Category Archives: running

4 weken – het komt dichterbij!

Leave a reply

4 weken te gaan en dan is het zover! Maar er is nog voldoende tijd om een centje bij te dragen voor Kom op tegen kanker. We hebben de kaap van de € 500 gerond op de officiële pagina, en ik ben enorm dankbaar voor alle bijdragen!!

Hoe zat het met de training de afgelopen week? Na de langste trainingsloop van 32km was het een beetje afwachten hoe de enkel/hiel zou reageren. Ik zoek het fijne evenwicht tussen rust en gerichte training, want dit zijn de laatste weken die nog helpen om mijn uithouding en kracht op punt te stellen.

Dinsdag stond een klassieke interval training op het programma: een korte opwarming, dan 400m snel, 400m traag, en herhaal dat nog negen keer. Het was heerlijk om weer eens sneller te lopen na een weekje met rustiger/minder km. Toch knaagde er iets rond de 8e interval, dus de laatste 2 liet ik zo. Het belangrijkste trainingseffect had ik toen al binnen, denk ik.

Donderdagochtend was een belangrijke herinnering dat je kit in orde moet zijn! 's Ochtends lopen vraagt nu om extra licht ('zie en wees gezien') en na 5km hield mijn lamp ermee op –batterij plat. Het was nog veel te donker om zonder verlichting op de baan te zijn, dus dat was dat. Toch een 3,5km daarvan aan goed tempo gelopen, dus niet helemaal om zeep.

Zondag was het een kortere afstand, tussen twee monsterzondagen in. Met 21km en een sjiek had ik tenminste de halve marathon weer eens in de beentjes, en meteen ook mijn snelste tijd op die afstand sinds 2015 (ik heb nadien 21km ook niet meer gelopen tot juni dit jaar). Ik ben er met de jaren wel trager op geworden, maar met gerichte training en blessurevrij blijven brei ik daar misschien nog wel eens een vervolg op... Prioriteit nu is gewoon de marathon uitlopen op 17 november.

Minus de rollator geeft dit een goed beeld van hoe snel ik loop.

4 weeks - it's getting closer!

Four weeks until the start! There is still plenty of time for you to do your bit and donate to Kom op tegen kanker (use my official page in Dutch, or find English instructions for alternative ways to donate on my website). We've gone past €500, and I am tremendously grateful to all who contributed!!

How was my training the past week? After the longest training run of 20miles, I had to wait and see how the ankle/heel would respond. I'm looking at a fine balance between resting it and focused training, because these are the final few weeks when training can still make a difference for endurance and strength.

Tuesday I had a classic interval training: after a short warmup, 400m fast, 400m slower, and repeat that 9 more tiems. Oh how lovely to run fast again after a week of holding back miles and speed. Still, a small niggle began to rear its head around the 8th interval, so I didn't continue with the final two repeats. The most important effect from the training was already in the bank, I reckon.

Thursday morning was an important reminder to keep your kit ready and operational! Morning runs are in the dark now and I use a chest light ('see and be seen'), but after 5k the battery ran out, so that was that. Waaaay too dark to run safely without light. Still, I got about 2miles of that at reasonable clip, not a total write off.

Sunday was a shorter distance between two monster Sundays. With 13.1miles I got another half marathon in the legs, and also my fastest distance since 2015. (I haven't run that far until I started on this training block, so interpret the stats as you want.) I have got slower through the years, but with focused training and staying injury free, perhaps there may be a little tail to this story yet… Right now the priority is to finish the marathon on 17 Nov.

Accurate representation of me running (minus the walker)

5 weken: alles klaar? Lopen maar!

Leave a reply

English version below

Dank voor alle giften afgelopen week!! We zitten al aan € 430 op de pagina en nog eens € 40+ via Paypal!! Als je je afvraagt waar ik het in 's hemelsnaam over heb en/of ik moet je even porren om op te komen tegen kanker, kijk dan even op deze pagina voor alle details and geef een centje!

Vorige week liet ik jullie met een visademke afwachten wat het nu zou worden met die vervelende enkel/hiel die wat extra aandacht en rust vroeg, net wanneer ik het hoogste aantal kilometers moet lopen in mijn marathontraining. Zou ik moeten afzakken naar een halve marathon (boehoe 😿)? Zou die enkel op mysterieuze wijze zich toch beginnen gedragen zodat ik mijn gebruikelijke snellere trainingen tijdens de week volgens schema kan afronden? En wat met die 32km die ingepland stond voor mijn lange duurloop op zondag? 🤔

Wel, hier is de update dus je kan een zucht van verluchting slaken!

Maandag waren het basisoefeningetjes kracht en stretch, en dan 5km stappen. Dat ging goed maar we waren nog niet aan lopen toe.

Dinsdagavond kon ik even wegglippen voor een goeie 4km. Niet teveel gezeur van die enkel, maar ik was niet zeker hoeveel verder ik kon gaan.

