Chicago Marathon 2014

12-10-2014

Each marathon has been incredibly special in its own way, and No. 6 proved to be more emotionally and mentally powerful than I even imagined.

I flew to Chicago on Wednesday to stay with my sister who lives there. First night I was terribly jet lagged and went on a run at 4 am. It was just a peaceful and beautiful run! I was so excited to be there and hardly could wait to be at the start of the marathon! Throughout the day I felt I was coming down with something… My sweet sister went straight away and got me all kind of medicine to fight the flu.

Sneek Mar-athon 2014

On the shortest day of the year 21 dec 2013 just like a little kid I was waiting to sign up for the 1st edition of Sneek Marathon which will take place in the evening of the longest day of the year which is 21st of June.
When I was filling up my registration form... I was drinking coffee with cookies, 15 kg heavier with a 7 months baby in my belly...At that point I made a joke saying that I can always give my start number away because deep in my heart I couldn't imagine I could run another marathon only 4 months after giving birth...

Time flew by and before I knew it, it was few days before the big day! Honestly I was freaking out! I only did 2 long runs, my body is far from being ready to run 42.2 kms but still I wanted to run it! I had no pressure of finishing in any specific time. Christine my running mate has in mind to run a sub3 hours30 min and beat her Personal Best. I agreed to join her and help her if needed without being commited. @RunningRonald also accepted to pace Christine who is also not in top shape... but we all thought we start together and see how it goes....

On Saturday 21st of June I woke up without any stress as if I wasn't going to race! I started cleaning the house and finishing the laundry until my hubby said shouldnt you be resting?  Shortly after we packed we headed towards Sneek. The start wasn't until 19:00 and the nice thing that we were going to spend the night there.
Once we arrived and checked into our hotel, we headed to town to have a drink with Cis and Pascal.

Just before 19:00 we headed to the meet and greet point. It is always nice to see everyone else again!
Christine Ronald and myself dropped our bags and headed to the start. I was a little nervous just because I still have to run for at least 3 hours and my body is not used to it.

Start took off on time, a small group was formed made of Christine, Ronald, Raymond, km after km we were cruising at 5'/km. I had so much fun, joking and talking and without even noticing we were already around 25 km. From 25 km you feel that everyone is getting tired and the joking modus got switched to a more focused modus.

 At 30 km Ronald had to stop, Christine, Raymond and myself continued at the same pace. Between 30km and 40 km I enjoyed a beautiful sunset in the horizon. I should admit that the last 10 kms were not easy anymore, I speeded up a little bit because I just wanted to finish. I left Christine and Raymond and headed toward the finish line.

 Once the finish line was insight , a group of people on both side of the road was formed and at that moment I couldn't but just have a big smile on my face and all I could repeat is

HELL YEAH I DID IT!!!

To my great surprise, I crossed the finish line as 2nd in my Category and 6th overall in the female catgorie! Mar-athon rond Sneek en meer was super nice!! Next year I will be back on the start line and this time going for the 1st lady :)
Thanks to the wonderful organisation and all the volunteers who made this event succesful!

See you in 2015!

12 weeks PostPregnancy

Wow! Time flies and I haven't found the time to blog!

Today my little princess turned 12 weeks!! Yes 3 months old!

I am sitting here going back to 12 weeks ago when I went on a 7 km run at 37 weeks pregnant.

 I was already on maternity leave. I still remember I had a great run! I didn't stop I felt strong. 

The Journey of a Pregnant Runner

Pregnancy has been an interesting journey for this ambitious runner!

Just before I knew I was pregnant I was training so hard for Berlin Marathon. Early morning runs, good diet and dedication. When I knew that We are expecting again, my first reaction was combined with mixed feelings! I didn't expect that it will all happen so soon especially that I was at the peek of my running. Knowing that I have a little heart beat in my belly changed my goals and running became less priority but this didn't mean that I would stop running or stop running one of the biggest marathon in the world.


My 1st trimester:
I was hit by nausea and extreme fatigue but whenever I had a chance to tight those running shoe laces and go on a run I never said NO. It was in the middle of the summer so I used the opportunity to go run as early as 5 am before my head and body realize what I was doing and also this gave me the opportunity to enjoy a relaxed evening in the garden after a busy day at work.
Stats:
June :300 km
July :350km
August :300km


My 2nd trimester:

My nausea was almost gone and I was ready to run Berlin Marathon at 4 months Pregnant. Before Berlin I run a 30 km race " 30 van North Amsterdam" I also Run the " Dam tot Dam Loop  " a 10 Em race. Berlin Marathon was very exciting but also hard mentally. In my heart I was still wishing I am going for the time and wanted to run my fastest marathon and beat my Boston Marathon time of 3:06:28 but realistically that was not possible "Baby comes first".

