Six days to go to the Trail des Fantomes. I am out for a run in the rain. Doing half a marathon today. It’s going to be a low heart rate run, so I’m going to spend quite some time in this horrible weather. If it wasn’t for the Trail des Fantomes I wouldn’t have run today.

Or maybe I would. I like to get out of the house on lazy days, but not for more than 2 hours. A quick 10 kilometers; that would probably have been it. 

What is wisdom?

I was wondering what wisdom is, this morning. I think it’s good I am getting my kilometers in. Yet, there is another side to the story as well. I mean, how good is it to run in the rain for 2,5 hours? Every run weakens the immune system. Being out in the cold and rain weakens the immune system. That’s a double load for my body to handle. 

Don’t get me wrong, I know running is healthy. I will get stronger from this run as well. That’s why I am out here today; challenging my body to get stronger. Run, rest, recover and be stronger, that’s how simple it is. Yet, it only works, if we balance running and resting. So this morning I’m out running, this afternoon I will be on the sofa resting. 

Time to rest

Next week I’ll be resting as well. The Trail des Fantomes is going to be the longest race I have run; 68 kilometers, with 2.000 meters of altitude. I like to have fresh legs. I tried different approaches. By now I know I am at my best if I don’t run the 2 days before the race. So Wednesday morning is going to be my last training. To be honest, it’s going to be my only training next week, besides one strength training.

The rest of the week I’ll be just doing yoga. Vinyasa flow yoga to keep and get my muscles flexible, Yin yoga to get and keep my tendons in shape. I am already looking forward to that. I mean, I like to run in the rain, but in the summer rain. Today is a cold, grey, windy day, so let’s finish this run and start my week of yoga. After that it’s time for the Trail des Fantomes. I can’t wait.

Will I see you there?