nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

Can I give more? The answer is usually yes

I'm a married 35 yr old father of one, started running in late 2010 to accompany my Dad on a race and done nothing again till March 2011. Ran the Clontarf Half that year in under 1.45 and again done nothing for 3-4 months. Started taking it more seriously in 2012 and hoped to run DCM that year but a bout of plantar faciitis put an end to that.

Started back again in October 2012 and from then till May 2013 i was in my best form since i took running up. Ran all my PBs in that period. Cue June last year i went in for a supposed simple operation that would see me off running for max 6 weeks, two knee ops later i'm back running since mid February and back chasing my old self. List of my PBs below:

5k - 18.47 (May 13)
5mile - 31.43 ( April 13)
10k - 41.10 (February 13)
10 mile - 67.39 (March 13)
Half Marathon - 1.31.39 (May 13)

Any input/advice/abuse greatly appreciated.

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

Great to read your observations about the Netherlands, B! Sounds like you are enjoying the exploring.

annapr wrote: »

Great to read your observations about the Netherlands, B! Sounds like you are enjoying the exploring.

Cheers Anna, here just over 6 weeks now and can not find fault with the place. Amenities are superb with loads for kids to do, transport system is faultless as we brought no car with us but between trams and cycling a car is not needed. And all the great places to run is a huge bonus, am sure I have only touched the tip of the iceberg though.

OOnegative wrote: »

Cheers Anna, here just over 6 weeks now and can not find fault with the place. Amenities are superb with loads for kids to do, transport system is faultless as we brought no car with us but between trams and cycling a car is not needed. And all the great places to run is a huge bonus, am sure I have only touched the tip of the iceberg though.

Yeah but what’s the beer like

Mrs Mc wrote: »

Yeah but what’s the beer like

To bloody cheap:eek::eek::eek:

Jack to report this week, laid up for the week with MANFLU that manifested itself into a nasty cough and wheezy chest. Should be ok to get back out tomorrow but it will be all easy again with no intensity coming off a dose.

OOnegative wrote: »

To bloody cheap:eek::eek::eek:

OOnegative wrote: »

Jack to report this week, laid up for the week with MANFLU that manifested itself into a nasty cough and wheezy chest. Should be ok to get back out tomorrow but it will be all easy again with no intensity coming off a dose.

You sure these two posts aren't connected? :cool:

Hope you feel better soon... ! Thought of you in Longwood as we ran over your favourite canal several times.

annapr wrote: »

You sure these two posts aren't connected? :cool:

Hope you feel better soon... ! Thought of you in Longwood as we ran over your favourite canal several times.

I won't deny you maybe onto something regarding the two being connected, still in holiday/party mode since arriving and the alcohol intake would be more than normal(still not a whole lot!!) but it's totally against the norm for me. Starting half marathon plan in two weeks and that will be the end of drinking for a while.

Miss that canal!!!

Annie get your Run

OOnegative wrote: »

Miss that canal!!!

What, you don't have enough new ones over there to run over

Glad to hear you've moved off the death bed anyway :rolleyes:

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Glad to hear you've moved off the death bed anyway :rolleyes:

Touch & go for a while, it's a lethal disease!!!!

Bit late with this but here goes:

Monday 9.10.17

Rest

Tuesday 10.10.17

5 miles Easy@8.44min/mile in 43min 38secs

Urban/beach-front/trail run in the heat and humidity. Thank god I've a few pounds to lose with all this sweating mullarky. Good run and body felt good, my Ma surprised me with a visit for the week to.

Wednesday 11.10.17

Rest, showing Mammy Den Haag!!

Thursday 12.10.17

6.25 miles Easy@8.41min/mile in 53min 16secs

Back up to the wonderful park of Meer En Bos for this, place was quiet this time around and I had the trails and paths to myself for the most of this. Lovely autumnal feel to the park with golden leaves on the ground, there was plenty of fowl life gracing the pond also.

Friday 13.10.17

Rest, missus had to do a pick up in Eindhoven airport and was looking for company on the trip. It was this or a run........ I earned myself some future brownie points and kept her company!!!

