Sunday, October 29, 2017

Slachtemarathon & The Marathon Motivation



Photo courtesy
of my friend
Marleen


“Sometimes you've got to go through hell to get to heaven.” 



Breaking 6* in Slachtemarathon


Yes, I plan to run the Slachtemarathon in it's next edition (2020).

Here it is. A goal. 

Sharing for all to know.  

A scary moment.

A liberating moment.


Smiling through a painful moment...
Shortly before this picture was taken,
I decided not to continue the 42 km goal but step out at 21 km.

I waited for the first time at the finish line of a shared race for my friend to finish.


Life Before Running


Most of you, who have been following me from the beginning, know I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2003.   

Before my diagnosis, I  silently went through cycles of depression.  Decades.  The shame of what I was going through again and again, paralysed and silenced me. 

It began when I was a child.  I did not know of course what it was, then. I simply thought I was a very sensitive person.  There was a point in my puberty, when I contemplated studying Psychology to help myself and not have to tell anyone, the emotional & mental torture I went through.

I did not tell my family and friends, how it was affecting the quality of my life because I did not want to be judged, nor be seen as weak and helpless.  

Everything changed, when I became a mother of two, living in a foreign country.  Being silent about my situation was no longer an option.  I was no longer responsible for myself alone.

Sharing my situation to the people I love, and seeking professional help were the first brave small steps to a long, and still ongoing journey.


Marathon = Motivation



Miraculously along this journey, I found  running.   

Specifically, I discovered how the discipline marathon training demand, was something very powerful, which helps me overcome the symptoms of my disorder.


My beloved P, always there for me.


After finishing Berlin Marathon for the second time, I promised myself, that  I will try harder to be even more transparent about my running, the training process and most importantly, why running is so important to me,  and my mental health.





My blog readers, my social media followers : family, friends -  running friends - very loyal and long time supporters have helped boost my confidence and strengthened my resolve to be more courageous in sharing.  Sharing about mental health issues.

Completing the Berlin Marathon project was a 4 year process.  In hindsight, it did not begin in the last week of  January, 2017 but it began right after I finished Paris Marathon 2013.  The year a "simple injury" not only affected me physically but a great deal of my mental capacity to run.

I did not give up. I did not let depression, mental blocks, anxiety attacks take away the joy and hope I discovered marathon running and all it compasses gave me.





Depression can negatively affect and change your life completely.  

It is up to you, if you will let  the mental disorder you are diagnosed with take over or you fight with everything you got to regain your life.






You Are Not Alone


The past few days have been a roller coaster of emotions.  Life and personal crisis.

Even though I try to rein in racing thoughts, and overreaction to stressful situations with the help of running and meditation, I was still revisited by old demons: anxiety, self-doubt and panic attack.

I will lie if I tell you, I am able to brush them off easily now, after decades of trying to learn how to deal with them.

The process remains a challenge.  Dealing with one's mental health remains a continuous learning process.

A major difference in my process compared to 25 years ago: I no longer feel completely alone.

Correct thatI no longer allow the disorder to convince me I am alone.

I know, there are many, countless people I can turn to, who are there to help (professionally), who supports and believes in me (my friends and family),  who will be there for me no matter what (my mom, my stepfather, my brothers, my partner, and our kids).

The only thing I have to do is reach out.


Slachtemarathon 2020



Slachtemarathon 2016 became a symbol of hope and love for me.  I was afraid to participate but I did it anyway. I was afraid that even if I work hard, I would not be good enough.  I did not reach the ultimate goal of finishing the 42.195 km distance.  I made it half-way.  I did not finish my fourth full marathon in Summer of 2016.



What I was able to accomplish, when I went to the start after months of preparation, was face my fear(s) and live to conquer the next and the next.  What Slachtemarathon 2016 gave me was the fighting spirit to finish my fourth full marathon in Summer of 2017.




