A long way

In August last year I took part in a 5 km race in Birżebbuġa, Malta, the village where I was born. I was out of shape. Demotivated. Up to a couple of months earlier I had been harbouring the idea of building up to a marathon in October. All such plans were scrapped due to excessive heat and lack of motivation. Too many runs resulted in exhaustion and soaking wet shoes. I gave up. Most races I was doing I was succumbing to a strong urge to slow down to a walk.

There was some motivation, however. A demotivated runner doesn't take part in a race on a hot and humid August afternoon in Malta, at a temperature of 33 Celsius. But, still, I wasn't in great shape, and my target on the day was to run through the 5 km without slowing down to a walk. Just that. Loads of people, beginners, rather overweight chaps and so on actually beat me, but I was happy that I had finished the 5 km run - five kilometres! - without stopping.

It was that day that I decided that I wasn't a spent force yet, and that I would build up to a marathon.

Fast forward by 7 months, during which there were ups and several downs, but the ups prevailed so that today I was able to run for 3 hours, 17 minutes 53 seconds, for approximately 36 kilometres. I took the standard route for my long run, stepping out of the front door armed with energy drink sacs around my waist, vaseline in strategic areas, heavy gloves, contact lenses, but no hand warmers for a change. I headed towards Jezus Eik, then into the Arboretum forest, on to Duisburg in Tervuren, further along country lanes in wide open plains with fields all around, until my watch said 1 hour 37 minutes 30 seconds. At that point I made a 180 degree turn and ran exactly the same route back.

I have to say, I did get tired during the second part, but that's the whole point of running for a long distance. To be able to run a marathon you have to get used to running on tired legs. I tried to distract myself from the tiredness by switching off my mind. At some of the later stages it was a bit like running in a trance. However, I didn't have any particularly difficult moments, and even managed to pick up the pace in the last few minutes. So, overall, it was a very satisfactory longest pre-marathon run.

All I need to do now, in the last 3 weeks before Vienna, is avoid getting injured or catching a cold. I'll keep on training to remain used to the activity running, but without overdoing it. Now in fact the long runs will be much shorter. I should be taking part in a 16 km race in one weeks' time (part of the annual aggregate competition in our Flemish Brabant region) in the same Arboretum environs where I normally do my training. This will be followed by week's normal running, and a slowing down to almost no running in the final week before the big day.

Whatever happens, I've come a long way since that hot and humid August afternoon in Malta.

Vienna, here I come

This morning I did my Wednesday morning long run of 2h30m, for a distance of about 27 to 28 km, in a temperature of 0 to 2 Celsius. I started off from the garden next to the town hall of Hoeilaart, while it was still dark, towards Overijse and back for a total of 10 km (53 minutes), until it became light and I could venture into the forest at Groenendaal and on towards the Foret de Soignes, and then back to the car at Hoeilaart.

The run went exceedingly well, which is why, finally, I decided to place my entry into my next marathon. Paris is long since fully booked, which is a pity, so I'm going to Vienna instead. Let's see how it goes. Many things may still go wrong - injury and illness in particular - but I can't postpone any longer for fear that, after Paris, even this could be fully booked, which would leave me with boring Milan or having to postpone to a different date.

I could also get fed up of running very long distances, but now I've committed myself I have to, somehow, go up to the required distance. Snow and ice permitting... i.e. yet something else which could disrupt my build-up.

But let's not concentrate on what may go wrong. I'm happy right now, because things are going according to plan, my running form is good, and even the weather is cooperating.

Back to humble beginnings

Three days ago I ran for 3 km - 15 minutes - a run which I repeated the following day. One day of rest, and today I did 26 minutes for about 5 km.

How did I get down here? Well, it's a long story... (that's from "Down in the Sewer" by The Stranglers).

It was a long series of setbacks, starting with my motivation crisis last summer, followed by a three week period in the peak of summer in Malta, a slight recovery beginning of September after my return to Belgium, another stop for a one week vacation, then an injury in my calf, illness, a repeat injury on my comeback run... I haven't trained regularly since two months, and hadn't run at all for a whole month before last Thursday.

During this upheaval there were some interesting, I would call defining moments.

I would say the low point of my crisis was the Duisburg 10 km race on 8 August, which I started too fast, also considering my bad form due to lack of sufficient training, and which ended up being the third out of six races up till then in the Scott2Run series where I had to slow down to a walk. Admittedly, the route was difficult, the second half being mostly uphill on difficult terrain including cobbled paths, mud, narrow passages and so on. Even my choice of shoes was wrong on that day.

