Not complaining.

Pfieuw. Hehe. Out of breath. Broken. Whipped. “Kaput”!
There’s this crazy colleague of mine, who got the stupidest idea in her head of doing a half marathon. 13.1 miles. 21.1 kilometer. 21100 steps of 1 meter.
Last week, she started doing her 3 month schedule to prepare herself for this event. I decided to join her every now and then, just to keep fit myself. Holy crap, what a wrong decision that was!

Happy Halloween!

Friday night. Feeling good. Feeling like having a drink. Feeling like going out! Hell yeah, let’s party!
So I made myself a delicious meal (fish and veggies in the oven, marinated in white wine, with mashed potatoes), and had a glass (ok, two glasses) of wine.

I wasn’t going to finish the bottle all by myself, so I decided to drive to my lovely 79-year old mother, and finish the bottle together with her.
While doing that, I started calling and texting some friends, hoping that somebody would join me to dive into the night. But no…

Apparently everybody was so busy doing their own thing, so they left me no choice. For the first time in my life, I had to go out alone. No way that I was gonna stay in. Hell no, let’s party!

So I came home from my mom, switched my car for my bike (oh yeah, I was gonna go drinking!)  and headed for a café in the center of the small village that I live in.

Coming in, it was funny to see all the heads (8 heads, to be precise) turn my way, then looking at me from head to toe, soaking in their first impression of me. And yes, I know: you never get a second chance to make a first impression. So I ordered a beer. And another one. And before I knew it, people started buying me beers, just to have a reason to talk to this stranger. Where are you from? How long have you been living here? What’s your name?
I must admit that this night was way beyond my expectations. Those people were special, in oh so many ways.
So we Belgians may not be so aloof after all. At least not all of us.
Happy Halloween!

Run, David, run!

As usual on Friday, I left work around 3pm. I prefer working a bit longer on Thursday, so I can extend the weekend a bit on Friday. Today, it created me some time to do something I’ve been wanting to do ever since Lake Baikal: go for a run.

Lake Baikal would ‘ve been the ideal occasion for a morning run. Except for the cold and the darkness… Not the ideal circumstances. I can cope with cold, but I need to see where I’m going, specially on a Siberian road full of potholes.

I was pleased to feel that my heartrate was rising. The lungs opened up and after a while I got all sweaty. Oh boy, doesn’t that feel good?
I was surprised with the ease I completed the 6 km run. After 4 weeks of no sports at all (except for the climbing of The Great Wall, which was a bit more intensive).

The wind blowing in my face to cool me down, the sun caressing my skin, a couple of guys fishing, and some people doing their afternoon walk. Aren’t I a lucky guy? I try to imagine what those people or thinking of. What is crossing the fisherman’s mind as I jog by, saying “good afternoon”? What is the lady with the stroller thinking about when I give her a friendly smile and wave to her kid. What is this other jogger worrying about?

Ah, the joy of life! Run, David. Run.