Mattias Bramstång

I remember my first marathon fifteen years ago, I remember the second and third one. Actually I remember them all and I have done 99 marathons/ultra marathons so far. I’m a runner and I will always be that. I hope…

When I started this blog many years ago there were not so many blogs about running, nowadays there are plenty. I feel happy about that and it also means I don’t have to keep my blog active for some time. Others will keep mankind running. Please inspire each other to join the running society!

See you out there!

I did 3 marathons during 2013, a scenic run in Båstad, one on a fast track in Gothenburg and the last one in exotic Suriname. Quite nice experience, but the Suriname marathon in November was hard. Amazonas rain forest and 100% humidity was not easy to handle. I also did a quite different kind of run in May. Then I ran from Helsingborg to Malmö in a commercial event. Properly dressed, ancient inspired, sort of. (Take a look in the Photo Gallery).

After many month without long distance runs I realised I was afraid for running beyond 30 km. So I went to Växjö just to run a marathon in a comfortable speed and try to go steady. I was surprised of how well it went; I felt great all the way and could even push it quite hard the last lap (of 8). I finished with 3:22:33.

Two weeks later I just had to push it some more and find out what I was able to perform. I went to Skovmarathon in a beautiful beech wood outside of Hilleröd in Denmark. It rained intense some hours before start but the last hour before start it stopped and the sun appeared. It became perfect marathon weather. The track was better than I expected, just a few puddle and not so many slippery spots….

I started the first 10km at sub 43min. I felt out of shape. I thought I better slow down and jog the rest. But not yet, first I wanted to do a decent half marathon. After 15 kilometres I ran in to the back of the pack runners on the 10km-race. I had to dance around them all the way to they finished. At the same point I went out on the second (and last) lap. I just managed within 1h 30min. I felt inspiration in the beginning of the second lap and wanted to keep the pace as good as possible during the upcoming kilometres. At 35 kilometer I run into back of the pack runners of the half marathon race. This time the dance between slower runners was less easy. But I manage to finish this slippery and quite demanding track with more than 300 altitude meters at 7^th place in 3:03:39.

A scenic and joyful race just half an hour from home. I´m in quite bad shape for long distance nowdays so this was to be a check of my ability on the full distance. I started good and past half way mark at 90 minutes. In the uphills between 30 and 37 kilometer I felt fatigue. I had to walk a lot, wich normally doesn´t happens. But it did this day. I finished after 3 hours 18 minutes, pleased after all. I will be back. Se you at Båstad Marathon in the future.

Me and my friend Henrik Olsson went to this race in the beutiful area of Bovallstrand. It is a 8 lap hard course with approximatly 50 meter elevation every lap. This year the wind made it even more demanding especially on the slippery track just beside the ocean. As usual at this race we compete. Is it possible for Henrik to past me before he finish? Last year he didn’t. This year he did. He made an exellent race and ran solo all the time finishing after 2 hours 46 minutes. I was second to finish almost half an hour later. Nice day!

Everything felt good before the start despite lack of kilometers during the year. I found strength in my experience and my knowledge of the race. The weather was extremely beneficial. I was in Athens and had only one purpose. I was about to run to Sparta.

The night before the race I’ll never forget. I did not sleep a single minute. I lay in bed, but didn’t fall a sleep. I just lay there and heard the room mates breathe deeply and relaxed. Later on I listen to them snoring. I was sleepless. I looked at my watch over and over again but it was only making my heartrate raise and finaly it was over 70 bpm. At 04:00 the wake up call rang, but it didn´t wake me up, thou I was already awake…

At 07:00 the race started. I ran, but after 24hours and barely 180km I gave it up. I was tired and sleepy. In such situations I don’t work efficiently. My mind and spirit had left me for this race. I was abandon. By my self. I cried.

I decided long ago to try and run for three hours. Everything indicated that I had the speed and endurance to make it. The last few months of training had gone well, actually so satisfying that my secret goal was to run a little bit faster than three hours.

The competition is in the middle of the Brazilian winter, early one Sunday morning. Despite the season and the time of the day it was warm and bright even before starting. The hole distance is more or less right next to the sea, which is beautiful and interesting as it always happens things around.

I was running smooth and stable with a comfortable effort until the 24th kilometer (1:38:18) when I got cramp in one of my legs. It came suddenly, so fast that I had to jump three steps on the other leg while I was stopping. I had to stretch and then limp forward. The thoughts that went through my head was not fun, filled with disappointment and resignation. A moment later, at the 27th kilometer, I had found a pace (4:25 min/km) that I could hold, a balance between pain and function. I ran the rest of the race without comfort, instead, I carried a lot of concern. Finally, I finished with 2:59:35 and after I had stopped running I immediately began limping, anything else was not possible.