Progressing to a next stage in training is like the change of seasons.. a process gradually moving forward, but then one day something will happen that suddenly makes you realize you made it to the next level. As of March the weather in Australia got colder each week. With the sun going down earlier trying to weave your way through the oncoming runners at the Tan during dusk is possibly a greater challenge than dodging the aliens in the Galaxy computer game bonus round. Running around the footy ovals on the other hand, just means switching your thoughts off while keeping that white boundary line on your left and eventually that will bring you around to where you started.

I’ve grown to love running around ovals in the past year. Perhaps hard to understand for people who have never seen an oval or for that matter, ran around one. Most runners could probably think about more exciting courses to run on than a 400-something-meter flat grass loop. So where does this loopy obsession come from?

First of all I love running on soft surfaces, because they’re gentle on my fragile stick legs, but then there’s always that danger of rolling your ankle on an uneven part. The footy ovals I run around however have such a smooth surface and with a perimeter of about 400 meters it’s like running around a soft track. Perfect to do some of my longer reps on or even a complete session, but recently I figured out that it’s even not a bad venue for my steady states and tempo runs; the key is that it has to be dark.

I can hear you think; doing a tempo around a 400m loop in the dark, this girl has issues. Nah, not really. Who doesn’t enjoy looking at the city lights when driving at night? Guess what.. running in the dark is even better! First of all, running in the dark makes you feel about twice as fast than you’re actually going (that is, if you manage to ignore the GPS watch). But now picture running twice as fast on an oval next to a stadium which has thousands of coloured LED lights attached to the outside of it (a.k.a. AAMI stadium). Now finish it off by picturing what it would feel like to run on a super soft surface, like you’re floating along without touching the ground. If there was a path made out of gnocchi going across the Milky Way then I’m pretty confident I know what it feels like to run on... Sooo, did I mention I love running around ovals?

Aussies ‘change’ seasons on the first day of the month, while in the Netherlands that happens on the 21^st, which means that within 4 weeks I will have experienced autumn, winter, spring and summer. Training isn’t quite transitioning at the same pace, but it definitely reflects the changes I’ve made this year and how my body is responding to it. Next Saturday I will do my first race since August of last year; a 5k road race straight through the centre of Utrecht. This will be the start of my season, one different to all the ones before. Yes I’m in a different position than where I was at last year and yes, my patience has been tested. But as unpredictable as the weather might be, I’m excited that summer made it here again… now let’s make it last!