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I did it again, checked the weather predictions while very aware it wasn’t a good idea to do so, yet I just had to know! They predict rain now. Now what?

In my search for an efficient and un-harmful way to hydrate myself during the marathon, I tried this flask with a straw-type thing on top today. That wasn’t a good idea. The straw thing poked in my eye, and wouldn’t keep still when I tried to drink from it. Will I ever find something that does work in a way that agrees with me? 😮

When I run, I keep my phone in a FlipBelt, an elastic waistband with pockets. To protect it from sweat, I put it in a small plastic bag. Today, after finishing my run, I walked home and got my phone from the Belt, and suddenly a lot of ducks came swimming and walking towards me! Apparently the rustling of the plastic bag attracted them, I guess a lot of people feed them bread (from plastic bags) at that spot. It was funny.

I promised myself not to obsessively check the weather predictions for Marathon Day weeks in advance, since they don’t tend to be very accurate that far ahead and it will only make me nervous. I broke that promise on the first day the predictions were available for the 21st.

Ah well, at least it was good news, the weather looks perfect!

A year ago, I loved to run here. The green fields stretching as far as the eye could see… well not really, actually, when the weather was clear, the skyline of The Hague was visible, but still. Now they are building a road here, and I hate that. Luckily there are other routes to run, running here is somewhat saddening now :'(

This morning I left for my run when it was still dark, and though I always feel self-conscious when singing out loud, it was so quiet that I just had to do it. It felt rather liberating!

Just when I had gotten used to it being Fall, and dressed accordingly, the weather changed back to something more appropriate for Summer. Pff…

Thus far, Fall, Winter, Spring or Summer, I’ve always worn the same socks: rather thick ones. I suddenly wondered if I shouldn’t try a different type of sock, so I bought a new pair: more expensive, but also more breathable. It was an amazing sensation to try them out!

The ‘bird watching’ training, where you run without staying at a specified heart rate, are definitely among my favourites. Not because of the ‘strange birds’ I sometimes encounter, but because it is just about running, without distractions. Just go and enjoy. I love that.

Now, with an expected time of 4 hours and 45 minutes, I know I am not going to finish first at the Amsterdam Marathon, but today I found out my starting position is all the way to the end! So I had this vision of day turning to night while we were waiting to start….