Posts Tagged With: walking

“And if I have to crawl on my knees, roll like a barrel across the finish line, I will finish the Dodentocht!”

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Bianca Eder

I admit I have been quite nervous about the 50km walk, in my mind I thought if I don’t make this one, I won’t make the 100km. I splits this blog in 3 categories , mainly to have more structure for myself. The sun burnt off my brain yesterday.

The Route

Called De Groene AS. What I really love about Amsterdam/The Netherlands is that one moment you are in the city and the next you see the most beautiful country side. And you don’t even have to walk or cycle far for that. This route has it all, you walk through the nature parks, forests , go across the water with a boat , villages and so forth. And wherever you are you are about 20mins with the car from Amsterdam. You totally forget that this is the case, seriously. Highlights for me where the nature parks 1. Natuurpark  vrije Geer , right bang in the middle of a little city. 2. Schinkelbos which is gorgeous and peaceful and of course 3. Amsterdamse Bos which is always a winner.

As it should be, you see windmills , typical dutch houses and what I enjoyed most you walk along houses which are so big, beautiful and quirky  that I just couldn’t stop looking, I had to restrain myself to just walk up to their doors and ask for a tour.

The route itself takes you from Amsterdam West, through Amsterdam Bos to Amstelveen and Oudekerk aan de Amstel, back to Amsterdam West again, 55km in total but you can also chose shorter routes. Totally do it, if you like to be out and about.

En route – What happened

My biggest challenge was, that I had a route description. “Turn right after 400 meters at this and this place “ 400meters means nothing to me. But I was only totally confused once and walked the wrong way. This was when I asked two guys if this was the Ringvaartdijk and after walking about 1km , I decided – I am walking in the wrong direction. Yep, totally based on my “instinct”. So I walked back, couldn’t find another exit point and walked the same route again, and had to admit: “ They were right , I was wrong”.

I was at the boat crossing thingi at 10:30 , just to find out the first boat takes off at 12:00. Looking closer at my route description, it actually mentioned that! I just didn’t see it. So with studying the map really close I decided it’s better to wait , before I totally go off trail. So took a 1 ½ hour break. Time to eat some pasta , bananas and give my feet some air. Those 1 ½ hours would get to me later on,  as it seemed a never ending walk.

In Amsteleveen, Carolien joined me to pull me through the last 20km, which was really nice, and awesome on the last km’s to keep eachother going.

Overall, I hit a bad spot at around 35km and then again at 42,5km and the last 2km on the way home. Mainly my feet which started aching. But these bad spots really came with waves and as I kept walking, I always hit the good one again. I took quite some breaks as soon as I got really bad aching legs, and most important: I changed my socks every time my feet got hot. The feeling of dry socks really helped a lot!

The last 2km’s through Amsterdam West, I was ready to shout at everybody who was walking slow in front of me, or just blocked the pavement. I didn’t want to walk around them , just straight ahead. I didn’t want to have to stop at any traffic lights, because stopping and standing still was awful. I just wanted to shout : “Please go and move out of the way !” . Not exactly in such nice words.

I learnt :

  • To change socks and air feet frequently – it makes a huge difference
  • Pasta  ( which I made the previous night) was excellent to keep me going
  • There is nothing wrong with taking a break ( I used to just storm along and not stop, just to keep a good time)
  • Hang your socks on your rucksack , they will dry very quickly Image

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • A stubborn mind will get you anywhere , it really is “mind over body”
  • Hot and cold shower afterwards works miracles for the day after

Trough my injury time my confidence has really taken a beating, but with yesterday’s performance my confidence is sky high.

I say it again : “And if I have to crawl on my knees, roll like a barrel across the finish line, I will finish the Dodentocht!”

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12 weeks of Training equals 360 kilometers of walking and a big Thank You to you !

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Bianca Eder

Since the start of my training I have walked quite some kilometres. I lost my way, I had arguments with my girlfriend, I felt like an idiot, I was happy, I had 2 weeks off which was ordered by my Fysio, I was proud of myself… and so on. I think I went through quite some stages of emotion.

