I’m passionate about quality of life. Therefor I have my daily rituals in order to maximize my energy, mental and physical health.
But my believe is also that if you want to have an extraordinary quality of life, you have to push yourself on a regular basis out of your comfortzone.
That’s what I’ve done in January 2022 by signing myself up for an Ultratrail 75K 5000D+m in the swiss alps.
I had no experience at all in Ultrarunning nor marathons. The only thing I did was running approximately 20k in a week to keep myself fit.
I’ve started my journey with a training schedule on the internet. Pretty soon I realized this wasn’t going to work out. My friend introduced me to have a chat with Erik.
I’m super grateful because without Erik, I wouldn’t have hit my outcome. After 1 hour of introduction meeting, I knew he was my man.
I always like to learn from people who are walking their talk. And that is what Erik still does after 15+ years of Ultratrails.
We had 6 months to prepare so I couldn’t afford myself a serious injure or I could forget my race.
Thanks to Erik’s professionalism and his mantra “slow down on a regular basis in order to speed up your progress” I was able to start the race injury free and also important, to finish the race injury free.
Trust the process, he’s always saying and that’s what I did.
I’m super grateful to have you in my life as a coach and mentor. You’re a source of inspiration.
See you soon for the next challenge
After having ran some fun bivouac runs and long trainings with Erik, I was amazed by his knowledge of ultra trail running. To me, it was a logical step to turn to Erik for advice during my preparation for my world record attempt on the 3.500 km Appalachian Trail. I implemented many of his smaller and big tips and successfully set a new world record on the Appalachian Trail. I warmly recommend Erik as your coach for an (ultra) trail run.
Karel Sabbe (Fastest Known Time – World Record holder Pacific Crest Trail & Appalachian Trail)
"When I came to Erik, I had been doing the same workouts for years and had plateaued. Erik has helped me leave my comfort zone by continuously suggesting new and exciting training plans. These new challenges each week keeps things fresh and motivates me to push my limits. Most importantly, the coaching goes way beyond just a shedule. Erik's personal approach combined with his extensive experience helps me find ways to ensure that the running remains sustainable and fun at all times."
"The love for running, adventures, and generally being outdoors takes centre stage in Erik's coaching style. The improvements to performance, endurance, and general health that come from the personalized running and exercise schedules Erik provides almost feel like after thoughts (almost). Erik continuously fuels my love for running in a way that I look forward to all the sessions and making time for running no longer feels like hard work. With a busy work schedule the training schedule is often impacted, but Erik's approach means that running is always a source of joy and relaxation as opposed to yet another commitment. Erik's coaching is a combination of a personalized training schedule backed by an incredible knowledge and the seemingly singular focus on fun! The result: I'm able to run much longer than I did before and, for the first time since I started running, I've been without an injury!"
Because I couldn’t find the right balance between a fulltime job, a family with two little children and training for ultra trails in the past, I had lost the pleasure in running. I then turned to Sweet Spot Performance. From the first talk, you realize that Erik speaks very passionately about trail running and is a treasure of information. He’s not a traditional trainer that only focuses on the physical: he gives equal attention to the mental aspect. With the plans he gave me I made considerable progress and re-found the pleasure in training. So, if you’re looking for a person that enriches your running experience with his tips and support, Erik is the coach you’re looking for.
Although I knew beforehand that I was expecting the impossible when I asked Erik in mid-November to coach me for a 175 km race 6 weeks later, he still took on the challenge. He couldn’t give me any guarantees, but came up with a plan for my ‘couch to 170k in only 6 weeks’.
By focusing on physical aspects, where Erik struck a nice balance between sufficient intensity and kilometers on the one hand and avoiding injuries on the other, as well as on mental aspects, where we concentrated on simulating race conditions and making plans for every possible race scenario without losing sight of flexibility, Erik created a well-balanced training plan. Regular follow-ups, with a number of checkpoints to evaluate my progress, and adjustments – where required by the circumstances – made for a perfect preparation for my challenge.
After a short resting period before the race, in which we went over the race plan together, it was time to begin. Even during the race, Erik was always on hand to provide me with (mental) support, which allowed me to successfully complete my challenge.
Tim De Vriendt (Race Director Legends Trails)
I had been running multiple 100+ km distances, but had misjudged a 100 miles a few times. In 2018 I almost didn’t finish a race, mainly because of the mental aspect. After a while, I also started doubting myself. For my 40th birthday, I made it my goal to finish the Spine Challenger (175 km) in January 2020. The preparations required a lot of time and that took its toll on my family. And so, I turned to Erik.
Erik immediately told me it was a nice challenge and that he believed in me. He provided me with a clear training plan that also took the mental aspect into account. The plan got its place in the family agenda and I could purely focus on my target. In June, I finished the Spine Flare, the Summer edition of the Challenger. Thanks to Erik’s tips and the mental peace he gave me, I made my intermediary target and I successfully completed the Spine Challenger, on my birthday !
I met Erik during a trail run expedition in Greenland.
I was immediately struck by his energetic appearance and the ease with which he skipped through the snow and across the ice. During that week, Erik happily and enthusiastically shared his experience. Afterwards, too, I could count on him for tips & tricks, dos & don’ts while preparing for my first 80 km trail race.
It wasn’t the first time I had received advice, but this time I took them to heart – most of the time. Not easy for someone who happens to be a bit self-willed.
Erik had the courage to tell me my running calendar was a bit too full, with statements like “No, I really don’t think it’s a good idea to run an ultra between those two races”, “Better to be 10% undertrained than 1% overtrained”.