Setting off on 06 October, 2020, ten trail runners will traverse 850 km and 55,000 m of vertical gain in the European Alps to mark the centenary of Italy’s annexation of South Tyrol and celebrate how far Europe has come since the wars of the 20th century. The AlpsFrontTrail was initiated by Suunto trail runner and filmmaker Philipp Reiter and South Tyrollean photographer Harald Wisthaler. The adventure run aims to celebrate Europe’s unity and freedom, and to observe the historical consequences of division and rigid nationalism. The Italian frontline during the First World War. It all began earlier in 2020 when Philipp and seven other runners ran the 1400 km border that separated east and west Germany before its reunification in 1990. A German himself, Philipp says the project moved him and put his freedom in a different light. “We had such a great team, had a lot of history lessons and I personally gained a different view on freedom,” Philipp says. “Freedom is never given, you always have to fight for it! After a skimo trip to South Tyrol, I visited all the old military bunkers there and got curious about the history behind them.” Back home he read about the history of the front, one thing led to another, and the AlpsFrontTrail project was born. Studying and planning the epic route has taken weeks. © wisthaler.com Philipp believes this adventure run is particularly timely because the unity and peace that much of Europe has enjoyed since the end of the Second World War is being threatened by rising populism. The open borders and freedom of movement could be lost. He points to the closing of borders during the 2015 refugee crisis – including between Italy and Austria – and again more recently with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Watching the news nowadays you have the feeling that despite us living in a globalized world, the understanding of our ‘togetherness’ is really falling apart,” Philipp says. “Everyone is just in it for himself and greed is growing more and more. “It’s very cool that as athletes we can show how sport can connect people and bring them together,” Philipp continues. “Athletes have a big reach, a strong voice in our communities and are mostly seen as honest. We have some power to make people think and give them a different perspective than many politicians usually do.” It's hard to imagine troops fought in terrain this rugged. © Philipp Reiter Running in teams of two, the runners will start in the Mediterranean city of Grado, Italy and then progress up into the Alps, following the Italian front in the First World War, and finishing at Stelvio Pass in northern Italy. “It’s going to be around 120 km everyday though the heart of the Alps, with big climbs, technical terrain, maybe some snow on the ground and less daylight with the arrival of autumn,” Philipp says. “Plus, while most of us know one another, being in a campervan for more than one day can also get quite a challenging. It’s going to be hard in many ways." Despite the hardships the project will involve, Philipp says the team aims to support one another and learn as much about the history as they can. “We have different nationalities, different characters, different backgrounds, but we share one goal!” Lead images: © Philipp Reiter Follow AlpFrontTrail on Suunto Instagram and at alpfronttrail.com on October 6–14 Read more articles Your path to mountain navigation mastery starts here Welcome to the season of the FKT No races? Conquer your own Everest

Based in Vienna, Austrian Drum n Bass duo Camo & Krooked have been producing music since 2002 and have released four albums and played at dance parties around the world. Reinhard Rietsch (Camo) and Markus Wagner (Krooked) teamed up with Red Bull this year to create a one of a kind concert experience that paired Drum n Bass with a live orchestra. The incredible show was filmed and turned into a film you can watch here. Aside from performing or making tunes in the studio, their other lifelong passion is skateboarding. It takes more physical strength and mental focus than you might guess, they say. The talented duo prepared a playlist for us designed to get you moving! Read on for our discussion about balancing the party life and staying in shape ...   Camo & Krooked performing in Konzerthaus, Vienna © Philipp CARL Riedl / Red Bull Content Pool Play your own favorite tunes from your wrist With the Suunto 7 smartwatch you can connect your headphones to your phone and control music and other audio – adjust volume, pause and skip tracks – straight from your wrist without taking your phone out of your pocket. You can also listen to music without your phone: Spotify has just released an update to their Wear OS app that enables offline use. Simply connect your bluetooth headphones with your watch and download the tracks that you want to take with you! With this new feature, Spotify Premium users will be able to download their favorite albums, playlists, and podcasts to listen offline. Free users will be able to stream their tunes in Shuffle Mode using a WiFi or cellular connection, as well as download any of their favorite podcasts directly to the watch.   