New Adventures – Swedish Classic Circuit

It is a new year and I have spent a lot of time the last few months figuring out what my new adventures will be. The list of what I want to do is just growing. I have the possibility to join several friends all over the world to free dive, summit mountains, or just meet up after a long time without seeing each other in real life. The problem is that it’s impossible to do all at once. I don’t have the money for it and I don’t have enough vacation days to cover everything at once. The question then is, what should I start with?

At the moment I work full time at Qlik, as a software developer. This week I also started with a Personal Trainer online, called Andreas Linden(a well known triathlete), who will help me put up a training plan to prepare for the upcoming competitions I’ve signed up for. He will also help we with my diet so that I get enough energy to maximize my performance. The training scheme starts on Monday and I’m super excited! By having regular contact several days a week I think I will learn a lot about nutrition and health in relation to performance, but also in general. I’m looking forward to actually apply that knowledge onto myself, to see the difference when you supply your body with the energy and nutrients that it needs. He will help me at least three months and then I’ve said I will take an active decision to continue or not. The competitions I will attend are the ones included in a Swedish Classic Circuit. In June I will start with a 300 km bike race(Vätternrundan), in July I will swim 3 km in open water(Vansbrosimmet), in September I will run 30 km in terrain(Lidingöloppet) and finally in late February 2018 I will finish with skiing 90 km(Vasaloppet). All competitions must be finished within 12 months to receive the diploma. I felt I wanted to take help preparing for these challenges to minimize the risk of injuries, to prepare myself in the best possible way and to push and see how far I can get. Therefore I’ve decided that this year, my main focus will be these competitions.

On top of that I will of course continue with my yoga/meditation, free diving and climbing. I think I need to postpone the mountaineering until next year, maybe it’s possible to climb both Mt Elbrus and Aconcagua, having them as my main goal that year? We will just have to wait and see 🙂

Fun Dive at Ras Mohammed

DCIM100GOPRO

DCIM100GOPRO

DCIM100GOPRO

DCIM100GOPRO

I thought it was about time to show you some pictures from when I went to Ras Mohammed National Park, about a week before I flew back home from Egypt, in August. Ras Mohammed National Park is located at the very south tip of Sinai and it took us about two hours to drive there from Dahab. We left early in the morning and when we arrived we started our day by walking up to a view point before we went back to the car to get ready for the water. The first cave that we entered was just in the beginning. We did a duck dive in a small opening and swam down not much more than 5 m before we swam horizontally under the rocks and then up to the surface again. I really liked the idea of swimming in caves. Unfortunately the others in the group were all sick somehow and couldn’t dive due to problems equalizing which led to that we couldn’t stay very long swimming trough the caves. Nevertheless I still enjoyed it. After a while we got to a beach where our driver had prepared some snacks and water for us, before we went in the water for a second session. We swam around some islands to look at the cargo from a wreck, consisting of old toilets and bathtubs, and then headed back to the beach again. On our way back home we stopped in Sharm el Sheik to eat dinner at a pizza restaurant. We all were super hungry after a long day and we later arrived in Dahab around 7 pm if I remember it correctly.

Another 10 Days in Silence

Last week I booked a silent meditation retreat in January next year. The retreat is 10 days long and in complete silence. In comparison to the one I was in South Africa earlier this year, this one is much stricter and harder. The sessions are longer, one to two and a half hours each. The days are longer, for instance now we will start our days at 4 am each morning and begin directly with two hours of  meditation. There will be no mantras and we are not allowed to communicate at all with other attendees, not verbally or in writing or similar independently of the reason. On top of that we are not allowed to either write, read, exercise(incl. yoga) or similar during these days. We can go for a shorter walk though during our free time but not more than that. Each day we have the possibility to talk individually with the teachers if we have any problems with the meditation.

I’m very excited to attend another retreat. Every time I’ve felt a bit lost, stressed, absentminded or careless the last year I’ve urged for sitting on my mat meditating. I’ve urged for trying to understand my emotions and why I act the way I do and to be humble. The most emotional, and also the most rewarding, times during the retreat in SA were all when I accepted myself in terms of letting my guard down to be able to see and feel what I actually felt. To actually listen to myself which I’ve barely done before, so that aspect was very new to me. The timing for the retreat couldn’t have been better, it was about two months after a very though separation and I had many thoughts and worries on my mind. The nine days gave me time to really process what have happened and to be okay with that.

