It is 8:21 PM, I'm returning from my first flight in more than a 1000 days. We just flew through an infinite amount of dense, white clouds above the Belgian sky. Exactly the clouds a 10 year-old would imagine in his head when hearing the word "cloud".I tried to take a picture but the plane window was hella dirty. Almost a year after this season started, the 2025-26 season - is officialy over.
July
National Champs
On the 25th of June I had an hamstring cramp. Then I had:
- a week of not doing much, mostly recovery
- a week of good training but I did way too much
- again a week of nothing, because I had pain behind my left knee that would just not leave me. I also had my left upper hamstring nudging me a bit, which is pretty normal considering I just felt a twitch in it few weeks before.
- And then - national championships.
I won't be dramatic and say that this is the worst preperation I could have to the national championships, but - it could be better.
I came to the championship not knowing if I'll be able to compete. Just a few days prior, I stopped training completely because I just couldn't run. It hurt.
The days before the competition I traveled a lot and the day before I went to sleep exhausted.
On the day of the competition, I arrived to the city on train, then sat on the wrong bus. I entered the stadium one hour and 5 minutes before jumping.
That warmup in the national champs was the first time I did a full runup in a month. Since that cramp.
And guess what - it was an amazing competition.
It's not only the fact that I came in fourth, which is practically the highest I could get with my current level. Not only that I PB'd (though only by 1cm). It's the fact that I came absolutely broken (physically). Had bad preperation. Was around 50 days after my PB (and competed like 3 times since, 6.72m, 6.68m, 6.63m). And still, I came, I fought, and I jumped 7.01m, a PB. I'm not usually proud of myself the way I was after that competition.
From feeling my knees when I switch a side on my bed at night, to jumping a PB.
And what's even crazier is that I almost didn't get into the final with 6.72m. I was 8th and was lucky that some better jumpers didn't jump more than me. I could actually be out of that competition with 6.72m.
Imagine how I would feel then. Imagine how much a single better jump of one of the athletes could affect my mood.
It's a hard sport.
4 days later
I competed again 6 days later. It wasn't very good. I just felt tired plus a weird pain in my left hip.
6.72m.
The season technically ended
I didn't wand to end my season. I jumped 7.01m with a body that didn't feel even close to good. I didn't feel good for a long time. Since around the start of June. It was the end of July now. I was just starting to feel better and I knew I got more in my legs than my PB shows, so I wanted another chance.
So I kept my head open. And I found one. A group of athletes were flying to Belgium to compete on August 1st in Oordegem, a small town in Belgium, in a bronze IAAF competition. It was an international competition with a lot of athletes from abroad.
Belgium
I found this out on Friday.
Registration closed on Saturday.
On Sunday, (when I competed), I found out that I was accepted. I booked flights and hotel that night.
On Tuesday night I was already on a plane to Belgium.
The first flight in more than 1000 days. Second ever competition abroad and first being an adult.
There were 2 flights. I didn't sleep for a second that night (the first departed on 4:45 AM. Second on 7:55 AM. We landed at 12:15 AM). But I recovered fully until the competition on Saturday.
And then... I absolutely fumbled it.
I felt amazing, but I think my body memorized in the warmup a wrong runup and I just couldn't get out of it. Also, my trainer didn't come so it was just me and my friend. Anyways, I really could jump far there. If i'd jump my PB I would come 6th. But I ended up 10th with the result of 6.60m. In a video you would really see how I'm slowing down as I'm getting close to the board. A movement pattern I must get rid of.
Anyways, it was an amazing experience. I'm glad I flew. And who knows, maybe next year I'll return and get on the podium (not literally, I don't think they hand out medals. Also - that would require 7.33m this year. A man can dream can't he.).
Closing words
It was such a long season. I moved through two appartments, changed coaches, jobs, roomates, got out of hamstring injury, then felt pain again, then fixed it, then had a cramp, then healed again! lost hope, gained hope, PB'd in some exercises, then didn't PB for months, then PB'd again, downs, ups.... This year was SO so packed with events. Wow.
In my first training post I basically said "If I did so much in 2025 - worked full time, did a side project and continued training, why can't I do it again in 2026, only this time - prioritize track and field".
Well, there are two kinds of busy:
- Busy all the time with the same thing
- Busy all the time doing millions of things.
Busy all the time with the same thing
In 2025, I was the first type of busy.
Which got its disadvantages.
First of all, if you are bored of that one thing and must do it, it sucks.
Second, its easy to hit burnout when you are doing the same thing.
Third, If you decide to do more than that one thing, you don't have the time to do it. At some point you don't even tell yourself "I'll come back to it later", because you know that later you'll be busy with that exact same thing. So it's a pretty jail-ish experience
Busy all the time with million of things
This year though, 2026, I was definitely the second type of busy. The "everywhere but nowhere", "here but never present" type of busy. I had 0 free time. For a year. Which is a huge price to pay. So big of a price, I actually thought giving up at some point because competitions were going horribly. Luckily, after months of not seeing results, I actually had the privillage to enjoy the fruits of the hard work I did.
And so, tbh, there were a lot of days that year that I didn't enjoy. I just felt like I'm doing too much, and it's simply isn't worth it.
Think that from August to May, 9 months, I was in a position where I had no free time, I was always on the road, I didn't PB for 3 years, I came back after 1 year of not training at all and didn't know if I'm any good in training. And it was just... tough.
Overall, I'm super proud of this year. I achieved things I never thought I'll achieve. I jumped over the 7m barrier. I came in 4th in the national championship.
Next year
I'll move to another appartment to get closer to the place of training. Being on the roads might be the worst thing of 2025/26 season. If not the worst, then at least in the top 3.
I must train with people. And they better be better than me. Even with a trainer and all, I still had way too much 10 PM track sessions and a lot of time by myself in the gym.
And hopefully that one is actually happening. A new very good and known sprints coach should be joining our team soon. And that probably means new training partners, for some of the time at least.
I need to make sure I care about the quality-of-life things, like moving to a new apartment. Only when life is pretty comfortable, you can train normally. If it's not, you're just packed with so many BS that training becomes a routine and not something you enjoy.
Recovery wise and equipment wise - I need to up my game. This year I started sleeping a lot more. Which is amazing. But now I need to buy gym shoes, maybe I need recovery leg sleeves. Maybe I'll buy whoop. Either way, it's time to put the money where my mouth is.
Let's see what happens next.