LEARN HOW TO USE SPOTIFY WITH YOUR SUUNTO 7   What are your favourite sports and workouts? We both love skateboarding and have been doing it for over 20 years, so that’s definitely our favorite sport. It’s great for training the whole body due to the body tension that gets generated when doing a trick, but also the mind doesn’t fall short. Every millisecond must be thought through. Timing and position are everything in skateboarding. But we also enjoy going on a bike tour, going for a run and hiking occasionally. How often do you workout each week? About every second day if time allows! If there is a deadline coming up, sometimes less. But we always try to squeeze in a skate session, a jog or a bike ride. It helps us clear our minds after a long studio session. Sometimes we come back from the workout and are more creative than before! How does staying fit help you as a DJ? Tour life as a DJ/musician can be very draining. A confused body clock due to jet lag and not enough time for a proper lunch can be devastating for both body and soul. Therefore it is of great importance to us to stay fit. Fitness gives us enough energy reserves in case things don’t go as planned or the schedule is just exhausting. Never underestimate the synergy between body and soul either! A fit body will support your stress threshold.   Does the night life make it difficult to maintain a routine? We try to maintain our daily routine as best as we can, but sometimes we simply can’t since flight schedules can be tricky. Especially when travelling overseas, the jet lag can be a thorn in the eye for days. In these situations, it is important for us to eat healthy and keep being active throughout the day (even if it is just a walk through a city park), so both body and brain can acclimate to the new time zone quickly. Also, we avoid alcohol if we have jet lag. What is your approach to eating well and nutrition? Usually three meals a day. The breakfast being the most important of all and probably the richest in nutrition value. We avoid lemonades and juice as much as we can and try to eat as little meat as possible nowadays. Before a gig we always try to eat the lightest and most energizing meals available, and the last meal of the day shouldn’t be too late. Back in the days we used to go for the biggest steak on the menu, but we had to learn it the hard (and heavy) way and rethink our food habits. Having no energy after dinner and feeling like you have a rock in your stomach whilst DJing is one of the worst feelings. What does music and movement mean to you? Music and movement are two things that simply belong together. Music is frequencies moving through space, and these frequencies can make people move.Music can be listened to on any occasion, and that is the beauty of it. But for the genre we love and live for – Drum & Bass – it is all about moving your body. And that’s why we still can’t get enough of it after all these years. No other music genre contains so much energy and euphoria as Drum & Bass. See you on the dance floor!   Lead images: © Harry Tiits / Red Bull Content PoolBody images: © Alissa Tsuvilskaja Read more articles These Japanese DJs live for music and movement Meet the Mambo Brothers, two health conscious DJs living the night life The benefits of training to music and making your best playlist  

Ever since the first reconnaissance mission to explore climbing Mt Everest nearly a century ago, the world’s highest peak has loomed large in the minds of adventurers all over the world. From the first attempt in 1922 through to Suunto Ambassador Kilian Jornet summiting the 8848 m peak twice in one week in 2017, Everest has represented the ultimate challenge. Like so many things at the moment, Mt Everest is currently closed due to COVID-19. But that doesn’t mean you can’t conquer your own Everest. The closure of travel and racing represents an opportunity to imagine new adventures that inspire the heart and mind. One for the list is ‘Everesting’.   Karsten Madsen cruises on one of the laps in his first Everesting ride back in May. © @matthew.tongue What is Everesting? Simple really; pick any hill, anywhere in the world and complete repeats of it until you climb 8848 m – the equivalent height of Mt Everest. The challenge has become particularly popular with cyclists, but can be done on foot or even virtually in the comfort of your own home. Get the job done and you can get your name in the Everesting hall of fame. How did it start? The first Everesting event was in 1994. The grandson of the famous mountaineer George Mallory, who disappeared on Mt Everest in 1924, biked up 1069 m Mount Donna Buang in Victoria, Australia eight times. The format and rules were later developed by Australian cyclist Andy van Bergen, who was inspired by Mallory's effort. Andy also heads up the Hell 500 cycling