This past weekend marked the pinnacle of Kate's training - the marathon. After months of pounding the pavement it was time to travel to Amsterdam for Kate to participate in her eighth marathon. We arrived early Saturday morning and after checking in to our hotel we went straight to Olympic stadium to pick up the race packet and get answers to the most pressing questions (e.g. where are the bathrooms along the course)!
We kept the rest of the day low key, walking around a few of the different neighborhoods taking in the sights and the many canals. For dinner Matt made reservations at an Italian restaurant so Kate could do her carbo loading for the race on Sunday. We were a little nervous because it was pouring down rain and we didn't know how long it would last (forecast said Sunday was supposed to be clear, but one never knows)!
Sunday was race day. Luckily the race didn't start until 9:30 so we didn't need to wake up super early. Because the race course goes through the city many of the trams were on reduced or diverted services, so we needed to walk a few blocks to pick up the tram to the start line. As we waited at the tram stop the number of runners waiting with us grew, and after around 15 minutes we all decided to flag down a taxi and share it with another group of runners (unsure if the tram ever came). The morning started out a bit chilly and cloudy, but by mid day the weather was the perfect running temp - the sun even made an appearance! Four hours and fourteen minutes later Kate was crossing the finish line... congratulations!
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| Before |
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| After |
As Kate was running around the city Matt was zig-zagging the streets trying to catch Kate at different points along the race. Not wanting to miss Kate, he ate on the run grabbing a hamburger from a vending machine (a popular option in Amsterdam). At least one of us was doing something healthy.
We took the rest of the day easy to recuperate from running 42.2 kms.
On Monday Kate felt remarkably good and we decided to take a walking tour of the city. It hit all the key highlights (including the red light district) and was very informative. After the marathon and the walking tour we have a pretty good feeling for the city. The rest of the day we toured a few of the shopping streets before heading to the airport for an evening flight home.
Congratulations Kate! Amsterdam, we'll be back (for NYE)!!
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