Mijn schema voor de rest van de week ontnam me de keuze, met slechts ruimte voor een kleine 4km stappen-lopen op de terugweg van de fietsenmaker (de fiets is weer ok, hoor), alvorens ik dus aan de grote 32km tocht kon denken voor zondag. Ik had nog wel mijn drie dagen fiets-trein pendel, maar dat voelt niet aan als training (lopers zijn een beetje raar op dat gebied...).

En… Ik heb het gedaan! Alle 32 km. Het was niet snel en de tweede helft was volgens systeem 'blik op oneindig, verstand op nul', maar het is achter de rug en mijn enkel zeurde niet. Ik voel dat mijn hiel/voet niet 100% blij is met die afstand, maar het werd/wordt ook niet slechter. Dit was dus een goeie boost voor mijn zelfvertrouwen: de kilometers in de beentjes en de laatste 10 tover ik wel tevoorschijn op de dag zelf (zoals dat bij 99% van de trainingsplannen voorzien is). Ik heb nog eens de kans om een lange afstand (meer dan 25km) te lopen, da's over twee weken.

Voor de andere trainingssessies ga ik nu af op gevoel: misschien geen snelheidswerk, maar gewoon rustige kilometertjes, die dragen ook bij tot het geheel.

Zo ziet het er helemaal niet uit als je me 32km ziet joggen...

5 weeks: all systems go!

Thanks for all your donations over the past week!! We've already got €430 on the page and another €40+ via paypal ✌️ If you're wondering what I'm on about and/or need a little poke to join the fight against cancer, please check this explanation for more details and chip in!

Last week I left you with a bit of a cliffhanger, with a rebellious ankle/heel that needed some TLC and rest right when I should be churning out the highest mileage in my marathon preparation. Would I have to downgrade to a half marathon (sniff 😿)? Would the ankle mysteriously heal itself and allow me to stick to my schedule with my interval and tempo runs? And what about the 20miler that was on the programme for the long run, what did the ankle think of that? 🤔

Wait no more - here's the update!

On Monday I kept to my basic strength and stretch exercises, and added in a 5k walk. That indicated I was not yet ready to run.

Tuesday evening was for a 2.6M test run. Not too many complaints from the ankle, but not sure how much further or faster I could go later in the week.

My schedule the rest of the week took care of my choices, and I only could fit in a 2.4M walk-run mix on the way back from the bike mechanic (bike is fixed, btw) before attempting the big 20 miler on Sunday. I had my three days of bike-train commute but that doesn't feel like exercise (it's still 8-9M three times per week but runners are weird like that).

And... I did it. All 20 miles. It wasn't fast and the second half was a slog, but it got done and my ankle didn't rebel. I can feel my foot/heel is not entirely happy but it's also not getting worse. This was also a big confidence booster: I did get the recommended longest run in and on race day I will squeeze out the remaining 6.2M (as 99% of training plans tell you to do). I have another shot at a long run (16M and upward) 2 weeks from now.

I will play it by ear for my other training sessions the coming week(s): maybe speed work isn't on the cards, but gentle miles will also be useful.

Definitely not the image that comes to mind when you see me running 20 miles...

6 weken nog: voorzichtig!

Leave a reply

Heb je al gedoneerd?

Na de 29km van vorige week vraag je je misschien af hoe het met me ging? Het goede nieuws is dat ik redelijk snel herstel van mijn sessies. Het slechte nieuws is dat een oud blessuurtje eindelijk besloten heeft om weer eens langs te komen, tijdens mijn lange zondagloop.

Dit zijn de weken waarin het totaal aantal kilometer per week nog steeds een impact heeft, en met slechts 3 sessies per week tot hiertoe zit ik aan de lage kant. Een extra loopje ertussen smokkelen in de week is niet makkelijk als je zo traag bent als ik, want het vraagt tijd. Hier is hoe ik het deze week toch probeerde:

Maandagavond: een kort eindje "herstel" joggen, 6km en een beetje. Fijn dat het makkelijk was om zonder veel wandelpauzes toch mijn hartslag laag te houden. Niets deed pijn of herinnerde me echt aan de 29km van de dag ervoor.

Woensdagavond: intervals, 8km. Interessant dat mijn schemaatje me dit keer intervals van 1-2km liet doen, vorige week waren het er nog van 1-2mijl. Niet zo snel op elk snel stukje als ik al geweest ben de afgelopen maanden, maar genoeg om me gerust te stellen dat zondag goed verteerd was.

Vrijdagavond: 10km, wedstijd tempo, als geïmproviseerde tempo sessie. Ik wou nu eigenlijk wel eens weten hoe snel ik ben op de 10km, dus deed ik er 10 alsof het een race was. Ik stond verbaasd over mijn tijd voor elke mijl, en wist dat ik een goede tijd ging neerzetten. Maar het was helemaal te gek dat dit mijn 3e snelste tijd is die ik ooit op Fetcheveryone optekende. Ik heb geen 10km zo snel gelopen sinds 2009, en dat was in een echte wedstrijd.