collaborative which runs www.everesting.cc, the global hub for Everesting. Everesting boom time We all need goals to aim for. Otherwise our motivation wanes. For athletes and adventurers, COVID-19 wiped out the usual goals, including races and travelling to adventure destinations. Athletes and adventurers have had to find new ways to stay motivated. That’s why FKT (fastest known time) attempts have exploded in number this year. And for the same reason so have Everesting attempts. Already so far in 2020, the fastest known times for successful Everestings have fallen 10 times in the men’s category, and seven times in the women’s category. At the time of writing this, Irish road racing cyclist Ronan McLaughlin holds the men’s record: 07h04m. Brit and former pro cyclist Emma Pooley holds the women’s record: 08h53m.   Karsten says this Everesting attempt is so tough he might find his breaking point. © @matthew.tongue   Is this the most ambitious Everesting attempt ever? Professional Xterra triathlete 28-year-old Karsten Madsen has his work cut out for this coming Saturday. Starting at 3am – when the local bears are the most active – the Canadian Suunto athlete will set out on his MTB into the lush forests of British Columbia to attempt to pedal up Mount Sproatt (1826 m) seven times. He’ll start his ascent via the ‘Into the Mystic’ MTB trail which has four pitches so steep he’ll have to maintain 400 watts power to avoid having to push his bike. The descent, via the famous Lord of the Squirrels Trail, won’t afford him any real rest time because of the gnarly terrain, including rock rolls and slabs and a tangle of tree roots. To prepare for the bumpy descents, Karsten has been doing special training for his hands and arms. Each loop is 28.9 km, with 1200 m elevation gain. Karsten aims to finish it in 15 hours. “This project gets me excited because people who live here in Whistler know that trail well,” he says. “When you tell them you are going to ride it seven times, it blows their minds. We caught up with Karsten before the ride and asked him about his big adventure.   Carefully monitoring his time and watts on his Suunto 9 will play a key part on the day. © @matthew.tongue We heard you Everested another peak recently? Yes, I Everested Whistler Peak (2181 m) in Kadenwood on May 22. I did it on a road bike on local roads. Each of the 39 laps was 6.4 km, with 321 m elevation gain. The total distance was 247 km and my average watts was 300. It took me 11 hours and change. I decided to do it only four days prior to starting. How is Everesting with a mountain bike on a MTB trail going to be different? It comes with a logistical nightmare. The loop is a lot longer so I have to be a lot more diligent to make sure I have everything I need on each lap. I need to be self sufficient out there and make sure I get everything I need when I go through basecamp. With this one I'm not totally sure I can pull it off. On the MTB, I don't know. The trail down is really physically hard. Why did you choose this next trail for an Everesting attempt? Personal draw. I use it for training a lot. The climb portion of it is very indicative of a lot of the races I do. Plus, growing up in Ontario we didn't have mountains, and the first time I rode up into an alpine environment was up on this trail. It was one of the top five best days in my life. It made me feel amazing in my very soul. I’m also King of the Mountain, or the person with the FKT (fastest known time) on it.   Unlike most Everesting adventures, this one will be tough on the way down, too. © @matthew.tongue Are these sorts of long adventures your focus now? Yes and no. COVID opened a different window into another life. These are the sorts of things I planned to do after my racing career ends. I’m in the prime of my endurance life and my goal is to win an Xterra World Championship. Early in the COVID lockdown, we had no idea whether we could race, so we’re just trying to find ways to stay motivated and get in some big blocks of training. If you’re a solutions based person, you'll find a way to make the best out of a terrible situation. I got thinking about how to create an event that is COVID appropriate and that people find interesting. I realised people find long adventures inspiring. Thing is I can do this now because I’m in the prime of my life and have time to recover. It all developed into an opportunity for sponsors to showcase something inspiring happening. How can people follow your attempt Saturday? Follow along via my Instagram feed: @karstenmad. I'll be posting updates when I can. And to support, please consider donating here. My lofty goal is to raise $8848, covering every meter of the adventure. Best thing is there is a laundry list of prizes people can win. All the proceeds go to WORCA (Whistler Off-Road Cycling Association) In 2019 they were granted a $120,000 annual budget, and this year, due to COVID, it was slashed to $40,000. I rely so much on these trails. MTBing gives people in this town a break from all this COVID chaos. It's pure therapeutic fun. You aren’t following the Everesting rule that requires the way up to be the same as the way down? That’s right. It’s a simple decision really. Part of it is forced. On most MTB trails the trail up is only for climbing. You don't descend it. I understand I'm not following the correct Everesting rule, but literally no one could climb the descent trail. It's so gnarly. Even to go down is full on. You'd be hiking your bike up.   