In Malta, for 3 weeks starting a few days later, I knew what to expect. I managed some runs that took an immense degree of will power to complete in the heat, but it was generally low key running with the inclusion of a good deal of swimming. For example, here...

That was simply wonderful!

I was taking it easy on purpose, with the intention of taking it up a notch or two in September. There was a 5 km race close to the end of August in Birżebbuġa. The temperature was around 33 C, the air humid, and two hours before the start I was still undecided whether to take part or not. I drove there, poured a lot of water on top of my head, drank another lot, and gave them my name. My intention was simply to complete the distance without slowing down to a walk. 5 kilometres! I did in fact run the whole way, which was actually a bit of an achievement in those conditions, but it was there and then that I decided that I was going to pick myself up and build up to a full marathon.

Easier said than done.

My recovery started very well, actually. Back in Belgium, beginning of September, I was dreading the final race for this year's edition of the Scott2Run series. This was a 10 km race in Bertem. Double the distance of Birżebbuġa and including a hill that's the steepest I know of all races I've ever done. In two times 5 km loops. Amazingly, it turned out to be one of best runs this year, probably second to the February half marathon in Malta. I registered the best speed, over 13 km/h, as well as my best finishing position for the whole series. It was a defining moment because I found out that, in spite of the doom and gloom, there was nothing basically wrong with me. My success here was due to three main factors, which I hope to keep in mind for the future:

1. I started slowly. (Now, really, after 23 years of running, do I still need to remind myself of this?)

2. I knew what to expect, so I was mentally prepared for the killer hill (times two).

3. I was determined to keep running and never slow down to a walk.

Following this success all seemed fine. I could resume regular training and build up my distances. I took a break of one week for a family commitment, but after the resumption a sharp pain in my right calf brought me to a sudden halt. Literally. Then a cold, then again the same injury...

Which is why my training runs this week were 3 kilometres and 5 kilometres. I hope my calf is now fine, and I have to be careful and ease back into my standard training schedule very gradually.

I was in Paris recently. In another defining moment, I knew that I had to run through the middle of the Champs Elysees, the Place de la Concorde and along the banks of the river Seine. I decided to aim to run the Paris marathon on 12 April 2015. Now, if my comeback goes according to plan, I might just be able to make it.

As the saying goes, mighty oaks from little acorns grow...

The Wings for Life World Run - 4 May 2014 in Ypres, Belgium

On 4 May 2014, a new concept for running competition was born to the world. Instead of runners competing to reach a finishing line in the shortest time possible, they were to run as far as they could before being overtaken by a "catcher car" going at a predetermined speed. Half an hour after the beginning of the run, the car would leave the starting line at a slow pace and accelerate gradually but constantly until it overtakes all participants. The winner of the event is the last participant to be "caught".

At the same instant, in about 36 other locations spread out over six continents, another identical event is taking place, except that the route is different, and in many cases so is the time of day and the ambient conditions. But all 36 locations are linked as one, and the overall winner is the very last person who's still running in all of them.

The event was named 'Wings for Life World Run', and the idea was (also) to collect funds for research into a cure for spinal cord injury.

I liked the concept the moment I learned about it. I had just (for a change) given up on building up to a marathon. I was not in the mood to run all those long distances. This event, on the other hand, allows participants of all types of ability to take part, whatever their endurance. The Wings for Life website has a calculator that gives you the time and distance you would be running until you're caught, according to running pace. For me this resulted in 25 to 30 kilometres - 2h15 to 2h30 - just about as much as I was fit to go at my current level of fitness.

One of the 40 locations was in Belgium, Ypres to be precise. A one and a half hours' drive is close enough for me. Ypres is a gem of a town where I like to go, so I signed up.

A few days later, I strained my hamstring... Nine days before the event it was practically healed and I went for a final long run. Bad idea. The following day, at day minus 8, I could hardly walk. The situation didn't improve very much throughout the following week, so I thought I would have to forget the Wings for Life World Run. The day before the race I was still unsure if was able to run for 1 kilometre, let alone 30.

But I had paid to take part, it was the very first edition, I could give up at any point and my participation would still be valid, so why not go for it and see how it goes?

On Sunday 4 May, the lovely town of Ypres in western Belgium woke up to a day of absolutely perfect weather, one of those days which I like to describe as "without a temperature". The atmosphere was festive. The setting at the starting line couldn't be more impressive: a beautiful memorial with the names of hundreds of thousands of fallen World War I soldiers.

