Scribbles

The Scribbles is a collection of my non-fiction writing. The majority of them is related to hiking, running and travel, but also miscellaneous posts on various subjects such as experiments, thoughts on common sense and promotion events for my fiction writing.

  • 25a Mitja Marató Sant Cugat

    A year ago I performed an interesting experiment that seemed to indicate — contrary to my hope — that systematic training is preferable to unsystematic lack of training when it come to beating personal records in long distance running (see further). I did thus show up for the Sant Cugat half-marathon with over a month…

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  • Cursa de la Mercè 2008

    Today I participated in the 30th edition of Cursa de la Mercè — a 10k race through the streets of Barcelona. Well in advance of the race I had set myself the target of finishing the race in 48 minutes and hence beat my personal best by a minute and a bit. My fairly optimistic…

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  • August snowstorm

    For our mid August hike to the peak Puigmal in the French Pyrenees we decided to start the hike very early in the morning in order to avoid the hot August sun. In an ironic twist of fate, we had to abandon our plans mid-way due to an unexpected snowstorm.

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  • La 30a Cursa El Corte Inglés

    I was up early — for a Sunday — and was at Plaça Catalunya at nine. I was ready to run the 30th race of El Corte Inglés — together with about fifty thousand other people. La Cursa El Corte Inglés is an odd race. First, the lenght of the race is 11km. 11 is…

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  • Cursa Bombers 2008

    At 9:30 I was at the starting line of the 10th race of Barcelona firemen — Cursa Bombers 2008. I arrived early in order to get a good spot on the starting line and hence skip the traffic at the start of the race. The plan was to run the 10k in 50 minutes. For…

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  • 24a Mitja Marató Sant Cugat

    Approximately a year ago I managed to run my first half-marathon. Not only did I manage to finish the race, but I also met my target of finishing it within two hours. This achievement was the result of six month long systematic training on the streets of Amsterdam. Now — a year later — things…

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  • Cursa Bombers 2007

    The first day of April is ideal for tricking people. Today I was tricked into running around the streets of Barcelona as part of the annual 10k race, Cursa Bombers. Since my office is located close to the starting point of the race I planned to store my sweatshirt, the legs of my pants and…

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  • The Amsterdam Marathon 2006

    Six months ago I decided to start running regularly. I bought myself new running shoes and hit the street. In my first attempt I struggled with running 4km. As time passed my struggle continued. I continued struggling with the distance. An ever increasing distance. At first I could barely run 4km without stopping. A few…

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  • Roetersrun 2006

    I participated in the first (annual) Roetersrun. The race consisted of running four rounds around the Roeters Eiland campus of University of Amsterdam. Five kilometers. The track was rather flat except for two slippery bridges. Before the race started there was a car parked in front of one of the bridges and the runners were…

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