Karsten's family are supporting him, including making sure he gets plenty of calories. © @matthew.tongue   How have you been training for this? I've done 15 or 16 laps up this year. I know every inch of it. Over a weekend recently some friends and I did a huge gravel ride, including some bushwhacking. We were gone from 6am, to 09.30pm. It was a super hard day. The next day I rode my pacing laps. I have years of endurance training under my belt. I’m also getting plenty of rest. The cool thing about this project is I have learned a lot about training.   What’s your plan for the ride in terms of food and pacing? Pacing will come from knowing the lap time, and really following power data. If I hold 300 watts I know what that lap time will look like. Having a Suunto 9 will help me keep an eye on the data. I’ve set it up so I can see all the important data fields: time, current power, average power, current heart rate, and elevation gain. I really have to make sure I'm on time with my laps. One risk is riding too hard too early or, alternatively, maybe I let the power slip. In terms of food, basically every lap I'll be eating a bunch of Cliff bars, blocks, and cookies and drinking a 750ml bottle with 320 calories. Then I’ll introduce flat coke, pretzel sandwiches, and Pringles. I want to have a little real food because I'll need more calories for the way down.   What have you learned from Everesting? To be a good racer you have to have a robotic feeling. We shut off emotions, like feeling nervous, and get into a kind of tunnel vision just to execute. Then we only start feeling again at the finish line. These Everesting projects are a super soul fulfilling thing. Such a different experience. They can bring a community together, and rally for a cause that’s bigger than yourself. It's not about me, it's about raising money for a cause. Whereas with racing it feels more selfish, just thinking me, me, me, and how can I be better. Lead images: @matthew.tongue Read more articles Welcome to the season of the FKT Start your path to mountain navigation mastery here How to adapt your training when the unexpected strikes  

Summer holidays are coming to a close in the northern hemisphere and we’re returning to work. It takes time to refocus and build momentum. It’s completely understandable to feel challenged by all the pressures of maintaining a job, business, family, plus staying fit and eating well. Technology can’t magic the pressure away, but it can help you stay on top of things, save you time and even serve as support to build positive habits. The Suunto 7 smartwatch is powered with Wear OS by Google, providing a buffet of apps designed to help you manage everyday life. We consulted our inhouse technology geeks about which apps they find the most helpful and they came up with nine.     Spotify Spotify's Wear OS app enables you to listen to music on your Suunto 7 without your phone – and even when offline. Connect your Bluetooth headphones with your watch and download the tracks that you want to take with you! Learn more about listening to music on the go with a Suunto 7 and Spotify here. And once you have it, check out Suunto’s workout playlists on Spotify. Wrist Camera Say goodbye to awkward selfies that strain your neck as you try to get you and your two friends all in the frame. This app lets you control and preview your phone camera remotely from your smartwatch. This simple app is easy to use. Find it in Google Play here. Todoist Stay on top of all the tasks you need to complete with the Todoist app. You can add, check, and complete tasks with your watch. You can also track your progress on meeting daily and weekly goals. Find it in Google Play here. Google Keep This handy note-taking service allows you to capture ideas, notes or tasks whenever they pop into your mind. You can dictate your thoughts and Keep will transcribe them. You can create reminders and tasks, and share them with others. Click here to get it. Bring! No more shopping lists on the back of crumpled receipts! Your shopping just got easier with this app which allows you to create and share shopping lists with your family or friends from multiple devices, including by simply speaking into your smartwatch! Get it here. Wear Casts This app allows you to listen to your favorite podcasts offline. When you head out for a run, you can tune in without having to take your phone with you. Get it here. If you prefer audiobooks over podcasts, check out NavBooks. This app places your library on your wrist – also for offline listening. Find my phone This handy feature is part of the Wear OS system and means you won’t ever again lose your phone down the back of the couch and think your life is over. Unless you can’t find your watch, too, in which case you are entitled to panic! All you need to do is tap a button on your watch face to make your phone ring. Breathe. Google Assistant Wouldn’t be nice if we could all have a personal assistant? Well, Google Assistant more than suffices. Schedule events and reminders in your calendar, create shopping lists, check the weather – all by simply speaking to your watch. Citymapper Get live subway, bus and train times, and find the best route to get where you need to go with step-by-step instructions – all via your watch. Get it here. Healthy Recipes Never ever get cookie dough on your phone again! This handy app allows you to follow recipes from your watch face, with the phone safely placed away from the chaos.   Suunto 7 support: Here you'll find user guides, how to videos and more   Read more articles Welcome to the season of the FKT Start your path to mountain navigation mastery here The benefits of training to music and making your best playlist

Winner of the 2019 Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB) and Suunto ambassador Pau Capell has had an usually quiet year. COVID-19 rocked Spain, Europe and the world, forcing race organizers to cancel events everywhere. During the lockdown, training indoors was the only way the 29-year-old Spaniard could maintain his condition. Trail runners, possessing an irresistible urge to explore and push themselves, can only put up with that for so long. On the morning of August 27, he will be attempting a FKT (fastest known time) record on the 170 km Tour du Mont Blanc, the route of the famous UTMB. Pau already holds the FKT record for the trail due to his incredible performance at the UTMB 2019: 20h19m. His goal this time is to finish in less than 20 hours. “It will only be me running, with no pacers,” he says. “It’s going to be difficult, but I will try.” “I enjoy these kinds of personal running projects a lot because it’s not a race,” Pau continues. “At a race we have a lot of pressure. Media is there, sponsors, other athletes and fans. There won’t be any of that this time. In an FKT attempt it’s just you and your own team. The main excuse is just to run.”   Follow Pau's Tour du Mont Blanc FKT attempt on August 27 via Suunto on Instagram. Pau (above) is going to have to push hard to beat his own UTMB FKT. © Roger Salanova   The FKT boom With COVID-19 spoiling everyone’s race plans, FKTs attempts like Pau’s are now enjoying center stage. An article published online by US magazine Trail Runner, titled Summer of Speed: New FKTs are Falling at Record Pace, revealed a staggering figure: in July 2019 there were 151 verified FKTs added to the global website that tracks FKTs, www.fastesknowntime.com, and in July 2020 that number had more than tripled to 566. August, the article reports, is on track to break the 600 mark for the first time ever. Kilian Jornet, however, says that FKTs aren’t really anything new. A historian of mountaineering and trail running, he points to Frédérik Morshead taking his time to climb Mont Blanc way back in 1864 and John Muir climbing Mt Shasta in 1874. “People have been trying to beat times like those and to climb or traverse their local mountain or trail as fast as they can ever since,” he says. “I think the branding around FKTs has grown, and the knowledge about how to promote them with social media, but FKTs existed before any race. Maybe it’s just that today they get more attention.”   Table Mountain above Cape Town is Ryan Sandes' local training ground. © Craig Kolesky/Red Bull Content Pool   On everyone’s minds Like Pau, other Suunto trail runners are also turning their attention to FKTs. Ryan Sandes just set a new FKT on the 101.2 km 13 Peaks Challenge in Cape Town, South Africa. The challenge, which Ryan designed, involves 6203 m of ascent. Ryan finished it in 13h41m. Next he’s preparing for an FKT attempt on Namibia’s Skeleton Coast. Earlier in August, Courtney Dauwalter ran more than 360 km, with 9000 m of ascent, during an FKT attempt on the 805 km Colorado Trail. The challenge, however, took an unexpected turn. On the morning of August 10, just over halfway along the trail, she started wheezing and was taken to the Leadville hospital where she was diagnosed with acute bronchitis. Her FKT attempt was over. Is she giving up? No way. “It ended early, but it was a really awesome experience,” she says. “I can’t wait to try again!” In July, Kyle Curtin set a new FKT record on the 275 km Tahoe Rim Trail (1d17h9m). He’s not stopping there. He’s now turned his gaze to the 112 km Smokies Challenge Adventure Run course that follows the section of the Appalachian Trail in the Smoky Mountains. Next up after that he plans to have a crack at the 100 km Pitchell Challenge course. Kilian Jornet is also casually trying to set FKTs on mountains near his home in Romsdal, Norway. “Over the last few weeks I have been doing my best on summits like Romsdalshorn (1550 m), or linking all the 2000 m peaks in the Hurrungane range, and I’m sure more ideas will come up this summer.” Because of the COVID-19 impact, Emelie Forsberg cancelled her plan to attempt a new FTK record on the 900 km, 40,000 m, GR10; a hiking trail traversing the Pyrenees. Francois D’ haene has one in the back of his mind, but he’s keeping it a secret for now. Lucy Bartholomew is itching to get back out on the trails. The latest wave of COVID-19 infections and the subsequent lockdown in Australia delayed her attempt for a FKT on the 223 km Larapinta Trail.   