Advice for a friend

No running today - just running around! I had to take the car to the garage this morning to have the damage appraised from when we got rear ended in December. Then this afternoon I have to take it to the insurance company so their appraiser can decide if they are going to agree with the garage's estimate. In the middle of all this, I had a lunch date with my friend Anne at one of my favorite restaurants in Leuven, Lukemieke (yum!)

So Anne is thinking of taking up running. And she was asking me all kinds of questions but the one that kind of stumped me was: "How do you get to the point where you don' t hate running anymore?" Because, honestly, sometimes I still do kind of hate it. But I tried to tell her how even though it is still hard to get out there and do it, and some runs still do suck, I like how it makes me feel afterwards, I like the efficiency (re: calorie burn) and simplicity (just put on your shoes and go) of it. I like how sometimes if I feel really crappy, I know going for a run will for sure make me feel better. I like the feeling of accomplishment. And I guess the only way to get to that point (the point where you can still hate some parts of it, but that feeling is trumped by all the good stuff you get out of it) is just to start doing it, little by little, and give yourself the chance to grow into it. And then sign up for a race.

Anne reads this blog so if you guys have anything else helpful to add, please be my guest! A beginning runner can use all the support she can get, right?

And don't miss the great giveaway over at Kim's blog - she is going to be sharing some of her favorite things - go check it out!

Weekend Mileage

Something just occurred to me: is it still considered "mileage" when you count in kilometers? Hmmm....

Yesterday my friend Ingrid and I got together to go walking - this is the second time we have picked a nature trail and just walked and talked together, and it's just great. This time we went to the "Gempemolenpad", a 5 km path that starts and ends at an old mill on a stream which has been converted into a pub/restaurant. So after walking through the rolling countryside, woods and along a field, you can finish off with something nice to drink and/or eat! I think we ended up spending more time at the pub afterwards than the walk actually took, but it was a great thing to do on a winter afternoon!

This morning Stefaan and I decided to skip running at the lake because I was afraid the path would be all mucky from the rain we had last night (and I do hate to get my running shoes mucky if I can avoid it). So we went from home and did a big loop through the neighborhood, and along a country road. It was raining lightly when we left and it even started snowing a bit while we were out. It went well, relaxed and easy, and we ended up doing 6 km in about 45 minutes. Now that we are signed up for that 10K in March we are both much more motivated to get our runs in!

What do women want?

Linda stopped by yesterday to see if I was doing anything in the evening - she had an extra ticket to a show and wanted to know if I could come. I was so excited because it was going to be the one performance here in Leuven of "Was wil das Weib", a musical performance by Els Dottermans, a very well respected actress here in Flanders. The show premiered recently in Gent to excellent reviews, and I had read about it in the newspaper.

Well the reviews were right - this was a great show! The theme was "what do women want?", and Els performed songs with a band, some of which had been specially translated into Dutch, of all different genres, but all adressing her theme. For example, they did an awesome, almost punk rock version of Dolly Partons's "Jolene" in Dutch. Between songs, was an incredible ongoing monologue (written by Dutch author Connie Palmen) on men, relationships, love, choices, and what it means to be a woman. Connie Palmen once wrote: "Don't take a woman's suffering away from her; it is the only thing she can be great at."* Els Dottermans' performance brought this woman to life on stage and it was amazing to watch.

Now it's off to more mundane pursuits, like the gym, the store, cleaning, folding, putting things away, welcoming children home from school, cooking, and cleaning some more... But in the back of my mind I'll keep hearing "Jolene" and wondering...what do we want, really???

*Neem een vrouw haar lijden niet af, want het is het enige waar ze groots in kan zijn.

Just Another Tuesday Morning (not!)

I woke up in the middle of the night from a very realistic and scary dream (part of it included our piano being on fire!) and had a hard time getting back to sleep, but of course, by the time the alarm went off, I was back into a deep sleep and it wan't until Florian came in our room to get something that I realized I had overslept a bit. Florian was good enough to go wake Felix for me while I dragged myself out of bed. When I got downstairs Gillis was trying to figure out how he was going to bike with his badminton racquet to school in the pouring rain which was pounding on the skylight in the kitchen. So I quickly decided to drive them for once, since Stefaan was still home and could walk Felix to his school.

