Memorial Day weekend was super exciting for me since my 'little'
sister Judith came to visit me! We had such a good time and we did so
many different things. I felt so fortunate to have her around and as expected she
got along very well with my NY Sista Susan, so we were hanging out
with the 3 of us almost the entire week. All Gouda! All 3 of us have many and different things in common and as you can tell from the picture, I am blessed with 2 sisters nowadays. Lucky me :-)Even though Judith and I are different;
in many things we have many common interests like running, shopping, breakfast, make-up, sharing our ambitions and being there for each other. We did a 5K race on Memorial Day! They had the best post-race festival with free massages! Judith had to get adjusted to the heat and ran an easy 5K mostly enjoying the course and I tried harder and ran something similar to my other 5Ks even though I got stuck in the back for the first mile.
The spring of 2010 might as well be the hottest and most humid spring
I've had to experience in New York! With running I can't handle the
humidity that well at all times, but I am learning how to adapt and
that electrolytes is the magic word. On June 12th the Harrier women
ran the mini 10k, a club points race for women only. The field was
very competitive and there were Olympians like Lornah Kiplagat from
The Netherlands and the pregnant Paula Radcliffe and Kara Goucher were
there to participate as well. I was in the front corral and it was all
so exciting so I think I started too fast in my hopes for a sub 46
time. I was definitely working hard and apparently did not have enough
sodium in me since 200 m before the finish my body shut down on me and
that was scary! In my head I knew I was almost there and I was doing
something around 45 min and then my calves cramped up, I could not run
and everything was a blur. A race marshal grabbed me and walked me to
the finish line and once there he pushed me into the medical tent. I
could not believe what just happened! One moment I was running and
working hard, the other moment I almost passed out. All of a sudden
Susan and Mr. Biggs were there as well as Brandt and Ellen (who snapped pictures.) It was a good feeling that they
followed me to the tent to make sure I was OK.
The staff gave me water, ice and salt and made me lay down. That
helped, but I did not realize that I was dehydrated that much until a
little later when I got nauseaic and delirious. Took me a full day to
feel better and a week before I did not feel fatigued anymore.
During the scenic and beautiful Shelter Island 10k this past
Saturday, I just wanted to pace myself better, listen to my body,
enjoy the race and have a good run. It was great to not be caught up
in a P.R.-goal and it made me confident about my running again.
The course was gorgeous. This weekend I will do a half marathon in
Connecticut. It starts and ends on the beach which is great with the
current temperatures. I am very satisfied with my recent P.R. at the Brooklyn half in May; 1:43:59.
I felt strong, consistent and this is the kind of race I should aim for.
With enough Gatorade!
