Start Number Valencia Marathon!

I just bought my start number for Valencia Marathon 2011!!!

I can't wait :-) It's going to be a fantastic trip.

I'm really looking forward to running a marathon in a different country! I plan to run two marathons a year in a different place each time :-)

17k Run Towards Valencia Marathon!

This morning I had a fantastic 17k run :-)

I dropped off my youngest at nursery and then run over the bridge and along the waterfront. I love running there!
Then I headed back over the water and ran along the front to Christianshavn and headed through Amager to Amager Beach.

I also love running along the beach :-) The weather was perfect! The sun was shining and there was a nice breeze.

I hope all my training runs will be like this one :-)

Running Copenhagen Photos of Me!

And so I have got the rest of the photos from the photo shoot and these are the ones of me :-)

Photos by Esben Zollner Olesen

Night Running Tour!

Yesterday evening I guided another night running tour around Copenhagen for Running Copenhagen.

As it was the day of the Copenhagen Pride Parade there were MANY people in the city. This made the running a little different but also with a bit of a party atmosphere!

I had to change the tour a little as we couldn't run up all of Strøget (the walking street) because of all the people so we ran up to The Round Tower and then towards the town hall square from there.

It was another great tour with some lovely people and I look forward to guiding one again very soon :-)

Some Photos From Running Copenhagen Photo Shoot!

I now have some of the photos from the running copenhagen photo shoot that we did on Tuesday :-)

I think they are really good! The photographer is Esben Zollner Olesen

8k Run!

Just a little update.....I did my 8k run today so my training for Valencia marathon is still on schedule :-)

I have a night running tour tomorrow so that will be another 7k training.

On Tuesday I will be doing around 15k

Photo Shoots and Easy 12k!

Today has been a VERY interesting day :-)

At 9am this morning I met up with Lena from running copenhagen outside Christiania (this is a very special place, read more about it here http://www.christiania.org/index.php)

Anyway standing with Lena is a photographer. I am a running photo model for the morning! We waited for another runner to join us and went down to some of the different areas in Christiania to have photos taken.

It was a lot of fun as we had to run in different ways and directions. (I got told off for looking at the camera)
At the end I had some portrait photos taken for the Running Copenhagen website. In case you are new to the blog I am a freelance sightseeing running guide with them.

After this I decided I may as well run my 12k for today so I went for a beautiful run a lake in Christianshavn and then over the bridge into Copenhagen and all the way along the water towards the Fisketorvet shopping centre. Then it was back over the water, into the Amagerfælled and up to DR Byen metro station where I had left my bike early this morning.

It was a great run! My serious Valencia Marathon running has started!!

As soon as I get the photos from the photo shoot I'll put them on here :-)

Valencia Marathon Training Schedule!

I've written out a marathon training schedule for Valencia Marathon :-)

It has a page of it's own at the top of the blog.

I've been training quite a few days this week but only smaller distances as I am running 5k in the dhl Stafet (company relay race) at the end of August.

As you can see in the training schedule my serious training starts on Tuesday :-)

Another Copenhagen Marathon Photo of Me!

I just found this photo of me on the Internet. It was a couple of minutes after I had crossed the finish line of Copenhagen Marathon 2011 :-)

And Another Toenail is About to Bite the Dust!

After Copenhagen Marathon I lost one of my toenails. It didn't hurt as I kept it on with a plaster until it fell off by itself. Then underneath the new toenail had already formed.

I have been doing the same with another toenail which is also almost falling off and this one hasn't hurt either.

Now let's talk about my big toenail! This one has been absolutely fine since the marathon but the other day my younger son stopped dead infront of me and I walked into him. This caused half of my big toenail to break off. Since then my big toenail has been bleeding and hurting very much.
I just checked it and found that I could lift the whole nail half way up!

It doesn't look good for my poor toenail :-(

I have a marathon to train for so this sucks!! Oh well I'll just run through the pain :-)

Ecco Biom Natural Motion Trainers

So these are my new trainers which I am to use for my running tours!
Because Ecco sponsors running copenhagen I got these for free :-)

I gave them a test run yesterday and found them to be very nice to run in! I only run 4km though as I want to built the distance up slowly in these trainers. They are very different from my good old Nimbus 12's.

