I am in my happy place. Out running. In the forest. As I was yesterday, as I will be tomorrow and the day after that. The big running weeks are here. Finally I am allowed to run for hours and hours and hours again.
Yesterday I did interval work. Four times three kilometres at half marathon pace, with a kilometre rest in between. With the warming-up and cooling down altogether 20 kilometres, or two hours. Just the way you want to count them. Road runners mostly do kilometres, trail runners hours.
Today is a recovery day, so I’m just running for an hour (10 to 12 kilometres). Tomorrow is my fun day. Race mimicking day. My plan is to go to Spa in Belgium and run the black Extratrail there; 32 kilometres, with 1.055 kilometres of altitude. I hope to run it in 4 to 4,5 hours.
Back to back runs
Friday I am running on the road. Two hours. Close to marathon pace. 5:30-5:40 minutes/kilometre. I know, two big days back to back is hard, but they are needed. In a couple of weeks I’ll be running the Chianti Ultra Trail: 73 kilometres, with three thousand metres of elevation. I hope to complete that race in twelve hours. The cut-off time is seventeen hours. So twelve for me is ambiguous.
RELATED: Auge um Auge; a weird, but fun ultra trail run
Saturday my legs are allowed to rest. Sunday I’m on the bike. Interval training. Less impact, but still making the legs work. I am trying to get three strength training sessions of an hour in as well. And of course my yoga.
Creativity flows
Okay, you might think; ‘how can you say you’re in your happy place in the forest, while clearly you’re typing this column’. Well, the thing is, that’s where most of my stories start. In my head. As soon as I’m out running, ideas pop into my mind. Creativity flows. By the time I’m home, the whole story has unfolded itself and the only thing I have to do is write it down. Write it down quickly, because if I wait too long, the story is gone. I forgot it.
That’s why, if you see me run, you see me slowing down every now and again to take out my phone, record a voice memo or send a message to Sara with a few lines. A few lines that most of the time totally make no sense to her. Until I’m home and I can explain them.
Bubbling up
With my writing it’s the same as with my running. I have to do it. I can’t stop it. It bubbles up inside me, and looks for an outlet. I just have to run. I just have to write. That’s why I’m happy my training schedule is letting me do it again. Finally all those days of small runs are over. Finally I’m back to long runs. Back to back long runs and back to writing.
Sleep, eat, run, write, eat, and repeat. What more can a running writer want?
Keep on running.
