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

Marathon Training in My Mind: My 25Ks & Entering the 30Ks Zone

“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.” 

― Nelson Mandela

I LOVE the quote above from Nelson Mandela.  It summarizes beautifully, how I am currently feeling about my marathon training, and my passion for marathons in general.



Countdown!


45 days to go to Rotterdam Marathon 2015 (hashtag: #MR15 in social media)!

I am still - as always! -  catching up on recording running stories and training recaps  for #MR15.

This fact does not take away the happiness I feel, since I've been documenting my training better compared to my 3 previous marathons.  It can only get better from here on. :)

Monday, 23rd February
25 kilometers

Make It (KM) Count!


Last Monday, I recorded another 25 km run.  It was supposed to be 30 km but the battery of my sportswatch was empty, and went off by kilometer 25.

SO, I'll count it together with my 2 other previous 25Ks.

This coming Saturday, I'll run again the 30 km distance to officially document it on my Nike+ stats.  It is more for my mental prep to be honest.

Before I continue in the 30+ km zone, I wanted to write a blog that will save my 25Ks collages.  I would like to run the distances of 32, 35 kilometers before I taper.

Below is my tentative plan of how the next week's Saturday/Sunday training will look like (posted on the 25th of February/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 finally 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! :)

An image I posted on my @HappyFeetNL Instagram account
on the 9th of December, 2014
officially announcing my
Rotterdam Marathon goal

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 km (Relapse from flu virus prevented me from reaching 150 km but I forged on!)

February, 2015 - currently 90.3 km (Flu virus persist! Target was 150-200 km but I am happy with February; I feel confident that I will make it to 100 before the month ends! I am still "secretly" wishing that I will finally reach 150 km in February, though…)

#MR15 - 377.1 km - current kilometer stand 25th of February

(UPDATE, 16th of March: here)

Sunday, 1st of February
25 kilometers

Sunday, 25th of January

25 kilometers

Each collage  above represent each 25 K run of the last weeks.  I put the corresponding date to each collage, and hopefully, when I find the time & have the peace, I'll edit this blog to include the link (on the dates) to the  corresponding blogs about each run.



Marathon (Training) Magic . . .


As always, when I write updates, I like to list things about why I love marathon training; the preparation for Rotterdam Marathon helps me remember and keep them in mind:

• The beauty of life outdoors.  Looking at the pictures I was privilege to capture during my runs has been giving me  fulfillment as much as the run themselves.

• The joy over the friendships formed through the mutual goals & passion: Rotterdam Marathon/Spring Marathon/longdistance running/staying fit/healthy lifestyle! 

December, 2014
Bruggenloop Rotterdam

November, 2014
Zevenheuvelenloop, Nijmegen

September, 2014
Dam tot Damloop, Amsterdam

• The people you meet! Getting to know more inspiring & motivating people on the road to the goal you set for yourself .  The pursuit of the dreams and goals becomes a shared experience with like-minded souls.

The Mermaid Club
Watch out for my blog about how it is to be TMC Ambassador
and be amongst many inspiring women all over the world!

Janine & Mark from Belfast
More about them and their inspiring stories, next time!
(click on the link to check out Janine's new blogsite!)

Janine

SO MANY INSTAGRAMMERS!
I'll share more on motivating IGers, next time!

• The lessons learned! Revisiting* wisdom already learned and gaining new ones (blogalore* after a long dry spell !) contributes to the exciting road, which leads to the marathon finish line.

My (other!) blogs about life behind running:

My Daily Mooosings in the Netherlands
The Lightness of Being on The Bike

• The never-ending transformation.  Happy Feet=Happy Mind.  

Let's Goooo!
21st of February
(Saturday)
at km 5 of a
15 kilometers  run
#MyShadowandI :D

Once again, I wish everyone continued success in their preparation for various Spring marathon!

