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Meeting the fellows on the yellow brick road

Hi Y'all,





Sometimes you have to start your journey knowing that you will meet your fellows on the way and you will have to face some pretty big fears too. My journey has begun and the first steps were taken. Last Sunday I ran the Groet uit Schoorl 10km run. It took me 1 hour and 11 minutes to finish it. Slow as a turtle dragging through peanut butter, but I did it anyway and boy the weather was horrible. I ran through some serious rain showers, got soaked to the bone, felt beaten to the core but I did it. When I went to pick up my stuff I cried my eyes out and I was so angry with myself. Letting it get to the point where I am overweight and out of shape again. But you know what? No use crying over spilled milk.

The first scary encounter in this journey was meeting the doctor for my sportsmedical test at Fysiomed SMC. My first ever VO2max test. I was pretty darn nervous about it and figured the doctor would tell me that I could never ever finish a marathon and that she would just laugh in my face and tell me that I'm too fat and too stupid and something like 'woehahahaha-what-the-hell-were-you-thinking'. My medical doctor most definately would be a true wicked witch of the west. So I went over, heart jumping and mind racing. Not an ideal start for an ECG


The first few exams were done by the doctor's assistant who drew my blood and tested it for all sorts of things like glucose levels, cholesterol, Hb and such. So far so good. Than she put me on a scale and measured my height. So...that was aweful and truely confronting but not a huge surprise either. I am overweight. It sucks to put that down in writing but it is the truth. After all of the initial exams the assistant took me to the doctor's office and than things got real. First the doctor (who didn't look like the wicked witch of the west at all but more like a really nice lady) made an ECG in rest, than I had to get upon the treadmill and she started it up with 8km/h so to warm up. After 10 minutes the heat got on. Each minute she added half a kilometer in speed to the treadmill. After about a total of 20 minutes (including warm up) I was up to 11km/h and I just had to give in. I had hoped to push it to 12km/h but I kind of panicked due to the oxygen mask that was strapped to my face. My heart rate went down pretty quickly and was back down to normal within 3 minutes. And than it was verdict time....how did I do? What is my physical condition like compared to others?

The doctor peered into all of the data as I anxiously awaited my punishment and the huge roll of evil laughs that were sure to come. It went quiet and in stead of laughing in my face, she showed me my graphs and explained them to me. Lung capacity? perfectly fine for my age. Heart rate? Perfectly fine too. Overall physical fitness? Well...my weight is playing it's part because the VO2max results are divided by weight. For endurance sports I end up slightly below average but for my non-trained peers I end up within the normal range. If I were to weigh as little as 7 kilo's less than I do now, I would end up in a way better category. In other words...I am healthy and I do not have to worry about me not being able to run a marathon. However if I truely want to accomplish my goals it would be better to ditch a few pounds and train my core. So...my next two encounters will be with my physical therapist and with my sports dietitian. 

In the mean time I have to get on with my training schedule and due to this test I now know my heart rate zones. I was sent on my way with my first assignment: run the long runs in zone 1 and the intensive runs in tempo 2. Yes that will be slow but it will help me raise my VO2max which is now at 9,8km/h. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to my assignment without getting frustrated. So let's be on our way and see if  the next two fellows  will join me in my efforts. You can help me in this epic journey called marathon. How? Make a donation, any donation, and help us fight ALS. You can donate by clicking RIGHT HERE ON THESE WORDS and that will lead you to my fundraising page. Thank you so much! 


Well...that's it for now. Until we read again, as always
Love Marlies.


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