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Since running in the middle of the day during a heatwave didn’t seem to be a problem for me yesterday, I decided to do it again today. Big mistake! It was horrible! Really not a good idea indeed.

Despite a heatwave going on here, I went running around noon. It wasn’t as bad as I expected, but then, it was a ‘bird watching’ run, so a very slow one.

So, to get my heart rate up, I don’t even have to go outside. I don’t even have to move, actually!

It’s hot. Very hot. So I went running at 5 am. And what did I see? Cats!! I counted 10 cats! So this is what goes on at that time of day: cats own the neighbourhood!

So, on the days that I don’t run, I like to relax and read a bit about…. yeah, you guessed it.

Imagine my surprise, seeing this car with a gigantic inflatable unicorn pass me by during my early Sunday morning run. Very odd sight.

So what do I do on days I don’t have to run, you wonder. Well, strength training! Which concludes the first week. 93 days to go, oh!

Remember all that stuff I bought a couple of days ago? Well, today it was time to test an energy gel. It’s sensible to test these things, because you could get nauseous, and you don’t want that happening during a race, of course. As you can see in the drawing, it was a bit messy (though not THAT messy, but hey), so perhaps I need to practice a bit more. I know the bees will appreciate that!

Key to this program, is running on a relatively low heart rate, so you’re using fats as fuel rather than sugar. Once a week I have to run REALLY slow, they call that ‘vogels kijken’ (bird watching). That was today, the funny thing is that I did not see a lot of birds! Less than usual, I’d say.

So, when I have a plan, I fully go for it. Determined, and well-stocked! Which is why I went to the Decathlon in Den Haag today to inspect their collection of running foods and fluids. And to stock up a bit, of course. And then I visited a few other stores, so I have a decent collection myself now. Can’t wait to try some of that out!