October saw five more doctor visits (regular appointments and laser treatments) and five physiotherapy appointments. Fortunately, this led to a marked improvement of the achilles tendon; although I still need to be careful not to attempt too much too soon (I might actually have done just that on one track training at the end of the month).

Road, trail and track running: I’ve returned to regular club trainings, and have been able to join the sprint group on most of their sessions. In total, I’ve done 9 club trainings (every Tuesday and Thursday of the month). Towards the end of the month, I even did 3 sprint sessions on the track (although with less volume or speed than in my better days). Doing track trainings comes at a price, however: I had to eliminate pretty much all other running during the week to allow me to recover. If I want to have a day off from running after every serious track session, that leaves me with just three quality days per week. And coincidentally, that leads me to the third category of running: hill climbs on trails. I did 3 sessions at the Saarschleife in neighboring Germany (one session each weekend I was at home), running from the Saar river to the Cloef viewpoint. Over the course of the month, I progressed from running and walking up once each, to running up twice, to running up two times followed by a walk up. 30km on road/trails, 1500m of elevation gain.

Walking: Not much to report. Clocked 42km and 631m of elevation, or pretty much the same as September.

Cycling: Did 7 outings, most of which were on my lunch break and therefore limited to 1 hour or less. This looks to be the best way to get some cycling in during winter. With the sun now setting by the time I’m off work, at least this way I get to ride in daylight and during the warmest time of the day. 129km and 6h03, 1550m of elevation. Distance and time-wise that’s half of September, but with running on the upswing I’ll take what I can get.

Total time outside: 17h54

Average body weight: 82.55kg. Body fat 15.13%. Not that different from September. Staying stable is better than rising, but I wouldn’t mind dropping a few kilos.

I had another four physiotherapy appointments and two doctor visits in September. Fortunately, my left Achilles tendon finally started to improve; which enabled me to incorporate some running in my training again.

Road, trail and track running: I did a full “reboot” this time, barely running for two months and then restarting from zero. As such, my first run in September was a mere 20 minutes, on track (so without climbs or irregular surface), at a slow 6:30min pace. Overall, I did four sessions on track or grass in the second half of September, totaling just 16.6km. However, that’s much better than zero, so I’m happy. Baby steps.

Walking: 37km, and a mere 652m of elevation. This is the lowest number in 2015, but can easily be explained by lunch-time physio appointments (which I drive to), biking instead of walking, a few days of illness; and also by a desire to give the Achilles tendon enough rest.

Cycling: Did 9 outings on the bike in September, ranging from a quick 26 minute 10km ride to a somewhat extreme (for me) 2 hour 52.5km ride. I spent more time on the roads than in the forest. This is not really what I planned – I’d rather ride forest paths or single trails than braving pot-holes and traffic – but that’s how it worked out. 11 hours in the saddle, 253km covered, with a total of 2339m of elevation.

Total time outside: 22h31

Average body weight: 82.62kg. Body fat 15.03%. Only a minor improvement from August, and still a couple of kilos and a few percent off what I would consider a competitive weight and shape.