Finally I found some time to write something for my site. I have been very busy and really haven’t had any time to write an update. A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks. I left for Antibes (Côte d’Azur) on the 17th of April and after 3 days I received several phone calls from worried coaches that couldn’t fly to their training camp venues. I made some arrangements for them and a day later our national hurdles coach and the assistant national hurdles coach drove to the South of France.
We had very good weather. Only one day of rain , but most of the times it was between 23 and 27 degrees Celsius. The track in Antibes is situated next to the beach and next to a pretty castle. I really enjoyed my stay there.
I did some good training there, but we also found out that my progression in training is going slower than expected (also because we don’t want to burn any steps). It is the main reason for my decision to postpone my first heptathlon. I will not start in Gotzis, because I’m simply not ready yet to compete in a meeting of such a high level. I will open my season in Hoorn (Dutch National Circuit) and I will compete in smaller meetings during the next couple of weeks, to get back some rhythm (have lost the feeling of competition after such a long time of rehabilitation).
My first heptathlon will also depend on my school exams, but it looks like it is going to be the European Cup in Hengelo.
I have been so busy lately with training and studying that I completely forgot to write something on my website. But, since my last post, nothing more has happened than training and studying. Training is going well. I notice I’m getting better every week. Of course, it doesn’t go quick enough for me. Fortunately, the coaches are in control and they make sure I’ll progress step by step and not one step will be missed or rushed through.
In the mean time I did buy myself a little car. From today I’m the proud owner of a Seat Ibiza from 2003. We also booked our training camp. In April I’ll be spending 2 weeks in Antibes. Arrangements for the track are made and the apartments are booked. We’ll stay in a wellness centre / Spa holiday resort, called ‘Thalazur’. So after training I’ll enjoy the facilities in the spa to get th ebest receovery possible.
New other news, winter training is a bit boring 
…stay in the rehab centre for four weeks. When I started in the end of september I had hope. But soon after I began I started to get health problems. (short explanation: I have Hashimoto’s disease, which means that my thyroid gland slowly loses its function.) Normally i have no problems, but sometimes my thyroid gland makes a dive and that causes problems. Well, that is what happened half way the 4 weeks in the centre. And on top of that, I twisted my foot and tore a ligament in the foot in the last week of the protocol which lengthened my stay there, too. All together I did my final tests on December 4 instead of in the end of October.
The tests showed good results. I progressed 20% compared to my entrance test in September and the eccentric strength was better than ever. This is good news because in athletics, nearly every movement is an eccentric one.
During my rehab I had already started some training on the track, but since December 4 I’m back on the track. I started the running work and weights session straight away. I also started throwing medicin ball and shot. I haven’t done any high jump or long jump yet, but I did do lots of bounding and plyo work.
Between Christmass and New years eve i spent some days with Rudy and the Belgian Decateam in Luxemburg. There is a lovely indoor facility there and it was good to train indoors.
The first week of January was very budy for me with school exams, but now things have gone quiet again and my coach and i planned a training camp: one week on Tenerife and I will stay one week with him in Hull, England.
I also know which heptathlon I’m going to do: I’m invited for gotzis. I’m very happy to be able to do this meeting. What the rest of the season will look like is still uncertain, all I know is that I’m doing the National Indoor championships: I’ll be throwing the shot. All the other events will have to wait till the outdoor season starts.
I picked up daily life, after a well-deserved holiday in the French Alps, with downhill mountain biking, long walks, rafting and lots of other activities. My third year in university has started and you can also find me in the rehab centre three days a week. Yes, I’m back in rehab.
We decided it would be better to follow a 4 week protocol to prepare my body, and tendon in particular, for the loads of top sports. They also made an echo of my knee tendon and I have good news to tell: the tendinitis, (including the vascularisation) has disappeared. This means there is no active inflammation in my tendon anymore. My tendon should be ready for normal training. So after this preparational protocol and a, hopefully, injuryfree winter, I will be back in 2010!!!
Last sunday I competed in my last competition of this season: the Dutch Championships. I am looking back with a good feeling: I reached all my goals (2 medals and 50m with the javelin). I threw 50.01, to be exact, and it was good enough to win a silver medal. I also won bronze in the shot with 14.83.
Because the season has been very difficult Jean paul and I decided to stop the season after the nationals. Rudy and I will go the the French Alpes to enjoy a 10-day holiday and I will start wintertraining in the beginning of september.
