Amsterdam Marathon Recap

Long overdue. I know. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa. I've been slightly preoccupied with other things. Enough said. ;)

As for the Amsterdam Marathon... Here we go.

Date: October 21st 2012

Where?: Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Goal #1: training run - just a fun sub-4 was what I was aiming for.

Goal #2: trick running buddy John into thinking I wanted to PR and I needed his help to do so - that way he would finish this thing. And John finishing this baby was the main goal of the day. (seriously - 3 weeks after my BQ at the Berlin Marathon, I was not going to try to PR again. Pretty hilarious that John bought the whole 'PR' story.)

Outfit: a pretty adorable Nuu Muu dress. Yeah, I can brag about this one. ;)

Let me just lead you through this year's Amsterdam Marathon photo by photo. Sounds like a plan, huh? (photo courtesy: Ans de Boer and Bjorn Paree)

The Start

The 9:30 AM start is pretty cool, since it's in the Olympic stadium. Pretty cool. John was in the corral located behind the corral I was in, so we kind of sneaked him into my corral. Yeah, that's me - living on the edge, baby.

Very crowded start. Narrow course to start of with. Enough said.

Needless to say we elbowed our way through the first 10K. And headed out too fast. Yeah, baby. I like me some positive 'I sure did mess around' splits.

Half Marathon point

Just before the half marathon point John's wife Ans, my mom and a friend of hers were waiting for us. With fluids and energy gel. All part of the play to trick John into crossing the finish line, instead of DNF-ing at the 30K mark. 

The course was less crowded at this point - holding an okay-ish pace. We hit the half way point at a relaxed 1:53-ish. 

25K in

Hello Bjorn! The only guy that is able to take 'non-embarrassing' race photos of moi. And boy, did I try to mess these up.

Definitely my favorite photos of the day. Marathon-photos.com - I didn't even include your overpriced crappy pics in this race report. :)

28K

Ran into a couple of older guys talking about qualifying for Boston. With the post-BQ jitters still in place, I hopped right in. Fun talking to them - even more fun seeing them meet their goal. However, at this point John was no longer talking to me. He was suspiciously silent. At that point I realized the whole '30K point is getting closer' thing was what was going on. In the last couple of marathons (in which marathons he was on BQ-course) he had to drop out at the 30K point (cramp, tummy issues (which were caused by a parasite - yeugh!)). 

30K

A sigh of relief next to me. We had crossed the 30K mark. Good bye 30K demons. John was going to finish this baby.

34K

Jasper was waiting for us with more fluids and energy gel. We took some time here to readjust John's compression sleeve (quad) and have some Coca Cola. 

36K

I'm a pescatarian. However, I do cheat once in a while. This happened to be the case 2 days prior to this marathon. I know I should not have red meat before a long run - it messes up my tummy. Big time. As in 'I need to throw up, but I'm trying to hold it back' messing up. Ouch. Not fun. 

40K

The Vondel Park part was fun - the part where John has a cramped up leg wasn't. A short stretching session seems to fix the problem. Meanwhile, I'm still regretting the whole 'red meat' thing. Will I ever learn?

41K

Mom, Els and Ans are waiting for us. Right before entering the Olympic stadium to finish.

The finish

There we were. Nearing the finish line. John was going to finish this baby and had showed those DNF demons who is boss. A short sprint and...done. 

3:49:27. For a fun run, I'll take it. Plus, we had fun out there. And didn't kick each other into the Amstel River. That's a plus.

Ans caught us after the finish. In our ubercharming blankets. 

This photo pretty much sums up the day. My absolute favorite pic of this race. 

Utrecht Marathon recap

50 miler two weeks ago + another planned marathon in just a couple of days + shitty weather + strong headwinds + the most boring course you can think of = not a happy camper.

I must have cursed that course a zillion times. And those strong headwinds. For 36K of the total 42.2K. Seriously. What the heck was up with that?

