NYC marathon preparation started
Written by Hannes Van De Vreken
/ Original link
on Jul. 19, 2015
Hi all! Here’s an update on my latest leisure time activities.
In April this year I ran my very first marathon: the Rotterdam marathon.
3:29:21 #mr15. The crowd was amazing! #marathon #rotterdam
Een foto die is geplaatst door Hannes Van De Vreken (@hannesvdvreken) op 12 Apr 2015 om 11:15 PDT
It was until that day (12th of April) that I kept telling others and myself that this was a one time thing. Though, after the race I was so happy with my result, that I just stopped saying wether or not I would do it again. Some time was needed to reflect on my result, wether I wanted to go faster, wether I could push my body even further, and whether I could afford the time needed to improve.
After my first marathon
Four days after the Rotterdam marathon I was able to run (painless) again. The weeks after that I ran a lot: 6 or 7 times a week. No fast running, no workouts, no more than 20 km per day, no more than 150 beats per minute heart rate. In the mean time I talked to a few people on marathon running, ultramarathon running (42+ km) and trail running. The more I talked to people, the more I wanted to have a goal again. So I started to assemble a calendar of all kinds of races that will take place in late 2015.
Picking a race
On May 28th I registered for, not one, but two marathons. I applied with a good cause initiative which had 50 bib numbers for the TCS New York City marathon. I believed my odds were little, so I didn’t wait for this.
A few people told me the Eindhoven marathon is a great race, has good atmosphere, and it’s just a short drive by car. It’s a great race to run, so I registered for this one as well.
On June 23th I received an email I didn’t expect to receive.
It's official now: I will run the @nycmarathon on the first of November! ? #tcsnycmarathon
Een foto die is geplaatst door Hannes Van De Vreken (@hannesvdvreken) op 23 Jun 2015 om 3:19 PDT
Yes, that’s right! I got into the TCS New York City marathon! This means I will raise money for a good cause (more about that later). I already planned every training for the next 16 weeks leading up to the race. My goal is to run the marathon in less than 3 hours, which is 29 minutes faster than my last one. This might be too optimistic, but I feel very strong already after the first week of training. If I don’t make it, I would be happy with anything faster than 3 hours and 10 minutes still.
On the good cause
The initiative I will be raising money for is called Mediclowns. Mediclowns is an organisation of about 10 artists who brighten up ill children. They visit children that stay home months on end, waiting to see if the treatments they receive have a positive effect on their horrible illnesses. I really admire people that are so strong and positive that can even entertain even the sickest and weakest. People living in Belgium might recognise the name Cliniclowns. Mediclowns is similar, with the big difference that they do home visits.
The money I will raise will all go to Mediclowns, who will pay for my entire 5 day trip to New York. In Belgium you (as a tax payer) can deduct gifts from your taxes, and as a business the amount is 100% deductible from your revenue. Please, if this sounds appealing to you, or you can connect me to a company to which this might sound appealing, let me know and we’ll talk more on the details. Every single backer will get a personal souvenir, a thank you letter and a mention in a future blog post. It may not be worth much, but it’s a gesture of gratitude ;)
The fund raising page is on gofundme.com/tcsnycmarathon.
</embed>Take care!