Please do leave a comment below to tell me how things are, or that I can check your blogs and offer support, on your way to fulfilling your goal what ever they may be. :)

All my previous blogs related to Marathon Rotterdam Training :

• Easy Sunday Come Back Run
• The Road to Rotterdam 2015: Update!
• Monday Marathon Training Recap: #MR15Reloaded
• #HFNLRunDiary2015: Friday Night Run

Easy Sunday Come Back Run

 “There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you, and there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.” 

― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish

(Curious to what has transpired so far in my marathon training  for Rotterdam? You can find a quick update: here.)

What a weekend! Full of unforgettable, meaningful moments, and the peak was:

a good come back run - sloooooooow but strong!

It began "late" (16:15/4:15 pm) but it was still "very early" than my usual Sunday long  runs.  

I am writing it here,  that next Sunday's long distance run will definitely be in the morning! As early as now, I am going to organize the week, that the run will before the sunrise, and that I am back home before my family wakes up.  Or at least when they are ready to eat a long leisurely brunch.

Now, back to the run of today - O-yay!

It was 15K.  

Why did I not start with 5 or 8 or 10 to build up back again? Simple short answer: it is because I love long distances, and I am more motivated to go outdoors, if I know I will cover a longer distance, and that is why I ran my first run after 2 weeks break on a Sunday instead of during the week.

The first 5K of this 15K run was in super slow warm-up pace.

Afterwards, the next 5 kilometers,  I did a playful interval to see how my body will react to it.

Before I took a break I was having coughing fits during my run!

The last 5 km was all about "playing", and enjoying that I can run again.

Even though I "rested", and took a break from running, I did not stop "working-out" (see @The Lightness of Being on the Bike   blogs, please!).  So, it was good to experience that the "spinning" exercises I did outdoors with Frodo (my bike)  on the way back home after bring the girls to school, paid off.

The pictures below are from Ankeveen, our village.

Today was such a beautiful sunny Winter day; it would have been a pity not to take pictures.  Specially because it has been (in my opinion!) very gray the last weeks.

I also took pictures of a lot of places, where I so far only had night shots. hahaha  I wanted to write a blog with the pictures side by side. Watch out for that!

This was taken right after I left our village, on my way to Kortenhoef.

It's the Carnival weekend here in Holland!

I had to get some stuff I needed for this run (as well as for next week's run), and it was practical because the shop was on the way.

This sunset (I did not have the peace to take a better one - next time!) was taken by the Emmaweg. I love this path.

I adore the reflection of trees on the water.

There is a night shot of this selfie!  :)

As well as a night shot of this bridge! Yes,  day light shots are MUCH  better; thank you very much. :D

By kilometer 7, I reached Hilversum where I began trying to see how my lungs will react if speed up a bit.

These houseboats…they are much livelier in the dark, when the house owners are inside and the blinds are up!

Kilometer 8! I am still feeling a-OK.


Just a pity I could not replicate a good night shot of me in front of the OK sign, which I took last 4th of January because there was a guy parked nearby, and I was too self-conscious to do my "happy-face-boxing-in-the-air-selfie" in front of him. hahahaha

Oh well, next time! Maybe I can do another 15K, during school week, and take my OK-themed selfie. During daylight. :D

I stopped here, and took this photo to remind myself to plan another route around this area, next time.

Perhaps ask P to drop me off and start a run from here.

I wish many times before, and I'll wish it again: I wish I have a camera that takes shots of how I truly see, what is before me.  This was for me magical, when I came upon it.

Alas, the camera of my trusted Samsung Galaxy Young (I still love it's presence in my run though - both shot and phone!) does not do it justice.

My phone ran out of battery by kilometer 10. Good thing because I wanted to hurry home at this point!

Checking my Nike+ stats, I had negative splits the last 3 kilometers.

I did stop by kilometer 12 to do my 4 minutes stretching because I knew I won't be able to do it at home.

It was because I knew from experience, that I will dive in to eat my dinner (my beloved prepared!)  as soon as P opened the door to our home!