The worst training was a couple of weeks ago. It was cold, I wasn’t prepared for that and the cold caused severe muscle pain. It got to the point that I literally had to stop every 2km and walked like I just broke both my legs. I had to call Carolien to pick me up 5 km earlier than planned. That night and the next day were the worst days. This was also the first moment when I thought: “This is what it’s going to be like”.

The best training was a week later when I walked 35km and was literally running to the finish. I made it, and with little pain.

And then yesterday happened. All of a sudden an old injury started playing up (it happens when I lift my foot. My muscles refuse to lift my foot and just hurts like hell) but… I kept on walking and finished.

In the past 12 weeks there have been moments when I thought : “This is it! Screw this” but I kept on going. Mind over Body. And once I actually had to stop because it was impossible to go on. So I am happy to know that I have the ability to “force” myself through the pain.

However, whatever I go through, pain, failure , my worst moments are temporarily.

What helped a lot were all the Facebook & Twitter messages I receive from you guys, the motivation, the sharing and the private messages I receive. People sharing their story and what they’ve experienced with Alzheimer. Those are the things I think off when I’ve had enough (and just went to through a hissy fit). Because these stories have really touched me over the last few weeks. So I want to thank you for sharing your stories with me. And thank you for all the motivating messages on Facebook/Twitter.

The more I learn about Alzheimer, the more Youtube films I see, the more personal messages I read and hear, the more I get pushed to complete the next training walk and complete the 100km. But I also think more and more “I hope I or my girlfriend won’t get Alzheimer”, there are moments when that thought seriously frightens me. Because it is such a horrendous disease. Too little is known about Alzheimer yet. It’s not just a disease where you become a bit forgetful, it changes everything. And worse, it does not get better, but it only goes downhill. There is no pill to take to cure it. It frightens the shit out of me.

I have tremendous respect for anybody who is going through this, family, friends, caretakers. I take my hat off for you and thank YOU for your support, sharing your story and taking time out to support me in this.

If you want to see for yourself what Alzheimer actually does to a person, have a look at these films on the Alzheimer Nederland Youtube page. Meet the married couple Stoffers and watch their journey.

I also met with Alzheimer Nederland last week. To find out more about what they do and how they work. My mind was blown. I came out of that meeting with a huge smile and huge motivation. Because they do awesome things and they have awesome people working for them.

I went with Kim. Kim does all the PR and marketing for me. She just took it upon her to help me, for free, for nothing. And she does an amazing job. Thanks to her, I now have a freaking awesome FB page. And that makes me smile. All that support makes me smile and happy.

I’ve already said this, but once more : Thank you!

Categories: Training for the Dodentocht | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

I am a useless mapreader and like to throw hissy fits

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Bianca Eder

The moment I left the house with a map which wasn’t detailed enough, I knew this was going to be a rubbish training. I was in a rush and with a brief glance on the map, I thought: “Oh yeah I can just memorise that like McGyver”. I couldn’t…

Off I went to Hillversum to walk the “Voetstappenpad”. Hilversum North Train Station was my starting point. TomTom told me I was close and I thought: “oh I’ve got to get to the other side of the station”. So I just ignored good old TomTom and drove off. I arrived at the Station, and after asking about 20 people where the start of the “Voetstappenpad” was, a policeman told me that I was at the wrong Station. Yay for me…

So I started driving again (I was already pissed off because I just lost time) I couldn’t find the proper address on my iphone, so just followed the original TomTom instructions. I actually ended up calling my girlfriend at home (I was already in a hissy fit by then):

“damnit, I can’t find the F***ing station”.

“I don’t know where I am!!!”.

“I am about to come home now”.

“This is just rubbish damnit!“

She kept her cool and directed me to where I had to be. You may think this conversation went really smooth, it didn’t. I still believed that since I was driving and actually seeing the streets, I knew best. I didn’t.

After following her instructions, I arrived at the starting point of the “Voetstappenpad”. And had no clue where I had to start walking now. Yes I called her again and yes I got more and more pissed off.