I am dedicating the project of Slachtemarathon 2020 to a wonderful generous friend, a runner I utterly respect and highly admire: this is for you, M.  I will conquer my mental blocks, and face a great personal challenge (committing to a long-term goal!)  with you in mind! :)

You believed in me. You made me believe in me. 







Thank you for believing in me.  Thank you for Slachtemarathon 2016 (I will never forget all your generous help & unwavering support!)!  Thank you for being a good friend.















28.10.17
Saturday
16:12

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Ice(land), Ice Baby!




If there was a problem
Yo, I'll solve it!
Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it



Graffiti Fun


I LOVE running and fitness community challenges because they are usually the impulse I need to add play to my training!

It is the most important part of the process, and often forgotten: peppering fun in the run.

Today, as part of my warm up for my run, I graffitied the wall of our garden shed :D



Would you like to learn more about this challenge, I am participating in?

Monday Motivation: Warming Up with GL2R


Shut Up Brain!


The "fun art" (plus dancing along  to Ice Ice Baby tune ! :D )  helped shut my brain up.

My brain almost always nag me, when I am about to go out for a run; it nags the loudest, when I am simply thinking of a quick short run!

What does it nag? Don't go out!

I talked a lot about tricking my brain, and I want to share more on how I do this, here on my blog to help those who struggles with procrastination and mental blocks.


Play!


The brain loves play. Not chores.

Sometimes running evolves into a chore.

We usually become too focused on achievements and performances.  The fun of the run soon turns into doldrums.

This should not happen because running is after all a hobby for most!


You can create your own fun, OR join in the fun others create!

The main goal: participation.


Breaking 6*


It's been a long time since I  *seriously* made speed my running goal.

I know from experience, how creating "time goals"/ "be faster goal"/"PR goals" can backfire on me.

It's one of those  fun killer -  if you let it!

Not anymore!


I am making sure I am doing necessary steps (slow build up, balanced training, warm-up, cool down, stretch, roll, strength exercises, yoga etc etc) NOT to get injured.

I am making sure I shut my brain up!


Fast has it's price.  Always.

What I would like to keep in mind, in my process is: NOT to take everything TOO seriously. Specially myself!

I don't want to work hard to be faster and lose fun in the process. It is a price I am unwilling to pay.

My motto: go have fun or go home!



*run my next marathon under 6 hours; run below 6'00'' average pace during training


Oh By the Way... :D


Great run, today! Second week of training started off well.





My mind, and my heart are graciously accepting the speed I am building up to. :)))

My mental blocks are reduced immensely after finishing Berlin Marathon 2017 
(done, check, accomplished!!!).

My heart literally &  metaphorically profited from heart rate training & documenting the training I did for Berlin.  Humble, small steps, they were and I am feeling the rewards of being patient. 

I am enormously grateful.



Follow my new training cycle under the hashtag:

#1togoto2

Vanilla Ice

Will it ever stop?
Yo, I don't know
Turn off the lights and I'll glow


I wish I can tell you that once you've overcome mental blocks, you are completely free of them!

What I can say about this:

like life, you overcome crisis, you get strong and when you encounter the next new hurdle, you get more creative - each and every time.


:)





Yo man, let's get out of here
Word to your mother
Ice ice baby
Too cold
Ice ice baby
Too cold too cold






25.10.17
Wednesday
21:37

Monday, October 23, 2017

My Monday Motivation: Warming Up with GirlsLove2Run


My Monday Motivation@happyfeetnl


"A champion is not made when he succeeds, a champion is made when you look back at the seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and months he has spent preparing." 
Eliud Kipchoge


Today, I completed the first week * of my new training cycle with the help of Girls Love 2 Run's:  NEW Instagram challenge in cooperation with Loopreizen.nl : 
#WARMLOPENMETGL2R! (participation is exclusively for residents of Holland)


*(my training week started last  week, Tuesday 
and my LDR will be on Mondays - more about this, later!) 