The season brought me some good things. The rehabilitation process was hard, but I can do sport without pain now, so it was worth it. I have had some good results, along them my two medals last weekend. But we also realised that all the hard work, usually done in the winter, isn’t there for nothing. A season of competitions is nearly impossible without a proper preparation. I will go for it 100% this winter and I’m looking forward to it…. but first…. I need a break!!!
Even though Jean Paul wants me to train very hard the coming weeks, he still wants me to keep running small meetings. That’s why I started the Championships of Picardie on Sunday 14 June. I ran the 100m hurdles (for the first time since Beijing) and started the season quite good with 13.93 (+0.4). Wednesday I participated in the Shot put in de National meeting in Amiens. I’m happy the shot goes a bit better now, so I was content with 14m82.
Yesterday I did a small meeting in Fresnoy-le-Grand. I participated in the 100m hurdles, shot and 100m. Last thursday I did a tough running session and I could still feel the tireness in my legs. I think that’s why the shot and hurdles didn’t go that well (14m32 and 14.04). The goal for the 100m was to run a SB (12.55) in the heats I ran 12.26 and in the final 12.22 (both with a legal wind, in the final even a slight head wind). It’s still far from my pb (11.94) but I’m happy things are slowly getting better.
It has been a while since I wrote something on my site. I have been very busy lately, so I really didn’t have the time. From now on, I will try to keep you informed. After all, the summer season started and I will compete.
I started my season in Lisse. Because shot put was going well in training I thought I would be ready for a meeting. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen in Lisse. After 14.21m I can say I didn’t do well.
Two weeks later I started a meeting in Hoorn. My coach wanted me to start to run some races, because he didn’t want me to lose the ‘feeling’ of competing. So I did the 100 and shot in Hoorn. The 100 went well up to 60m. After that I made every possible mistake I could make. 12.55 by -1.0 m/s wasn’t catastrophic, but not good either. The shot went a bit better than in Lisse: 14.56.
The monday of pentecost I competed in Hulst. I was supposed to do javelin and 100, but because I had some back pains the week before I decided to skip the javelin. The 100 I ran with -3.1 m/s. I ran 12.72 and considering the conditions, I was quite happy.
Jean Paul and I decided that I will train hard in June. This means I will not start in Leiden and Uden. I will do some competitions in France, though.
Well, that was it for now. I’ll keep you updated as much as I can.
A couple of days ago we came back from Tenerife. Even though it was too busy on the track and we almost had to fight for a lane or hurdle, I still had a good training camp.
I concentratedmainly on running, weights and general conditioning. I also did two shot sessions and they went so well that I decided to open my season with a shot competition on May 9.
I did bring any specialist spikes to Tenerife. Only my trainers, marathon shoes, middle distance and sprint spikes and shot shoes were in my bag. When it is warm and the body feels good you are always tempted to do things that you shouldn’t do yet. By leaving my high jump, long jump and javelin spikes at home I couldn’t do any jumping sessions.
After our return home I had a couple of days rest. I needed that because I was very tired. Yesterday I picked up training again with weights and sprints. My weights session are going very well. After yesterday’s session I can honestly say I didn’t loose any strength, I’m maybe even stronger than last year. Next week we’ll do a test session, so we’ll see.
Wouldn’t it be nice to start your winter session on a sunny island. Well, that is exactly what I’m going to do. Jean Paul and I decided it would be better to join the Dutch and Belgian team on Tenerife. Rudy and I will leave for Paris on wednesday to have a dinner with some friends. Then thursday morning we will take the plane to Madrid and Tenerife. I won’t do anything extraordinary there. Most of the athletes will go there to prepare their summer season, I will do all the boring winter session that you can think of. The advantage is that I can do this I shorts and because of the weather I will recover faster from the session. I’m looking forward to it.
My trainingschedule started and mainly exists of lots of running. I run all distances and paces: from sprint to long runs; from 30m til 3x15min on heartrate 165. It feels good to finally be training again. For the moment my body accepts all the work, although I had some pain in my calves last week.
My weights sessions have also started and I can start hurdling very soon.
It is tough to restart, luckily the weather has been very nice the last two weeks, with lots of sun and temperatures between 14 and 16 degrees Celsius. Of course the city hall of Amiens decided to paint the track on sunny days, so we had to train indoors anyway. Instead of running 3×300 and 3×200 in the sun outside, I had to run back to backs over the same distances in the hall. I think that is a lot harder because of all the breaking and accelerating.
Next week they predict lots of rain again, something I am not waiting for. Fortunately we (Rudy, Jean Paul and me) will leave for Tenerife on April 2. I’m looking forward to join the Dutch team and see everybody again. It has been a long time.