You can read more about the retreat I attended in SA here.

10 Months Later

Today is exactly 10 months after I summited Kilimanjaro. Yesterday I watched an episode of Landgång at SVT (you can see it here) where you followed a group of people trying to summit the mountain using the same route that I hiked, namely Machame Route. The footage brought up many memories and emotions. I started to reflect on many of the decisions that I have made and things that have happened the last few weeks. Quickly though, I left what had happened the last few weeks and took some time to go over my own photos and videos from the hike and remembered and looked back on my feelings I had then. I could almost feel the same exciting nerving feeling I had when I walked the last part along the ridge towards the summit, while the sun started to rise behind my back. The smile on my face that only grew larger and larger and the tears that pushed trough out of happiness and relief. The wave of emotions I felt after so many hours of putting one foot in front of the other in complete darkness, is hard to explain but it was incredible. You can read more about the hike in the links below(the posts are written in Swedish) or under the tag Kilimanjaro.

Day 1. Machame Gate – Machame Camp

Day 2. Machame Camp – Shira Camp

Day 3. Shira Camp – Barranco Camp

Day 4. Barranco Camp – Karanga Camp

Day 5. Karanga Camp – Barufu Camp

Day 6. Barufu Camp – Uhuru Peek – Millenium Camp

Day 7. Millenium Camp – Mweka Gate

A few times since I got back from Egypt I have wanted to update the blog but due to so many things going on at once I simply prioritized other things rather than sitting in front of the computer. But now when I’m at home sick I have some extra time I can use. I’m very happy to have my own apartment again, my own home. I’ve gone through all my thing to see what I need and what I don’t. After all I like to live quite simple with not too many things around me. I now have a pile of old clothes and some things that I will sell or give away. I need to do another round as well since I know there are more things that I don’t use often enough.

The climbing and freediving are both going well. I try to climb twice a week and then I train freediving twice a week as well. I started out in a group here in Lund but I felt the purpose of their training was not the same as mine. I wanted to develop my skills and technique to become a stronger freediver. It is important for me to have someone that can give me feedback on what I need to think about. The group in Malmö on the other hand felt much better to which I continued to go to.

In the near future I will go through some big changes in my life and I will tell you more about those soon. But before I sum this up, I want to thank you for still visiting the blog even though I haven’t been very active here the last few months. Take care of yourselves.

 

Updates of the Last Few Days

As you might have noticed I’ve changed the layout of the blog. The blog is working as before(you just need to manually press the Blog button on the home page), but I still need to finish the home page as well as the other related pages. Please let me know if you have any comments about the change.

Today’s the third day that I’ve been ill with fever, diarrhea, stomach ache, nauseousness and/or dizziness. Two days ago I woke up shivering a lot despite how hot the apartment was and during the same night I had woken up with severe stomach ache that I can have from time to time. I covered myself in my towels and sheets which didn’t, in the end, make any difference really. In the morning I had 38.35 degrees and it increased within a few hours to 40. That day I spent entirely in bed or walking to and from the bathroom. As soon as I did something else than lying in my bed I felt nauseous and the pain came back. Martin came over a few times to check on me and to bring me some dehydration powder but other than that I tried to sleep as much as possible. I slept okey the following night and in the morning the fever was gone. I had much more energy but I couldn’t do much more than staying in bed anyway. The stomach ache and nauseousness came directly if I stood up or tried to walk. Same thing happened as soon as I ate something or drank more than a few sips at a time. In the afternoon I managed to go to the shop nearby to buy some yogurt and biscuits, but afterwards I was exhausted and in pain again. After a few minutes in bed when I got back I felt fine again. In the night I had a hard time falling asleep so I watched two movies(I can really recommend the movie The Song of the Ocean) and read a few chapters in my book. Today I still have no fever and I have quite a lot of energy(if I’m lying in my bed), but once again a get nauseous if I walk somewhere and I get stomach ache from time to time. It’s still better than yesterday though which is a good sign.

There will be no diving today either, but hopefully I can go for a short swim later this afternoon. Of course it’s not ideal to get sick this short upon going home, I would have preferred to be able to train as usual these last few days. But when thinking back I have barely been sick these months here and apparently my body needs some rest. There’s no need to put a lot of energy in thinking about what could have been or to be sad or angry about these few days. Instead I’m grateful for the time that I’ve had here and how much I’ve developed. Let’s hope though that I can be in the water at least once before I leave the country!