Adventures of a marathon girl

Hi y'all, Well we're here on the very last day of 2016 and today marked yet another milestone in running for me. Today I ticked 1450 kilometers in running and that is by far the most I ever ran in one year. It really is a lot. Sander made me this map and even calculated the curve of our globe. The circle represents 1450 from the red Amsterdam tag to the edge of it and thus you can see where running those 1450km could have taken me in each direction. I would have, for instance, passed Rome and I would have run straight through all of France. Just a fun fact. You might have picked up on a little something but I love data. Runkeeper is my favorite app and when I saw that I might be able to make it to 1450km somewhere in the first week of December I started checking out my stats for 2016 on runkeeper and though I was well aware of my changes it kind of hit me that this is really me....I really did this. I ran all of these kilometers and I lost about 20kg of body weight. So w...

Hi y'all, Today I want to talk about my running club (and the best house ever!) and why I feel that running races in the virtual world has been one of the most friendly experiences I have had in running. As y'all know I am an addicted event runner and I run at least 10 IRL races each year, so the motivation to run has always been there and yet...when I came across a post on -A year of Running - by someone who was talking about the Half Blood Prince Half Marathon my heart jumped. An actual Hogwarts Running Club?? Perfect for a Potterhead like me. I had to find out more and so I checked out the website and decided right away to join my first ever virtual race and run the Half Blood Prince Half marathon. I had been sorted on Pottermore before and at that time I was sorted into Slytherin (not at all to my surprise) so I joined Slytherin even though the newest version of Pottermore mistakenly put me in Ravenclaw. I found out just a little later that there's a whole bunch o...

Hi y'all, With 2016 coming to a close I am, like many others, trying to focus on closing and starting up. Out with the old, in with the new. December has always been the most magical month of the year for me. The cold brings in this almost eery serenity on your early morning runs. The fog lingering over the frost bitten gras, frozen over lakes and canals, the sky coloring crimson red with the sun trying to break the night's dark blue. Go out for a run and you can imagine running into a wizard with his wand out conjuring a patronus just for practice (oh yeah...I am a true Potterhead). December is magical and this year I once again find myself redefining my wishes. Alas I'm still recovering from my my IT-band injurie but this year I am travelling the road of the wise. My goals can only be reached by being the smart one now. So I am rethinking my runcketlist and I have come up with a good schedule for the big moments: - January 8th 2017 Saucony Egmond quarter marathon....

Hi y'all, Today is thanksgiving, an all American celebration and the one day in the year you get to tell what you are thankful for. Something I believe we should do more often than just one day a year. We take so many things for granted and today I would like to let y'all know that I do notice you and I am thankful for the all that is you out there.  First and foremost I can never put into words how blessed I am with the love of my life. Meeting Sander changed everything in every possible way. He never doubts me, he always has my back and it is just so amazing to have someone in my life who's priority I am and vice versa. Someone to wake up next to and someone to kiss goodnight. I love my man more than I can tell, though I do tell him exactly that every morning when I wake up and every night before I fall asleep. Today I would like to express how thankful I am for the completely deranged and utterly nutty family I am from. Like any other family we bicker, we fight...

Hi y'all, I have been trying to come up with the right words for this blogpost ever since the mind-boggling results of the American elections. I have been in numerous debates with people from all over the world. Some people are downright rude when I speak up for those that openly have been targeted ever since. All over the USA, no the world, people are voicing what is happening to them on social media. Swastika's are popping up, young girls the age of ten and under (!) have been grabbed by the vagina by boys who tell them that if the president can do it than so can they, women wearing head scarfs out of religious believes are scared of wearing them....I am heartbroken. Do we really need a reminder of what hate can lead to? Let's just say that all it takes is one trip down memory lane. I speak up because I am a human and no I do not live in the USA but this is not just an American issue. It is a global issue since the world always looks at the USA and uses it...

Hi y'all, Perspective is a weird thing and somehow it is intertwinted with time. When time passes and you get some distance from your latest race, how you felt doing it and what it was like to cross that finish line, you'll find that it is the same distance that makes everything look small. You'll find it easier to talk about it without the overwhelming surge of emotions that rushes over you the first about 48 hours after a very long run. And right about that time you will notice that friends and family members are inspired and feel like they want to achieve something huge like that for themselves. With that inspiration comes some true responsibility. I am all about getting people up and out there on their new running shoes and I abslolutely love talking about running and why I believe everybody should run and why everybody is able to do so provided they have no serious health issues that would surface when they put 4 times their bodyweight on their knees and ankles wit...

Hi y'all, A year ago I ran the nike women half marathon in San Francisco and since that half marathon a lot has changed and I have changed a lot. One look at this before and after picture will be more than enough proof of that. It's a game of 'spot the differences' so let's play this game. These are the rules: 1. Look at the picture 2. Write down the first three changes you can spot within one minute So let me see If I can guess your list: 1. The distance changed (it doubled) 2. Lost (a lot) of weight. 3. Clothing / bottle in hand changed 4. The year changed All of this is true. I have worked my ass off and lost about 20 kg (44lb) of body weight and yes that is a lot. Yes I am capable of running twice the distance now, yes my clothing changed and yes a year has passed. There's one thing though that is bothering me with this way of looking at my accomplishments. It has to do with the before and after perspective. It feels like we're saying th...