#willpower running

Cologne Marathon 2018 extended race report:

THE CREW

For this, we come together in unison. Different lives become one. Uniting us. Melting our hearts and souls together. We share equal values and one overwhelming passion. For a moment our diverging lives are parallel. For a moment we can be ourselves. For a moment we unite. We eat. We laugh. We chat. We run. We are alive. Together -  The crew.

THE CHALLENGE

Focus. Wrap your mind around this task. It's simple but not easy. It's joy and pain. It's fear and confidence. It's beautiful and grueling. Balance your capabilities and your emotions. Eventually you will master this. Run and Rise Above.

CLEANSING

This challenge strips you down. Bit by bit. Hour after hour. It reduces your thoughts and emotions to the very essential. The true compound of your being. Unfiltered. Unconditional. And absolute. The be-all end-all.

YOU VERSUS YOU

Everyone fights their own battle. No one will help you. No one will judge you. It's you versus you. Will you find what you hope to find? Will you endure all suffering? Will you stand your ground? Yes you will. Overpower - Overcome.

FINISH LINES

And suddenly all the tension, all the joy and pain comes to nothing in the blink of a moment. The unseen implosion, that you share with no one but yourself. They can’t see through your eyes. They haven't run in your shoes. They can’t feel what’s in your heart. It's all yours. For we are runners.

Today I celebrate my 3rd Running Birthday. Exactly three years ago, I started running and it hasn’t left my life ever since. Everyone has their very own personal story of why they started running and I shared mine already a couple of times (Björn Esser & Christian Lotter, I still owe you a lot!), so I won’t bore anyone with this blabber today. I will also leave the statistics book closed for now, although I have found quite some interesting insights when looking through my strava and garminconnect data of the past 3 years.

Actually there’s only one thing that I want to point out on this - at least for me - special day. Starting Willpower last September was probably one of the most important steps in my running life. Through this little sports clothing brand I almost instantly switched from a “lonesome rider” to a founder and member of a close network of like-minded runners who share an equally strong passion for our sport (and for not looking like an idiot). The Willpower Athletes have become far more than a marketing tool to drive sales or coin my brand with a certain image. It’s a group of open-hearted people who like to run, travel, eat, hang out, chat and laugh together. It is a very positive and supportive community that equally respects running novices and well-versed pros. I have the feeling that this is only the beginning of something big and meaningful that will mark an important period of our lives. 

As for right now I am mostly thankful. Thankful for the past 3 years. Thankful that I can run. Thankful that I meet so many great people through running. Thankful that I can experience so many great moments. Thankful that I learn and grow with every kilometer I run. I take none of this for granted.

Willpower is our common state of mind. We live it. We breath it. We celebrate it. On streets, trails and tracks. For we are runners.

GUEST BLOG ENTRY BY WILLPOWER ATHLETE JEAN-PAUL

Last weekend was the 2nd edition of the Asics Xtrails in Vaals. A small town located in the province of Limburg, at the south-eastern most edge of the Netherlands. All of the trail stages start in Vaals while you are running around the tripoint between Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Also referred to as „Drielandenpunt, Dreiländereck or Trois Frontières”.

I’m quite familiar with the area, as this is where I grew up and spent most part of my life. I always like going back there. Not just to visit family, but absolutely also to run through the woods, open fields and discover new places to (trail) run. It’s quite different out there compared to the rest of the flatland.

During the first edition of the trail event, last year, we participated with a solid crew of friends and ran altogether the 36km distance on Sunday. And although I was injured pretty bad that day, I knew I would return and go for all stages. And so I did. By myself, as everyone else from last year had different running plans for the weekend or where preparing for another race.

Friday night: prologue. (8,3km / 295m altitude)

So, After I picked up my kids from school around noon we headed from Haarlem to the south by train and after almost 4 hours of traveling by public transportation we made it in time to the Vaals area before the race. However, it was too late to eat properly before running. A handful of raisins, nuts and fruit it was for now. The race started in the early evening. We started in front of and finished on top of the so-called Wilhelmina tower. A tower with quite some history which is named after Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. In hindsight the prologue was the most intense race of the weekend. Despite the short distance it was a fast race, a bit technical, with quite some elevation gain mainly in the forests and fields around the tripoint. Finishing top 10 was absolutely unexpected and a great start of the weekend and other stages to come.

 Saturday morning: 2nd stage. (26 km / 490m altitude) The second stage started at 10 in the morning. The weather was misty and foggy. It was not as warm as predicted. It was the opposite actually. So what to wear? Does it get warmer during the race? What to bring? On the other hand, it’s just 26km… Questions like these always pop up in my head when there’s last minute changes or things turn out to be different as expected. I always prefer starting a run being a bit cold. Just to make sure I don’t get too warm while at it and end up taking off a buff, sleeves or clothes after 10 minutes into a race. The race started at a holiday park and took us after a couple of 100 meters of asphalt into fields, very narrow single tracks and rocky off road trails. A lot of variation on different terrains. It was absolutely stunning. Up until 16km when the weather conditions drastically changed. The sun came out and humidity was gone in seconds. Well, at least that’s what it felt like to me. It struck me. Had to walk for a bit and used the unplanned break to eat and drink. About 4 people overtook me before I continued my run. Not that it matters. It was not my intention -at all- to run for ranking. But still… It sucks when people overtake you, especially if the first woman is one of them. In the end the beauty of the surroundings put me back on track and made it to the finish line before I even took notice. My kids where waiting there with a bouquet of flowers freshly picked from the fields.

Saturday evenening: Night trail. (16km / 245m altitude)

Second race on Saturday. After a quite devastating and disappointing morning run I patched up for the night trail. For this race a lot more people showed up, always cool! I think the number of competitors doubled. With the experience of what happend to me earlier this day I decided to start off slow at the night trail to save up. Save up for the final stage on Sunday. Unlike this morning all felt really good and right in place. It took me little time before I decided to speed up and let the idea of a slow pace night run go. After a couple of minutes into the race I teamed up with the first woman and decided to stick with her. The pace was just right. We helped eachother. Talked and laughed a bit. It all went just very smooth and was fun. Just as in the morning another top 15 finish. Not expected, but happy for sure. Looking back, the night trail was probably the coolest one of the weekend. What I like best is when you are going uphill you have no idea when it ends. You just keep going where you maybe would have started walking when you were running the same part during the day.

Sunday: Vaalserberg trail. (22km / 620m altitude)

Unlike any of the other races this weekend you can run different distances on Sunday varying from 11km to 61km. The holiday park is packed with athletes and supporters. Turns out that finding a place to park your car is almost impossible. The vibe today is amazing and you can feel the tension in the air.

To end the Xtrails, the final stage of this weekend is all about accompanying my girlfriend Tamara on the 22km. The 22km is a dress rehearsal for her marathon debut next weekend. Our mission for today is to have a smooth, good clean run, have fun and finish without getting injured. Today’s race took us via the Belgium forests with the most beautiful single tracks covered with stumps to the Dutch open fields with knee high grass that felt like running a buckle piste. Absolutely another race for in the books when it comes to running in a nice area. During all four stages you always run different routes. That’s what makes this event amazing; the variation and diversity. Up to the 2017 edition. Consider it!

Jean-Paul FB: facebook/jpedge IG: instagram/jeanpaulfrijns Twitter: @jeanpaulfrijns