First (build up) run of the new training cycle!
Tuesday, 17.010.17

Fourth (LDR) run of the first week
Monday, 23.10.17


If you live in the Netherlands and you need running motivation, there are a lot of running groups, communities, crews etc,  you could join, be a part of, and get the support, cheers and motivation you need!


GirlsLove2Run


One of my go to source of online motivation, and the bloggers I follow since 2012, are the Girls Love 2 Run.  One of the reasons I joined Instagram in 2014 is to be able to follow the fun challenges they create to get the running community moving!

I've been lucky to meet the GL2R founder Francien Regelink in person, shortly after my Berlin Marathon experience and before I ran Paris Marathon. They invited me together with other followers of their blog to join a core stability work out and I participated in a mindful running session with them.  The afternoon with GL2R was a great boost and kept me going and not give up on  my Paris marathon goal.

Core Stability and Mindful Running with Girls Love 2 Run
2nd of February 2013


In 2014, I was struggling yet again to keep motivated.

Once again, GL2R had a community challenge, and the lucky ones were invited to join GL2R to work out with them.

The meet up, working out with a group of enthusiastic ladies,  helped me get started positively for the year, 2014.  In Spring, still inspired by GL2R's spirit, I created my own personal challenge to make sure I focus on goals, which will keep me moving.

Commit2Fit Finale
26th of January, 2014



Since 2015, GL2R has been making sure the year starts actively for everyone with their #JaNUari challenges.

In the end, whether you win the major prize or completed the challenge, they make you feel like a champion, each and every time!

courtesy of

Girls Love 2 Run Facebook page 


GL2R has gone through many positive transitions, great changes and the running community continues to grow with them.  The efforts to motivate everyone to be active, stay active in their pursuit to improve their health remains the core goal of GL2R.


Next Stop: Iceland?


If I am lucky, I might run my next major half-marathon in Iceland with the help of GL2R! It will be an awesome highlight and an amazing motivation to my  #13HappyHalves adventure!  Wish me luck!

Better yet, go visit @GirlsLove2Run, join in the fun of their challenge! :D You are already a winner by stepping out of the door and going out for a run!





Thursday, October 19, 2017

Run Happy & Free To Be #metoo

Disclaimer: This is not a running story.  It is a story, shedding more light, why I am grateful to have found running, why it gives me so much strength, and why the positive effect of running is a necessity to my life.
It is a sensitive blogpost, and could be triggering because of the subjects:
sexual abuse, child abuse. 
Please read at your own discretion. 

Marathon Rotterdam 2015
taken by a friend


“Sometimes it takes heart to write about a thing, doesn't it? To let that thing out of the room way in the back of your mind and put it up there on the screen.” 


#metoo


As I write this, it has no title yet, and  I am not sure, if I will share it to be read publicly.

It is a story, I've shared many times over to a very select group of people.  I can count them with the fingers of my two hands.  No more.

Sharing is healing. I was told.  Many times. In my private circle. In different rooms of therapists.

How much of your story can you share to heal? How often can you share to heal? How long does it take until you heal? How can you heal without hurting others you love?

I began sharing this story in instalments. When I was 9-10 years old to a female cousin, who was 2 years older than I was. Not the entire story but 1 % of the story. It was a question burning in my mind.  Why would someone do that act? I asked.

Why?

It is a question that followed my life for 39 years.


Why?

Why did he do it? Why did it happen? Why did I not say anything after it did? Why did the memory of how it began stayed with me but not how I walked away in the end?  Why did I not say no before it began?

I was 6-7 years old, when someone I knew sexually abused me.



Reading, Fairytales & Stephen King


When I was little, I was very fascinated with words.  I looked at them with awe even before I could read them.

Books would be my friends before I lost my innocence, and reading, my saviour after my childhood was stolen from me.

I kept what happened to myself until I was 21 years old, already living abroad,  engaged after a whirlwind romance, and told the story to my fiancé before we got married.

