Four weeks is long enough to improve your fitness and put a little edge of speed in your legs. If you’re committed to running a 10K in four weeks’ time, this training plan looks at running three times a week to improve your performance over the 10K distance.
Guidelines:
This schedule builds up to running 10km in 4 weeks.
Build up and start with 3 training sessions a week. If you want to do more, you can add in a 4rd session.
Make sure that you can still talk when running; if this is not possible, reduce your pace.
On the internet, you can find loads of training and running schedules; click HERE for a few handy links for calculating a training schedule or creating a regular schedule.
Sandra Bekkari has been active in the captivating world of health and nutrition for 20 years. As well as her many qualifications, her day-to-day practice has enabled her to learn how to successfully coach people too.
In 2008, she developed the ‘Sana-method‘. This is a simple and effective method for gradually guiding people towards a healthy, slim and energetic life while ensuring they can still enjoy delicious food. All of this expertise is shared throughout Flanders and Wallonia by Sana consultants.
Discover various delicious recipes from Sandra Bekkari on the social media below.
By replacing the eggs with apple puree, you create a simple snack that is high in carbohydrates and low in protein and fat, perfect for exercising. One waffle provides 30g of carbohydrates. The advice is to consume between 30 and 60g of carbohydrates per hour during training or competitions lasting over 90 minutes, so one or two waffles per hour will be ideal for maintaining your energy levels.
200 g oats
200 g wholemeal flour
100 g (cane) sugar
1 tbsp honey
75 liquid margarine
3 dl (skimmed) milk
50 g apple puree
1/2 tsp baking powder
A little oil or margarine for baking
Mix all the ingredients well (using a food processor if you have one)
Leave to stiffen for an hour
Bake the waffles in a waffle iron
Tip!
If you are planning a long or intensive training session, you could eat these before training too. Add a little extra sugar with agave syrup, honey, jam, syrup, brown sugar or fresh fruit as a topping.
For Steffi, it all started when she said ‘goodbye’ to cheeseburgers and decided to live a healthier lifestyle. The twenty-something from Antwerp completely changed her lifestyle; she took up exercise, made sure she took time to relax and, above all, cooked healthy meals. Since then, she has been sharing her recipes on her blog and has started training as a nutritionist. Steffi is energetic, healthy, positive and loves to cook healthy food.
Discover various super-healthy recipes on the social media below:
With her food blog “Karola’s Kitchen”, Karolien aims to share her passion for healthy, tasty food and her avid interest in nutritional sciences with everyone. She makes meals by applying the personal nutritional philosophy which she has developed over the years. All of the recipes are simple and accessible.
Karolien and “Karola’s kitchen” have also been nominated by a professional food jury, out of 90 food bloggers, for the Belgian Food Blog Award in the ‘Best Healthy’ category. She won the award at the end of October 2017. Her super-healthy food blog is not to be missed!
Karolien will publish her first cookbook at the start of next year. The book is not a recipe book but a regular book with recipes.
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A gait analysis studies your movement pattern using a video recording. During the analysis, you use a treadmill to walk at various speeds, while your gait is recorded. The recordings take place barefoot and also with sports or walking shoes on, and with and without support soles if these are to be checked too.
After analysing the video, the specialist conducts a comprehensive case-history check and a foot examination in order to further specify the issues. If necessary, support soles or functional orthoses may be created.
A similar gait analysis can be carried out by S.P.O.R.T.S in the UZA.
The 15th edition of Adecco Brussels Ekiden turned into a beautiful day. More than 7,500 runners with 30 different nationalities, successfully completed their relay marathon on Saturday. One of them was Carl Vos, EY colleague at office Diegem. We asked him a few questions about his participation in the Brussels Ekiden.
Have you participated in an EY event before? Which one Yes I did. I participated in the Antwerp 10 miles and the 20km of Brussels in 2017 and the Antwerp Marathon in 2018 under the EY flag. In the Antwerp Marathon, I took part together with a close friend who works at the EY Tax department. Together with other Advisory colleagues, we also participated in the EY For Life event and a Spartacus Run in 2017 and a Strong Viking Run in 2018.
Was it the first time you participated in the Brussels Ekiden? Yes, it was. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it last year.
How did you experience the Brussels Ekiden? The weather was beautiful; the sun was shining and it wasn’t too hot so conditions were perfect for running. Everything was taken care of so we didn’t have to worry about anything other than enjoying ourselves and, of course, running as fast as possible. Overall as a team, we really enjoyed ourselves and had a great time.
