Running to Think

The end of the week has been marked with the long distance running session that has been scheduled, namely 42 km self supported, completed at the pace of 4:34" per km on 270 mt elevation gain. Legs were rolling like wheels. I never pushed along the test and was running very relaxed, breathing and looking around as if I was running on a much shorter...

The number of injuries I got in the past, thought me that preparing an ultra trail does not only mean running the long distance on the road or hilly&muddy tracks.  Fortunately, it also means creating diversity in the training, strengthening joints, knees, quads, arms. In three words, HITTING-THE-GYM. This might sound hard but I'm finding...

A small update from the running department. As some of you know, I set my next race to May 17, Trail de la Lesse. A 50 km trail run nearby Liege in Belgium. One more time to "feel the hill", pumping lactate around the blood stream. One more time to feel alive. The training of the last four weeks has changed to become harder and harder. A steep...

Dear runners, a lot happened since my last trips to Finland and Vienna. Buying a house that I don't really need has probably been the stupidest thing I've ever done so far in my life. Even more stupid when I realised that being a gipsy is indeed my attitude, at least for the time being. Thank God, sad things never come alone. The grateful smile...

This summary will be short, for the reasons that will be clear in a minute. 21/04/2014 rest 22/04/2014 Went to Sart Tilman. Ran the usual loop around Bois de Saint Jean the first time with Francois, then I made it longer alone, which meant another loop. Total milage of 27 km and elevation gain of 550 meters.  Felt a bit of pain in the left...

14/04/2014 rest 15/04/2014 I decided to spend some time into the forest. When I am in Leuven I miss Sart Tilman, and the other way around. Long story short, 13 km in the forest. But at a moderate pace of 4':30" per km. 16/04/2014 rest 17/04/2014 14 km again in Leuven. Decided to add some spicy hills of 300 mt at about 12% elevation. I couldn't...

Two weeks after the not-easy-at-all 80 km of Paris, the only purpose has been to get back to the road with an easy pace and relax as much as possible.  7/04/2014 9 km on the hills of Sart Tilman. I must admit that I've been running easy here. Hills were not scary but I never tried to attack one. I also found a new path, quite steep, that...

A boring week with total mileage of 75 km. 19/03/2014 After a fast recovery from the trip back from Spain, I finally met my hills in Liege Sart Tilman. They gave me a painful welcome though: half marathon on steep irregular terrain. A tumble on the ground started something that I still feel: pain between the left rhomboid and the spine. 20/03/2014 Easy...

Nothing special happened in week 11. Just feeling closer to race day and slightly more stressed. Weekly total mileage: 85 km. 11/03/2014 A very easy run in the morning. 10 km on the usual dusty road near El Goloso, Madrid. At 6pm I realised that the fridge was quite empty and needed to go shopping. Thing is that the house where I was living is 4...

I dedicated week 9 to exploring the country side around Cantoblanco, the district of Madrid where I am staying. As I mentioned earlier the terrain is quite diverse, giving me a series of options that I choose according to my schedule. Regardless the terrain that can be simply road or rocky or sandy or muddy, what really characterises this place is...

Attempt to finish a marathon in Italy (~km 18) The amount of work and the unexpected happenings of every day life didn't give me much time to write some lines any time soon. Better late than never, of course. Year 2014 already had the flavour of an intense year full of things to take care of and targets to achieve. And that feeling was not wrong...