Saturday 14.10.17

6.25 miles Easy@8.34min/miles in 53min 03 secs

Combination of Westduinpark and Bosjes Van Poot for this. 23 degrees or so doing this and I was a sopping mess getting home. Plenty of runners out, most only seem to appear here come weekend time. Glorious run this.

Sunday 15.10.17

7.30 miles Easy@8.35min/mile in 62mins 37secs

Out mid morning to get this done as it was promised to be circa 25 degrees later in the day. New destination and new park for this, Scheveningse Bosjes for this. Another beautiful park to run in with once again firm muck trails or tarmac covered running paths to use depending on your preference. Stuck to the muck trails and could have ran for another hour around there only I was tight time wise. Another place I will come to run again.

Not the week I wanted but life got in the way and I wasn't going running everyday when my Mam was good enough to come visit us.

Few pics from my run around Meer En Boss below.

Annie get your Run

Fab photos!

Monday 16.10.17

Rest

Tuesday 17.10.17

5.20 miles Easy@8.42min/miles in 45min 13secs

Got out late afternoon to do this, combination of urban and trail running in the unseasonably warm weather, very warm and humid out.

Wednesday 18.10.17

5.30 miles Easy@8.24min/miles in 44min 32secs

Out early evening to get this done, again very warm out headed to the running paths of Westduinpark to run. Glorious views out across the North Sea as the sun started to set, absolute joy to run in.

Thursday 19.10.17

3x5mins@HMP with w/u and c/d

Headed to Zuiderpark to do this and took a different route to take in the boat houses along the canal. Some sight, miles upon miles of houses moored beside each other. It was once more very warm and knew I'd be a sweating mess by runs end. Decided to target 6.50-7min pace for the faster bits to see how I would manage it. Run went well and was happy with how I got through it, no fear of me running a full half currently at that pace but I'm a work in progress.

7.5 miles in total for the day.

Friday 20.10.17

4.35 miles Easy@8.56min/miles in 38min 49secs

Few recovery miles around Bojes Van Poot, legs feeling no ill effects of previous days faster running.

Saturday 21.10.17

6.10 miles Easy@9.14min/miles in 56min 20secs

Had she who must be obeyed for company on the first 2 miles of this, her easy pace is circa 12min/mile about TbL's MP so it was nice and handy, done a lap of Bojes Van Poot with her before going out separate ways. Headed to the trails of Westduinpark to finish my run. Lovely morning for a run with plenty of other runners out.

Sunday 22.10.17

4.55 miles Easy@8.49min/miles in 40mins 07secs

Lashing rain the whole day here so headed to Bojes Van Poot for a bit of shelter to do this, can feel some semblance of fitness starting to return to the body. Lovely run in the mucky trails despite the rain.

6 days running and 33 miles for the week, I'll take more of the same next week thank you very much.

The North Sea views:

Monday 23.10.27 - Wednesday 25.10.17

Enforced rest, few hours after my run on 22nd I felt dull pain on the front of my legs from below my knee to above the foot, bloody shin splints!!!! Having suffered from this in the past I knew how to deal with it, roll the tar out of my calves and stretch the shins. Spent the 3 days foam rolling the calves, which were like rocks in honesty and stretching my shins. Laziness on my part for letting the calves get so bad!!!

Thursday 26.10.27

6.55 miles Easy@9.00min/miles in58min 54secs

After bout of shin splints I find wearing compression socks/calf guards of great benefit. No pain at all after my first few steps of this which I knew was a good sign. This was done mostly on the soft mucky trails of Bosjes Van Poot and Westduinpark. The shins held up well but kept the pace right down.

Friday 27.10.17

5.45 miles Easy@8.22min/miles in 45min 36secs

Same route as day before minus a mile or so, was seriously stuck for time on this, had the in-laws with us for the week so only small window to get out. Wore compression socks/calf guards again and felt they helped, no pain from shins during or after run.

