Week 28 - Long time no see

It has been a while since my last post on my blog. My apologies for the long delay. Since May 18 time just flew by. First I had to finish up my project located on the West coast of the US. On June 8, I had wrapped up my tasks and handed over my responsibilities. As such, I could prepare myself mentally for 4 awesome weeks in Europe: visiting friends and family and FEEL the European tracks again.
My goals were quite ambitious and in order to be ahead of the jet lag, I went to bed one hour earlier each day. Same thing for my wake-up call. The day we left, I was out of bed at 4:00 AM to get my morning run.


However, the awesome feeling that I was hoping for did not come in the final weeks, nor in Belgium. The first race after our arrival on Thursday were the heats of the National Championship on Saturday. Prior to the race, a few guys agreed in picking up the pace. After 600, it was my turn and when the kick of the other guys came at 1200, I had no answer at all. The last 120m, I did not even try anymore. A disappointing 3`55 and no qualification for the finals the next day.


The trainers of the High Performance Running Team tried to comfort me: "it was the jetlag" and "your work and travel schedule are affecting your fitness". Deep inside I hoped that they were right ... 


The second race in Nivelles the week after should have been better. In the fastest heat of the meeting, I did find a pace maker and good competition. After 800 in 2`00 my lights went out completely. Same result: 3`55 and a terrible feeling. However, one hour and a half later, I paced the third heat for 1050m. Same pace went fine but I couldn`t go faster. "It was probably the lack of rest".


Third week I raced in Lier. There was a very good pace maker. He definitely gave his best shot against the wind (the beginning of a T storm). I took my responsibility

The Thursday after, I ran the fastest national heat in Liege. The three guys with faster entry times asked the pace maker for a 3`40 pace and there was no one in between. I tried to catch up with them as long as possible and did break after 900m. Finished my race in a SB of 3`52.00 Exactly 10 seconds slower than the time that we wanted to break.


The day after, I packed my HPRT stuff, mailed it back to the team and wrote my goodbye email. I`m still very thankful for the guidance and support over the past years. Tim and Dirk tried their best to coach me on (long) distance. It is not easy to train an athlete without seeing him practice. The HPRT approach did lower my PBs significantly:
- 800m - 1`51.32 to 1`49.28
- 1000m - 2`26.37 to 2`21.92
- 1500m - 3`55.60 to 3`45.73


Now it is time to settle my thoughts and find back my motivation.