Adventures of a marathon girl

 Hi y'all When in training for long(er) distances one has to work on core and strength next to stamina, cardio and endurance thus one regularly has to enter (*ominous music playing...papapapaaaaaaa*) THE GYM I am still fortunate one because I first of all get to work out with a personal trainer every other week, second of all live in a place where the gym still is open for business (no total lockdown yet) and my gym caters to the predominantly elderly in off-peak times which I think is AWESOME. Why? Well obviously because the legendary ones have no need to proof their worth anymore. They have proven themselves in life many times before and the best proof they can offer is to themselves and I applaud them for even showing up when clearly they could be doing so many other things. Anywhooooo....Gym Junkies was to be my topic of today. Now when you're at the gym you are forced to deal with other humans working out and there are several types of gym humans to feast your eyes and ear...

 Hi y'all, Covid changed everything and one thing I truely am grateful for is that this entire insanity is suddenly breaking the stigma that up til right about this summer still lingered on virtual races. Now I have written about them several times before but today I ran one that to me is currently resetting even my standards. I ran the Groningen 4 mile virtually and it was different. I signed up via NN, I downloaded the mytrace app and chose a coral. So did my running buddy and sure enough....about 5 minutes before gun-time we were texting each other and seriously dealt with raceday jibbers. The gun went off, we took off and along route the audio guide kept us updated on buildings and sites of Groningen. Actually telling me: if you look to the right you can see....and truthfully...I DID and laughed because obvioulsy I did not see the Martini toren because I was running in Lelystad. So much fun. So today I just wanna name some truely good virtual events that can help you stay motiv...

 Hi y'all, Today I wanna leave politics (covid and all the rules), social stuff and me (akwardness and mean people) and basically life outside the run bubble out of this post. Today I wanna focus on the after running part. So here is my top five of after run best feels in no specific order: NUMBER  1: Food After a long run everything just tastes sooooo much better. Just two slices of bread that you'd normally have for lunch now taste like a piece of heaven in your mouth. A big huge bowl of instant noodle soup is like a dish made by a top chef and trying to slow down in order to not burn your mouth is downright impossible. Even my post run shake tastes like the best thing ever (don't ever try it without running because they all taste like chemical dung!!) So definately eating food after a long run is one of the best feels. Number 2: A hot shower Getting under that hot shower, realizing you either did or did not chafe (second trumps first by far) and feling all the salt (yep ...

 Hi Y'all, How's everybody doing here? I've been a little more absent than I wanna admit but life once again took over and I am currently trying to get reacquainted with the vessel I was gifted to sail through life aka my body. For a red, a type personality such as myself sailing through the edgy, unpredictable waters of the change is hard. I am prone to have all sorts of destructive thoughts and feelings when I look at myself. I do not consider myself to have a good looking body, I am not an athlete on any level except my determination and sheer will to finish what ever it is I started. In short do not ever take any picture of me because I hate being in pictures unless I took m. Right now I am back on hormones and in a way that is a good thing because my body hurts less and my emotions are sort of lowing down however these hormones sure as hell make my body look like a balloon animal and you try running with 3kg too much weight and a stressful realation with food as is.  S...

 Hi y'all Life can be daunting and downright shit at times and y'all know my life sure as hell isn't smooth sailing all the time. Like probably many of you I have to deal with a lot of aggravating muggles and pressure from society to handle shit like a true bell with dignity and grace. My mom taught us to never shed a tear in front of other so called grown-ups because you'll end up hurt when you show your emotions. We never ask why me, we pull up our chins and pull down our hats and say try me. So...however impossible things get, there is always a way to keep moving even if it feels like you simply can't. You can. My upbringing has been colliding with the lack of that spirit in so many others that like me and the rest of the world  have to deal with Covid19. It almost feels like there are two types of muggles: the ones feeling like someone is doing them wrong, like the world is out to get them and like they are never going to make it out and the ones that try to kee...

Hi y'all With the entire world going to hell I find myself literally gasping for air sometimes. The things some people think they can say without consequence to me is just staggering. The humans I am referring to here are of the grown-up kind age-wise. They are not kids though admittedly so their behaviour really has me question that. I learned at an early age that I might not be fast, I might not be strong but I am able to inflict serious and long lasting pain by just using my mouth at the right moment. Smacking the air out of another human being like it means nothing. With that knowledge came the understanding that words are not just words and that words do hurt and scar. With that knowledge came the acceptance that being able to write and debate powerfully does not mean it entitles me to more freedom. If anything I learned at an early age to pick my battles and use the weapon I know how to yield only when all other options have run out. In this day and age it seems to me that mo...

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...