To sum it up: I cursed a lot. I got bored to a point where jumping into the canal to go for a swim seemed like the fun way to go. I seriously considered taking a detour at 30K (19 miles) to finish those last miles/kms on trails. My legs felt that 50 miler 20K/12 miles in. Thank the running gods John was sweet enough to check in on his bike once every few miles. Again, not a happy camper. ;)

After the 36K / 23 mile point the course got better. More support. More people cheering us on. Enter moi being bored to a point where I kept looking for things to make fun of, and you can guess what happened. And yes I did boogie with John and Kees 39.5K / 25 miles into that marathon. :) I seriously messed up the chance of a decent finish time there. 3 hours, 49 minutes and 14 seconds after crossing the start line I knew why I prefer trails. Let's just leave it to that. ;) Slowpoke for life, baby! ;)

(Yep, I know I'm slow, but apparently that doesn't keep others from judging me: I was just told by some elite runners that I'm not a talented long distance runner, and that I'm setting a bad example for this sport. Ouch. That hurts.)

I'll let the pics do the talking. (Photo courtesy Bjorn Paree)

11K in.

39K in.

My thoughts on the course and the strong headwinds.

Finish line. Strong headwinds to sum up the day.

Finish line pic. Spot the rain?

Edinburgh Marathon quickie recap - The 'the little engine that could' post

Date: Yesterday, Sunday May 22nd.
Event: Edinburgh Marathon, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Plan: run this thing as a training run - the Swiss Alpine Marathon training thingie is what's important now.

I've never been less prepared. I had the worst possible marathon preparation.

1. I did not taper for this marathon (I didn't run a lot of miles in the last few days before the marathon, but had covered 50 miles in the week before, and did a Back-2-Back hill training in the weekend before the marathon - the Swiss Alpine Marathon training schedule is what's important now. And yes, I know there are several runners out there that would say 50 miles a week is low mileage, and that it would qualify as a taper period, but my body is used to running less miles than that in a taper period. Yep, I'm slow, I know. ;)).

2. I spent the day before the marathon sightseeing around Edinburgh. Walking, that is. Lovely city!

3. I had an awful migraine the late PM/evening before the marathon and spent hours in bed. And did not eat. Had a tiny bit of rice, but that stupid migraine made me feel sick.

4. I tried something new on race day. Not shorts. Not a shirt. Not socks. Nope, worse. I tried a new energy drink (GU Brew), because I couldn't take my usual Gatorade with me on the plane. Bad girl, I know.

The Race

I was already approaching this marathon as a training run for the Swiss Alpine Marathon K78, but - especially considering the migraine that left my musces feeling awful and me feeling exhausted - I really had no other option than taking it slow. So, I did take Mr Garmin with me, and turned it on, but never really looked at it. I couldn't care less about finish times or predicting a finishing time.

Start line: chatted the time away. Nice, friendly crowd of runners. And hardly any lines for the port-a-potties. Me likey! Not nervous. At all. No race day drippy poo (which is nice for a change). I was actually looking forward to heading out for a long run. All smiles.

Start: *Bleep*. Mr Garmin is on. Bag pipe players are playing. All choked up - already. Yep, way to go.

Mile 1-6 (1-10K): Not checking Mr Garmin. Just taking it slow. Some nice downhills and slight uphills. As long as I'm able to chat with other runners and able to hand out high-fives to the kids that were cheering us on, I'm fine. Filled up my watter bottle at mile 5.8 (9.5K) where my mom and a friend of hers were cheering me on.


10K mark: Mr Garmin bleeps, and since I'm on a timing mat for the 10K-split, I check how slow I'm moving forward. 54:22. Too fast. I know I'll pay for that later, but I really couldn't care less.

Mile 6-13 (10-21.1K): Still cruising along. My legs are okay. I can feel the aftermath of the migraine in my legs, but it doesn't get any worse than that. Refill my watter bottle at mile 11 (17.6K).

Mile 13.1 (21.1K): Timing mat. Let's check Mr Garmin again. 1:54:17. Can't be right. And I still couldn't care less. Doesn't feel like I'm racing, so I'll just head on and wait till I hit the wall.

Mile 13-18 (21-29K): Nice loop along the ocean. Scenic course. Now, where's that wall? Come out, come out, where ever you are! Mom and her friend are panicking because they missed me at mile 16 and are worrying their pants off that I might have crashed into that wall. Numerous phone calls later (yep, I was running and on the phone. Multi-tasking, baby), I've reassured them that I'd just missed them and that I'm fine.

