought that training was supposed to feel good, give you some well earned endorphins. But no, here I am just feeling depressed getting on this treadmill. I hope this is just some temporary mood-dip.

Okay five minutes up, time to start running.

Do Not Panic

Oh dear me, it has been a morning for sure today. Went to bed at 11pm, went up at 3am. Milky had no clue why he had to get out of the bed as I quickly changed the sheets for my catsitter. Had to run to the tram, since i decided to paint my nails at last second. Almost forgot my sunglasses on the bus as they had fallen into the seat next to me. Bought a yoghurt and orange juice at the airport that i had to consume while queueing for the security check. It's interesting how empty the streets are at 5am, but the airport is cramped with people.
Made it through security and went to the bathroom where i multitasked on my phone. Exchanged some money and then went through passport control and to my gate. They opened my gate and i got into my bag to get my phone so i could send a quick text to Rhys. Got on the airplane. Except that their might have been 20 minutes of panic in between. You see, I didn't have the phone in my bag. It was lost. Remember how I told you about some multitasking in the bathroom... I put my phone down to wash my hands and told my self not to forget it...
So I ran back through the passport control (without showing my passport because they were only working on letting people in to the gates and not out. I probably crossed the Swedish border illegally) tran to the bathroom and try to find different stores in the closest area where someone could have left my phone. Nothing. Panic. Fighting lots of tears. Stress. Gave up, ran back to the passport control and to my gate. The line for my gate was still huge. Found a staff member there and asked if they perhaps could ask around on the walkie-talkies if someone had found my phone. A few minutes of silence. Then huge relief. A cleaning lady had my phone, or at least a phone. So I had to wait. And the boarding line is getting shorter. Panic again, what if she doesn't make it in time. The line is down to ten people. I see her. She passes me the phone and asks me to restart it, just so that I can put in code and all and prove it is my phone. It seems to take forever to restart the damn phone. But finally i get to put in my pin, thank the lady again and rush off to my gate. I was only second last to board. My window seat was sken, but I couldn't care less. I sat down and got to send that short text to Rhys telling him I was on the plane and on my way to him.

It's not even 9am now and I'm exhausted. Let's not have any more adventurous today. Let's just sit in the park and feed the squirrels.

Skeleton Tree

Last week I did something I didn't believe I could do. Running for 20 minutes with no breaks. But I did, mostly because there was a prize waiting for me if I made it through. A ticket to see Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It worked very well as a motivation and now I can't wait for October, when I will have to wait outside the arena in Oslo for hours to get a good spot as I will be standing during the whole concert.

Last week i exercised 4 days in a row. When did I become this athletic?! Feels great though.