From Hel to Heaven

After finishing the "Hel", I started thinking of doing an Ironman distance triathlon again. Many people compared the Hel with an Ironman, so now that I survived that, I assumed myself up for the task. Plan of the year: Altriman in the Pyrenees, comparable to Embrun. Sounds like fun :). 

But first, let's get back to real life. Since September 2015, I felt sick coming to work. De-motivation because of unappreciation and the "slowness" of how stuff moved forward gave me a feeling that life was passing me by. I had to find physical challenges to make me feel alive. It was a struggle to stay in the office for a complete day. In Autumn, we were at the final stage of an important project, so I told myself to hang in and finish this project. I didn't want to  abandon my colleagues. I just told myself I would change in January. I wanted to work 50% - my side-job as sports masseur was growing and gave me much more satisfaction. But when I started working again after the X-mas holidays, there was no positive feedback from my superiors that it was ok to work less. The thought of not being able to work less in the company, started to make me more and more sick and depressed every day. I also noticed I was getting more short tempered every day. Until one day at lunch time at work I couldn't take it anymore. I took my bike to go home and in my mind, I felt I would never come back! The next day, I went to a psychologist who told me I was deep into a burn-out... I was told to stay home for a month. As of day one, I wanted to find a way out, but my energy level was at freezing point. Although I am big fan of cooking, I could barely bake an omelet... Going to parties and look happy, just drained me completely. I got more and more depressed, not knowing how to get out of this situation. I had to find out what gave me energy so I could load my batteries. The only thing that made me feel good was my family, running and giving sport massage. But as soon as I was home alone and started thinking what to do, I slipped away again. The first months were awful, I got the worst flue I ever had and I was an emotional wreck. With the help of my doctor, psychologist and talent coach, I realized what I had to do: first make sure I feel better again, do stuff that give you energy and say "fuck it" to all the rest. So I ran, took care of the kids and gave sport massage from time to time. I also slept a lot. It felt as if my body was finally given the time to recover from the mental stress state it was in the last year (or even more). 

The first months, I read a lot. I wanted to understand more about burn-out. In my mind, a burn-out was a situation where you can't take the workload. Seeing myself as a endurance athlete, it is hard to accept that I could not take the load. But when reading about burn outs, I understood that it's not only the workload. It's the how your work is appreciated, how you feel connected with your job, how you get satisfaction in your daily job. Working with my talent coach also made me realize that I am a helper. Which explained why I got so much energy from giving sport massages. Given all of this, I understood that I just didn't belong where I worked for the last 8 years. It gave me peace of mind - it's not me, it was the environment I was in that was just not suitable for me.

Next, I had to discover what options I had for the future. In my case, I saw three:

• Go back to my old job - the thought alone made me feel sick again
• Work less and do another job in the same company - even that made me feel as sick as option 1
• Give up my job to focus on my carreer as sports masseur, combined with a part-time job as whatever, just so we would manage financially. 
• Give up my old job and focus on my carreer as sports masseur and take care of the kids and household.

If I listened to my heart, the last option was the only true right one. But that would mean to give up a lot of financial security. I was too afraid to chose this option: I hold the responsibility for 3 young kids! It made me sad and depressed again, that I would be unable to follow my heart.

Fear of taking the leap and leave my secured golden cage was too big... I felt I was trapped. But again with the help of my psychologist and doctor and with the support of my family, I dared to consider following my heart. I started calculating the financial impact, looking at things from a positive point of view and when I pictured myself living my dream, I felt happy! Why should I not give it a try? When I was young, many households had also only 1 income. Why should that be different now, just because capitalism tells us to consume, it doesn't mean you have to buy everything! Yes, capitalism helped man to get out of misery, but if you have enough to cover your basic needs (food, shelter and health), the rest will not make you more happy! Happiness can be achieved by only basic things, more stuff/money does not make you more happy! On top of that, the number of people that came to me for a massage grew every week and more importantly, people came back for more! I learned that if you put your heart into something, it will be worth it! I finally felt appreciated and I felt that what I did really meant something. I also discovered that I have a lot of characteristics of a highly sensitive person. This helped me to understand that doing good for others can make me feel good as well.

In the meanwhile, the weather was crap, I needed to get some sunshine. At that point, I saw the invitation on facebook for the 2016 edition of the triathlon du lac de salagou, organized by my good friends from Montpellier. I still had to set things straight overthere since my fail in 2014.

