Adventures of a marathon girl

Hi y'all, Countdown tells me only 83 days to go before I will crush the hills in San Fran. Woohooo. I am still very excited about that and each passing week I learn so much and my confidence grows with each mile. Can I do this? Hell yeah I can! So how was last week? Well I trained 3 times according to schedule and felt good afterwards. check out this week's runs here Running feels great but most of the times it's the wake-up-early part that really gets to me. I know I feel better running in the morning than I do running after an entire day of doing stuff but I really don't like morning. So normally when I know I have to get a run in I am going through a few stages and I end up running anyway. This is kind of what happens: Phase one is the part where I go: MAKE IT STOP. I'm gonna throw shoes at somebody. GO AWAY! NO NO NO NO...why do I want to run a half marathon? This is STUPID! Than the bargaining starts.Just one more minute? No wait another minute? R...

Hi y'all, So we're well on our way when it comes to training for the Dam tot Damloop and after that the Nike Women We run San Francisco half marathon. And so it happens that this week it wasn't all fun and games. This week I endured both very hot 'n sticky runs as very wet 'n muddy like today. I met some pretty awesome people and I met a horrible guy. I've literally had some real highs and lows and it all began with last tuesday. OH NO YOU DIDN'T As I was on my normal route for a not too long run I nearly got pushed off the road by a dude that thought it was okay for him to call me a fat dumb ugly bimbo. He got to me, admittedly so, for an hour or so. I mean seriously. Calling me fat, dumb and ugly is about as disgusting as it can get.It is low and uncalled for and I decided it just wasn't right. Hurray for me. I decided enough is enough. Just because you think it is okay to call me whatever it is you'd like doesn't A. make it so and B. rig...

Hi y'all, Woot woot for summer vacation's first weekend. And on that note: remember as you read along we are talking SUNDAY MORNING. Okay so here it is. Me and the love of my life have both been living in Amsterdam out entire lives. We were born here as were our parents. So we can honestly call ourselves the real deal when we say we're Amsterdammers. Now living in the city has it's pro's and cons. A few pro's ofcourse is the wide variety of cultural things to enjoy, the many many restaurants, bars. coffee places and such that are open almost 24/7 and the well stocked and not too expensive supermarkets that are scattered around through town. Cons? Oooo that list is growing by each passing year and since I'm 42 ...well...one of the cons is the endless noise of people that do not come from around here and are under the distinct and unfortunately shamefully wrong impression that everything can and therefore should be done in our beautiful city. let me shatter t...

Hi y'all, Yesterday was the day of all days...yesterday I found out. I AM IN! I'm running the Nike Women Half Marathon in SAN FRANCISCO October 18th. We are flying out on the 16th. I am over the moon and seriously scared and looking forward to it. My nike+ training app will help me get ready in 12 weeks however I have already started training with the schedule from Runner's world that has been on my fridge since june 21st. Just a short update to celebrate this amazing news. Yesterday runner's bootcamp was fun and as it turns out one of my running buddies is in too so we're sharing this experience. Coach Franklin - bless the man for coaching us in his own time and free of charge- decided that this celebratory outcome of this random draw meant we started hill training instantly. So now my butt hurts like a thanksgiving turkey gone bad and eaten at christmas. But I have to say that I have missed my sneaker wearing sweaty friends. But I get to make up for that thi...

Hi y'all, Well. I can honestly say that I'm not a very faithful blogger. However since I'm officially back in training for the half marathon since jun 21st I decided to blog again. Especially since so many of you have already donated money for the cause I'm running the Damloop in september for. This year I'm running for maag lever darmstichting. Between january 2014 and februari 2015 the love of my life has been hospitalized 4 times of which 2 were so severe that I was near that point of having to let him go. Luckily he's able to tell his story and I'm blessed with what we hope will be a lifetime together. I know now that many people suffer from disfunctioning bowels. My love suffered a volvulus 3 times, got operated on and they removed a huge piece of his bowel and than he still got hospitalized again nine months after surgery because he had some scar tissue that blocked his entire bowel. Before they finally got his bowel to work again properly he was v...

While running DVV Antwerp 10 miles last sunday it hit me: running an event is much like a game for both runners and the crowd. It starts with a huge crowd seeing runners off at the start. As we (the runners) gather behind the iron self wanted incarceration of the gates at the start, family members watch their loved ones go through those final stages. As the runners make their way so does the crowd. They move alongside the runners and spread out over the race course and that's when the game starts. Just imagine thousands of runners moving like a thick wave through the streets of a city. It isn't easy to spot your loved one so the crowd comes up with numerous creative ideas to get noticed by that one running friend or family member. Think of balloons and flags, cheering fraternity members and even the more posh ladies sitting at a table right next to the race course drinking white wine while discussing a runner's sense of fashion. You will see the huge banners with a name ...

People sometimes come up to me and ask me what I eat since I run about 40km each week now. I look, compared to other runners, not very much like a runner. I am not a very skinny and totally ab-packed likes-to-run-around-in-underwear kind of runner. I never ever run in shorts and I don't even like the tanktops but since I do not like overcooking myself either I do run in those. Anyway, sometimes I get asked what I eat. Well I'm not sure what to make of that question (see previous remarks about me not being a flat-chested-skinny-chick) but I can tell you this: 1. I eat carbs (SHOCKER) Yes I do and I do so because my sports nutritionist has done an awesome job in getting me on a stable weight and since I started eating regular wholesome food I can honestly say that I feel less hungry while running the long distances and I am getting faster too! I can eat good wholegrain bread (might be sour dough etc)and my belly does not blow up, I do not gain weight and my blood sugar levels h...