Why We DO IT Wednesday: 5 Weeks of Training and A Very Important Trip

“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” 

― Friedrich Nietzsche

Yesterday, I was feeling very motivated to run but because I ran 3 consecutive days in a row, I "forced" myself to not give in to the "running addiction" motivation.

Running is a gift. I have to smile at the end of every training because of gratefulness; I can run again and again because I am physically healthy.

When I finished my run last Monday, I was extremely happy and grateful. It was the culmination of 3 runs in a row:

Saturday, 18th of February: 5.50 km easy to warm up for Sunday's first two digit long distance run
Sunday, 19th of February: 10 km easy build up
Monday, 20th of February: 5 km shake out run.

They are mini- run successes worthy of a huge smile! 

I  rarely have "a  triumphant trio run" of this kind. I did not plan it but I have been wishing it will happen during my Berlin marathon training, naturally. Hopefully more of this simple triumphs will come in the next weeks!

I need the rest, and have to wait and stick it out with  the plan for Berlin Marathon 2017: build up slowly, work on being strong, stay focused on why I am running Berlin and BE in the process. No rush. No living it up for short-lived rewards.

"Bloom through the concrete!"

My Berlin Marathon 2017 training mantra!

This morning, I woke up early and stood up right after my husband kissed me goodbye and left for work.  I half-heartedly ate a just on the edge of being ripe banana and drank coffee (yup, the coffee I was trying to give up!) to wake up my sluggish body even though my mind was already in manic mode.

I mentioned my wish to give up coffee
during Training Week 1, 2, 3

My compromise, drink at least 1-2 mugs  a week.

When I looked outside, there was a twinge of regret that I resisted yesterday's urge to run!  The sky is overcast and my motivation metaphorically hid behind the clouds of self-sabotaging negative thoughts and anxiousness over this week's trip.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” 
― Lao Tzu

I meditate on the power of these wise words and the memory of a great trip to Hamburg, Autumn 2015

I am munching on a peanut butter sandwich as I write this blogpost.  Hopefully, after I finished this blog, my sandwich has settled and I can run; this process (decluttering my mind) is my way of being pro-active and banishing all these negative thoughts and energy, which threaten to drown me.

No one can help me out of these debilitating anxiety attacks but myself.  The more I expect "help", "miracle", "impulse" to come from the outside, the more I am wrought by inner-pain.  I've been here - the cycle of falling in a hole, climbing out of it - a thousand times to know: the feeling will disappear, the moment will pass and strength will be gained, when I continuously face the situation I dread, the many unknowns, that I fear.



The trip would mean a lot to the process of stabilising my mental health.  It is one little step of many for this year.  When I reach the proverbial finish line, I can focus on taking good care of my family, my health, working, studying and enjoying our simple life, here in the Netherlands.

Motivation, are you there yet?! :)

Looking back at the weekly recap of Berlin Marathon training,  I am filled with a sense of quiet fulfillment and a deep sense of pride.  I am focused.  I am determined.  I am not giving up! I will continue to steadfastly work on running strong and have fun in the process.

My reward: I get a chance to run in Berlin again, 5 years after I finished my first marathon successfully.  It's symbolic for all the many chances I get in life again and again. Chances I do not take for granted.

Are we running, today? Heck yeah!

UPDATED 22.02.17 23:06, Wednesday

Yeah! :D

DETOXING Happy Feet: On Blogging, Simplifying and Decluttering 2017 Part 2

Read other parts and future posts of this Series, using the tag: Detoxing Happy Feet 2017 

 “Is it possible for home to be a person and not a place?” 

― Stephanie Perkins

This is the image (our back garden, my oldest daughter waving through the glass door of our kitchen) which greeted me after I brought youngest daughter to school, and biked home. On my way home I saw middle daughter biking to school.

I love mornings like this.  Simple, predictable, routinary.  It is strange and somehow difficult to look back and point specifically a point in time, when I used to dread mornings like this for the very same reasons.

The more I gain structure and stability in life, the more I have deep appreciation and take deep comfort in simplicity.  The more my focus sharpens, the more I find creative ways, tools to aid me in simplifying.

Simplifying, I have experienced is best achieved when you have set clear goals.  My main Happy Feet in the Netherlands blogging goal this year is enjoy the process of training for Berlin Marathon by documenting every step of the way. I have not been able to do so   previously (with Berlin Marathon 2012: my first marathon) in a satisfactory manner. 

Two weeks, ago I created a draft to record my first week of training for Berlin Marathon.  I published this draft, which was originally only suppose to be covering the first week of my training, yesterday.  It ended up to be a post of 3 weeks of back to training.  From today on, I will call it my "Back to Berlin" blog series.

Yesterday's after run selfie, using the Photo Booth of P's (my husband) iMac.
A celebratory photo of my first official run for 2017

I am so excited because I feel everything (daily life, marathon training, blogging) is taking beautiful shape, as I had hoped they will. When I made up my mind in 2015, that I will no longer let my bipolar disorder rob me of my life, I knew it will take time to be mentally strong. I have been working on myself for over 20 years!

Two years of patience and perseverance, and our home is slowly becoming the home we visualise.  Two years of never giving up, and I keep feeling more and more at home in my own skin, ready to keep on going. 

Speaking of keep on going! I will revive My Daily Moorings in the Netherlands blog.  

