Doorgaan naar hoofdcontent

Tears of defeat and tears of joy.

Hi y'all,

Last time we spoke I told you all about tripping over a lose pavement stone and ending up in a bright red plaster cast. The moment that cast came off May 11th I felt like running the world. So I figured I would run a 14km run that Thursday just to get back in the game. Well...next day I woke up with a spiking fever and big huge white tonsils in my throat. What the HELL? All I could think was:'How come the entire universe is conspiring against me??' and I even had to call in sick, it was thát bad. So what can you do? Nothing. Fever is the one thing that you just need to sit out.



So I did. Lucky me the fever only lasted about 24 hours and so I figured I could run the 14 km that Saturday and I did. So far so good right? So now the only thing standing between me and my half marathon in Leiden was my last long run. A mere 18.5 kilometers and as it turns out I had a day off on Monday. So me and my man sat out for that long run. Right about kilometer 5 my legs started to burn so I had zip of water and trotted on. At kilometer 10 my ass, hamstrings well actually the whole thing called my legs felt like they were on fire. It burned so badly but I just thought it was due to fatigue caused by that fever and if I could just carry on all would be well. At km 16 (that is the 10 mile marker) a sharp and very well known pain around my left knee entered the game and at the 17km point (only 1 mile away from completing that run) I had to call it quits. My legs gave up on me and I knew that if I would run through it that I would seriously injure myself.

Knowing something wasn't right at all I called my physical therapist as soon as I got home and started to frantically roll over my foamroller whilst applying layers of Bengay and ibuprofen gel and than covering my calfs in my compression tubes. With a huge bunch of tips and tricks he let me get through the week by myself and I did run my short run and yesterday an easy 9.5km. My leg started to hurt as soon as I picked up pace or made longer strides. Forcing me to take it easy, really really easy. Unprecedentedly easy.  This morning he had some time to see me and as soon as he got me on that table 'The talk' came and with it my tears. Running the half marathon this Sunday would seriously jeopardize my training for the full marathon. So...NO. I am allowed to run a 10 km run but a half marathon is twice that distance and if I do not want to injure myself I'd better take it down a notch and focus on running the half marathon June 12th. After delivering that bad news he started working my muscles and I thought I was a tough cookie....well trust me. The man really really really knows exactly where to seriously afflict pain. I don't know who teaches them but OMG .... the things I cried out...DANG that hurt. That really really HURT MAN!



So after that insanely ridiculous torture treat (if you're reading this Joris I am sorry for the yelling and all) I cried for a little and booked another appointment for next week and helping me to put it all into perspective the nice receptionist looked at me horrorstruck and cried out: 'Wait what? But you are allowed to only run a quarter marathon? Only??' and she made me smile. And then I had another appointment with my food lady Esther.

Tears of defeat met the tears of joy when I stepped onto the scale in Esther's office. Remember people: for me it is not about beauty or wanting to be skinny. I want to run a full marathon and that means I need to get stronger. Stronger and leaner body means better runs and it means less change of injuries. Guess what? I am doing very well. The food program I'm on is working for me. I am not fuzzing about food and I'm eating healthy food. No weird diets excluding food but just making sure I'm eating right. Today we set a final goal that gives me a healthy body weight for my length and when that number came up it didn't stress me out. That might just be the biggest accomplishment yet. I am OKAY with that number. Truely and wholeheartedly.  Esther really knows her stuff! There is no doubt in my mind that she does. Check out her website right here Esther van Etten



 Al things considered I am doing fine. Learning how to cope with disappointment is part of the game. Not too good at it yet but I'll learn. I am so happy that I chose to work with the people I am working with right now. I can do this!!



That's it for now, until we read again,
As always, Love Marlies

Reacties

Populaire posts van deze blog

Doing good feels good

Hi y'all Another week has come and gone and today I wanna share a story with y'all about sharing, doing good and feeling good. For me running is as much a sport I share as it is a solo experience. Now for those following me around you guys know that about me. For those that are just getting to know me: trust me there is no sport out there that in solitary makes you feel like you're part of a group. Just one of the levels of duality in runnning. You are the one doing it but by sharing your run with others, be that virtual or in real life, you will meet the most welcoming, the most supportive group of people ever. I have tried and lived through many sports but only in running did I find likeminded people that set out to better themselves and cheer on others along the way. Only in running have I found people that truely want to see you succeed and only in running have I picked up runners on the brink of giving up and have I been picked up when I was about to give it up altog...

Breaking taboos: The five stages of Runner's trots

Hi y'all After yet another week of teaching and dealing with normal life it seems to become a little easier to combine it all. I wrap my running schedule around my commuter distances to work and that helps. If I'm not running than I'm riding my bicycle to and from work. It's about an 11 or 13 km bike ride depending on the route I take. So switching biking to work for running back makes up for the 11km on Thursday. Now the title of this blog should be warning enough. So if you do not enjoy the dirty parts of running than by all means...STOP READING RIGHT NOW AND GO ABOUT YOUR NORMAL BUSINESS!! Good for you. Even after a fair warning you have decided to stick with me and read on. As you are well aware of I'm running for MLDS (CLICK HERE TO DONATE) a foundation that fights to create funding to help people with stomach/liver/bowel issues. Now after the past few weeks I figured let's see what is happening to me on those 8km-something-runs when I am in dire need of...

Because they get it!

There are moments as a runner when you see the backside of your entire crew the entire race. It is those days, when push comes to shuff, that you will value that same crew even more. You keep going because you have to, because giving up is just not an option, because you can smell the finish line even when you're miles away. Yes you will probably hate yourself for being the slowest one in that crew, you will hate the feeling of all the effort that you've put into that race and not seeing the results but you keep going anyway because you are a runner. Because this time you get to eat the dust but you haven't forgotten the times you stood there watching your buddies finish and feeling their anger, disappointment and pain. You remember those times and you know with all that is you that they will be there. A true crewmember knows what it feels like to just not have it in you that day. It is okay to cry, to kick dirt around, to just shout out horrible words and spit on the flo...