David, you are an IRONMAN!

After just 180 days of hard work, trainings & determination, no words can describe the feeling of crossing that finishline!

It shows anything is possible! This famous slogan to symbolize the Iron Man is how I lived day by day for the past 6 months. It was possible! As is anything that you really believe in!!

Was it amazing? Was it a lifetime experience? Did it change your life? IT DID! I truly found happiness in realizing this dream, the support from loved ones & family who joined last minute was incredible to share!

Some might wonder, what is your next challenge? It’s simple: remind myself what this was all about, and make time for friends again!

Thank you all again! YOU ARE INCREDIBLE!

I truly hope you find your happiness… just believe!

Timings:
Swim (3,8km): 1:14:42 (no wetsuits allowed)
Bike (180km): 6:00:26
Run (42,2km): 4:25:49 (started with a severe bad knee, but everyone has something  )
Overall: 11:52:52

Some interesting stats (e.g. 20% does not finish): http://realendurance.com/event.php?a=T5928

An amazing personal movie to inspire you!

My dear readers,

During the first months of training, I had the honor to work with Dries Van Havermaet and his crew to create a movie about this challenge.

I hope you like it!

http://vimeo.com/107265267

It's all about happiness!!

Final gear preperations! Still in draft phase, but you'll get the idea :)

Just smile & be happy!

Anti-Gravity Treadmill - Toy or Workout Beast?

May 17, 2014

It's been a while! Time for an special topic to keep things interesting :)

Some weeks ago, I had some small injuries making it very difficult to keep running at a normal pace. I could not think about skipping one training session!

It seemed I was lucky, In my coaching centre (185.be) they received for several weeks a machine called "Anti-Gravity Treadmill". It looks like a normal threadmill with some kind of cage built around it.

How it works?
- You stand on the treadmill that will calibrate itself
- The cage fills itself with air
- You can set your relative weight.

Does it work?
I believe it does. Since you can keep on training with minimal impact on your joints and muscles. And it's still a very good cardio!

Mental Coaching - Total Coaching & Action Typing

Did you know that your personality type is related to your body posture, how muscles are developed and sport (training & racing) technique?

I had my first mental coaching session last week, and did not know at all what to expect. At first you think 'do I really need mental coaching, what can I learn about myself that I don't know yet?'. Previously, I had many trainings including one on personality typing (MBTI) where you have a very good idea about your strenghts and how you behave in different situations.

I was very suprised to learn that MBTI profiles can be mapped to 'Action Typing' which can learn you how you react & behave during trainings and races.... and how you can take advantage of your strenghts to compensate for your 'weaknesses' (that is, the personality dimensions you are not used to control or prefer the most).

My MBTI type is +- ENTP (Extraverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving). To demonstrate what this means some examples:
- I love to fantasise, create 'ideas' and brainstorm, it's hard to actually finish & implement things (I prefer to delegate this to others).
- I'm good at defining strategies & logical abstract thinking
- I have attention for everything around me, a 'large' view on the 'outside' world.

What is the trick to efficient training & racing? Use your strenghts to become extremly focussed. To become focussed, as ENTP try to aim to be 'IP' and not let your dominant 'EP' take over all the time. Some examples:
- Visualise how you will 'be' and 'feel' at the starting line or during a hard training.
- Fantasise what you will do in case of a breakdown (e.g. flat tire).
- Be aware of your body, and listen to it. Become aware of your breathing and heart rate.

Think of it! How powerfull this can be!

Many of the top athletes are very aware of these principles.

More info, find the web: TotalCoaching - Begeleiden met Action Type

(Me @ Blaarmeersen, Gent) It's OK to be an introvert from time to time! (C) Dries Van Havermaet

Week 4 & Month 1 - Summary

Almost one month done! 5 more to go!

Summary
Distance on bike: 155,5 km (1 day powercranks)
Distance running: 21 km
Distance swimming: 2 km
Stability workouts: 2 (takes 2-3 hours on averange)
Total heartbeats bike & swim: 80878 beats
Averange rest heartbeat (waking up): 54 beats / minute
Days remaining: 139

Compared to Week 1, improvement in 3 weeks:
Distance bike: +55%
Distance running: +84%
Distance swimming: /
Heartbeat bike & swim: +94%
Rest heartbeat: ==

Lessons Learned
Always clean & rinse your water bottles... oops
Running in the fields at sunset is aweome! :)

Week 3 - Summary

Have you ever seen someone in a swimming pool trying real hard to move forward with just his legs... but doesn't move? Well, for sure it was me! So... this was the first week with swimming technique training. Am I moving? Nope, still not...

Summary
Distance on bike: 125 km (1 day powercranks)
Distance running: 18,2 km
Distance swimming: 2 km
Stability workouts: 2 (takes 2-3 hours on averange)
Total heartbeats: 67861 beats
Averange rest heartbeat (waking up): 53 beats / minute
Days remaining: 146

Flat tires: 1

Lessons Learned
I'm not a fish... but I can repair a flat tire!
First time powercranks, this is gonna take time :)

How does a powercrank look like? Imagine 2 pedals which drive the wheel independently. This allows for optimal power generation during the full leg cycle! (good to know: often hamstrings are underdeveloped which makes you lose a lot of potential)