Showing posts with label Running 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Running 2013. Show all posts

Friday, December 13, 2013

The Halves I Ran in 2013



Yesterday, I officially signed up for my second Egmond Half Marathon. The first half-marathon I will run in 2014.

I have unfinished business to settle with this half-marathon, as well as many other half-marathons I ran this year.

Consulting the tentative list I made in a previous blog Introducing A Look Back Blog Series , I've ran a total of 5 half marathons this year, and one DNF (did not finish).

The 1st half marathon I ran is Egmond - it is literally the first half marathon I have ever ran.  The back ground story of it I briefly mentioned in my end of January, 2013 blog. 

I ran Egmond after more than a year of running (17 months to be exact), and two full marathons behind me.  You can read why I did not run or was not able to run half-marathons first and went straight to running marathons on this blog:

The Halves of Holland (1/3): The Running Road to Egmond Half-Marathon Part 1


The 2nd half marathon I ran is Groet uit Schoorl - my first DNF.


Groet uit Schoorl 2013 -
my first "lost"/"pseudo-finished" unfinished run (DNF)
- I'll be back next year!

Lost in Schoorl as I call my first DNF race in 18 months of running - a running story/lesson to remember, mentioned here in brief, until a blog can be written about it! This race is definitely going on Running Calendar 2014 with a vengeance!

The 3rd half marathon I ran is CPC Run The Hague  - my fastest memorable half-marathon so far.


The 4th half marathon I ran is Luxembourg Night Marathon - not my fastest, not my slowest but unforgettable in so many ways.

It has a lot of firsts; my first half-marathon outside of Holland, the first time I ran on a hilly course, and the first time I became a poster girl for a marathon I ran because of being happy running it! :D

You could read a bit of background story here:


Luxembourg Half-Marathon: RAN!









The 5th half marathon I ran is Vechtloop Weesp - heartwarming and literally very warm half-marathon!


Vechtloop 2013

This "Colgate" smile was after I saw my split time (10K 1:07:some seconds brutto) and I still was confident, still hoping, that I would at least be in at 2:20:some seconds at the finishline 21 km later in the scorching (for me!) heat.
 
A favourite moment: if you look closely at the background is D a volunteer, who helped me in the last 5 km (I had side pains - not a clever way of hydrating, drank too much, ran too fast).
She was a great morale booster/cheer leader.

Luckily for me 2:35:some seconds later, my lovely solesisters Eva & Udjen were still waiting for me!

The 6th half marathon I ran is Amsterdam Half Marathon - my slowest and almost DNF run.






It was a challenging run but with a lot of support, willpower and determination: I did it!

The words above basically summarized the running motto of all my 5 half marathons (plus the 1 DNF - I ran after all 8 km of the course!) for the year 2013~!


Tuesday, December 10, 2013

14 Days to Christmas: Introducing A Look Back Blog Series

Bruggenloop 2012
screen shot of the  Christmas Clock (2013)
(the time is when I started writing this blog) 

I love countdowns.

Consulting the Christmas Clock (2013), it is 14 days until Christmas!

Since I admit and write about it often, I am guessing everyone, who has been following for a while now  knows, that  I am lousy at posting detailed race recaps punctually.

So, I've actually accumulated more than 2 years worth of race recaps.  28 months of enthusiastic and unforgettable running experiences to be exact!

Breaking it down (a tentative list below, which I might have to eventually edit for some corrections and replace with a proper table of statistics!) :
                                2011            2012              2013            December 2013 (still upcoming races)
5Ks                      =    1                   3                   1/DNS                        1
4M                       =    1                   1                   0
7K                        =    0                   0                   1                                 1
8K                        =    1                   0                   0                       
10K                      =    2                   3/DNS          2/DNS                        1
15K                      =    DNS             3                    3                                1
10M                     =    0                    2                  DNS
Half-Marathon     =    0                    0                  5/DNF
Full-Marathon     =     0                   2                   1/DNS
                                   5                   14                  13        

The tentative table gives a total of  32 race recaps +/- those I've already done.

I may have a slow pace in many things such as running, and blogging but what I have for both these passions are persistence and perseverance! :)

My plan is to write at least 2-3 recaps every day for the next  every month of the next year days. (11.12.13 EDIT: Due to other personal priorities, I am changing the 13 days to the next 13-14 months - December 2013 - January, 2015)

What always stands in my way is wanting to do things perfectly. You know what happens when you have this need; the blogs are either written too long, or not written at all.

My plan: simplify, and write from the heart.

Whew! Feels good to get that out. I owe this renewed blogging energy to a current project. :)




You can check out this project - an ongoing event I am hosting at Happy Feet in the NL's FB page called Winter Run Challenge aka #Running4Badges: #CoolRunning

As I mentioned in Introducing: Happy Feet in the Netherlands' Badge, it was an idea born when I started running.




I wanted to wait until next year to share the idea but I thought as much as I would love to motivate others to keep running, the project will help me stay motivated as well!

The event at it's early stage is reminding me  continuously why I love to run, why I begun blogging, and how I would like to reach out to people via FB page of Happy Feet NL, who share the same hopes & dreams and  passion & dedication . 

It gave me back the sharp focus I needed.

Running for me is as a gift.
A gift you give yourself, and others. 
A gift that keeps on giving.


Bruggenloop 2012

Running is unceasingly finding your way back to your genuine self.
 

Bruggenloop 2013

Running is facing & overcoming life's obstacles repeatedly. 
Yes. Again, and again, and again.

Bruggenloop 2013

Running is inspiring and being inspired!
with Amsterdam Running Junkies soul/solesister Mo,
finishing her first BGL!

Running is shared passion,
shared struggle,
shared triumph,
and shared happiness.


Amsterdam Running Junkies
BGL13
photo courtesy of Wilbert v. L.!