Checked up with the family and I registered. I hadn't rode my bike for a few months, so I had to gear up a bit. Given the fact that sports (in my case swimming, running and cycling) gave me energy, it was also the ideal way to reload my batteries, as they were still pretty empty. Yes, I was feeling better, but I still had a lot of ups and downs. The downs were not as long and low as in January, but I didn't need much to bring me down again. But hey, I was looking at things from a positive point of view and it was clear that things were going better. Because I was slowely recovering from my burn-out, I felt I was much more relaxed, much more than I ever was the last years even. I was definitely taking the right decision! The fact that I was more relaxed kept me free of injuries. In the past, I didn't need much to get small injuries that stopped me from running for a few weeks. I learned now that stress makes your body more vulnerable to injuries and sickness as your ability to cope with fysical/emotional load lowers due to the stress. The race was beginning of June, and I wanted to make a decision before I would leave. The decision was clear, I would follow my heart and get out of the toxic environment that my work in IT had become. I left relaxed together with my brother Kurt in the direction of Montpellier! We stayed in a very quiet place some 20 min from the lake called Les Vignals. Welcomed by a very friendly couple that also followed their heart :)

The first day, I went to check out the bike course. 2 years ago, we had to do 2 laps with one big climb. This year, it was one big lap with three climbs. Much harder than in 2014. I like :) The last climb was already at around 45k. I reckoned I best took it easy on the first two climbs and then push it a bit more as of the last climb, but not too much, as the run looked similar to what we got in 2014. The day before the race, I took it easy and made sure everything was prepared. My race was on Sunday. The start was at 9h30, much better than in 2014, when we started around 11, way too hot. Also the temperature was much better for me. Sunny, yet not to hot and enough wind to cool down. Apparently too much wind for some as they decided to shorten the swim due to rough waves, pitty, my best part of the race :(.

Anyway, of we go for the swim - 354 individuals and 22 teams. After 1700m through rough water, especially on the way back it was hard to find the right direction towards the exit, I got out of the water in 26:53 around 30th place. Good start. Ready for some fun on the bike. Last time, I didn't have enough to drink and consequently got cramps in both legs after 1k in the run. This year, I packed 4 bottles with home made energy drink and ORS. One thing I learned from the "Hel" is that I need lots of salt to make up for all the sweating which causes my legs to go into cramp mode... So of we go.

Normally, I am used to being passed by tons of participants, given that the swim is my best part and the bike my least... But this time, I was able to keep up with the guys that left the transition zone with me, until the first climb. My 4 bottles and the +10kg I weigh extra than most other participants made me lose quite some spots. It seemed that I was drinking a lot, cause I had to stop to pee (yes, I am not wetting my pants on the bike...) just before the second climb. The same happened on the second climb (including peeing :)... and on the third. The scenery was just amazing!

On the third, I was catching up on some other participants. But the spots I won, I just lost again when stopping to pee... The final 15k towards the transition zone went really well, I passed by a lot of guys and was hoping to be somewhere around 80th place. My goal was to finish around 100th. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that I was 69th at a few km before the tranistion. I took my time in the transition to drink and pee :) - one guy called me Monsieur Pipi after the finish :).

The run consisted of two laps on trail like terrain. Lots of bumps and sand. I quickly started catching other guys. It felt great. I even had a little chat with the future winner when he overtook me on his second lap, I even managed to keep up with him :) Friendly guy, Betrand Billard. Each aidstation, I refilled my bottles with ORS and water, which made me lose quite some time. But I really needed the salt! The whole run, I was playing yoyo with a guy called Mohammed who asked me if I put enough sunscreen (yes, I learned my lesson from 2014!). He also wondered why I was stopping at each aidstation, I explained that without the water and salt, I would lose much more time! A guy from Gent caught us in the last 2km, but I decided to see what was left. No cramps so up for a sprint. Mohammed was too fast, but at least I beat the guy from Gent :D