You can't tell from the photo, but the rain at this point was insane. In-sane. And nope, those chicken wing arms aren't an example of bad running form. I was trying to take a GU, but was struggling with my handheld and opening the GU-pack at the same time. :)



Mile 18.8 (30K) mark: *Bleep*. Hi there, Mr Garmin. Ah, timing mat. 2:43:14. Oh, I'm going to hit that wall big time.

Mile 18-20 (29-32K): Because I missed mom at the 16 mile mark I didn't have any GU Brew left. Just took a salt pack. And I did just miss a water station. What's the plan? Flunning myself into getting some guy's water bottle. Yep, worked like a charm. He emptied his bottle in my handheld. Thanks! :) Still awaiting the point where I'll hit the wall.

Mile 20-22 (32-35K): Stop blocking the road! The course is narrow and there are quite a lot of runners walking. Next to each other. Chatting. Please, go to the side of the road and stop blocking others: that's what I always do when I'm walking for a bit (or limping it out, like I did at the NYC Marathon in 2010)! Finally find mom and her friend at mile 22 (35K), and get to refill my bottle. 'Are you okay?'. 'Yeah, I think I am. Just awaiting 'hitting the wall' moment.'. Still haven't walked through the water stops, which is what I'd normally do.

Mile 22-25.5 (35-41K): We're still running along the ocean. Headwinds! Headwinds! Insane headwinds! What the what! Decide to keep on doing what I was already doing: keep a pace that seems comfortable to me, and don't look at Mr Garmin. Now, please don't let me hit the wall hard in those last few miles!

Mile 25.5-26.2 (41-42.2K): Almost there yet? No! I'm having a blast! Hmmmppfff. We're directed to the right and sent onto a racing course. And there's the finish line. Chick a guy in front of me. And cross the finish line. Legs feel a bit stiffish, but I feel...fresh? Huh? That can't be correct.

Mile 26.2 (42.2K): 3:50:33. PR'd by 9 minutes and 22 seconds. 395/2913 women. Huh? And I never pushed it. It did not feel like racing. I was just having a blast. Maybe the 'I'm just going to have fun. I couldn't care less about speed'-attitude did the trick. I'm happy to have a second sub-4. :) The Edinburgh Marathon spoiled me. :) And yes, I know, it's no BQ-time, but I'm happy with it. Get over it. ;)

Yep...the silly face did make an appearance. ;)

Right before the finish line. Chicked the guy behind me. He had it coming. :)

'End run' - the finish line. And not believing what's on the screen of Mr Garmin...

And then some

After crossing the finish line, we were directed to the finisher's area. While I'm on my way over there, some TV-crew starts asking me questions. They are taping the interview. On camera. I was babbling. Babbling babbling. I do NOT want to see that interview. Must have been hilarious to watch.

Got my medal (from a cute little boy that was struggling with the medals. Too funny.). Have my finisher's photo taken (why aren't the photos available yet, marathonphotos.com? Then again...I might not want to see how they turned out...). And suddenly hear someone calling my name. Mom! She bragged her way into the finisher's area. Ha! Mom, where would I have been without you? Probably hitting some wall...



And then, it was over. We're through the reunion area and on the streets. Mom's friend was kind enough to drive us back to her place (where we were staying). All was left was packing our bags, getting Mr service dog ready and heading to the airport. No time to celebrate. Let's see if I can squeeze in some champagne and sushi tonight! :)

Three Things Thursday

1. Marathon. Marathon?: Taper madness didn't kick in this round. Might have something to do with me not tapering. Might. ;) I'm in full 'I'm training for the Swiss Alpine Marathon K78 50-miler, and should focus on logging miles' mode. Did Back-2-Back long runs last weekend. My legs don't feel fresh and rested. At all. Hopefully this marathon will make a great training run. However, I wouldn't be my silly self if I wouldn't be already kicking myself for not getting a new PR. Yeah, great one, silly, great one... The keyword is 'training run'... Repeat. Till I've convinced myself to not feel bad...

2. City trip: On a more positive note. Travelling to Edinburgh (United Kingdom, or should I say 'Scotland' :)) could just turn out to be a great city trip. Any advice on what to see/do? :)

3. Scotch Whisky and Kilts: On an even more positive note: I plan on doing some Whisky tasting when I'm in Edinburgh. Yeah, I'm a girl, and I love Whisky. To make matters worse, I even smoked cigars in my sorority years. Yeah, I know. Get over it.