Saturday 28.10.17

6.10 miles Easy@8.22min/mile in 51min 01sec

Same as day before, very stuck for time so only ventured to Bosjes Van Poot for this, shins again good during & after the run. Plenty of heel drops after this as in the days previous.

Sunday 29.10.17

Rest, out all day with family and in-laws and had 0% of a window to get a run in, no harm in resting shins even though they felt 100%.

Monday 30.10.17

6.50 miles Easy@8.27min/miles in 54min 57secs

Again quicker than I would have liked but again I was tight time wise, kept to the same route of Bosjes Van Poot/Westduinpark for this. Considerable bite in the air for first time, winter is a coming to Holland. Shins again felt fine.

Tuesday 31.10.17

5.25 miles Easy@8.34min/miles in 44min 57secs

Bit more time for this so pace was little more sensible, again didn't stray far and kept to BVP for this, found another new trail path that's very up & down that I will be using plenty in the future. Good for leg strength, shins feeling 100%.

Wednesday 1.11.17

Rest

So I staved off a bout of shin splints hopefully by acting on it straight away, horrible injury if you let it get into you this I know myself.

Happy enough with the week seeing how it started off for me, last of the visitors for a while to so won't be as tight time wise for a while so paces on runs should slow down again.

Sunday afternoons view of the Buitenhof, it was chilly:

Thursday 2.11.17

4.25 miles Easy@8.48min/mile in 37min 22secs

Once more up to BVP(Bojses Van Poot) for this, nothing to report, great little park to have run in with zero interruptions. Shins behaved themselves on this and gave me zero issues, was wearing compression socks/calf guards on this.

Friday 3.11.17

5.50 miles Easy@8.41min/miles in 47min 45secs

Once again down to BVP and Westduinpark for this, keeping the pace down as best i can. Am sure those who read this have had there fill of BVP. Great park and i would run here all day, everyday.

Saturday 4.11.17

4.60 miles Easy@8.38min/miles in 39min 45secs

An assault towards Schevenigen, urban run for 2 miles the rest was in the lashings and undulations of Westduinpark. Got home soaked , it rained but that wasn't why.

Sunday 5.11.17

Parnessia Laan Van Meedervoort Loop 10km 44min 17secs

Cycled out to Kijkduin for this, zero expectations only to put in a good performance. This race has itself styled as the hardest 10km in Holland, i wanted to sample some of that for myself to see how true it was. Only pace i had in mind was to run sub 7.20 min/miles. Lined up to far back but got into running soon enough, knew 1st 5k was faster than the 2nd. Held back a little here i felt, never got passed the whole through the race apart from short of 4 miles when the call of nature got the better of me.

The second half was tough going, through dunes and hills, plus last 3k was completely on sand, not easy for a fat arse like me. Pace for 5k was 6.30 soon lowered come the beach, 26th out of 532 people, happy with that and i never gave up and seriously surprised myself on this one. You may laugh and you may be right but this was a big confidence booster.

Just over 34 miles for the week, i was planning on starting on the 18 week Hanson Advanced Half Marathon plan last Monday, i don't have the base mileage built up to start this, my shins are still a bit dodge and i'm sure as hell not risking an injury to start a plan.

Have since deferred to a 10 week Yasso plan, plenty of build up, plenty of time to lose the lard arse and plenty of time to get faster.

A good week Ted!!!!!!!!!

Nice run, Barry. Hate running on sand myself, but no bother to a tough mudder like yourself. Tough on the calves/achilles too, I'd imagine, so a good test!

Ugh 3k on sand! At the end of a 10k!!!! Sounds unpleasant

Good running though

Annie get your Run

Glad to hear the confidence is coming back B. Yasso eh? Don't think I've seen that mentioned anywhere here (other than the yasoo workout in the meno plan!!). Best of luck with it

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Glad to hear the confidence is coming back B. Yasso eh? Don't think I've seen that mentioned anywhere here (other than the yasoo workout in the meno plan!!). Best of luck with it

Think meno had Yasso 800's incorporated into his plan, plan I'm following is by the man who invented those 800's. Has nice mixture of speed stuff, hills & likes to have a hilly run once a week. What with most of my runs being done in the undulations of the dunes around here it seems like a good plan.