What makes this event so much fun? The event is great for a variety of reasons:o Due to the fact that over 1000 teams from all different levels take part, you have the opportunity to see professional runners at work, while also running with people who run at the same level and pace as yourself. o You have the opportunity to get to know your colleagues outside of the professional environment. o It’s a nice fitness test to see how far you are in whatever you’re trying to achieve. o Last but not least – it’s a nice experience to run on the track of the King Baudouin Stadium.
Why should everyone participate in this event? The event is very accessible, with distances between 5 and 10km and runners from all levels. You will always have people running at the same pace as yourself, so you’ll never run alone. Also, the barbecue afterwards and the champagne for the 5 best EY teams are quite a good motivator for participation.
Will we see you back next year? I’ll try my best to make it and as soon as the date of the 2019 edition is known, I’ll definitely mark it in my agenda.
Thanks for this interview, Carl and hopefully we will see you at EY For Life on November 30 also in the King Baudouin stadium!
On Friday 31st August, I had the chance to go the Memorial Van Damme thanks to EY’s partnership with the BOIC. After the well-known Friday rush hour traffic, we arrived at the King Baudouin stadium.
As everyone desperately was looking for a parking space, we had the privilege to park at the headquarters of the BOIC. Which is just next to the stadium! A delicious walking dinner was waiting for us. Supporting the athletes with a full belly is so much more fun!
While walking to the stadium we heard the audience cheering. The atmosphere was great. We were very excited! We had amazing places, on the 5th row just at the finish line; It was very nice to witness the arrival of the athletes after their sprint. Although my favorite Olympian athlete Nafi Thiam wasn’t at her best, it was so cool to see her jumping up close.
After the event we could enjoy a sweet dessert buffet back at the BOIC headquarters.
Big thanks to EY and BOIC for this opportunity. We thoroughly enjoyed it!
Greetings
Evelien Baute
We love sport at EY! It’s energizing and inspiring and it brings people together. Vitality, passion and a good environment play a major role in fulfilling our goal of Building a Better Working World. We believe that a healthy body makes for a healthy mind. Marc Cosaert and Tristan Dhondt are the perfect examples of this motto. They share their views of sport with us and take us to South Africa!
Why is sport important to you?
Marc : Sport is important to me because it clears my mind. And because I firmly believe that a healthy body leads to a healthy mind. Sport makes me healthier, increases my attention span and improves my all-round performance. I’m a real outdoor type, I love the peace and quiet of nature. We spend too much time sat inside during the week, so I really need to get outside and do some sport.
Tristan : Sport keeps me more alert and more focused, too.
Marc : I consciously make time for it – about 4 hours at the weekend. But in the run-up to a sport event I subscribed for, I train during the week as well.
Tristan : I know that ideally you should do one or two hours of sport twice a week. And then I always plan a 4-hour training session at the weekend.
Marc : Another aspect of sports that I like is networking. Thanks to various sporting activities I’ve developed new relationships and contacts with clients. Every year I invite (potential) clients to go mountain-biking. It’s the perfect way to network and get moving at the same time!
Tristan : Yes, that’s an upward trend. And, of course, we work a lot with entrepreneurs, they all like a challenge. That’s what drives us, it’s a perfect way to clear our heads!
Marc : Basically, for me, sports is a combination of mental and physical health and nutrition. These three aspects are important to keep everything in balance.
Tristan : The nutrition aspect is important. You need to know your body. In the run-up to a competition, certainly, it’s important to watch what you eat: no alcohol, healthy food, more high-protein meals, like chicken, fish, yoghurt.
I heard that recently you both participated in an epic mountain bike event in South Africa. Can you tell us more?
Tristan : Last year, in the view of my 50th birthday this year, I challenged Marc to participate in a crazy adventure. It was the Cape Epic – an epic 8-day, 650 km mountain bike event, for teams of two people. It’s held in the Western Cape in South Africa, and it takes you up to altitudes of 14,000 meters. Another important factor we had to take into account was the heat. Riding in temperatures of 45°C is not something you can train for in our rainy country! This is the most challenging mountain bike race that exists. It is a race, but you have to stay with your teammate throughout. A lot of mountain bike professionals participate. It’s like the Tour de France for mountain bikers. And it’s definitely on every mountain biker’s bucket list.
Marc : Since we came back – only a week ago – we’ve had a lot of positive reactions from colleagues, clients and friends. The event is very well known.
How did you train for this event?
Marc : Once we knew we were registered, we could start training! We had the same coach, but we each had our own individual training scheme. During the last three months, we trained about 10 hours a week, sometimes even 12 hours. I did a mixture of spinning, running and mountain biking.
Tristan : I trained on my bike, on the rollers as well as outside. We spent a lot of time training at the weekends.
