Adventures of a marathon girl

Hi y'all, Once in while you'll find yourself on a road alone, away from other people and even out of sight. Running through the forrest with nobody around. Awesome and a little scary. why? Because we, especially women, have learned to fear places where help isn't near. Places that could harbour danger and potentially even death. We've learned to fear deserted, mostly dense and overgrown stretches of land and we've rationalized our instincts. We've learned to overthink our primal instincts and at the same time we're raised by big-bad-wolve-ideas which is why most of times when I run alone I avoid places that have too much space between me and help which in my case boils down to: I hardly ever run through the forrest and I nearly always stick to bicycle lanes in the not so crowded somewhat rural area I live in. Rural my butt is what most really outdoorsy people would say but was born in Amsterdam, I grew up there and I've lived there for 45 years before mo...

Hi y'all What a rollercoaster ride life can be. One minute you're embarking on the year to end all big and epic challenges and the next a deadly virus strikes the earth and changes everything. Everything you ever took for granted somehow seems to dissipate into sheer oblivion and you can't be sure if anything will ever be the same again. How is that for a dramatic opening of another blogpost on my way to NYC.... Oh wait a minute....NYC marathon, the 50th edition, the one I was supposed to run for charity...that one...Oh yeah...that deadly virus sweeping the earth like hell hath nu fury? Well...it took care of all of my fears of not being able to pull it off both physically and fundraising-wise because that virus just made sure my Big Apple Marathon got cancelled. So how do I feel about that? Hmmmm pretty sure you can guess the level of my disappointment. But honestly I would have been overwhelmed with fear ....no....anxiety if that same marathon would have happened in t...

Hi Y'all Today we wrote history. Today for the first time since we signed up and COVID19 hit the Netherlands, we had a group training session and meet-up for with the New York Marathon party. I am always scared and nervous that I won't be able to do it and that I am the sad & fat slow girl - total honesty on my blog- and I am always akward meeting new people. Luckily for me not all the people there were new to me. Some of them I already knew because of my previous job so that made this a little easier but still...I am not always happy around groups and new people and I am never comfortable in my own skin amongst other long distance fast runners. Face it...I am not skinny, I am a little fat and I am nowhere near fast. But....I am dedicated to do this and I don't want this to go any further than me being part of an enormous event, enjoying every minute as much as I possibly can. Me showing up today was a big win for me. I am scared of Covid19 more than I would like to ...

Hi y'all, Difficult times lie ahead. Tomorrow would have been my mom's birthday, in eleven days we remember her passing and than there's 21st of June which marks the 50th year in which my parents would have been together and this year that colides with father's day and the obvious world ALS day, now if that weren't enough we have the 23rd of June which marks the day we had mom's funural service. All I really wanna do is crawl in a hole and come out when June has passed. But that is not an option. In the past few years too many things have been said. There actually is such a thing as talking about crap too much especially when the person you talk to feels the need to open up each and every wound just so they can understand better which in the end is never the case and you're left with your carefully mended and scarred over tissue ripped open again. No better than before but the other one asbolutely convinced they get it now which they don't. Today, as...

Hi Y'all, In running there are all sorts of unseperable trio's. Things that come in three and always do. Things I like to call the fundamentals. Think of them as basics, not rules to live by but merely interlinked shackles forming a tiny chain. There are a few to consider and even though I might be the only one ever thinking about them as such is doesn't hurt to share my outtake on them so here we go: The holy trinity of running: luck, wisdom & bling. In running, especially long distances, we all need a little luck. No guarantees are given no matter the amount of preperation you put into a long distance race. You can be as prepared as any preacher for christmas is and still not make it to the finish line. So many things can happen while you are out on race day so....a little luck for all runners never hurt anyone. Supersticion amongst runners is a thing and I for one am a supersticious as they come. Numerous rituals before that gun goes off to mark the start of th...

Hi Y'all In this crazy world we live in we have a few options; we can be a hole of sorts and not give an extrament about science and people working in ICU's or we can actively decide to believe the people that went to medical school, became doctors and are not just capable, knowledgable and trained but they are also willing to help you survive if you do catch this virus. This post is not a rant on how tragically stupid half of my country responded to this ascensionday beautiful weather weekend. I know the other half of this piece of the globe is not acting like a hole of sorts and that other half is you. I don't wanna go all hell-hath-no-fury on your asses since you did not go to the beach or park or any other public place acting like the country just got liberated from some sort of mass killing maniac. You stayed home, you were smart and you did not party about so...I wanna just give you something nice to read. In this crazy world I like to try stuff just to keep my ...

Hi y'all, In this week's post I wanna talk inspiration. Or better yet, this week's lack thereof. Last week I have had a cold combined with a congested chest and a few days of massive headaches of the kind that makes you crosseyed. Today's second digital clubrun took place so I ran a slow 10k but after an entire week of no training non what so ever this felt good. So ...inspiration. In this week's  post I'm just gonna share some quotes and pictures that inspire me in running. Ten times inspiration in the hope I will spark at least one person's fuel to go out for a run. Do you ever have the feeling 'I could run that!' when you pass a bridge? I always do. So the bdriges featured here are the ones I ran or want to run. This one is still on the list: The bridge that stretches between Denmark and Sweden got famous because of the TV series BROEN (bridge) which was redone by the Americans  in a series called The Bridge (why? the original was way ...