A decent hill!

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Malin

I am not used to these bright nights as I had a terrible time trying to sleep last night and when I woke up I after h few hours sleep I think every single muscle was aching in my body. I was not looking forward to my morning run but I took the bull by horns and I hit the 2k’s just to get down the lake I’ve run around so many times before.

There is a stunning track around the lake.

Every step was a pain and my legs where heavy like rocks. It was not a fast run and I had to walk the last kilometer coming back to my moms apartment as the hills can be a nightmare. I had not much left in the legs but I decided to do sprint intervals up the hill and although this was not a great performance I did complete almost 8.5 k with two very tired legs and that is ok 😉

The towns own San Francisco hills

Be careful for what you wish for…

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Malin

We finally arrived in my hometown Örnsköldsvik it’s a little of a tongue twister for a novice and although it is hard to pronounce it is a stunning small town on the east coast in the Baltic sea.

Last night at 10pm when I put Mira to bed she was crying that she didn’t want to go to sleep when it was morning…the picture is taken at 10.40 at night and the sun has just disappeared behind the mountain.

I did my best last week but even though you do your very best it is easy to keep on doing things you are used to so after my fist week in Sweden I was longing for some good old soreness. So I rang my sister-in-law to see if she could set me up with her TRX trainer and so she did. Both yesterday and today I was hanging in the cord off the ceiling in the Pilates Studio that was very peaceful and nice but yet energizing.

The class was very different from the training I normally do with Jonathan although most of the movements was the same as we do over at the warehouse. Here we worked different tempo and it was intense in a different way to what I am used to. Johanna was a great instructor as she was both very inspiring as well as professional and I am for ever grateful that she would fit me into her class in such short notice.

http://www.pilatesstudio.se

The rest of the afternoon we went to visit my aunt and in the car over there the tiredness and the pre-soreness pain was creeping up on me and I know that my run tomorrow will be a though one!

Knut by the sea

30k in 6 days

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Malin

I spent 6 days in Norrköping and with my sister and her family and I have never ever before actually gone for a run the day after midsummer but this year I did and it was the fastest of them all and I was all alone.

I thought I kept my stuff together in our suitcases but somehow you never do, especially not with 2 kids 😉 so the entire morning I spent packing all our belongings but I did manage to get a quick 5k in before we had to drive to the train and head north and this completed 30k in 6 days…

Just me and the badger…he made me sprint fast past him lol

Midsummer celebrations…you have to love it!

Posted on June 22, 2013 by Malin

There was no workout yesterday as it was one of the most celebrated holidays by the swedes as well as one of the oldest traditions, Midsummer!!! So we started the day not as early as we had intended as me and my sister had a late night the evening before, a very good one 😉 We skipped the traditional herring lunch and the “snaps” as we focused on the strawberry cake and coffee at the venue where the local Maypole was decorated and later raised as we sang and danced.

When we got back home the sun finally made it through the clouds and we played some garden Yatzy before the kids stared digging for worms so they could go fishing…

With no luck we had to stick to our original dinner plans and we finished the evening very quietly for being midsummer. The kids in the neighborhood ran around playing hide and seek and plenty of other games as the sun slowly sat on the longest day of the year so what is there not to love about Swedish Midsummer…

You think you’ll die but somehow you always survive!

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Malin

Today we decided that my sister Helena would come with me for my workout and I know when I write this that I won’t offend her when I say she is slightly out of shape but she would like to come back to the routine of working out again. I didn’t want to do a long run as I already completed 16k in two days but I knew I needed to focus on the legs so I thought we would start with a quick warmup around the block. It was Helena who was showing the way as well as the space. She took us through fields and forests and in the middle of the thickest woods Helena started to slow down as she was getting a side stitch but at that point I told her to keep on running as we were being completely eaten by every mosquito there was! She did great and we finished the warmup run of just under 2k although she thought she was about to die but amazingly she didn’t…lol.

When we got back we pulled out the old lashing straps and started doing 15 single legs squats each leg, 15 hip abductions and 30 bicycle pull in.

In between every finished rep we did 6 sprint intervals and Helena did really well and kept up and finishing off what we started.

After my 18th sprint my legs started to feel a little wobbly and I decided to finish the day with some core exercises.

pike

This workout took us 1.45 minutes to complete and even though it was not that many circuits I have a feeling I’ll feel it tomorrow 🙂

Summer Salad

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Malin

Today is the day before midsummer and we decided to do our grocery shopping like everyone else…mistake!!! It took for ever and when we finally got back home the kids were starving and so was me and my sister. So meanwhile I made pancakes for the kids Helena made this unbelievable delicious summer salad with prawns…Unbeatable!

