Goodbye Leiden

Workout of the Day:

In the morning...

3 k trail run for time

In the afternoon…

Bent Row 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 superset w/ 10 x 10 kg weighted situps (rest as needed)

Strict DB press from knees 5, 5, 4, 4, 2 (rest as needed)

Willemijn drove us out to the Noordwijk dunes this morning just before daybreak where a short trail connects that town to Katwijk, 3 km away. The trail runs through the dunes, right along the coast, as is breathtaking. Actually, I’m a little upset that I didn’t run this until my last day in Holland, but better than never at all. There were lots of dips and climbs, but none too extreme. I’d estimate the biggest elevation change at around 50 feet. I finished in 11:17, clocking about a 6:20/mi pace. I felt fine afterwards—really starting to feel better on runs again. Rather than going back through the dunes we jogged back along the water where we witnessed something really special and unexpected. Just off the water there was a man with a training wand and a lead, guiding a beautiful horse in trotting circles around him. The beach was completely empty except for this man and the animal. I didn’t have my camera with me at this point, but I’m not sure a photograph could have captured it too well anyways.

After returning home for a few hours, I decided to sneak over to L.K.V. for one last session and say goodbye to the owner. I did all 8 working sets of bent rows with 70 kg, trying to maintain a low body position and strict back angle. These felt great. I kept a narrow grip to simulate the hand position of a deadlift and concentrated on pinching my shoulder blades for the duration of the movement.

The DB presses felt good as well. I kept my hand position narrow and did not rotate the weights at the top, simulating a handstand push up on a set of parralletes. My top set was at 32 kg for 2. I had hoped to get 3 at this weight, but I think the fatigue of the earlier sets had caught up with me. The place was about to close and I wasn’t giving myself quite enough rest between.

Anyways, it was officially my last day at the gym, so I took a picture with the owner and said my goodbyes to the friends I had made. Hopefully I can find a place of similar quality in Paris.