Oh, and since Edinburgh is not only known for the Whisky, but also for the guys wearing kilts... Well, let's just say that I expect to give you a full report on whether or not those Scots go commando when wearing a kilt. :)

Hey, I'm twenty-something and single. Give me a break. ;)

What the heck was I thinking?

Okay, this might have not been the best idea ever. At all. It would however probably place high in the 'Top 10 Stupid Ideas'.

Think, than sign up for a race.

Yeah, about that...

I honestly didn't know that I would be nutso enough to register for the Swiss Alpine Marathon K78. I knew I wanted to race one of the distances of the Swiss Alpine Marathon, though, but I figured it would be the K42 again (fingers crossed that I'll make it to the K78 start line in one piece...). The ignorance...

So, I filled out the registration for the Edinburgh Marathon on May 22nd 2011 (as in, 5 days from today) - back in September (lower fees). Said to be the 'fastest course in the UK!'. With a decent marathon training cycle and a 3-week taper, this could be a PR-course. Yeah...woulda coulda shoulda.

A few months later, I clicked 'register' on the Swiss Alpine Marathon K78 registration. And decided to focus on training for that one.

Guess where I'm going?

Long story short: a friend of my mom's offered me a place to stay in Edinburgh, and since I hadn't cancelled my registration...well...I said 'That's so sweet of you! I'd be happy to stay with you!'. She even offered to cheer me on.

Yep, I'm screwed. I ran 2 marathons in April. I'm training for the Swiss Alpine Marathon K78. That includes building my mileage. Adding miles to my long runs. Running back-2-back weekends. Doing hill work. And spending a lot of time on the treadmill at the gym, set at 15% incline. I did not taper. At all. My legs don't feel fresh. I'm in no shape to race a marathon (and this comes from a girl that's sloooooow to begin with). I'm fully aware of the fact that all these hardcore marathoners and ultra runners are ready to race a marathon any day of the week, but I'm neither hardcore nor ultra ready.

I'm trying to look at this as 'a great chance to run a fun training run'. What doesn't help is the voice in my head telling me 'You suck. You're slow! You unprepared!'.

The one thing that might get me through this marathon: What IS underneath those Kilts? :)

Oh yes, I did...

...join the Marathon Maniacs.

And yes, I'm fully aware of the fact that Tracy might never, ever ever, talk to me again. And I'm truly hoping on her checking in with her forgiving side, and finding the courage to meet up with me again at the NYC Marathon (I'll promise not to wear the MM shirt). That is, of course, if this accident prone silly girl (moi, not Tracy) makes it to the start line in one piece.



So, why did I decide to join?

1. Because I could;

2. Because I ran two marathons in two weeks - both in 'too hot for a marathon' heat - I needed something to remind me of that;

3. Because one of the guys at Marathon Maniacs told me that I would be the first Dutch member. Since I'm too slow to ever be first at any race, I'll take what I can get;

4. Because the Marathon Maniacs seem like a great group. I love chatting to other runners at the start and finish line and during the race (oh yeah, I'm that annoying girl...);

5. I was in a sorority in my University years - we used to walk around in the same shirts all the time. And I still think that's fun. Pathetic, I know;

6. Brightish yellow colors look kind of good on me. At least, I like to think so...

Hello, fellow Marathon Maniacs, #3755 is reporting for duty! :)
(Okay, I'm joking here. Okay? I'm not that weird...)

Battle scars

If you're about to have breakfast/lunch/dinner and/or tend to puke during horror movies, you might want to stop reading now. As in: NOW!


Because...here they are. Battle scars.



Boob chafe. Ouchie. At the moment it has reached a point where it's itching like nobody's business. And I'm flashing my armpit, I know. Get over it. :)


Yeah... Enough said. I do NOT know what's going on there. You can't tell from this photo, but the tip of the toe actually is blue/black-ish. Hmmm... I'm not sure how much longer I'll get away with wearing strappy sandals to work. Even running shoes hurt. Do you actually need your pinky toe? ;)

Any thoughts on what's going on with the toe? And what I can do about it?

