SEBAS WAS BACK

Since 15 November: 92 hours 28 minutes, 870.6 kilometers
Weight: 76

Found out that it was not so much the training volume that ground me to a halt, but more the intensity. So this week I took it easy in terms of pace. Had some nice results with my heartbeat: an average of 131 over 7 kilometers on Saturday.

I should also further increase my fruit and water intake, and not only on training days.

Sebas was here for the weekend, as his little niece Sanna was celebrating her second birthday. It was real nice running with him again.

Tomorrow I should do 10 kilometers. But the heavy rains we see these days may stop me.

And I've still got my eyes set on the race in Auderghem this Sunday.

WHAT FOLLOWS HAS NO CONNECTION TO RUNNING

I just want to have it on record... I am extremely fond of both Chui Hsia and Sanna. Chui Hsia is a much better parent than I am. More organised and much more creative in finding solutions to Sanna's problems (like her refusing to go to sleep). Besides that, Chui Hsia is an amazingly beautiful woman.

Sanna is, objectively speaking, the cutest almost-two-years-old in the world, by a mile. She'll have a new way of making me fall in love with her every day.

Don't tell anyone about this confession please... I have my masculinity to protect.

OVERTRAINED

Since 15 November: 88 hours 15 minutes, 832.1 kilometers
Weight: 76 kilos

I think I overdid it a bit. Six trainings in eight days, just after returning from Oslo where I trained in the mountains twice in three days. It has been good for my speed. In the park, my track record over six laps went down by five minutes. Similarly, my best time over three laps came down from 30m29 to 28m54. So that's all pretty good.

But both on Saturday and Sunday, I was not able to run any longer than half an hour. It sure feels like I have been trainig too much, not allowing for enough recovery time in between. Today and tomorrow are therefore set aside for resting. On Wednesday and Friday I should then be able to do ten and fifteen kilometers respectively.

The big challenge will be to build up to longer distances. I should start working on that soon.

AND CHANGING PLANS

Since 15 November: 83 hours 28 minutes, 781.6 kilometers
Weight: 76 kilos

It's always a good idea to check your agenda before signing up for races. The first on my list (Izegem) is on the very day that we have a neighbourhood barbecue party where our new house is. It'll be strange - we won't be living there yet - but we got invited and it's a good chance for meeting the hood.

So I swapped Izegem for a 14.8k race the following day, through the Zonien Forest on the outskirts of Brussels. It'll be a heavy track, but I'll still aim for finishing in under 1h20.

Sunday's training was not good. I struggled to get to 5.5k in a very slow rhythm, and then called it a day. Made up for it though, with 10.5k on Monday night and 10k Wednesday at lunch. Tomorrow I fly to Oslo, and I'll take my running gear.

MAKING PLANS

Tomorrow I should start training again. I'm planning to go for a leisurely 10k run, to get back into the rhythm. From there on, I'll need to build up to Amsterdam.

Here's some races I'm looking at for the coming months: the Izegemse Kastelenloop (21k) on 30 June, the Zestorenjogging in Bellingen-Pepingen (21k) on 28 July, Dwars door Zaventem (which will be our new home town) on 15 August (21k), and of course the 10k Heideloop in Ermelo (my mother's home town) on 1 September.

Towards the end of September I hope to do another half marathon with Sebas, possibly in Alblasserdam in the south of Holland. Sadly Sebas is injured - we pushed it a bit too fast, I guess - but he has not lost his running spirit so he'll be back on track soon.

In between all of this, I envisage many lunch runs from work (6, 8 or 10k) and longer runs on Sundays (up to 35k by mid-September).