I set off slowly, treading very carefully to avoid upsetting my jittery hamstring. I hadn't run for the last 8 days. I didn't even know if I was fit to run. In fact, in my mind's eye I was still injured. Except that, to my huge surprise, the injury didn't bother me at all and I could maintain a steady pace of just under 5 minutes per kilometre - just as if I was doing a marathon.

The injury turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It forced me to avoid running completely for one week before the competition, so I was completely rested on the big day. It forced me to avoid the usual mistake of starting too fast. I ran at a calm but steady pace, on completely flat roads in the pleasant countryside that 100 years ago had been turned into hell on earth by warmongering world leaders. We kept going from one village to another, each lined with cheering spectators, the kilometre markers going by and my legs working like a dream.

At 28 km I was still feeling strong and confident that I would reach 30 km within 2h30... so imagine my disappointment a couple of minutes later when a number of motorcycles and a loud hailer from behind heralded the arrival of the catcher car. I had been so close to the 30 km milestone.

What a fantastic run. I later found that I'd been caught at 28.33 km, in 2105th position out of 34,000 participants world wide. The overall winner, Lemawork Ketema (surprise, surprise, an Ethiopian), who had run in Donautal in Austria, was caught at 78.58 km!

Wings for Life World Run, you've got me hooked. I've done the first event. Now, following the spirit of this competition, I hope to do all editions as long as my legs can carry me. Who knows, I could aim to do the world tour. Having started at 51, I would complete a round trip of all 36 locations spread over six continents at the age of 86.

Now that's an interesting target. No harm in dreaming...

A setback... or is it?

In spite of having announced my retirement from marathons after Rotterdam in April 2013, I had been aspiring to build up to another marathon this October 2014. My long runs had gone up to 2h45m (for approx 30km), but I was struggling to cover this much.

Last Sunday was the middle of a heat spell and less than half way through the run my right shoe was already completely soaked in sweat, the remaining distance to cover seemed endless... I decided to stop - and prepare properly for a 30km effort the following Sunday (today).

Today morning I started earlier on a make-or-break long run for my planned marathon. I would either resume the build-up in training or I would just have to give up. I drove to Tervuren Park about 15km from home, leaving a bottle filled with an energy drink at the doorstep, the idea being that I would pick up this drink in the middle of my run and go back to the car at Tervuren. 28 minutes into the run, on the first uphill stretch, the urge to stop again overwhelmed me, and stop is exactly what I did. I simply didn't feel like running for a long distance.

This of course spelt the end of my marathon aspirations. We're in the middle of summer. I'm suffering from severe lack of motivation, which, combined with the heat make preparation for a marathon in October very difficult indeed. I don't feel like doing it, I don't need to do it, so I'm not doing it.

Walking back, I realised that giving up was like a liberation. Interesting alternative scenarios opened up. I could take a break. I could take up cycling with occasional short runs whenever I feel like it. For three weeks in the upcoming hot Maltese August I could do a lot of swimming instead of running. I could resume the 2014 Scott2Run competition, for which I'm still in the running for a placing.

Five minutes into the walk back to the car I broke into a run, and, amazingly, I started running fast. The slow plod of my earlier run was still echoing in my head, but this new run was quick and sprightly. I had shaken off the burden of having to run long distances to build up to a marathon, and all of a sudden training has become interesting again, rather than a chore. I alternated some jogging with fast running for half an hour, for a decent total of close to an hour running today, and resolved for the next few months to mix it all up a bit.

Long term target - the second edition of the Wings for Life World Run in May (more on this in another blog post that's half completed). As for marathons... never say never again. Maybe winter would be a better time to run long distances.

I don't want to think about it.

Erps-Kwerps - Easter Monday, 2014

Years ago, when a colleague at work mentioned the place to me, I wouldn't believe it was really named Erps-Kwerps. The same thing happened to our son Gianluca today afternoon. But Erps-Kwerps it really is, and the surrounding land is completely flat, which suited me just fine as I wasn't in the mood for any hills, more so as I'm nursing a sore hamstring.

Today's race was preceded by Gianluca's debut race - a one kilometre dash for children. With no training at all he finished the run in the middle of the pack. May this be the beginning of a long running career, Gianluca!

I started my own race with strong misgivings due to the hamstring. The past five days I've only done a short 25 minute jog two days ago, to keep it rested and allow it to heal, but during the warm-up I could still feel it hurting very slightly. A few minutes into the run, however, the pain disappeared and I could concentrate on my usual business of overtaking my rivals. A short stretch with cobbles was followed by longer asphalted stretches and some patches without asphalt, next to fields, a railway line, a huge car storage area and houses again as we headed back to Erps-Kwerps village for the start of a second loop.