Race photos 101 - How to work that silly face all the way to the finish line

Utrecht Marathon. 25 april 2011. Second marathon in two weeks time. 27 / 27 degrees Celsius (up in the 80's in Fahrenheit). Sunny sunny sunny. Late 10:30 AM start. It was hot. 3:59:55. Pr'ed by 10 minutes and 36 seconds. Came in 12th out of 46 in my Age Group (524 runners in total: not a lot of ladies out there!).

Aid stations: sucked. Badly organized. Fortunately, I have - hands down - the best mom in the world. She bike sherpa'd me to the finish line. Giving me all the water/gatorade and TLC a girl could possibly ask for.

In photos (all taken right before the finish line):


Those guys in the back. Chicked them. 500 meters before the finish line. Take that. From a girl. In a skirt.


Still checking my watch to make sure the 3:59 doesn't change to 4:00. :)


There it is. The silly face. Patent pending. :)


Nice form, missy. NOT!


And, there's the silly face again. The safari hat might look silly, but it was a true life saver in that heat and with that sun.


Crossed the finish line. Stop the Garmin! And it still says 3:59. Seconds later I was crying my eyes out on the shoulder of one of the volunteers. Embarrassing, at least...

One happy camper - The 'two marathons in two weeks' post

Two marathons. Two weeks.

Paris Marathon on April 10th in 4:10:31 and 27/28 degrees Celsius / up in the 80's in Fahrenheit heat.

Today's marathon in - again (damn you Spring marathons) - 27/28 degrees Celsius / up in the 80's in Fahrenheit heat in 3:59:55. Close call, but still. :)

Pr'ed by 10 minutes and 36 seconds, and managed to leave 75% of the women behind me in today's marathon. Apparently the heat was hard on all of us. I'm one happy camper. :)

Another marathon, another outfit

Weird.

My body is supposed to be in taper mode / carb loading mode, but it sure feels like it's still in recovery mode / eating greasy food mode.

Hmmmm... Two marathons in 15 days. Paris Marathon was 1 1/2 weeks ago, and I have the Utrecht Marathon planned in 5 days (great thinking Silly Girl, great thinking). Fingers crossed that I can make it to the start and finish line in one piece. Weather forecast? By the looks of it it could very well turn out to be Paris #2: 24 degrees Celsius / 75 degrees Fahrenheit + sunny (and the sun is already pretty hot...and it's only April). Add a late 10:30 AM start to that, and this girl knows that she is not going to PR on this one. ;) I would be lucky to finish the thing without a heat stroke.

Yep. Another marathon, another outfit.

And since I did obediently follow your advice on the Paris Marathon outfit (well...with results being 50/50, I just combined the two options)... There we go again! ;)

A.

The 'sarcasm' outfit, since I'm nowhere near as fast as a cheetah. Ha!

B.

The 'I'm actually quite nice and sweet and girly' outfit. Or the 'fool them' outfit. ;)

Well, voting is on! Just make sure not to make it 50/50 this time. ;) I couldn't combine these two. ;)

Race photos 101 - How to mess up yet another set of race photos

What can I say? I'm gifted.

Why the long face? You have another 20 miles / 32K to go. :)

22K-ish / 14 mile-ish point. Look at the face. I hope I look better in person.

At the 25K point. Still running a 5:30 K / 8:48 mile pace. And yet I manage to look sloo-ooow! Oh, and that's not sweat...I'm soaking wet from dancing around at the sprinkler stations. :)

Right before the finish line. Too freaking happy to finish. Need to work on my tan. A.S.A.P.! And have to work on not closing my eyes on finish photos! Might have to work on getting those Emz abs. But then again, that would involve crunches and I'm not a huge fan of those. ;)

You won't believe it...

...but I did manage to not get injured (remember a little injury I'd like to call the NYC Marathon Calf Strain?) in this marathon.

Weather: 27 degrees Celsius / 80 degrees Fahrenheit at 11.15 AM. Sunny (and by sunny, I mean 'fireball' sun!). Too hot for this little redhead. I can not handle heat. Beautiful day for spectating, though!

Splits:

5K: 28:06

10K: 56:03

Half Marathon mark: 1:56:56

25K mark: 2:18:49 and still feeling absolutely fantastic! Loving the course and the crowds!

