Morning runs and Hortus

Back from Austria and Czech republic, we are slowly returning to the ,normal’ rhythm. Despite my original plans, July did not see me running more than 80 km and there was hardly any weight loss. The good thing is I feel I am getting stronger and what’s most important, the children are doing great. Now that their sleeping habits improved A LOT, I often have time to run after 8 pm and/or before 7 am. Hitting the 100 km mark in August therefore must be doable. Here some pictures from my Saturday (9 km) and Sunday (12 km) morning runs:

And because one should do more in life than running, here pictures from our Sunday afternoon in Hortus Botanicus, one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world (and certainly the oldest one in NL).

Spring walk

Little by little our life is getting adjusted to a new one… Today, for the first time as we were walking with the stroller, spring was in the air and I felt that time will come when I regain my strength and start running again. So far just 4 km walking, enjoying the fresh air in my lungs.

(Quinny 4XL Adventure – only until she is big enough for the Baby Jogger Performance…)

Friday in Salzburg

The beginning of the third trimester caught us in Piesendorf again and as running really does not bring any joy anymore, we decided to switch to walking. The weather on Friday morning looked like packs of snow are going to come down on our heads – so why not to look up a city trip. Our choice quickly fell to Mozart’s pre-Xmas Salzburg.

For a change, we left the car parked in front of the house and took a train.With one stop over (in Zell am See), it took us less than 2 hours to get to Salzburg Hauptbahnhof which is about 2 km from the bautiful city centre. As we were walking along the river Salzach, the runner in me couldn’t have passed this sign unnoticed:

The biking and walking/jogging paths along the river are actually very inviting for a city run and there were quite some runners there. So Salzburg is definitely a place to return to once my belly gets flat again!

Austria has historically so much more in common with Czech republic than The Netherlands and after 12 years in NL, I always feel there like being at home. Especially with the Christmas tree and all the traditional Christmas cookies. V always teases me that the vanilla ‘rohlicky’ are actually Ausrian – which is of course not true!

For the music lovers, the house of Herbert von Karajan here

and Mozart, of course:

Preggo running IV.

20-22 weeks: As many of you know, we have spent last week in the Alps. As V was busy with her ski instructor training (Anwarter), I had all the time to work, eat and… run. My daily routine consisted of 1-2  hours of early morning (6.30 – 8.30) running and geocaching and then working and eating and walking – until it was time to go to sleep again. This scheme did me good. I managed to run 40 km that week and until now, I actually feel very good.

Total weight gain: 7 kg

My running has reached a point where anything faster than 8.5 km per hour is not comfortable, however, maintaining the snail speed of 8 km per hour is quite nice, actually. Walking/hiking is good, too. And here it the evidence: last Saturday (when many of you ran marathons all over Europe) we took a little hike from the Hinterglemm valley to Forsthofalm: