Anyone who would have told me until 3 years ago that I would one day run a half marathon (running at all) and still enjoy it, I would have laughed at!
But I didn't know then that I would be challenged to run 12km in Zandvoort in 2018. Of course I took up that challenge, that's how I am, the challenger ultimately declined, but in March 2018 I walked there and really enjoyed it! The fact that the weather was nice also helped, of course.
Goal achieved, now what? I kept going! I was doing so well now, I really enjoyed it and it helped to clear my head. A few more city runs followed, the Dam tot Damloop and the 7 hills run. I was doing well and the following January I regretted that I had not registered for that edition of the half of Egmond. Then October 2019 in Amsterdam, that was going to be my new goal!
But things turned out differently... Something serious happened at the beginning of 2019 and after that I was no longer able to run, I also developed physical complaints and the desire to run disappeared. It had become a MUST instead of being fun.
After the summer I got myself together again, I had to have a new goal that I could look forward to and thus get my pleasure back. That goal became the half of Egmond and preferably in 2 hours!
I am so glad that I approached Petra in September to ask if she could/would like to help me with this. She took up that challenge with me!
We worked together for 12 weeks! Strength training, running training, a tailor-made schedule and a coaching conversation in between. Always happy, always with a smile (the harder the exercise, the wider the smile became) and always positive but above all honest, Petra took me out of my comfort zone. And she pointed out “my pitfalls” to me.
What's bothering you? Can you do something about it? No? Let it go! Yes? Then do that! Confront it and make it clear to yourself. Don't keep walking around with it.
For me, that meant that I had to discuss unspoken situations with friends. And don't fill in things for others. Because, “Is it really like that, or do I think it is like that?” Or standing up for myself more at work and not trying to please.
Creating clarity and peace for myself, no is also an answer! I really had to learn this! Say it at work if something is bothering me. And also be clear in my relationships with friends or at home. Don't fill in things for others.
Petra's question in the first few weeks was, what is bothering you and how are we going to solve it? For example, I had to make a specific appointment with a friend or at work and while running we practiced how those conversations could go. On the day in question, Petra called to go over it again and wish her luck. I had to get to work! I was always tense beforehand, it was like a mountain of dread, but afterwards I was always so much more relieved! It really cleared up my mind, I could let this go.
And as the training progressed, we talked about this less and less often. I started to recognize it in myself when I fell back into that old habit! And I stood up for myself more and more. What a change!
Not only did I need to work on my balance in my head, my physical balance was also hard to find... The very first time I was in the gym, I was more concerned with finding my balance than performing the exercise. Not to mention my running posture…. Born with a hollow back, I looked more like a running chicken when running! Long story short, there was always hard work in the Enforce gym during the first hour. Everything for a stronger core and to straighten my hollow back! Stretching, jumping on a box, pushing a box, using weights, etc. My balance improved and I saw my body change. I became more powerful! I also noticed more and more of a difference when walking. It became lighter, more powerful and therefore easier. And while in the beginning I still walked backwards like a chicken with its butt, my walking posture also changed. This one became much straighter. No more chicken! I also started to pay more attention to my surroundings while walking. I enjoyed it again!
Halfway through those 12 weeks an injury seemed to be on the way, very sore calves after just 4km. Stress hit me... Was this going to turn out okay? It was my own fault, I had started too fast, wanted too much, too hard, too fast. Stubborn as I am….
But Petra reassured me, you know it, you've already done it, we're going back to basics, it'll be fine!
And so last January 12 I stood at the start in Egmond, instructions in my head how to build up the race, but above all “you know, it will be fine”! The first 7km on the beach, headwind, a lot of wind force, was not easy, but I thought once I had done this, I only had to go 2/3.
Also a lovely run over/through the dunes with Petra's voice in my head: “Just let yourself go down, feet to your buttocks”. Between 15km and 18km I had a hard time, but I didn't faint, Go! Just a few more km!!! I should have accelerated the last 1 ½ kilometers, but I couldn't do it anymore. And the lighthouse I was promised? Not seen! Something that is impossible as you walk past it so close... I only had eyes for the finish. I had done it! 21.1km!
And my time? 02:10:52. Not within 2 hours, but I'm still very happy with it! I worked hard for it, and sometimes there were tears, but I learned so much, physically and mentally. I have made progress and grown. I am myself again, the improved version of myself!
Greetings Gerda
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