Hill repeats

The hill is 7.5km long - the wind on and it's against..
Going up the hill on the big ring













Go down again and repeat 4x times trying to go 5% faster every ascent.














Then enjoy the sensations of pure lactate screaming trough the legs...
And dig deep inside your brain for the answer to the question 'why on earth...?'

Lanza...again

3months of no messages does not mean 3 months of no activity. On the contrary!!
Another winter has passed and we've landed in Lazarote again... doing the swimbikerunlivelove for another 2 weeks.
Lanzarote is so inspiring to me, it's unbelievable



















Jan tried out a bike also

winterwonderland

More 'Long Slow Distance' training or base kilometers.

I also did 3 laps on the Scheldecross track this morning...















Windburn is back again.

Ironpeople

Thoughts during the looong base kilometers.

Ironman is all about mind.

Not like short distance races where you might be negative but the body feels good so a good race can be had.

Not in the real race. You go in negative and you are dead in the water before you clear the swim.

That's why I like it.

You can't fudge ironman. It's only for ironpeople.

2010 season has begun

The season has begun.!! Exited to be back after 6 weeks of no structure.
Pretty much since Mechelen 1/4tri I've been either swim/bike/run 'ing only when I wanted and felt like it.
Today started the base kilometers. HR zones 2-3.

I'm even more exited since I have a new ride to get me through the winter time.














Fat tires will help keep the bike under my body in the wet conditions and will also help keep the race gear in better shape come the race period.

2 hrs of base running today - and more of the same tomorrow

Too little too much

Too much work to do and too little time to train properly left me ending the season right here.
Florida 70.3 Worlds - and qualifying for it - is from now on on the 2010 schedule.
Training is done for the year, so the blogging is on the down-low....... Things will get going again on November 1 for the 2010 season. Off season has officially started!!
In the meantime I'll break out the mountainbike. And even some sails maybe....

IM70.3 Antwerp

One year ago I did my first triathlon. Now was the time for a reality check: did I make any progress over the last year?
With Brasschaat - where I blew up horribly during the run - in my mind I was eager to rectify some mistakes made. Especially nutrition wise.
The day started windy, rainy and chilly. Nothing that us sailors aren't used to.




















This year start was in waves according to age group - waves being seperated by 3mins each. I was in the 5th and one but last wave. Waves make life easier in the start (140 starters instead of 1100). But only a few minutes into the race you swim up the backs of the slower swimmers from the previous wave, and still a few minutes later you might get swum over by the quick fish from the wave behind you... There's a positive to each negative and vice versa...
In the end I finished the swim in 32min - feeling fresh to push it on the bike.



















Bike course had the breeze against on the way out, and tailwind coming back towards the city. The wet roads in the harbour area - with loads of railway crossings at about 45° angles to the road direction - called for extra attention. Easy to wipe out on those.
I managed 1h23min over the 90km course without blowing up and feeling ready to go hurt on the run.




















The first few km's of the run did not really feel great, but I pushed through and got into a rythm that I thought I could keep till the end. I took 1h32min to get the 21k over with. Not super, but solid.
























Overall I finished 123rd in 4h32min (36min quicker than a year ago - that's progress I think). On top finishing 13nd in my agegroup earned me a slot for the IM70.3 World Championships in Clearwater Florida coming November 14th. So the 2009 season is not over quite yet! But the snipe nationals will have to wait another year though...