Today's race at the Swedish Time Trial Championships in Falun is one of those that will just be filed away in the "forget & move on" category!

 Felt pretty good heading out to the start this morning & the overnight rain had stopped so I was cautiously optimistic.

Three minutes before my allocated start time DISASTER strikes, I get a flat tire rolling towards the start box....  I can not believe it...

Panic sets in but I have enought prescence of mind to head towards where other the riders are warming up, and luckily I find a chirpy fella who loans me a spare front wheel.

Just turns our the wheel isn't 100 % and neither am I...  Felt like I put in a good effort but with all the troubles I eneded up 33 or so of 53 riders...  Not where I should be.  Looking at the results of riders I have beaten before or at least been very close to, I should have been top 10 - 15 on a normal day.

There's always a next time so no use being sour....!

Total:

1h 13 min bike (25 min warmup & 48 min race)

35 min easy run in the evening

1h 48 min tot 

...NOT... 

But I was pretty dejected when Sweden lost to Russia on Wednesday in a game where it seemed like more than half of our highly paid pros just did not care to fight....  A sad sight indeed. Time to get some fresh blood on the pitch!!! 

It helped a little bit that the Russians whipped the Netherlands 3 - 1 yesterday and in the process made them look bad...  Go Russia!!!  Never thought I'd ever say that, but I really dig the way the Russians play so I hope they with the whole Euro 2008 tournament.

Other than that a very busy week both for Dragana and me with long hours at work & hence little time for training...

To make up for my lack of training this week I have added some links to the blog under "Mina Länkar" = "My Links" in Swedish of some people who train a LOT and provide me with a healthy dose of inspiration!

This week in training:

Monday:  Easy 1hr 5 min ride, avg ca 16 mph, just focused on rythm.

Tuesday: 50 min Speedwork on treadmill. 15 min warmup, 11 min @ 3min 30sec/km ( 5.38 min / mile)  3 min jog, 1 km @  3min 30sec/km ( 5.38 min / mile), 2 min jog then 1 km at 3:15 min/km (5:14 min/mile).  cooldown... Had intended to do a 5k in 17:30 min butthe body said NFW today...

Wednesday: forced rest day due to work.

Thursday:  1 hr 5 min run, Fartlek tot ca 13 km / 8 miles.  focused on 3 - 7 min intervals with 165 - 170 bpm pulse then ~ 2 - 4 min recovery, essentially waiting for pulse to dip below 140 bpm.

Friday:  rest. Midsummers eve, no time to train as we had guests coming...

Saturday:  2 hr easy ride with Dragana down to Saltsjöbaden & Älgö.  Got drenched by a shower last 10 minutes...

Sunday:  Rest.  Prepping for Swedish National Time Trial Championships tomorrow.  30km (18.7 miles) out  & bacxk course where the first half is uphill.  We will climb ~ 850  feet in 10 km.  Then we will have a kick ass descent after the turn around on some pretty bumpy roads...!!!  I just hope  it doesn't rain....

Total for the week:  5 hrs....   Back at it BIG next week!

Adding a few pics from the local scenery up here in Falun (3 hrs north of Stockholm) that I won't have time to see tomorrow....  Later!

... when I ride....

Picture is from last years 4th of July weekend in Marfa, Tx. The pictures are from the Scenic Loop around Ft Davis just past the McDonald Observatory.

Dragana climbing up to the Observatory at 7,000 ft. Puhhhhh..... ;-) 

For the weather that is, back to typical Swedish "Summer"... After more than two weeks of great weather with tons of sun & temps in the 80's, we're back to the typical rollercoaster weather.

Several days last week with rain, wind & temps in the low 60's. At least it got a bit better Sunday when the sun popped out & we enjoyed some 70's...

About the only good thing with the somewhat crappy weather was that it was perfect for working. And work we did, Dragana had three days when she came home after 8 pm... Too much damn work is not good...!

The Euro 2008 Soccer Tournament has finally started, two games per night on Prime Time TV. So far so good, Sweden kicked the reigning European Champions' Greeces butts with a dominating 2-0 win in the first game.

The second match against Spain looked really good for about 89.5 minutes when the score was tied at 1-1, that is when the one super slow defenders we have missed getting rid of the ball for a corner kick and Spain scored the winning 2 - 1 goal.... :-(

Next up Russia now on Wednesday, this is a MUST win!!! Actually a tie might cut it, but a win always feels better!!!

