March Onwards to #MR15

CPC Run 2015

I discovered early on that it wasn't the sport of running that attracted me but the act of running. It was in the pounding of my own heart, in the rhythm of my own breathing that the answers began to come. The answers came if, and only if, I kept running. 

- John -The Penguin - Bingham

My current motivating mantra, Dr. Seuss' quote.

Too happy to be miffed about my name being misspelled! :D
(BUT really, the coffee barista repeated my NAME! Cheeky!
Oh, well, I *finally* have a misspelled name Starbucks moment hahaha)

Countdown!


It's been almost 3 weeks since my last marathon update, which you can read: here.

Today, it is 26 days away to Rotterdam Marathon 2015 !



Make It (KM) Count! Part 1


So far in preparation for #MR15, I've ran:

November, 2014 - 125 km (My official first month of training)

December, 2015 - 61.8 km ( :( Deep dive  in the km due to flu virus!)

January, 2015 - 100.2 km (Relapse from flu virus prevented me from reaching 150 km but I forged on!)

February, 2015 - 101.5 km (Flu virus persist! Target was 150-200 km but I am happy with February; I feel confident that this year, I could consistently run an average of 100 km/month.)

March, 2015 - currently 26.2 km.  March is at the beginning of  it's 3rd week, and I am feeling like I am once again at the beginning of my marathon training.

#MR15 - 414.7 km - current kilometer stand 16th of March.

If I am not in a marathon training adventure, I would not have this "happy collage"…
It tells the story of myself not giving up and being consistently rewarded for my efforts.
I may not be a fast paced runner, but I keep running and the joy of running remains - 3 years later, 3 

Make It (KM) Count! Part 2


My tentative plan of how the next week's Saturday/Sunday training will look like (originally posted on the 25th of February blog/UPDATE - 16th of March):

Saturday, 28th of February: 28-*30*-32 km  I ran an 11.15 km run because I was not feeling so well to train for a long distance run.

Sunday, 8th of March: Half-Marathon, CPC Loop Den Haag 2015 (my first race in 2015) ✔ DONE! (blog link to follow - short version: I basically did not do anything the week leading to Sunday's race because I was still feeling poorly. On the day itself I was not sure if I was going to reach the finish line. But I treated the race as a slow long distance run, and was 15 minutes faster than I thought I would be.  With a total of 10-12 minutes loo/drink breaks: I finished with 2:44:40 net time.)

Sunday, 15th of March: 15-21-30 km - took yet another one week break

Sunday, 22nd of March: 32-35*35*-42 km (*-* - I will share about the details of this plan later…) THIS WEEK, I will have to decide, if I will pursue this marathon further on, or cancel and run another one a month later.

Sunday, 29th of March: 25 km
Sunday, 5th of April: 21 km
Sunday, 12th of April: THE #MR15 Day! :)

This is what it looks like when I take a break from marathon training. :)

I don't get upset; I start appreciating what I am blessed with - good life.

Marathon (Training) Magic . . .


When things are not going the way you would like them to be, I have learned it is unnecessary to be upset.  Running and marathon training has helped me accept this life lesson better than daily life could.

Of course we are all allowed to feel and acknowledge the feeling of frustration and anger. But what we do next is what defines us.

I do not regret that I began with the Rotterdam Marathon 2015 adventure. 

 3 years ago, I would not have imagined that I would have courage to do so.  My marathon motivation is not based on speed but endurance.  Endurance to keep on running in preparation for the marathon, and endurance to finish within the time limit.

5:30 time limit is nothing to an average marathon runner.  But since I belong to the back of the pack, who has a minimalistic training (= the minimum training to finish) - 5:30 is a big challenge.

Slooooow runner but happpppppy runner!

If I can go back this week to my minimalistic training, geared to make me finish this Spring marathon strong and within the time limit, then all the effort of the last months will be rewarded abundantly.

If I have to skip it because of health issues, I already feel abundantly rewarded now because of my own personal progress in areas in my life I wanted to improve on.  Without the marathon training, I think it would have taken me even longer to improve.

I am not there yet, where I would like to be, more consistent, more decisive, stronger in coping with the challenges of my bipolar disorder.  But there are so much improvement I am thankful for - thanks to running and marathon training.

For now, the hope that I can include Rotterdam to my marathon stories remains alive.

All my previous blogs related to Marathon Rotterdam Training :

Marathon Training in My Mind: My 25Ks & Entering the 30Ks Zone
Easy Sunday Come Back Run
The Road to Rotterdam 2015: Update!
Monday Marathon Training Recap: #MR15Reloaded
#HFNLRunDiary2015: Friday Night Run