Zondagochtend: Ik wist niet goed hoe ver ver genoeg was, maar meerdere marathon training schema's toonden me dat dit nog niet de week is voor de 32km (20 mijl). Ik koos dan maar de halve marathon en startte met een hartslag die netjes in de juiste zone bleef, met best een goed tempo. Een beetje stijfheid rond de rechterhiel en enkel verdween al snel, en alles liep op wieltjes. Tot ergens rond de 8km, toen de enkel weer van zich liet horen. Ik stopte met lopen net voor de 11km, want het werd niet beter. Dit was niet iets dat ik kon van me afschudden, of mee blijven lopen, tenminste niet zonder grotere schade. Gelukkig was ik niet ver van huis en kon ik terug wandelen.

Dit was een belangrijke herinnering dat ik het volle programma van stretches, foam roller, en de basis krachttraining moet hervatten; dat zat de voorbije weken op een laag pitje. Blijkbaar ben ik niet meer zo jong als ik dacht en dus wanneer de training intensiever wordt, moet ik goed opletten dat er meer gebeurt dan alleen lopen en een snelle stretch hier en daar. Ik ben meteen weer aan de slag met de meer diverse training en het voelt goed om spieren ook eens anders te bewegen! Die 32km volgende zondag komt hopelijk wel in orde, zolang ik alles goed verzorg.

Witte eend loopt mee in een loopwedstrijd op de baan
Dat is nu eens een loopeend!

6 weeks to go: caution!

Did you donate yet?

After last week's long 18 miler, you're probably wondering what I got up to next.
The good news is that I am recovering from my runs reasonably well! The bad news is that some ancient niggle has finally decided to break through once more as of Sunday's long run.

These are the weeks when total mileage per week still matters, and with only 3 runs per week so far I've been on the lower end. Sneaking in an extra run is possible, but I can assure you this would be easier if I ran faster on average. Here's how I try to do this anyway:

Monday night: a little recovery run, 4M and change. Nice to see that it was easy to run almost continuously and still keep my heart rate low. Nothing was hurting or complaining about the miles from Sunday's long run.

Wednesday night: intervals, 5.1M total. Interesting to see the schedule make me do 1-2K intervals after last week's 1-2M intervals. I was not as fast on every fast bit as I have been already in this training block, but I was close enough to be happy about my recovery from Sunday.

Friday night: 10K race pace -- improvised tempo+ session. I was still curious about my actual 10K time now, and so I just ran 10K the way I would run a race. I was amazed by my 1M splits and knew I was heading for a good time but surprised it turns out to be my 3rd fastest 10K I have ever recorded on Fetcheveryone. I haven't run a 10K distance this fast since 2008, and that was in a proper race

Sunday moring: I wasn't sure what distance to pick, but looking through various schedules I noticed this was not yet the week for the 20 miler. I chose a half marathon, and set off keeping the heart rate nicely in the zone, yet my pace was decent. The little stiffness around the right heel and ankle disappeared within the first mile, and we're off! Until... somewhere around mile 5 when the ankle starts complaining. I canned my run at 6.7miles when it still hadn't got any better. This was not something I could run off, or run through for another 6+miles, at least not without doing some serious damage. Fortunately I was close to home and walked back.

This was a big reminder to resume the full programme of stretches, foam rolling, and basic strength exercises, that had fallen to lower levels in the past few weeks. Apparently I am no spring chicken anymore and as training intensifies, I need to be very careful to do more than just running and a quick stretch. I'm back on the diversified training wagon - and it felt good to move muscles in different ways! I'm hopeful to run that 20miler next Sunday if I baby that spot.

White duck running along in a road race
A real runner duck

48 days to go?

Leave a reply

Spring naar de Nederlandstalige versie

We are apparently "M-48 days": seven weeks to the start of the marathon. Have you donated yet? Don't wait! Do it now! I'll wait here for you to return ☕ And a big thank you to those who already chipped in! 🙏

Ok. Donated? Thanks! Back to business now! How's the training going??

I am in the weird mid-training-block place where I feel totally confident right after I finish a run and the endorphines are high, and then the rest of the time wonder what I've been getting myself into and how I'll ever run a distance that the car was invented for.

So how are things shaping up, 11 weeks into formal marathon training? I had a tune-up 10K on Sept. 20, and that was encouraging even if not perfect.

For starters the 10K was 300meter short, so it doesn't count as an official race time. But it achieved its main goal for me: assess where I am after 10 weeks of training. I am slow - I'm sure painfully so for most serious runners - but I am faster than I was at the start of the block. In July I calculated my interval pace. That should be a bit faster than my 10K pace, and I came up with 12.05 minutes per mile (I could run faster for short distances). My 10K (or 9.7K) pace is now 11.20MM, a real improvement. This is backed up by what I see in my other training runs, and commensurate with the changes in my "slightly slower-than-10K pace" the tempo runs require. These runs are also faster than they used to, for the same effort. One small caveat: the race was in the evening, when I run faster. If you ever run with me before my coffee or breakfast, you'll notice the difference.

Schildpad op een loopband

So far for speed. I'm still looking at a 6hr marathon (I know... 🐢). What about endurance for the distance? I am not afraid of mixing running and walking when it helps me go the distance: it lowers my HR, and mixes up the muscles I use. The race and my training runs take place in the pancake-flat parts of Flanders, so there is not much beyond variety of the terrain underfoot to entertain me.

