Deborah and Kim are the amazing hosts for the Weekly Run Down! Feel free to join in as well to wrap up your week in fitness!
WEEK 31
Plan vs. Actual
Monday – 3.25KM walk, GLI gym 1 hr intake – no workout (appt w/different PT), 3.5KM biking
Tuesday – 3KM walk (office day) to and from train station
Wednesday – 3KM walk, W6R1 run, 6KM, GLI 1 hour, gym 55 min
Thursday – 2.22KM walk, gym
Friday – 2.75KM walk, W6R2 run , gym 55 min
Saturday – 2.5KM walk, parkrun in Alkmaar 5KM, 17/17 Dutch parkruns done!
Sunday – 2KM walk, long run W6R3, 1.4KM w/u walk, 10KM run (!!!)
This week has been cold, rainy, grey and dreary. I’ve tried to make the best of it. I’ve tried to not let it get me down. By Friday though, I’d seriously had enough of the rain and the wind. I’ve had to wear my rainsuit all week on the bike. Boo frickin’ hoo, right? I know. It could have always been worse. It could have been a Dutch version of Chiberia. We need the rain for the flowers, of course. (ok so why do we need the wind, though??)
This Week in Fitness
- Monday –
not sure yet (running?lunch walk, BodyPump - Tuesday –
maybe run with BRENG, dependsRPM - Wednesday – Progressive interval, Pilates
- Thursday – Long lunch walk, Course check Nijmegen 5Km (total run 6,5KM)
- Friday –
maybe Runiversityno training (so… REST) - Saturday – RPM
- Sunday – 5KM Race in Nijmegen (with Ron as my pacer)
I wasn’t as busy at work this week as I was for the past month, so on Monday, even though it had been raining since the wee hours of the morning it had died down to a tiny drizzle around lunch so I went out for a quick walk to do some necessities shopping. After work was BodyPump, another mix week with instructor Mark. It was so busy, I think he even had to turn a couple of people away! The weirdest thing is, though, I always go to the front of the class, not because I’m all “look at me!” but because I can see much better, and every single time I have a ton of space around me. Why does everyone go to the back or the side of the room at these classes? Why would you want to be crammed in the back with no space to workout instead spreading out and coming further to the front?
Tuesday, nothing too exciting to report, RPM on Tuesday night with Anne. Same mix as last week, a quad killer!
Wednesday another rainy day, in fact it was bucketing down at lunch so the lunch run with colleagues was cancelled. I knew I had a run on my schedule and I also had Pilates in the evening and I wasn’t sure if I could manage it all so at least a walk would get me moving a bit. The rain started again around 3pm and would. not. let. up. Then as if the universe had been listening to my pleas, the rain stopped around 5:30 so I quickly got my gear on and went out for my scheduled run. I got back, ate something, showered and then it was time to go to Pilates.
Thursday was busy at work but mostly just in the morning so I managed to get out for a walk, luckily. It had been raining all morning but stopped around 12:30. I needed to drop by the bank so I just did a long walk around it to take advantage of the fresh (dry) air. I got back right on time since about 5 minutes after I was back in the office the rain started coming down again. It was absolutely coming down sideways! The last thing I wanted to do was run in this crap, but alas, I had an appointment at 5PM with my trainer to check the 5KM course in Nijmegen. When I left for home it was still nasty out. By some sort of miracle it actually stopped at 4:45 and that lasted for several hours. The wind was still insane but we managed to run the course and come up with a few plans of attack. But the last part of the course has been changed due to construction and to be honest I’m really not sure now how it’s all going to go down. Nijmegen is the oldest city in the Netherlands and that means cobblestones. A lot of them in the old center of the city. My nerve pain in my foot doesn’t take too lightly to cobblestones. It is only about 1 KM that I have to deal with that and then about 600 meters uphill to the finish. Let’s see. At least I got ice cream afterwards.
Friday – my day off! I slept in a wee bit (I think it was almost 9 when I woke up) and didn’t do much around the house. A bit of laundry and tidying up but it was most just chilling out and watching Netflix in between laundry loads. Even Nena was chilling out with me; something she never does since she prefers the Pied Piper of Cats (aka Ron) over me. We did not have training with Runiversity Friday evening – our trainer was on his way to Ameland (one of the Dutch islands) to run a trail race on Sunday. Ron made us dinner and then we were off to the movies for date night! Yay! We saw the Green Book. I really enjoyed it! I had no idea Viggo Mortensen was in the movie; I’d only seen one preview and kept it in my memory bank to go and see if I had a chance. He’s such a great actor!
