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| Meet the Ambassadors 2024
Bart Mistiaen
Program: marathon
"My main motivation is to run a full marathon once in my life. Training for the half marathon back in 2022 was kind of lonely on my own but with the Sofico Ambassador program, the option is there to work with colleagues aiming for the same goal and getting professional advice."
| Training updates
Follow Bart's journey
March 24, 2024
Made it to the finish line!
February 16, 2024
Almost there. Or so I thought
January began much like December ended: with pleasant running weather. It was sunny but a bit cold at times, but hey, we’re no pussies, as the captain of my favorite soccer team would say.
Distances of the Long Slow runs were still increasing. Keeping track of my training sessions, timing, and distances posed no real problems.
On January 27th, I embarked on what would be my longest run yet. Everything went smoothly, and I could start practicing with drinking while running.
Unfortunately, during the last hour, I experienced cramps in my back and groin pain. Although this wasn’t the first occurrence, it now persisted for days this time. In previous occasions, stretching and resting were sufficient to get rid of the pain but not this time.
The groin pain eventually shifted to discomfort in my abdominal muscles during the next training session, compelling me to skip it. After consultation with Laura, our trainer at Energy Lab, I consulted my GP to identify the cause of this pain.
As it turned out, I had abdominal tendinopathy above the pubis. Thankfully, I didn’t need to halt my training, but still had to seek out a sports-specialized physiotherapist for some extra exercises.
Core Stability
My initial sessions with the physiotherapist emphasized the importance of core stability exercises. We revisited nearly all the exercises from the kick-off day at Energy Lab.
Additionally, a gait analysis revealed that my left leg was less stable than my right, potentially contributing to the abdominal muscle issues. In other words, I’m an unbalanced runner (OMG). Hope it does not become mental 😉.
But two things became clear: I’ll never doubt the necessity of core stability training again, and, perhaps oddly, I’ve learned to listen and understand more of my body.
Thanks to the excellent guidance of the physiotherapist—who coincidentally ran the Sofico Ghent Marathon two years ago—I’m back on track for March 24th.
I hope I can continue this path and see what the result will be.
5 weeks to go
With just 5 weeks to go until the Ghent Sofico Marathon, the training intensity is increasing.
The last 2 week of February will be dedicated to pushing hard with long runs exceeding 2.5 hours, followed by focused recovery sessions to ensure I'm fully prepared for the big day on March 24th.
January 5, 2024
Project 'the Sofico Ghent Marathon', the next phase
Longer, further, and sometimes faster
After the first update, I had just started with the second training phase.
In the first phase, I got acquainted with the cycle of increased intention over 3 weeks and one week of recovery or less intensive.
The second phase is pretty much the same as the first phase but only a bit longer in sessions. Doesn’t sound too much exciting but still, training has to be done.
Now, the third phase is where things get interesting. It's not just longer sessions; they've thrown in some extra ones too. My weekly routine now involves running on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, with Sundays gradually pushing the limits.
The last day of 2023 turned out to be the day of my longest run for the year - one hour and 40 minutes, covering almost 14 kilometers. It's starting to feel real now, you know?
In figures, the training evolution looks like :
11 weeks to go …
Here we are in 2024, the year of our challenge.
Checking out the latest update from our trainer, Laura, I can tell you, it's definitely shaping up to be a challenge. The next big goal is the long run scheduled for 27/01, where I've got to clock in 2 hours and 15 minutes or cover roughly 19 kilometers.
Curious to see how that pans out. Let's do this!
New balls … shoes please
Just like tennis players always call for new balls, us runners have to make sure to switch up our running shoes regularly.
Back in October on kickoff day, we had a cool session at Runners’ Lab to measure our feet and snag some advice on good running shoes. Since my old kicks were due for retirement, I seized the chance to grab some new ones.
It's amusing how these shoes end up with quirky names. Mine? They're the Brooks Beast GTS. Besides picturing a beastly run, the "GTS" makes me daydream about cruising in a sports car through beautiful landscapes—not so much about running in winter rain and wind. Unless, of course, it's the lovely surroundings in and around Lochristi and Zwijnaarde.
Interesting fact: for a marathon, Runners’s Lab recommends going one size up from your regular shoe size. Apparently, during the long haul, your feet tend to swell. To prevent any extra pressure on those feet, they suggest giving them a bit more room.
Explore new grounds
To keep things interesting during those long Sunday runs and avoid getting bored, I've turned to the courses option on connect.garmin.com and runnermaps.nl. It's a nifty way to discover new routes or even design my own. The best part? It's free! Plus, it works just as well for walking and hiking.
Speaking of surroundings, I've found my new go-to starting point for runs close to home (picture left).
Warming up to that point and then go go go …
November 17, 2023
The First Four Weeks of My Marathon Training
The first four weeks of our training are designed to build the base fitness and prepare the body for the longer distances we will be running in the weeks to come.
What are the key training principles?
A few key training principles to keep in mind:
Progression: gradually increase the training load.
Variety: include long runs, intervals, etc.
Recovery.
We are now at the end of the first 4-week training cycle. Each training cycle has 3 weeks of increased intensity training and 1 week of recuperation runs, with each week comprising an Extensive run, an Interval run, and a Slow long run.
These training sessions focus on exercising in one or more heart rate zones, which is a totally new approach for me compared to previous training periods for a 10k or half marathon.
The question is, does this heart rate-focused training make a difference?
First things first, training in a heart rate zone means running slower than I used to, or to quote our trainer Laura, "slow is the new fast." That was quite challenging—holding a steady pace but feeling that I can go much faster.
However, as the training cycle progressed, it became clear that this is a more productive approach compared to the training methodology I used before. Did it pay off? Yes, it surely did.
Over the three weeks of increased intensity, the evolution is quite clear:
- Extensive training (fixed time in one heart rate zone): increased speed per km: 6:55/km → 6:45/km
- Interval training: hard to see evolution here as the interval time zones differ a lot.
- Slow long run (a longer run on a lower heart rate frequency): increased speed per km: 7:40/km → 7:01/km
The second training cycle is starting now, still focusing on heart rate zones but overall, longer and more intense runs. Looking forward to the result of that cycle, but that is for the next blog.
More than running...
Core Stability exercises are also part of the training. The funny thing is, these exercises are also part of the Aerobic exercises my wife is following. The next thing will probably be doing this with leg warmers as back in the 80s...
By the way, other interesting things occurred during the first training cycle. I already lost 1 kg of weight (still a lot to go 😉) and I discovered the importance of bananas before a long run.
And last but not least, it is great to participate in the Sofico Marathon Ambassadors group. It keeps you focused, and you feel supported by fellow runners and Sofico colleagues who ask about the progress.