Running again!

It's been four months since I twisted my knee cap. The last run I went on was the 17th of August! Seems like forever ago. And these shoes! Also bought forever ago. I usually do not go to the gym and so I have never invested in fancy in door shoes. I just have these old classics, that have been in my life since age...like...13? But for the last couple of weeks I've been going to the gym for a session with my physical therapist, cycling, planking, squatting...and now finally today, RUNNING!

And so my first run in four months was on these old babies. 

Well, I say run, what I mean is 1 minute jogs. Everything I'm doing is based, not only on rebuilding muscles, but also regaining muscle memory. The first time walking without a cast. The first time walking up and down the stairs without lifting my hip awkwardly. Every time I try something I have not done in a while, I realise my body had forgotten how to do it. And it was the same with running. 

Running after this injury felt like the bones in my leg were bone to bone, without any cushioning. Like, bones smashing into each other. Not nice. Not painful, but not nice. According to the therapist, this is normal, as your leg muscles have forgotten that they have to cushion the blow. This is why, when you start running again after a long stop, you need to build back up from scratch. Literally, run a minute, walk a minute, run a minute, walk a minute...and so on. 

But even with the awkwardness, being there, on the treadmill, in my old shoes, running, running was amazing. It felt like a hurdle I had to jump over, and I made it. Progress is actually happening. In October 2017 the 42 marathon of Amsterdam will take place. And I want to be there. And today I could feel the start of a new chance of making it across the finish line after 42KM. We will see if it will happen, but I'm sure going to try. And although there is a very, very long way to go, the first hurdle -running without pain- has been taken!

The Day of the Amsterdam Marathon 2016

It's a beautiful sunny Autumn day. Perfect running weather. It's the day I should have run my first marathon. In stead, I'm on the side line -which is just a few hundred metres from my front door- to cheer. It's a bitter sweet feeling. Bitter, because I wished I had been running. I have to say, seeing people pass me by, it's more emotional than I thought it was. Sweet, because, it is a lovely day to be outside, and because people I know who are running are putting down some amazing times.

It's been two months since I dislocated my knee. And as of this week I'm finally allowed to bend my knee to a 90 degree angle. I say allowed, but really, I should add that even if I was allowed, I'm physically not able to bend it any further anyway.

This day is not how I thought it would be. I'm not one to break a new year's resolution. But I've had to. Where I thought I would be running 42 KM this year, I've had to change that to running a marathon in the Spring of 2017. Now, I've had to change my resolution to being able to ride my bike by myself through traffic before the end of December. And it sucks.
Especially as my rehabilitation process is slower than expected, because my first doctor told me to wear a stiff, non-bending, brace for 6 weeks, where all the doctors and physical therapists after him have told me that is one of the worst things I could have done. I've lost a lot of muscle, and my knee is very unstable because of this.

But I'm trying to live in the now and to feel gratitude for what my knee is able to do today. And I have to say, being able to walk to the marathon trail without crutches, feels amazing. 

Training for the Amsterdam Marathon II Shattered Dreams?

Shattered. Gutted. Disappointed. One week ago yesterday I was off to a bouldering site with the bae for a new New Monthly Tryout. We have been trying to go climbing since May and every single time something came up. And so I was so excited to finally go and climb my way up a wall.

I went really well, like a little spider I sped my way up all the routes. Until...we went back to route one of level one -yes, it is that stupid, one of one- and I dislocated my knee while swinging my body to a new little orange stub on the wall.

Luckily I fell quite safely on my back, leaving my knee as good as it can get while dislocated. After the ambulance came after a time that felt like forever, they quite easily pushed everything back in place and I spent the rest of the night in hospital waiting for x-rays and a consult and finally left at midnight with a brace expanding over my entire leg -hip to ankle- and two crutches.

All I could think about while laying on the big mat at the bouldering joint, the ambulance and the hospital, was my marathon. Absolutely gutted. Why did I go out and climb up a wall? Why did I try to change my body position this much while hanging off a 'cliff'? Why did my leg not just say no, instead of twisting off my knee cap? Is this the end of my 2016 marathon?

This Thursday I will make my way to the hospital again and get an update on how my recovery will continue. But at that time I will have spent two weeks limping in a brace instead of building up my long distances. So even with a swift recovery, a marathon in 2 months seems unlikely. 

Somewhere in the distance I still have a glimmer of hope, but in reality I do know that the Amsterdam marathon is just not happening this year. Gutted. Absolutely gutted. The marathon this fall was my 2016 goal. My new year's resolution. I have been working towards this for more than 6 months. And it's not going to happen.

I know things could be worse. I could have fallen on my knee, instead of my back. I could have broken something. Or injured not only my knee, but also something else; a hip or ankle. I mean, I could have been hit by a bus on the way to the bouldering site. I know all this. Still I'm absolutely gutted. The glimmer of hope still has her eye on the Amsterdam marathon. My little bit more realistic brain is thinking about the Rotterdam marathon in April.

We'll see. 