Saturday I wanted to go to RPM because it was likely my last chance to see my favorite instructor before he left and before my operation. Unfortunately he’s decided to stop teaching RPM, not because he doesn’t enjoying, but just because he feels like it’s time to try something else. I’ m bummed but yeah, I do get it. I have another favorite, only I don’t get to her class often enough (She teaches on Tuesday and Sunday). I’ll go next week but after my surgery it will likely be about a month at least before I can go back.
The rest of the day we did literally nothing (unless you count napping as something haha!) in preparation for the 5K/ Half Marathon on Sunday.
Sunday – Race Day! Oh man was I nervous, but why??? It’s just a 5K! So I think I built this up a bit too much in my head and the Doubtful Donna started burying herself in my brain telling me that I wasn’t going to manage it. The weather was incredibly crap on Saturday; I had very little hope for anything but crap on Sunday but when I woke up THE SUN WAS SHINING! OMG call the press! We were up around 8 and out the door at 10 meeting up with the BRENG guys (and had Martine from Runiversity with us as well) at the train station. Once we were in Nijmegen we worked out way towards bag drop and had plenty of time to chill out and have a coffee before starting (wait. didn’t I say no more coffee beforehand??? luckily it had no ill effect). Ron was going to pace me in the 5KM and then later run the Half Marathon (my friend Jeroen ran the 5/10 and Half – runners are crazy!). As we stood in the starting corral I felt increasingly nervous and almost burst into tears. No time for tears though, we heard the start shot and were off. The first kilometer went REALLY fast, so much so that Ron told me I had to slow down! Luckily I ran the route on Thursday so I knew exactly what to expect (except the parts where I was running into a wind wall). And… as expected everything went well until about almost the 4th kilometer where we had to weave in and out a few neighborhood streets and then up a huge hill (Did I tell you all it’s NOT ALL FLAT here in the Netherlands?) to reach the last 500 meters of the race. Nevertheless, she persisted. I crossed the line at 28:44. Officially for a 5KM race distance a PR (December didn’t really count in my mind because the course was short and there is no official time registered anywhere). Super pleased.
Coming up Next Week
- Monday – REST (meeting friends for dinner in Amsterdam)
- Tuesday – Day off switch – RPM in the evening
- Wednesday – Pilates
- Thursday – PT with Chantor
- Friday – Last Runiversity training
- Saturday – not sure yet, looking at a 10K race in the area
- Sunday – not sure yet, looking at a different 10K race in the area
And that’s pretty much a wrap!
How was your week? If you’ve done group classes before where do you usually stand / sit for the class? What are you watching lately on Netflix? Did you eat pie on Pi Day? Is it raining cats and dogs where you are? Have you seen the Green Book? Did you race this weekend?
WOWWWWWW!!!!!! Huge congrats on the PR for the 5K! That’s a super tough distance to get a PR, well at least it is for me. Well done!! Your comment about being in the front of the class made me laugh, and reminded me of a race a few years ago. Barb and I had gathered by the Zumba instructor for the warm-up…and everyone else filtered in WAY behind us. I am such an uncoordinated idiot, I really didn’t want all those peeps behind me LOL At least we were outside (with no mirror), so I didn’t have to watch myself LOL
thanks Kim!! I literally am more concerned about getting it right that I haven’t even thought about if people are watching me. I tend to not look at anyone in the class except for the instructor. Because I too am uncoordinated haha! AND I’m grateful there are NO MIRRORS in class! I definitely don’t want to see myself!
Hurrraaaayyyy for the PR! Congratulations! I’m running the Breda Urban Trail on Sunday but that’s definitely not PR material…
Thanks Alinda!!! I guess it’s going to be a while now before we have the chance to run together again at some point???
Congrats on your PR! That’s awesome.Your hard work is really paying off. Glad the weather was nice for it, too, that makes a huge difference.
The cats always preferred me. Lola tends to lay with Mr. Judy more, but sometimes she splits her time between us.
Bandit is not terribly snuggly. He tends to lay on us if he wants something (a meal, to go outside, or if a meal is being prepared — almost always by me, which means he lays on Mr. Judy & that’s just not fair).
Thanks Judy! and aren’t pets just funny creatures?? sometimes I am being loving and sweet and soft and even that annoys one of our cats – she’ll take it for a few minutes and act like she loves it and then swipe my hand off with her claws in the next minute!