Prawn Mix (serves 2)

1/4 pound unpeeled prawns

1 cup sour cream

1/2 lemon juice

1/2 small chopped red onion

fresh chopped chive

fresh chopped dill

crushed chili flakes

Salt and pepper

Salad

2 hardboiled eggs

Ruccola

Lettuce

Cucumber

Avocado

Cocktail Tomatoes

Green pepper

Asparagus

Lemon wedges

Dill

How to:

Peel the prawns and mix together all the ingredients for the prawn mix season with salt and pepper.

Chop the vegetables and cut the eggs in halves serve with the prawn mic on top…enjoy!

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with a Spicy Mango Salsa

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Malin

My sister is an amazing cook and this evening she served from her back pocket a grilled pork tenderloin with a spicy mango salsa with roasted vegetables…

Pork Tenderloin

2 pound /1 kg Pork tenderloin

CajP Marinade (A Pre-made marinade)

Fresh lime juice

Salt and pepper

Spicy Mango Salsa

1/2 Chopped Mango

1/2 Fresh lime juice

2 1/2 tablespoons Sweet Chili Sauce

2 tablespoons water

salt and pepper

Roasted Vegetables

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Red Bell Pepper

Mushrooms

Yellow Onion

Garlic

Asparagus

Squash

Spinach

How to: Marinate the pork tenderloin in the marinade and squeeze the lime juice over the meat and salt and pepper. Grill it on the grill until the meat is thoroughly cooked.

Dice the Mango and mix in the sweet chili sauce with the water, lime and spices and store at a cool place until it is time to serve.

Chop all the vegetables and roast in the oven until done at 225C/ 440F.

DIY with TRX

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Malin

We spent the day at the park today as Helena had a meeting she needed to attend to at work but as soon as we got back home I went for a run. I did the same track as I did yesterday and with all the hills it was crazy hard so the last kilometer I did 20 seconds intervals sprints all the way back to the house.

I had already asked Jan for a set of lashing straps before I left and he had them ready for me and I attached them to an old apple tree that Helena and Jan has in their garden and I was ready for a simple TRX workout.

First out I focused on the hips and core doing hip abduction with pulling in the legs.

When I had completed 15 reps I went straight into 50 bicycle crunches and a 30 sec plank and both my shoulders and abs was screaming at the end of it.

My second circuit I decided to focus on my arms and as I started doing my rows a horse was passing by…I’m pretty sure this can only happened on the countryside… lol

I finished my workout with biceps curls and triceps extensions and when I was done I was very tired…I think I still suffering a bit from the jet lag…

Take me to the moon…

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Malin

What a fun day we had yesterday as we had the opportunity to fly in a helicopter and admire the fantastic view from above. The kids loved it as they thought it was almost like riding a roller coaster.

2013-09-15 06.14.07

When we were back on the ground we decided to drive to Linköping to stroll down the street in the old town that looks just like it did a 100 years ago, very pretty. We diced to eat lunch at the Inn and as always this is the tricky part trying to find something to eat that is low-carb and not always a salad but not this time. We settled for some unbelievable delicious smoked shrimps served with a homemade aioli.

The hours flew by and before we knew it we had to get back to my sisters place and i managed to squeeze in my workout before dinner. My sister grilled homemade burgers that she served with a salad and this was a perfect dinner to finish off a great day!

Gymless…

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Malin

No, I didn’t wake up at 2am I actually slept until 11am and for be exact 16 hours and when my sister got me out of bed I was still tired and I had no time to go for a run as we had the entire afternoon planed. So when we got home I went for a 40 minutes run, I couldn’t use my run app so I went for time. It is very hilly here compare to Illinois but that is alright as it is more of a challenge and when I googled the distant I ran it turned out to be 8k.

When I came up on the driveway I met my sister she was taking the kids down to the beach for an evening swim so I came with to do a couple of body weighted circuits. I will say this is probably the most beautiful and peaceful “gym” I ever have exercised at!

I started out doing 20 crunches, 15 leg raises, 50 bicycle crunches, 60 sec plank, 30 sec extended plank.

I didn’t have much time as my sister was going back to the house to start dinner so I finished off with 15 push ups, 15 dips, 15 pull-ups.

Knut waited for me until I was done as he wanted to jump off the pier and when we were walking up the back to house I thought I would get some sprint intervals in so I finished off 6 sprints up this steep hill before I called it a day.