SUPPORT the Swedes, skip out of work early & drag your butt down to Fado's. Game starts at 1:35 pm!

This week in training:

- Monday: planned rest day

- Tuesday: 1 hr ~ 8 miles . Intervals on treadmill. 15 min warmup, 5 x 1 km w 2 min jog (4 x 3:25 min/km (5:30 min/mile) & 1 x 3:16 min / km (5:15 min/mile) 5 min easy jog then 5 x 1 min @ 3:00 min/km with 1 min jog (4:50 min/mile) .

Felt a bit heavy & bloated to start the workout but itgot better as thinngs went along. Original plan was 6 x 1 km (2min).

Wednesday: 2 hr easy ride with Dragana to Gustafsberg / Lagno & back.. Avg ~ 16 mph

Thursday: 1hr 50min moderate to hard ride. Avg. 18.5 mph. Can you do "Fartlek" on a bike???? Had planned to do intervals on the TT bike but felt tired. Opted to take the roadbike for a spin as I finally have the Black & Yellow Specialized bike up & running! Put in some hard sections & sprints when i felt like it but no real structure. Felt OK after the ride.

Friday: 1hr 35 min ride. Avg. 15.5 mph. Bike commuted to work on a lovely sunny friday morning. 2 x 47.5 min.

Saturday: 2hr 5min trail run. Avg ~ 7:40 min mile. Ran first 3.5 miles with Dragana at a nice & slow 8:10 min/mile pace. Then picked it up a bit but as the trails or sometimes total lack thereof were very hilly and twisty it was hard to run very fast. Felt pretty ok.

Sunday: 3hr 35min ride. Avg 18.3 mph. Rode first 50 min down to Gustafsberg with Dragana at ~ 16 mph. She's tugging along better on the bike than on the run. Just gotta fix her gears as her bike makes awul noises when shifting going up hill.

Once out on Ingaro I picked things up a bit but stayed nice & controlled. Overall a very good ride! Opted not to do a 'run off bike today'

Total for the week:  12hr 5min.    

Monday June 16: 1hr 5min bike ride. Nice easy & controlled short but hilly ride.

.... hot weather (by Swedish standards) all week & Saturday Sweden was the warmest country in Europe !!!!?!!! believe it or not with a sizzling 87 F for a high!!!

Due to the nice weather we've spent most of our spare time outside & hence we've been slacking a bit trying to make our place am bit homier...

Since the forecast for later this coming week calls for rain it looks like we will have time to make up for the slacking......

Busy work weeks again for both of us, Dragana had many late evenings & Peter had to get up at 4:30 am on Tuesday to catch the 6 am train to Gothenburg for a business meeting. Puuhhhhhh......

Thankfully we had a short work week as Friday was the Swedish National Day, our equivalent of 4th of July. Dragana and I celebrated by going for a bike ride & then took a "Fika" break in Hammarby Sjostad where we watched a Bicycle Crit Race. Gregg, you really should come over and do this next year!

Saturday, one of Dragana's brothers Dalo, his wife Matilda and their daughter Esther plus mathilda's sister came to visit us. Another picknic on the pier! This never fails to impress. Just like our Austin style Soft Tacos. Everyone looves these....

The week in training:

Monday: Planned rest day. Needed it too!

Tuesday: Forced rest day.... Got up 4:30 for a business trip & didn't get back home until 7:30 pm. Only working out today was walking from the couch to the fridge for Mineral Water. Dragana ran a 5 k fun run with her job & 17,000 others.

Wednesday: Moderate 1hr 56min ride in great weather down to Gustafsberg / Norra Lagno & back. 35 miles ~ 18.5 mph avg speed.

Thursday: 55 min / 20 miles / avg ~ 21.5 mph. Various bike intevals out on Ingaro in full race trim with Zipp Disc wheels etc. Only missing aero helmet.... All this pimping out was to prep a little for the 14 mile TT on Saturday on the same course I rode tonight.

Friday: 2hrs 5 min easy ride with Dragana out to Gustafsberg / Norra Lagno. Avg ca. 17 mph / 35 miles.

