Running the Narrow Path

Aiming for Athens - week 2

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sun, 19 May 2013 14:30:38 PDT

This week was a bit tougher, maybe not running wise but I had a very hectic week at work which involved too much sitting on trains and meetings. Long days of traveling also made it difficult to get enough sleep. I haven't been able to squeeze in any stretching or strength exercises this week but I'm very pleased that I could fit in the running days according to plan. All the sitting made the legs a bit heavy and stiff at the start of each run but I warmed up pretty quick and after a little while running (run/walking 3/1) was easy and I felt strong.

Tuesday: I celebrated my 53rd birthday with a 53 minute run on the narrow paths. I had a very good time and ended up with 7.55 km even though the plan said less running but I thought I'd cut back a little on the other days of the week to compensate - little did I know.

Thursday: The first really warm and summer like day and I got the chance to run a bit earlier than usual in the afternoon. Even though the temperature was a bit too high I couldn't resist to go running in the sunshine. First run in shorts for the season. I ran smaller loops not too far away from home with my winter white legs in bright contrast to the marine blue shorts. I had such a great time that I kept adding loop after loop until I finally, after a 9 km run, arrived at home.

Sunday: The plan said 14.1 km and I decided to run a loop that I thought would be around 15 but after 5-6 km I realized that I was wrong and that I would have to run much longer to get back home again. I tried a few shortcuts even though running shortcuts in an area you're not familiar with can turn out even longer. I managed to decrease the distance a little but ran longer than intended for the third time this week. Distance for the week ended up at an (for me) amazing 33.05km/20.5miles. I've also surprised myself with a really good pace and a feeling of being strong. All in all a great week.

Aiming for Athens - week 1

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sun, 12 May 2013 14:13:13 PDT

Hopefully this will be a series of posts where I'll reflect on my marathon training. This post will sum up week one of the training and I intend to write down some of my experiences over the weeks to come.

After having a hard time deciding whether I could/should run a marathon or not I finally made up my mind. I decided to give it a try. The Marathon that I have in mind to try is the Athens Classic in November 2013. I am going to follow the Galloway marathon training program and I have chosen the time goal program. I am not going to set myself a time goal though but will run the marathon with a "to finish" approach. The reason why I picked the time goal program is that I think I have a good enough base to start from and feel that I will enjoy the longer distances involved in this program.

I have never run a marathon before, I have done a couple of half marathons and in order to prepare for them I have run slightly longer distances. The longest distance that I've covered is probably around 25km, so in a way this will be exploring uncharted territories. I have been run/walking the Galloway way for a few years and have found that it suits me well. I am confident that the Galloway program will guide me through the training and later on also the race.

Ok let me sum up week one of the training.

I've had a fantastic week of running.

My intention is to run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays but this week I had to swap the days around a bit.

Tuesday: I started my training by running a local 10k race and manged to squeeze one second off my old PR. I finished in 54:03 which I'm very happy with. To me that's a fantastic start to the training. I ran/walked the race with a 3/1 ratio with minor adjustments.

Friday: My daughter Ellen joined me for an easy run/walk which turned out to be more walking than running but after running hard during the race I didn't really mind. She brought her camera and produced the great video that can be seen in the last post. We had a great time together in the forest and I really appreciated her company.

Saturday: The plan called for a long run of 12.1km and I went for a loop that I have used for several weekend runs lately. It is slightly longer but I thought I'd run slow and easy and that one more km would not be harmful. I ended up running a bit faster than I intended but felt good through most of the run. I ran/walked 3/1 this time also. That is the ratio I have come to use on most of my runs and found to be good. The distance for this run turned out to be 13.8km and the total distance for the week ended up at 28.6km/17.8miles. That puts this week among the top 5 distance wise so far this year but probably as number 1 when it comes to the having fun category.

Elements

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sat, 11 May 2013 14:24:43 PDT

Here is a video produced by my daughter. Take a look and you'll get a glimpse of the Narrow Paths where I enjoy to run.

RtNP#51 Pinocchio

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:56:07 PDT

This is an episode with a few signs of spring, a report from my visit to the physiotherapist, some reflections on the course of times .... and also a few thoughts about the tragic things that happened at the Boston marathon.

