Autumn is most beautiful in the forest. After 2 weeks of relative peace and quiet, a slow trip of 30 km should be ok, shouldn't it? Especially if you can pick up new hiking boots as a reward.
I won't lie, the recovery of the 90 km didn't turn out the way I expected. Not so much in terms of the muscles, that was actually fine. But the blood sugars… my values flew in all directions and the graphs looked like a comb. One moment an unexpected hypo (too low blood sugar), the next a steep peak with minimal correction. The body was clearly recovering.
Of course resting for a week doesn't help to get stable blood sugars. Less exercise means less sensitivity to insulin and therefore higher blood sugars. My hunger had increased as well. But I can anticipate the hunger, something I can't do for the fast switching between hypo and hyper. Fortunately the second week of relative rest went a lot better. That is why I was looking forward to a nice trip. It would be a pity not to be able to check out the autumn colours.
After seeing the colorful photos of the Slow trip Arnhem-Norththe choice seemed easy. That name is of course no reference to me taking it easy, a promise I made to myself, although its name is funny in this context. However, it's the official name of a hiking trail from a series made by Rob Wolfs and Rutger Burgers with the maximum amount of unpaved roads possible (maximum 30 percent asphalt), a landscape as varied as they could plan it and a manageable length between 5 and 22 km. For me the 15 km of this route was on the short side, so I extended it myself with a piece of Wolfheze to make a total of about 29 km of planned route.
A crowded start
Already around 9.44 am I was at Arnhem Central Station. A nice time to start, I thought. More than three hours after breakfast, but still relatively early. On many of my runs up till now Saturdays were quiet around this time. But with the renewed lockdown-like measures, which restrict sports clubs, combined with mild weather and autumn leaves, it already turned out to be a busy day. Parents with prams, walkers, but also many groups of athletes. The fact that the route first passed Park Sonsbeek, just behind the station, almost guarenteed a crowded route. Because running groups and bootcampers can no longer train on a large scale in my own area, I didn't expect it to be so busy with groups of athletes that I had to zigzag passed.
I do have to say that the park is exceptionally beautiful at this time of year. A little further on at Huis Zypendaal I took the first autumn pictures at a place where there were less passers by. In reality it is even way more beautiful, I can't get those colors captured properly. As far as beauty is concerned, I'm also taking my hat of to the creators of the route, that really leads along a number of extraordinary paths. And the nice thing is, that there are quite a few paths that I haven't seen before. Despite the fact that I have already done a lot of training and races around Arnhem, including the 4Parken Trail, several NS MST trails, the Airborne Freedom Trailthe Winter Trekking and the Stuwwaltrail.
Dipping deeply and eating through it
Because of the mild weather, my Freestyle Libre luckily did work this time. Unfortunately that was almost the only positive thing the sensor had to report. Already quite early in the run, the blood sugars kept on sinking towards the 4 mmol/l. Despite the fact that I had used a nutritional strategy that usually works very well. Probably it was still a tail end of the instability of the past weeks. However, in practice it meant a lot of eating... and eating... Having to walk and take pictures was fortunately not a punishment in this temperature and with the autumn colors.
My route turned out to be a chain of wide avenues in estates. I passed the Menthenberg, with a beautiful stream where a photo club practiced, Schaarbergen and Koningsoord. The latter surprised me for a moment. What is a large, modern monastery – with nuns to prove the activity – doing here above the rivers?
The remarkable thing is that this abbey was initially located in Berkel-Enschot, near Tilburg. But there the ordinary residential areas moved up to the abbey, which would ruin the Cistercians' monastic seclusion. So they moved to this convent in Arnhem, which was built in 2007. A huge building for a group of only 30 nuns. For today, this point meant that my route of the Slow trek was split off towards Wolfheze.
Roads and railways
My deflection of the tour set up by Wolfs soon indicated how good the original route was. Instead of quiet forest avenues, I was now led a long way along roads and rail tracks. Of course it was a given that I had to pass them, but afterwards I regretted not having spent a little more time on a longer, quieter detour.
Actually, I wanted to go to Wolfheze because of the Winter Trekking. It started here last December and I am a bit nostalgic. Once I arrived at Wolfheze, the surroundings seemed enchanted: the stream itself and the grasses and trees around it were really the height of autumn. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one who thought so and I soon had to get in cue with walkers. Always switching order on the narrow paths, as everyone stood still somewhere and took photos. I did the same of course. And I was not only taking photos, because in the meantime there was again a need for another Snickers…
Further on, the stream was mainly a dry ditch. Even the heavy rains of the last few days hadn't changed the draught. But maybe it was also one of the reasons why the forest here was so dotted with coloured leaves, which covered the winding paths as well. Actually I wanted to take a few more pictures with the GoPro, but that was not possible because of the crowds and because the single tracks meant I was not able to pass people very well.
War Graves
Again I passed the monastery, but this time on the other side. I continued the Slow trek through the Bilderberg Woods, where I immediately had to think of all the conspiracy theories around Bilderberg when I came across a large yellow-black pole in the middle of the path. Why on earth was that pole here, in the middle of the path?
I didn't have much time to think about it. From the back I passed the Commonwealth War Graves. A year ago, during the Airborne Freedom Trail, I had placed a wooden cross at the grave of a soldier. Now – the trail has been virtualized – I also saw several groups of traillers who paid their respects to the fallen soldiers.
In the hedge
As the city came closer, the landscape began to rise and fall again. With great speed I let myself fall down a hill where even tough mountain bikers had to get off their bikes. Unfortunately I knew: I too would have to climb again soon. But the stable was already near.
The large hedges at estate Mariëndaal formed a nice distraction. The beech trees growing towards each other form a hedge that really encloses you in a triangle, which offers you security against the outside world. These so-called berceaus, built around 1865, serve to protect you from the sun so that the damsels of old would not look like a tanned farm worker after getting outside. Now we all want that sun, which strengthens our immune system. And that leaves the hedge for a very hot day or as an attribute for a hide and seek party.
Gift: New shoes
Back at Arnhem Central Station my Garmin bleeped exactly 30 km. A bit longer than I had anticipated, but I loitered around a bit. I stopped my watch and decided to eat something. This time I had also chosen to bring a warmer jacket as it was getting colder. An eyesoring orange Montane down jacket that can be folded into its own inner pocket. An ideal light companion for when winter really starts. And yet warmer than I thought, today I could leave the zippers half open.
In the down jacket I was in no hurry to return home: I had allowed myself to buy a new pair of (hiking) shoes from Vivobarefoot to celebrate that I finished the Indian Summer Ultra. My most used Vivobarefoot shoes are quickly wearing out at the moment and feel a bit slippery on wet paths. So I convinded myself I really needed those new merino wool Magna Trail Leather and Wool. I just didn't quite know which colour – black or grey – and size it would be, but the only place in the Netherlands where they were present was the Barefoot & More shop in Arnhem. There they made me dub for a long time between size 43 and 44, after which I went for the latter. Even for Vivo’s I have relatively wide feet. I'm curious how the trail sole will feel after all my smooth Vivobarefoots (this is already my seventh pair).
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