I discovered a new, little nature area today. It’s just a small run away from my house. See, one of the reasons I am running is sightseeing. Trail running is the perfect way to discover what is around you, no matter if that is your house or a place you’re visiting.
Sara and I moved to the Netherlands a little more than a year ago. We lived in Spain, but we were looking for something, let’s say, more organised. Sara always wanted to go to the Netherlands, I had my doubts, because I lived there the biggest part of my life. Not that I had a problem going back, I just know it so well.
Somewhere new
So, we decided to go somewhere I didn’t know. That became Bergeijk, on the border of the Netherlands and Belgium. To get to know this place, and especially all the beautiful nature around it, I decided to start running again. And I have fun, doing it. Every time I go out, I try another path. As the Dutch stand-up comedian and runner Doff Jansen always says: ‘As long as you keep on running, you can’t get lost’.
As long as you keep on running, you can’t get lost
Lately I often jump in the car in the morning and drive to a little forest somewhere down the road, like the Cartierheide or the Leenderheide. But this morning I didn’t have that much time, so I wanted to leave my house and start running straight away. And that became a good reason to have a look at this one path I had never taken yet.
Cornfield
At first, it just looks like a dirt track, going to another cornfield. It’s a bit dark, because of all the trees on top of each other, as you look into it and it doesn’t reveal what’s behind it. Luckily, there is Strava, among other apps. So last night, I designed a little loop, including that path, and this morning I went on my little sightseeing tour.
What a tour it was. The little path opens up in a couple of cornfields, but then turns the corner and ends up in a little protected nature reserve full with ditches, creeks and meadows. Beautiful to run in and great to take some yoga pictures. That is something I’m always looking for, as I do the photography for La Scimmia Yoga.
Happy run
It made my run a happy run. Well, it already was, as my legs felt great this morning. I just wanted to test them for this weekend’s Steam Trail by running at a race pace. The idea is to run that run between 5.30 and 6 minutes per kilometer. This morning I could do that easily, keeping my heart rate below 150 beats per minute. So I think I am ready for the Steam Trail, which will be another sightseeing trip, done on running shoes.