Before it happened, I read about monsters in fairytales.  My childhood nightmares would be during the daytime.   It was in the morning, when it happened.  I was afraid but I could not go anywhere, nor tell anyone.  Would it happen, again?

Recently, I watched the film adaptation of Stephen King's book Gerald's Game, on Netflix. The book was the last book I bought (1992) before I left my home country in the Philippines (January, 1993). I never finished the book.

I cannot remember  the reasons why I did not finish it , nor even made it half-way, and I now wonder if reading it in it's entirety  would have made an impact on me.  

"He did not touch me." - Jessie Burlingame, Gerald's Game, on Netflix

I cried when I watched the painful scene reminding me of my own shame, my long kept secret.  The words the lead character uttered as she came out of her trance from recalling her suppressed memory liberated me. Cathartic words.

"He did not touch me."

Not the first time.  I was an instrument.  I was an object.

I swatted his hand with mine the second time another shameful act transpired.

I was 9 then. I knew more. I knew better. Books.  Sadly, I progressed too fast from fairytales to books, which I read in secret, in search for answers..

Both times he was drunk. 

25 years later, I would learn, he might have been under the influence of drugs, when it happened.

It took 15 years to share 50% of the story to the person, I thought I would grow old with.  Another 10 years and a year of therapy to finally tell it to the one person who I thought would have the answers.


Forgetting and Forgiving?


At the beginning of this story, I wrote a lot of  questions:

How much of your story can you share to heal? How often can you share to heal? How long does it take until you heal? How can you heal without hurting others you love?

Why did he do it? Why did it happen? Why did I not say anything after it did? Why did the memory of how it began stayed with me but not how I walked away in the end?  Why did I not say no before it began?



I'm 45 years old, and it took me almost my whole life time to understand what happened to me. What helped me to help myself was stories I read.  Fiction and non-fiction stories.  Personal stories of people, who've been there.

Why it happened to me is something I would never know. I would never get the answer from the person, who stole my childhood.

What set me free from asking that question (Why?!) again and again, was learning he was as tortured as I was.

I would never know if it evil in him, or they were only two isolated aberrations  influenced by drugs and alcohol, which clouded his mind, his judgement.

"Nothing else happened to me" beside those 2 incidents.  It is something that I kept repeating, when I had nightmares.  Nothing else with that person.  Two more incidents happened to me between the age 7-9. Neighbouring boys. A lot of boys; they were not even 2-3 years older than I was. An older male neighbour.  Again, I was not physically abused. My mind on the other hand? Traumatised.  I was exposed to things I should not have seen nor experienced in my age. I suffered in silence.

People perceived me as happy, confident and vivacious  on the outside but in my head I had issues with trust, a lot of bottled up anger, shame and self-hate.  It took years to exorcise all of them out of my system.

What I learned  in the years I tried to find answer to my Why? is : silence is not the answer.  You can let yourself be heard.  I kept silent, when I was young because I wanted to protect the people I love.

This pattern of protecting others broke me mentally. It was when I was completely broken that I finally uttered the words I needed to say out loud: it was not my fault, I was a child, I was afraid, I was alone.  I was in my 40's, when I finally said these words out loud.

You cannot forget something you have not even fully acknowledged.  You cannot fully forgive, unless you are fully liberated and in a happy place in life.

Free To Be Me


A picture taken by my daughter
during my run last Monday.


I was waiting to be an ultra-runner before I share this story.

I was waiting to be *someone*, who has accomplished something remarkable, so I can be heard.

I had this absurd notion, that I would be braver if I am *someone*, and sharing this story to others will help not only others but in the end heal me completely.

Now, I realise I was repeating a pattern.  I thought I was creating an armour but in reality my armours are cloaks to make me feel unseen and safe; I was not yet as free from the past as I thought I am.

I am enough.

I can let myself be seen.

I can let myself be heard.


