Next Wednesday I will run. I feel ok, and I know that I have to be careful so I don’t catch a virus. I definitely don’t want to cancel. Therefore, I wash my hands rather often. However, due to pollen allergy, I do have some sneezing attacks. But I know that it is allergy and not a cold. When you have allergy, you often sneeze several times in a row. I might be able to run at a time of 1h and 5 minutes. It will depend on what shape I am in that day. And I have good news. I will not run alone. A previous colleague of mine will join. I am really impressed of her. She has some pain in her foot but she will participate anyway. Running and walking. That is such a good spirit.

This running- and walking course is devoted to blood donation. It was a long time ago, but sometimes I listen to U2. There are several songs that I like such as “Where the streets have no name”, but I found this one. Terrible, and so true.

My life consists mostly of training and work. I still need some time before I can continue to write next book. Training helps me to move on in life after my mother has passed away. I miss her. Working also helps to move on in life. It is now almost a year ago since I started work at Lidingö. I like Lidingö a lot since it is a little similar to the countryside. I have been told that there are deers there too. And, in addition, I have nice colleagues, like as at the previous pharmacy I worked at.

I was at the pharmacy for a few hours today, and then I went for some exercise. No, running but other forms of training. My watch is now rather ok, and it measures my pulse. I am a little surprised because I have met a lot of people throughout life, but not so many interested in sport activities. Therefore, I have learnt to go for training alone. That is why my watch is a very good companion. Previously, I was interested in long distance running, but now 10 km is enough. “Lidingö loppet” is probably too tough for me. But I actually have a colleague who has won Lidingöloppet!

My new work at Lidingö has given me the opportunity to meet friends from the past. People I haven´t seen for 20 years. Amazing. It has been very occasional, and suddenly, I have noticed that this person is very familiar. And vice versa. We are connected on LinkedIn, where I also write some from time to time. I share this “work photo” that I have on LinkedIn. A pharmacy friend has learnt me to be active on LinkedIn, and I like that, a very nice and convenient way of staying in touch with colleagues from before. Join me on LinkedIn! And Happy Sunday, I wish you.

It is now less than 2 weeks til “blodomloppet”. I feel eager. Last course I participated in was “Hässelbyloppet”. I am learning my watch step by step. It takes time. I need to calibrate the watch with my GPS so I know how far I run. The watch also gives a clue about how many calories I burn. And feedback. My very best training companion.

My book “Generationer” is partly about Greten´s relation to her father, and, also the fact that she suffers from leukaemia. I was very touched by her life story. And also that she was strong, or didn’t understand, how to go through her treatment. Last autumn I started to donate blood. I can only donate twice every year since my iron depots sometimes are low. I do not know the reason for this. Physiology is fascinating, and I will write more about haemoglobin, iron and ferritin at another occasion.

Since I cannot donate blood close to the running, I donated yesterday. It is so good, because I get a text when the blood has been to support for a patient in need. That makes me feel good!

It is a calm day in Sweden since it is a public, religiously related holiday. I am not going to church, I will do some training instead. There is not much time til “Blodomloppet”, only two weeks more to go. When I was in Norway I did a lot of exercise. I got inspired and I bought a watch to keep track of my pulse. I love my watch and it has been my faithful friend during many years. Unfortunately, it cannot measure my pulse anymore so I had to buy a new one. Technology has improved a lot during a decade and I am currently learning how to use my watch. I need to calibrate my steps so I can measure distance. This is a Finnish watch, and Finland is a very developed country with regard to technology.

My running has improved a little, but I do other kind of sports for change. I have three weeks of vacation this summer and I am not travelling abroad since it is the best time of the year in Sweden. My goal is to learn how to crawl, and the great challenge is to learn how to breath while crawling. When I met my friends we talked about how internet has changed the way of learning and finding information. I will watch youtube crawling, but I have to return to Centralbadet for another private lesson. Work out should be fun, not an obligation.

Running is a kind of meditation. Personally, I don’t run fast, I find my so called running mood and pace, and then I can think and reflect. My very own time. To whoever reads this, I hope you also like training. And to increase your motivation I share some health benefits with exercise. Physiology is fascination, and it becomes even more interesting when you can measure changes in eg blood pressure, lipid profile, glucose levels etc. Please click on the publication below for further reading.

Now it is almost time for me to go training. I am currently in Stockholm and when I do training here it takes approximately 2 hours, walking for warming up and then running. I miss my sweetie very much. When I am in the countryside I know she is always waiting for me because she knows she will have her treat. A walk after I am done with my running. By writing this, I wish you all a relaxing and recovering holiday.

Overview of major cardiovascular effects of exercise:

ABBREVIATIONS:

HR, heart rate;      LV, left ventricle;    eNOS, endothelial nitric oxide synthase;    NO, nitric oxide;            VSM, vascular smooth muscle;    BP, blood pressure;    HDL, high density lipoprotein;    LDL, low density lipoprotein;    VLDL, very low density lipoprotein;    TG, triglycerides;    EPC, endothelial progenitor cell.

I must admit that I have been interested in international relations since I was a teenager. I remember my very first transatlantic flight I made alone. I was just about to turn 18. Since I was travelling alone I was nervous, but I was told not to be afraid since it was a direct flight. The plane started at Arlanda airport, landed in Oslo, Gardemoen, to pick up some more people, and from there, then directly to Miami airport. I just had to stay in the plane when I was in Oslo. I was lucky because I sat next to a girl in my age. She had her little brother with her. They were also travelling alone and we thought that it was rather fun, and also scary. They didn’t know either what to do when we were going to land in Miami. Passports and that kind of stuff. We were going to keep company til customs. It was a long flight but we enjoyed watching movies and chatting. The flight attendants liked her little brother. Miami airport was very busy so we lost each other. I wonder what they do today, if they remember this flight.

This weekend has been dedicated to various food. Spanish, Italian and Swedish cooking. I have dined with present colleagues and also, I have met pharmacy friends with whom I studied with at Uppsala University. I was interested in international relations and I was an active member in “Internationella utskottet” (international pharmaceutical relations for students). We arranged student exchange between pharmacies in various countries, among other activities.

Yesterday was election for the European parliament. I did my voting, but I don’t know how many voted. According to the radio, more people vote compared to previous elections. I believe Europe is approaching independence. But that will take time since it is a matter of human development. Remember that the world war two ended not so many years ago. In 1945. Sometimes, I find interesting writing in newspaper and I found the headline above two months ago. An interesting conclusion, and so true, is that Sweden has never been neutral. This year NATO is celebrating 70 years, with a big party. In brief, 40 years of cold war and then conflicts on Balkan. Russia not to be forgotten, and that is why NATO is interested in having Georgien as a new member. For the stability in the region.

To conclude, Stoltenberg must have a huge desk filled with paper work to maintain stability. His main goal and purpose. I hope. At least for generations to come.