28K mark: spotted my mom. Spent at least a good 5 minutes chatting to her and petting her service dog Diddy (he was all excited when he spotted me and kept jumping up and down :)). And another 5 minutes trying to find her in the crowds - while calling her on my phone. Not a wise decision...at all... Note to self: next time - consider to keep running and leave the chatting for after the finish line. ;)

30K: 2:53:19 - yeah...the chatting and phone thing didn't really help with this one. ;) Quads are starting to cramp up, but nothing too bad. Took some salt.

32K: runners are collapsing all around me - due to the heat. And it is extremely hot. I decide to drop my pace and finish this thing without heat exhaustion / heat stroke. Especially since I have another marathon scheduled in 2 weeks...

35K: 3:25:28

42.2K (Garmin said 42.6K): 4:10:31

Taken into consideration the extreme heat and the chatting to my mom part, I'll take it. Would have loved to go sub-4, but 'hey' better luck next time! ;) At least I crossed the finish line already excited for the next marathon! :)

Plus...with the New York City Marathon being my first road marathon, and that one taking me 5:18 hours due to the calf strain at mile 8 / 13K (and limping the damn thing out....ouch!) - and Paris being my second road marathon, it's still a 1 hour 8 minutes PR. Ha! ;)

Memorable sight: Eiffel Tower? Louvre? Bastille? Nope...runners collapsing from the 35K mark on (as in: dropping in the middle of the road, and just staying there...). Heat stroke. Not a pleasant sight. Paramedics were all over the place. Scared the heck out of me!

Loved it?: Heck yeah! I loved every freaking minute of it! :) Great course, amazing day, absolutely fantastic weekend! :)

Still curious? No photos yet, but I do have a course video of moi... Follow this link: video. I'm in an aqua tanktop, sky blue cap and orange running skirt (and pink compression socks...).

Three Things Thursday

1. Pre Race Madness: I've got the pre race jitters. The bad kind. As in: I don't even feel like eating...not even cupcakes. I'm at the point where I'm not only questioning myself, but also my training. I'm a mess. And I'm scared sh*t that - running gods forbid - something bad will happen before or during (remember NYCM 2010?) the marathon. At this point I'm pretty certain that I won't even make my 'not pushing too hard' goal time. Oh yeah, it's bad. I need a drink. Maybe even two.

2. Race outfit: Well, Dutch Customs finally decided to release the Chocofleurs running skirt I've been waiting for. Somehow they decided to hold on to the arm sleeves that were in the same package. Yep...it's beyond me.

The skirt arrived just in time for me to...NOT...take it for a test drive. I only have a 3K / 2 miler left in this training plan: test driving the skirt is out of the question. So...a diferent outfit it is.

Which outfit would have your vote?

A.

Mums in Bloom runningskirt.com running skirt and Azure tank top. Note: this outfit has a strict 'no drippy poo on race day' policy...

B.

Photo courtesy www.hiphardlopen.nl

Orange dot runningskirts.com strappy tank and orange runningskirts.com running skirt (I am - after all - Dutch). :)

3. Cats and dogs can't be friends? Well...in my house, they can! :)

Yep, those are my pets. On my bed. And I don't mind. Ha! :)

Three Things Thursday

1. Running skirts for Spring: Hi, I'm Christel and I'm a running skirt addict. And I'm not ashamed to admit it. It's a healthy addiction, right? Right? I copied those two 'preview' photos for the Spring/Summer line from the runningskirts.com Facebook-page. Cute prints!

Photo courtesy of www.runningskirts.com

Dear Running Skirts twins, when will the new Spring/Summer line come out? Please, please let it be soon. :) Pretty please?

2. Marathon training: Marathon training is somewhat different when you're just coming back from an injury. Slowly building the miles. Not janking it to 50 miles a week in week 1 post-injury. Lots of cross training. Honestly, it's hard - mentally. I constantly feel like I'm not putting in enough miles. I know I'll have to build my mileage slowly. I know I've been hitting the bike and the pool. But still, it's hard. Plus, I'm scared sh#t of getting yet another injury. Not the easiest marathon training cycle up to date. Enough said. Any thoughts or advice on this one?

3. Throwback Thursday: Moi. 9 years old. Cross Country skiing. Very fashionable 90's headband with matching fluorescent blue tights. And those sunglasses... Who needs Prada when what you could have is a Carrera Original?

Lesson learned: you should stick to the cross country slopes, and not take your cross country skies out onto the regular skiing slopes...