End to my Dutch trip

The main focus of my stay was family, but I would spend the last night with friends. I would go see Roelof after he would come back from work and at some point, Viking would join us. I would spend the night there, and then I could go straight to the Eurostar terminal the next morning.

On my way to Roelof

When I got there I first caught up with Roelof over a drink, on the balcony. Micha did the cooking. Spectacularly, as usual. And after dinner we returned to the balcony for more drinks. Viking was at a promotion party, so he came a bit later. Unfortunately, not before after bedtime. Oh well; I thought I would be able to cope.

In order to not keep Micha awake, who wasn't 100% and had to stick to conservative bedtimes, we went to a nearby terrace. Viking soon joined us.

Viking had been on holiday, Roelof and Micha had been away twice and would go a third time, Roelof had done things on his house and had exciting events coming up. We had all read books and seen films and listened to music. And had thoughts about climate and AI and the nuclear apocalypse. Enough to talk about!

Then the pub closed, and we all went home. Then followed one of the less successful parts of my trip: the night. Roelof asked if I wanted to the balcony door open or closed. What was more important: get fresh air in, or keep mosquitoes out? And I am not used to having to think about mosquitoes at night, and I like fresh air, so I said open. And regretted it.

I woke up a bit sleepy the next morning. The mosquitoes had had a whale of a time! I counted 14 mosquito bites on my left leg alone. That makes me appreciate my rather mosquito-free time in Wales again.

Travelling back to the UK went smoothly. I had a direct train to London, which was great. Getting to Euston was fine too. When I was at the picnic benches awaiting news of my train, some lady waved at me. She came up to me and said she recognised me from the Eisteddfod. I had never expected to have a lively conversation in Welsh in the middle of London.

Soon after that, things turned for the worse. My train, which would get to Wales via Stafford, Crewe and Chester, was delayed. Initially only by 20 minutes, but soon the sign said that getting to Crewe would be faster by a train that would leave 41 minutes after the original departure time of my train. Shit! How bad would it get?

Delightful Euston

Then there was an announcement. My train was only 20 minutes late after all. And it duly trundled all the way to Bangor. Soon I was home. And I got to sleep in my own bed, next to my own cat. It had been good to be in the Netherlands, but it was good to be home as well!

In the Netherlands: my dad and sister

My dad was diagnosed with vascular dementia two years ago. And a condition like that can do a lot of destructive work in two years. He was still quite good during the family reunion in May; he needed his walker to get around, and had an afternoon nap, but otherwise he was pretty much fine. His handwriting is bad now, and he struggles with the practicalities of life, but he still had a perfectly mainstream perception of the world. 

When I was in the Netherlands I wanted to see him, and suggested to my sister we go together. She was up for that. And so was my dad. 

We agreed to meet at his place, have a coffee, and then whisk him off for a walk and lunch. I arrived first; Petra was a bit delayed, so we started with a coffee with the three of us. And I got a bit of an idea of what my dad’s situation was. And he is now living in a world of augmented reality. He still perceives the world we perceive too, but his head adds features. He sees, hears and feels things nobody else can detect. And nothing seems threatening, but  I could imagine this is a bellwether for worse things. And these perceptions keep him awake at night, or wake him up, and when he then interacts with them he wakes his wife up. She was starting to feel the lack of sleep. 

My sister knows all this, of course. She sees him more often. And when she appeared, we had another coffee (with cake!) and then we all left. Joke went swimming. 

We went to Staverden Estate, not far away. I hadn’t heard of it. It was lovely! And it had an interesting history. It had been founded in the deep Middle Ages, had acquired city rights, and had been a holiday venue where my father had been several times as a boy. 

We started with a walk. The estate had beautiful grounds! And my dad skilfully negotiated any tree roots or other obstacles with his walker. And the weather was gorgeous.

Not the best possible picture but it will do

When we had done the walk, my dad was ready to sit down for lunch, though. And we could sit outside. It's a rather glamorous place! And the food was good.

When we were done my dad was tired and we went home. We had a last cup of tea and then my sister and I left, so my dad could have a nap. 

I had the rest of the day with my sister and her family. It was a full house! You never know how many people are living there, with student kids boomeranging between (temporary) student accommodation their childhood home, and suchlike, but everyone was there at least part of the time. Except the cat; she had died earlier in summer.

We drank tea and made dinner and caught up. I heard what the current state was of the education of all the (adult) kids, and I heard some holiday stories, and talked a bit with my sister how she sees her future. We also did a nice walk on the moor. And I did a book exchange with her; she had given me a book by AS Byatt, and she had read a different one herself, and she wanted to talk with someone about that book, and read more Byatt, so I had brought mine and exchanged it for hers. I figured that the book I had brought for the train would get finished, potentially even before I would get on the Eurostar back.

