Oxygen-High

Yesterday I came back from South-America. It was now a week ago since I have been in high altitude so therefore I was curious how many red blood-cells were still in my system. This morning I went for a 5k run along the creek in Nieuwstadt. As usual after not running for over 3 weeks the first few hundred metres go very easy since the body has no clue what actually is already happening to it.

I didn’t want to kill myself within the first kilometer, so I changed back to moderate speed. Strange enough my heart didn’t beat in my throat. My legs started to wonder what I wanted to do, but my breathing was normal. I really enjoyed the run and I hope that this next week I will still feel the extra oxygen.

Ice Course weekend in Austria

Next week I will be flying to Argentina and make an attempt to go up the Aconcagua. Since we have to cross a glacier, some crampon- and ice-axe skills are required. Therefore Harald, Marco and I went to Innsbruck for a weekend. In Oetztal we went with a guide to the glacier. Besides all the tips on do’s and don’t’s for Aconcagua we also learned techniques to walk and climb on ice and to get someone out of a craves.

In these two days we learned actually more then needed, but it was very interesting to know. We went on very steep ice parts on which you had to go up on arms and legs: I had difficulties. It was hard to trust the materials completely. My boots were loose fitting so when I put my heel down it felt like they were falling of. Not so good for your confidence

All in all we really could check our equipment for next month and it was a very nice weekend on a sunny glacier. I am not sure yet if I ever will be an fanatic ice waterfall climber. A hilly glacier is enough excitement for this moment.

2nd place in Sint Maarten (1/2) Marathon

This last month I have been running quite a lot. I have increased my long run to 25k and during the runs I have implemanted speed work-outs. Besideds the running went to the gym about 3 times a week where besides weights I did also cardio work-outs (15 minutes of cycling, stepping, running, rowing, stairmachine, crossmachine). This all to prepaire for the Aconcagua trip.

11 November I ran a race in Drente, the “Sint Maarten Marathon”, I ran the 22.4k. There were about 34 people running and after the start I was in 3rd place. One guy took off and was not seen by anyone until the finish. After the first lap (about 4k) some people overtook me but at the end of the second lap I could still see them running ahead off me. I wanted to run 12km/h, but it was hard to keep to this pace since there was a hard wind and the rain made the dirtroads muddy. I then decided to try to run for the second place instead of run a constant speed. Strange enough by changing stategy I went running faster and ran each km under the 12km/h.
There were also marathon runners and they kept a nice steady pace. Halfway the race I ran second with another man. It got harder, but I really wanted to finish second, because this oppertunaty doesn’t happen for me many times. With a sprint in the last km I was able to finish second in 1:49:23. The number one already chenged and was ready to go home. He finished 10 minutes ahead of me.

The next day I was on a plane to New York to visit Wilco. I used this trip to buy a lot of the clothes I needed for my trip to the Aconcagua next month and to buy running shoes: shopping time!
Also in New York I ran every day along the Hudson river.

Summer Garden

When we came back from vacation in August, our garden exploded in growth. The sunflowers made me especially happy. While we are still learning to put some structure to the garden, we did enjoy some of the wild flowers. Here are some pics:

Sunflowers in Bloom

Flowers

Front Yard

Autumn is Here

So while my dearest has been training for climbing extremely high mountains and running hours in the Dunes, I have been enjoying the change of seasons from the comfort of my chair with a good cup of coffee. Soon I will have to post pictures, because these days have been beautiful. Autumn leaves scattered over the garden, crisp air, and the changing light of the sun as it moves lower on the horizon. Every season brings a great sense of nostalgia as clothes and habits change to fit the weather. The sweaters start coming out of the closet, we start cooking hardier meals, and spend romantic evening curled up on the coach with a warm milk and a fire burning in the fire place.  The evening temperatures are starting to hover towards freezing indicating the rapidly approaching winter.  Though I like to complain about the cold, I really love this time of year.

21.5km trainings run

Today I ran 21.5km in 2 hours. For a trainingsrun in the dunes with a lot of sand and going up and down this was not bad. I felt good, though it was not easy, and while running I felt like running a 1/2 marathon soon. These weeks I am also going to the gym 3 times a week, each time I do first weights and afterwards cardio: rowing, running cycling stepping, stairmaster etc. each 15 minutes.

Highest trail in the world

From 5-23 December I am going to hike the highest trail in the world, together with Harald and Marco. The peak will be at almost 7km: the Aconcagua in Argentina. So I have to get in shape!!!!

Dam tot Damloop, 16.1km

Saturday evening I ran the Damloop by night. The race start in the centre of Amsterdam and goes to the centre of Zaandam. Since this was the 25th time the run was held, there was an extra edition the evening before. The whole event was full, but I managed to get two startnumbers of people who got injured. So I run as Madelon and Marco (who traveled the whole country to run here) ran with the name Laura.
I wanted to run a nice pace and then after the 10km point to speed-up to the finish line. My plan was try to overtake Laura who started 5 minutes earlier.
Sometimes plans really fail… After 10km I got cramps and the last few km’s I almost could run straight up. I finished in 1:21:45. Laura was almost faster, she ran only 35 seconds longer.
Nevertheless I enjoyed the bands and atmosphere. All runners wore the same running shirt and many had (X-mas)lights on them.

Friday morning run: 13.5km

It was still dark when I started to run this morning. First 4.5km to the beach, then 1.5km on the beech and back through the dunes. I run this lap quit often these weeks, because in the morning it is very quiet and there are always some animals to see.

The mating season of the deer started that was very obvious, I saw 3 deer with big antlers and later three female deer in a group waggeling their butts. For the rest I saw a reebok and a hedgehog (=egel) and rabbits. Enough food to survive a whole winter…
At the end I had to pass about 20 wild horses and ponys who decided to stand in the middle of the trail not willing to step aside.
I ran slow and enjoyed the sun coming up. Tomorrow I will run in Amsterdam with 60.000 other people.

Pierloop IJmuiden, 15km

In the town where I live was today a 15km race. After my hiking holiday this was the first race again.
We ran very near my house so I knew the area very well. After a fast start I thought to have wind in my back for the next 5km, but somehow the wind direction changed and therefore it felt like I was running bad. On the beach between 9km and 10km there was a strong headwind, but after that I could speed up again to the finish line. I finished in 1:12:37.
A first race after the holidays is always hard, but I am quit happy, especially with the strong finish.