August 18
Prior to leaving for Hamburg with our family we picked up the bikes from a bike shop that had assembled them again after our flight. I noticed the gearing was off and causing some issues. They were not qualified to work on electronic shifting and unable to help. We picked up the rented motorhome, filled it with our personal belongings and some groceries, met with some dear friends and shortly after were on our way North.
Jörg and I have never visited Scandinavia. We felt like little kids before Christmas, taking in every small detail while heading through northern Germany and taking a ferry from Puttgarden Germany to Rodbyhavn Denmark. Arriving just before darkness, we parked our motorhomes in a designated residential area and fell fast asleep.
August 19
We departed early from Rodbyhavn to get to our next destination in Jönköping Sweden, meeting up with Jörg’s brother and his wife to join the four of us, Jörg, his sister and her husband and myself. The six of us continued on. My training schedule for this day included a brick workout, 2 hour bike ride followed by a 30 min run. However, I quickly noticed my bike was not shifting and something had happened to my derailleur during the travel overseas. The local bike shop 1 mile away was about to close on a a Saturday and did not have qualified mechanics on staff for the weekend. I swallowed my sadness hard and opted for the only possible option, a run lakeside while Jörg joined me on a bike carrying my hydration. It is during these times that we remind ourselves that life isn’t always smooth and perfect and “the show must go on”, but I always dread flying with my bike…..
August 20
The forecasted rain stopped just for me and I was able to run and swim as scheduled by my coach. One thing is without a doubt, here we do not have hot 95 degrees with high humidity and warm lakes to swim in. It felt great to jog in 60 degrees and enter huge Lake Vâttern in my wetsuit measuring 59 Fahrenheit (15.5 C). As I took my first few strokes, I thought my face was going to fall off from the cold temperature, reminding me of my swim in St. George Utah of the prior year. The clean and clear lake began to calm me down and I fearlessly swam my 40 min solo, under the watchful eyes of my family onshore. It was exhilarating!
We made it to Stockholm that evening and explored the city while eating yummy gelato, waffles and drinking alcohol- free beer. 😋 I miss the history of Europe and it reminds me of so many things from my childhood in Germany. Exploring large churches, small alleys, window “shopping” a different culture, before heading back to our RV, parked at the terminal line for tomorrows early departure via ferry, crossing the Baltic Sea.
August 21
5:30 am. It’s been light outside for a while. The days are so long during the summer here. We drive our motorhome into the huge belly of a ferry that will carry us from Stockholm Sweden to Turku Finland.
The ferry is like a cruise ship, with entertainment, kids play rooms, multiple restaurants and a beautiful sun deck to see nature and water on the entire trip. We have never seen so many rocky islands. The boat has 12 decks and holds up to 2800 people and designated decks to carry everything from bicycles, motorcycles, cars, vans, motorhomes and countless semi trucks, some of them with double cargo trailers.
We stopped in Mariehamn, capital of Åland Island, picking up more passengers and cars on our way to Turku. It is situated in a Finnish archipelago, belonging to a Finland but speaking Swedish. There are 6500 islands and skerries to the east. It was as fun to watch all the different sizes of rocky islands around us, some just small rocks above the water surface, some holding flocks of birds, some entertaining a small “lighthouse” for traffic and some large enough to hold 1 or more houses.
I reminisced about my childhood, when I spent each summer tent camping at the Baltic Sea on the island Rügen with my family, weeks at a time. Washing our bodies and brushing our teeth in the salty and rocky waters, not a worry as a child…..
After more than 12 hours, we disembarked and arrived at our camping place outside of Turku. Beautifully located on a peninsula surrounded by water with easy access to the trails that can literally take you from one town to the next and on….
Perfect for my run tomorrow…..
August 22
Taking care of important business first this morning, namely run and core strength and ELDOA. I miss my ELDOA students as much as they miss me, as we keep each other accountable. It always goes both ways.
We are now in route to Lathi Finland, where we will spend 5 nights and I will prepare for my race this coming Saturday. I feel a lot of emotions, such as excitement, nervousness and mostly GRATITUDE.
Ironman Village …. I am coming for you.
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