Plus the hilly stuff should help build leg strength and endurance, something I lack when the race gets longer. Plan on running an autumn marathon next year so this is a build up to it.

Well done. That time is probably a lot better than it looks going by the 26th of 560 or whatever. I think if you tried a flat out 5k you might surprise yourself.

On an unrelated note, how is your Dutch coming along? Looking at the name of that race I imagine most people think loop means loop:). (Not being smug I hope, I have about 5 words of Dutch):).

snailsong wrote: »

Well done. That time is probably a lot better than it looks going by the 26th of 560 or whatever. I think if you tried a flat out 5k you might surprise yourself.

On an unrelated note, how is your Dutch coming along? Looking at the name of that race I imagine most people think loop means loop:). (Not being smug I hope, I have about 5 words of Dutch):).

Cheers P, it styles itself as the toughest 10k in Holland, second half was tough going in parts, but have ran far tougher at home.

Dutch is coming on abysmally I have to say, have picked up the basics like 'hello' and 'thank you' but most speak English so I'm just being lazy not learning more.

Monday 6.11.17

Rest, i knew i was going to be behind the 8-ball this week in regards getting out for runs as my missus had a TbLesque week ahead work wise. Legs sore after the 10k the day before.

Tuesday 7.11.17

Rest, one thing i did not miss during my abstinence from racing/running fast was DOMS. Man they hit me with a vengeance today. Walking upstairs in particular was shock to the system.

Wednesday 8.11.17

5.50 miles Easy@8.46min/miles in 48min 10secs

Legs somewhat better today but still some effects of Sundays 10k there, headed to BVP for this and kept to the flatter parts of it. Reason i am keeping to BVP so much lately is its close to home, in case the shins turn turk i can get home in less than 5 minutes.

Thursday 9.11.17

6.05 miles Easy@8.43min/miles in 52min 45secs

Same as the day before with an extra loop added on, man its getting cold here in Den Haag, different cold to Ireland though being in such close proximity to the North Sea and the wind whipping into the city makes it a different cold to home. Still not cold enough for tights:P:P:P.

Friday 10.11.17

Enforced Rest, missus got home for an hour and back to work then till after midnight.

Saturday 11.11.17

W/U, 3x6mins@10k pace, C/D

Headed to Bosjes Van Poot to do this, i had a loop of .80 of a mile in mind for the intervals that had 6 short sharp inclines to negotiate and one fairly sharp downhill to. Taking my 10k avg from last week i was looking at running these close to 7min pace but concentrating more on effort and form than pace really.

Got two mile warm in then into the intervals, first one was an absolute brute, had to talk to myself a number of times to keep going. The 2nd & 3rd were a bit more controlled and comfortable for me, the soft muck trails and wet leaves made this more challenging to, but all in all i was happy with effort and how it went. Covered 0.86 of a mile on each one to a pace of 6.59min/mile, boringly consistent.

8.30 miles all in for the day.

Sunday 12.11.17

7.25 miles Easy@8.39min/miles in 62min 41secs

Headed out towards Scheveningen Haven starting off for this and turned just short of it back into the dune paths of Westduinpark, no sign of my Scottish Highland cow buddies today but plenty of friendly Dutch runners out on this, the men have a serious fondness fir there running tights(girls blouses!!!). Back in towards BVP for a big lap and had to hurdle a few dogs, TbL's worse nightmare this place with the amount of dog walkers it gets. Down Goudenregenplein and home. Lovely winters run.

27.10 miles for the week, i squeezed every chance i could out of this week to get out for a run. Body just wasn't up to it Tuesday so lost a day there but i'm happy i did not get lazy this week as has happened in the past. Shins are still at me on and off, but absolutely no pain from them while i run which i will take as a good sign.

Have picked Koln as my Autumn marathon for 2018, i will have a warm summers training behind me please god here so should be will adjusted to that in case it is a warm day next October in the home of the Billy Goats.