I was so happy with the result. 57th on 354 finishers! If I wouldn't have stopped 5 times to pee, I would have been top 50 :D. Lessons learned : use salt sticks instead of ORS on the run, it saves you time. And work on the content of the drink on the bike to avoid loosing too much liquid :D
What struck me the most in this race is that I was really able to enjoy it from start to finish. Yes, I was a bit stressed the day before, but it was bearable. Completely different from other races where the work-related stress already put a high load on my body. Without the work related stress, my body could handle much more physical load! That just shows that you should be aware of your own energy level, are you under constant stress (can be from lots of things) or are you relaxed? Now the race was finished, I could enjoy a few days of holiday with Kurt. I really love coming to this region with the beautiful villages and nature (and great food and wine ;) )

Back home, it was time to finalize my leap of fear towards happiness. Although the decision was easy, the actual change still scared me: would it all be worth it, will I be able to do what I want. But hey, sometimes you need to cross the bridge while you are still building it, otherwise you might never reach the other side! So I left my job and registered for a course in sports therapy to become a better sports masseur and help more people even better. And if it was worth it? Definitely, I never felt more happy with my family, relationship, hobbies... I never felt so happy with my life since my youth. They say that when you are young, your soul knows what it wants. But on the way, you might get lost. I am really happy I found my way again. And it wasn't even that difficult to figure it out, I just had to listen to my heart :D

The way to Hel

After the deception at the Triathlon of lac de Salagou in 2014, I didn't really know what to expect from 2015. Too afraid of the heat, I decided to stay in Belgium in 2015. I did the 111 of La Roche and the Nisraman. Two amazing races from sport-events in the beautiful area of La Roche. The 111 was too much bike (100k) for me. But it was super fun to cross the finishline with my boys!

Happy with my performance in La Roche, I continued to train for what I assumed would be my main goal for 2015: The Nisraman. Nothing changed in the format of this fantastic Sport-events race. Last time, I burned myself during the mtb part, this time I would try to keep some for the run. After a steady swim and good bike, I was still in 20th position to start the mtb. I lost a few more spots, but was up for a good run. However, cramps (again) at the first descent decided otherwise. I lost 10 more spots and finished 38th on 123 participants. Happy with the race uptil the cramps, I still enjoyed this great format, especially thanks to the support of my family.

Because I felt I could have done better if it wasn't for the cramps in the run, I decided to find another race that could motivate me for the remainder of the year. For more than a decade there was 1 particular race that kept me curious. The "Hel van Kasterlee", an off-road duathlon, held end of december. Being in Belgium, you never know how hard this race can be. All depends on the weather: will there be rain, snow, cold or maybe sun? But even without the weather, the race format promises excitement : 15k run - 105k mtb - 30k run. Some say it's as tough as an Ironman. So better prepare for the worst :) I started doing long mtb tours, first in Summer (really fun doing the +100k tour of Hageland), then in Autumn (rain and mud a gogo but not less fun for me :). Obviously, I had to do some running as well, so I participated on my first multi-day trail event : X-trails Houffalize: First day : Kamikaze (4k trail) + Semi-night trails Coccinelles (20k) - Second day: 26k Houffatrail. Really fun event which I finished with a lot of confidence to go to the "Hel"!

While I was preparing for the "Hel", I started to feel less and less motivated in my job in IT at Atlas Copco. The lack of appreciation, direction and progress in projects made me wonder why I was waisting my time here. Luckily, I had my family, sports and my side-job as Sports Masseur (which I started in 2015 : check my website for more about that: www.sportbalans.be .) to balance my life. From September to December, the frustration in my daily job grew bigger and bigger until a point where I started to feel sick when I came to work. I decided I couldn't continue like this and something had to change in 2016, I had to escape this hell I felt to be in! But first let's go to "the Hel of Kasterlee "!

The race started at the first weekend of the X-mas holidays. I felt I was still stressed from the de-motivation at work. With that came the stress of what I was about to get myself into... I decided to try to run my own race in a smart way. Stay calm on the first 15k, survive the 105k of mtb and then go all out on the 30k. Difficult to stay calm on the first run, as a lot of the guys here run the first 15k at around about 1:00:00... I finished the first lap after 1:09. Good enough for me. 169th place so far on 255 participants. Not great, but plenty more fun to come! However, fun was not the word that came to my mind while I was riding my mtb through the sandy roads in Kasterlee. I felt what these months of demotivated work had done to my body and mind... I was empty. And although it might sound strange to say this about a race like the Hel, I was bored...  In my mind, I pictured the mtb course to be made up of technical single tracks, but that was only the case for 2k on each 21k lap. This was the only place on the course where I was able to catch other fellow "Hellracers" and where I had fun (except for when I passed the transition zone, where my two biggest fans of the day (my dad and Matti) cheered me up. The next difficulty was to "ride" through a field, but that was more a struggle to walk through mud. Not much fun about that...

