On the 14th of September the AJC organized a Cooper test. As usual, every participant enjoyed it a lot and some of us improved their PB ^_^.
The results of this edition can be found here . An overall view of the results in 2006 are also available on the AJC website.
Run4Fun: season 2 started ^_^
Some would say "at last!!". But it was worth the wait-_^
We'll be back next week with a new schedule, more variety, more training sessions, and... more FUN!!
A flyer will be sent around but here is a sneak-preview :
Rondje Voorne: a sensational story about running and friendship
Follows a nice testimony written by Bert van Bommel about a very well known Dutch race: Rondje Voorne .
"On Sunday 27 august 2006 Guus Sarneel, Herman Vanhecke and Bert van Bommel took part for the second time in the " Rondje Voorne ".
This is a 50 km run, that one can do on his own, as a duo-run, or with any other number of runners in a team.
We took part as the "Patentlopers" with the three of us (average age 55 yrs) , which means that one runs, while the other two bike.
You can exchange tasks whenever you want, as long as one keeps on running.
The track covers the major part of the island "Voorne", with a beautiful scenery varying from meadows and fields, via small villages to woods, dune and beach.
On our way to Voorne the rain wouldn't stop, but when we picked up the starting number the sun broke through, and it stayed that way.
The start was in the old town of Brielle, where all teams, runners and bikers stood in a small street.
In the beginning it was crowded, but after a while there came some distinction between faster and less fast teams.
We changed every ten minutes,
i.e. 10 minutes running, 20 minutes biking.
This seems relaxed, but after the fourth time our legs surely felt that some effort was asked from them.
Between the 30 and 41 km points we had to run on the beach where no biking was possible, apart from one changing spot in the middle.
The two tracks on the beach ( 5 and 6 km of loose sand and wind) were not easy for the runners.
However, since the biking track was much longer (and not well marked), also the bikers had to go for it.
The last part we decided to change role every 5 minutes in order to keep the speed at an acceptable level.
After 4 hours and 14 minutes we arrived as 33rd team out of 50.
Tired, thirsty (as usual) and very satisfied.
One decision has been taken already: Next year we'll do it again!"
And to illustrate their great achievement, herewith 2 nice pictures:
We would like to thank Bert for his initiative and we can only encourage all of you to send us your stories about running and share with us your experiences ^_^
Running in altitude: tough and tremendous at the same time -_^
I have been living here in The Netherlands for almost 2 years now. And curiously enough, I also have been running for almost 2 years. You've heard the story about changing your running habits and introduce more variety in your running to boost your motivation and your pleasure? Well, I decided to make a 180° turn and go running in the mountains in altitude!
So here I am in Font Romeu in the French Pyrenees at the CNEA (Centre National d'Entrainement en Altitude) surrounded by professional sports-men and -women training here for serious business! A bit intimidating at first sight but very nice in the end. I learned afterwards that you are not supposed to train the first 3 days because your body needs time to adapt to altitude. Of course, you can afford to wait when you stay here for 2 months, but when you only have 7 days in front of you, what do you do? You run straight away! As if altitude were not enough, the slopes are really steep and the tracks are just a succession of traps like rolling rocks or slippery mud.
So guess what? Running had never been so hard. It hurt everywhere, my heart was pumping like crazy, my legs were weak and sore. In comparison, the Rome marathon was just a piece of cake -_^ In addition, the weather changes fast in the mountains, and you can have a pretty chilly session in the morning (around 0°C ) and quite a hot one in the afternoon (>24°C). But after 3 days, things changed. My heartbeat rate came down to something more reasonable, the legs were lighter, and running downwards was not such a pain anymore. I started to enjoy it. I mean, really enjoy it. The scenery is breathtaking, there is just you and the nature, and at the end you feel strong ^_^
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So here I am in Font Romeu in the French Pyrenees at the 
So guess what? Running had never been so hard. It hurt everywhere, my heart was pumping like crazy, my legs were weak and sore. In comparison, the Rome marathon was just a piece of cake -_^ In addition, the weather changes fast in the mountains, and you can have a pretty chilly session in the morning (around 0°C ) and quite a hot one in the afternoon (>24°C). But after 3 days, things changed. My heartbeat rate came down to something more reasonable, the legs were lighter, and running downwards was not such a pain anymore. I started to enjoy it. I mean, really enjoy it. The scenery is breathtaking, there is just you and the nature, and at the end you feel strong ^_^ 
