New goal: PB in Antwerp Half Marathon

Posted on September 6, 2025•By John Kraijenbrink•Column

New goal: PB in Antwerp Half Marathon

My legs are painful. I’m happy. The pain of a strenuous workout. Not the pain of an injury. This is good pain. Not bad pain. This is the pain I love. The pain that will make me better. The pain that hopefully leads to a new PB (personal best) in the Antwerp Half Marathon.

Seventeen kilometres. Once that was an easy, morning run. Today it was tough. Hard. Two kilometres warming-up, followed by three times two kilometres at my desired half marathon tempo. And after every hard interval, one kilometre of easy running. Plus some more kilometres to make it seventeen. The best news of all: my ankle wasn’t painful. It complained, but it’s allowed to complain. It’s just not allowed to be painful.

Walking a thin line

I am walking a thin line these days. Part of me wants to call it a day. UTMB week is done. That was supposed to be the end of my season. Followed by a long, very long off-season. A time to relax, to heal. After tearing my ankle ligaments in May, that’s something I need more than ever.

Part of me wants to go out on a high. The UTMB CCC didn’t happen, because of my ankle injury. I haven’t raced since May. I couldn’t. That’s too long. So, I’m hoping to race the Antwerp Half Marathon. I had signed up for the full marathon, but time is too short to prepare.

Personal Best

So, half it is. And now I’m doing the half, I am eyeing my personal best. It’s ambitious, I agree. I still can’t train the way I would like to train. My ankle won’t let me. Yet, that makes it interesting at the same time. Can I come up with a training schedule in which my ankle gets enough rest to heal, and I get fast enough to go for a PB?

I am not a hundred percent sure what that time is, to be honest. I can’t remember my personal best of my first running life. I know my best time, since I restarted running a couple of years ago. Or better said; my best times. See, there are two. One set during a trail run: 1:49:22. One set during training: 1:45:20. The question is: does a PB during training count?

Running dog

Besides that, there is something wrong with that last PB. I found a dog running on the road, in the middle of traffic. So, I stopped my watch to look for the owner. It took me at least five minutes to locate him and hand the dog over. That’s five minutes of walking. Five minutes of rest. Although, trying to prevent a dog being hit by a car isn’t something I would call rest.

One hour and 45 minutes sounds nice though. Probably, because it’s in line with my dream of running a sub 3:30 marathon one day. Plus, for a season that started well with a personal best in the Rotterdam Marathon, but ended in disappointment by missing out on the UTMB CCC, a PB in the Antwerp Half Marathon would be the high I am looking for.

If it’s realistic, I will decide closer to the race. I think goals should be defined based on training, not based on wishes. But for now, 1:45 is what I will strive for. What I will design my running schedule for. So, let’s do this.

Keep on running.

John Kraijenbrink

Running Coach - Massage Therapist - Yoga Teacher - Journalist - Gear Tester. I run for the joy of running. Yet, I like to challenge myself to be the best version I can be. For me that means dedicating myself to a structured training plan. You can find me on the road, trails, on my gravel bike or in the swimming pool.