The rest of the course was just dried up fast tracks through the fields. Some might call it luck that we had temperatures upto almost 20k, but I would have liked to have gotten some rougher conditions... I am a man of power, not souplesse... Anyway, you have to take life as it comes. So I just continued to pedal lap by lap until I was allowed to start the last 30k run. In the back of my head, I was continuously hoping to have no mechanical problems. Just when I started to feel relieved that I would make it, my rear wheel blocked... I thought it was just the chain, but it just refused to turn around. By accident, I noticed that it would only turn if I let it stay loose on the frame. With only 3k to go, I decided to losen my wheel and just ride carefully. Obviously, this made me lose some spots, but hey, I was here to finish and have fun, not to beat other people... Speaking of fun, finally I got to the point where I could go all out: the last 30k run! Two laps of 15k. The course consisted of roughly 5 long stretches of road, mentally pretty tough. Luckily my good friend Bert accepted my invitation to be my companion on the bike during these last 30k. When I started running, I was so happy, I started of faster than the initial 15k. Other participants looked at me as if I was crazy and warned me that it was still a long way to go... But this is why I stayed calm on the bike, to go crazy on the run :). But when I saw I was running at around about 13km/h, I decided to slow down anyway. I started  passing by a lot of guys on the first 10k. When the first round was done, I must have passed more than 20. It gave me wings. Obviously, I was bound to meet my dear friend with the Hammer. The second tour was really hard, much less participants on the track made it mentally really hard. But mister Hammer only caught up with me at the last 1k when I got cramps... I left my last bottle of ORS in the transition zone... But the emotion took over and pain left the body. I had tears in my eyes when I realized I was going to finish this Hel despite of how shitty I felt about my job... My family was just around the corner to encourage me on the last few 100 meters. I told my boys to follow me and with my last strength, I climbed the stage of the finish line! Yes! I made it! Finished 143th after 8 hours and 58 minutes :D

My first thoughts after finishing was that I would never do this again, but when your oldest son tells you on the way back that he wants to run this race when he is older together with you, you laugh and say ok :)!

Triathlon Lac du Salagou

This year, my goal was to finish two Long distance triathlons (half-ironman distance). One of them would be Eupen and the other a race abroad like last year's Natureman. When I was on holiday in the Cevennes last year and I visited my friends Cyril and Joelle from Montpellier, they told me they were playing with the thought to organize a race at lake Salagou. I told them, if they do so, I would come over and participate. So I did. My preparation was much better than last year. No sickness or bad injuries (except for a fall on my knee, but that just affected my speed, not my endurance level), so I was ready for it! Obviously, I just wanted to finish in a good fashion, but I also wanted to have a good race to not make a fool of myself in front of so many friends from Montpellier that I hadn't seen for a long time!

Like last year, my good friend Bert joined me. Which made the trip and stay even more fun. It felt really good coming back to the region of Montpellier, where I had lived for 2 years from 2005 until 2007. Especially seeing my friends again!

We arrived on Thursday afternoon. After unpacking, we went to check out the race area. I met Eric, Olb, Patrick, Joe and Cyril who were working hard to get everything ready for the weekend. I knew immediately that it was going to be an amazing race looking at the scenery.

On Friday, we went for a ride to get to know what was awaiting us and we didn't get disappointed. What the guys from MAT (Montpellier Agglo Triatlon) prepared was really amazing: a beautiful route on the roads near lake Salagou. 

On Friday, it was rather cloudy and we even got some rain during lunchtime. The type of weather I like most during a race. I hope that at raceday, temperatures stay low enough, otherwise it's gonna be killing...

On Saturday, we went to watch the Olympic distance race, always nice to watch pro's in action. We also saw more friends from montpellier, José, Nanard (still going at his age!), Patrick, Thibaut, Clem, Aurelie, Marie, Audrey, and my coach for Embrun and great athlete Julien. We didn't explore the running track upfront, but given the time it took the first to finish the 10k lap, it promised to be tough :-). The clouds that were covering the sky on Friday made way for clear blue skies, temperatures were rising with it. Not the perfect weather for a Belgian...

