A little summer run in Scandinavia

Round two in Scandinavia was a stop in Stockholm and came about six months after round one in Copenhagen. To our liking the weather was of course much nicer than the first go around (unfortunately to our disliking it was still just as expensive as before). We decided on a long weekend in Stockholm about a year ago when I came across a description and high reviews for the Stockholm Marathon. It was supposed to be a flat course with good spectators, good race management, and at the very beginning of June so you could get a taste of the summer solstice. So as I sat 41 weeks pregnant on the couch I ambitiously registered to run another post-baby 26.2 miles!

With the marathon on Saturday we took a very early morning flight on Friday to allow ourselves almost an entire day in Stockholm prior to the marathon. Of course, just like we did in Athens in the fall the day prior to the marathon was not much about resting like it usually is for me pre-race in the U.S. Instead we tried to make the most of it and see a few sights around the city.

Streets of the Gamla Stan (Old Town)

Although we liked Copenhagen it probably falls in the lower tier of our places visited list. Stockholm made a considerably higher ranking. While there wasn't much as far as must do sights and places to visit, we quickly found ourselves just enjoying the vibe of the city (maybe it was their friendly "hey hey" every time we walked into a store or restaurant or the surprisingly good mix of Mexican, Italian, & Asian food we ate [can't say we have developed much of a taste for Scandinavian food]).

The city itself actually consists of 14 different islands that have both small and large "canals" that run between them. All of the bridges, water, and beautiful old buildings made for a unique and beautiful setting, of which I truly was able to appreciate as I made my way across a countless number of bridges during the marathon. To our surprise we also found out there are more than 20,000 tiny islands that make up the archipelago off the coast of Sweden and intrigued us to want to come back someday and explore more.

Aside from simply doing some meandering and exploring around the city on Friday we made our obligatory trip to the marathon expo to get ready for the next day's race. Then by mid-afternoon the early morning flight was catching up to us and we decided the best bet was to take a boat ride around the city and do a little more relaxed sight seeing. If we weren't already enjoying the city we really took to liking it from out on the water.

Beautiful bridges and views from the water

From there the last stop was to find dinner in the old town area of Gamla Stan. Seeing how it was the "old town" we found it to be particularly scenic with older buildings and cobblestone streets that are now lined with lots of shops and restaurants. Needless to say, we of course had to stop into several shops before finding some good pre-race pasta. And while we could blame it on a tired 11 month old, I think we were all happy to head back to the hotel a little early for a good nights sleep, even if it was the tiniest hotel I think we have yet to stay in and that's saying a lot, read: expensive city! We also found it a bit strange (and likely illegal in the United States) that our room was in the basement of the building and had no windows, yet to our surprise it was probably a good thing and provided us a better night's sleep since the sun was shining until around 11 pm!

Loving the fish tank at the hotel!

Come Saturday morning we were all thankful to have had a "relatively" good night's sleep (everything is relative when you've been traveling for nearly 3 weeks straight with Emma). And it was a nice change of pace to have to not get out of bed at dawn in order to get to the start line of the marathon as the race did not start until noon (of course that has its drawbacks too in regards to deciding what to eat in the morning, trying not drink too much water pre-race, etc.). So after a leisurely morning at the hotel I headed out to make my way to the start line and Steve and Emma headed out shortly thereafter to their first spectator spot. The course design was extremely spectator friendly and allowed people to easily get to multiple locations throughout the race, so I was excited to know that I would get to see both of them a few times throughout the race.

What a great cheerleader!

Around mile 10

Similar to running Athens last November I went into this race with the mindset of just wanting to finish, with really no idea of what my time would be as my training was all over the board throughout the spring. In addition with the late start time and relatively warm temperatures in the upper 60's as we began the race I wasn't sure what I was in for. The race started near and ended in the 1912 Olympic Stadium. I once again enjoyed experiencing a race in another country and having people cheer for me in another language. As I came to enjoy hearing the cheers of "bravo" throughout the streets of Athens, I looked forwarded to the cheers of "heja, heja, heja" (similar to saying "go, go, go") throughout the streets of Stockholm.

I also looked forward to finding out what the next energy supplement provided on the course would be. I had never seen more options throughout a 26 mile stretch... in addition to the regular energy gel packets you could grab vegetable stock, cola, coffee, and pickles to name a few along the way. I stuck to the familiar energy packets and despite the weather going from warm to wet and cold I was very happy with my finish at 3:48. Still not quite back to pre-baby days, but a steady improvement over the fall and while I find the training to be more difficult than ever before I find the race days to perhaps be more fun than they used to because I appreciate my ability to get out there and do it and eagerly await seeing a smiling Emma there at the finish line. And after a soaking wet finish I quickly found my cheerleaders and couldn't wait to spend the rest of my day celebrating and relaxing!

So happy even after nearly four hours of spectating, partially in the rain too!

Someone thought the race medal was pretty cool

Come Sunday we were disappointed it was already our last day in Stockholm, but luckily we had the better half of it to enjoy before an evening flight back to Zurich. Our first stop (along with many other marathon runners) was the highly regarded Vasa Museum which holds one of the best preserved ship wrecks in the world. The Vasa was a large warship built in the early 1600's that sank on its maiden voyage in the harbor of Stockholm and sat underwater for nearly 300 years before they were able to pull it up from the floor of the harbor. Yet for a variety of different reasons the ship stayed in extremely good condition and we found it very interesting to visit and learn more about it.

The Vasa Warship

Quite large and impressive considering it was built 400 years ago

Impressive wood carvings throughout the ship meant to intimidate enemies!

Our other main stop was the City Hall (Stadshuset), which happens to be where the Nobel Prizes are awarded. Seeing how we were not there to receive a Nobel Prize we instead hiked to the top of the its tower, which provides some of the best views over the 14 islands that make up the city of Stockholm.

Views from the Stadshuset

Then with just a bit more wandering around the canals, Old Town, and a stop for lunch we found ourselves on the way back to the airport. It was a quick but great weekend, especially for me as I checked marathon #12 off the list. Stockholm certainly surprised us both with how much we enjoyed it, making it a great way to culminate our nearly three weeks of traveling.

Smiles for the end of a fun weekend!