Today I finally ran Årstaviken. Thats the bay where I live, it is around 5 miles (8k).
A few things worried me before I set off. A lot of the paths are in the forest so there would be a lot of ice. There was going to be a lot of people out walking as the sun was out and the worst thing of all, at the end of the run in Årsta Forest – Årsta skog its really hilly. Not one long run but up and down up and down. I remember cycling it when I first moved to Årsta and I had to get off the bike.
Still I had to do a long run today and thought it was as good day to cross this one off the list.
When you run, you know in the first 10 mins how your run will be. I was struggling for some reason and knew it was going to be tough. I had to stop in parts as there were so many people, one day I swear I wont stop when people dont move out of the way. I also had to climb a lot of steps to get up to the top of the bridge at Liljeholmen and of course down the steps at Hornstull.
I took a short 3 min walk when I reached Skanstull, I had to change my playlist on my Ipod so I walked over the bridge, otherwise it was running all the way.
But the last segment was a bastard. Up and down, up and down. I was crying inside as I was tackling the steep climbs but I knew I was going to finish. I remembered the words of Göethe:
‘Everything is hard until it is easy’
I told myself that this was likely to be the hardest Årstaviken run because I had never run it or hills ever before. This would be the most pain and eventually I would be flying up and down these inclines. I do a lot of visualisation when I run, its what gets me through it. I took my mind back to last year when I started running and how after 7 mins I was out of breath and feeling sick. I remembered how after a few weeks I passed that and kept improving.
Got to give a big mention of the Garmin Forerunner 305, as you can see from the map above, even though I was under trees in a forest for some of this run yet I was still tracked ok by the GPS. This is a regular complaint about GPS that they dont work so well under cover but the Garmin performed well.
So 5 miles/8kms in 57 mins, I know I can get that to below 50 mins. I have to say this was awesome training and I think this route is going to prep me for the 10k Midnattslöppet.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Well done!! I’m getting closer to your running now – I did a 7km stint yesterday and have been running 5-6 km every day for the past five days.
I can well identify with your comment that you know in the first ten minutes how the run will go. Yesterday was hell (and it was also cold, which never helps). However, there’s nothing to beat the feeling of overcoming one’s reluctance and finishing a long run.
Yay! Good job! I hear you on the walkers etc… I like going out on sunny days, but the cloudy bad days are the best, less walkers out!