Finally, Sunday, raceday! Clear blue skies from early morning, that's gonna make the race even harder for me than it already is... Departure time is 11:00. So we will be racing at the hottest time of day... Drinking will be even more important! First off, 2km of swimming. I decided to not force it too much but to swim with a good feeling. As a result I felt that I was in 60th place after the first few meters. But while we got further, I noticed I was passing by other participants without too much effort. It looked like I was having a good day :) I was pleasantly surprised to hear I was in 21st position when I left the bike zone, 28min including roughly 100m run to the bike park. Pretty good on +300 participant. However, that would mean that a lot of guys would be passing me, given the fact that swimming is my best part. The track was pretty tough, so best not to push it too much.

I decided not to look too much at my heartrate and just go with the feeling. Not too many guys passing me, I felt good. Drinking and eating in time. After the first lap, I was still around 45th place. I swapped both empty bottles for two fresh ones. 

Still feeling good. As I mentioned before, the ride was pretty hard, with one big climb with percentages to 9%. I tried not to go too fast on the first round, but the second time we got to the climb, I decided to push it a bit more. The sun was burning at the hottest time of the day... Still I felt ok. But then, when we got at the top, out of the shade, I started to feel dizzy, I felt like I was being roasted... It was still more than 20k to the end of the bike, so I decided to slow down a bit. It was at that point that the first female passed me, I remember I felt like a zombie, and so I looked like one as well, apparently... Perhaps I should just quit this triatlon thing... so much training for yet another disappointing race...

The descends that I took really good the first lap, were a struggle in the second lap. I really had trouble focussing, man, again, I was struck by the heat... I should look for cooler places to race... The wind was starting to join the race, so the way back to the bikezone was even harder, especially with all the others passing me by... Well, let's just try to finish this bike, find a second wind by slowing down and eating and drinking. The legs were feeling pretty ok, so let's hope for the best in the run. I finished the bike in 3h08min, not that bad given the track and the heat stroke I got. I must have lost at least 10 min in the last 20k, if not more...

Well, now that's passed, let's focus on the run. That was looking like fun, mostly off-road with a nice climb, that we pass twice. At the bike zone, I saw Dje, another friend from Montpellier. He wished me good luck, I was going to need it...

I started off pretty good, the legs felt ok, but that was running in relative shade. After 1k, we got into the open on a slight climb and that's when the sun hit me a second time. I felt I was being cooked alive... I got cramps in my hamstrings, whatever I tried, they didn't want to go away...

Although I used salt in my drinks, it looked like I lost too much water and salt that my muscles just couldn't function properly... It felt like Embrunman all over again... I was thinking of quiting, I felt like shit, all that training and sacrifice for nothing... I stood there for 15min, unable to even walk. Finally, after being in the shade for 5 min and trying to push away the cramps, I felt like I was able to walk... still roughly 20k to go... I saw Bert coming and decided to run with him, that worked, although only for 1k, then the cramps got back... Philippe Garcia, another good friend from Montpellier passed me by, I remembered from 2007 he was better at coping with the heat, he looked pretty good in the run. For myself, I could barely walk, but I was just looking forward to the first aid stop. I refueled and refreshed and got new spirits to continue. I was passing by other zombies that were apparently also struggling from the heat. I was happy I was wearing my waterbelt and shared some of my wealth with a guy that was struggling even more than I was. It was at that point that I decided to fuck it all and enjoy the scenery, which was amazing. Switching between running and trying to push away the cramps every 1km, I slowely came closer to the finish.

Except for the cramps, I was feeling pretty ok, although extremely disappointed. But I decided to not risk my health, unlike some others that wanted to sprint at the end and then collapse to the ground... I finished finally in 6 hours and 10 minutes...133rd on 236 finishers.  

Feeling like a fool to run 20k in 2h30 min... But ok, I finished, which in this case is already something to be proud of if you know that from the 300 participants, 70 didn't make it to the finish line, almost 25%... So, just be happy to be a survivor of what was yet another amazing adventure. Yes, I was disappointed with my performance, but the event fits nicely on my list of amazing races, next to the Natureman, Embrunman and Nisraman. Maybe they should call it SalagouMAN :). I would recommend it to anyone who is up for a challenging race in an amazing scenery, organized by an amazing team! Bravo le MAT!