4 months Pregnant

I tried to enjoy the amazing crowd and the beautiful city of Berlin  while running but unfortunately It turned out less pleasant.  From the 1st km my knee started to hurt but as stubborn as I am  "Giving up was not an option" and "Pain is just temporary" I wanted so bad to finish the marathon and feel that sense of pride. Every km passed by, the pain was getting sharper to the point I couldn't bend my knee anymore but still made it to the finish line and that feeling of accomplishing something you want so bad is not describable!!! Crossing the finish line while having a baby in my belly made me almost forget those 42 painful kms! I was just proud!

Squating at 4 months Pregnant

The consequences were big because this race left me injured almost the whole month of October and most of November.
Being injured didn't stop me from working out! I went weekly to the gym did my squats and exercises as well as Aqua jogging. I started building up my running on the AlterG where I could control my weight.



Toward the end of November I run 2 races: 8 km of the Lintloop and 15km of Zevenheuvelenloop.

Stats:
October: 15km
November: 87km
December :145 Km

My 3rd trimester:

Result of Hardloopspel

Kick off of a new Year also kick off of Hardloopspel made January  quiet exciting!

Between 30 and 34 weeks pregnant I felt quiet fit and energetic despite the 13 kg extra on my 56 kg body frame.
January left me with 245 pregnant kms!!!

February started with less energy. The first 20 min of every run my calves were cramping and after the 20 min I was experiencing a " Pubic Pain"
I went to see a special physiotherapist and her advice was to stop running, she was not supportive at all. Talking to my doctor and other running coaches they advised me to keep running but less kms and that is how I am managing my runs these days. Anything between 3km to 5 km makes me happy, painfree and energetic. Anything more than 5 kms becomes painful and no fun and that is not what running is all about. I will keep running as long as my body keeps allowing it!

37 weeks Pregnant

Today I am 37 weeks Pregnant, the excitement of meeting my little baby Girl is becoming Huge. I just honestly can't wait! I am already on maternity leave, I am trying to relax and enjoy my Me time before my life turns to a busy one! Not sure how running is going to fit in my schedule but "when there is a will there is a way"! What I also know that "1 hour of working out is 4 % of my day" so there is NO EXCUSES!!!

I am planning to Breastfeed for 6 months so this is going to be quiet challenging to combine  baby, family, work, Running and social life, 

but this mommy is ready for it! 

The countdown has begun!!! Baby Girl I am eager to meet you

so please come soon!!!

Hardloopspel

Who will become the running King (or Queen) of the Netherlands? 

Hexagonal tile

Hardloopspel.nl is the first running game where runners can compete on an interactive map with the number of kilometers they run. The Netherlands is divided into 3000 hexagonal tiles and each tile has its own ranking list.

How does it work?

Tiles, Position and Points are displayed on the screen

Looptijden.nl is a free app where runners can manage almost everything they need from training to planning races to statistics and much more. It is possible to become a member PLUS by paying a small fee and this gives advantage to the runner to have a custom training depending on what is his next goal. If you are a runner and don’t have an account yet it's time to make one, I really recommend it.

To make running more fun, exciting and encourage people to run more looptijden.nl since january 2014 has linked the running game (Hardloopspel.nl) to their app. This means whenever you run with any GPS device and you import your route to looptijden.nl, the running game will automatically calculate and display the tiles and the kms as well as the ranking of every tile you run over.

Each tile has its own ranking and for every km run, it counts for 1 point. The male/female runner of every tile is crowned as King/Queen of that tile. At the end of every month all scores from points to tiles to rankings are being reset in order to give every runner a new chance to be crowned King or Queen on a tile.

“ As per January I started playing the running game, I was 30 weeks pregnant, I became hooked and wanted not only be the Queen of the tile but also lead the overall ranking of 2 tiles where I usually run, despite being pregnant. I got all enthusiastic and I surely reached my goal” 

You want to be part of a fun challenge and be crowned the King or Queen of 1 or more tiles or piss off your neighbor or friend and steal the crown from them?

Go lace those shoes up and hit the road !!