Glossary

The music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com

Matt Moore - A Thousand Prayers (4:25)
Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro)

Contact me by e-mail (address in link to the right) or post a comment below.
Subscribe to this podcast by using the links to the right.
Listen to this episode here. (right click [save-as..] for download).

RtNP#50 Slowing Down

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:58:53 PDT

In this episode you can hear me explain why I'm running slower and shorter distances at the moment. We continue to celebrate the 5 years of podcasting. And I talk about a scary running experience that involves darkness and wild animals.

Links to things mentioned:

The Extra Mile Podcast

The music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com

Ersi Arvizu - Friend For Life (2:55)

Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro)

RtNP#49 Five Years and Counting

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:37:34 PST

This is the five year anniversary episode of this podcast and it has been one of the most fun episodes to produce. It turned out a very special episode to me and I hope you'll enjoy listening to it.

Thank you all who took part in the celebration.
Thank you all who downloads and listens to my podcast.

These five years of podcasting has been an eventful time in many ways but the lasting impression, when looking back, is all the friends I have come to know. Thank you all who has been along on the journey. - Hmm, I sound like this is a farewell but it's not. No, I will go on podcasting and running and it will be very interesting to find out what the coming five years will bring.

The music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com

African Treehouse - Big Numbers
The Gas House Gorillas - Nine Lives (xcrpts)
Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro)

RtNP#48 Looking Back..and Ahead

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 10:01:58 PST

So the new year, 2013, is here. Let's hope it will be a good one. I recorded this episode on my first run for the year and according to the way I felt I think 2013 might be a very good year for me. As the title suggests there is a bit of looking in both directions in this episode as well as a book review .. among other things.

The next episode will be the 5 year anniversary of this podcast and if you want to participate, please send a short audio or written words to: krister(dot)wson(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll include your voice and/or words in the episode and that way we'll make the episode together. I will need the material within this month.

The music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com

Jonathan Coulton - So Far So Good (3:15)
Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro)

RtNP#47 Approaching Christmas

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 11:01:19 PST

This was recorded on a winter run in the beginning of this month and as usual it took me much too long to edit and upload. I barely managed to get it ready before Christmas but here it is, with the margin of only a few days.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season!

Some music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com

VioloncLn - Requiem for a dream (1:40)
N3 Symphony Orchestra - Carol of the Bells (2:20)
Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro)

The Moment is Now

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:40:21 PST

My daughter made a winter video. The actor might not be very talented but there are some beautiful images from a pleasant December afternoon.

RtNP#46 Discipline

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 12:18:53 PST

Once again an episode that took me much too long to get ready and upload - sorry- but here it is. This was recorded on a grey, windy autumn day. I don't think you will be bothered by the grey and dark but the wind might be a bit disturbing in some parts of the recording.

The music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com

Great Big Sea - Dream to Live (5:20)
Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro)

RtNP#45 Multitasking

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 03:23:42 PDT

It is with mixed emotions that I greet autumn. I'm not so fond of wet and chilly weather and I fear the darkness that arrives with the shorter days but I enjoy the beautiful clear and sunny days when there still is some warmth and the air is crisp. This episode was recorded on one of the good autumn days. It was, in fact, a perfect day. You can see just how perfect on the photos here.

Links to things mentioned:

The music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com

Manic Street Preachers - Autumn song (3:35)
Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro)

RtNP#44 Poetic Headlines

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 03:26:58 PDT

Autumn is here, a dark and wet season with colds and lack of inspiration. Nevertheless I managed to pull myself together and edit a recording that had been awaiting further processing. Part of the recording turned out to be broken but here is the audible part of it, in which I talk about
cancelled race plans, how great I think Dailymile is, some wild as well as domestic animals including a rabbit update.. among other things.

Links to things mentioned:

Daily Mile

The music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com

Charlie Crowe - Vegas Hard Rock Shuffle (4:25)

Maria Daines - Unite (bkgr)

Mark Heimonen - Smooth Sailing (bkgr)

Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro)

Contact me by e-mail (address in link to the right) or post a comment below.
Subscription to this podcast can be made by using the links to the right.
Listen to this episode here. (right click [save-as..] for download).

