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On and off the road

Hi y'all

Just seven more weeks before the big run in San Francisco and a about three weeks before I run the 10 mile dam-tot-dam loop. The latter being the biggest event in the Netherlands. I'm excited and with each passing run I feel myself getting stronger even though some runs (like today's run) I'm at the verge of breaking down and collapsing and willing to give up and than I just... don't. If you are looking for a way to sponsor a good cause (tax deductable above 60 euro!) than feel free to donate some of your savings in order to fund research for stomach/liver/bowel diseases CLICK HERE AND DONATE

The past week was a weird one. It started with summer holiday being over but than it really wasn't so I had another week left all at the sudden. That gave me and my love the opportunity the rent a cabin in the woods. We did bring our digital stuff with us because there was some work to do but I am honestly grateful for wifi and internet. I can now do so much work without going to my place of work and I can do it whenever and where ever I want. Awesome. So last monday we drove all the way to the woods of Brabant (and trust me that is a long drive for us Dutchies) and we spent the first evening in our cabin acting like little children gone camping. It was awesome. I even brought my guitar so there was music too.

Than on Tuesday my dad called. Bad news. My mom is sick. Very sick. After fighting and beating cancer she is now facing an auto-immune musculair disease.The doctors are doing all kinds of tests right now to determine if it is Myasthenia gravis or ALS. It is very weird to hear yourself say that you wish for myasthenia gravis. So we drove back to Amsterdam last wednesday to see her in the hospital. She is holding up and the thing is that apart from her speech/swallowing she still has her humor and laughs too. My mom is just amazingly down-to-earth. She said that there was nothing else to do than just wait for the testresults to come in and deal with them in the best way possible. We are all wishing for the best possible outcome. For me her strength is inspirational. If she can beat all of that, still laugh and have fun? Well than I can certainly run a few miles now can't I?I love you mom. You are amazing and I could not have a better mom!

And so this week I ran. My shedule was filled with two short runs and two long runs. Being able to run two of them in the woods was sheer bliss. Running off road (remember woods) is something else so on my first long run this week I felt sore after 9km. So many bumps in the sand and bugs and branches of whatever stingy bushes that brush your skin but the views are spectaculair and breathtaking. The peace and quiet are amazing and I really need that sometimes. Just me, nature and my man riding his bicycle next to me. It calms me down and it helps me to stay focussed. If I do not get this peace and quiet in times like this than I panic. Want to know where I ran? Well...here...

Today I ran the biggest run of all yet: a 14.5km run and I was looking forward to it. check out the route right here My man went with me riding his bike (and taking the pictures) and we planned a route running through what is known as 'the Bretten'. It's a stretch of green between Amsterdam and Halfweg and it is actually quite beautiful. When we headed out the roads were empty and the first half of the run we hardly saw anybody. After halfway point the world had obviously woken up and the quiet bicycle lanes quickly filled with fashionable racebike riders on their fast sunday workouts so I had to watch my steps and make sure I was visible to them. Now remember last long run when I got really hungry? Well that didn't happen but at km 10 I really had to pee badly and I should just have squated in the bushes somewhere but my girlie shyness took over and I just couldn't do it. Now that took my mind to all kind of places and it made me cry to my man that I couldn't hold on anymore. He just stuck with me and talked me through it. I am so proud of myself right now. I ran my fasted run of this schedule and the longest. Wow. Now if you have never ran The Bretten than make sure you do. See the surroundings of Amsterdam and get away from the mass touristy stuff. I promise you will not regret it. This is me running The Bretten.Thank you Sander de Boer for taking the pictures.

Well that is it for this week. I am out of words, ideas and pictures. I want to thank all of the people that so generously donated their money for stomach/ bowel/ liver disease research. I am truely grateful.

As always, until we read again

Love, Marlies

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