Marc : And because the Cape Epic is for teams of two, we trained together in the Ardennes, as well. The team aspect is very important in this race, you’re dependent on each other. During the race the distance between you and your teammate must never be more than 2 minutes, otherwise you are disqualified. Our teamwork was great, we helped each other a lot.
Tristan : We even designed our own cycling outfits, with our team name on them – Amicitia Fortior, which means Stronger through Friendship.
Has sport always played an important role in your life?
Marc : Unfortunately not. I started to be more active and do more sport about 6 or 7 years ago. The reason was the Fit4The Job partner program at EY. It was a real wake-up call for me. And one of my friends challenged me to cycle up the Mont Ventoux, as well. So, I started training. From the start it really excited me, and I haven’t stopped cycling since.
Tristan : I started in 2002. I was much heavier then, and I didn’t do any sport at all. With work and the kids, I just didn’t have time. There was an old bike at our holiday home in the Pyrenees, so I got on it and started pedaling – a little bit further every day. And I set myself a goal. Gradually cycling became a passion. The great thing is that it not only benefits yourself but your family too, as you’re less stressed, you can clear your mind, get new ideas and fresh ideas. It helps you to keep the perfect work-life balance!
What do you like about cycling/mountain-biking?
Tristan : I became a fan of cycling accidentally, thanks to that old bike in the Pyrenees. I think you have to focus on just the one sport if you opt for cycling. Because you spend a lot of time in the saddle. I like cycling because you see a lot of the countryside.
Marc : Cycling’s accessible, and you can cycle longer without injuring your body. On top of that, I live in a cycling-friendly environment – the Flemish Ardennes. That really motivates me to get on my bike.
What was a race day like?
Marc : We woke up at 6:00 am and had breakfast at 6:30am. At 7:00am they would bring us to the starting line. We started cycling around 7:30 – 8:00. During the day we cycled 7-8 hours till the finish line where we got recovery drinks and food, and our bikes had a wash. Then we went to the Bed & Breakfast to rest, eat and go to bed around 21:00. And that’s how it went on, for 8 days – cycling, eating and sleeping. During the race, we ate high-calorie sports food every 45 minutes, and there was a food & drink supply station every 40 km. The whole organization and the food and drink supply was fantastic.
Tristan : The team aspect also played a big role in terms of food and drinks. Sometimes Marc checked to see if I had eaten enough and vice versa. We kept an eye on each other, too. What’s the other’s mood like? What has he eaten?
Marc : We cycled together, not against each other. We were extremely complementary. My weakness was Tristan’s strength and vice versa.
Tristan : It wasn’t always easy, of course. The race started on Sunday, but on Monday I had a technical breakdown. It was really important that Marc was close to me then. On Wednesday I fell and torned my ligaments at the shoulder. At the time I didn’t realize that it was serious, so I continued the race another 2 more days or 200km. Although it hurt a lot, I didn’t want to quit, so I kept going. But at a certain moment I needed to. It was a very intense experience.
Marc : Les extrêmes se touchent in that race!
And how do you look back on it?
Tristian : It’s something I’ll never forget. A very intense experience. I’m already looking forward to our next challenge, perhaps the Swiss Epic. I need a new challenge every year.
Marc : This summer I want to take on a challenge with some friends and clients. We will do the longest single track in Colorado, a 750 km mountain bike trip in the Rocky Mountains.
And finally, what sporting advice would you give our readers?
Tristan : Motivation is important. Find a sport you really love. One that drives you.
Marc : Find your (sporting) challenge. A sport that gives your life balance, mentally, physically and nutritionally.
Thanks & RESPECT guys!
When an event lasts longer than an hour and a half to two hours, the concept of carb-loading becomes very important. For shorter events, the carbohydrate store is sufficient to provide the body with the appropriate, good energy for the duration of the exercise.
In the run-up to the event, however, training is scaled back and the quantities of carbohydrates are increased for three days prior to the competition, from 10 to 12g per kilogram of bodyweight.
During these days, the aim is to build up a stock of energy in order to combat and delay the onset of tiredness during the event.
Your body will store these carbohydrates in the liver and muscles and will burn them when you are exerting yourself. The idea is to retain this stock until the end of the event, and initially use up the food and drink you consume during the event.
Tips:
Plan regular carb-heavy snacks
Choose concentrated sugar sources such as sports drinks, fruit juice and or even squash. It shouldn’t involve kilos of pasta.
Eat as little fat as possible
NB!
Carb-loading will cause you to put on around 2kg. This is due to each gram of carbohydrate retaining a little moisture. This rapid weight gain is not permanent and will be reversed when the event has led to the reserves being used up. The weight gain may surprise athletes but there’s no need to worry. It is actually a sign that your carb-loading is a success.
