Merijn had decided to do a climbing course for beginners starting in February 2012. After climbing with Patrick and Maaike in NZ (and having lot’s of fun doing it) it was only logical to join him in the course.

So tomorrow at 7.00pm I will start the course. By 10.00pm my arms will be so tired I wont be able to open a jar of marmalade.

10.75 km.

I actually had a better time than her. I’m going to savour it, because it will not last. The only reason was that she was tired and she is a slow starter. If we had been doing a 10 km she would have beaten me hands down.

Look at Barefoot Sjoerd (sorry Dutch)

As I said before I was going to cycle the Amstel Gold Race and do the 150 km. The group made sure everybody was able to stay together. Hand signs and shouts are used to alert people to obstacles on the road. I had a puncture (by a ^&%#$ drawing pin) and a experienced cyclist stayed with me a showed me how the replace the tube in 5 minutes. Although a tough tour I have to say it was an extremely enjoyable experience.

So much I’ve decided to join the group and train with them on Thursday evenings.

The Amstel Gold Race is a classic tour in the Netherlands. The only one we have. And I’m going to participate coming Saturday. I’m excited to see how I’m going to perform, if I’m going to like it and what it will be like to cycle 150km.

I did not have a lot of time to get ready since it was to cold to train, but we did about a 100km in Belgium a few weeks ago. During that training I also discovered some trouble in my right shoulder and my right knee. Luckily I have a colleague specialised in BG-fit by Specialized. She completely aligned my shoes, knees, sitting position and handle bar to my body. Never knew this could have such a profound change in the way you cycle.

Let’s see how it goes.

I’m excited to see how it’s going to be.

One disadvantage though; my feet aren’t as tough as they used to be…

I’ve been picking up sport the last few months. De relaxation that comes from it feels great and at the same time it changes my body. I feel fit and strong, and must have lost 5 kg plus.

Hand to hand acrobatics, as you might have guessed from former posts is my most important past time in sport. Twice a week is a bare minimum. This does not include the acrobatic weekend where I can can spend somewhere between 8 to 12 hours during two days. Acrobatics gives me the opportunity to be creative, tone up my body and work together with another person in order to achieve higher goals. It balances the body and the mind.

I picked up road cycling mainly because Merijn borrowed and later gave me his bike. It was surprised to see how much I liked it. Cycling challenges the body in a completely different way I was used to up until now. It is a high energy burner, low impact to the body and really nice to do with other people. During autumn it’s dangerous due to the small tires and the slippery leaves. When the leaves have gone and it’s not too cold I will start again on a regular basis.

Running I have done before together with two housemates. I actually ran the Seven hill run in Nijmegen in 1 hour and 14 minutes. Fun thing about that was that I ran it barefooted. After 2004 I did not run for the longest of times. I picked it up again, because Heleen is a pretty good runner and it’s nice to sport together. It’s a joy to see the light footed technique she uses to finish even a marathon.
The last two weeks I have been running this 9km round two or three times a week.

Running gets me into a trance-like state comparable to meditation. Daily stuff goes into my subconscious, gets sorted out and relaxes. It’s also a good way to keep fit and a fat burner.

In conclusion; I sport to keep fit, mentally balanced, be creative, have strong social connection with other people.