Saturday: tot 55 min / ~ 21 miles. 14 miles / 22 km Time Trial race in 30min 50sec averaged 27 mph // ~ 43.4 km/h . 9th of 43 starting in my age group. Even though I really didn't know what to expect I had quietly hoped for a top 5.

BUT racing pure cyclists is different from whipping Tri- & Duathletes where I am usually one of the top dogs on the bike. Came away a bit humbled, but also somewhat encouraged as I was just 5 sec away from 7th, 25 from 5th and about 45 sec from a top 3. Next time I will warm up better and make sure to get really mad before the start. Arrrrggghhhhhh!!!!!!! ;-)

Next cycling TT is the Swedish National Championships on June 23. This time 19 miles so it should suit me a little better....

Sunday: LONG workout today! 5hrs 3min in total. 3hrs 56min cycling & 1hr 7min running. Again great weather !!!!!

75.2 miles (121 km) on the bike avg 19.4 mph (31.2 km/h) felt surprisingly easy given the average speed as I just focused on staying comfortable & well within my limits. Ran first 20 min with Dragana at ~ 8 min/mile pace, then picked it up to ~ 7:20 min/mile but with 20 min to go I was starting to feel the long workout. Didn't BONK, as I just eased off substantially as I was getting tired but.... still ~ 160 pulse doing 7:30 min / mile pace is a clear indicator to chill a bit...

Total for the week: 10hrs 54 min 

...Another great week in Stockholm, the amazing weather continues!!!

After a busy day of training & shopping we decided to have a picknic on the pier overlooking the lake where we live. 'Very niceeeee...' Dragana whipped up some Quinoa mixed with Olives, Garlic and Hazelnuts. Just what you need after a long day & as you can see from the pics we did enjoy ourselves. The bird sitting on the fence was very well mannered and hunted for his own food!

For the past four days we've enjoyed tons of sunshine & temps in the mid 70's. Toasty!!! Consequently all Swedes are going bonkers and flocking to the beaches desperatly trying to get a tan and at least have one tick in the box for "Beach 2008" ... ;-)

Thanks to Peter's cousins Martin & Per coming to Stockholm for the Kiss concert this past Friday, we finally got enough of a kick in the ass to finish unpacking! We busted our tails from 5 to 10:30 pm and by the time the boys cruised in the place was spotless!!! Can ya believe it?!?

Next step is to try and get some more appropriate furniture as we got rid of some stuff in Austin & this place looks totally different. The most critical investment right now is a kitchen table. Looking for a bar table so we can make use of the bar stools we brought from Austin...

Dragana has tons of ideas & me I'm just trying to keep up...

This weeks training....

Monday: rest day.... too much work & felt tired after last weekend's semi long runs.

Tuesday: 5 x 1 km intervals on treadmill. 3:25 min / km w/ 2 min jog. Had planned to do 6 intervals but didn't feel good & could only muster up 5... All in all ~ 50 min & 11 km.

Wednesday: 1hr 26 min ride on P2C in beautiful weather & great scenery. Will try to take pics of this route next time. All in all ~ 27 miles.

Thursday: 1 hr 24 min Bike intervals on the DA out on Ingaro. Slightly improvised as I had to combat a 'stop & go' bus several times... Base set after 15 min warmup was 10:30 all out, 4 min roll easy, 12 min all out, 4 min roll, 11:30 all out, 8 min roll then 3 - 4 max pickups of 2 - 3 min. 10 min cooldown. Pace during the all out sessions averaged ~ 26 mph / 42 kmh. Felt great!

Friday: 45 min easy trainer ride, ~ 18.5 mph average.

Saturday: 1 hr 30 min / 12.5 miles (4.42 min / km avg) trail run. Consciously took it pretty easy & felt OK but not great. Had planned to do about 2 hrs in total but whimped out & the lure of the Stockholm Marathon on TV got too strong....

Sunday: 3hrs 38 min ride from home to Ingaro for 2 long laps & back on DA followed by a nice and slow 38 min run with Dragana around Sickla Sjo. Total for today: 4 hrs 18 min.

Feel quite OK and look forward to this week as we're off on Friday. Big week(end...) ahead?!?

Total for the week: 9 hrs & 33 min. Had hoped to break 10 hours this week, better luck this coming week?!???