Kyle Curtin grinding it out on the Tahoe Rim Trail.   What makes an FKT? Based on the criteria of the global body that validates and records FKT attempts – www.fastestknowntime.com – not all routes can qualify for a potential FKT record. The guidelines published on the website lay out what passes for a verifiable FKT trail, and what doesn’t. First up, FKTs must be done on foot only, not cycling, paddling and so forth. And these three criteria are important:   The route is notable and distinct enough so that others will be interested in repeating it. Routes may be of any distance or time duration (although anything less than 8 km long or with less than 150 m of climbing would have to be special). Routes may be on any surface - road, trail, off-trail.   That’s the official criteria for an FKT. Ryan Sandes has noticed the term being used in other ways, however. “I’ve been running ultras for 13 years now and FKTs have definitely grown in popularity,” he says. “This year, with no racing, there has been a massive boom. All sorts of mini challenges and things. I’ve noticed a lot more people setting their own personal FKTs. Maybe it’s someone trying to do the Table Mountain Crossing (37 km) as fast as they can. Maybe last year they did it in three hours and this year they want to break three hours. I think the term ‘FKT’ is getting used quite loosely now.” Or maybe another explanation is that the real FKT attempts are inspiring a generation of trail runners to customize their own adventure runs and set personal bests. For this reason, Kilian Jornet believes FKTs are good for sport. “They support the trail running community, because they are local,” he says. “Every village, region, has their trails and mountains and everyone can go and try to beat the FKT or just to see their personal best any day, any time, without the race restrictions and logistics. It’s simple and local so I believe that encourages people to run.”   In 2018 Ryan Sandes and Ryno Griesel set an FKT on the 1406 km Great Himalayan Trail. © Dean Leslie / Red Bull Content Pool   Open and customizable personal challenges The fact FKTs are open to anyone, any time, is what 33-year-old Kyle Curtin finds so inspiring about them. “Races can be prohibitive with their cost, what time of year they are, or because of a multitude of other reasons,” Kyle Curtin says. “With a FKT attempt you can literally control every factor. You can wait for a good weather day, and you can accommodate your work or life schedule. “For the Tahoe Rim Trail I picked dates with a full moon for running at night, and still pretty close to the solstice and also late enough the snow had melted out to give me clear running trails, but still plenty of drinking water. You can weigh in all the factors you want to decide when you want to start.” How to prepare for one Kilian Jornet has achieved FKTs all over the world. He says training and preparation of course depends on the trail; distance, vertical gain, surface, climate and so forth. But there are three general rules to follow: Study the route Buy and study topographical maps of the trail. Read trip reports about the trail and try to talk with the person who currently holds the record. He or she might have important insights to offer. Identify fueling, rest, water spots. Train there If possible, train on the route. Get familiar with it. When you attempt an FKT you don’t want to take a wrong turn; you should know exactly where you need to go. To avoid going off track, you can use your Suunto watch to navigate routes. Plan your route with Suunto app and transfer it to your watch with the next sync. Alternatively, you can also transfer GPX files to your Suunto and use those to navigate. Specificity If training on the route isn’t possible because you live too far away, find a trail or terrain that approximates the route as closely as possible – in terms of surface, elevation, climate etc – and train there. If it’s a fast flowing trail, find a fast flowing trail to train on. Vice versa if it’s a more technical trail.      Read more articles Finding the balance: Emelie Forsberg's 7 motherhood tips for running mums Start your path to mountian navigation mastery here The benefits of training to music and making your best playlist  

