Well, really just one King (and one Queen). That is the King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander. Every year we celebrate Kings Day (it used to be Queen’s Day until his mum retired) with a “free” market, lots of food and music festivals throughout the cities and villages. King’s day is the actual birthday of the King, April 27th. If this day falls on a weekday we have a day off. It’s like THE party day of the Netherlands (Amsterdam is insane every year – it’s way too much for me).
Fun Fact: Some people still have old guidebooks where Queen’s Day is mentioned. Queen’s Day was April 30th, which was the Queen Mother’s birthday (since Willem-Alexander’s mum was born in January and, truthfully, the weather is crap and no one wants to celebrate then). Every year tourists still show up at the airport, donned from head to toe in Orange wondering where the party is.
We completely missed the fun this year (not that I would participate, but, you know, kind of your duty as a Dutch person) because we are in Dusseldorf for the marathon. Dusseldorf is about 1 hour and 15 minute drive from where we live.
Week 17 is now over and time is flying by. Well, sort of. I still have 4 more weeks to wait to run again. I have to say I am experiencing some issues with my fourth toe again and am debating calling the ortho to see if I need to come back sooner. The wound is healing fine though. So, there’s that.
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 (!!!)
More biking and walking this week, physiotherapy AND a trip to the gym!
Totals for the week:
- Biking 97.4KM
- Walking 20.25KM
- Steps: 79,419 YEAH!!
- 7/7 Days stairs at home
Here’s how it all went down:
This Week In Fitness
- Monday – Easter Monday Long bike ride
- Tuesday – Lunch Walk, bike commute plus extra, PT
- Wednesday – Lunch Walk, bike commute plus extra, gym
- Thursday – Bike commute plus extra, evening walk
- Friday – Bike to and from Runiversity, walk while teammates trained
- Saturday – Travel to Dusseldorf
- Sunday – Support Ron at Dusseldorf marathon
Monday we were off for Easter Monday so we embarked on our first big ride of the year! 61KM in total. We actually biked slightly over the border of Germany and then back. Stopped a few times of course for photos, food and drink. It was a glorious day!
Tuesday – got out for a lunch walk of 3.15KM. Had a PT appointment and did 25 minutes of basically balance exercises and lunges. I went away a bit disappointed because it all felt a little anti-climactic to me. He did give me the go ahead to go to the gym, but no jumping, no running/sprinting and no spinning. whomp whomp. Total biking 5.5KM.
Wednesday – Another lunch walk of 3KM. It was my friend Gerrit’s birthday so I walked into town to pick up a nice flowery plant for him. After work I biked to his house, ate cake (he’s a hobby baker so you kind of HAVE to go for his birthday party haha!) and hung out for a bit. Cycled back home, had a small bite to eat and then I went to the gym. 30 min on the elliptical and 5 min on the rower. Oh and so much for the lame workout on Tuesday, I totally had DOMS before I got to the gym; took a while, but it happened. Total biking 11.25KM.
Thursday – We had a team lunch so no walking, but biking! 3 of us biked into the city (the other two drove) and we had a fabulous meal. In the evening I went on a 3.25KM walk. Total biking 10.35KM
Friday – Ron had an MRI on Wednesday because he’s been having a lot of issues again with his back and bum. On Friday he went to see the Musculoskeletal Consultant and the Dr of Musculoskeletal Medicine. Unfortunately he has another hernia, this time between L3 and L4 (the last one was L5/S1). Because he’s not unable to move (he just gets a sort of electricity feeling if he runs too fast – which means it’s hard for him to beat his PR). He’s got some work to do, is allowed to run the marathon but needs to take a rest after that until the next appointment (which is only 5 days so I think he’ll live).
Anyway, I decided to just go on the bike to training to get some movement in. I knew from Ron’s training schedule that they were going to do a ridiculous amount of intervals so I figured I could get 3KM in around their training area. Total walking 3.10km, total biking 9.3km.
Saturday – Travel day to Dusseldorf. Headed straight to the expo, had lunch, checked into our hotel, had a bit of a rest and then later out to dinner. I still managed to get just over 10K steps in.
Sunday – Race Day! After obsessing about tracking the weather all week and preparing for rain, wind and cold, we were surprised that it was dry and mostly sunny with a bit of clouds. It was a bit chilly out but it you ask me perfect running conditions. Ron’s plan was to just go for it until the hernia decided to hinder his speed and that’s what he did. I decided to track my kilometers on the course for fun, instead of just steps and I made it to 7.75KM. I was able to make all points on the course (1, 7, 11, 26, 33 and made it to the finish area where I was able to find him without modern technology! can you imagine?!) to see him AND managed to see a few friends as well, thanks to the live tracker. Unfortunately Ron had some issues but still managed 3:36 and some change. Afterwards we hung out a bit, and then slowly made our way over to what TripAdvisor was claiming to be Dusseldorf’s best burger joint (it was super tasty, I have to admit). The Boy actually sent me a message that he wanted to come to Dusseldorf by train to surprise his dad and Ron was indeed very happily surprised. So, all in all a good day.
I actually exhausted now and ready to go to bed! Is 8pm too early? ha!
Coming up Next Week
- Monday – lunch walk, gym (or at home)
- Tuesday – lunch walk, PT
- Wednesday – gym
- Thursday – lunch walk
- Friday – gym (or at home)
- Saturday – not sure yet; depends on the weather
- Sunday – not sure yet; depends on the weather
How was your week? Did you race? Have you ever heard of King’s (or Queen’s Day as it was previously) Day? Have you ever had a hernia? Tell me something new, fun or exciting!
Mr. Judy will tell you spectating is exhausting! Sounds like a good week, despite the lack of running.
I kind of can’t believe your husband ran a marathon — with a hernia!
Never heard of King’s or Queen’s day — I’ve only been to to the Netherlands once, and that was only for a weekend! Actually flew out on Friday & back on Monday.
Ha ha…in my book, 10PM is way too early for bed LOL My brain will not turn off and I’ll just lie there wishing I was up doing something productive if I try to go to bed “early” like that. Congrats to the hubby on us race! And, congrats to YOU for staying so active (but without overdoing it) while you continue to recover. Thanks for your continued support on the link-up ;-)
So sorry to hear that your hubs is having back issues again. I have a new friend from the Netherlands that was just explaining king’s day to me yesterday. Nice week of biking for you. Looks like the weather has been pretty good too. Have not been on mine in about 2 weeks I miss it! Thanks for linking up friend!
So sorry to hear that your hubby is having back pain. Hope he recovers before too long. Your bike ride sounds absolutely wonderful! My hubby and I are planning to ride bikes more often this spring. We got them tuned up and ready to go. I plan on riding mostly on rail trails, since the traffic around our house is kind of crazy! Hope to be posting something soon about a fun bike ride we have taken.
Congrats to Ron – so sorry to hear about the hernia. You’re doing a great job of staying active as you recover. Glad you’re cleared to get back to the gym!
I had no idea about King’s Day – that’s so interesting!
I love that you are getting in so much activity recently. I’m sorry to hear that the fourth toe is giving you some issues – I hope that subsides soon.
Sorry to hear about Ron’s hernia but huge congrats to him on another marathon finish!
Thanks for explaining King’s Day to me – I actually have friends visiting Holland and they posted some wonderful scenes on Facebook. They were also dressed in orange. So that must have been for King’s Day! I’ll sound very knowledgeable now when I comment on their post! Well done to Ron on another Finish Line and well done to you for being his Number 1 support as you go through your recovery process.
I guess I didn’t know there was a monarchy in the Netherlands! Very fun. Nice to see you getting out and moving. First the bike, soon the running!
That sunset photo is everything!
I love those bike pictures, what a lovely day! And well done on super supporting! I stuck to two points on marathon day that hit miles 14 and 20 but are close to each other (though I did get the DLR to Canary Wharf for a wee). Well done Ron even with pain and I hope that gets sorted out soon. I was dressed in orange on Sunday but that’s because it’s my running club’s colour. Maybe that will make me easier to spot at Liverpool in LESS THAN A MONTH eeps (spectating London I felt ready to run a mara, yet not ready, I have to remember I’m actually not quite ready yet really as one long run to go!!).
The free market sounds like a fun way to celebrate King’s Day. And yay for good running weather on race day! The photos from your Monday bike ride are beautiful.
I have never heard of King’s day. Very interesting! Wow, congrats to your husband on getting to the race, and getting that time! That sounds pretty speedy given his condition with his back. What a fun surprise to have your son there for the finish. Congrats to Ron! The weather at the race sounds the same as what I had on my race day Sunday. Beautiful, with a sketchy looking start!