I've done 3 half-marathon runs since June, and 6 runs beyond: 14, 15 or 16 miles, and today 18. Ideally I'd get 1 or 2 20-milers in for confidence. With 7 weeks left (including taper), I don't have many shots left for that distance, so this enters into the confidence debate I mentioned at the start. Will I be alright without a 20-miler? Heck, I ran my first marathon with two 16-milers as my longest runs and lived to tell the tale. And I've done more quality training the past months than I did in years. Should be alright, shouldn't it? 🤞

Today's plan was to run a mile, walk until heart rate was back to "comfortable and easy run", then resume running for the rest of the mile. I had a few longer breaks to nibble on snacks, but it was only after mile 16 that I really needed a different pattern. At no point did I feel like 18 miles was impossible, and any niggles that tried to show up disappeared within the mile. I even managed a little sprint for the final 200m! 🏃‍♀️

That concluded a training week of 33 miles, my longest since late December 2023, and definitely of much better quality! Overall, I am feeling happy with my progress so far.

So all in all I know this won't be easy, and it certainly won't be fast. But as long as I stay injury free, it will likely get done. Check back next week for more, or check my Fetcheveryone log for the detailed stats until then!

NL: 48 dagen te gaan!

We zijn blijkbaar “M-48 dagen”: zeven weken tot de start van de marathon. Heb je al een gift gedaan? Wacht niet! Doe het nu! Ik wacht hier op je terugkomst ☕ En heel veel dank aan iedereen die al een steentje bijdroeg! 🙏

Ok. Gedoneerd? Bedankt! Terug naar de training tussenstand! Hoe loopt alles nu?

Het midden van een trainingsblok vind ik altijd wat raar: soms voel ik me 200% zeker dat het zal lukken, vooral als de endorphines na een goeie sessie lekker vloeien. De rest van de tijd vraag ik me waar ik nu weer in hemelsnaam aan begonnen ben, en hoe ik ooit een afstand ga lopen waar ze de auto voor uitgevonden hebben.

Dus waar staan we, 11 weken na de officiële start van mijn training? Om dat na te gaan liep ik op 20 september een 10km wedstrijd. Aanmoedigend resultaat, ook al zijn er nog werkpuntjes.

Om te beginnen was de 10km eigenlijk 300 meter te kort, dus het is geen officiële wedstrijdtijd. Maar mijn doel was beoordelen waar ik stond na 10 weken training, en dat zit snor. Ik ben langzaam –schildpadlangzaam voor serieuze lopers– maar ik ben sneller dan 11 weken geleden. In juli berekende ik mijn tempo voor intervaltraining (da's iets sneller dan mijn 10km tempo), en ik kwam uit op 7:30 minuten per km (ik kon wel sneller lopen voor kortere afstanden). Mijn wedstrijd 10km (of 9,7K) tempo is nu 7:03MM, da's een reële verbetering. De data van mijn andere sessies bevestigen dit, vb in mijn "iets langzamer dan 10km" voor tempo sessies. Die gaan sneller dan vroeger met dezelfde inspanning. Let wel: de wedstrijd was 's avonds, wanneer ik sowieso sneller loop. Als je me ziet joggen voor ik koffie of ontbijt had, merk je het verschil.

Schildpad op een loopband

Tot zover snelheid. Dit wordt nog steeds een marathon van 6 uur (ik weet het… 🐢). Hoe zit het met uithoudingsvermogen voor de afstand? Ik gooi er gerust een stukje stappen tussen als het me helpt de afstand te halen: het verlaagt mijn HR en gebruikt iets andere spieren. Ik loop de marathon en mijn training in de vlakste landsdelen, dus de afwisseling tussen asfalt en onverharde baantjes is dan de enige die ik vind.

Voor lange duur heb ik sinds juni 3 keer een halve marathon afstand gedaan, en 6 keer verder gelopen: 22,5km, 24km, 25,7km en vandaag 29km. Idealiter zou ik 1 of 2 keer ook 32km lopen om mijn zelfvertrouwen een boost te geven. Met nog 7 weken te gaan (inclusief afbouw/rust), heb ik niet veel ruimte meer voor die afstand, dus je snapt waar de twijfels waar ik het eerder over had vandaan komen. Red ik het zonder de klassieke 32km sessie(s)? Mijn eerste marathon liep ik met twee keer 25,7km als langste afstand, en ik overleefde het. Daarbij heb ik de afgelopen maanden met meer focus en kwaliteit gelopen dan ik in jaren deed. Dat moet toch goed komen? 🤞

Vandaag was het patroon een mijl (1.6km) lopen, dan stappen tot mijn hartslag weer zakte naar 'aangename inspanning', en dan de rest van de mijl weer lopen; en een paar langere stukjes stappen om mijn snacks te eten. Pas na 25km voelde ik de nood voor een ander patroon, maar op geen enkel moment had ik het gevoel dat 18 mijl onmogelijk was. Als iets begon tegen te wringen, verdween dat voor de mijl uit was. Ik kon zelfs nog een sprintje trekken voor de laatste 200 meter! 🏃‍♀️

Daarmee heb ik deze week 53km bij elkaar gelopen, mijn langste week-afstand sinds eind december.

