Soring success

These are the intense training weeks. I'm trying to break through the 80 or 90 minutes barrier as well as lose some kilos.

On Saturday, I ran 80 minutes. It was hard, and I wanted to stop after 42, 50, 64, 68 and 72 minutes, but I didn't and not stopping did not require superhuman determination. So that's good. On Sunday, I did 40 minutes. And then, on Monday night, a full two-hour football training.

So now my body is in a state of shock and sore, especially my left buttock. But when I went for a walk to the hairdresser at lunch time, I had the strange sensation that my legs wanted to just go and go, as if there was excess energy stored in them. Quite pleasant, I tell you.

This weekend I'll have a stab at 90 minutes.

Milestone of sorts

Completed my 11k loop this morning. In 67:16, which is slow. But it was 17 minutes more continuous running than I'd done ever since my injury. And only 3 minutes under NEXT week's target. So that is very cool.

Inspiration

Just back from visiting Luc, who has set his sight on running his first ever marathon, in April in Antwerp. Luc runs easily (I'm sure he disagrees but I know the vast difference between us). He does not really have a training plan for the big 42.195 and was wondering if he should be doing any real long trainings, like over two hours. Thing is, it does not matter that much in his case probably; he'll just get going and not stop until he finishes.

Luc is one of those runners that fill me with envy.

My running got a little bit easier in the meantime. I asked my osteopath on Monday night to look at my left ankle which has seriously restricted movement since I had a skiing accident three years ago in the Jura. My nice path stretched, bent, cracked, massaged the ankle and did other mysterious things. When I left his practice, I almost fell over as I was not used to a semi-normal range of movement any more. And today, doing my regular 8.1k run, I finished 3.5 minutes faster than the previous two times. So I'm trying to schedule two more sessions before the Paris half marathon in early April.

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.