Sofico Marathon Ambassador Program

Saturday 29^th of March, the date before the big day.
Sorry lovely family, we will eat white bread (I never buy white bread) for lunch and eat chicken, rice, cooked pineapples and peaches for dinner, just like I was told in the group call.
Went to bed early, luckily slept very well, even though we could sleep one hour less.

Sunday morning, getting more and more stressed, had lunch at 11h30 (white bread), jumped on the bicycle and went to the Sofico VIP room. My coach told me several times I could run the half marathon in 2hours but personally I thought 2h 5m/10m would be more realistic.

Preparation for the race, talk to colleagues, friends, family, short warm up, go to the toilet, leave on time to the start boxes…
Oh oh, so many people, waiting, I have to go to pee again. Jumped between the normally closed fence, peed a lot, back to my position, talking to my running mate and step by step off we go.

And then it got started.
It was so lovely to see so many people cheering for everybody. People called me by name just by reading it, the local pharmacy displayed “only 17km to go”, nice music, children giving high-fives, family-friends-colleagues spread all over the place.
My coach ran next to me for 5 min and felt/told me it was going very well and I knew it.

In the last 3 km I even started to accelerate and passed a lot of people.

But, if you wonder, I am still on schedule and with hopeful news!

On Thursday the 16^th of January we were welcomed for our second test day at Golazo.
This time the focus was on the DXA scan and the effort test.
The results were impressive for me. I lost more or less 4 kgs and gained 2 kgs of muscles.

And my effort test showed a big difference compared to 3,5 months ago. I was able to run 13,5km/h and my average was around 10km/h. My coach told me she thinks I can run the half marathon in 2 hours. Let’s see. Trust the process, I am not there yet but still on schedule to get there.

We also had a mental training session with 7 habits (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People) we could take into account, but to be honest, I had the feeling I was already dealing with these. Yeah, big part of running is also a mental process. And that’s also one of the reasons I will take part of the Wondelhood run on the 16^th of February. I am so used to running alone that running in a big group will most likely feel different.

Next to that we had a nice connection session.

I was also surprised that so many colleagues have or had to deal with injuries. Hopefully we can all make it at the end of March, but we have to believe that we can do it.

And I also know why I chose not to dance at my wedding party 3 years ago. Just like the first meeting at Golazo, after lunch, we were invited for an early afternoon wake up/dance/exercise session. It is nice to see that everyone is following the same moves… NOT 😊

Here I am sitting after an early morning run, enjoying my cup of chocolate milk (apparently a very good recovery drink since it contains milk and sugar). Something we learned from our coaches.

2 months further and yes, still on track.

AND! Passed the 5km barrier without injuries (don’t mention the word).
I didn’t miss any training, sticked to the plan my coach told me to follow and learned some stuff:

First thing I learned: try to think in minutes/km and not the opposite I am used to km/hour. Secretly I am still looking at the km/hour speed I made, also since I don’t have to walk anymore so my average speed is accurate.
Second: don’t run clockwise on a running track. The first time I reached “my” local running track (takes me 10min to get there) I started running clockwise, but I noticed that I saw quite some opposite runners (and they saw less). Did some research and actually never realized runners run anticlockwise. Once you get smarter and you bump into people who run clockwise, you look at them thinking “loser”. The only excuse that I consider myself partially a “loser” is that I am partially left-handed so clockwise might be more logical for me.
If you want to know more about it, read https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305730990_The_Reason_Why_Do_Athletes_Run_Around_the_Track_Counter-_Clockwise
Third: Yeah it’s all about speed. No it’s not. It’s all about heart rate. My coach thought me to run with an average heart rate between 150-158. So that’s where you have to look at on your smartwatch. Not at the minutes/km. And that’s very helpful.
Fourth: dogs and specially their bosses like to follow the same track as runners do. Very annoying if you ask me, but they most likely think the same about me.
Fifth: still a lot more to learn. Running is also thinking, not thinking, switching your mind, listening to your body, enjoying being outside, enjoying the lovely shower afterwards and the feeling you have afterwards (even though it feels stiff from time to time).
Things that I wonder about are most likely logical questions. What will happen the day of the (half) marathon. Will you follow the crowd? Will it inspire you? Will it make you nervous?

My wife advised me to participate to a 10km running race. Not a bad idea. Currently I am only running half an hour so I only run 5km or so but yeah why not. If have to admit when I see other runners running on the running track, I have the feeling I have to pass them. What will happen if 10.000 people run around you. Will they pass you, will you pass them? Things I will be able to tell at the end of March.

Also, as a kind of motivation, I start to imagine I am already running the half marathon. For sure when I hear the bells of the railway crossing near to my running track, it makes me think of “the last round” and then you finally get there (even though I know there will only be 1 big round without bells).

Next step, mail from Golazo Energy to fill in a medical questionary. Based on my date of birth, chosen distance and average speed I got either a green light or an orange light. Orange light means => you have to go to the doctor for a medical approval.
But, what’s my average speed? Less or more than 8km/hour?

Luckily I registered before for the “start to run” app and the next day started my first training.

The nice “start to run” lady whispered in my ear my average speed was 7,9km/hour. Hmm, not bad. Green light, but to be sure on Monday I went to the doctor anyway.
Turned out last year my doctor also participated to the Sofico Ghent Marathon 2023 and based on my story and examination she approved my participation.
In the meantime, I found out my average speed is a bit higher. The nice app lady forgot to tell me her average speed calculation was also including the periods I walked..

From then I started to get to know/understand the nice lady a lot better and I listened to her for the next 7 trainings.

My first session was the easiest one. Go to the Runners’ lab shop and buy all the things you need for running. New shoes, light (rain)jackets, shorts, long pants, socks, underwear, led lights. Very nice stuff they sell (and thanks to Naomi who helped me transport my shopping bag since it didn’t fit in my bicycle bags).

Next stops were the photo shoots, intensive training followed by hopeful + disappointing results of my own body. We were fully examined and had a lovely day, also due to the fact we got to know our fellow ambassadors better and better (I realized I am the oldest ambassador this year).
The long day finished with a nice dinner in Ghent and we all couldn’t stop talking about running.

Since then, I am addicted to my new smartwatch (thanks Sofico), strictly following the personal based training schedule, try to live a healthy live and enjoy the spirit we all show in our WhatsApp group, teams chat, etc.