After several years of running the same 4km route with my neighbor Anouk, I was really ready to tackle longer distances. In September 2019, I even joined the 5km Monument Run in Sint-Truiden. A friend from Antwerp who easily ran the 10km said to me then, "You can do it too!"

During that time, my sister-in-law ran a marathon in a top time thanks to a training schedule from Trenara, and through her, I quickly downloaded the free app. By the end of November, I had already built up to 10km. But I still had to wait another 10 months for the next Monument Run. Change of plans: "If you can already do the 10km, you can also do the ten miles, right?"

So, I immediately adjusted my goal in the handy app: April 2020, "Antwerp Ten Miles". Of course, that race never took place (Covid 🤔), but in April, I did run my own "ten miles" in my own village. My winter training sessions in the rain and in the dark had to pay off, of course... Since then, I've really caught the running bug.

The app motivates me to run in a structured way. That 4km run that I've been doing for years was always at the same pace; I couldn't run faster. Through the varied training sessions from Trenara, I managed to run further and also increase my pace. Via the app, I set some short goal distances with faster times.

In March 2021, I built up nicely to a half marathon. In the meantime, I subscribed to Peak Pro. Being able to adjust training sessions is a real advantage. And via my Garmin, the training is also conveniently transferred – no more writing down workouts on my hand and constantly being distracted by counting during intervals or block training... I just read my workouts on my watch now.

Currently, I'm building up to 30km. On March 20, 2022, I will run 30km for the benefit of "Kom op tegen kanker" (Stand Up Against Cancer). And my goal after that? Who knows... Maybe I'll consider a marathon after all 😉.