Category: General

Evaluate

Goals For 2015: End Evaluation

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Fa la la la laaaaa…. Merry Christmas everybody, what better time to evaluaty my goals for 2015.
3 months ago my quarterly evaluation could be better, 6 months ago my halfyear evaluation wasn’t all that better, let’s see what the end evaluation is…

(Three quarters failed to be written up, so it’s a bigger leap than last posts…)

2 ultra distances checkmark
From one I was certain: my 6h race I did in July.
This was one of my major goals for 2015 and it went … well enough (click the link for an elaborate review.

The plan was doing another ultra somewhere near december, but starting from mid November sickness and lack of motivation got the better of me, so it seemed for a while I wouldn’t be running another ultra soon.
But suddenly an event called ‘Warmathon’ appeared, this was 5h of running in every province’s capital.
I wanted to join in Brugge, but did’t know my current form… However I wanted to run the full 5h, even though I decided to take on a slow pace. So last monday I ran about 52km (See Strava). I plan to dedicate a full post to this one in the near future…

+2500km of runningcheckmark

Hooray, according to Endomondo I have now 2646km (~1644 miles), so not only did I make it, I feel like I’ve crushed it.
Very very happy with my progress across the years.

Month Overview of 2015
Month Overview of 2015
Year overview Endomondo
Year overview Endomondo

 

 

Break distance record (currently ~57km) checkmark

July 11 I ran the 6h of Aalter and ran the furthest and longest time I ever did for now.
Separate post here with all the details.
Still very proud of this achievement!

Break duration record (currently 5:51) checkmark
See above 🙂

Nice-to-haves:

  • PB on the 5k RedCross Did not run any 5k race
  • PB on the 10k RedCross Did not run any 10k race
  • Marathon under 3:20 RedCross Nope, but PB’ed (see below)
  • Run a nice trail just to enjoy the scenery (chance is, I’ll already get this at the end of January) checkmark

I did the last one with Trail Du Mont and did it again with Trail Des Fantomes in August.

Not a goal, but notable:

PB Marathon: ~3::23 at the end Of October with my brother.

PB Half Marathon ~1:30 at the end Of October with my brother.

End thoughts:

Although I always think I don’t run a lot of races, it seems that my 2015 was filled with races I’lll remember for a very long time!
Running-wise it was DEFINITELY a great year.
Still thinking about the 2016 goals, so it could be they only get written up after New Year…

Did you achieve (almost) everything you wanted to achieve in 2015?
Why (not)?
Be sure to link me up in the comments!!

Valmeinier1800

I’m going skiing

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Tonight I’m leaving for a week to the snow. Valmeinier 1800, France here I come.

Gone for a week is no running for a week … probably 😀
I am taking my running shoes along, I would really like to get some hilly jogs in a nice crisp air.

But I’ll see where the week takes me.

Probably no blog posts next week, although there is WiFi, so you never know.

Do you like wintersports? Are you go skiing/snowboarding this season?

Garmin-VIRB-Elite-vs-GoPro-Hero3+-Black-Edition310x200

Which Actioncam?

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Actioncams. Gadgets…

Sometimes I’m a sucker, I don’t need anything, but if I start browsing and looking I suddenly NEED NEED NEED it. The more research I do, the more I want it.

This time: action cams…

I’m currently doubting between the Garmin Virb Elite and any GoPro with WiFi.
I could go with lower budget cams, but without the WiFi I think it will soon become a nuisance to work with it.
It would mostly be used during (trail) running but it would be definitely be used for winter sport as well.

Does anyone own a Virb or GoPro or alternative and can you

  • discourage me to buy one and thus save money
  • Convince me of any model

Thank you very much for any input!

 

ChristmasBoth - Resize

Christmas Gifts – Running related

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The wish lists were filled with stuff, but not a lot was running related. As far as running goes I usually buy what I need instantly.
“Luckily” my trusted ear buds started breaking down about a month ago, so I asked new ones, with improvements: remote control to play next song and volume control. I like random playlists provided by Google Music but sometimes they can give songs I really don’t want to hear during a run.

ChristmasGiftEarbuds
Buds in and over the ear!
ChristmasGiftEarbuds2
Remote control!

A lot of music joy coming in the future 😉

Second gift was something I could not yet bring myself to buying because it was too expensive: ideal for a want-list 😀
A soft flask. It’s the same fabric as a Camelbak and you can drink from it by pressing the bottle and biting the valve, so no tipping your head backwards.
It takes the form of your hand and in your backpack, which is much more comfortable than storing a hard PET bottle against your back.

ChristmasGiftSoftFlask

Once it’s empty it practically takes no place to store it and it’s reusable, so the environment is happy as well.
I’ll enjoy this one.

What did you get for your Christmas? Running gear? Other handy stuff?

Christmassy week recap

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A lot of diners, a lot of christmas shopping, a lot of spending time outside the own home.
Christmas time is a nice time, but busy none the less.
I felt like I was living out of my car, everything for my daughter just was stashed in there and stayed there for four days in a row.

Christmas Time Family Time
A little snapshot of my family

But I enjoyed every minute of it.
Because of all the food and get-togethers, the running was put on hold (holiday break you know), but yesterday I managed to go running for about 15km (little under 10 miles) together with my brother.
It was running on unknown territory with a lot of talking. Very relaxed way to get some mileage done between all those big meals.
So short update, because other chores and family is waiting, but I wanted to check in to let you know I’m ok and see how you all are doing 😉

Did you enjoy your Christmas week? Did you get some running done?

2015goals

Goals For 2015

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I gave it a lot of thought and decided on my running goals for 2015.
The major doubt was if I could spent as much or more time in 2015 on running, but after putting the schedules together, J. and I decided it was an option, with a peak somewhere near summer as one of the major possibilities.

So here it is, my goals for 2015:
2 ultra distances
And in these 2 I plan to take on one at least one trail, which means about 90% off-road.
This is nothing extra from 2014 per se, but more to follow 🙂

+2500km of running
2500km ~= 1553miles.
2014 I’ll strand on 2274km (~1413 miles) give or take.
I planned for 2014km in 2014, and I obviously went way over.
My goal means an average of 210km (~130mi) per month, so this is no small goal.
If I run like this year and make sure I don’t have “down” months like Jan or Feb, it’s definitely possible!

Break distance record (currently ~57km)
Running further in one race or another would sure add to a nice year.

Break duration record (currently 5:51)
This goes for the duration as well.
I’m strongly doubting to run a 6hour run in 2015, if I should do this, I’ll definitely break both.

I have some nice-to-haves as well. It would be great to get these as well, but they are not really complementary to the above goals, so it would be logical if I wouldn’t get them.

  • PB on the 5k
  • PB on the 10k
  • Marathon under 3:20
  • Run a nice trail just to enjoy the scenery (chance is, I’ll already get this at the end of January)

Be sure to link me up to your goals for 2015, I’d love to read about them!

2014_running

Slowly Saying Goodbye To 2014

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December 20 2014
Only 11 days and we can start cursing again when we write down the date (oh right 2015 *grmbl*)

2014 wasn’t too shabby. Not running wise nor personal.

Quick personal recap: I became a dad for the first time! She’s already eight months now and boy does it go fast!

Running wise:

  • Tracked 2274km to date (~1413 miles)
    I guess if all goes well I could add another 50 or so in those 11 days but we’ll see
  • Bought 2 pair of new shoes
    • Pearl Izumi: a brand I had never heard of and will continue buying
    • Scott: a trail shoe that fits like a glove
  • Ran 6 races which means an average of one every 2 months, way better than expected
    • A very low-key trail of 25k that wasn’t a real race (no bibs, no timing) but helped me convince I was ready for longer distances & trails
    • A 5k race where I PB’d below 19 minutes
    • A 50k which went waay better than I had hoped for – 7 min below my aimed time and relatively fresh (see my PB page for exact timings btw)
    • A marathon in one of the nicest settings there are ‘In Flanders Fields’ at Ypres, great way to start the remembrance of WW1. Did this one as a pacer and ended just above 4h. Was very happy with the recovery afterwards etc
    • A 56k trail with 1200m of ascension (~3937feet).
      This was my ultimate goal of 2014.
      I suffered, but in a good way and finished just below 6h.
      Distance record, duration record, busted quads record 😀
    • 10k run where I broke my PB. Sadly not below 39 minutes, but since short distances weren’t my focus this year, I’m happy that I PB’d!

2015 goals post coming later, just give me some time to look back at this post with a content smile 🙂

I’d love to read about your year, be sure to link me up in the comments!

running_whether_you_win_lose_or_collapse

New page: Memorable Runs & PB’s

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Short post today…
Saturday, post-race day, busy day …

I’ll try to write-up a nice recap from yesterday (have I run my PB..? ;-)) that I can post tomorrow.
In the meantime I’d like to point you towards my new page: Memorable Runs & PB’s

A nice overview for you and me of my past runs (worth remembering) and Personal Bests.

Feel free to comment!