Close of the Season: Hässelbyloppet

Today I "finished" my running season with the Hässelbyloppet, considered to be one of Stockholm's fastest 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) races. And a great close to the season it was, with a finish of 48:18 - my fastest ever!

We arrived in Hässelby, out west at the end of the green metro line, with half an hour to the start. I hadn't been feeling great, and combined with the cold, wet weather, was not expecting much from myself. 

Waited in the ever-long line to the port-o-potties (one of my favorite words - bajamaja - in Swedish)> handed in bag> dashed to the start line with a few minutes to spare. 

In the tävlingsklass, or"competing start group," I was surrounded by serious, albeit anxious, runners, clad in the latest dry-fit, breathable, vapor-shield-max, custom gear ... or something like that. And I in my 10-year-old North Face fleece with tiny holes from the sparks of a campfire; hand-me-down cotton stretch pants; and shoes covered in mud from my most recent races (both of which, as luck would have it, were during or just after rainstorms). Hmmm what am I doing here?

Today's Hässelbyloppet - it's 25th year! - wove mainly along leaf-mâchéd asphalt paths through neighborhoods and past the gorgeous Hässelby castle which we passed on the course's only long uphill, a gradual ascent in kilometer 7 in which I was feeling surprisingly great. Floating along, I passed several people at a good pace - but reality kicked in again by the next kilometer.

Despite it all, my fighting finish put me a minute ahead of my fastest 10-kilometer time, and deserving of 2 cinnamon buns, according to myself. I also skipped the line for these. Accidentally, of course. And just checked - finished 173/1,923! Until next year...

10K around Kungsholmen Island

Racing season has begun. 

For me it started over a month ago, on a 5k through a muddy, hilly forest north of Stockholm with mounds of snow alongside the trail and trees toppled over as obstacles. 

Not my best time, but a good start.

That day, however, is not the photo you see above. This photo, taken on May 5, is from the 

10-kilometer Kungsholmen Runt

just a few weeks later.

At this point in the race, we had just powered up one of the course's long, slow hills and were just under 2 kilometers from the finish. We also happened to be passing just by my apartment building, at which point, part of me wished I was still in my bed on a Saturday morning as I'm sure so many others were. But that momentary longing passed and I focused on a strong finish.

My goal was to finish in under 50 minutes. For some reason, from the first kilometer, I'd got it in my head that I needed to run 4:30-minute kilometers. Really no excuse for such lousy math in the first kilometer. But with the speed of my first few kilometers*, I was able to finish in

[drumroll please]

49:30!

and 87th out of 679 women

Next 10k goal> under 49:30   Next race> undecided     Next run> tomorrow

*it wasn't until halfway  through the race that I figured out my calculation error

Topp Loppet i Hagaparken

Last Saturday Team Cheetah DOMINATED

Team Cheetah at its finest (and most ferocious)

Loppet = the running race

And that is what Cheetah's do best - run fast. Hence the name of our team. And we lived up to that name. 

5 kilometers in the beautiful Hagaparken, just north of central Stockholm, through forests and along lakes. The sun was bright and the weather, perfect. Indian summer at its finest. Bands played along the way, accompanied by Brazilian dancers and go-go dancers in a disco tent tunnel. So much energy along the way! I finished in 23:27, and with that, have retired from races for the remainder of 2011. Now the months of hibernation approach, but I'm not ready to hang up my sneakers yet... 

A Race around Djurgården

And so summer running season has begun, and with it, another race. Last Wednesday, 2 colleagues and I ran the Milspåret around the very beautiful Djurgården. There was a 5k and a 10k - we signed up for the 5k, although 10 minutes before the start, we thought maybe we'd made a mistake and signed on for the 10k. Fortunately not. The group of a few hundred runners warmed up together, dancing to Eric Saade's Popular (if you haven't seen it, watch here for Sweden's 2011 Eurovision song, which came in 3rd - although you probably won't want to waste your time watching the whole thing, a minute will suffice) on this windy, sunny evening, then headed to the start line and were off. 

The first half of the race followed a small river lined with trees and a perfect running path along the edge. Then through the forest and along a rolling field in to the finish. The race ended, in my case, 24:45 minutes after it started - a fast 24 minutes running alongside Tracy, who kept me going when I felt like slowing down. She finished 10 seconds ahead of me in 7th place for the women; I came in 8th out of 82! Not too shabby. And Maija finished her first 5k race ever - hopefully not the last : )

Take 4 of post-race joy