The lovely madness of it all

It's Sunday morning, 7am. The house sleeps, even the cats did not bother getting up to beg for food when I came down the stairs. The world sleeps.

It's freezing out there. Freezing and pitch dark. Oh, and everything is covered in snow.

I am wearing running gear: two layers on the legs, two on the upper body which will extend to five. I'll be going out there soon, after I finish my wake-up coffee. Have to go early: we're having a large group of people over for lunch, so the morning is for tidying and cooking. After lunch I reckon we'll be just stretched out on the sofa. As lunch includes a wine tasting session, even a gentle jog afterwards is no-go.

So there is logic behind the madness of going out there now for a fifty minutes run. But madness it is. Yet it's a pleasant madness too. While I'm in the cold my iPod will keep me going - K.D.Lang's version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" will be an appropriate part of my Sunday playlist - and when I'm back home I will feel very good. Standing under the shower, feeling my toes return to life from their state of minor frostbite, I'll know there's hardly a better way to start the day.

All I have to do now is put on my shoes and additional clothes, close the door behind me, and get through the next hour.

I think I'll do my Ph.D. on Blogging as an Attempt at Self-Motivation. Any thoughts on that one, my non-existing readers?

98 Days to Paris

Post-hernia training started two weeks ago. Doing 3 or 4 jogs per week. Today's was the first of 30 minutes straight; I hope to be at one hour by Christmas.

From there on, I should steadily continue to expand until I'm ready for the Paris half marathon on 6 March.

Full stop

In case you, non-existing reader, were wondering what's happening with my running (which you wouldn't be, reader, even if you would exist), the answer is, nothing.

Short version: back pain after gardening, spreading after ten days into left leg, weekend consultation at GP, hernia, another consult three days later, hernia got worse, CT scan of spine tomorrow morn, osteopath tomorrow night, back to GP on Friday.

I can hardly walk. And not running for over two weeks now makes me very very grumpy.

Thank god for codeine: eases the pain and soothes my soul.

Today: Vossem

Sanna and I are running in Vossem today. Last year Sanna had a bit of an accident there, bumping into a boy who fell and was bleeding. So she is apprehensive about this one. But the prospect of a medal and or goodies bag will surely drag her over the line.

I'm doing 6.4 km. Would love to say I am aiming for 32 minutes, but the course is very hilly. And last night's dinner and drinks bash, with neighbours, grandma and Soo, will slow me down too. So what shall I say... Under 35 minutes then?

Here's a pic of me finishing last year's race in Vossem.

Super fast (but maybe not)

The bus that would drive the runners in the Zaventem 5k to the start broke down. The organisers improvised an alternative route, with start and finish in the same place.

It rained a bit, but there was little wind. I tried running in a slightly higher rhythm with a shorter stride.

Result: 00:22:25. If it really was 5k, then this would be the fastest run I've done. Ever.

But I think it may have been more like 4.5k, to be honest.

Sanna did the 300m again and finished 6th (in a field of 12). Last year she took 00:02:23, this year 00:01:33. Now THAT'S improvement!