We Own the Night!

The evening of Sunday 19^th of may, I run “ We own the Night” a 10km women’s run organized by Nike In Westerpark Amsterdam. I was offered a Nike start packet  by Leonie, together with my friend Laura and she promised that It will be an amazing evening.

As promised, an after-hours run like no other. A10 kilometers of light, sound and the unexpected, together with 2000 women to celebrate the young, the female and the fabulous city of Amsterdam.  The after run party is held at the Gashouder with a performance by Eva Simons.

At 19:00 I picked up my start packet which included an orange Tshirt  and a nice bracelet and of course my start number. The Nike stand displayed cool outfit and shoes, a must have!! 

Before the start I got to chit chat with the ultra runner Leonie who was there being sure that the evening turns out to an unforgettable experience. I also got to meet with Francien and Fieke the coolest Nike chicks.

With @GirlsLove2Run

De Loop Van LeidscheRijn

Foto: Wendy

De loop van Leidscherijn is a race of 15 km with a theme “The Romans” The start/finish are located at the Roman village a few minutes walking distance from my house. A Roman village with an Xpo is built with catering, stage with live music, terrace, changing facilities and stands filled by various local associations. I was planning to run the 15km but few months back I saw messages from @Loopmaatjes that if he manages to have 20 relay teams     (2 (1x5 kms and 1x10 kms) or 3 (3 x 5 km) runners) he will become a sponsor of the event.

Of course I got all excited to support Mr @Loopmaatjes to reach his goal. I decided at that point to form my own relay Team and the first person I asked was my running mate @RunningRonald. All enthusiastic he started thinking of a team name and fun ideas which always makes me laugh! In meanwhile I was trying to figure out who should be the 3rd runner in order to run the 3x5km.
I was specifically looking for a fast runner I wanted to win the relay event.(Duh?) At the end I managed to convince @sportsjunkie my fast neighbor who was doubting if he should run the whole 15 km or join the ThunderTrio team which is the name that Ronald came up with for our fast Team.

ThunderTrio

Marathon Monday Boston 2013

I just can't believe I ran Boston Marathon!! It was not a dream, at the same time I can't believe what happened before the finish line, it was not a nightmare, everything was REAL!

Now that I gave it some time and found a place in my heart of  this adventurous, mixed feelings weekend in Boston, I am ready to write about it!
Monday April 15th was a day of extreme emotions: From extreme happiness to have crossed the finish line of the Boston marathon with a Personal Best to an extreme sadness, fear and disbelief within an hour after I finished when I heard the bomb exploded ...

My marathon performance has nothing to do with the explosions that is why I want to only talk about the race and the rest will forever stay a memory that I will never forget...

Where to start from? I  can honestly say I have never been as happy during or after a marathon as I was on Monday. In fact, I don’t think I’ve been this purely happy at a race.

It’s no secret: I like to run fast. I am internally competitive and incredibly driven by time goals. But this time when I finally made my mind to run Boston, my goal was just to run without having a goal time in mind and finish healthy without any injury and enjoy every km of this race.

Since my arrival to Boston on thursday and after a relaxed flight on a business class where I got to lay down for 8 hours, I have been feeling super relaxed, no jet lag, no knee pain from sitting 8 hours everything was just cooool and easy.

Afsluitdijkrun, Beirut HM and Marathon

The Afsluitdijk is a major Dam in the Netherlands, constructed between 1927 and 1933 and running from Den Oever in North Holland province, to the village of Zurich in Friesland province, over a length of 32 kilometres (20 mi) and a width of 90 m, at an initial height of 7.25 m above sea-level.
Afsluitdijkrun took place om March 10th after a successful edition 1 in 2012. A 30km run from Den Oever to Zurich. A perfect training for the Boston marathon. The week before I had pain in my calves and it resulted in a sensitive knee. The whole week I was wondering if I am going to manage to finish the 30 k on Sunday.

I picked  Marcel and Christine up from Marcel' s house in Zaandam and drove to Zurich. Marcel was injured and didn't run but stood on the side of the road to take some pictures. Christine wanted to run it as a training for 'Marathon de Paris'.
The day of the 30k the weather was better than the predicted forecast but the wind was very hard. I wanted to run at 5' the km and I wasn't sure with these circumstances if it was possible and especially with the doubts of being able to finish without any pain!

