Monthly Archives: June 2012

WNL:: (was not last!) Westervoort Midzomer Run

Posted on by Renée
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Yes another race!

And another PR! This time I shaved 16 seconds off of my fastest race in Hilversum just two months ago. Last year I had to skip this race as it was again right after the Ladies Run and I was not allowed to run. I was exceptionally bummed because Westervoort is about 1.5KM from my flat and I run out there all the time so I know the course very well.

This year I not only got to participate but the Hubs ran with me (well, way ahead of me, but you know what I mean)! His first ever 10K and his first race in a really long time with the exception of the relay he just participated in last week at work (each runner did 1.7KM).

It was, of course raining like hell, what more could I expect from weather in the Netherlands? It turns out that rain is quite good for me though – I ran much, much better, stronger and faster than in Rotterdam just two weeks ago.

The funniest part is, this was the smallest race I ever participated in! Seriously there 150 runners in the 10K leg of the race. When I started out I was at the back. I don’t care too much about where I am located at the start of a race because there are like thousands of runners around me. This time though it was pretty obvious I started at the back and I STAYED there. Most of us kept up the same pace as well. There were two people behind me and I managed to get ahead of three others. There was one older lady that was thisclose but ahead of me and I couldn’t seem to get a gain on her. Even through the wind and the rain that lady kept up her pace (and trust me, she was much older than me, so I kind of wanted to just let it be, you know?). At around 500 meters to go I just hoofed it and passed her, coming in at the finish line at 1:04:06.

As I was getting water and taking off my time chip, she came up to me and shook my hand and we congratulated each other on a great race. That may have been my favourite part :) There were in total only 26 women running in the 10K and of those 26 I was 19/22 in my category (women under 60). There were only 4 ladies in the 60+ category, my “friend” coming in 13 seconds after me.

Hubs ran 72/80 in his category, time 0:54:54. I’m super proud of him!!!

Photos will be up on the website this week, hopefully there will be a few I can choose from that won’t be me with my tongue hanging out of my mouth looking desperate (who am I kidding? I see a camera and I’m ready for a photo op!!).

Rotterdam Ladies Run 2012 Edition

Posted on by Renée
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It was a couple of weeks ago already, but I am still smiling about my experience with the Ladies Run in Rotterdam this year. What a difference from last year!

If you have been following along, you’ll remember that last year’s Ladies Run was my last one before being forced into taking a break from running to save my knee from more pain and possible damage. Last year it was also raining, but most importantly I ran the entire race in pain and this year it was much, much better.

Last year I did run it faster and I think it had a LOT to do with the fact that I just didn’t want to stop at all for fear I wouldn’t finish. I don’t care much about time, though I do suppose that at some point I would hope to get faster simply from being stronger and maybe even losing a couple of kilos.

Anyway, it was a great day. We didn’t have to start off too early and this year we drove (all of us) down to Rotterdam to my friends Tammy & Xander’s place as they live pretty close to the Ahoy where we were starting the race. We were met by Penny and her family as well and headed off all 9 of us on the bus to the starting point!

We were in plenty of time to hang out, get nervous/excited, pick up my tee-shirt but unfortunately I missed meeting up with Joanna, who was running the 5K prior to the 10K; I thought there would be a window of opportunity before the warm-up but it was not meant to be. How exciting this day was though! It was Penny’s FIRST 10K and our FIRST race together!!

We did the warm-up together which generally speaking I do either half-ass or not at all. BUT, it was a really good warm-up, I quite enjoyed it! And I really felt like the legs and the muscles were ready to hit the road. It was already quite warm out (especially after the weather we had/have been having) but I was pretty confident it would be all right (not as hot as at the Marikenloop).

We ended up near the front when it was time to go and we were off! The best part of the whole race was actually seeing my people cheering for me at a few KM’s down the course! Normally this never happens, since I only have one or two people with me at a race. How exciting to see Tammy especially smiling at me from a distance and waving like a crazy woman whilst trying to take photos at the same time!