I am using the energy and motivation of training for Berlin Marathon to write about anecdotes, the family and I do not want to forget as well as the regular outings we would like to do this year.  As much as possible we would like to explore Holland on foot during weekends. 

Happy Families have Happy Feet, right?!

A look back of some of the "highlights" of the last 6 months in pictures; a lot of changes in our family, our home and how I will combine working out  for my marathon and renovating  our house. 

There will be a lot more at "My Daily Mooosings . . ." in 2017! I can't wait to share our stories and travels with all of you. :)

Last Sunday, our 2017 " January Carfie" ;) on our way to a family gathering

Toasting the New Year! Welcoming the first minute of 2017 with positivity :)

Our traditional "Girls in front of the Christmas Tree" picture
December 24th

November 2016
A photo from a collection of photos taken for an Instagram planking challenge
(probably my last online challenge for a very long time!)

Happy J on her 17 Birthday
October, 2016
I was very happy to finally surprise her with balloons, s
he's been wishing for since we moved in this house (March, 2013)

September 2016
Celebrating the ending of late Summer and enjoying our new (back) garden  after  (work) my English class

September 2016
Happy M (youngest daughter), Happy Harry (house guest cat)
(front garden)

P's Zen moments at our new (front) garden after work during Summer 2016

August 2016
Middle daughter after our power walk, when she prepared for her first 5K training, which she ran 2 months later

August 2016
The best thing in 3 years of living in our house?
The clearing of the old garden, and watching our new garden(s) transform!

August 2016
Happy Harry - at home in and out of the garden, at last!

August 2016

Our second home during the sailing season: Summer Breeze!

DETOXING Happy Feet: On Blogging, Simplifying and Decluttering 2017 Part 1

I love watching our (permanent!) guest cat (Harry) stretch out without a care in the world!

“If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old” 

― Peter F. Drucker

It's fascinating to watch him; he is always on guard, and always quick & ready to change his "relaxing" spot, and move on elsewhere, when something bothers him.

He is a curious cat, who explores, and finds many other new spots inside and outside of our home.

Some words before you read this series. . .

The "blatherings" below (and all that will be posted in this blog series) are more for myself, actually.

Writing reflections in a regular basis over the process, I am going through  helps me be reminded, why I need to do, what I have to do.

I chose to share these reflections instead of keeping it in my private journal  because I know a lot of people struggle with the same things I struggle, and they too find it hard to articulate what they are going through.

It is far better to say or put down into words those seemingly "clumsy", disjointed, racing thoughts even if they stay clumsy and disjointed in print, than keep them in.  In the end, all these collective thoughts put into words will eventually make sense, even if only to the writer! Or the random reader, who identifies with what has been written.

You can say, I am following the example of our guest cat, Harry.  I am following my curious thoughts, and settling in a spot it leads me.

Humans find it quiet safe to stay in the status quo, even if doing so,  takes out the life out of one's spirit.  There is a certain comfort with the familiar. You find out though, when you dare, that you can liven up your life, if you change your perspective, your "geography", when you step out of your comfort zone, and nurture the curious side of your being.

When you enter the world of exploration for what you have never done and where you have never been before, life become more alive.

Rehabilitating an Internet and Social Media Addict

A month has passed, since I deactivated my various Instagram accounts.



This was a part of my plan to decrease my time online, and limit my use of the internet. I would like more quality time with my family, more than what we already have; I would like to deeply enjoy "the quiet" (physical and mental) ; this is  my concept of  sublime quality time.

Simply put: a life of quality outside of the web..



The decision has been both a huge relief and a struggle to make.  It was a relief to finally act out a plan, to attend to a personal need, and fulfil a promise I made to my family; I procrastinated to do so for more than 3 years.

I admitted to everyone  of my internet addiction and how it was affecting the quality of life for my family and I.  In the steps, I have been doing since November last year (deactivating Instagram, for example), I take full responsibility and hope in this first of many simple steps to rehabilitate myself.

In order for me to "function" with my condition (bipolar disorder*) and continue my ongoing healing process, I need to follow my path to recovery, no matter how strange it may seem to others.

Changes, Curious Paths, Challenges . . .

This week, I resumed my marathon training; the detailed blog about this: here.



Contrary to my original plan of completely being social media free for 2017, I created a new private FB account for the sole purpose of having access as administrator to a new FB page for this blog.



The plan is to share there links of my blogposts.

I will share links to blogposts about my running years from 2011 - 2016; they will be  (belated!) race recaps, my favourite race events in Holland, random reflections about running and life behind running.



My blog links regarding my current training will not be shared there.

Subscribers to this blog (you can subscribe by submitting your email, via the box on the upper left side of this blog page, under the title : Follow the Adventures) will receive blog updates regarding training related blogs.  Or if you do not want to submit your email address, you could simply check here,  every week for (a) new blogpost(s).

Of course followers of the FB blog page and the public in general would be able to read these blogs as well, if they visit the blog.



Why do I seem to be making it complicated for my blog followers?

I am not.

This decision belong to sets of compromises, which best accommodate the needs of my mental health*.



I am excited to see, where I will be (mind, body and spirit) a year from now.

NOTE TO SELF: The date of the post is when I started the draft, and at the bottom of the page is the date I publish the draft.

31.01.17 00:51 Tuesday