When it comes to blogging, I have a terrible track record. When I started my running blog, I managed to keep up quite nicely. And then I stopped. Took a break. Focused on other things. Still not quite sure what happened. But here I am, writing a new bunch of words. So, where did I leave off last time? Let’s see if I remember things correctly…
10km Eindhoven Marathon
On October 13th (oh my, that’s exactly 4 months ago… WOW!) I ran my first 10km race. The start started rather late at 20:30, so I had alllllll day to be super nervous. Which, surprisingly enough, I wasn’t. I was just super excited and ready to go.
Bas and Vik came along to support me and after arriving in the nick of time and a quick kiss, I entered the starting area. Because of the late start, it was a sea of lights in all colors. So pretty!
The first 5km just flew by. I remember being quite surprised to the the sign and drinkpost just after that. A few tiny walking steps while drinking my water and back to running.
Arount 7km I started to feel the distance a bit, but I pushed on. The last 2 kilometers were the hardest. Not so much physically, but more mentally:
Almost there, just 1.5km to go. OMG, I can’t… ONE AND A HALF? That’s too much. No, it’s not too much, it’s peanuts, nothing, keep going. YOU CAN DO IT!
And then suddenly there I saw the finish line and I felt a little boost of energy, helping me to speed up a tiny bit and fly over that line. 1:06:05. BAM!
I had officially reached my 2018 goal. Yeah! But wait… I wasn’t done yet!
15km Bruggenloop Rotterdam
A few weeks and a lot of training later, I got off the train at Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam. Without my boys (cold, windy… No way I was letting the little one wait for over 1,5 hours in that), but feeling super excited and a bit nervous for what was about to come. 15 Kilometers through Rotterdam, crossing 6 bridges including the Brienenoord. Oh boy!
At the starting area I met up with my former coworker Anneloes. After a bit of catching up the race started and within seconds she flew off, leaving me to eat her dust, haha! Some people would mind, but me, I don’t care. I’m not fast, but I am fairly steady and always running my own race.
My race went really well, even the Brienenoordbridge went by smoothly (that thing is loooong!). I caught myself smiling the whole way. At around 12km I started feeling some pains and aches in my hips and pelvic area, so I slowed down a bit. The last 2km weren’t very comfortable, but knowing I was so close and had run all that way, my smile stayed put and I kept going.
Crossing that finish line was my most emotional so far, breaking down in tears. Not only the furthest I’d ever run, but I had in my heart dedicated this particular race to one of my dearest friends Jo. Jo had passed away just days before, after suffering from breast cancer for several years.
This one was for you, Jo. Love you, miss you, in my heart forever <3
Continuing the road to Rotterdam
The past 2 months since the Buggenloop, I’ve continued training, catching up to the rest of my online teammated. After an 18km run in Baar last January, with the greater part of the team, I officially promoted to the team-schedule. No more custom schedules to catch up, hooray! As #LaCoach said: I had to come the furthest of all but I did it. And now it’s full steam ahead to the marathon.
With less than 2 months to go, I try not to think about it too much because well… NERVES! But I’m getting there. The schedules consist of intervals, hills, stairs and of course duration trainings.
A few weeks ago I had Bas drop me off at a parking lot just off the highway by Boxtel and I ran the full 19km home. And 2 weeks later I ran 21.5km. I can’t even begin to explain how awesome it is to get further each week. And despite getting the flu a week later and not running for over a week, I still managed to keep up with the schedule.
I do plan on writing my weekly recaps again, especially with the marathon getting closer by the day. And though I’m still a but scared (shitless), I can also say:
Rotterdam, here I come!