RtNP#43 Horseflies

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 15:16:59 PDT

Here is another episode of unstructured nonsense, spoken in a slightly unfocused manner. - A rather ordinary episode.
The weather was nice during my run though, but that is perhaps a little difficult to share in audio.

Some subjects that I tried to share is:
a memory from the past that I might have told you in earlier episodes but is brought to my mind every time I run this special trail.
an on going invasion of slimy creatures.
and I'll let you in on an idea which slowly is taking shape in my head.

The music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com

Mieka Pauley - Secret (3:42)

Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro)

RtNP#42 Liberty Loco

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 15:20:16 PDT

Sorry about the delay but here it is - finally - the Liberty Loco episode of this podcast.

I was fortunate to be part of the Liberty Loco event that Peter of the Spikes podcast organized in the middle of June and I have put together a number of audio clips from the event but I wish that conditions had been a bit better. Strong wind, rain and talking at a distance to the microphone doesn't make the ideal circumstances for recording. I've tried my best to make the recorded material audible but it contains a good deal of wind noise and audio levels are uneven. You have now been warned.
I hope that you through the noise can hear what a great time we had as we ran the Liberty Loco with joy.

RtNP#41 Fairy Encounter

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 15:22:44 PDT

While running and recording this audio I had an odd experience, somehing that I still don't have a resonable explanation to. If you, after listening to my somewhat vague description of what I saw, have a suggestion to what it might have been, I would be very pleased if you would let me know your theory.

The music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com

Travis and Julie - Invisible (3:05)
Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro)

RtNP#40 Spring Season

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 15:27:37 PDT

Spring is arriving in the northern hemisphere and have now reached as far as the Narrow Path area.

In fact spring has been around for a little while and this episode was recorded on a nice and warm day some weeks ago but I've had difficulties finding the time to prepare and upload the audio, sorry. Even if days are getting longer they never seem to be long enough for all the things that has to be done and there is usually very little time left for the fun things I want to do. I hope to be better organized for the next episode. Running and exercise are going great though.

Please "spring"/run with me on this spring-run and...
(a somewhat cryptic sentence perhaps, but listen to the audio and you might get an explanation)

Please "spring"/run with me on this spring-run and, among other things, I'll tell you some of what spring means to me.

The music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com

Brunswick Duo - Spring Song by Bridge
Matt Stern - New Beginning
Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro)

RtNP#39 Watching the Sky

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 15:31:17 PDT

This was recorded a few weeks ago, sorry about the delay, on my first Forest Run this season and if only the weather stays the same, or perhaps even better, you and I can expect many more to come. It looks like 2012 will be a good year running wise.

Links to things mentioned:

Podcast Nuggets

The Fire Apes

The music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com

Chris Floyd - Dreamy town

Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro)

RtNP#38 Lightheaded

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 15:36:14 PDT

After a few technical issues I now hope it will be possible to download and listen to this episode.

First there was a bit of uneven audio levels in the recording that I had to fix, and even if I did my best, the level is still a little up and down. Hope you can put up with that.
Next issue I faced was a problem with the hosting service and I had to go through a new learning process to figure out how to deal with that. Without the help I got from Nigel and the Podcast Nuggets site I'm not sure that there would have been an episode at all. Thanks Nigel!

So, in this episode you can join me for a very pleasant winter run and you can also hear me talk about my first experience running with a proper headlamp.
Here are a few links to other things mentioned:

The Midpacker's Lament audio book

Run World Radio

Running Podcasts.org

The music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com

Dave Percell - Into the Light

Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro)

RtNP#37 Low Clouds

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 05:06:06 PDT

HAPPY NEW YEAR

and welcome to a new season of running and podcasting. This is a recording from my first run in 2012, a run that I really enjoyed and if my running for the rest of the year will be only half as good I'll be very pleased.

The music in this episode is a bit different from what I usually play but I hope you like it. This time it's from a concert that I wish I had been able to attend.

The intro/outro music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com
Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way

Contact me by e-mail (adress in link to the right) or post a comment below.
Subscription to this podcast can be made by using the links to the right.
Listen to this episode here. (right click [save-as..] for download)

RtNP#36 Running in London

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 05:08:50 PDT

On the weekend of the 8-9 of October, I and my family visited London and this episode of the podcast covers some of what we experienced.