Finally I found the first sign of the path and knew I was on the right track. YAY! So I toddled off and started feeling happy again. On a side note, it is a beautiful walk if you’re able to follow the signs properly …

…. because obviously I didn’t. I ended up somewhere with no sign to be seen. I searched and searched and figured that I was at the beginning of the path again and about 20 minutes walking from my car. I just did a little loop.

Who did I call? And all the frustration just came out, my girlfriend told me to chill and she would direct me. But I didn’t listen anymore..so we started having an argument…

Me: I don’t know where I am, this map is just stupid.

Carolien: If you would just please listen to me for a minute

Me: no!, Listen to me, Listen to me..grmbl grmbl…

Carolien: Okay, whatever, do whatever you want!

Me: Ok, well I will!

I walked back to the car. And felt like a proper Idiot.

What have I learned:

A)     I know I need to have a proper map because I am the most useless person with any map. So from now on I will walk only the bikepaths. Walking from number to number… I can do that!

B)     I should listen to my girlfriend, she knows stuff.

C)     I wasn’t even able to walk the “Voetstappenpad” and I know, someone out there will read this now and think: you idiot.

D)     I went to a flowershop and bought her flowers to say sorry.

My Trainingschedule said I only had to walk 15km today, I wanted to do 28km and did 9. We are having a beer now and are laughing again ;) .

On to next week! And  yes,  I will walk 15km tomorrow

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First 34,5 km walk – Not a Walk in the Park

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Bianca Eder

Saturday morning I started off at around 09:40 to walk the Aeën en Dieën route , my starting point was Schellingwoude. About 20minutes walk and you really start hitting the gorgeous country side. The entire walk is on a Cycle path , so from time to time you just have to watch out for the Race cycles.

It was so beautiful, the first village I really loved was Zunderdorp. It’s all you imagine from a Dutch village, farms selling fresh milk and breakfast (Stupid as I am, I didn’t take any cash with me, only my bank pass) it was awesome and really reminded me of back home in Austria. I felt some nostalgia creeping up on me.

I am a country pumpkin by nature but totally forgot that people there seriously act different. I was greeted by people sitting in their garden, driving past in their cars – it made me smile big time.

The walk up to Zeedijk, where you can see the village of Markem in the distance was good and not too heavy. I started feeling my legs a bit but not too crazy. Thankfully the nature kept me busy, there was so much to see so I just decided to focus on that.

Saturday was a pretty sunny day, I didn’t take a baseball cap with me either (2nd time stupid) and the sun quickly got to me. Thankfully I had enough water with me, but once I had to leave the Uitdammerdijk to walk to the village of Ransdorp, I got more and more tired. My feet and legs started aching and for the first time, I realised how rubbish it is if you don’t have anybody to talk to. I couldn’t listen to music since this was killing my Iphone battery real fast and the sun just really kicked my butt.

Walking to Ransdorp really felt like the longest walk. Once I reached the village, gosh I was happy the next focus was getting to Durgerdam. I knew from there it was around 3km to get back to the car.

I sat down for a moment just before entering Durgerdam, I received some motivating text messages and tweets as support and that really gave me the kick to walk on.

There was a brief confusion after Durgerdam with regards to the Cycle path and where my map said I had to go, so I just went with the google map on the iphone and literally started counting down the km.

Keys in my hands I walked towards where I thought my car was. You have no idea how freaked out I was when the car wasn’t where I thought it was. I just pressed the button on my keys like a manic but nada… So I had to walk further and there Oh HOOOORAAAYYY I saw the lights of the car. It was 16:02pm.

The moment I sat down, all the pain was forgotten and I was just really happy that I managed it.

A cold beer at home, a hot shower and foot bath later, I started to feel better and most important I hardly had any muscle pain the next day. And this is what I call awesome good news!!

For the avid cyclist I can only recommend this route, it is really truly stunning. You see beautiful little villages and nature. There are funny little houses to see ( like Foot massage in the middle of nowhere and a Thai massage place in an area you really wouldn’t expect) But also if you enjoy walking, do it, it is worth it!