Of course I was sad that there was no cat. But when we had been sitting outside in the garden in the evening, a hedgehog had trundled past…

Then it was time to go to bed. I could sleep in David's room; he went back to this student digs in Amsterdam. And the next morning my sister had to get to work quite early, so I had breakfast with Aernoud, and then I went back to Amersfoort. I was lucky to have seen everyone! I hope they will all be well in this new academic year…

In the Netherlands: my mum

As usual, my main destination in the Netherlands was my mum. It would be great to see her, but also sad, as old age firmly has its claws in her. She is still living independently, but it’s not clear how long that can continue. And the same holds for my dad, but given that he lives with a spouse, that’s different. 

We needed to have some conversations about health and suchlike. But we also just sat in the garden in the gorgeous weather, having a cup of tea or a glass of port. And after I had seen my dad and my sister, I could give her an update. 

I also did some of the standard Amersfoort things to do: go for a run (twice), and pop into town to go to the cheese shop. And enjoyed the medieval town while doing that. 

Neither of my parents (or anyone else for that matter) is going to get any younger. But at least I got another visit in! 

Sunny forest run

One of the very many amazing buildings in town

Travelling to the Netherlands

The house was spotless! At least, by my standards. And my luggage was ready to be completed. I was ready to get up early and start the long journey to Amersfoort. 

The first thing I did when the alarm went off was to check if my 7:16 train would actually run. It would! So I had my breakfast, packed the last things, said goodbye to the cat, and left. The travel to London went fine. I had a book and a newspaper and a phone. And a flask. 

In London I had some time, so I did what I do more often: sit on a bench by the British Library, and have some lunch. It’s so quiet there! In the middle of London. 

View from my lunch bench

When I was in the Eurostar terminal there was an announcement that my train had a technical issue. Oh dear! But only minutes later we could board anyway. And we departed on time. 

I already had an email saying that my Eurostar from Brussels was delayed. And then I got another. I wondered if I should wander into Brussels for a hot drink or something. The transfer time had been generous to start with! Adding delays would make it really tedious. 

I also heard an announcement that there was a train to Amsterdam leaving quite soon. Should I just jump ship and take that one? How much money was it worth to me to not have to spend two hours and fifteen minutes (at least) on Brussels South? I decided to choose the time over the money. And I got into a not very busy Dutch train onwards. 

Before my Eurostar would even leave I was in Rotterdam. And then, before I knew it, at Amsterdam South. The train to Amersfoort was a bit delayed, but I still was at my mum’s at a good time! My visit could start. Not a bad trip at all! 

Pwllheli 10k 2026

When I saw this race advertised I was really keen to register. Even more than average. Pwllheli was the place I had run my first ever gold medal. Also in a 10k. That gave me strong positive associations. 

I also knew it would probably be a very flat course. Maybe an opportunity for a 10k PB? Even though I had given blood less than two weeks earlier? And also, it would be the day before me going to the Netherlands. That meant it would be a good day to run myself empty and be still knackered the day after. I would only have to sit in a train all day! 

The race I had done (and won) in 2024 had not been run since. This race had a different (first time) organising team. And a different route. But the same HQ. 

I drove down and parked without issues. But it was a lot hotter than I had expected on the basis of the forecast. Not ideal! But not a big problem. I was glad I had brought my sun visor. 

I was feeling the race jitters. Quite unlike in Caernarfon, two weeks prior. I made sure to go to the loo, do my breathing warmup, do a ‘normal’ warmup, and drink enough. And I socialised with some people I knew, especially three lads from the track. There were also a few Eryri Harriers. 

At some point we lined up. And we were off! And the first kilometre, it is generally quite chaotic. The field is dense and some people struggle to find a sustainable pace. I tried to keep an eye on any women in front of me. Soon, I figured there were only two. Interesting! Maybe I could get a podium place again. Maybe even gold. 

Race buzz at HQ

Lining up at the start. Notice Steffan on the front row.

Fairly soon I overtook one of them. And I made sure to keep an eye on the other, who was in a Caerphilly Runners top. Very slowly I gained ground on her. And about 3 km in I overtook her. 

Was I on track for a PB? Questionable! But not impossible.  

I tried to keep a good but feasible speed up. And I sometimes looked behind me. It looked like the Caerphilly woman couldn’t keep up. Good! 

I was feeling the strain. Some 6 km in I noticed I was starting to wheeze. A bad sign! I really tried to calm my breathing. And tried to relax, and use some nearby blokes as pacers. It sort of worked. 