Becoming a mum and raising her now 15 month old daughter hasn’t stopped Emelie Forsberg from continuing as a full time athlete. She has been competing at the highest level in mountain running and ski mountaineering for a decade, including winning the Skyrunning World Series three times in a row. “I’m still a full time athlete, and that has grown into the role of being a mum as well,” she says. “It felt very natural, even though finding a balance has taken time.” Based in stunning Romsdal, Norway, she and her partner and fellow mountain athlete Kilian Jornet divide their time between raising their daughter, Maj, and training around the majestic fjords near their home. “At the moment we are enjoying a quiet, peaceful time at home where Maj, the weather and the ‘must-do’ list framing our days,” Emelie says. “I think it’s so fun to be a mum, to see her grow and explore, both nature, the surroundings, and the social world.” Emelie has learned some important lessons on what it takes to continue training hard, allowing plenty of time for recovery, and being an awesome mum. One lesson is perhaps the most important, she says: “You just need to listen to what your body and mind is telling you.” Don’t copy and paste your training Emelie says she made a few mistakes with her training after becoming a mum. The first one was trying to replicate the training she did to prepare for races prior to becoming pregnant. “I tried to apply myself to that even though I had a five month old baby, interrupted sleep for months, and some very big weeks and days,” she says. “That was not a good idea even though at the time it felt good. I had to pay for that for about two months where I could hardly train.” The upshot here is to acknowledge and accept your life has changed and that you will need more time and energy for your baby. Consider talking to a coach about how to create a balanced training schedule. Allow more time for recovery Raising a baby requires presence and energy. Without enough recovery time factored into your training, it’s easy to become sluggish and foggy, especially when managing the extra pressures of being a mum. “Because I want enough energy to be very present with Maj this has led to some changes in my training,” Emelie says. “In general, I feel that I need to reduce activities, to have energy for things that matters, like spending time with Maj, so less long training runs, less and less ‘recovery’ runs because they still take energy.” Plan your days Emelie says planning and structuring her days is crucial. Her and Kilian make weekly plans, looking at all the non-training things they must do, and then deciding what training will fit in with that. “We take turns training between 6am to 12pm or 12 to 6pm and while one of us is training the other one is responsible for Maj,” Emelie says. “Another common structure for our days is one of us does our outside training in the morning and then inside in the afternoon when Maj is taking a nap and vice versa.” Ensure quality family time Life can get hectic, especially for new parents managing a household and jobs. That’s why it’s important to stop everything and come together for some quality time every day. Every morning, for example, Emelie, Kilian and Maj have breakfast together and then they take their dog Maui out for a walk. They end the day in the same way. There are many other things they do together throughout the day of course, but this ritual helps to keep them in sync. Be creative with training Finding ways to incorporate your baby into your training is also a good idea, Emelie says. Maybe that’s heading out for a run with the baby in a stroller. Or maybe doing some yoga with your child. “Doing core training together is something Kilian and I do more often now because Maj thinks it’s fun that we are playing with her on the floor!” Emelie says. Reduce the things you need to do Before giving birth to Maj, Emelie was practicing yoga most days. Yoga gave her a lot and she is grateful for that. However, since having Maj she decided to ease off because she felt yoga would take more energy than it would return. “I think one important thing that I changed was the idea of things that I ‘need’ to do certain things to be satisfied with my day,” Emelie says. “I have a side of me that always feels like doing a lot of things, like working outside, or having projects inside, such as writing, or creating in other ways. Now I’ve realized that I don’t have the energy to do that. “I’m still working on finding a good balance in life at the moment.” Running will help be a mum “I realise now that to have a strong body and mind is also so important when you are a parent!” Emelie says. “To carry her around, to play on the ground, be on your feet almost the whole day – it’s hard work being home with an energetic one!” All images: © Kilian Jornet Read more articles Four pointers for running while pregnant Becoming a mum and staying in love with the mountains Calling all the sporty ladies! Emelie Forsberg smashes four records for women everywhere