Weekend in the Hut

Seashells - Because They Are Beautiful

Getting Acquainted

I wasn’t even aware that we had a beach below the hut, but at low tide it’s there. Flat and stretched along the lapping shoreline with sea shells and jellyfish and a smell of seaweed.
Oh, and the seashells are blue and silver and white and they catch the light very prettily under a sky that is so far up above that walking below it is like being in infinity.
It takes about an hour to get to the hut by Jesper’s boat and in the wintertime we can go by dogsled in a couple of hours. Jesper and Jens-Erik fixed the roof with tar paper to keep out the rain while I picked blueberries to make a pie. In the evening Jens-Erik turned on the barbeque and made us some very nice steaks.

Back on the Horse

Just after the half marathon everything was fine with me, but then I went for an hour’s jog a few days later, and that suddenly and completely unexpectedly turned my toe into a pitiful blue and sore lump. Look at the picture if you can stomach the sight!
Sooooo, I guess I’d better relax on the couch and watch Brokeback Mountain that I’m probably the only person on this planet who hasn’t seen yet. Trouble is that I live in a town with no cinema. Such places do exist, though not for long, as we’re about to get an entire House of Culture with a big screen, a café and other cultural whatshallwecallthem. Sisimiut is turning into a right metropolis.

Home From the Hunt

Jesper is back from the weekend’s hunt, and along with his three hunting companions (his twin, his dad, and his friend Per) he’s dividing the catch – 4 reindeer. They’ve had a great time with lost of hunting traditions to keep alive – mostly eating and drinking stuff – and with weather not nearly as bad as the weather forecast predicted. Good though, that they came back early afternoon as it’s now overcast and rainy.
And me? All weekend I was home alone. Friday night I swallowed down most of The Remorseful Day – the very last Inspector Morse novel from the apt hands of Colin Dexter (Morse dies, and Lewis, along with the readers, grieves – very sad). Saturday I was working at the computer and found myself developing a splitting headache, I think because of my beloved computer. Apparently I must make solid breaks from it, especially after I changed jobs from teaching to office work. Weekends are best when they are computer free, but I’m a bit of an addict, so it’s not easy to let go. Besides, I had to work on my application. And today I made buns for Jesper’s return.

The Tiredness of the Half Marathon Runner

Jesper kept time, and as soon as I crossed the finishing line I managed to impress my colleague Christian with my thirst as I drank 5-6 glasses of green lemonade in a row. I doubt I’ve ever tasted such refreshing and delicious lemonade in my life :o) Just after the race Michael and Magda from the United States rang. They had done the hike from Kangerlussuaq to Sisimiut as their honeymoon trip, and we met up to show them the sights and the dogs, whom they helped feed. Michael and Magda really liked being in Greenland and it was such a pleasure to show them the town because they had all sorts of positive remarks about everything. In the evening they caught the boat to Ilulissat and we hope that they will enjoy the rest of their stay here on the biggest island in the world. Before they left they donated us two bars of organic chocolate which was absolutely delicious! Unfortunately (or luckily) not the kind we can get in the shops in Sisimiut.
The evening ended with a nice meal at the Chinese restaurant with Jesper’s twin brother, his wife Dorthe and their two daughters and Jesper’s Dad, who is visiting. A very nice day indeed!

I Did It!

Yes, Saturday I ran the half marathon on 21 kilometres. It was a well-organized race arranged by the cross country club with volunteers at drinking posts - how I loved them – and a clearly marked route that went to the airport and back and then around all of Sisimiut town with lots of onlookers and people to cheer. Many children participated on a 2 kilometres distance and the adults had a choice between 10.5 and 21 kilometres. I think most of the runners went for the shorter distance, but I’ll be curious to see if they publish the results in our weekly local paper.
My time was 2 hours 24 minutes, and I’m so pleased with myself that I came under two and a half hours. From time to time Jesper drove past in the car and gave my updates on my time which helped me keep up the spirits. I definitely would like to run a half marathon aging and at some point I hope I’ll be able to run the marathon. So I’ll keep practising :-)

Still Running

Monday and Thursday I practiced for the half marathon by running to the airport and back to the bridge, where Jesper and the car were waiting. I feel all right on the 8-10 kilometres distances, but how will it be to run 21 kilometres? I spoke to one of the people organizing the race, and he said 1) there will be drinking posts – great, although I’ve never tried drinking while running, 2) the route will not be announced until the start of the race – bad luck, as I’d like to do some mental preparation on where I’m going to run 3) normally about a score of men sign up for the race and about a handful of women – this doesn’t make any difference to me. I am looking forward to it and at the same time I feel uneasy.