Monday 13.11.17

Rest

Tuesday 14.11.17

5.80 miles Easy@8.45min/miles in 50min 46secs

The Boss was up to her neck in it still work wise with very long days so it was after 8pm by time i got out for this. Headed to Zuiderpark to see how well lit it is at night time, wasn't disappointed at all. It was well lit the whole way around which was great to see as i will probably be doing plenty of my winters running here with the evenings getting dark here at 4.45pm.

Wednesday 15.11.17

The missus wasn't home till 4am:eek::eek::eek: Thursday after being gone from 7am on Wednesday.

Thursday 16.11.17

5.25 miles Easy@8.43min/miles in 45min 46secs

Got out in daylight to do this so headed for the trails and undulations of BVP. Dogs everywhere and had to hurdle a few cause there owners were not paying a blind bit of notice to their dog. Trails are starting to get soggy and mucky here now which is a bit dodgy when running down hill.

Friday 17.11.17

6.35 miles Easy@8.39min/miles in 54min 57secs

A mixture of Westduinpark and BVP on this, shins are behaving themselves thankfully with a bit of dull pain sometimes after runs. No pain at all though while running which is different to the last time i suffered with them as i could not run at all. Enjoyable run with nothing of note to report.

Saturday 18.11.17

w/u, 3x5mins@10k, 1x5mins@5k off 3.30, c/d

Spent the early morning out at Scheveningen Haven to see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas

The haven was thronged with people, absolutely jammed, he arrived via steam boat which was a great spectacle for the kids to see. Loads of "black pete's" giving out treats to, great to sample another countries traditions.

Back home and headed to Zuiderpark to do this, was a strong wind blowing which was going to make this tough in spots, was looking to run the intervals faster than last week as this was completely on the flat. First one as like last week was a pig, but as with last week once i got into it the session was enjoyable and the remaining intervals flew past. Splits as follows:

1. 0.75mile/6.40 pace
2. 0.76mile/6.35 pace
3. 0.76mile/6.35 pace
4. 0.79mile/6.20 pace

8.85 miles in total.

Happy with this and the wind didn't cast me a thought doing it, some fitness returning slowly. Got back home and changed to go see Sinterklaas parade through the streets of Den Haag, would give St Patrick's Day a run fot its money.

Sunday 19.11.17

4.35 miles Easy@8.43min/miles in 37min 54secs

Hungover run around BVP, i could never go running hungover at home but in Holland it doesn't bother me one bit.

30.60 miles for the week and 5 days running, some consistency returning and can feel some improvement fitness wise. Bounce back in the step to and really enjoying my running again. Looking forward to getting into training for the half marathon next month.

Annie get your Run

You'll have to invest in a pair of proper trail runners B, would make all the difference to slipping & sliding.

Monday 20.11.17

6.10 Miles Easy@8.50min/miles in 53min 49secs

Dropped the smallest one to playgroup & headed for the city centre to do some shopping, completely forgot that the majority of shops do not open in Holland till 12pm on a Monday:mad:. Back out home and out into the heavy misty rain for my run, headed for Westduinpark first past the herd of Scottish Highland cattle and back for the Haven then, ran out along the pier for a bit man the wind coming off he North Sea would go through you. Back home completely soaked but an enjoyable run.

Tuesday 21.11.17

Rest

Wednesday 22.11.17

5.10 miles Easy@8.36min/mile in 43min 51secs

Got out early afternoon to do this, the missus came home to let me out as she was in Amsterdam overnight with work. Up to BVP for a few hilly laps and back home, all good again.

Thursday 23.11.17

5.30 miles Easy@8.50min/mile in 46min 49secs

Combination of Westduinpark and BVP for this, another run with little to report only it was enjoyable as always.

Friday 24.11.17

w/u, 6x800m in (3.10-3.20) off 400m rec, c/d

Again headed to Zuiderpark to get this done, had been raining very heavily all morning prior to getting out for this but thought i was good to get out and stay dry. Got a decent warm up done but as soon as i started into the 800 repeats the heavens opened and i mean opened, i was 400m in to the first one and was soaked through, runners included which were half full of water. Nothing to do only put head down and plow on plus i was a good few pounds heavier nor with a soaking t-shirt, base-layer and shorts.

