I hereby declare...

I hereby declare the end of my sport activities this year. Time to have a quick look back at 2012, and to start planning new goals and challenges for the year to come.

In general lines, 2012 was the year to run faster and to get some serious training done. In the first half of the year I basically did the same as the year before: run, run, run, without specific training schedule. Still, I could already notice some improvement in my times. From July on, I joined the Hagelandse Running Club (HRC), what brought structure to my training and more motivation to keep on running.

Summary of 2012:

The year of my 2 best marathon performances so far: Stockholm (June 2012) in 3h14m08s; Amsterdam (October 2012) in 3h00m27s.

The year of breaking PRs in “short” distances also: I broke my personal record for the 10km twice. First in Tessenderlo (July): 37m20s. Then, in Hasselt 2 weeks before the Amsterdam Marathon (October): 36m37s.

The year of the crazy Bike&Run: ran 33km of the Bike&Run course (from Louvain-la-Neuve to Leuven) carrying/pushing a bike with a flat tire. I got a flat tire in the first km, and it was either leaving the bike behind or taking it with me. Since the thing with the flat tire had messed up my race (and the strategy my team mate and I had) anyway, taking the bike back to Leuven myself while running seemed a good enough challenge.

The year of crossing a finish line as first: for the first time (and probably only time) in this life, I got to finish a race in first. “'t is voor niks loop” in Geldrop (November 2012).

The year of the “almost”: I almost went under the 3 hours in a marathon, but unfortunately I was (at least) 28s too late at the finish line in Amsterdam. I did not know if I should be happy or frustrated about my performance. Eventually I decided for “happy”.

The year of “peaking” and “not peaking anymore”: In October, month of the Amsterdam marathon, my running condition was really peaking. After the marathon I took some rest and I am now starting to build up again. I still feel quite fit, but the last two races I ran showed that I am slightly slower now than in October, what is normal I suppose.

The year of setting new challenges: I entered the Hamburg Marathon 2013. Training will be planned to try to get me to the finish in somewhere around 2h54m59s. Let's see what happens.

Now, let 2013 come :-)

Between heaven and hell, we strive on earth

When I started training for the Amsterdam marathon 2012 I had two goals in mind: go under the 3 hours in the marathon and win a small race a month after the marathon. Both goals were feasible, given the conditions under which I would try them. So I thought, at least.

Goal 1: I had run a marathon in 3h14min in Stockholm in June under terrible weather conditions, and the course was not flat. And I had not trained a lot for that. So, with better training/preparation, better weather conditions and a flatter course I was pretty certain I could go under the 3 hours. The end of the story you probably know: 3h00min27. Goal not completely achieved.
I am quite proud of my performance though. I am very happy and satisfied with all the preparation I had before the marathon. Everything went fine during the race. Next time better. 

Goal 2: I entered the race “'t is voor niks loop” in Geldrop (The Netherlands), together with around 50 people from HRC (Hagelandse Running Club). I checked the results from the previous years, and I knew I had chances to win. It was a small amateur race, without prizes, without professionals (and almost professionals)... so I knew it was a good opportunity. Maybe an opportunity in a life time. Actually I am quite sure it was.

I will try to make the story short: Sunday 25 November 2012 was the day. We could choose among many distances; I went for the 15km. Runners from the 10km and 15km races started together. Thus, it was a bit difficult to assess which runners were my direct concurrents at the first kilometers. So, I decided to stay close to the guys at the front. When we split, I realized that all the guys from the first group were going for the 10km. But I knew the other runners going for the 15km were probably just 100m or 50m behind or even less (I did not want to look back). From that point on I could enjoy the experience of leading a race for the very first time. It was quite a different feeling. Not having anyone in front of me to chase, and being the one being chased was something completely new for me. Crossing the finish line in first place was magic. Goal: achieved!

That was heaven! Hell comes under the water.

I have made some serious progress in my swimming skills/condition. In one year time I went from nothing to 1500m crawl without stopping, and I do not feel I will die after that.

I was feeling quite proud of myself, and I felt I was becoming a swimmer. Until 2 weeks ago, when we got to see ourselves swimming in a video that was recorded under the water during the swimming lesson. Hell..... hell... hell.. What a disaster. Still so much to improve. So many movements going completely wrong under the water.

Positive thought: even doing many things wrong I can already swim OK. If I can get the technique right, I will go faster and further.

But realizing how far I am from being a swimmer was quite confronting.

But.... between heaven and hell we need to keep striving. Yesterday I had swimming lesson; I started gaining back my good feeling under the water. And I have just received my running schedule for the next week, with an eye at the Hamburg Marathon 2013 – my next attempt to go under the 3 hours.

15 December 2012