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2003-10-11 23:07:23 Source: Web
Susanne Ljungskog won the ladies cycling world championships for the 2nd year in a row. It was a fantastic finish to the race which I was lucky enough to see over at Lotta's parents' house this evening. Great food, great wine and a chance to watch some great cycling! A good evening.
I haven't updated the site in ages - basically because I have been stressed out and feeling pretty low. I'm working very hard, I have some tax problems that are niggling at my mind, the summer is over and basically I've been spending more time worrying and feeling tired than doing much else.
Time to snap out of it! So here's some of the positive things that I have going at the moment:
I'm reading Neal Stephenson's new book Quicksilver and loving it!
I've finished the extremely difficult, complicated and boring database import that has been consuming all my working (and otherwise) hours for the last few weeks.
It's my birthday within a month.
Tomorrow I'm going for a cycle ride for the first time in a few weeks.
Yup - that feels quite motivating! Time to go and get some reading in before bed.
2003-09-17 12:51:23 Source: Web
Please do me a favour and click here.
(It's a pointless little thing that will help me stand a chance of winning a prize in the online game I play.)
2003-09-03 21:18:48 Source: Web
Oh what a long time it's been since I wrote an update. *sigh* I guess I've been having too much fun doing life things instead eh?
Well, I just got back from a secret visit to London today. Secret because I basically withheld the information from almost everyone as the visit was to help nurse my mum for a few days after a small operation. Thankfully everything has gone well and she is already up and about again. It's been a nice few days I guess, a lot of reading and watching TV, but I felt useful and was glad I was there to help out.
As it wasn't really a holiday I only had a chance to hook up quickly with one person, who I needed to discuss the serious business of being my best man with ;-) I'm hoping now that Lotta and I get a chance to travel over nearer Christmas and actually spend a little time in London and meet up with a few more faces who I miss.
Despite flying back from London this morning and working for a few hours this afternoon, I found the time to do a cycle race this evening! It was our club championships and I competed mostly with the aim of setting myself a target for next year (this pretty much marks the end of the season). As expected I came last, though I'm looking forward to seeing the times posted so I can see by how much ;-) The race was a 30km time trial. I had an average speed of 31.1km/h which I'm not displeased with (according to my faithful bike computer that was a time of 58:18 over 30.2km). I'll be aiming to improve on that substantially by next season though - I know I can do better, I need to get more "quality" in my training (and by quality I mean "suffering"!).
I'm hoping to get in the final bike race of the season next Sunday (14th), which is a 75km road race - as long as nothing crops up to get in the way as has happened with a couple of other races this season including the race I had planned to do this coming Sunday. Muggins here managed to book Lotta's birthday present (a tandem parachute jump!) on the same day. However I thought that getting to throw my fiancée out of a plane takes precedence so I changed the plans accordingly. I'll hopefully be back with a next post that will include pics of Lotta dressed up in silly baggy parachuting clothes, landing gracefully in a field and generally being jolly, jolly brave! Cool eh??
2003-08-10 22:14:51 Source: Web
Here's the file with the race results. I'm on line 189 in case you're interested. Overall I'm pretty pleased with my result - it gives me something to improve on in my next race!
2003-08-10 18:36:40 Source: Web
So today was the Herkules Stordåd (Hercules great deed?!) triathlon.
I came in 47th of around 70 men in the "motion" class (380m swim, 20km cycle, 5km run). I'm pretty sure I can do better in the future, but the race went really well and I'm still on a complete high!
The swimming was good, I passed all the breastroke swimmers, which considering I started near the back I was pretty pleased with (I swim crawl). The cycling went really well considering that my chain came off 3 times!! I passed 3 guys on a steep hill and was so pumped when I came over the hill that I was whooping out loud on the way down :-D I also passed 4 people in the last 500m which I was pretty pleased about.
Considering how worried I was about the running, it went really well. I had some knee pain around the 4km mark, but changed my running style slightly and still managed to finish strongly. I didn't have to walk at all (even managed to pass a couple of people). I was passed myself by a lot of people on the running segment - my lack of training really shows up there - I have the endurance, but not the speed.
So all in all I was really pumped. I had a finish time of 1:19:07 (I think) - the results will be posted later and I'll be sure to link to them here.. Which was well inside my 1:30 goal. I also felt I had a lot of energy left, so I could probably have pushed myself harder on the swim and the cycling. Definitely a positive starting point though!
Now I'm looking forward to the pizza we just ordered - and a nice cold beer (temperatures around 35C here today!).
2003-07-26 20:48:32 Source: Web
Well, as promised, here's my race report.
I went out a bit too hard, so while I had a great pace for the first 30km and was hanging with a pretty fast bunch who were aiming for a sub 3 hours time, I faded pretty fast and the last 50km were at a much slower pace. *sigh*
I completed in 3 hours 19 minutes in the end, which I'm not unhappy with, but if I'd gone out more carefully I think I could have carved 10-15 minutes off that.
It's all a good learning experience though and I'll hopefully know better next time.