Oh yeah, just to show how "bien cuit" I was, here is the evidence:

Lessons learned: carry more drinks on the bike (2 bottles is not enough for me) and use more sunblock!

Natureman 2013

6 Oktober 2013

4 jaar na het fiasco van de laatste halve triatlon in Brasschaat, was het dit jaar opnieuw tijd om te zien wat we waard zijn op een lange afstand wedstrijd. Ik wou er iets speciaals van maken en dat is toch het minst wat je kan zeggen van de Natureman. Een pittige race in de prachtige streek aan de Verdon, Zuid-Frankrijk. 

Na Brasschaat 2009 was het duidelijk dat je een halve triatlon niet onvoorbereid aanpakt. Het was dan ook wijselijk om de volgende jaren op zoek te gaan naar een goede balans tussen gezinsleven, relatie, werk en sport, voor ik opnieuw die lange afstanden aanpak. De eerste jaren lag de focus dan ook vooral op de geboorte en zorg voor de jonge spruiten en de verbouwingen aan ons huis.

In 2012 ben ik dan begonnen met een aantal 1/8 wedstrijdjes en een 1/4 op het eind van het seizoen. Dat ging allemaal relatief goed zonder echt veel tijd te moeten steken in het trainen. Fietsen naar het werk (20km heen), zwemmen tijdens de middag en wat lopen als het uitkwam. Ik was dan ook content dat ik in september vorig jaar behoorlijk meekon in Balen tijdens de 1/4. Dit jaar was het dan de bedoeling om met eenzelfde soort aanpak, een 1/2 tot een goed einde te brengen. De jongens zijn nu 6, bijna 5 en bijna 3, dus die vragen niet meer zo veel aandacht als de vorige jaren, hoewel dat relatief is... Doel voor dit jaar dus: met een redelijk tempo de wedstrijd uitlopen en met een goed gevoel finishen. De voorbereiding was gelijkaardig met 2012, buiten het feit dat ik er wat speciallekes had uitgekozen om me wat beter

voor te bereiden op het toch wel zware parcours van de Natureman (Nisraman, Trail des phantomes). Uit die voorbereiding bleek duidelijk dat ik volume miste: meer zwemmen met de club BrTC, wat meer lange duurlopen en fietstochten. Het eerste lukte in het begin behoorlijk, maar het lopen en fietsen was toch moeilijker te combineren met het gezinsleven. De laatste vier weken heb ik dan toch wat langere duurtrainingen kunnen afwerken, maar simpel was het niet, en de vermoeidheid (vooral ook door de stress) van combinatie gezin/werk/triatlon loerde om de hoek.  Het zwemmen bleef wat achter, maar dat is normaal mijn beste onderdeel, dus daar maakte ik me niet te veel zorgen om... Maar voor het zover was, moesten we (mijn makker Bert Paelinckx zag het avontuur ook wel zitten) nog 1100km naar het zuiden bollen. Ik had er een leuke gite gevonden in Les salles-sur-Verdon bij Mme Sophie Saurat: Les cles du verdon. We vertrokken donderdag 3 oktober om 4:00 AM en na een dikke 12 uur rijden kwamen we aan in Les salles sur Verdon.

De gite zag er prachtig uit en het ontvangst zeer hartelijk. We werden aangesproken als pro-atleten, want dat was blijkbaar de indruk die de mensen daar hadden over de deelnemers van de lange afstand. Dat beloofde dus al :). We hadden tijd tot zondag om te bekomen van de lange rit en uit te rusten voor de wedstrijd. Les salles bleek een leuk dorpje met enkele leuke restaurantjes, ik neem aan dat het in de zomer hier wel behoorlijk druk kan zijn.

Mede door het prachtige meer waar we zondag in zouden zwemmen. Vrijdag zijn we dan het fietsparcours met de wagen gaan verkennen, wat absoluut een aanrader was. Het begin was 15km klimmen tot in Aiguines. Daarna kwam een relatief gemakkelijke afdaling terug tot aan Les salles. Van daar was het langs het meer richting Moustiers-Sainte-Marie. We passeerden ook langs de gorges du
Verdon. Adembenemend! Dan kwam het stuk waar de meeste deelnemers schrik van hadden. een klim van 2km met een gemiddeld stijgingspercentage van 16%. Zijn naam, montée l'enfer du Sud - de hel van het zuiden, niet gestolen. De eerste kilometer was nog te doen, maar de 2de kilometer was de ene haarspeldbocht na de andere, en dit 1km lang. De binnenkant bocht was volgens mij meer dan 20% :D. Eens boven was het ergste achter de rug. Er kwamen dan nog wel 2 beklimmingen van rond de 5km, maar die liepen goed en na 75km was het 15km afdalen tot de wisselzone. Mits de nodige dosering was het parcours dus eigenlijk best te doen. Qua omgeving hadden ze ook niet gelogen. Het zicht dat je had als je langs het meer reed was prachtig.

