A man with a plan

Committing to participating in the Vasaloppet in 2026 is one thing. Making this adventure a success is something else. Given the situation, it won't be a walk in the park. Physically, I was anything but fit for such a race. And cross-country skiing I did once when I was 10 in the woods of Lichtaart in Belgium. Without an instructor, and not really a location known for XC skiing. 😊 So, if I want to cross the finish line in Mora I will have to prepare thoroughly. 2.5 years is a lot of time, but I'll definitely more than need that time.

First, my body. In July 2023, I was anything but an athlete. I am 1.85 metres tall and weighed 120 kg at the time. Heavily overweight, and that is an understatement. The battle with the kilos has been a constant for the past 15 years of my life. And the kilos usually won. So it was going to be a battle to win this time. I searched for a good dietician who could help me with that. Luckily, it was a match from the very first time. More structure in my diet. Adjusted products and quantities and regular exercise. And perhaps most important mentally: once in a while you have to enjoy yourself and eat that piece of chocolate. An approach that works wonders for me. I've been on it now (Christmas period 2023) for 4.5 months and it is quite manageable. Basically, it comes down to eating and living healthier. As a result, by now I have already lost 16 kg. And counting.

Also important to achieve the Vasaloppet: learning to cross-country ski. Now Belgium is not exactly a winter sports country with lots of snow. So a lot of my training would have to be done on roller skis. But that too was totally new to me. I started looking for someone to teach me how to roller-ski. Not an easy search. In Belgium, I couldn't immediately find anyone nearby. But an hour's drive from home, just across the border in the Netherlands, I did find an excellent trainer. Meanwhile, I have already done several kilometres on the roller skis. But I'll tell you more about that later. In the meantime, I also did my first kilometres on the snow during the Christmas period in the Tannheimer Valley, Austria.

Besides roller skiing and cross-country skiing, it is essential to work on strength and stability as well. I had been working out occasionally for a while. But I started working in a more targeted way there now. Training leg and arm muscles. Working on a stronger core will help me improve the quality of my roller skiing and cross-country skiing workouts as well.

Meanwhile, the training counter is on:

• Cycling: 74.86 km

• Cycling on rollers: 0:30:02

• Walking: 159.24 km

• Strength training: 8:17:18

• Roller skiing: 151.76 km

• Cross-country skiing: 35.46 km

To sum up: we are not taking this challenge lightly. We are taking a structured, and where necessary professionally supported, approach to this. We are now 5 months into this adventure. I feel good. I enjoy exercising. Both in the gym and on the skis. I feel improving day by day. 786 days to go.