Mizuno Wave Universe 2

What can I say, I've been bitten by the barefoot running bug and I don't think that I want to find a cure, it's just too much fun running barefoot or with the most minimal protection one can find!

During the past year and a half (or may be even longer than that) I've been running barefoot or with my Vibram KSO, aka "the monkey feet", and I've loved every moment in them! Except when the temperature drops below freezing, then my toes go numb and due to my stubbornness will probably freeze and fall off before I'll get home. So in comes the minimalistic no heel über light Mizuno Wave Universe 2! It may be a traditional looking running shoe but looks can be deceiving, weighing a less than a third of a normal shoe and with a complete flat profil it won my toes heart (this since they can now snuggle into warm wool socks together with their mates).

I took them out today for a short run with my darling and her parents vorsteh. Cirka 4 km slow runnning with a handful of sprints going full out. What can I say? I love 'em! You might wonder if 100 grams more or less on your feet makes any difference but if you haven't felt them in your hands or for the matter seen the look on the shop assistent thinking that the box is empty OR runed with them then you my friend still think that the floppy is better than the CD/DVD/Blue ray etc. Come on, go test them, or purchase them on-line and try them out in your home just to see want you think.




And now for something else... what shoe should I have for trail running? My criteria's are: flat = no heel and minimal cushioning. But will I spend it on a "more" traditional shoe (I 'aint what you probably call a traditional runner) like the Inov-8 Baregrip 200 or a barefoot type shoe like the: RunAmoc, Feelmax etc

Tenkara, Fly fishing the Japanese way

I love to fish, I don't do it especially often but once I start I tend to forget about everything and just enjoy being in the present. My fish of choice is the humble Perch, simply because it's in every lake and all around Sweden's coast. So now when my cheap telescopic rod has broken I thought about taking up fly fishing, I quickly found all the information that I needed but just couldn't make that decision to purchase a complete kit. In one way or another I found TenkaraUSA last year and fell in love with it! It follows the K.I.S.S. rule (keep it simple stupid) by excluding the need for a reel yet still keeping the beautiful fly fishing action that a simple cane pole rod can't. For less than 200 grams you have a complete fly fishing kit with a rod, line, box of flies etc! But... will it really work for perch? I haven't got a clue and because of that I'm still hesitating, if I find a suitable trout water then I'll definitively get one but for perch... I don't know. Yet now that I know that I'll get a large amount of money from my tax return I just might have to place an order :-)

Ultra marathon training and some inspiration

Training for my first 50k run I plan on using one of the programs on http://www.ultramarathonrunning.com/training/ let's just see if I can get my friend Niclas with me on this one, it's much more fun if you've got some company with you.
And here is a youtube clip that inspired me to train for a ultramarathon

Vibram FiveFingers Treks and Ultra Marathon

If you've ever seen Vibram's FiveFingers than you'll either be one who laughs or says "wow, that's a cool looking shoe!". I remember seeing them in a camping store one day together with my girlfriend thinking that I've got to have one, just give me a reason to buy them, and then the store clerk told me that some people use them when running... what!? Nooo, but how does that work, what about shock absorption when running on asphalt or what about support for my pronation? I had to learn more about this and after finding several people that used to to run marathons (www.barefootted.com being a prime example) I found the ultimate reason why I could run with them... we as humans have evolved over thousands of years without shoes, why should we suddenly have to have them for running? Suddenly I felt that I had been fooled by every single gym teacher, running shoe store and running magazine. I bought a pair (KSO) and haven't looked back, the sensation of freedom is simply incredible! They're so light and thin that it feels like they aren't even there and running in the forest off the beaten track makes you feel alive when you leap from stone to log to moss to gravel simple because you feel the difference on the soles of your feet. And as far as lack of support goes, well let's just say that if you land on your heel (rolling to the ball of your foot as many of us have been told to do) then you have to have support, but if you instead land directly on the ball of your foot then you'r in fact engaging the bodies own shock absorption system.

Now it's a year later since I got them and the snow has finally melted allowing my cold feet to finally run in the VFF's (if it's below 5 degrees celsius then I simply won't run), I had a blast running through puddles, snow, scrambling up and down steep hiles and climbing boulders. Yet a few days later when I was off to make a second run a stench out of this world struck me as I lifted them out of the plastic bag I had used to store them in... I had washed them and I thought that they where dry when I placed them in the bag, but.... dam it, they weren't... Which on the other hand gives me a terrific reason to buy their new model, Treks. So cool, meant for trail running and seemingly warmer and nicer looking than my KSO. So I've decided that once I get them my goal will be to complete a Ultramarathon race in a years time, wich may seem a tad bit optimistic but you've gotta have a goal. I'm just going to run a 50k (http://www.sormlandultra.se/) race so it's not significantly longer than a marathon, I'll certainly run in the Treks. The adventure begins!

The unconventional blog begins!

As a person I've always been drawn to what lays outside the realm of conventional ideas on how things are meant to be done, and what a person should do. Such as playing football (soccer to you in the states) during the summer and ice hockey during the winter, for me it naturally became freediving and underwater rugby. I find that I get more joy out of discovering new methods, materials and ways of thinking than simply just being told what to do. Come to think about it I think that the main appeal to being unconventional is all the research I get to do, the journey is better than the goal type of thing.

As of now I've found and researched a ton of different materials, methods and ideas and will spend the first entries trying to get you up to speed. I'll discusse everything from straw-bale houses, barefoot running, skin-frame-kayaks to recumbent bikes, if you've got anything unconventional then just let me know!

Hope to see you here again