Ready to sprint the 30 km ;) against the wind with Rene and Christine

20 van Alphen

I have been training for 2 good months since my knee injury,  training has been going well, it has became part of my daily life. My knee has been doing much better but not 100% !! After my ski vacation and the 30k in the dunes my knee started to feel sensitive. With some good care my knee is being under control but it can be unpredictable!! Since I enjoy racing so much I thought why not give it a shot and run the 20k of Alphen aan den Rijn?
This is my first 20k race ever, so this is an automatic PR :-) @runningRonald is part of the organisation/coordination of the business Run, he has been so busy preparing for that day!!
When I signed up for a race, I received my start number at home with a sweet message from Ronald. Thank you RR!!

On Sunday March 3rd, the day of the race after a nice breakfast with my boys, they dropped me in Alphen around 12:00. The start of the race was not until 13:30. I walked toward the business center after reading Ronald post. He invited bloggers/twitters to use the business lounge facility and get to meet and greet other running mates. I also got to meet his sweet wife Miranda who has also been working hard to make this event a success!
The business center is a real fancy lounge. It was very nice, not too crowded and enough places for everyone!!

Thank you again for letting us relax in the business center :-)

TwitRun in the dunes

I always ask myself why do I love running so much? Is it only because of the feeling you get once you finished a run? The answer is No... not only that.... It is true that running by yourself after a hectic day at work brings peace to your inner soul....That quality time with yourself is just so powerful, you are the boss of yourself, you choose to go slow or go fast, to push yourself above your limits...This is YOU time....

Running is also a social event, where you get to know people talk about the same interest with lots of passion while being out there in the nature and that is also part of why I love running!
Around Christmas I joined for the first time a TwitRun organised by Martin (@MartinVNoort) in the dunes of Heemskerk. I enjoyed so much running out there in the nature and on the side of the beach, I was already eager to join again. Few messages on twitter and the date was set for February 24th.

Since I am not the only person who love running in the dunes, more people wanted to join but everyone had a goal or certain kms to reach. Martin thought of dividing the long run in 3 groups:
- Group 1 starting at 9 am who will run a 10 km
- Group 2 will join group1 at 10 am for a 7 km
- Group 3 will join both groups for a 14 km run
This puts group2 at about 21 kms and group1 at a total of 31 kms and this is the group that I was part of along with Christine (@ChristineTanguy) my running friend that I met while training for my first Marathon during the Phanos training session in Amsterdam and she is currently preparing for "Marathon de Paris", Ron(@RonDaalHuizen) and Martin both are in training for Rotterdam Marathon.


After I picked up Christine, we arrived at Martin's house just on time. We left all 4 of us towards the dunes, after couple of kms we were already in the country side, no one was out there beside few bikers now and then. It felt as if we were in the middle of nowhere, no sounds beside our whispers and the sound of our feet pounding the ground. A cold breeze and some wind which faded out when we were running between the trees. It is so peaceful that you can get lost in the nature. Few hills up and few hills down, the uneven road makes it harder than running on asphalt but it can only make you stronger. I definitely felt my legs and my knee while running but the nice company and the view made me forget my current state. Out of nowhere I saw a nice restaurant and made me think that in the summer would be great to run again here in the dunes of Heemskerk and then have lunch with our families afterward. I think PeuterD would love to run around and Martin said the food is yummy! :)

Switching between Dutch, French and English, the first hour went by so fast and then we arrived to the parking lot where group 2 (@runningMarcel, @bleeker, @RobHoogeboom and Edwin) was waiting for us to join for a 20 km run. So thoughtful of them they provided us with bananas and water. A small break and we hit the road again for a 45 min run before group 3 (@Nielsky, @langzaamaan and Bianca) joined us. Some chocolate and sport drinks were also provided.... what a team spirit :) !! Thank you it was well needed!!

Few minutes break and before we get too cold we headed to the heart of the dunes for the last 14 km. Few words here and there and time flew by again. I always enjoy running the last few kms in a faster pace... few speedy kms with Christine, then with Rob and Niels and then the last km with Martin. Martin just like last time impressed me in how fast he can run!! Chapeau!

TwitRunners

We arrived to our final destination with a BIG smile on everyone's faces. Some of us ran a personal kms, some ran pain free, some reached their weekly mileage and some ran a marathon in one weekend ;)

To end this beautiful Twitrun in a special way, Martin and his wife Lia were kind enough to invite us for a treat and coffee. Thank you for the hospitality! Wendy(@WendySolar1971) who is suffering from an injury also joined us for the yummy treats and nice motivational talk. I dropped Christine at her house and headed home to enjoy a nice afternoon with my boys!

