INTO THE WOODS

Weight: 79 kilos
Time spent running since 15 November:9 hours 25 minutes
Distance run since 15 November: 87.9 kilometers
Time left: 18 weeks

Yesterday I had the nicest run to date. We were in Ermelo, the village where my mother lives and where I spent a large part of my school years. Running there is so much nicer than in Brussels and I ended up going for 100 minutes. Through the village I went, past my old school, past both football clubs, through the forest, past the old water tower at Groevenbeek, and back home from there.

I ran slowly and managed to keep my heart rate below 150 (the average over 100 minutes was 142, much lower than what I get normally).

The forests around the old Groevenbeek estate is where I spent much of my time as a teenager. I used to go birdspotting or walk Tessa the dog there.

Tessa was of mixed breed with clear boxer characteristics. We got her after my father finally gave in to the constant begging of his six children. Dad had his conditions: a small dog only, no bitch, and he himself was not going to walk the animal. Then he went to the pound and got a mid-size female dog which he took out for walks rather often...

Pity I don't have any pictures of her any more.

So I know these forests well. Yet, I hadn't been to the estate for decades and was pleasantly surprised to see it again, especially the afore-mentioned tower.

On the subject of running past landmark buildings: I'm signed up for a run in the Park of Laeken this Sunday. Not only is this the park in front of the Belgian royal family's palace, it also incorporates the recently restored Atomium, built for the World Exhibition in 1958. My parents went to visit back then, and I'm pretty sure my mother must have been pregnant with me at the time. So this run means REALLY going back to my (extremely) early childhood...

The race is named after Gaston Roelants who apparently was quite a runner in his days. I fear I won't do him justice. Not only am I not good enough for that, the race also follows the night of my football club's Christmas Dinner. I'll be glad enough if I finish the ten kilometers in not too much more than one hour.