The intervals went very well though and felt very controlled and comfortable but still a challenge. Splits were as follows:

3.10/3.12/3.10/3.10/3.09/3.09

Another decent session in the bag and could feel the improvement on these compared to last few weeks. 8.85 miles in total for the day.

Saturday 25.11.17

4.70 miles Easy@8.47min/mile in 41min 14secs

Few very easy miles around the flatter parts of BVP,legs could feel the effects of the 800's the day before which i'll take as a sign i pushed myself a bit doing the session the day before.

Sunday 26.11.17

5.20 miles Easy@8.42min/mile in 45min 13secs

Brass monkeys in Den Haag today, got out early afternoon to do this around the streets of the city. The one fault i have found with place so far is there is dog excrement everywhere along the paths, you have to have your eyes peeled or you'll be coming home and stinking the house out of it. No pooper scoopers over here:eek:.

35.25miles for the week but more importantly, 6 days running. Shins have cleared up completely to which is great. More of the same next week is the plan and might throw in a steady run as well as a session.

Monday 27.11.17

Rest

Tuesday 28.11.17

5.40 miles Easy@8.42min/miles in 46min 59secs

Can't remember a thing about this run or where i even went on it, nothing of note happened on it obviously, old age setting in. On that subject, a new pair of runners arrived that i had ordered on Nike.com on Black Friday, they looked orange to me on the website but turns out they are pink and styled as unisex runners. The missus had a great laugh!!!

Wednesday 29.11.17

7 miles Steady@7.39min/mile in 53min 32secs

When i was under the expert tutelage of Coach T i used to love seeing steady runs in the plan, i felt they brought my fitness on a lot. If i could knock a steady run out comfortably i knew i was in decent nick. Started from home and headed to Zuiderpark to do the majority of this, had 7.40-8 mins in my head as a guide re pace. Felt strong doing this and the miles flew by almost disappointed i was leaving it at 7 miles as i had plenty more in me to another few miles. Encouraging run.

Thursday 30.11.17

Enforced rest, the wee one was up all night vomiting and the same all day Thursday, she was lying on top of me on the couch late afternoon and felt the brunt of one such vomit all over my face:eek::eek::eek:. Luckily i'm not squeamish.

Friday 1.12.17

w/u, 5x1k@5k off 2mins, c/d

Up all night with the wee one again so my sleep wasn't the best and i was in zero form to do this. Headed to the paths of Westduinpark and found a reasonably flat section to do this. The odds would be downhill somewhat into the wind the evens uphill with the wind. The first one as with previous weeks was a brute but once again settled into them and they became much more comfortable. The downhill repeats into the wind were much tougher than the uphills, the times/paces were as follows:

3.55.61/6.20min/mile
3.55.37/6.20min/mile
3.55.02/6.19min/mile
3.54.43/6.18min/mile
3.55.79/6.20min/mile

Happy with them to be honest, apart from the first they all felt good and i wasn't flagging on any of them. 8 miles all in.

Saturday 2.12.17

10 miles Easy@8.40min/mile in 1hr 26min 42secs

Up and out the door at 7am into the pitch black had checked the weather on the phone before i went out and it said it was 0 degrees but the thing you want to check is the real feel which said it was -5 , the missus was leaving for an over-nighter work wise at 9am so wanted to get this in before she went. Down to Zuiderpark once more and i was frozen, zoned out completely and just got the run done. Only people i had for company were the homeless living in the park, say they thought i was a crazy man out running in the cold. Spent 20 minutes in the shower after defrosting.

Sunday 3.12.17

4.25 miles Easy@8.51min/miles in 37min 35secs

Out late afternoon to do this after the missus got home, wee one still not herself so bit of a restless night again. Out around Westduinpark and over and down some of the WW11 bunkers and back home, plenty of other runners out and about to, most i have seen on a run.

