10K report, Holiday, Blogroll Update

Wooohooo! I ran my first 10K yesterday! It was awesome! It was a lot better organized than the 5K I did: it had kilometer markers, a water break halfway and I got a mug at the end of it! It went through a beautiful and diverse area: woods, neighborhoods, roads, parks… and hills. Hills you say? In the Netherlands?? Yes! I wasn’t expecting it either, but I actually quite enjoyed them! 

I must say the level of runners was quite high: everyone looked very fit and fast, there weren’t many casual looking runners like myself. Still, I managed to stick to the plan of starting slowly and allowing some energy for the last bit to speed up. Around 7,5 km I felt new energy and decided to speed up. At about 8,5 I felt even more energy and started really speeding up, to just below a sprint. I entered the ice rink where the start & finish was, looking like this:

Hahahaha! I look crazed! The “string” is the head phones wire for my iPod *lol*. I believe this must be the best photo ever of me running! Anyway, the grin quickly faded when I realized I still had about 400 meters to go, but I powered through! Here I am at the end:

That’s my dad by the way, on the left. It was so cool to have so much support! Hubby came, his brother and my brother and my dad! My posse of men My brother was excited to see what a run is like and we’ll probably run a 5K or a 10K together sometime this summer. 

As you can see,  was a lot better prepared this time: water, Gatorade, iPod, HRM and I checked the route a little beforehand. The only thing I’d bring next time is some yummy food to eat afterwards.

Gotta stretch afterwards!

My chip time was 1:02:29 and I am very pleased with that. I had aimed for under an hour, but with the hills and it being my first 10K, I just went with what my body was telling. I didn’t stop to walk once! Plus, it’s a lot faster than what I usually run that distance in – at least 12 minutes faster! So that’s good to know. Oh and the stats:

Distance: 10 km
Time: 1:02:29
Calories burned: 751
Average HR: 171
Max HR: 197 (!!!)

Honeymoon time!

Woohoo! In about 12 hours we’re gonna be on the train to the airport! Our plane leave at 04:20 am and at 8:45 am we’ll be in Greece! For 3 lovely weeks! Here’s most of what I packed:

 Isn’t it amazing how much fits into a bag when it’s all summer clothes?! 

So I’ll probably not be able to post for all that time – we’re coming back on June 30th. 

Blogroll Update

I want to update my blogroll – leave a reply with your link to this post and I’ll add you – don’t forget to add me back!

I plan on doing my first ever competition when I get back from Greece, so don’t abandon me forever *lol*.

Question of the day: When you run, what are you running from and what are you running to? Feel free to philosophize!

See you soon!