There are days that you wake up and wonder why…why do I do this? Today is one of those days. I will tell you why….
I was thinking this morning that my last run, a real race was last year January, in Egmond my half marathon. That is almost a year and a half ago. I don’t remember how it feels to run a race, how the tension feels, I miss the excitement.
As you all know Corona is the reason there is no race, not one. My New York marathon got postponed with a year, and fingers crossed it will happen this year.So when I saw the announcement of a field lab experience run, I told my family immediately, I’m in! Call me crazy, but I will register for this race. And so I did. I registered and as soon as I did, I received messages, messages about a test before and after the run, messages about a tag we would have to wear during the run etc etc.
It really felt like an experiment, and it is ofcourse an experiment. I did not mention it to people. The judgement of people in The Netherlands about fieldlab, corona and the way you handle it is quite extreme. I did not want to have any judgement about me joining. It is my choice and my party!
So I scheduled a test for this morning, after the test I would drive to Enschede, where at Vliegbasis Twente the ready for take off 10 km race would take place. At this location only four weeks ago Eliud Kipchoge won his marathon and a lot of Dutch marathon runners tried to run under the time limit for the Olympics. Not that I am that good, but good to now times can be fast 😉
So, back to this morning, all of a sudden I remembered the feeling. The feelung before a race and everytime I ask myself the same question. Why? Why do you do this to yourself? Especially today I asked myself this question. Why do you let yourswlf get tested? Why do you drive all the way to the other site of the country for only 10 km? This is normal for me, I always have these kind of questions before a race, and I so do know why…..
I think I was more nervous about the test. In the past year I never got tested. I just live healthy, don’t take any risks so I didn’t need to. Of course I have heard all the stories, from no biggie to horror stories, so I was a bit nervous. But no need for that at all. I am not saying it is fun, but it is over before you know it. And I got the result back within the hour. Negative, so I was allowed to start!
Heemstede – Enschede is a little over 2 hour drive, so packed with tea, first energy gum and water I was on my way. A smooth ride with sunshine, rain, heavy rain and sunshine again. It was over before I knew it. When I arrived at Vliegbasis Twente, I saw a lot of cars and a lot of runners….
It was so crowded, I got all excited!!! Yes it is really going to happen, I am running a real race again. I cannot explain the exact feeling, but trust me it was pure joy! I parked my car and had to walk quite a bit. I really had to go to the loo. I already needed to go in the car, but I postponed and postponed, and when I finally stopped at a McDonald’s, it was closed because of construction. I walked between all the cars and it was impossible to postpone it any longer, so I searched for the biggest car, went behind it and dropped my pants. What a relieve, what a relieve….I started to walk again towards the entrance, and yes I pulled my pants back up.
First I had to show the test results before they opened the gate for me. After that it was a short walk to Hangar 11 to get my number and tag (a huge item on my wrist, quite irritating, but ok, I will wear it).
Quickly get rid of my extra clothes and bag and to the start. Wow, what a feeling, so nice to be back. So nice to run a race! All my questions disapeared, and all that was left was a wonderful feeling. Chatting a bit with people next to me and off we were.
I had no idea about the route, so I had to follow the rest. It was not really a run to go fast, a lot of small path, hard to overtake other runners, and some parts were slippery, it has been raining just before the race. Until we arrived at the runway of the airport, I had to be patience. On the runway there was a lot more space to go.
While running I also remembered I really do not like to run in circles, but he what can you do about it, you are here, just deal with it and go. The first round went ok, but I noticed that speed up, brake down, speed up, brake down, together with the sun made it a bit more difficult than expected. At 5 km there was a possibility to have some water. It was kind of crowded and I was running at a nice pace at that moment, so I decided to run past it. When I look back at it not the smartest decision, just to save a little time….I really had to slow down my pace during km 7 and 8. After km 9 I had some more room, so I was able to pick up the pace again.
My time was 50.03 a good time considering, but I must admit I was a little dissapointed in my end time. That’s the fanatic part in me. Overal, without the rithm of races, considering I was injured for a long time and all obstacles from today I am satisfied. I am on the right track towards New York in November.
I had a wonderful day, it gave me a lot of positive energy and it was so nice to see a lot of familiar runners again!
Will I do this again? Will I do another field lab experience run?
HELL YES! BRING IT ON!