Now.

I don't have to punish myself, anymore. No more hiding. No more secret. No more shame.


What happened to me did not stop me from living life.  I became a wife, a mother, a writer, a runner.

What happened to me did not stop me from pursuing my dreams.  I went to the university, studied Communication, learned skills that helped me understand people better and make others understand me. I  travelled the world to learn more, and  find answers to more of life's questions.

What happened to me did not stop me from writing stories to spread the message of love.

Yes, what happened to me affected the quality of my life, my health; my mental health. It also made me stronger. It has taught me after years and years of searching for peace to be more compassionate.  Specially to myself.

What happened to me should not happen to any child. Sadly, the reality is alarming. It happens.  There are monsters out there preying on the innocents but there are also monsters within the people we love.


My plea:  be aware, be vigilant, be kind.

Help those who struggle mentally. Alcohol and drug abuse are not only the struggle of one person with addiction, nor one family but the community, the society.

Yes, kindness and involvement can be very risky in the modern world but it's worth it.

A concerned, caring word can make a huge difference. Care.

Creat awareness; it should not be under-estimated. Have courage to share your story. The process can heal you, and help many others, too.



19.10.17
Thursday
14:40

20.10.17
Friday
08:50


P.S.  It is now almost 15 hours, since I published this story. I would like to share to readers out there, how I felt peace after putting into words what happened to me. I feel at peace with sharing my story, here. 

I would like to be honest and say, I don't know if I would have done anything differently, looking back.  If a reader would ask me, what should I do? I would say, seek help and don't suffer in silence. I think, it is the main message what I would like to pass on.

In this modern times, there are a lot of ways to seek help anonymously.  It is a beginning, a huge step to put in words something that is unspeakable. A small step can lead to positive changes.

Feel free to contact me, if you need assistance. I am not an expert but perhaps I can assist in finding help.

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

#13HappyHalves Update : 1 to go to 21!


From left to right:

Bredase Singelloop Half-Marathon  2016
Eindhoven Half-Marathon 2016
Amsterdam Half-Marathon 2016


“The more that you read, the more things you will know. 
The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” 

― Dr. SeussI Can Read With My Eyes Shut!


The Busy Brain is Not A Truly Productive Brain.


The collage above  is not the best version; it is a print screen version.

I wanted to share this version as a mental exercise for myself.  

Share it, step back and be happy with it.

The reason for this, is the same reason, as to why I got the second edition of (2016) #13HappyHalves done: 
I did not over-think  it (the project), I simply did it.

My mental exercises are almost never structured. They arise, when there is a need for it, and the more unexpected, unpredictable the exercise is, the more effective it will be.

I mentioned this strategy before in one of my blogpost (I will link it here, later). 


Yes, I trick my brain to get things done.



My Gain is Yours.


In this  Happy Feet NL's 180th blogpost, I would like to start the countdown towards my 200th blog -  also share here, and in the next 20 blogs (!!!)  knowledge and lessons,  I've gained and learned through running. A lot of running. :)


I think, even if you do not have mental health issues, like myself (I've been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, 14 years ago, after a decade of dealing silently with depression) you would be familiar with mental blocks, anxiety, self-doubt, and  the universal behaviour of procrastination!

There were many race events that I had to run four times before I let go of self-doubt; there were many training miles ran before I devised a ritual and learned coping mechanism for  my anxiety attacks, and when I am riddled with mental blocks. I think I have accumulated a lot of tips and will continue to add to the list of how not to procrastinate because I still deal with procrastination on running, even after 6 years!


My intention to share is not purely out of magnanimity ;)  - I have to be honest and say, I am getting very forgetful and need to write these "knowledge and lessons" for myself before they are completely forgotten!  I think many runners will agree, that lessons learned in running are very applicable to our daily lives.


Breda Singelloop 2017

picture courtesy of MeeùsFitClub 
taken by Wietse Visser Photography


Trick AND Treat!


