Hi,

 

Just posted this story on a different forum, but as the "idea" came anyway from here .... ;-)

 

 

"In the Xmas period of 2006, the basket club where my kids play, organized a match between the parents of the players & the girlfriends of the trainers. 10 minutes in the game, with my legs burning & out of breath, I had to sit on the bench. While trying to get some air on my lungs, I witnessed the humiliating defeat of my team, and promised to myself, that such a thing wouldn’t happen again.

 

That day I realized that not being fat is not necessarily equal to being fit, and decided to do “something” about it.

 

The next day, surfing on the net, I found the website of coolrunning.com where they had an apparently simple “Start to Run” program, so I decided to give it a try, and started exactly on 31/12/2006….

 

The rest is history:

 

All started with 1 min running, 2 min walking, 1 running … (then I realized how long a minute can be), a few days per week, week after week and before I realized it was week 10 and I could run 30 min non-stop !!!!

 

Then I read that it was ok to increase the running volume 10% per week and so did I. Then the first 10k race came, then the first 15K, then the first HM and before I realized I had become “a runner”:

 

I’ve run with icycles on my brain, I’ve run with the melting asphalt sticking to the soles of my shoes.

 

I’ve run on a thunderstorm (just once … that scared the hell out of me), I’ve run on a mini-snowstorm (and that’s cool !!!)

 

I’ve had ITBS, I have “gout-triggered” arthrosis … but thanks God nothing that a good pair of Brooks can’t alleviate so far.

 

I’ve been chased by dogs in Belgium, Greece & Spain, definitely the wrong species in the wrong planet.

 

I’ve burned 20 pair of shoes (12 x Brooks,  4 x adidas, ….), 3 watches & 2 iPods.

 

I have probably enough T-shirts from races not to need to buy a new one for the rest of my life.

 

I’ve drunk hundreds of liter of Isostar … and I guess hundreds of beers as well (I live in Belgium, you know?).

 

I’ve had two landings on an iced road, one on grint and a pretty hard one on asphalt… and I moved on

 

When coolrunning.com sold its soul, I moved to runningahead.com (Thanks Eric!!)

 

I’ve moved from 65 kg … to 65 kg (I guess there wasn’t too much fat to burn anyway).

 

 I’ve got a veeeery patient wife.

 

What back then would have been a superhuman achievement, today it’s just an easy 15K on a sunny Sunday morning

 

I’ve learnt about discipline, sacrifice and the amazing power of human will (I know, for something as trivial as running, but still ….)

 

I thank the Heavens every day for keeping me healthy enough to … RUN

 

I’ve experienced absolute happiness when I saw the Gates of Heaven disguissed in the Finish Line of my first Marathon.

 

I’ve experienced absolute exhaustion (take any of my Marathons around km 35-38).

 

I’ve experienced absolute boredom (ever tried 90 min on a treadmill?)

 

I’ve run 7 Marathons, the first 32 km with my legs, the final 10 with my Will.

 

I still have to figure out what’s “fun” about running Marathons, so I keep running them till I find “the” answer ;-)

 

I’ve WON one (short & local) race … and “lost” all others.

 

I’ve probably become faster than 99,9% of the population of this planet.

 

I don’t stretch, I don’t follow a training plan, I threw away my HR monitor after the first 2000 km. I just put my shoes on and RUN.

 

I used to train as a mean to reach the goal of a good race. Nowadays the race is the excuse, the training is the goal, or better, RUNNING is the goal.

 

I’ve learnt to enjoy the weather, ANY weather (except … thunderstorms!)

 

I’ve run in 30+ countries in 5 continents.

 

I’ve been running for 275 consecutive weeks, basically I haven’t stopped … since I started.

 

I’ve run 16.093 km

 

I HAVE RUN 10.000 MILES !!!"

 

….the dream goes on"

 

 

Anybody for 20.000? ;-)