De marathon wordt dus niet een makkie, en snel al helemaal niet. Maar zolang ik vrij van blessures blijf, ziet het er haalbaar uit. Kom volgende week kijken hoe het verder gaat, of bezoek mijn Fetcheveryone log voor alle gedetailleerde info over mijn training!

De Wase Marathon – Ik kom op tegen kanker

Leave a reply
logo Wase Marathon

Hop down to the English version

Omdat zomaar 42km lopen tot de finishlijn niet genoeg is voor me…🏃‍♀️
Omdat papa 9 jaar geleden aan kanker overleed… 🕯️
Omdat die rotziekte nog steeds te veel mensen rond me raakt… 😢
Omdat er na jaren toegewijd onderzoek nog steeds geen wereld zonder kanker is –maar we komen telkens een stapje dichter…🔬
Omdat jij niet hoeft te lopen ter nagedachtenis van een dierbare, maar me wel een duwtje in de rug kan geven met een gift! 💪🏻

Op zondag 17 november loop ik de Wase Marathon - de volle 42.2km! En jij kan intussen helpen om ons allemaal wat dichter bij een toekomst zonder kanker te brengen: 💰💰💰

Makkelijkste manier om te helpen:

👉 Doneer rechtsreeks bij Kom op tegen kanker via mijn actiepagina! 👈

Alle beetjes helpen, want vele kleintjes maken één groot! Doe dit voor 17 November!

Dit kan ook:

Stort je liever een anonieme bijdrage? Dat doe je op rekeningnummer BE03 4886 6666 6684 met de vrije mededeling 110399720 GIFT. Ik weet dan niet wie je bent, maar je bijdrage gaat wel naar mijn actie 😇

En heb je cash gevonden tussen de kussens van de sofa? Ook welkom in een envelopje! Ik zorg dat het netjes bij Kom op tegen kanker beland 👌

Elke gift telt voor 100%

Inschrijving en de kosten voor vervoer en bevoorrading neem ik op mij! Elke gift van jou, groot of klein, helpt rechtstreeks en 100% om onderzoek te financieren, patienten en hun families te ondersteunen, en red dus levens ❤️

🏆 Samen kunnen we opkomen tegen kanker! Ik loop, jij doneert. Deal?

Ik hou je op mijn blog wekelijks op de hoogte van mijn training, of je kan de tussenstand bekijken op Fetcheveryone, mijn online logboek 📊

Wase Marathon - Joining the Fight against cancer!

Because just running 26.2 miles to the finish isn't enough for me…🏃‍♀️
Because dad died of cancer 9 years ago…🕯️
Because that horrible disease still affects way too many people around me…😢
Because after years of dedicated research, we still don't live in a cancer-free world –but we get closer, step by step… 🔬
Because you don't have to run in memory of a loved one, but you can support me with a donation! 💪🏻

On Sunday 17 November I will run the Wase Marathon. Yes, all 26.2 miles of it! And you can help to bring us all a bit closer to a future without cancer: 💰💰💰

All the different ways to donate:

If you're with a Belgian bank or have a credit card

👉 Donate directly to Kom op tegen kanker via my dedicated fundraiser page! 👈

Every little helps, from pennies to pounds, cents to dollars/euros! Donate by 17 November.

You prefer an anonymous donation? Use this account number: BE03 4886 6666 6684 and add the following message: 110399720 GIFT. I won't know who donated but with that message you'll contribute to my specific fundraiser. 😇

If you're abroad and can't use the Belgian bank account

👉 Send your donation to my Paypal (email address tinekedhaeseleer @ me.com), and mention MARATHON. I will send everything to the Belgian cancer-fighting charity Kom op tegen kanker! 👌

I also accept cash, so save up those coins you find under the sofa and send them to me before 17 November

Your gift: 100% impact!

I take care of all costs for participating in the marathon, such as entry fee, transport and supplies. This means that every single donation from you, small or large, directly helps to finance research, and supports patients and their families, and thus will help to save lives. ❤️

🏆 Together we can fight cancer! I run, you donate. What a deal!

I'll keep you up to date every week on my training progress on the blog, or if you can't wait, have a peek at my most recent training via Fetcheveryone, my online running log 📊

No wonder I was tired! So let’s do that again!

Leave a reply

In 2023 I finished another year of running 1000 miles... Because the relocation across the Pond and the concomitant travel shook up my schedule, and because of "stuff" that I can't remember now, my planning wasn't great and by the time October rolled around, I needed 27+ miles per week to stand a chance. So... apparently I did that. All I now remember is that it was a lot of miles run-walk, a lot of early mornings once I got my shiny chest light in particular, through wind and rain, catching little bugs in my Fetchpoint game Somehow I escaped injuries by sticking to snail-speed, but I did notice after consecutive days with 5 mile runs, it was getting a bit much.

