It's a new phenomenon for me to train using an app. I've been running irregularly but with great pleasure for 20 years, and while times/performances are certainly important, I never found the time and motivation to train more frequently. I am a member of an athletics club and train once a week on the track.

After a lost year where my intended Amsterdam Marathon (2020) was canceled due to Covid-19 and where I also broke a toe in August, there were enough ingredients to take the next attempt more seriously. When I listened to Episode 21 of LoopPraat and heard Christophe and Geert talking about their app, I immediately felt that it could help me tremendously. The story appealed to me, and running based on time/pace is very pleasant, rather than zones or heart rate. Running on a schedule is, of course, a nice incentive, and Trenara provided that consistency.

We Dutch can also greatly enjoy the Belgian and their pleasant language use. Not too heavy, but certainly accurate!

I was very pleased with the app, but there are always some comments to be made. After 12 years (at the age of 61), I improved my personal record by 1 second, exactly the time we had set as a goal in the app. When I had questions (via Instagram), they were answered very quickly.

After the first few weeks, I activated the subscription to be able to move the workouts. Last summer, I was able to train a lot in the mountains, and sometimes it was difficult to convert the target times into realistic workouts. I only later discovered the option to change the training conditions in the app.

In recent weeks, I had trouble believing it would work out, the feeling wasn't there. There were workouts where I couldn't run at the right pace, and I didn't always find the cause. Especially the longer 25km run where I had to run a lot at marathon pace was very difficult. In such cases, it's nice to be able to speak to your trainer personally; communication via the app can sometimes be tricky. Or when I wanted to do a calibration, for example, by running a fast 5km, I wasn't sure on which day to do it. My schedule was 4 workouts per week. Should you plan such a calibration on a day when you're not training or on a day when a workout is already scheduled? That's where Trenara could earn points by providing answers in the app.

One thing I'm sure of: I'm going to set a new goal in the app.