Woohoo on the 5K PR! Powered by sunshine. :-) What a great accomplishment. Every time I buy a new studio class pack I ask my favorite instructors if they have any “plans” I might want to know about. I really do have my favorites and my un-favorites, but many more of the former.
Thanks! for BodyPump I like pretty much all the instructors. For RPM there is one instructor I just absolutely don’t want to ride with – so Thursday nights are out for me! I wouldn’t personally want to teach a class because I know what MY standards are and I don’t know if I could be that person for 30 people each and every class!
Those tulips are gorgeous I hope the spring temps come your way soon. Cold rain is just the worst! Huge congrats on the 5K! Resting the day before a race is always a great idea.thanks for linking up!
Thanks Deborah!
Congrats on your PR! Glad you finally got some sunshine after so many days of rain.
Thanks Zenaida!
Love your rain chic face. and congrats on the amazing PR
That Keukenhof photo <3
haha, right? :) and thanks!
the keukenhof is amazing but I haven’t been since 1995 or 6 I think! it’s pretty expensive and far away.
It’s always sad when instructors leave :( It’s really like losing a friend, especially if you’ve taken their classes for a long time. That’s one of the main reasons I don’t do Zumba anymore. All of the great instructors left my gym.
Awesome job on your race yesterday and congrats on your PR!
I am glad I at least still have Anne – but she’s on Tuesdays and Sundays so I’ll have to figure out a whole new schedule once I can go back to the gym. and Thanks!
Good job on your 5K PR. And hooray for shining sun on race day. Bummer that your favorite RPM instructor is leaving!
Thanks! and yes, that was actually really the last time I got to see him :( so sad!
Congrats on that PR! The weather sounds like it was really tough all week for you with that rain and wind.
thanks Chaitali! It was indeed challenging!
Congrats on your 5K PR! How exciting! Oh man, we’ve had a lot of rain in Philadelphia and at this point it’s just miserable…and April isn’t here yet! I’m glad you had a sunny race day.
I like to be in the front for fitness classes too, for the same reason!
Thanks Janelle! All the rain IS miserable. Even when you try to be positive, after a while there’s not much positivity left!!! Good to know I have another front-of-the-class-fitness-sister!!
WooHoo! Congrats on the 5k PB! That’s amazing. I hear you on the weather. Our weather is awful. Still so cold and still getting some snow mixed in with the rain and wind. Thank heavens my vitamin D supplements keep my head in a positive space.
Thanks Marcia! I know what you mean about the Vit D! That’s something we rarely skimp on!!
Hey,
Many Congratulations on 5K PR.That’s really exciting!But after reading the article it feels like it’s tough to you due to weather.
thank you Miranda!
When I was in Holland, it was the beginning of May and the tulips were amazing. Youi probably take them for granted.
I hate running in the running and will not unless it’s an expensive race.
Congrats on your 5k PR. They are hard to come by. Glad you succeeded.
I actually never take the tulips for granted. I am still, year after year, so amazed at the beauty of the flowers here. And they are so cheap. I should start buying flowers again for myself. I have a friend (from the UK) who lives here and she buys herself flowers every Sunday :)
thanks so much and sorry for the late reply – I was moving the blog!
Horray for the 5k PR!!!! Once the sun came out, you just knew that was happening, right? I feel you riding in all that rain – that is awful – I hope this week is drier for you!
And I can’t wait to watch Green Book. It’s been on my list for a while and I love Viggo!
thanks! definitely knew it was happening :) oh you have to let me know what you thought of Green Book!
Okay, I added you to my feedreader and now I get here and there is not ONE mention of pie in this post. I was promised there would be pie.
you’re such a user, Karl! hahaha! there may be pie at some point ;)
Oh congrats on the PR! I’m such a slow (but dedicated) runner, fast never worked for me! I admit if I’m in a fitness class, I’m one of those people in the back. It’s very nerve-racking to be the person in the front… also, if your clumsy, there may be a liability issue :)
thank you! Oh I don’t find it nerve wracking at all to be honest! i think for me it’s really practical so I can see what’s going on.
Congratulations on your PR! Sounds like you’ve had some hectic weather your side.
I’ve never been to Holland but it has been on my bucket list forever :)
Thank you! and you should definitely come here at some point! when the weather is decent :)
Congrats on your 5K PR! It sounds like you had a fun time, too! Also, congrats to Ron on his speedy half.
thanks Debbie – sorry I’ve replied so late but was moving the blog to another host!