How could my Sunday have been better than that ?

Schoorl Weekend

De Groet Uit Schoorl Run the race where last year with a broken heart I stood up on the side of the road and took pictures because I was Injured and I couldn't run the race. This year again signed up to the 30 km and the goal is to finally for the first time run a 30 km race in Schoorl.

On Saturday mid-afternoon we headed to Schoorl. After checking in our hotel, we went to the book Presentation of "Het Hardlopers Kookboek" The runners Cooking book. It was very nice to be there, talked to many inspiring athletes and coaches ...These moments are something I enjoy so much.

After a nice autograph on my new cooking book from the authors Mirjam and Barbara we headed back to our hotel to enjoy a nice dinner with Petra, Andrea, Merit, Ronald, Eric, Harm and my hubby.

The next day after a nice breakfast with the same group beside Merit and Ronald who were staying in a hotel few minutes away, we went to the sports club for the tweetup. A little bit late but still managed to take a foto :)

Eric, Me, Ronald, Ton
Marek, Merit and Thierry

After wishing everyone good luck, Ronald, Marek and myself headed to the start. Ronald and Marek planned already the pace they are going to run, as for me since I never run a 30 km race before and since it is my first 30 km since 2011 I didn't have a specific time....Well...not really... Secretly the night before the race I checked my split time of the Beirut Marathon 2011 and the Amsterdam Marathon 2011 and I noticed that my time at 30 km point were 2:13:16 en 2:16:38 respectively...I thought something in the middle should make me happy...so deep in my little heart I wanted to run a sub 2:15 but then again it has been ages since I run a 30 km I wasn't sure how my knee will handle it....

The start gun took off at 11 am, the first few kms I thought to keep Ronald and Marek in a good company ;) but then after 3 km I let go...I already know, no way I can keep up with their 4:10 - 4:15 pace for 30 km... I thought Egmond aan zee run is the most beautiful run but Schoorl was even nicer! Sun was shining a nice white coat was all over the trees the view was just breathtaking!

How my race went?
It was a strange feeling, I felt I would go weak then get stronger  and again weak then stronger and so on the whole way... I didn't feel it was a solid run that is for sure and normally I do! I am not sure why I felt like that! I also had few times stomach pain but then it goes away! I made sure to take my gel on time and tried as much possible to stay hydrated but this is always a challenge for me. Somewhere on the course it was really Icy I literally jogged that part, I was so scared to hurt myself! Unfortunately that same section I had to run it again after I passed the 21 km point and I almost walked it!! that is how Icy it was!

Somewhere just before the 21 km @RunningRonald run next to me and tells me that he couldn't keep up with Marek... he was not the Ronald I know, he looked disappointed of himself I tried to push him to stay with me but he said just go... It was just not his day!

Around 25 km, I felt something stretching in my knee, I had no pain but I could feel it!! Please not now I said to myself!! I was like in a panic mode but thanks god that it didn't got worse and I crossed the finish in 2:14'40"

At that moment everything stopped, nothing was hurting anymore, nothing mattered anymore...I DID IT!!! I did it the way I wanted it to be and I can't be any happier!!

Couple minutes later I see Ronald and Merit, Both of them were not super enthusiastic but I was quiet Hyper :P and tried to put a smile on their faces!!

Fast, I picked up my stuff from the sports club and headed to the hotel to see that Petra, Andrea and Eric the 3 of them run a PR at the 21 km race...Congratulations!! A fast shower and hit the road to our one week ski vacation in France.

For people who don't know me my favorite sport is skiing and will always be... Why? This picture explains it! Nothing can beat the feeling of being on top pf the mountain ready to cruise as fast as possible your way down to the bottom!


Who is coming down with me? :)

Amazing black slope

 
Unfortunately being in the Netherlands I don't get to practice it at all ...I started skiing almost as soon as I started walking... I ski raced in world Championships and many University races.... so going on a ski vacation after a super nice weekend in Schoorl can not be any better!!

With Hubby before the Apres-ski ;)

 I had no plan to run while on vacation but the temptation was too big! I managed to have few snow run at 1700m altitude and to be honest I felt out of shape... Maybe the combination of skiing and the altitude made me feel like that but still I had a blast!!

SnowRun

I had an awesome week with my family! PeuterD already took ski lessons in the garden before we left and there he enjoyed himself. He loved the snow and he is ready to become a good skier like his mommy :-)



PeuterD



                Today back to work but Countdown tot the next Vacation: 3 weeks to Go!!