Going back to the picture at the header of this post.  The simple act of choosing a photo to begin a blogpost  would have been a mental block. If I had let it!  If I gave in to the need to search for the original pictures, the activity alone would have eaten so much time and drained me mentally. I would have ended up with no blogpost at the end of the day, like what has happened often in the past.

I let go of my "perfectionism" with this simple mental exercise.  As soon as I committed to simply using the collage I felt relieved, my mind relax and I was able to literally move on. Learning is done through repetition.  I posted this print screen version often before here - #13HappyHalves : Keeping Dreams Alive, and  more than a couple of times on my Instagram account to remind myself of an accomplishment to get myself moving.

My urgent goal today was go out to run the first run  of my new training plan. Run before it got dark. What does my brain came up with to procrastinate? It was literally nagging me that I had to blog first about my plan about running my 21st half-marathon race.  A race that I dread but actually made me excited to train again! Well, as soon as I decided for which half-marathon race, I got motivated to create my new training plan and share it online so I will be accountable!


This is not the post, where I will explain why my brain always comes up with  thoughts, that distracts me  and why I feel compelled to listen to these thoughts, before I do what I actually need to do.

What this blog is all about:

is how I created a draft post of this post (to silence the nagging thoughts!), chatted with a friend online (made myself accountable - on one on one basis!) who was about to go out for a run herself (got and hopefully gave good vibes :D ), and how I was able to go out for a run (the clock showed me, if I hurry, I can still meet my middle daughter on the way!).  The first run towards my goal of running my 21st marathon before the year ends!


An "extra accountability trick",
posted a photo on my IG story, a few seconds after I warmed-up

My reward after a great first kilometer of a total of 5 km run was seeing my daughter, and her volunteering to bike along side me before I can start uttering the words, begging her to do so! hahaha





I'll write more about this run, tomorrow!




The Mystery 1 of The 21!


I am SUPER excited to run my 21st half-marathon. Super excited and super scared!


“The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.”
 This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa's First Woman President

The quote above will be something I will recite like a mantra in the next couple of months.


Putting my goal out there  - ran another half-marathon PR before the year ends! - is a scary thing for me.  I call it a "positive pressure".  Another way of tricking my brain to go out. Going out is necessary to maintain a strong mental health.

In this blog, I will make a list of all my 20 half-marathon races I've ran so far with the consecutive time, I needed to complete each.

It is one of my many baby steps towards the goal. It is also an activity that calms me.  I have something to come back to and focus on, when anxiety and self-doubt arise.

“It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not
to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is
against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit.”


The list will be a reminder, that I am running because of and for my mental health; I want to get better and stronger.  The list will also remind me, how far I have come, and how far I can still go, if I let go of fears.


  1. Egmond Halve Marathon 2013 2:52:18
  2. CPC Loop Den Haag 2013 2:30:57
  3. Luxembourg Night Marathon 2013 2:43:04
  4. Vechtloop Weesp 2013 2:35:51
  5. Amsterdam Half-Marathon 2013 2:53:21
  6. CPC Loop Den Haag 2014 2:46:11
  7. Luxembourg Night Marathon 2014 2:44:41
  8. CPC Loop Den Haag 2015 2:44:40
  9. Bredase Singelloop 2015 2:35:01
  10. Egmond Halve Marathon 2016 3:00:23
  11. CPC Loop Den Haag 2016 2:43:22
  12. Halve van der Haar 2016 2:40:20
  13. Marathon Rotterdam (duo-relay) 2016 2:40:07
  14. Enschede Marathon 2016 2:29:20
  15. Leiden Marathon 2016 2:51:34
  16. Slachtemarathon 2016 3:03:15
  17. Bredase Singelloop 2016 2:41:52
  18. Eindhoven Marathon 2016 2:39:03
  19. Amsterdam Half-Marathon 2016 2:39:13
  20. Bredase Singelloop 2017 2:28:38
  21. ??? 2017 X:XX:XX

I'm still thinking of a hashtag to document this adventure. Any suggestions? 