34.65 miles for the week off 5 days which i'll take with the week that was in it. Sleep was very bad which i'll have to watch as it impacts my mood greatly if it gets very bad. Weight has dropped to from 13 stone 13 pounds when we arrived to 13 stone 1 pound this week, still a bit more to come off that but its heading in the right direction. Solid week overall.

Monday 4.12.17

Rest

Tuesday 5.12.17

5.35 miles Easy@8.40min/miles in46min 22secs

Down to the lights of Zuiderpark to do this, a big lap and a small lap and then back home. All feeling good.

Wednesday 6.12.17

7 miles Steady@7.40min/miles in 53min 38secs

Not as comfortable as last weeks steady run, for life of me I could not get into a proper rhythm at all. I was either going to fast or to slow. It was no issue fitness wise just awkward run for some reason, maybe to much looking at the Garmin which isn't like me.

Thursday 7.12.17

5.05 miles Easy@8.40min/mile in 42min 44secs

Out into the rain for this after the Boss got home, out the door and ran up Laan Van Meerdervoort to Kijkduin and back, not another sole out running apart from myself.

Friday 8.12.17

w/u, 10/8/6 min@HMP off 3mins, c/d

Adapted this session a small bit to my current fitness level it should be 18/12/10 at HMP but I just ain't there fitness wise yet!! Wanted to make it as tough as possible so headed for the undulations of the running paths in Westduinpark. What I didn't realise till I got there was it was blowing a gale down by the North Sea.

The white horses were in full show in the sea, pondered a while after the w/u would I run to the flat of Zuiderpark and run the session. Bit the bullet and got into it, gale blowing straight into my face for the 10 min section, I was blown completely off the path at one stage and the sand was being blown into my face that felt like I was getting sandblasted but kept the head down and gritted it out.

The 8 & 6min were much more manageable as the wind was not hurting as much on the return. More determination and stubbornness that got me through this. Distances/paces as follows:

1.48miles/6.47min/mile
1.19miles/6.45min/mile
0.89miles/6.44min/mile

Paces slightly hot but I'll take it, tough session because of wind but enjoyable. 8.80 miles all in.

Saturday 9.12.17

8 miles Easy@8.40min/mile in 69mins 17secs

Up early to do this and headed towards Schevenighe En Bos for a few laps, up past Europol, the World Forum, Eurojust, Yugoslav War Crimes Court where Slobodan Praljak committed suicide a few weeks back. Onto Madurodam, which is a miniature village kind of like Legoland into the forest and ran a few laps and retraced my footprints and back home to put up the Christmas tree!!!

Sunday 10.12.17

4.30 miles Easy@9.07min/miles in 39min 13secs

It had snowed heavy early morning before I went out to do this, got plenty of weird looks as I ran towards Westduinpark in a pair of shorts, it wasn't even that cold!! Quick lap and back home, loads of kids out on sleighs and toboggans sliding down the hills. Few photos below.

38.50 miles for the week which I'm happy with, more of the same next week will be the plan.

Annie get your Run

Ah feic off with your winter wonderland photos

you're as bad as Snailsong. It's been raining and about *minus 100 here all day :pac:

*it may not actually be minus 100 but is sure feels like it!!!!!

Fab photos Barry....don't mind that grumpy one!!:D

Sure its only a light dusting

Week of 11.12.17 - 17.12.17

28.75 miles over 4 runs, had step back week planned but planned running more but a snowstorm hit Monday afternoon and rendered the paths un-runnable for 3 days.

Week of 18.12.17 - 24.12.17

32.75 miles over 5 runs, again no excitement in any of these all easy running apart from a good steady 8 miler on Wednesday morning.

Plan for the CPC Loop Den Haag starts on Monday so will be some speed and intensity involved from then on till the 11th of March 2018. Very much looking forward to getting into it and putting the work in, have one 10km lined up prior to it currently.

Merry Christmas to one and all who have read, posted or abused me the past 12 months on this log, hope ye have a good one.