Long Weekend in Amsterdam…But No Marathon
No Comments »
October 30th, 2009
Marathon Training & Injury
One of my goals for the year was to finish a big race like a marathon or half Ironman triathlon. I figured that running would be easiest with all of my traveling this year, so I decided to train for a marathon. After running for a couple months to get a decent base, my sister-in-law Nina, who is a running coach, made a great training plan for me. Then I fully committed and registered for the Amsterdam Marathon in October (which was about 6 months away).
My training went well for the first 5 months, and I made a lot of progress. I was to the point where an hour long run felt like an easy day. Before this, the longest I had ever run was 13.1 miles in the San Francisco half marathon in 2007. But I got to the point in my training where I was basically running a half marathon or more every week! For me that was quite an accomplishment unto itself.
Unfortunately, though, this story doesn’t have a happy ending. In the middle of September, about one month before the race, I went out for a long run in Zürich. It was to be my longest run yet at 3 hours (about 3/4 of a marathon). The run started out fine but just as I got to the farthest point away from home (it was an out-and-back run), the arch of my right foot started hurting. I could tell that something was wrong, but I had no way to get back home other than to run/walk it. So I hobbled along all the way back, most likely exacerbating the injury along the way, until I got to an area I knew and could get on the bus home. And that was the end my running career, for now anyways.
My own diagnosis is a stress fracture, but I haven’t actually gone to a doctor to confirm this. For now I have stopped running and am trying to keep off of it as much as possible so that it can heal. I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but I know that it had nothing to do with the training plan. I had been adding distance very gradually and had had no problems up until that day. I suspect that it was most likely due to not replacing my running shoes quickly enough, but my orthotics and/or bad running form might also be to blame (or maybe something else completely, who knows?).
On the bright side, we already had the trip to Amsterdam booked so now I could just go and enjoy myself. Plus, Emily had signed up for the Amsterdam half marathon, so now I could be her cheerleader/photographer.
Amsterdam
Emily and I went to Amsterdam two weeks ago, from October 16th to 19th. It was my first time ever in Amsterdam or in the Netherlands; Emily had already been there once before earlier this year with our friend Ben Shapiro. The city is definitely very unique with canals literally everywhere. I was surprised by how the canals were so integrated into the city and by just how many there were. The other thing that is impossible not to notice in Amsterdam is all the bikes. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a city where biking was embraced so heavily. While there were marked bike lanes almost everywhere, I was still a bit surprised that there wasn’t a better biking infrastructure. I’m not really sure what I expected, but I just found it strange that the bike lanes were often blocked by tourists and weren’t more isolated from the cars and pedestrians.
Over the weekend, we were lucky enough to stay at a friend’s apartment rather than a hotel. We stayed with Luke Miller, who is one of Emily’s friends from work whom I had met earlier in the year in Paris, and his sister Tegan. They were very generous to let us stay with them, so thanks again Luke and Tegan! Oh, and they have the craziest shower I’ve ever seen in my life, complete with lights, radio, steam, and more.
Sunday was the day of Emily’s race. The marathon started in the morning, but the half marathon didn’t start until 2 pm. The race started and finished at the Olympic Stadium, which was walking distance from Luke’s apartment. I watched Emily start then walked around the city and got some lunch while she was running. Most of the public transport was closed down because of the marathon so it was a bit difficult to get around, and I actually didn’t get back to the stadium in time to see Emily finish. I thought I had made it in time, but she ran faster than she had expected! Her final time was an impressive 2:01:54. Way to go, Emo!
Our flight didn’t leave until late Monday evening, so Emily and I had all day to hang out and explore the city. We spent most of the afternoon at the Van Gogh Museum, which we both enjoyed a lot. Other than that we just walked around and then headed to the airport for our flight that evening.
So even though I didn’t get to run the marathon, it was still a good weekend. Emily had a great race and we had a good time. Thanks again Luke and Tegan!