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What’s in it for us ? – The Big Question – Or just a wee rant and asking for help

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Bianca Eder

I know I have about 5 months to go ( 20 weeks) before the Big Walk, but I feel a certain nervousness.

I have read blogs now, how difficult it is to walk the Dodentocht, I know how much pain you can feel in your legs when you are tired of walking but apart from this, I am most nervous of not collecting the money I said I would.

5000 Euro – a magic number right now. If you have read my first blog you know I had 15K in my mind, what can I say : I am a dreamer.

I am a dreamer and I never had to collect an amount like this, so I feel like an 18 year old on the first proper job. It’s all a bit daunting, social media, informing myself about Alzheimer, training and collecting money. And then to hear from Businesses : We need a Sponsor Plan from you before we will sponsor you.

Yes, I know and quite aware it’s all about : What’s in it for me/us. A sponsor plan – freaking beat me up, what the feck is that? I got some pointers on what I have to do for that from a friend. I am not a naive Heidi;  still , sometimes the What’s in it for me – part really beats me. Part of me wants to say, “Well what’s in it for you is the fact, that if you give money and sponsor this – you ensure that research will be done and help will be provided for those who are suffering from Alzheimer’s right now. And for those in the future. “

However if you are a business and think this is a cause worth supporting, thank you. What’s in it for you? I will mention you , yes I will – will you get more customers because of that? More Sales? Maybe you will, maybe you won’t .  But you did something. So, thank you.

Maybe I am just that naive. But also sometimes I just have to let off steam. Some things are too big for one person alone.

The fun thing is individuals just give, no questions asked. Thank you.

Anyhow , today all of a sudden I received a tweet from @Ladilalala telling me that my FB page BiancaWalks is now live and ready to be filled with stuff.  She set it up, filled it with pics I sent through, sorted out the layout ,…Wow!

In the afternoon I received a Tweet from @BiancaWalks telling me, now I have a working Twitter Account! Again set up by Kim (@Ladilalala) . Today I saw Kim , approaching people, companies asking to follow me and  give attention to @BiancaWalks all day long. It was seriously awesome.

And it was not that she asked any PR for this herself. She just did it because she is an awesome , caring woman. Man I love this chick right now!

So, here I sit on my couch , ahead of me another Training weekend (35Km) and I ask you to help me and support Actie voor Alzheimer. Let’s rock this together. If you can spare a Tweet , tweet about it, Like me on FB, if you have a couple of Euro’s to spend , please sponsor me. If you know someone who can spread the word wider – louder – harder – connect us.

What will you get in Return? The fact that I will walk my socks off for you on the 10th of August, that  you helped Alzheimer Research and Support a bit more and all of that should just give you a warm feeling and the thought I helped a little bit.

Ps: If you have an awesome idea how to collect money – can help me organise something , please let me know. I am only  a Recruiter – creative with recruitment – rubbish with organising stuff.

Categories: Training for the Dodentocht | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Never memorize a Route (if you have my brain) and Twitter to the rescue !

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Bianca Eder

So today was the big day, after 2 weeks of an injured foot, I started this week with short, 4.6Km walks. Today was the big 25km walk from Krommenie to Halfweg, also known as the Noord Holland walk.

I had my Iphone, where I took some pictures of crucial roads and obviously used my gps, worst of all I thought I had memorized the entire route. People who know me, know I have the memory of a wooden table. As I was toddling along, listening via Spotify to BB King using the mapmytrack app I saw that my battery was dying fast. But I figured surely it would last.

After about 45 minutes, I turned left where I should have walked straight on, and as I arrived at the same petrol station again, I figured I should really use the map more often.

1 ½ hours further I looked at the map and honestly didn’t know, am I walking straight on or do I have to turn right here? A call to my girlfriend was needed, and she told me to walk on straight. Naturally after I walked on for about 20 minutes, I declared in an angry text that she was wrong and I should have turned to the right. So I was in a pissy mood already, damn it damn it I have to walk further than planned, it was raining, it was cold and my battery was at 11%. I had turned off my music some time ago, but having to read the map a lot didn’t help the good old Iphone battery.