Below is part of a review I found on the net from www.runningandrambling.com. You can read all the article at http://www.runningandrambling.com/2009/10/ecco-biom-running-shoe-review.html, Beaware that it's a very long article but will tell you everything about this great shoe :-)

The BIOM is designed as a natural running shoe, preserving the natural biomechanics of your foot and ankle as closely as possible. It is NOT intended to convert barefoot runners, or even to compete with minimalist footwear like Vibram or Feelmax. Rather, it represents a paradigm shift in the standard categorization of running shoes, with a fundamental concept inspired by barefoot runners.

ECCO is one of the very few running shoe companies who openly acknowledge that traditional technologies – cushioning, motion control and stability – have been largely ineffective to reduce the injury rates of runners. They saw an opportunity to reinvent the philosophical approach to creating shoes, with a design based not on correcting perceived shortcomings of the foot, but on mimicking the biomechanics of barefoot running.

15k Run!

This morning I decided to have a little run down to Amagerstrand and back. I was planning on running about 8k which then actually turned into a 15k run :-)

I ran down to Amagerstrand and all the way along it which was very beautiful as there was hardly any people today because it was cloudy. Then I ran towards Christianshavn and headed up by the DR Byen and then home again.

I had an energy drink before I left the house but hadn't taken any water with me. I stopped at some toilets on Amagerstrand and drank out of the handbasin tap. I also ran past my sons school which has the after school bit open right now so I went in there for some water. As soon as I was home I drank very much plus a recovery drink.

Even though the sun wasn't out it was still hot and humid but I need to run in these conditions in Valencia as the weather can be anything between 15 and 25 degrees!

I'm very happy with my 15k and had a fantastic run and can't wait to get out and do some more running :-)

Valencia Marathon 2011!!

And so I will be running Valencia Marathon on November 27th 2011!!

I changed my mind about running Barcelona because, although the city and route are fantastic, it would involve training during the winter again! And the winter in Denmark is VERY cold and VERY windy :-(

Also I haven't been so motivated to run lately so what better way to motivate myself than choose to run a marathon that's only 16 weeks away!

I am travelling there by myself and will have 3 days in Valencia before I run the marathon so I am really looking forward to having the time to myself.

Valencia Marathon should also be very interesting to run as it has been improved and the route changed for this year. Another thing I should have a lot of support from the Valencian men as last year there were 2950 men that finished but only 157 women!!

Change of Blog Name and Which Marathon I'm Running!!

I've got a little fed up with my Barcelona Marathon blog. It feels like an intruder to me and not like a best friend :-(

I miss my old blog so have decided to bring the posts I've written over there over here to my favourite blog :-)

I've also listened (at last) to my friend Paul from 50 is the new 30 and have changed my blog name so it isn't just about a certain marathon. Now it can be about many different marathons :-)

Also I have decided to run Valencia Marathon on November 27th 2011 but more on this later!!

Barcelona Holiday!

THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011

I've been neglecting my blog a little lately, sorry!

This is because July is my lazy month ;-)

I've been on holiday to Barcelona and can't wait to run the marathon there! The route looks fantastic! I'm flying out 4 days before the marathon so I can have some more time in this GREAT city :-)

Imagine running up these steps! (I didn't)

I did a couple of little runs in Barcelona together with my 8 year old son and have run a few times in Copenhagen and also guided a couple of night sightseeing tours around Copenhagen with Running Copenhagen, which is always a lot of fun!

I promise to write more from now on as I've got to run more again seeing as I am going to be a certified running coach soon and have Barcelona Marathon to run in March :-)

Kidney Stone!!

FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2011

After having a kidney stone a week ago I hadn't been out running until yesterday.

The kidney stone came on the day I was supposed to be running a night tour with a reporter. So typical. My boss ran it for me and it went really well :-)

I found somewhere new to run yesterday which was good as I'm getting a little bored of running the same places every time.

There is a golf course 5 minutes away from my home and it has a public trail through it so I ran past of this. It was very interesting as you can watch golf at the same time.

I only ran 3.5k as my stomach or kidneys or whatever it is hasn't recovered fully yet.

!Solid Ørestadløbet 10k. New Personal Best!!

SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 2011

Yesterday I ran the !Solid Ørestadløbet 10k. As this race was on my home turf I wanted to get a good time.