We did quite a lot of sightseeing together with our very good friend Paul. London is a great and interesting city and with only a couple of days to spend I think we managed to see a lot. But I'm well aware that there is much more to see so I guess we have to go back some day.

On Sunday Paul and I ran the WWFoR half marathon together and our conversation during the run is the main content of this rather long episode.

RtNP#35 Friends

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 12:50:03 PDT

Unfortunately my michrophone was a bit out of place when I recorded this so there is a bit of puffing into the mic in this episode - sorry about that.
But if you can put up with that you will be able to experience a bit of drama. I will not give away too much here but there is a report from the scene of a minor natural disaster aswell as a severely stressed podcaster, much too late for a meeting. In fact it might bring to mind a rabbit, known from the litterature, who keeps looking at his watch repeating how very late he is.
There is also a segment where those of you that are learning Swedish can practice your skills.

The music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com.

Bill Kahler - Feet Make The Path
Matthew Ebel - Lost My Way (intro, outro)

Links

Run Yank Run

The bird that scared me was a Jay.

Contact me by e-mail (adress in link to the right) or post a comment below.
Subscription to this podcast can be made by using the links to the right.
Listen to this episode here. (right click [save-as..] for download).

Skräcklan half marathon

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:30:23 PDT

I've said that I wouldn't run any races this year... but today I went ahead and did my second race this summer. I had planned to run a long run this weekend anyway so why not do it together with a bunch of other runners.

The race took place in the nearby city Vänersborg and was organized by a local running club. There was both a full marathon and a half marathon taking place at the same time and on the same 8km track of roads and parkways. The full marathon was 5 laps around and the half was 2 ½ laps. I entered the half marathon race but since I hadn't signed up in advance I had to be there a bit early to register. My wife Georgia came with me and after I had registered we went to have a cup of coffee while we were waiting for the start.

The weather was nice for running, 15C/59F, cloudy, not much wind. I had wished for a bit of sunshine to brighten things up but the environment was really beautiful anyway.

I don't really know how many runners there were in the two races but my guess is that we were less than a hundred, probably closer to fifty than a hundred. It's not a very big race but in my opinion those races are usually a lot of fun. Two years ago I did the Gothenburgh half marathon together with 50 000 runners and today I did this race together with a lot less runners and I have to say that I prefer the smaller race.

We started 100m in front of the full marathon runners and the moment of the start was a bit vague since the start signal was produced over at the other starting line but it all worked out just fine. Since we were running 2½ laps we didn't do a full 8km first lap but had to take a shortcut after a few kms and come back to the later part of the loop. But that was no problem because one of the volunteers was standing there pointing us all in the right direction. The second and third lap we ran the full 8km loop. The first half of the loop was mostly on roads but the second half was on beautiful parkways along the lake Vänern, some parts among trees but for quite a long distance we had a beautiful view over the lake. The track was well marked out and the race well organized

Ok, my experience of the day... I started out too fast. At least according to the plan I had made. Based on my last long runs I was going to aim for a 6:30/km pace but after a couple of kms I found that I was running a 5:30 - 6:00 pace and I was a bit worried that I would run into problems later in the race. At the same time I felt very good and even if I tried to slow down a bit I seemed to be running at the same pace so I stopped worrying and went with the flow. I was run/walking with a 3:1 ratio and followed the intervall timer as strict as I could. The 3:1 ratio is how I have been training lately and it suits me good.

When you are the only run/walker you tend to be rather lonely, I mean that even if you are surrounded by the same people most of the time and you pass and get passed by them all the time, you don't really keep the same speed as they do and you can't really "cling on" to anyone. When you are running they are too slow and when walking they are much too fast. So I did my own race without that much help with the pace.

I kept on running and felt good for most of the race and with 6kms to go I did a prediction of my finishing time and found that there was a tiny possibility to finish under two hours. The time showed 1hour 28 and with 6kms to go and a 6 minute/km pace that would give me a finish time of around 2hours and 5 minutes. Ok for a little while I toyed with the idea to speed up and try but then I would have to run almost a minute faster per km for the rest of the race and I soon gave up the idea. The pace I was running was very pleasant and why take the risk of ruining it all. I decided to just keep on and enjoy the event. As it turned out I must have kicked up the pace anyway and I finished in 2:01:22 on my watch. The official time isn't up yet so there might be an adjustment to that later on but I am very happy with myself and also a bit surprised. I did beat my earlier half marathon PR with 20(!) minutes.

