Run, Koper, run

Ok, we're now well into 2013, recently I summarized how I did with my 2012 goals so now it's time to reveal my goals for this year. Usually I'd have a number of goals for the year. This time I only have one, but a big one: to finish a 100 miler . Ideally below 24 hours but I'm not going to swear by that. By now I'm almost sure that my race of choice will be Rio Del Lago on 5th of October. And all the other plans will just be secondary to this main goal. Ok, maybe I'll have one more un-quantifiable goal: to enjoy Californian running heaven. It's been 3 months now and I absolutely love the running opportunities that living here presents. This was also the main reason for postponing my plans of triathlon training. I'd still like to do it one day however, possibly I'm missing something, but it seems to me that I'll have comparable cycling and swimming opportunities in Europe. But for running California and its parks are just amazing, so I want t...

Overall very good week. I started off on Tuesday doing a faster training on Baylands Park loop; my average was 10 seconds per kilometer slower than my fastest run in December, but that was to be expected, as I'm still rebuilding form after the Christmas break. After the training my shins were hurting, so I was in doubt whether I should follow up with an easy run on the same evening but eventually I did. A typical view on the Baylands Park loop. Then on Thursday I went for the Mission Peak climb. Oh boy, this is one hell of a climb, really. The only time I run it before was at the beginning of December , when At the top of Mission Peak. I run it twice in a row. So I thought now it would be easier. Probably it was, but it was still a super tough workout. And I had to give up on my resolve of running it from the beginning till the end -- the last bit I just had to walk. Still, I managed to shave off almost 3 minutes from my December time; not too bad. I was too tired in the...

Ok, it is high time to look back at 2012. I was hoping to do some serious number crunching and present some kick-ass analysis of the year, but, judging by the progress I was making so far, if I wanted to do that, it'd probably not be before the end of this year that I was ready to present my findings ;). So instead, fairly simple, but timely, summary. So let's start by looking at my goals for 2012 : 2 marathons and one ultra, 3300km total mileage and personal best on at least one major distance (10K, half-marathon, marathon). As far as the events are concerned I did good. I run two marathons -- Paris and Berlin -- just as planned. I also did a 50-mile ultra -- Lakeland 50 . I'm especially pleased with that race, which I clearly marked a transformation in my running: from marathons to ultra-marathons and from road to trail running. Moreover it was a super enjoyable race, the only other possible contender for the crown being the Amsterdam marathon in 2012 (my first). As...

sun + trail = happiness Ok, looks like running season is back :). Still fairly cold so I started off with three threadmill runs during the week. But then on the weekend I decided to try to hit the trails again -- thanks heaven for that! :). First on Saturday I went to the nearby Pearson-Arastradero Preserve . Unfortunately I was taking my time leaving, so by the time I started running it was almost 4pm! Originally I was planning to do 20k, but after less than 15 it was getting cold, it was getting dark and I pretty much did all the trails that the park had to offer. So I called it a day and decided to try to be more efficient on the following day. As far as trail running around here goes, it wasn't a particularly interesting run, but boy oh boy, did it feel good to be back on the trails!!! :))) On Sunday I decided to hit the Black Mountain , where I hiked back in November . Running quickly turned into walking; I guess I forgot how steep this path was! Playing with the sp...

I guess this will be the shortest post ever, as the two weeks around Christmas and New Year I spent doing... nothing. No running. Only one, single, short run on Saturday and even that was cut short by a nature call ;). So, what can I say, I guess this will have to pass as my between-seasons break and hopefully will give me running hunger that I'll be able to put to good use in the coming weeks. Let's see... :)

Do you know those days when everything, whatever you touch, seems to work? And how about those days were everything seems to be conspiring against you? Yup, I had such a day today. But let's start at the beginning. On Sunday I came back to California, after two weeks of Christmas vacations in The Netherlands. If you asked me what I did during those two weeks a pretty accurate answer would be: nothing :). Which suited me just fine and gave an opportunity to laze around with my better half :). It also generated a lot of running hunger, which I hope to properly discharge of during coming weeks; but that's a subject for a separate post. Anyhow, I was back on Sunday when I also got the keys to my new apartment and had until Wednesday to get furniture for it. As it turned out that meant daily trips to Ikea :). Still, in the end it worked and I managed to get everything I wanted and also to bring it all on my own. But on Tuesday evening I was quite tired. The day started badly, as...