I'll keep you up to date on the recovery and all the next steps. Cheers from a girl restricted by a huge brace -aptly from the brand actimove- on the couch, in stead of out side for a 26K run.

Monthly Tryout II supagolf

It was a cloudy, wet afternoon after a 20K run. I found myself on a big field, surrounded by poles, nets and plastic sheets with rubber ducks on them, swinging around some clubs while enjoying a beer.

Supagolf, its a golf-type game that's in between mini-golf and golf. You get a caddie with 4 different clubs that you roll around a football-sized field containing 9 holes, which vary between 40 and around 80 meters of playing field. And I have to say, it's a lot of fun!

Of course my supagolf partner found his strength in this game, hitting balls perfectly and flying them over the plastic duck water ponds, while I kept struggling, causing me to lose miserably. Let's say it was due to the fact I just almost ran a half marathon...

There are two holes, that aren't really holes, but a game of shooting as many balls as you can into a net, which suited my talents more. Alas, it wasn't enough to make it to the finish line. 

All in all, we had a blast, with one round of holes providing us about an hour and a half of fun with the two of us. 

Supagolf in Amsterdam is a pop-up golf course. They are 'live' until August 28th. Go check them out!

Fore!!!

Training for the Amsterdam Marathon II week 20

Week 20...almost half way there. And almost half way a marathon, with a long distance run of 20K this weekend. 

With all the rain in August, I decided to do more strength training on Wednesday in stead of an interval training, as I am a little scared to get injured because of cooling off too much between high intensity intervals. 

This was the first 20K run for a long time in my schedule, and I had to think about bringing along drinks and something to energise during the run again. Which is something you need to think about during the marathon as well. 

When running a half marathon I usually just use the water and banana points of the event itself. But is this something I want during the marathon?

Also, there are no water or banana points during a training! So what to do? I decided to bring some gels, and a bottle of water and every 5-6K I had a gel and a few sips. And it kept me going. 

I was kind of spent though at the end. I discussed with a marathon running friend what to do in these situations where you are too spent to keep going. Is it better to run on, or is it better to just walk a minute or two and then start running again after getting your breath and heart rate down? 

She felt it was better to keep running, because it is so hard to start up again. In my opinion it is kind of nice to have a little walk in between. Especially because I do not like to eat gels and run. Or eat anything while moving, really. So often, when I eat something, I don't run. I walk. It works for me. And if I need to extend my run a couple of km, I kind of like to have a little walk and then run another 5k. It helps me take on those extra minutes and get across the imaginary finish line.

Training for the Amsterdam Marathon II week 19

It was a rainy week. And so I spent some more time on muscle work-outs with my trusty kettle bell and the amazing Youtube, than running. And, my word, I got some hefty muscle aches from that kettle bell. Especially in my upper leg muscles. And I again suffered some tight muscles in my right leg, even with ante and post stretching moves.

I did go out for an 18km run on Saturday, through Diemerpark, which is filled with field flowers, wild bunnies, butterflies and endless amounts of birds. It was lovely. There are berries growing everywhere, and as the weather was great there were people with baskets collecting fresh berries all along the route. Plus, bonus, At round 12km the tightness in my right leg was lifted. Pretty scary at first, because it felt as if it was tightening even more, but then with a small little pang it freed up completely.

Additionally this week I listened to the Brain Warrior's Way three free videos. To actually participate in their programme you have to pay a fee. But the introduction videos are gratis. And for that reason there is a lot of blah blah in there, with some marketing talk on the side. However it's still quite interesting as it helps you formulate why you want to take care of yourself. What is your motivation to work out? Eat more healthily? Go to bed on time? And what will your life look like if you continue on, or change to, an unhealthy diet and lack of exercise? Then imagine your life 5, or 10 or even 20 years down the line if you change your ways and look after that one body you have.

It sounds simple, but it is more powerful than you think. Of course it kind of leans on the secret and visualisation as well, but it adds some details as to how to what your brain and body need to be healthy. I probably won't do the entire programme, as a lot of information is not new. Let's face it, we all know the basics of healthy living. Work out, but not to much. Eat fruits and vegetables. Don't smoke or drink alcohol. It's not new, is it?

Training for the Amsterdam Marathon II week 18

Today I ran a 13 plus km run with Nydia, writer of the blog words to run by. We used to be colleagues, but kind of lost touch last year. It was a great, very hot run, through her old neigbourhood. We chatted the entire way, making sure I did not run too fast. Still it was perhaps a little above my personal pace, especially in this heat.

It's been a sweltering week, making it very hard to train, as one already melts when changing into the work out gear, let alone when going out for a run. I did manage to go out for a 6-7km run on Thursday early morning, but the rest just has been too warm. Not being a morning person and not sure how safe I feel running in the big city at night, it's been tough...

But in better news, no more pains after the longer stretching sessions laid down by the physical therapist.

On the food front, I started reading in the book 'the complete vegan kitchen' by chef Jannequin Bennett. And although I do not agree with everything and I'm not sure if I want to switch to an all vegan diet, it is very inspiring all the same. 

On to next week.