Me waving wildly back

So it really WAS warm out. I had to stop at the drink stations a few times. I had to walk about 500 meters between 8 -9 KM. Ultimately this slowed me down and put me about 2 minutes slower than last year. I am VERY happy with the result though! I am VERY happy that I could run with Penny (and she was only a couple minutes behind me! ROCK ON SISTER!!)! I am VERY happy to have had so many great people there supporting us!

After the race of course you KNOW I had my cold beer and french fries!

Cheers!

It was fantastic just hanging out with friends and the kids. Later we made our way back towards home, stopped off for some dinner (which was a large salad) and after taking the kids back, got home, took a shower and passed out!

A special shout out to Tammy - thanks for the use of the photos!!

Leontien Ladies Ride Raalte

Posted on by Renée
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Well I’ve got a lot of catching up to do! May and June have just been nuts, but I guess you guys wouldn’t expect anything less of me right?

After the glorious, warm, sun-filled weekend we had at the end of May, I would have thought that the first weekend in June would have shown us a nice time as well. Unfortunately it was not the case.

On Sunday morning I was (or I should say “we” ) up bright and early drive to Raalte, which is in the province of Overijssel (I live in Gelderland), not too far from us, but I’d say about an hour. It was already raining and the forecast wasn’t really showing anything better. I really hate complaining about weather, because, yeah, what can you do about it, but I was not really looking foward to cycling in the rain for 4 hours. So I made a little plea to the Universe on Facebook to at least compromise with me and give me a couple of dry hours.

Once we arrived it seemed like rain was definitely going to be the weather du jour, so I sucked it up and made my way to pick up my starters pack and tee shirt. If there is something I DON’T like about these types of events, it’s the chaos of picking up your pack. I personally prefer to have everything sent to me so that I’m organised on the day. My experience is (and mind you, it’s only in the Netherlands really so tell me if yours is different in another country), people don’t queue well. Or rather, people don’t really queue at all. So there’s a lot of pushing and shoving and people tending to butt into the line when you’ve already been waiting for 15 minutes. So yeah, Leontien, take note and send us the packets like you did last year thankyouverymuch.

Once I was ready I wanted to head to my starting area, which was… where? Seemed like so few people in the area deemed as the “long ride” section that I went over to the “short ride” because it seemed more likely. Not the case at all! Quickly back through my section and I can hear the announcer talking about us starting like any minute so I just went up to the starting line to take off! It happened so fast that Hubs didn’t even have a chance to see me start (he was still walking towards the front).

What else can I tell you? It rained. And rained. I don’t think I really enjoyed it as much as I could have because to be honest I was just trying to get through it. The area is nice, went through lots of forests and farmlands and ended up break area just about at the time I thought I would be there. Next bit of fun was waiting in the queues for the toilets. In the rain. And of course the “free lunch” is sandwiches, which I no longer do, so I had my own stuff with me and continued on as soon as I could (there was an espresso bar there, but you had to pay for it and I had NO CASH with me. seriously? they could have let us cold ladies have a cup of coffee!! this saddened me greatly).

As if the universe decided we did in fact have enough, it stopped raining for the second part of the trip! Total time was just over 4 hours and it was 65KM and NOT 70 as expected.

I have to say I was glad to be finished with it. I could have just cancelled all together but I really hate signing up for something and then not following through. Once I finished, hubs found me pretty quickly and we then got ready for the next part of our day (I would have preferred it being laying on the couch) – the BBQ Birthday Party for my mother-in-law. Before we arrived I’d warmed up a bit, had some beverages and some chocolate (mmmmmmm… ) so I was ready for the party. Several bits of meat later and some nice conversation, I was well and truly ready to go home and SLEEP.

Would I do the Ladies Ride again? Yes. I think I’ll wait until the second one though in hopes that the weather will be nicer. Usually that is Rotterdam, so, fingers crossed I can rope in a few friends for that one next summer (hint: Tammy, Penny… ).