I've lost some enthusiasm for blogging lately, so I will take a timeout for a while. To many other things to do and I am already spending to much time in front of the computer. So if you wonder what I'll be doing instead, I hope that the answer is playing on the floor with my wonderful children, or playing some games and sports activities together with the older kids, or doing some training myself, or spending more quality time with my wife ;-) Of course I could continue with a couple of minutes of blogging now and then, but I somehow know this business now and need to get some new inspiration. More than 125 blog entries over a period of 7 months. Not to bad ... Catcha later maybe!

Vasaloppet 2009 is over. Very impressive results from a MC-gang perspective. 8 out of 8 succesfull finishers. My conclusion from a general view is that is all about mindset and mental power. OK OK OK, some physical abilites as well. The strongest achievement was performed by Jörgen who manage to complete the race after over a month of unactivity due to a broken rib. The weather was OK, below Zero all day, but some snow, that made the tracks slower. I had a bad stomache and had to throw up after 35 km's, then back pain and of course getting tired due to lack of training and some weakness after a week of flu. I should be happy with my finish time of 8.20 Even more happy is David who mangaged to beat the tough guy himself with 5 minutes.

Ready to hit the ski tracks tomorrow morning. The temperature is perfect, around -10 to -5 degrees. We have tried the tracks up around Smågan this afternoon and it's fabulous conditions. Now we are hoping for a day tomorrow without any snowfall.

90 kilometers is a looong distance, but as it looks right now, it will be a nice day and I'm happy to just take part. I'm priviliged to have the health and power to do this kind of activities that for sure gives me a feeling of being ALIVE.

My friends here are all Rookies and some of them start to be a bit anxious. The face of David is getting more and more pale. Jörgen has to run to the toilet over and over again. Sven has to stay busy, doing dishes etc to keep his nerves in control. Kristian had to bring his wife as mental support. Micke chickened out from the team activity and cover up by doing the Open version last weekend and is now trying for a second shot with some very suspisious preparations on his own.

The coach stays cool. Experience talks.

Yes, the flu has left my system. It has really helped to empty my body from all kind of energy reserves the last 4-5 days. If I remember correct according to some old body charging theories, it's good to clean out and empty your body, before starting the charging / carboloading process. So today I have started eating proper food again and also a bottle of Vitargo. I can already feel the power in my body. Wroom wroom .... More carbohydrates the next couple of days and I will have cruise to Mora on Sunday.

Time is flying in supersonic speed, so it's good to reflect back now and then, to get a picture of what's happening in life. That's why I now and then take a glimse back in some files to check what was going on the year or years before at the same time. Only the future can be changed, but the steps that you take are often influenced on the past, sometimes in an opposite direction to find new paths or to get back on a track that actually was alright with some time perspective. I'm just worried to get stuck in a grey timeless situation for to long.

Now it's the middle of week 9 and I'm home sick and need some inspiration. Let's check.  

What happened exactly 1 year ago? Seoul, Korea. We were told by Dr. Sung that our baby to be, is a little boy.

What happened exactly 2 years ago? Flying back to Kuala Lumpur, after being at home to visit the kids and doing Vasaloppet (without any snow training at all).

What happened exactly 3 years ago? Lake Waikaremoana, New Zealand. Four days of tramping around one of the nicest tracks in NZ.

What happened exactly 4 years ago? Very sad week, when my dear Ronja passed away.

What happened exactly 5 years ago? Hurghada, Egypt. Snorkling in the Red Sea. Great vacation.

What happened exactly 6 years ago? Home as a singel father with the kids.

What happened exactly 10 years ago? Skövde. Also sick with flu. 40,6 degrees fever. I shouldn't complain now ...

What happened exactly 20 years ago? London. Working at BT. Took a drive to Bath, Glastonbury, Stonehenge, Portsmouth & Brighton.

What happened exactly 30 years ago? Kvänum/Skara. Preparing for my first Vasalopp and had reached a tally of 634 km's before the race. Finish time 7 hours 40 min.

So yes, some things are coming back again and again, especially on a week like this, being the week before Vasaloppet. I doubt that I can beat my first finish time on Sunday, but but ... on a good day ... who knows?

My cheap chinese copy of "Slumdog Millionaire" was actually very good. Hopeless English subtitles, but that's quite often what you get. In this case half the movie was in Hindi with original English subtitles on the screen so no problems on that part, but the Indian English, that sometimes is a bit hard to understand, was not understood at all by the Chinese translator. It gave us a few laughs.

So was the movie really worth 12 SEK and 8 Oscars?? Hmmm... 12 SEK OK, but definately NOT 8 Oscars. The scenes from the 2 brothers early days in the slums of Mumbai, were fantastic and the first 30 minutes were very promising. I was eating some yoghurt when the main character, Jamaal, was jumping down into a big outdoor shithouse. That ruined my already poor appetite. Yaaak! Otherwise, this movie turned into what I wrote yesterday. The storyline was fading out in the middle, well ... it was quite a stupid story in the first place, and then it just had to be nicely wrapped up into a happy ending. Not an Oscar winner according to me.

I enjoyed watching the crazyness of Mumbai again. 2 years ago, I stopped there to have a look around and to run the Mumbai Marathon. The marathon race itself was a bit chaotic in the end when they let the traffic on to the streets while we were still running. I wasn't surprised, but the consequences in a place like Mumbai are worse then anywhere else, since it's absolutely crazy traffic there. The next day I had planned to relax on Chowpatty Beach, but it was so polluted and full of rubbish and stray dogs, so I quickly changed my mind and took a boat from the Gateway of India out to Elephanta Island. When I saw the scenes in the movie of all the orphan kids and beggars, I felt some strange emotions coming back. "Their reality is not my reality" (quote from Micke S).

Total lack of energy & enthusiasm today. The flu is keeping its grip on me. Only sparks of hope when there are phone calls popping in from work and friends. Quick change of mental state, to not sound to miserable.

Not even capable of reading a book or a magazine, especially not sports magazines. It just makes me feel worse. I have to pass over the peak period first.

A movie might be more consumable, especially if the theme is from a more miserable environment, then I'm in at the moment. Slumdog Millionaire http://www.moviefone.com/movie/slumdog-millionaire/31044/main won the 2009 Oscar for the best movie yesterday, so we will most certainly watch it tonight, since I happened to pick up a "copy" in the Silk Street Market in Beijing a few weeks ago. Let's hope it's a playable version. Always interesting to check the quality on these kind of bargains. The packaging looks very professional for a new movie for 10 RMB (12 SEK). Watched the Iron Man (same purchase) the other night with Oliver and it was very good quality up until the last 10% of the movie. Then it got hick-ups, but on the other hand, the movie, as most American movies, also got worse and worse from a content perspective. Most of them have very good intrigues, but then they somehow lose focus and just try to wrap the story up in the end, probably short of budget. The American movie audience have normally after half a movie also run out of Coke & Popcorn, so the same applies to them. Buuurp!

Woke up this morning, feeling strange & weak. Did some XC skiing with the MC-gang, but it was hard work and I quit already after 10 km's. Well, I have fever (39,2 degrees), so something is not right. No apetite and extremely tired. I better stay home a couple of days and cure myself. I just hate to cancel things, especially when my calendar is fully booked. Hmmmm...

Right now, it's important that I get this shit out of my system and can be able to charge my batteries before next Sunday = Vasaloppet.