After dropping them, it took me 40 minutes in the heavy traffic to get home - normally this drive should take 10 minutes. First order of business when I finally got home = make a cup of coffee and some breakfast (a sliced banana with some soy yogurt and hemp seed) and try to wake up. Then make a second cup of coffee and check my emails and look at some blogs. Can you tell I am procastinating going to the gym? Well, I did find this great account of someone who just ran the Disney marathon, and I thought I would share it with you - click here. It was fun to read it - it made me remember the amazing time I had running my first half there two years ago. Luckily it wasn't as cold then as it was this year.

So I guess I should get off my behind and put on my gym clothes and go - I am sure I will feel less groggy if I go than if I hang around here like a schlumpadinka, right? Reading Lynn's latest post made me realize that even if I don't do everything single thing on my exercise plan, I can still go do something. I'll check in here later when I get back!

A few hours later: well, yes, I did go to the gym (just do it, right?). I told myself I would do what I could and see how I felt. What was supposed to be an interval run became 30 minutes of alternating a minute of walking with four minutes of jogging, but I did manage to increase my tempo each time so that by the end I was running at a pretty good clip. I ended up doing a total of 3.8 km, which isn't too terrible. By then I was feeling a lot better, so I went ahead and did my NRL4W workout with weights, which actually went fine. So am I glad I made myself just go? Did I do more than I thought I could? Do I feel better? YES! YES! YES!

A Carrot or A Stick?

I need a stick to keep me running. Carrots just don't cut it. The best stick is being signed up for a race. Luckily I got an email recently announcing a new race - HEMACO Dwaars door Dendermonde 10K on March 21. The really cool thing about this race is that it is sponsored by my husband's old high school, HEMACO (which stands for Heilige Maagd College) and will start on the school's campus. It sounds like a nice course, along the Dender river, finishing in the market square of Dendermonde, a town I have never been to! And for once a "normal" distance, not these 11's or 8's...so last night we signed up.

So what a bummer when I woke up this morning and it was pouring out - the race isn't that far off and so I decided to go to the gym to get my run in, because I didn't want to risk the weather not clearing up (even though it was supposed to). It was pretty busy at the gym but I got a treadmill (have to get there before 9.30 to be sure to have one) and set off - my goal was to do 6 km today and it took me 42 minutes. Made sure I got some good stretching in (my abs, arms and legs were still very sore from my second NRL4W workout on Friday) and headed home. And guess what - the weather cleared and when I got back Stefaan was out for his run - that stick sure is effective!

Finally, a big congratulations to my mom who not only got a PR in her race yesterday but placed first in her age group!!!

Sad for Haiti

I have been shocked by the devastating reports and images out of Haiti, a country that already suffered so much from poverty and lack of development. I wonder if they will ever recover from this and I wish strength to the Haitians and their families all over the world, as well as all the foreigners who were in Haiti, often working for help organizations. For anyone who would like to do something to help, my sister Katy pulled together some great information on the various legitimate American organizations you can support: check it out at her blog.

For those of us in Belgium, donations can be made to the organizations here on the picture to the right.

Why does it seem like the disasters our world faces just seem to be getting more and more brutal?

My reward: Sven Nys!!!

As you know I decided to go out for my first outside run of the year today and I was not sure where to run, but decided to take one of the main roads out of town, because I thought the sidewalks would be clearer than the neighborhood route I usually do. At first my legs were like, whoa, what's going on here, but I soon got into a good rhythm and it felt great. The universe rewarded my effort because just as I approached the point where I decided to turn around I saw a bike coming towards me (I was on the bike path at this point because the sidewalk was full of slush and ice) and I noticed right away the green bike outfit, and sure enough, as he zoomed past me, there was no mistaking the eyes - it was Sven Nys!!! That made my day! I returned home a very happy girl, having done 5.3 km in 40 minutes (it was the "run when you can and walk when you have to" workout, due to the sidewalks!)

For those of you who don't know who Sven Nys is, he just won the Belgian title in cyclocross for the 7th time last week and is an incredible athlete. That is the second time I've seen him on that road during the week - maybe I should run there more often??