70 minutes

Looking back at the week I have run Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday which I’d say lives up to my ambition of running every other day, especially considering the long hike we did on Saturday. Today I ran 70 minutes to the airport and back to the bridge, where Jesper picked me up in the car. I ran really slowly which felt pretty nice, and right now I’m tempted to sign up for the half marathon rather than just the 10.5 kilometres on Saturday. If I just don’t hurry at all I think I might be able to run 21 kilometres. I’ll see how it goes during the week and then make up my mind. Though I would hate to attempt the half marathon and then being the very last person to cross the finishing line and having all sorts of officials wait for me. That would simply be unbearable embarrassing.

Weekend Hike

Here are some of the pictures. Tomorrow I'll write about the trip - it was great!

Runner’s Low

According to the plan I jogged for an hour today. It didn’t go particularly well but at least I didn’t go any slower (or faster for that matter) than usual. I always run without a watch and without a pulsimeter (is that the English word?) because I only get stressed out by instruments like that.
I actually don’t know why I run. It hurts and rarely gives pleasure. Only afterwards do I feel all right, but it’s more a feeling of having a clean conscience than anything else. You’d think that you’d get into running after so many kilometres that it would actually feel good. So why it is that I am still such a lousy runner?

Piece of Cake

This is how it is going so far.

As promised I put my name down for the 10.5 kilometre race. It seems that the route is starting at the big supermarket (Pisiffik) and goes through town to the dirt road and all the way to the gravel pit and then back the exact same way. I realise this cannot possibly make sense to anybody living anywhere else than in Sisimiut. Oh look, I found a map on the Internet. It’s not very good, though. I put in a red circle of the gravel pit. So the route is back and forth between the two red circles. Piece of cake, wouldn’t you say?

Today I jogged for an hour keeping up the deal I made with myself about running every other day (with really miserable weather as the only valid excuse for not going). And I feel terrific :-)

Something to Look Forward to

The cross country club is organizing a half-marathon on Saturday 18th and tomorrow I’ll go and sign up. Not for the half-marathon, alas, but for the 10.5 kilometres. I’m really excited about the event and am very curious to see the route they’ve planned for us. I hope they will keep us clear of the worst hills. I’ve only been in a handful of races before and only ever for fun and not competing against anybody but my own time and I’ve never been in a race this long. I really hope that I can go the course.
I saw the poster advertising the race yesterday and today I began preparing running to the Water Reservoir Lake and back in exactly one hour. It was early afternoon and the air was hot and dry from all the sunny summer days we’ve had. Despite the fine weather not many people were out in the streets. I can smell the dogs when I pass them: dusty fur, urine and badly preserved dog food. Mostly they lie stretched out lazily on the ground, probably suffering in the heat and most likely being bored and longing for frost and snow and winter when they get to run in front of the sledge.

The Hunt

It is early morning after a short and cool night in the tent and we set out up the mountain before 5 am. Low tide has made the boat rest on solid ground the difference between high and low tide being 4 metres in Greenland. After about an hour we’re at the top of the mountain range and we continue East in hunt for reindeer. Every now and again we sit down to search the area and suddenly a young buck is standing in front of us about 100 metres away. Simply just standing there, immovable. Jesper gets down flat on his stomach and fires. Two shots, and then he calls me over to see. By now it is about 8 in the morning and we have plenty of time to cut it up and make a nice and long rest before carrying it back down to the tent. Jesper straps on the front part to his carrying frame and I take the rear part. The walk down the mountain is strenuous with all the extra weight on my shoulders and the ground is soft and seems to hold on to my feet making each step an effort. Being exhausted is part of this deal. All along the weather is magnificent: quiet, warm and sunny and with a parhelion in the sky. Tired and sweaty we arrive at the tent at around 1 pm and I jump straight into the inlet. Refreshing, not to say freezing and the water is surprisingly salty.

And for supper we have reindeer liver with fried onions and a salad.

Evening Hike

It all began pretty low with a bit of a cold and a sore throat – and I’m usually never ill. So straight after work I headed for a nap in bed, and then I was perfectly all right in the evening so we went out in the back lands for about an hour’s walk.

And we found heaven on Earth!

Such a beautiful evening, with sun that poured down like honey, as Cohen sings. Even after living in the house for more than a year we’re still amazed that this unspoiled and impressive scenery is just in our own backyard.

Now I’ll get my hiking gear sorted so it’s ready for tomorrow. When I finish work and have been at the Red Cross with Karen we’ll pack the boat and sail off with the tent and sleeping bags. And then, Friday morning, reindeer beware, because we’re out to get you!