But darn it, I did it. And I achieved my goal of running on average those 1000 miles faster than I did in 2022 (by 27' per mile, to be exact).

Colourful infographic from Fetcheveryone site, showing total number of miles and hours run, average page, number of days, heartbeat , etc broken down in multiple different ways.
I love all the detail you get from Fetch!

Obviously I decided to do it all again this year: another 1000 miles, if you please, my little legs? I'm adding in a bit more variation now I have a decent base: some intervals, tempo runs, and long slow runs without walk breaks. Or to be more accurate: replace "run" with "jog" because I'm still barely faster than a snail.

As of the start of May, I'm only a little bit behind on my target: instead of the weekly 19.2 miles, I need 19.9. Seems manageable for somebody who can churn out a few weeks at 27 miles, doesn't it? But that's not counting on a massive new change: I just started a full time job, and I've got a commute that requires bike+train three days a week. Planning is very tight if I want to reach 1000 miles with multiple shorter runs through the week. I still have 4 days without commute, to run on average about 5 miles each time. If you're speedier than me, you can fit that in before working from home, but for me it's a 3-miler on those days, and the rest I grab during the weekend. Or on one of the many bank holidays that grace my first month of work!

So we'll see if I can stay on target this year. At the moment I see very little opportunity to slack off, let alone fall ill or get injured. This will be another interesting year of "will she, or won't she?", but it won't be for lack of trying!

morningmistpink
Early morning runs have their charm -meadows and trees in the mist in Mespelare.

Keeping it clean

Leave a reply

I haven't really had a problem going out for a run the entire past year (viz. my previous post). I still wanted to try something a bit different this year and dug around in all the different games available on Fetcheveryone - that wonderful site that keeps a nice log if you link it to your GPS watch, and where for many a year before I had such a thing, I added my runs manually without any trouble. Data: beloved by runners.

It seems runners also like games! You can opt into a couple of games that use GPS coordinates (you can manually plot your route and take part if you're not there with the tech), encouraging you to explore the wider world. Conquercise is all about grabbing and keeping squares from your opponents but as the only Fetchie around these parts, I'm quite happily owning my "lawn" and retain the right to rename my little squares I visited as I see fit. So I am not yet entirely sure how it works but that's ok.

Photo of a typical Flemish rural landscape in winter, with trees lining the meadows, some distant buildings dotted near the horizon, and in the foreground green poking through the ploughed field. The sky, taking up about 3/4 of the image, shows sunny blue behind large dramatic clouds that threaten rain.
Flanders is rather flat, in case you didn't know.

The game I am enjoying most is Fetchpoint. I think it's a bit similar to Pokémon, but without the need to stop and battle things. You just run past and as you import your run later, behind the scenes things get figured out and you get your points awarded or deducted. The set-up is simple: you set a home circle with a 1 mile radius, and stuff to collect or get rid off appears. You can compete over ownership of some items with other Fetchies. Again... Unless my cousin in the next village starts to take part, not much of that will happen.

In my two runs since I joined I have already made a detour to squish a bug (run past, and then carry it out of your circle), and tried a completely different route from my regular two or three to get rid of some bugs, because they cost you daily points until you get them squished. I planted a few flowers by running outside my home circle. And this afternoon on a walk with mom I also collected some additional gems and a nuclear point. Fortunately this one was worth eight points – it may do something devastating but you just don't know until you have collected it and it's too late.

Above all, I want to keep my circle squeaky clean, without bugs. It's ok if it sparkles with gems for me to pick up as I move around but I enjoy not having anything dragging my score down!

So if you're looking for a fun game that gets you moving - and all movement counts: cycling, swimming, walking, hopscotching all are fine - this might be just the ticket. It's definitely doing it for me. What's got you moving in 2023?

That’s a lot of miles!

Leave a reply

I've completed the challenge I set for myself about a year ago: run, however slow, and by whatever means possible, 1000 miles during the 2022 calendar year.

Screenshot of website that shows training target
Target Completed! Yay!

A lot of this was run-walk-run, because if I spend a lot of my time on my feet in too high a heart rate zone I invite migraines in, and they're no fun. (I have meds that work, so I'm lucky, but my doctor and I still prefer prevention.) Run-walk-run counted with regular runs and intervals as running. On average, it took me 14:03 minutes to complete a mile this year, and that is faster than I walk a mile. I’ll take it.

What have I learned from this experiment?