RtNP#34 Heather and Rowanberries

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 13:01:13 PDT

I brought the recorder with me on a run in the forest. It was a great evening and a great run. The forest had changed its charachter since my last run. It now had a scent of autumn, not strong but it was there. I found it a bit sad but also uplifting. I love the autumn air but I also love the warm summer. But I guess you can't have both and the change is only natural so the only thing to do is to accept it and enjoy every season, and every day for that matter, for what it is and absorb all the good there is.

In this episode I talk mostly about my running over the summer months.

The music is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com

de Phaser - Glorious
Mathew Ebel - Lost My Way (Intro/Outro)

Kraftprovet 11.6 km

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:30:23 PDT

I finally made up my mind and entered the race "Kraftprovet" today. I have thought back and forth for a few days and have had a hard time deciding wether I should run this race or not. Yesterday I met a friend who had made his mind up and he said to me "ok, see you at the starting line then" And I guess that was the kick I needed, so I met him at the starting line and we passed each other a couple of times in the beginning of the race, then I lost sight of him but knew that I was ahead of him, which felt satisfying. (I actually beat him with 6 minutes :-)

The forecast said 16C and light rain wich I thought would suite me. As it turned out it must have been quite a few degrees warmer, no rain and partly sunny. I had dressed for rain so I was a bit warmer than I would have liked but every now and then we ran in areas with a nice cool breeze and some people had also put their garden hoses out to spray the runners and that was also helpful.

I learned a lesson running into the first garden hose fontain - your glasses also get wet - that made my vision a bit blurred until my next walkbreak when I got the chance to wipe them off with my shirt. When running into the next hose shower I took my glasses off and held them away from the water, that worked fine. Lesson learned.

I ran/walked with a 3:1 ratio as strictly as I could, with a few adaptions around the water stops and also at the most brutal hills, and for the last bit I turned the intervall timer off and just ran.

Parts of the track were on rather narrow trails and that made the running part of run/walking a bit difficult. When walking many runners passed me but when running I wanted to go a bit faster than the crowd around me and it was sometimes impossible to pass them as the track wasn't wide enough. That might have slowed the total time down a bit but in return I guess it also gave me a bit of rest which maybe made me stronger for the later part of the race.

Closing in on the finish I passed quite a few runners and that felt really good, then suddenly, out of nowhere, came a guy in a grey shirt and passed me. That woke something up inside my head and I thought "Oh no you don't.. no way I'm letting you pass.." I managed to catch him up and we ran side by side, speeding each other up, towards the finish. Finally he was a bit stronger and reached the line an armlength ahead of me. But we ended up with the same time in the result. (ha, gotcha)

This was the first time I entered this local race and I'm glad I did. I met a lot of friends before and after the race and I also found that many other friends were out watching the race. As they recognized me and shouted my name I got extra power from somewhere, maybe from the joy I find in their concern and interrest in what I'm doing. I hope for a cool day for next years "kraftprovet" and will most certainly participate again in the future.

I'm very pleased with my run. Before the start I said that if can manage 1 hour and 15 minutes I would be happy but was open for a time towards 1:30. As I passed the 5k mark just under 30 minutes I was surprised and then the 10k mark at almost exactly 1 hour. That made me feel even stronger and very pleased with myself. I ended up finishing at 1:09:12. I heard the speaker call out my name and my time just as I finished. It was a lot of fun.

RtNP#33 Black and Blue

krister.wson@gmail.com (Krister) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 11:30:56 PDT

The titel of this episode refers only to the colours of the sky, not to any bruises or injuries, and is merely a cheap trick to arouse your attention and curiosity. And thereby compel you to listen. Does it work? Yes I thought so. ;-)

I recorded this on my longest run since can't even remember. Unfortunately it was a bit windy on the day so apologies for the wind noice. The running went well and I hope you can sense my joy when listening.

The music..
..is from Mevio's Music Alley, at musicalley.com In this episode you can hear:

Scott Cresswell - On our way
Matthew Ebel - Lost my way (intro, outro)

Links..
..to things mentioned:

Video at Swedish Runners World