The actual race was very pleasant. Nice people around, though I was pretty much alone for the last 45 minutes or so and it was well organised. The only criticism I had was that there were no distance markers, which as my cycle computer had died (batteries ran out!) meant I was cycling blind. I had an OK idea of how long we had come based on my time, but towards the end of the race one really wants to see those "10km left" signs. Apparently they had too few helpers this year, which is a shame. Makes me more determined to help out with the events that our Triathlon group organise.
Aside from the race, it's been a nice start to the weekend out in the countryside, staying with some of Lotta's relatives. I rested this afternoon by watching the Tour De France time trial (Yay Lance, yay David Miller, shame for Ullrich!), had a great evening meal and then drove home so I can sleep in my own bed tonight. Ahhhh!
2003-07-25 10:07:03 Source: Web
Check it out!!
Now *those* are some serious kick-ass bikes! I've always wanted to do that sort of thing - but lack of space and serious welding equipment has always stood in my way. *sigh* One day I tell you, I'll have a garage and the space to create bizarre monstrosities like those and by then I'll be old and pot-bellied and have lost the impetus.
Naaaah! Not me ;-)
2003-07-25 08:51:13 Source: Web
I have a cycle race tomorrow - Sydhalland Runt (Tour de South Halland??). It's a 90km road race which I've been definitely looking forward to - especially given the exciting coverage of the Tour De France this year. The area the race goes through is supposed to be really nice countryside - it's a farming area, so I'm expecting lots of wide open areas with nice views. If it's windy though there won't be any protection! I'm currently hoping that the torrential rain we've had this morning won't be putting in a repeat appearance. I'm aiming for a time around 3.5 hours, though as I'm not sure what the terrain is like it may possibly be optomistic.
The only downside is that I'll be missing the live coverage of the Tour De France final time trial, when the battle between Armstrong and Ullrich should be decided. I'm gonna record it though, but it won't be quite the same as sitting there knowing it's happening in real time!
Well, wish me luck and I'll post how I did when I get back!
2003-07-14 21:56:43 Source: Web
Just a quick update. We're back home after a lovely holiday. Very tired after driving for 7 hours today (I've done over 1500km in the last few weeks, which has increased my confidence a bit!) and after the weekend's various sporting challenges! Both went well all things considered.
The triathlon started badly, with the only day of terribly shit weather we've had for the last week. But I toughed it out (if the 13 year olds who also showed up that day could do it, so could I ;-) It was a short triathlon course, but as it was my first time out that seems ed like a good idea - 150m swim, 13km cycling and 3.5km run. My times were pretty average, considering I have no wetsuit and was riding a mountainbike instead of my racer I think I did OK. I placed equal 20th in a field of 26, so it was no great shakes, but not a total disaster either. I think experience will help a lot, as I went out too hard in the swim and it left me feeling pretty heavy for the rest of the race. The full result list is here.
The mountainbike race on Sunday was a whole different experience. I've basically done very little mountainbiking and have never ridden the sort of terrain we rode. It was a 72km race and much of the terrain was bumpy forest paths. Great fun basically, though I was surrised at how tough I found it. It seemed especially hard on the arms (I think that front suspension would help smooth out the ride a lot). I finished the ride in a time of 4:16:15 - you can find me on the list here if you're interested (ctrl-F and search for "cook" - yes, near the bottom, that's right!). My detailed result is here.
I think the main result I have taken home from the weekend is that the triathlon was fun, but I need a lot more work and that the mountainbiking was also fun, but I think I prefer road racing on the whole. I'll probably do some more mountainbike races to ssee if I get a feel for it, but road cycling seems to suit y temperament better - I can get into a rhythm and just eat up the miles instead of having to fight the terrain every step of the way.
Now we're home, we're looking forward to planning the wedding (it will be next summer, but we want to get some basics such as date and venue sorted asap), not looking forward so much to getting back to work again (been having far too much fun playing!) and definitely glad I'm away from the midges and mosquitos that have been eating me alive (I have over 16 bites on my legs and thanks to being allergic they've swollen up horribly, though Clarytin is helping, but they still itch like hell!).
Now it's time for bed! Good night!
2003-07-11 12:06:29 Source: Web
Well we're still on holiday and it's been an eventful week. The major news is that Lotta and I were engaged on the 5th July. Yup, we're gonna tie the knot some time late next summer :-D
I propsed after a night at a great restaurant in town, on one knee out on the jetty by the lake at the summerhouse as the sun was coming up in the background (it rises early here).
We bought rings and exchanged them yesterday. Swedish tradition is that for engagement the couple both have plain bands and at the wedding the bride receives a second ring. The rings we have are simple white gold rings - very beautiful I have to say!
Apart from that, I'm getting ready for tomorrow's triathlon and Sunday's mountainbike race. I've been training well up here and getting in the all important recovery too! So I'm feeling ready to go. I've especially enjoyed getting out on some small trails out in the forest on my mountainbike during the last couple of weeks. I put in 67km earlier in the week including a fun 6km hill climb! I've bought good scale maps of the local area and realy enjoyed getting out and exploring the smaller trails and tractor tracks. Great fun!