Jakob & Jakob

Nov 21

Motivation

Why we do all this is a question often asked by friends and family. People are curious what motivates us. This is particularly true in my family where, until recently, the biggest athletic achievement was performed by my dad in 1995 when he ran 25 meters between the car and the office front door. In such context you can imagine that the question of why is enigmatic.

Truth be told, its not a simple question to answer. Sitting on the plan to New York, Jakob and I were discussing what motivates us. Things like “keeping fit”, “spending time together”, “experience stuff”, “travel” popped into our heads. That is all true, but we can keep fit by going to a local gym and we can spend time together in roof-top bars and good restaurants. So what is it? To be frank, im not sure. But whenever this doubt makes me feel lazy I look at this video and get fully energized and motivated to go out training.

Nov 18

Rainy, rainy, rainy

As I was waking up this morning, the rain was tapping gently on our slanted roof windows. My first thought: OK, I’ll push back my planned two-hour-run to the afternoon. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is more appealing when waking in the morning than slowly lower your head to your inviting, soft pillow and resume your calm and soundless breathing. Read more

Nov 15

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Dark and muddy in Slovakia

The most violent storm to hit New York in more than a hundred years. A marathon cancelled less than 40 hours prior to its start. A vindication of sorts in the form of an alternative race at 7 am on marathon day. Fantastic breakfasts, lunches (here’s looking at you, Michelin-star-awarded Breslin) and dinners. Wonderful strolls through Central Park and soothing visits to the Metropolitan and Guggenheim. Absolutely awesome parties at New York’s hippest (we were told so!) and most exclusive (well, obviously not, since they let us in) clubs (the VIP-lounge at the rooftop of Meatpacking District’s the Standard vs. simply, the Box). Morning runs along East River, across Williamsburg Bridge and back across a beautiful Brooklyn Bridge. Presidential election-night-bonanza. Shopping ’til we literally dropped. Renting an SUV and playing really loud and offensive rap with our windows down. Driving through a New Jersey snowstorm. Admiring the High Line. Haggling with cheap antique dealers. And finally a champagne luncheon with our family. Read more

Nov 7

A Brooklyn loop

Central Park is a runner’s heaven, with a healthy mixture of wide, hard roads of asphalt, gravelly footpaths, immense grassy fields and even a couple of ponds for the adventurous triathlete. But there is more to running in Manhattan than just Central Park. This morning, we stood up bright and early for a short – or so we thought – run over to Brooklyn and back. Read more

Nov 5

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An alternative marathon

Sometimes you have to punch your friend in the face to make sure he’s not dreaming. Or was it pinch your own arm? Anyway, as depressed as we were yesterday, we sure managed to turn it into positive energy today! I apologize, by the way, for the melancholy tone of yesterday’s post. Reading through it I almost seemed suicidal, which clearly was not the case. Even so, we were pretty bummed, as it were. Read more

Nov 4

The marathon that never was

I feel it pretty hard to verbalise my thoughts right now, even though more than a day has passed since the marathon was cancelled. In just a few more hours, the alarm was supposed to go off and we’d file downstairs for an early breakfast before being loaded onto the buses headed for Staten Island and the starting line. We’ve been waiting for this day for more than two years, dad, Jakob, Per and I. Read more

Oct 31

Tomorrow morning, we’re off!

Our race jerseys from Unicef arrived yesterday! Unicef has very generously supplied all four of us athletes with a race jersey, and we’ve also received some support jerseys for our fans! Thank you Unicef! You’re awesome! Regarding the “race”-part of the jerseys, well, we wont actually be using them during raceday. Read more

Oct 30

The NYC Marathon is humbled by Sandy

Hurricane Sandy hit New York with tremendous power last night. According to CNN, the superstorm has caused several deaths and the region is still reeling from the blow. The southern parts of Manhattan are flooded, hundreds of thousands have been evacuated and up to 7 million people in several states have lost their electricity. Read more

Oct 27

En vecka kvar

Tapering är ett engelskt ord som betyder att man två till tre veckor innan ett långdistanslopp börjar trappa ned på träningsdosen. Oftast gör man detta genom att minska kvantiteten och öka intensiteten en smula under de kortare passen som är kvar. Den viktigaste anledningen till att ta det lugnt de sista veckorna inför ett lopp är huvudsakligen att ge musklerna och benen en chans att vila och ta igen sig inför det stora styrkeprovet. Read more

Oct 22

Fighting for the rights of children all over the world

The United Nation’s International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) is the world’s largest organisation for helping children and fighting for their rights. The organisation was founded by The United Nations General Assembly on 11 December 1946, and it’s original goal was to provide children from countries hit by World War II with emergency food and healthcare. Read more