#belgian runner

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I finally found a good vegan banana bread recipe, that’s what I call a good Sunday.

[runtofit]

Training log

Week 2 of 10 weeks to 10k (27/04 - 3/05)

Monday 27 April I set my personal goal to move at least 6 days a week. Be it walking/cycling/ running, I want to keep active. Today I walked towards the post office with my mum and we took the sceneric route back. We were walking for about 30 minutes, but I didn’t start Strava for it.

Tuesday 28 april Tuesday is interval day. It was the first run with my new shoes. And it was a rainy one. At some point I had to stop and look for shelter because it was hailing. I actually don’t mind running in the rain, it keeps you cool. I did 10 min warm up, 2*6 min tempo + 1 min rest, 11 min cool down. This session went well.

Thursday 30 April

Easy run day, I ran inbetween 2 rain showers. Which made it an ideal temperature and environment to run in.

Friday 1 may

Went on a nice walk through our town. I like how it’s getting calmer again on the streets. Didn’t always like being out when it was sunny.

Saturday 2 may

Went cycling out of boredom, one of the better coping methods.

Saturday 3 may

Was “allowed” to finally go a bit further and run 45 min today. Was a bit afraid that I wouldn’t be able to complete it yet. So I tried to get my fueling, hydration and clothing right so I would have everything going right for me. But I was worrying for nothing. The weather was just right. Not hot, not warm, no rain... I really enjoyed it and fell in a steady pace once I was a km in. I decided to let my Fitbit show me my time instead of my pace, so I would go at a comfortable feeling pace instead. Would’ve wanted that pace to be a bit faster, but I’ll have to be patient with this proces. In the end I ran a bit further than 45 min so I would hit 7k. Really happy with the progress that I already made

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My new running shoes arrived today! And then it poured down so intense that I had to find shelter. Good thing they fit nicely and I don’t have to return them.

They made interval training fun, even in the rain.

Did 10 min wu

2*6m tempo + 1m rest

11 min cool down

[runtofit]

I feel like I should stop my 10 miles training for now. I’m ending every failed run in tears by this point and I’m over compensating bc I can’t hit the training goals I have, I’m running more times a week and harder. I’m not giving myself the time to properly rest or eat after a training bc in my mind I don’t deserve it. It’s not healthy and I should not force myself to train for an event that’s canceled anyway.

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This run was powered by a croissant bought at the train station after an 8 hour office day 😅

The rain made yesterday feel real good, believe it or not. Even tho my tired mind turned off and finished my run 40 min in 🤦‍♀️, my legs felt really good. I could keep on going at a pace higher than comfortable, without feeling like I was gonna drop down dead. Feels like those efforts are finally starting to pay off

[runtofit]

Week 7 of 10 miles training

Stress, emotional moments in my personal life and really bad cold weather made that I didn’t find the time to run a lot this week. It made me a bit anxious that I had maybe lost my progress this way or I’d lose interest and wouldn’t finish this training block. While actually today’s long run was one of the best ones I’ve had in a while. I’ll try and go back to 3 runs a week next week, so my weekly distance grows again, but I’m not disappointed with where I’m at right now and that’s all that matters.

Total distance this week: 19,3km

Total time running: 2h9

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10 miles training week 5

This week was more of a recovery kinda week. Which meant I took down the miles and focused on having fun in my running. In doing that I placed a new 5k PB inbetween 2 storms. And I even got to run on the beach on Saturday. Sunday was a day for a longer walk instead of a long run. I find it really important to calculate one of these weeks in, don’t want to get injured in the proces.

Total distance: 10,8km

Total time running: 1h11

Looking forward to picking up the training again next week.

[runtofit]

I did a thing!! After a year and a half I ran another race!!

Since the event was spread over multiple weekends and you had to sign up for a time wave to spread out the amount of people in start/finish zone. I could actually bring my parents along all the way to the start and they could wait for me right next to the finish line.

When I started training at the beginning of the year I had just picked up running again. After 2020 being very disappointing fitness wise, I had to start over completely. I set myself the goal 10k time of 1:10 min. But since I haven’t really been consistent with training and there was a strong headwind. I started with the idea that if I would run it sub 1:12, I’d be really happy. And guess what??? I did! Even though I started struggling around km 3 and I thought I was gonna have to stop after running up a bridge in km 7. I managed to run it all in 1 go and even sprinted the last couple of 100m and ended this on, for myself, a really positive feeling.

+ bonus: enjoy a nice before vs after picture of my untrained a’ running a 10k race