No hills meant that I could maintain a constant pace. It's convenient when there are no uphills, but it also means there are no downhills and by the middle of the second loop I was becoming tired. Not too tired, however, and I managed to keep a steady rhythm. At the 11th kilometre I heard someone coming up close from behind. I was in no mood for any sprinting - I was already going as fast as I could - and I wished he would pass by and disappear, but he never did. Instead, I approached another couple as we neared the last bends before the finish, and I overtook them too!

Utter exhaustion at the finish was rewarded by a good time of 53:45 for approx. 11.8 km. It was my best performance to date in this year's edition of the Scott2Run. Tomorrow I'll find out the effect of this strong effort (I don't think I could have run any faster today!) on my long-suffering hamstring. Fingers crossed, it's still fine up till this evening...

Scott2Run 2014 - the first three events

The first group of three races for this year's Scott2Run competition kicked off on a bad footing for me on 22 March, continued with a close to disastrous performance a week later, but was concluded with a fine, fine run on race number three today.

Vilvoorde 12km - 22 March 2014

I had long been looking forward to this. I had been training well, putting in some fairly long runs as well as speed sessions, so I took a fair degree of confidence with me to Vilvoorde. But the day turned out to be cold and wintry, and I was never able to fire myself up properly.

The event consists of two loops - each one with a long steep hill during the first half followed by a flat mid-section and a final downhill stretch. The uphill part of the second loop I suddenly slowed down to a walk. It happens sometimes. A number of other runners passed me while I recovered my breath (and some strength in my legs). I started to jog again after two or three minutes, and began to re-overtake some of the runners who had passed me during the walking stage.

All considered, the final timing of 56:48 wasn't so bad. The field of participants was rather small, so I still managed to collect a useful amount of points.

Furaloop 16km (Tervuren) - 29 March 2014

Mostly in one of my 'haunts', the Arboretum part of the Zonienbos (Foret des Soignes) that straddles Jezus Eik in Overijse and Tervuren.

I realised there was a hills 'issue' in this one, so I checked the height profile on the Furalopers' website the days before. I found that most of the uphill parts were in the first half, while the second half was generally downhill. So I went to Tervuren determined to make up for the previous week's disappointment while being careful not to overdo it in the first, hilly, part.

The first 8km were, indeed, very hilly, but I managed them quite well, overtaking a large number of rivals in the process. The second half, as predicted, was generally flat or downhill.

Up to a certain point.

Suddenly I saw looming up ahead a steep hill. I thought it would be a short stretch, and then we would resume going downhill. But then we came to another hill. It went on and on. Determined as I was not to slow down to a walk this time... slow down to a walk is exactly what I did. Once. Lots of rivals going by. Restart at a slow jog. Another hill, one I've done lots of times in my training. Another stop! What a disaster.

I lost about four minutes from my normal time at the end, though I did manage to recover enough energy in the final 2 or 3 km to have a respectable finish, at a sprint. Official timing: 1h18:58.

Picking up the pieces - Wednesday 2 April 2014

I had been looking forward to a good year of running, with lots of ambitious plans, and here I was slowing down to a walk in the very first two races of this year's edition of the Scott2Run.

I'd never slowed down to a walk in two successive races. I sorely needed a morale booster, so I decided to risk a make-or-break long run. I'd gone up to 25 km - 2h15 in my pre-Scott2Run preparation. Next long run: 27km - 2h30. That's what I set out to do, and that's what I did without any particular problem.

That's how I found out that there's nothing seriously wrong with my current form. With the wisdom of hindsight, I can lay the blame for my recent mishaps on:

a. Having done a short run on the day before the race;
b. Having had a stressful morning a few hours before the race, doing the weekly shopping and such stuff;
c. In the case of the Furaloop 16km, bad mental preparation for the route.

I also seriously need to improve my form going uphill. I used to be very good at this, but, seemingly, not any more.

Perk, Kasteeljogging - 11.5km - 6 April 2014

This used to be a triple loop in a park, with long stretches where runners are forced to go single file or risk twisting a knee or an ankle while trying to overtake on very rough ground. They have now changed this into a more sensible double loop, finishing with a long lap around the club football grounds.

Except for the initial two or three minutes, that were rather crowded and where overtaking was next to impossible, the going for me was very smooth. Most of the time I was overtaking other runners without exerting myself too much. While I ran, I realised that I hardly need to make any effort to run on flat terrain, which is what we had throughout today. Having 'rehearsed' the final lap around the club football grounds during warm-up before the race, I was prepared for this too and finished strongly at 53:19.

So, I guess, I'm back on track for a (still) promising 2014 running campaign.