Finally after 16,8 ( yes everything after the comma is extremely important too) I arrived at the pontje at the North sea canal, my Iphone died on me. This nearly made me cry, I had no one to call if my foot was playing up again or when I was ready to be picked up. I could not resort to reading the map, damn it. I felt ..honestly I felt like I was in the freaking dutch jungle of nowhere.

So what did I do? I followed the street signs, which made take a even longer route than originally, but actually I started to enjoy this. I had to resort to the maps on the street, figure out where I was, where I should go. I actually used my brain! I loved it!

And then I saw one of the most beautiful things that day: From afar I saw the towers of Sugar City, which I knew was going to be my end point. And where my girlfriend should meet me to take me home. I actually said this aloud : Ahhhhhhh vrienden!!! ( friends in English)

But I still had to walk quite a bit, then I realised that I actually wasn’t able to call her because my battery was dead. Once I arrived in Halfweg I dropped into the Cafe Herberge and there were 8 men sitting at the bar. The first one pointed me to the ladies toilet and when I answered that I actually want to have a beer, they were cheering, nice….. . I asked if someone had an Iphone charger, nobody did. Anybody had a smartphone? One of the guys, called Marco, gave me his Iphone, with this I logged onto my Twitter (big freakin YEAh I love you Twitter – moment). I sent a help message to @BPenninx to call my girlfriend to pick me up. @BPenninx did and 20 Minutes later (during this I had a rather interesting chat with Marco, who also bought me a beer, how nice!) Carolien picked me up.

So what did I learn? Fucking Iphone battery is useless. Nobody needs to memorize a telephone number anymore, just know which Twitter handle and send a Help Tweet. I actually have a brain I can use when technology fails me. After all I walked 28Km today, saw some truly beautiful Dutch scenery, met some really nice guy called Marco and arrived home with a big smile and a feeling of YES I did it!

If after all of this you think. Whooohaaa I want to sponsor this girl..you can do this here !

PS: Carolien (girlfriend) was right..I had to walk straight on. Ahem..

Image

See you over 25Km!

 

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“Nou, ik deed het met twee vingers in mijn neus”!

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Bianca Eder

Last Saturday the parents of my girlfriend came over for Dinner. I had just completed my training walk , which was a bit of a weird training walk. As I was walking along the Haarlemmerweg, all of a sudden I heard a bang and saw a motorbike driver fly through the air. It seriously took me a couple of seconds to realise what had happened. So for about 30 minutes, I was waiting with him for the ambulance to arrive. He had broken his arm. Luckily that was all he had broken.

I didn’t complete my 15km. I was a little bit in shock after what happened and when I kneeled down to help the driver, I had pain in my right foot again. I realised my walking shoes ( I used different ones this time) really started aching. So after about 7km I walked home again.
I even had to take off my boots as at some point I thought my little toe was going to explode, lesson learnt. I will stick with my good old grey walking shoes. After all they got me through a 60km walk 2 years ago ( A sisters hope walk for Breast cancer).

Speaking of which, as my in-laws settled in and we shared glass of wine, Wilma (for the sake of lesser words to explain: let’s call her “my mother in law”;)) and I realised that we did the same charity walk only a year apart. Well, I on my part, know that I found the first 30km on Saturday really difficult. I was so happy when at 18:00 in the evening when we arrived at our overnight stay. I sat down for about 30 minutes to rest my legs and have a well deserved beer. When I wanted to get up, boy oh boy… It felt as if my legs had been in the deep freezer for about 24 hours, I was stiff , I could hardly walk, my blisters on my feet were hurting. I felt about 98 years old. As I went to bed that night I thought to myself : Damn it, I have to walk 30km tomorrow as well. Surprisingly the first 15km were okay to walk, but my blisters were hurting and an injury from a week prior to the walk was also playing up ( I was well happy with the ice-spray I brought with me).