  1. It looks daunting but it comes down to 2.75M per day, or 19.2M per week and some people run that weekly mileage for fun on a Saturday morning. (Looking at you, ultrarunners.)
  2. It breaks down to a tiny bit every day, but it's easy to get behind if you let it slip for a week or two, as I did with lower mileage in February-March (reentry into the US from Belgium) and no mileage in June (conference+holiday in Ireland, I could have run but chose not to)
  3. You can claw back from a deficit but it takes dedication and planning, including getting up early in the hot months to beat the heat, sneaking in 2 miles when you don't have time for 3 but can't do 5 the next day, or going late at night after work and meetings because otherwise you don't meet the (new, higher) target for the week and you can already see in July or September how you won't make it to 1000M by December.
  4. There are days when you don't want to run but you do it anyway because the spreadsheet tells you. The run is actually perfectly fine.
  5. There are days you want to run but your legs and body scream no and you need a rest day or two.
  6. You get to know your neighbourhood and local trails really really well. As in: where specific patches in the pavement are, what weeds grow where, who is the great and the lousy gardener on the block, and where you're likely to encounter a fox or a deer at what time of day.
  7. Stretch and foam roll your way to an injury-free year. I also kept up my regular visits to the chiropractor as part of my regular maintenance.
  8. New orthotics help: my previous ones were seven years old and my feet had changed a bit. If you've got old ones and niggles start to appear, maybe it's time for a visit to the orthopedic clinic.
  9. There is no shame in going slow or run-walk-run if that is what your body tells you. I still got faster as the temperatures dropped, and as I built up a bit of endurance: my 4M runs going "slow and running through molasses" are now faster than harder efforts over the same distance at the start of the year. I guess I have improved!
  10. It helps to have buddies who believe in you, even if they don't have the same goal. Just sharing my updates and getting a thumbs-up from them, and thinking how I did not want to share "I abandoned my target" when they knew I could do it if just got off the couch, that helped me to get out on those days I didn't want to.
  11. I definitely couldn't have done it without the motivation of the numbers adding up, and The Line on Fetcheveryone. Thank you, Ian, for building a website that works for runners, plain and simple. You have my eternal gratitude. (And my annual contribution. Reader, please note the site is free to use, but I love it so much I chip in to help.)
Screenshot of the target line and the actual completed runs plotted against it
Wobbly completion but I got there!

What's next?
I guess… Another year with 1000 miles? But going a bit faster would be nice. Not much, just a bit. It still has to be fun, after all.

Tomorrow (31 Dec) is a rest day, I think I've earned it. On 1 Jan I'll go for an easy 3 miler with my little loop along the river, because I try every year to set off the new year like I mean to go on. And I'll be 0.25 of a mile up on my target, of course.

Photo taken during a November 2021 run
One of my favourite routes in Belgium (photo from ‘21 but still hoping the catch a rainbow whenever I run there!)

Kung Fu Panda LARPing*?

Leave a reply

* LARP: "Live-action role play"

Training!

Just killed a 7M run-walk-run, the first in the new training plan towards a half-marathon. Adjust your training to what works – I have zero interest in exercise-induced migraines or over-use injuries, but Jeff Galloway's training regime works for me for summer time heat. It wasn't fast, but that's ok. I feel great 😀

Still a lot of work to get to full Kung Fu Panda, though. My kungfu kicks need some extra attention because it's been a while, and I'll have to work on this cool move on one side only rather than alternating between both arms as Panda and Shifu do here.

Shifu and Kung Fu Panda face each other and do alternating single-hand push ups, supported by only one finger.
Clearly neither of these two is recovering from shoulder surgery

No regular planks or push-ups for a good while I reckon, as part of post-shoulder-surgery recovery. Those makes me reach for the nearest jar of Aleve within three hours, and for the next three days. But hey, my single-right-handed plank/push-up should be awesome if I really dedicate myself to this! I also have a long-standing relationship with stairs as a form of exercise. Not quite my enemy though.

Kung Fu Panda out of breath at the top of the stairs - text says "Ugh, stairs"
How to spot the difference between me and Kung Fu Panda: our attitude towards stairs (even if we look exactly the same at the top)

The secret ingredient

I finally got round to making for the very first time a family classic and family favourite: Aalsterse vlaaien (no links in English to be found, that's how local it is!). It has been so long since I last ate it, I didn't even remember what it was supposed to taste like! When I tested the spice mix in the batter before it went in the oven it took a few seconds 😱 before it clicked but phew I remembered.

  • Loads of sugar going in!
  • Yeah, I know. Appetizing look...

I was very worried about getting it just right, because I wanted to share it with one of our freshly graduated Mules, who had seen this in Belgium but couldn't fit a taste of it in her brief visit. And... I did not have the secret ingredient, mastellen.

Mr Ping, the Duck and father of Kung Fu Panda is about to reveal the secret ingredient in his famous noodle soup broth.
Feeling there is some truth to Mr Ping's statement here...

These are bone-hard, dried little breads seasoned with spices. They're specific for making vlaaien and even locally in and around Aalst increasingly hard to find, and bakers seem to be sworn to secrecy because we cannot find a recipe anywhere. (The ones we have found online are a different kind, not suitable for our purposes.) Mum suggested rusks, or ships biscuits might do the trick, but I couldn't find those either, so I replaced all of that with... white bread, dried in the oven.

It worked beautifully. Fresh jars of Mace, and Organic Vietnamese Cinnamon probably helped, as well as the original brown sugar and sugar syrup imported from Belgium. A taste of home, recreated here on the other side of the Pond.

