We’re in the middle of February and the weather is cold outside. I’m sitting at the kitchen table and the window glass is fogged with the warm air coming out of the oven. People out-of-doors walk briskly through the street, burrowed in their coats, hiding from the dark chilly breeze, patches of ice everywhere. Winter engulfs the city sharply as… Read more →
The end of the year brings an inevitable desire for reflection, introspection, for looking back to assess the good moments, the not-so-good moments, the direction to take next year and the improvements to do to on ourselves and on the relationships we have with the ones we love. Athletes receive year on year countless reminders of the numbers that make… Read more →
One of the big challenges this year will be the Madeira Island Ultra Trail (MIUT), an amazing race integrated in the Ultra Trail World Tour. I’ll be participating in the Ultra course, 85 km of extreme beauty and delicate nature dazzling the senses through fascinating mountains, overall accumulating 4700 m of positive elevation. As the organisation describes it: «Imagine an island planted… Read more →
I compromise on sleep… I do it and unfortunately I do it often… How do I feel about it? Not good to be very honest… Why do I keep doing it? I guess that’s the real question, isn’t it? We all want to live our lives to the maximum extent possible. Days are not long enough, 24 hours are insufficient… Read more →
It’s Tuesday afternoon. The weather is nice in Düsseldorf. Sunny. Relatively warm. Blue sky. Just perfect for my bike commute as I’m about to leave the office to head home. I grab my mobile phone to check for any personal messages before hitting the road. An online post calls my attention: a mountain marathon in Solingen, the Wupperberge(trail)marathon. Just around the corner… Read more →
I love running. I love the mountains. Trail running combines both and has become a passion my heart and mind lingers for… Düsseldorf is currently my home base and is unfortunately pretty flat. It just doesn’t offer a lot of possibilities to satiate the calling for the sport. There’s wonderful forests around, a million trails to be explored, some elevation… Read more →
Last weekend the Düsseldorf Marathon took place as planned. 😀 The city was vibrant, athletes everywhere, an incredible audience around each corner, a feeling suspended mid-air that a big event was about to take place, as an unusual quietude settled in as key streets were closed to pave way to the runners. With the Estrela Grande Trail challenge approaching, my race was a collaborative one.… Read more →
February has been a fabulous month with some tough training in it… I have a quite pragmatic approach to my commitments. Some like to call it stubbornness, I prefer to call it determination. Now that I found my ultra distance coach, I feel much more compelled to train according to plan, rather than running only when the feeling is right. Looking at how the month… Read more →
When I fell in love with trail running I knew the feelings and emotions which sparked then wouldn’t stop there. How many times have you felt that you wanted to stretch your wings and follow your dreams? How often have you felt a joy so strong that you inevitably aspired to grasp that happiness again? I’ve been fortunate enough to experience my passion for… Read more →
The day I started running my only thoughts were on getting outside and exercising, one step after the other. I had no plans to do it often and no ambition of becoming a runner. The goal was just to get the body moving and the heart pumping. In those days my professional life took most of my time. Regardless of being abroad… Read more →