The Belgian Ardennes have always represented a good source of trouble for my training schedule. This location was a big deal last year, when I was training for the Ironman and this year as well, when I am adding up some extra mileage for the ultra marathon, next March.
The elevation gain is what makes the Ardennes a very interesting location to spend...
Tuesday, 31 December 2013
Sunday, 29 December 2013
23/12/2013
Coming from a week with some interval training sessions, I decided to keep week 52 for some long distance running. Except for monday, in which I've been running quite shortly and I have been doing some mobility exercises, the rest of the week has been quite crazy. Only 10km today.
24/12/2013
After the usual wake up at 5:50am, it was not...
Monday, 23 December 2013
I usually run in the morning due to many factors like having the rest of the day free or simply to respect my working duties. Dealing with the pretty unstable weather conditions of Belgium is yet another reason to run in the morning if it's not raining. A wet day is always better than a wet night.
But those rare times I go running in the afternoon...
Saturday, 21 December 2013
I started running with Sajjad about two years ago. He actually started to run with me. Apparently I transmitted the same enthusiasm I have whenever I go out for a run. That makes me feel proud and glad that someone can see how passionate I am for running.
Up to some months ago we were used to run together around Leuven.
Short distance, medium...
Friday, 20 December 2013
The London experience has given a nice shake to my schedule. I really enjoyed running in the city even though the pavement was not my favourite and it is actually pretty dangerous for ligaments and tendons.
The first day back in Belgium has been quite a shock since I woke up this morning. In fact I couldn't even lace my shoes due to a terrible ache...
Thursday, 19 December 2013
Something is working so good with my nutrition. I can feel it. For the third time in the last week I have been running very early in the morning, before breakfast. I've been pushing a bit and never felt tired. It must have been the oatmeal or the vegetarian diet of the last few days mainly based on peas and beans . Unfortunately, I cannot cook here,...
Monday, 16 December 2013
It's almost Xmas. Still in London. After the run of yesterday I planned to have a shorter one today at a definitely slower pace. But plans are always hard to respect when I have no races ahead or when I am abroad and I want to experience new tracks or I just feel the need for disconnecting my mind from whatever is going on around me.
I woke up at...
Sunday, 15 December 2013
Running in the city is something I was not really missing. When I cannot choose the surface I’d like to run on I try to be as less picky as I can. I am in London city and, to be honest my running experience is going beyond any expectation.
First I forgot my running headphones and I could not play any music during my workout. That's a good thing...
Thursday, 12 December 2013
There are so many books about running out there and more and more runners who are switching from regular shoes to no shoes at all for a number of reasons that sound scientifically sound even though might easily be interpreted as hilarious and scary at the same time. They call it barefoot running. They do it on the track and field or grass....
As a tradition I recently started on this blog, here is the summary of the last week. It has been a quite running week. I like those weeks of transition in which I try to keep my eyes away from the timer and the mind from the need of increasing the pace. In such weeks nothing really matters.
The goal of this week has been twofold. First of all going...
Monday, 9 December 2013
After running 32 miles I had to deal with some issues on the right foot, as expected. In the beginning it looked like a stress fracture that I couldn't localise exactly, even though I felt some pain after running for 20 minutes. Running the day after 32 miles might sound crazy. But that actually facilitates a faster recover. Anyway, due to my (hopefully)...
Friday, 6 December 2013
I was a child when my father was training for his first marathon. I have the vivid image of him running for a distance I could not begin to comprehend at the time, when everything looked much bigger than it really was. Probably my father too. The joy of finishing a marathon was the only thing that I couldn’t understand and I kept underestimating...
Thursday, 5 December 2013
As a boy who was born in the 80s, grew up in the 90s and became conscious of the world in the early 2000, I have already been influenced by the sounds and the trends of three decades. Even though my taste for music is within an indefinite range that goes from pop to classical music, and classic rock, with no embarrassment, when it comes to workout...
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
The dinner following an intense workout like a 50 km run (ok, even for much less than that) is probably not very well appreciated if it is too heavy to digest or eaten later than usual, maybe right before going to sleep. Even though I consider eating late quite negative for my body, I cannot hide that it occurred to me a number of times.
Here...
Sunday, 1 December 2013
I didn't plan to run 32 miles the day of my 32nd birthday because of Dean Karnazes who apparently did the same for his 30th birthday. We just happened to have the same idea and I must admit that it's a very challenging one.
So I changed the training schedule of the last months to be able to finish 32 miles by the 30th of November. The very first...
Friday, 29 November 2013
I woke up in a very energetic mood this morning. I think that's the magics of sleeping one hour longer than usual, until I got a phone call at 8am from a friend who, unfortunately forced me to wake up.
Everything is ready for tomorrow. I am in a very positive attitude, my body is responding adequately to any type of input. But my psychological...
Wednesday, 27 November 2013
I just came back from a 9km run in the forest of Sart-Tilman in Liege, Belgium.
Legs were not responding as I expected in the first part. After a few hills everything was working just fine. On the road that usually takes me back to the department where I work, I turned left this time, in order to have a more relaxed run on the track and field....
Tuesday, 26 November 2013
Year 2013 was not the one I wanted to be. I would have liked to run more and take part to many more races across Europe. But a stress fracture of the left pinkie forced me to ride a bike, swim a bit and rest a lot.
All of that happened before April. A good season to recover in between and I found myself to be (almost) 32 years old.
I recently...
Sunday, 24 November 2013
There is exactly one week before the biggest challenge of this year: running 32 miles the day of my birthday, when I will be 32 years old. Now the distance that I chose to run shouldn't be a mystery anymore.
I have to put some more pasta in my diet and add at least 1 hour to my sleeping schedule. Not very easy, though. First, I am not a serious pasta...
Friday, 22 November 2013
I’m not gonna run today. I woke up this morning with this awesome plan and all of a sudden I felt good. Relieved, I would say. So much that I would have liked to go out for a run. But no. I have learned how to give my body a break, allowing to recover from the intense workout of the previous days. I am actually still learning how to deal with the...