  • Bubbling away in the oven
  • Letting it cool and set

And now I know the secret ingredient (à la Mr. Ping), I also know I have ingredients for 3 more pans of this deliciousness. Perfect:

Kung Fu Panda stuffing his face with baozi

She’s BAAAAAAAACK!

Leave a reply

Back off the sofa, and onto the road (into the back of the pack), that is.

Surgery on 19 Jan. --> Cleared to try out if you can run 3 months later, on 19 April. I did a 5 min test jog on 18 April, and since my arm didn't fall off, I decided to pick a "couch to 5K" training plan to sync with my Garmin 245 watch. (It's pretty phenomenal what the watch will do, short of making coffee and porridge in the morning to get you fuelled up for your runs).

Screenshot with a coloured line indicating speed, running along a river. The map also shows features such as a railway line and nearly roads.
Today's time trial - map is a screenshot from my running log on Fetcheveryone

During that test jog and the first "run-walk-run" my shoulder did feel a bit stiff, but nothing to worry about: it was just increasing my range of motion, but not asking it to do anything it couldn't handle. Both PT and assistant were very excited about me taking it very steady with this approach: there was a benchmark run ("run as fast as you can for 5 mins."), and then a lot of "walk-run" repeats, with equal amounts of walking and running.

The plan adjusts its length and workouts based on how well you're doing, but I have to admit that by the end of May I was getting a bit bored with the regular fare and I felt good and the plan too easy. I have quite a few years of running in my bones, and worry less about overdoing it for my joints compared to somebody fresh off the sofa for the first time. I'm very good at spotting niggles before they become injuries, and have no shame in dropping back if I need to. In fact, I suspect I err on the side of caution more than necessary, but let's talk again about this when I'm still running well into my seventies and many others are sidelined, shall we?

I switched out the plan for a time-oriented goal: a 35 min 5K. I mean... should be possible, right? My best 5K is 30'32" from many, many years ago, a more recent one 33'05" (another post-shoulder-injury return time trial) and someday I hope to get under 30'. I definitely had more fun with the tempo runs, intervals, and even hill repeats in the early morning heat (reducing the number because I'm not looking for trouble) in this plan, and I was getting better at sticking to the requested paces.

So eleven weeks after I was cleared for running, I went to the D&L trail near Laurys station, where the path is nice for running, well drained, there is plenty of shade, and I should be able to keep an even and steady pace. Even the weather cooperated! After a horribly oppressive hot start to the week, the rains had come and it was a most pleasant 17C/62-63F. A half-mile walk/run warm up, and off I went.

I immediately could tell that today was not the day for heroics; and it would be hard to hit the 11'16"pace required to get to my target 35'. Oh well, I'd just set off reasonably fast with a 4 (paces) out-2 (paces) in breathing pattern, with a Podrunner mix at 171BPM. The common race strategy for a 5K is: "start fast and hold on for dear life", after all. First mile: 12'23", not too bad, but I need to be faster. Haha, doesn't feel like that's in the legs! And indeed, mile 2 clocked in at 12'39, despite upping the breathing pattern to 3out-2in. At the start of mile 3, I turned around (I had to get back to the car after all!) and took a breather walk to get my heart rate down a bit, and I took another walk break about half a mile later, so mile 3 came in at 13'18 (breathing pattern in "hard work modus": 2in-2out). But there is always something left in the tank, the final 0.11 I squeezed out the equivalent speed of a 10'48"mile but ooooh boy I was glad when my watch beeped to signal the end! 39'29"

Graph with X axis showing distance, Y axis showing speed, and the line in colours indicating speed as well.
Pace graph of my time trial, screenshot from Fetcheveryone training log

Conclusions?

  1. The race predictors on my Garmin watch are big liars for me: my watch claims there is a 30'xx" 5K in me. Erm yeah... Though I think the Fetcheveryone predictions are more accurate. (see pic below)
  2. The slightest hint of an uphill and I notice and I will need to work on that to even out things (viz. mile 3. Imperceptible to most, but I notice...)
  3. Not a terrible time, but definitely four and a half minutes slower than I wanted.
table with predictions for 1M, 5K, 5M, 10K, 1M, half marathon, 20M and marathon in total time and average mile
Fetcheveryone predictions for common distances, based on today's personal time trial

Where next?

On to the next training plan: I'd like to get back to the point where a 10 mile run every week is nothing special, or I can do two 10Ks in a weekend (not racing, just getting round). That is a few years and a few pounds/kilos ago but there is no reason I can't get back there if I focus.

Why "doubles"? Because the real thing that itches, the ultimate goal is to get into shape to take part, somehow, in another SLMM or other Mountain Marathon in the UK. I just bought the lightweight tent and camping stove we'd need. 😬 Anybody interested to be the other half of a team? Drop me a note, we'll talk!

P.S. If you like the stats and maps you see here, check out Fetcheveryone.com. Free and fair site for all your training needs with awesome analytics, run by one man. Imports data from Garmin (and other places) automatically and then makes the most amazing graphs and useful analyses, without you having to lift a finger. I love it so much I pay a small contribution to keep it going (so it's ad-free for me 😀 ) Thanks for all the work you put into the site, Ian!