What are you currently training for? What is on your running calendar this Autumn? Winter 2017-18?


17.10.17
Tuesday
13:59



Monday, October 9, 2017

Monday Medal : Amsterdam Marathon 2011- 2016


Happy pair of runners with their happy pair of medals!

After the finish of the half-marathon in Amsterdam
TCS Amsterdam Marathon 2016
with
Josianne editor of her personal blog Hey Joos!
She finished way ahead of me;
we took a bit of time to catch our breath
on our way to the exit of a very crowded Olympic stadium!
She is also a blogger  and crew member @ Just Keep Running;
she wrote about her Amsterdam half-marathon 2016, there.

“I'll be happy if running and I can grow old together.” 



Happy Feet NL Runs Amsterdam Marathon Stories



If you've been a long time follower of the blog, you know how I struggle to document my running adventures (ace recaps, running related events etc) immediately, regularly and consistently.  

I've accepted that I have my own rhythm, and eventually get around to writing all the stories, I would like to share on my own sweet time!  No more stressing about it.

This week is the week leading to Sunday's 42nd edition of TCS Amsterdam Marathon.  I thought, a great timing and opportunity to share some Happy Feet NL in Amsterdam Marathon stories!

I am not sure how many stories I could share this week but I will try my best to be a productive :) blogger (I am currently on a roll! :D)  empowered by all the positive energy of Amsterdam Marathon memories!

Medal Monday


You will be familiar with the hashtag #MedalMonday, if you are a runner using Instagram as a source of motivation.  

Runners often share a photo of the medal, which they've earned from Sunday's race one more time to celebrate.  Nostalgic runners post medals from previous races to reminisce.  There are a lot of runners, who also  share the image of a medal, they are working on to acquire and use Monday as a means to visualise that goal. The list of reasons can go on! 

Today's post will be all about the medals I collected from Amsterdam Marathon.  There won't be brief race recaps of each event, that'll be for another blogpost.


Amsterdam Marathon 2011


8K medal
from the 36th edition 

of
Amsterdam Marathon (2011)



Very happy to finish for the very first time
in the Olympic Stadium of Amsterdam!
16th of October, 2011


Amsterdam Marathon 2012


A proud pair of 42K medals around my neck! #myprecious :D

Berlin Marathon 2012 and 
Amsterdam Marathon 2012
(from the 37th edition)
medals



Between 25 - 30 km of the 2012 full marathon course
(I have to check to verify!)



Amsterdam Marathon 2013


Half-Marathon Medal
from the 

38th edition of
Amsterdam Marathon 2013



Believe it or not, I only saw this photo today for the first time
while checking the website! 

Running through Vondelpark,
about 3 kilometers away from the finish.
It is always a highlight of the Amsterdam marathon course !



Amsterdam Marathon 2014


In 2014, I wrote a blogpost for the 39th edition of Amsterdam Marathon, 
which won me a starting number for:

Amsterdam Marathon 2014


Sadly, I missed the message informing I won. The story of why I missed it, I will share in another blogpost, and link it here once I've published it.


Amsterdam Marathon 2016

You can create your own superhero photo here!


Happy Runners of the 41st edition of Amsterdam Marathon 2016
For me personally a culmination of my #13HappyHalves 2016 edition


On this blogpost are images, which I myself have only seen for the first time today!

Currently, I am unable to purchase these photos but I am sort of bookmarking these images to remind myself to obtain 1-2 from each year.

In 2011, my husband bought a photo CD of all my race photos! I sadly misplaced it and was glad I uploaded the best of the collection in Google photo archive because I used them in my blogs.






Hope you enjoyed the photos of the Amsterdam Marathon medals!!! Do come back to check for more Amsterdam marathon stories, this week.


09.10.17
Monday
13:10