Het loopparcours hebben we niet verkend. Maar aangezien het een trail run was met de nodige klimmetjes, met niet veel meer dan 15% asfalt, beloofde dat ook wel best leuk te zijn.
Zondag dus, D-day. Na een lekker ontbijt met zorg geprepareerd door Sophie onze vriendelijke gastvrouw, bolden we rustig naar het meer. Het was licht bewolkt, niet te warm. Perfect weer voor mij dus. Ze voorspelden echter onweer in de namiddag, ik hoop dat we dan al binnen zijn. 900 man aan de start, drukke bedoening dus. Maar daar trek ik me niet te veel van aan. Ik sta in de eerste rijen tussen de echte pro's - Zamora, meervoudig winnaar van Nice en Embrun. En Alexandra Louison. Niet te zwaar onder de indruk komen. Veel deelnemers kijken toch nogal bang uit hun ogen :) er staat ons een leuke dag te wachten. Ik start in de eerste wave. Mijn makker Bertrand (en francais) start in wave 2, 8 minuten na mij.

We starten vanop het strand, 100m breed, geen al te veel gewring dus. Ik kom meteen in een goed ritme. Hm, 2km is toch wel lang als je niet veel gezwommen hebt de laatste maanden... Na 32 min tik ik mijn
Garmin af wanneer ik uit het water kom. Een spurtje het strand op om te wisselen. Ai, de benen voelen al zwaar aan en het spurtje heeft me precies wat draaierig gemaakt, zeeziek precies :P Swat, flesje aquarius binnen en op de fiets. Ik hoor mensen zeggen dat er een 80-tal zwemmers binnen zijn. Niet slecht dus, zoals gewoonlijk bij het zwemmen. Maar nu... 90km fietsen. Iets wat ik dit jaar hoop en al 5 keer heb gedaan. Het is dan ook nog een behoorlijk pittig parcours:

Goed doseren dus en op hartslag die eerste beklimming oprijden. Ik weet niet wat het zwaarst gaat zijn: fysiek de beklimming, of mentaal 200 man zien passeren en weten dat je wel wil en kan volgen, maar het beter niet doet als je nog 20km wil trailrunnen nadien. Ik slaag erin om rustig te blijven en laat ze passeren. Een aantal zie ik de eerste 15km al zwaar in het rood gaan, die zie ik waarschijnlijk op de fiets nog terug. De eerste beklimming naar Aiguines gaat ok, misschien iets te rustig, maar de schrik voor krampen en een vroege ontmoeting met de man met de hamer, houden mijn tempo laag. Echt leuk is het niet als er op 10 km klimmen 200 man voorbij komt, oud, jong, man, vrouw... niet te veel over piekeren en genieten van het parcours en de omgeving. Volgende keer meer trainen, dan kan ik misschien wel mee...

 Na 25km passeren we les Salles, de benen voelen nog altijd niet super, dus toch nog maar kalm aan doen tot aan de hel. Net voor het steile stuk van 2km komt er mij een groep voorbij. Deze keer ga ik toch niet blijven zitten. Ik zet me recht op de trappers en neem elke bocht aan de binnenkant, de benen zijn precies blij dat ze eindelijk eens echt mogen doorduwen. Zo slecht is het dan blijkbaar allemaal toch niet. Eens boven voelt het allemaal behoorlijk goed. Dan maar wat meer gas geven, het lastigste hebben we nu gehad.

