Hi y'all,
It's been a while and for a good reason. I didn't stop running but the holidays were intense and beautiful at the same time. The first week was all about getting christmas dinner done, the second week I kicked up my feet and decided to take a week off. So I didn't run and than last week came around and....My sister-in-law gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Gwen, making my little brother a dad and my parents turned into grandparents. WOW. She is positively the best thing that happened within the family in a long time. We are all very happy.
With that in mind I decided that nowadays I am able to run a 10km run without training too much for it so a quarter marathon doesn't scare me. Therefore I just showed up and did the work.
Now there is something you need to know about running Egmond. In Dutch we call this run one of the winter classics because you always have to battle the elements and part of the race course leads you over a 2km stretch of completely exposed beach. Well today that beach in particular was tough. I mean killing. It felt like the actually knocked you back. That is the only time I am happy to carry a little extra weight because seriously...I have seen people fall at that beach. And the grosest and funniest thing ever happened there too.
There was this bearded guy that ran a shoulder length in front of me on my right hand side. Now try to picture this: wind blowing many miles per hour and you are facing the wind on the beach. As you try to keep your focus this bearded guy decides to empty his nose. Now luckily for me I didn't catch his snot but two ladies behind me did and it was A LOT. So one of them clearly got angry enough to catch up with him (trust me that was really tough to do) and she wipes of his snot and wipes is straight back on his jacket meanwhile cursing like a mine worker. The bearded guy looked at her in utter disgust as she goes into a rant and screams at him to keep his snot to himself. I laughed so loudly I nearly had to quit running as the laughter rolling over me took all my breath. Brilliant! I will never know who that lady was but she was SO RIGHT!
Once you have done the beach you get off by a small very sandy horse trail that you can only walk up because it is too small for all the contenders so it becomes a bottle neck. By the way...after two km of battling a wind that clearly means business, you are happy to catch your breath if only for a little while. Standing on top of that dune that separates the sea from the other dunes you'll get your reward by the view: dunes on one side and the wild ocean on the other. Remember...we Dutchies live below sea level. After the beach you're legs get yet another treat called...DUNES. Now y'all know I ran SF however...these dunes are sharp and stingy. Seriously. To top it all off you finish your race via a famous road known as THE BLOODWAY. The first time I ever ran this race I thought the name was not real but made up especially for this event but it turns out it wasn't. The thing is that you hear the most horrifying stories about it so the first time you get to that road you kind of hold your breathe. It just isn't that bad. The real nasty bits are the dunes right after that stretch of beach. So after a whopping 1 hour and 18 minutes (yes I have been faster) I crossed the finish line. Feeling good and proud. I love running. I do!
well that is it for now. Keep up the good work. Join the facebook page made by Mark Zuckerberg ' A year of running', lace up and run the world with me. Keep it unreal and make it happen.
As always, until we read again
Love, Marlies
It's been a while and for a good reason. I didn't stop running but the holidays were intense and beautiful at the same time. The first week was all about getting christmas dinner done, the second week I kicked up my feet and decided to take a week off. So I didn't run and than last week came around and....My sister-in-law gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Gwen, making my little brother a dad and my parents turned into grandparents. WOW. She is positively the best thing that happened within the family in a long time. We are all very happy.
With that in mind I decided that nowadays I am able to run a 10km run without training too much for it so a quarter marathon doesn't scare me. Therefore I just showed up and did the work.
Now there is something you need to know about running Egmond. In Dutch we call this run one of the winter classics because you always have to battle the elements and part of the race course leads you over a 2km stretch of completely exposed beach. Well today that beach in particular was tough. I mean killing. It felt like the actually knocked you back. That is the only time I am happy to carry a little extra weight because seriously...I have seen people fall at that beach. And the grosest and funniest thing ever happened there too.
There was this bearded guy that ran a shoulder length in front of me on my right hand side. Now try to picture this: wind blowing many miles per hour and you are facing the wind on the beach. As you try to keep your focus this bearded guy decides to empty his nose. Now luckily for me I didn't catch his snot but two ladies behind me did and it was A LOT. So one of them clearly got angry enough to catch up with him (trust me that was really tough to do) and she wipes of his snot and wipes is straight back on his jacket meanwhile cursing like a mine worker. The bearded guy looked at her in utter disgust as she goes into a rant and screams at him to keep his snot to himself. I laughed so loudly I nearly had to quit running as the laughter rolling over me took all my breath. Brilliant! I will never know who that lady was but she was SO RIGHT!
Once you have done the beach you get off by a small very sandy horse trail that you can only walk up because it is too small for all the contenders so it becomes a bottle neck. By the way...after two km of battling a wind that clearly means business, you are happy to catch your breath if only for a little while. Standing on top of that dune that separates the sea from the other dunes you'll get your reward by the view: dunes on one side and the wild ocean on the other. Remember...we Dutchies live below sea level. After the beach you're legs get yet another treat called...DUNES. Now y'all know I ran SF however...these dunes are sharp and stingy. Seriously. To top it all off you finish your race via a famous road known as THE BLOODWAY. The first time I ever ran this race I thought the name was not real but made up especially for this event but it turns out it wasn't. The thing is that you hear the most horrifying stories about it so the first time you get to that road you kind of hold your breathe. It just isn't that bad. The real nasty bits are the dunes right after that stretch of beach. So after a whopping 1 hour and 18 minutes (yes I have been faster) I crossed the finish line. Feeling good and proud. I love running. I do!
As always, until we read again
Love, Marlies
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