Simple but oh so tasty! Although I  did not have the energy anymore to make it look "foodie" worthy! I am #SorryNOTSorry :D.

The verdict of this comeback run? Thumbs-UP!

It was a good warm-up - a mental boost, and to prepare the body to pick up where it left off with the marathon training.

23:32

The Road to Rotterdam 2015: Update!

“The hardest thing about the road not taken is that you never know where it might have led.” 

― Lisa Wingate, A Month of Summer

Tomorrow, it will be two weeks since my last  - long distance training - run.

I've been postponing this blog because each day for the last 2 weeks, I have been hoping to run again, so that I could confidently say, "Onwards, forwards to Rotterdam!"

The question I have been often asked the past two weeks:

"Are you running?"

"Are you still running?"

"Are you going for a run?"

"Are you off for a run?"

"Are you posting blog updates on running?"

There was actually no one who asked, if I will still run the Rotterdam marathon.

I think, partly, it is because I have not been very vocal about my plans to run Rotterdam.  I have also hardly talked about it in via my social media channels, as much as I did with my previous marathons.

Honestly, I do not have any answer to the question, no one has directly asked me: is Rotterdam still on?

I guess in the end, I am writing this blog for me to remember how I feel, and that someday, I would have something to read to assure me that I have been in this kind of situation, and I have learned what to do.

Looking back at my Nike+ plus statistics and recalling my training for Berlin, Amsterdam & Paris, I can say, I have never "prepared", as much as I have so far done for Rotterdam.

Marathon Training Recap #MR15

I actually have never even run  25 kilometers in two consecutive weekends as training in any of my 3 previous marathon as I have done for my #MR15 training:

1st of February, taken during my first and last run this month
it was supposed to be a 25 km run
but my Nike+ sportswatch ran out of battery,
and I ended up recording 24.68 km

Happy to run 25 km! 25th of January

I never even ran an official half-marathon race prior to running my first full marathon.  I ran almost 21 km for fun; it was because of Nike challenge in Summer 2012 before I won my Nike+ sportswatch so I don't even have a record of that.  At that time I had a simple watch (from Decathlon in Amsterdam), and I used it's timer to see how long I ran for a particular distance.

From January to September 2012 - (Running 2012), in preparation for Berlin & Amsterdam marathon, I race in Holland, almost every month.

The most memorable month of 2012 was April, where I raced every Sunday; I ran in my old home town - Hamburg in Germany -  to test the marathon atmosphere before hand, as part of a relay team I personally organized.

I had hoped, Rotterdam  would be the first marathon I could prepare for properly.

Paris 2013 was a "fiasco" in regards to training.

My mind left my marathon training even before I could truly begin.  The promise was there when January began, and I ran Egmond for the first time: my first official half-marathon.

But I lost motivation in February.  Losing our first home in Holland in a traumatic way, being displaced for 3 months as a result, and rushing to renovate a house we could move into, eventually took it's toll on me.

Now, 2 years later, since I finished  Paris marathon, and a year later since I've mentally recovered from a foot nerve injury, I find myself again in February lacking energy & motivation.

I have been dealing with a persistent virus from December until this month - 3 relapses!

The first two times I had to rest in bed.  The third relapse, these last two weeks.

I wanted to avoid getting worst so contrary to what I usually do, which is stubbornly go on until I break down - I took a break from training and let go of my need to prove myself.

Today, I feel I can run without having a coughing fit.

Coincidentally, I have the opportunity to earn a badge.  A very motivating thought (for me!).

Let's see how it will go….and I will let you know at the end of February if I will be on the road to Rotterdam OR following another road.

(EDIT: 19th of February, 2015 - After I wrote this blog, I ran   twice - a 15K on the 15th {Easy Sunday Come Back Run}, and 10K (the best run in months!) yesterday, the 18th.

Confidence and the hope to make it to the finish line of Rotterdam is back!)