PainFree Race

Honestly, I am not sure where to start from,  I am over excited!! Today was a big achievement!
I finished  the 8 km of Amsterdam marathon, without any knee pain before, during and after, the pain that has been lingering around for the last 9 months!!
Since a month I have been able to run without pain, but I did have in between many ups and downs. Everyday since I postponed the surgery to release my IT band, from Oct 11th to end of November, I wondered if I made the right decision. My knee is not strong, I dont believe I can run and finish without having to stop because of the pain!

Today was simply a great day! At 7:30 John en Ans came and picked me up. John a little bit nervous is going to run with Christel the marathon and his goal is to have a strong finish . We parked the car and walked to De Hardloopwinkel in the Stadium where the tweetup is held.  Joan is such a great host she arranged coffee, drinks and cookies for whoever wanted and also she let us drop our bags and use her W.C Thank you Joan for the great service!

Christel, John And Me

Mud Masters 2012

I am a Mud Master!

Saturday @5:00 AM: Just woke up because of the sound of the rain, it was pouring so hard as if someone just turned the water on from the sky. Some thoughts running in my head doubting if I should do the MudMaster which I signed up for it few months ago. The doubts were mainly fear of causing more damage to my knee who has been behaving good the last few weeks.

Mud masters is where I get to run in the mud push my boundaries on an adventurous trail of 12 km of military obstacles, barbed wire, water a pyramid hill and... the shocking “Sizzler” obstacle.

Shall I do the ITBS Surgery?

I love running for the beauty, simplicity, community, love, pain, courage, struggle, and patience it brings into my life.  Realize that for me, running is greater than what can be put into words.

I have been enjoying to go on a run in the last 2 weeks more than I have ever enjoyed before. I have been running without pain, without the pain that didn't want to leave me alone. Being away from what I love to do for such a long time made me appreciate and cherish every step I can make without pain.
Running is my time to get away from everything and I do some of my best thinking when I’m running. Or if I have nothing to think about, I shut my brain totally off and space out. It’s my de-stresser, it keeps me sane, it give me energy, power and self control and sometimes that's all I need to keep me going. I have been feeling Fantastic lately and this mainly because I am back to running.

Running without pain is something I kept dreaming of from the moment I got injured.  My injury was a real nightmare not only because I couldn't run but because I couldn't even walk normally, in the morning I walk down the stairs limping, it really took a toll on my life. My injury prevented me from being Fit from being Me. It is true I tried to do a triathlon or other things but always I came out with lots of disappointment and pain. For 9 months i struggled to find peace with myself, I had too much energy in me and I didn't know how to loose it.