Ik beging terug wat volk in te halen. Nu toch wel blij dat ik die eerste 40km op reserve heb gereden. Nog steeds schrik van de krampen: zo goed als elke wedstrijd die ik dit jaar heb meegedaan, had ik vroeg of laat krampen in de hamstrings. Dat wil ik deze keer echt niet meemaken, toch niet voor 2km van de finish. De voorlaatste beklimming is een allez-retour, dat wil dus zeggen dat je tijdens de afdaling goed moet opletten, maar ook dat je je tegenstanders ziet rijden. Toch wel veel volk nog achter mij, en dat is toch een pak meer dan 8min, dus het is niet alleen omdat ze in de tweede wave zaten. Ik kijk vooral uit naar den Bep, maar zie hem niet, hij heeft dus minstens 20min achterstand op mij, dan ben ik toch echt niet zo slecht bezig. We hebben dit jaar vaak deelgenomen aan dezelfde wedstrijd en ik was meestal voor hem, maar dan meestal ook enkel dankzij het zwemmen. Ik verwachtte dus dat hij wel wat tijd zou inhalen op mij tijdens het fietsen, maar vooral tijdens het lopen, aangezien hij daar toch altijd een aantal minuten sneller was dan mij. Maar ik zag hem dus niet, dus was ik toch behoorlijk aan het fietsen. Als ik dat tot de finish zou kunnen volhouden, was mijn wedstrijd geslaagd: ik had mijn conditie van de 1/4'jes kunnen uitbouwen, zonder echt heel veel te moeten trainen. Maar zo ver zijn we nog niet. Nog 1 beklimming en 15km afdalen en dan nog een trailrun

van 20km. Mijn moral stijgt wel met de minuut, ik haal immers een pak meer renners in dan dat er mij passeren. En na de laatste beklimming voelen mijn benen beter dan bij het begin van het fietsen... vertrouwen genoeg dus voor de run. Ik kom binnen op 3uur, een gemiddelde van 30km/h, niet geknald, maar toch ongeveer wat ik er van verwacht had. Ik begin met hetzelfde elan aan de run, zonder echt diep te gaan haal ik geregeld andere deelnemers in, vooral op de stukken bergop. Bergaf durf ik me niet te veel laten gaan, nog steeds uit schrik voor die krampen. De kilometers gaan vlot, sommige iets te vlot - achteraf bleek dat ze het parcours op sommige punten wat hebben ingekort omwille van de hevige regen de nachten voordien. Dat wil dus zeggen dat we sneller aan de finish zullen zijn. Ook het loopparcours is grotendeels allez-retour, en ook hier zie ik den Bep niet. Hm, die is dan toch ook aan het afzien... daar waren we voor naar hier gekomen :-D De eerste 10km zijn behoorlijk goed beloopbaar, niet te veel steile stukken, behalve dan dat ene stukje muur :), maar dat nemen we na de Nisraman en de trail des fantomes er met plezier bij. Na kilometer 10 wordt het parcours echter wat onregelmatiger. Ik voel dat de benen elke kilometer zwaarder worden. En met het lastige parcours komt de schrik voor krampen meer en meer boven. Ik durf echt niet door te lopen, of het gaat gewoon niet meer, dat kan ook :p. De laatste 6km is twee toeren door het dorp, wel telkens met een 100-tal meter trapjes omhoog. De eerste keer durf ik er niet te lopen, maar de laatste toer, het is dan ook nog maar 2km tot de finish, durf ik toch door te lopen. De laatste kilometer is ook geen volledige en ik finish in een tijd van 1h41 voor de run (die wel maar amper 19km was volgens mijn Garmin) - totaal 5:21:52, 254ste van de 852 finishers (900 starters). Opgelucht (te zien aan de finishfoto trouwens :P) dat het toch allemaal behoorlijk was, zeker gezien de training die ik er voor heb kunnen doen.

's avonds zijn we nog uitgenodigd op de officiële presentatie van de film van race met een hapje en een wijntje in een domein in de buurt. Mooie afsluiter van een leuke dag.

Conclusie: content met de prestatie en alweer een super ervaring rijker. Maar volgend jaar toch anders aanpakken. Als we echt meer lange afstanden willen doen, zal er toch meer volume getraind moeten worden. Om de tijd dan het best te verdelen, ga ik dan toch maar de 1/4'jes laten vallen en me focussen op lange duurtrainingen. Op naar de volgende wedstrijd. Misschien nog een die eindigt op MAN, dat lijken toch de leukste ervaringen: Embrunman - Nisraman - Natureman - volgende: Altriman? Norseman? Celtman? :P