Last week I ran the Malmömilen 10k in 57 and a half minutes so I wanted to get a better time than that. My best 10k up until yesterday was 54 minutes and 34 seconds. I beat it!!

My time in the 10k yesterday was 54 minutes and 9 seconds :-) So this is a new personal best for me!

The run went from Ørestad metro station, up the side of Fields, and around the Kalvebod Fælled nature area. It was quite an easy run but was pretty windy in places.

I haven't signed up for any more runs yet but have my eye on the Powerade Halfmarathon in August. I will also be running Tårnbyløbet in October. This will only be 5k though as my son will be running it with me :-)

Copenhagen Night Running Tour!

FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2011

Yesterday evening I guided a night sightseeing running tour around Copenhagen!

At Rådhuspladsen I met up with the two guests running the tour. As it was Sankt Hans Aften (midsummers eve) I found out where all the bonfires were and what time they would be lit and adjusted the tour so we would run past these places when the bonfires were fully alight.

So we first started running down Strøget up to Gammeltorv/Nytorv. We stopped here so I could tell my guests a little about the fountain, the courthouse, and the old town hall. They also wanted to have a quick look at the photo exhibition on the square.

After this we ran down to the canal and along it to The Merman and His Seven Sons. Here I told them the story of Agnete and The Merman. From there we ran through the back streets, across Kongens Nytorv and down to the bridge in the middle of Nyhavn. I was, of course, telling my guests about the different sites on the way.

We then ran past Ofelia Beach where there a bonfire had just been lit and then up to Gefion Fountain where there was a rather large bonfire in full flow by the waterside. We had a stop here to talk about the fountain.

Then it was off to Amalienborgslot where we watched the 10pm changing of the guard. Back to Nyhavn where the bonfire there had just been lit. This one looked especially beautiful as you can see in the photo.

And so we ran along by the water and up past The Black Diamond (the royal library), and onto the new fountain behind the Nykredit Crystal building. This was lit up but unfortunately there was no water coming out of any of the 2000 holes!

The last part of the tour was up past Tivoli where we could look in at the Tivoli Illuminations on the lake :-)

It was a wonderful tour and I enjoyed very much showing off beautiful, Wonderful Copenhagen by night!

If you are interested in a tour then see www.running-copenhagen.dk for details.

TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2011

Running Copenhagen Night Sightseeing Tour

I have 2 guests on Thursday night for my Running Copenhagen Night Sightseeing Tour!

It will be a little different because it is Saint Hans Aften (evening) in Denmark. Bonfires are lit, food is eaten and music is played :-)

It should be a great tour! I'll do a write up with photos on here afterwards because these tours are all part of getting me ready for my next marathon!

By the way, I didn't win the Ipad from the Malmömilen Sprint but I was in 20th place out of around 400 women that did run it!! I'm not a sprinter so am very happy with this result :-)

Malmömilen 10k!

SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 2011

Yesterday I went over to a town in Sweden called Malmö where I then ran in a new race called Malmömilen!

It had a great 10k route around the city.

Because everything was in Swedish it was a little hard for me to find changing rooms and where to leave my luggage but it was very easy to find the start line as I just had to follow the crowds.

I started in the group going for around a 55 minute time. There were many bands and crowds on the route. In a way it was the same as Copenhagen Marathon but just not so long. I was very pleased to see so many people were out cheering on the runners. It was actually a lot of fun :-)

First we ran in a snakey way towards the centre of the town, then through the town and towards the water and out to a lighthouse. Near the lighthouse you could choose to do a 100 meter sprint or not. The fastest man and the fastest woman for the sprint will win an Ipad!

I choose to run the sprint and am just waiting for the results of it still. During the 100 meters I overtook 2 men and 1 woman and made the crowd watching go WOW so I think I'm in with a chance of winning!!

After the sprint we ran along by the water and then up to the 'Turning Torso'. I had never seen it up close before. As you can see by my photo the whole building is twisted. It is a beautiful piece of architecture!

We then ran through a park and back to the finish area. Because I did the sprint and had to walk a little afterwards my time was a little slower than my normal 10k. I finished in 57:34! I even got another medal for my collection :-)

Me in Orange!

Next Saturday I am running a 10k in !Solid Ørestad. This is on my home turf so I'm going to be a little more competitive for that one!