Then I hit the last km. I was knackered! I just couldn’t keep my speed up. I did the best I could, and it seemed enough to not let Caerphilly lady come near. I would have gold! Would there be a ribbon? Last time there hadn’t been a ribbon, but maybe this time would be different. I would love a ribbon! 

When I got so close I could see the finish, I saw no ribbon. A bit of a disappointment! I also noticed I was about to run pretty much the same time as I had done in Caernarfon. I gave it a last desperate push to try to be faster than then. And then I finished. 

Approaching the finish

Eyes on the clock

It's tense

Done it

I was stupidly out of breath. Luckily I found a wheely bin to lean on while panting like crazy. And I drank some water. 

Then I saw Caerphilly lady finish, about 30 seconds after I had come in. And, almost immediately after, bronze lady. Caerphilly lady looked like she was about to throw up. I know that feeling! For me, water helps. So I grabbed a bottle and handed it to her. And we congratulated each other. 

I then socialised a bit with other finishers, like the three track lads who had all managed to run their target time. The bloke who normally paces their group, Niall, had paced them here too. Successfully! And he, unlike the others, had managed a sprint finish, which made him come in a bit before the other two. 

I had my recovery drink and some more water, and then cheered on some other runners. And checked the results: I had done 43:18, so marginally faster than in Caernarfon, but still some 40 seconds slower than my PB. And I waited for the presentation. I couldn’t miss that! 

The presentation was decidedly weird. There were only three age categories! <20, open, >60. Of the 88 women running, 84 were in the open category. And the prizes were cash. Steffan took the male silver. As the female winner I got £100. I will obviously find a destination for that, but to be honest, I would have preferred it if they would just have used the money to buy gold, silver, bronze, and category winner medals, and handed out more of them. And maybe added some chocolate or something. You can get a medal for as little as a quid (undoubtedly a bit more if it states the race and the category) so they could easily have afforded that if they hadn’t spent £360 on cash prizes for the male and female top three. And maybe a ribbon? 

With my cash prize

At home I saw that Garmin had been of the opinion I had spent 88% of the race in zone 5. Maybe a new record after all? Just not speed? 

We will see if these organisers will stage this race again next year. If so, I would like to do it again! And maybe they will be more conventional a next time around, with more age categories and more symbolic prizes. And for now I will just do a bit of gloating! 

Breathing book finished

I thought I would fly through this book! I bought it in March, at the Eryri Harriers presentation night. And it’s accessibly written. But there is a but. As it is about improving your breathing in order to improvey your running, it has practical components. It contains a fair number of tests and exercises. Tests as in: how flexible are your hips? How flaring are your ribs? What is the maximum speed you can run at while breathing through your nose? And exercises to loosen up your ribs, align your spine and all that comes with it, and train your CO2 tolerance. 

Firstly; if you read it in bed, you regularly have to stop as you’re not in the position to do these tests and exercises. And sometimes, when you’re reading elsewhere, you might be a bit taken aback by instructions to do some exercises from chapter X, then do an exercise from the current chapter, and then do the exercises from chapter X again to see how much of a difference that makes. 

I’ve finished it now, though. And made a little summary in my phone. I can now put it all into practice! And I started doing that right after the presentation night, slowing my breathing during runs, which I really liked and which probably improved my performance. And I started nose breathing on my commute. But now I can put the entire book into practice. 

I already did a warm-up for my ribs before the Trentham race. Did that work? No idea! But I ran a good time. 

So what now? I should keep going with the nose breathing and the breathing warmups. And try to slot in some CO2 tolerance exercises, like hill sprints while holding my breath. And just hope I manage to book steady progress with it. 

I haven’t set a new distance PB since the (easy) one in March. It suggests I have so far not quite made as much progress as I hoped. But if I keep going, maybe that will change! And I don’t think there are any negative side effects to learning to breathe more efficiently…

Preparing for cat sitters

I’m travelling again, and that means a cat sitter. And a cat sitter means getting the house ready. And ready means clean and tidy. 

This fits perfectly with my recent initiatives, partially inspired by Neil, to get the house tidier. It is super dull to be cleaning so much, but maybe it is worth it to put some good effort in. It will be easier to maintain it at a higher standard if beforehand I've done one big push to reset that standard. I hope it will work out this way!

Clean!

I also know that no matter how much effort I put in, it will never be impeccable. I suppose the house doesn't really lend itself to that. With its way too many rough edges where dust can pile up, and too much access for spiders and slugs and whatnot, and because it is subdivided into so many little rooms, there are so many surfaces. But I'll see what I can do! At least there is an end to this. As soon as I go to bed the night before I travel, that's it. The next morning I have an early train, so no more cleaning then.

House-sitters tend to leave the house clean as well, so I can enjoy the fruits of my (and their) work when I come back!