Monday Jog

3 minutes slower than yesterday, and I don’t really understand why because I felt I had found a method of speeding up when running down-hill. Perhaps I accidentally slowed down up-hill? It was a good run though, in ghostly-grey fog and still, damp air. By the water reservoir lake construction workers are digging down pipes even this late at night. You know the way you try to make your breathing light and effortless when they make their construction machines slow down so that you can pass them on the narrow dirt road? And in fact your heart is hammering and your face is the colour of flames. It is so ridicules, because most likely they don’t give a toss about you and if they were to pay any attention they’d instantly see right through your efforts of trying to look like somebody from Golden League when in fact you’re beat after the first few hundreds meters and are having pains and cramps on such a Monday jog.For the benefit of the friendly person who has a thing about ‘feets’ I’ve uploaded another picture of my pair, this time in my favourite homey socks that I bought at the Christmas Market last year by an elderly lady.

And Again

In these shoes these feet ran 8 minutes faster than on Thursday. 59 minutes to the water reservoir lake and back home and I was even feeling great all the way!
And now I’m off to the kitchen area to make myself a pot of hot chilli con carne….

What a comeback!

Did anybody think that I wouldn’t run again after the last post? (Did I think that I wouldn’t?) Well, all hardship is forgotten after tonight’s jog through town and across road work and up-hill and down-hill and jumping over puddles of water and trying to stay clear of slush and mud and running all the way to the water reservoir lake - and back! So, here I am 67 minutes later feeling fit and larger than life. Hope that aches and damages won’t show tomorrow and prove me wrong. Sure they won’t...

Tired Runner Says Goodnight

In the end I did the airport jog, slowly and somewhat painfully up the 4 hateful hills, but that concludes this week’s running to be 30-35 kilometres which is tolerable. My time tonight was 1h 35 minutes and all the while I was thinking about the frozen berries and the orange juice I had at home. The air was warm and still, only stirred by the beating of the thousands of mosquitoes’ wings. Even more insufferable than the hills. I would like to invest in a belt to carry a drinking bottle. Enough. Goodnight!

Evening Sun on the Tracks

Tonight the sun came out under the clouds and around 9 pm I went for my usual 30 minute jog in the back lands. This time I brought my camera and did a few stops to take pictures. I wanted to show how beautiful my favourite route is, and I hope that you can tell from the pictures. Running out in the evening I have the sun in my back and coming home I get the low sun right in my eyes. I hope that I’ll be able to run the airport trip tomorrow. I’m a bit sore in my left hip and in my feet (as usual). But I definitely feel the progress of running so I’m motivated for sure!

New shoes

My new trainers were in the mail today from a Danish net shop. I took them out for a test jog around town, and they are great! In fact, they are the same type and size as the trainers I already have, which is the only reason I dared buying them on the Internet. On Wednesday I did the airport run for the second time, and it went really well. So I’m a happy runner these days :-)

A hike to the UFO

Yes, a UFO has landed near Sisimiut, and the hike to it is great and can be done in ½ a day. Last Friday Jesper and I set out after I had finished work. The weather was perfect, mild and sunny, and the mosquitoes got a bit aggressive and we put on repellent to keep them off. The first half of the hike towards the UFO is across flat bushy ground that tends to be wet and swampy. The trick is to cover this stretch quickly to get to the interesting hillsides going up and past several pretty lakes.
The warm weather has brought out all the arctic flowers. They are tiny in growth, but are very colourful and send out spicy scents of summer. The UFO is in app. 300 metres the highest point of the hike being the hill just before coming to the actual building. Let’s reveal that the UFO is a cabin certainly shaped as the stereotypical image of a UFO but placed there by the Sisimiut Municipality for school children to go camping.

Heavy legs

I’ve just returned from a 10 kilometre jog that didn’t go as well as yesterday because I had to slow down to walking on the last 300 metres. Very disappointing to have such heavy legs, but I guess I should be content that I have had two long distance days. I was so thirsty that I seriously contemplated stopping at one of the small pools to drink, but in the end I didn’t.
The jog was another route than yesterday: From home to the gravel pit and back home again. I made a stop at the dogs to feed and water them on my way back, so I don’t know my time. I ran through town on the main road and lots of people and cars and bicycles were out as the supermarket was open. I like it better when there are no people. Strangely, the dogs didn’t react when I ran past them on my way to the gravel pit. It seems that they didn’t recognize me, maybe because I was wearing other clothes than when I normally feed them and maybe also because I was running and not walking. Tomorrow will be a day of restitution.

A personal best

Yesterday I ran from home to the airport and back home again. I’m not sure about the length of the run but a fair guess is 12 Kilometres. I ran at a low pace and only the 3-4 hills made my breathing a bit out of control. All the time there was a light drizzle and almost no wind. The scenery was pretty with grass and the green leaves of bushes made heavy with the rain. The road to the airport was empty aside from a few cars, and only on the road by the harbour and through town did I see other people. I name this post a personal best because it’s the first time I run more than 10 kilometres. I really would like to run the long distances, and my immediate goal is a half marathon.
This morning I feel fine after the jog, only have I got a few blisters on my feet. Definitely, my feet are my soft spot but I suppose that’s a lot better than having week ankles or bad knees like many runners do.