So I was talking to Wilma about the walk. I thought how difficult I found it and then to my surprise she said: “I found it quite easy, after the first 30km I could have walked a bit more”.  In Dutch she said : “Nou, ik deed het met twee vingers in mijn neus”!
I think what Wilma saw at that moment, was my jaw dropping and big eyes looking at her. It’s my own arrogance to think that someone who is a bit older than me (sorry Wilma!) can  just walk this and not feel even more pain than I did! Well, I think only someone who has done the Iron-Man about 5 times is allowed (in my eyes) to say : “ It was easy”.

So, now I have recovered from that shock, and I know one thing: the weekend I will have to walk 74km in a training walk, when the going gets tough and I feel like a wuss again, I’ll think of Wilma, who would probably bounce along next to me singing and dancing saying “Easy he!”. And this will get me through that training walk. Because now I want to complete 37km and at the end think :“Pah, that was a piece of cake!”. And then wake up the next day and bounce along, singing and dancing for the next 37km.

I just realised that I am competing with my mother in law, who doesn’t even know I am competing with her. Well now you do know;). And thanks, because this will be a little goal on the road to 100km. And little goal’s is all we  need.

Categories: Training for the Dodentocht | Tags: , , , , , | 4 Comments

Why 100km and why for Alzheimer?

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Bianca Eder

This one will be a Training and update blog for the next 8 months as I prepare to walk 100Km in (hopefully) just under 24 hours August 10 2012.

If you don’t know me you might think I am a sporty person, long distance hikes, 1 hour jogs should be part of my weekly routine. They are not. The closest I get to a work-out is my Wii.

Two years ago I took part in A Sister’s Hope walk. 60km in 2 days against breast cancer. I remember the moment I walked into the finish, the happiness, the pride and the feeling of fulfilment I had.
So one night in December I thought I want something like this, but just more of a challenge. Something which really might break me (I know!).  And so I came across the “Dodentocht” (the death walk). This is going to be my challenge in 2012!

After a couple of days I figured I do not only want to do this for myself, but I want to walk for a charity again.
Pretty quickly it came to me that it had to be for Alzheimer. I chose Alzheimer Nederland. A Dutch organisation which provides support and information to people with dementia and their immediate surroundings for over 25 years.

In 2010 my friend’s mother passed away after suffering 13 years from Alzheimer. I met my friend Miranda when her mum already was in a very developed stage, so I didn’t know her mum from before. But over the course of 5 years I saw how much effect this had on my friend and started to realise more and more, from a side line, what this illness does to people.

How , a once a self-confident, happy, lucky woman turns into a small child again. The confusion in her eyes, the distance-from-the-world look on her face. How helpless you feel, as a child seeing your mother go through this. Or as a Husband or wife.

I lost my own mother over 10 years ago, she didn’t wake up from a coma. There was a part of me which would always understand Miran’s pain, but my mother was gone, I couldn’t talk to her anymore or touch her. But there was her mother, alive and breathing, able to be touched, yet so far away . This is something I will never know how it feels and I am actually glad I do not have to experience this.

The thought that your mother, father, husband or wife is alive but doesn’t recognise you, can’t articulate anymore is devastating. There are many Miranda’s out there. Wife’s, husbands, daughters and son’s. And I really think it is time to contribute a little to detect the early signs of this disease.

So, as from tomorrow I am in full training modus for the next 8 months. I am nervous as hell. Will I make the finish and what will it be like to walk a night… But also well excited… Let’s just say I’ve got mixed emotions and I haven’t even started yet. Still it’s an awesome feeling.

I truly hope I can count on your support in the next months during my training and when I am walking the walk. Most of all I hope that with your help I can create more awareness for this disease and raise money to contribute to the fund of Alzheimer research.

I hope that “reading“ about my training and walking “The Walk” will entice you to sponsor me.

Let’s make this happen! So, if you would be so kind to hit the “steun mij” button!

The amount I want to collect is set on € 5000. My mind was set on € 15000. I was told I should be realistic and set it to € 5000 which is still a lot and hard to achieve. This just as a side note for the reader.

Seriously , is € 15000 unrealistic? and here is where you can donate!

Categories: Training for the Dodentocht | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

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