The Countdown becomes real: 6 more weeks

So yes, another two weeks have passed. And I'll be completely honest with you, keeping up with the blog has been a challenge. Again.

It's not like I don't have things to write about. The training data is there, the sessions are happening (mostly), and there's plenty going on. But finding the actual time and headspace to sit down and put it into words? That's been the struggle.

When work explodes

Jeroen and I have had some absolutely crazy weeks at Trippz. A few projects didn't go exactly as planned—which is putting it mildly. When you're running a company with enterprise customers, and things start to go sideways on multiple fronts simultaneously, it demands your full attention. The kind of attention that doesn't leave much room for training blocks or blog posts.

You know those weeks where you're firefighting from the moment you wake up until you close your laptop late at night? Where every day brings a new challenge that needs immediate attention? Yeah, that's been our reality lately. Client expectations, project deliveries, team coordination—all of it happening at once while the clock keeps ticking down to Cape Epic.

The weather over the last weeks has actually been decent. Chilly, but nice enough to get outside. Which somehow made it more frustrating that I couldn't always find the time or mental space to capitalize on it. When your head is full of project challenges and client conversations, it's difficult to get into that zone where you can properly focus on a threshold session or a long endurance ride. You can be physically on the bike, but mentally you're still in that meeting from three hours ago.

The guilt vs. the reality

Here's the thing though: I'm not too stressed about it. Maybe I should be, with Cape Epic getting closer every day. But somewhere in your preparation, you have to accept that real life happens. Projects blow up. Companies need managing. You can't put everything on pause for training, no matter how important the goal.

I've done enough training over the past months to know that missing a week here or there won't destroy everything we've built. The fitness is there. The foundation is solid. And honestly, sometimes your body needs the break even when your mind is telling you to push harder.

That said, there's still that voice in the back of your head. You know the one. The one that says you should be pushing harder these last weeks. That every missed session matters. That other Masters category riders are putting in their final big blocks while you're dealing with project management. It's there, constantly nagging.

But I've learned to recognize it for what it is—just noise. Productive training isn't about crushing yourself every single day. It's about being consistent over time, managing stress from all sources, and showing up ready when it actually counts.

The mental shift

But something interesting happened the last few days. For the first time in this entire journey, I've started properly counting down. Not in a calendar way—I've been doing that since we signed up. But mentally. Emotionally. My mind is shifting towards the race in a way it hasn't before.

I'm genuinely getting fed up with the lonely training hours. Indoor, outdoor, doesn't matter anymore. The novelty has worn off. I'm tired of staring at my Kickr screen, watching those power numbers tick by while the sweat drips onto the tiles. Tired of solo rides in the cold where it's just me, the bike, and my thoughts for three hours. Tired of the same routes, the same intervals, the same routine.

Which, weirdly enough, might be exactly where I need to be mentally right now.

This feeling—this readiness, this impatience—it's different from motivation. Motivation got me through the last six months. This is something else. This is the part of your brain that's already at the start line in Meerendal, already visualizing those climbs, already thinking about race tactics and pacing strategy. The preparation phase is done in my head. Now I just need the calendar to catch up.

I just got of a taxi in Rome, I'm here for work for a day. I left the Netherlands, that was covered in a thin layer of snow this morning, and here it smells like spring almost. On one hand it feels like another two days gone from training, but honestly? On the other hand, it's nice to do something else for a change than just managing projects alone from my desk at home, and having that springy smell in the air makes the ''want to go to South Africa'' feel even stronger.

Different setting, different headspace, different rhythm. Sometimes you need that perspective shift. Sometimes stepping away from the routine—both the work routine and the training routine—gives you the mental reset you didn't know you needed. I'm not on the bike, but I'm also not stressing about spreadsheets or project timelines. Just... existing in a different space for a bit.

All in all, I'm still motivated. Still positive about where we're at. The fitness is good, the partnership with Jeroen is solid, and we still have four to fie weeks of solid training coming up. Those will be the final pieces, the last proper preparation before we head to South Africa.

But I'm also ready—really ready—to get going. The preparation phase is starting to feel long. We've been at this since early July 2025. Almost eight months of structured training, data analysis, early morning Kickr sessions, weekend rides, diet adjustments, recovery protocols. It's been incredible, transformative even. But it's also been... enough.

The anticipation is building. And that countdown in my head? It's getting louder every day, eager to hear the sound of the gun for our Prologue!

Until then? Of course......Keep Chasing!