WEEK 49 (Sunday, Desember 11)

MANY ACTIVITIES – EFFECTIVE EXERCISE AT HOME

The Christmas season is approaching at a fearsome rate, and I haven’t bought a single Christmas present yet. We’ve enjoyed some exciting weeks here at home, with lots of great exercise and activities. I’m looking forward to Christmas very much, but will most likely prioritize training over Christmas preparations during these next weeks.

It’s Sunday evening here in our little living-room at Tjensvoll, and we’re enjoying a few quiet hours together. We’ve decorated the place for Christmas and really like the cosy atmosphere in here. I’ve had a relaxed day of training, and am now sitting here summarising the week and laying a few plans for the coming days.

Last week was a reasonably low-paced week regarding exercise, but extremely intense in other ways. We travelled to Trondheim on Tuesday morning, where Kenneth was to attend three days for his education in elite coaching, and we both had a talk for the group on Wednesday afternoon. I also did a small talk for our sponsor Coop at Orkanger, focussing on health and vitality.

Thursday evening was spent at the top of Grand Hotel in Oslo together with our sponsor Falck bicycle register. We had a good gathering with various people from the insurance business, and were served an exciting meal in the suite at the top of the hotel.

ACTIVE MERIDA BICYCLES

Our Merida bikes have been highly active, despite varying cycling conditions and demanding weather situations here on the coast. It’s very important to have good and correct clothing when the weather-gods are in a bad mood. We’re well on our way with the winter training, and are where we need to be compared to the previous two winters.

On Friday we had our traditional “Santa-party” at our house, and it turned out to be a lively evening with many imaginative costumes. We’ve enjoyed several family get-togethers in the course of the last two weeks at home, and we’ve really appreciated them.

And now there are three weeks remaining before we begin writing 2006, and these coming days will be used for intense training. I’ll be starting on my Christmas presents pretty soon, and I hope to get them all quickly out of the way. I’ve written everything down on a list, so it’s just to speed around one evening and get it all done quickly.

You’ll be hearing from me again before Christmas, and I expect that we’ll be more prepared for the festive season and that all necessary jobs are finished by then. There’s no point in fretting; one should rather just be happy for the somewhat different days that Christmas provides us with. Don’t stop your regular exercising even though different and more numerous activities fill up your Filofax. You’ve just got to plan more effectivelyJ.

Have a great run-up to Christmas.

Christmas hugs from Gunn-Rita.