Patty harmsel
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
On who you are…
Hi there! My name is Patty, I live in the Netherlands with my man and dog and am passionate about running. But also about food, inspiring people, and lots more. It is always hard to describe yourself, but best to say I guess is that I don’t like to be put in a certain square or something. I like to be vibrant, enthusiastic and passionate with the things that I do. I love to share my passion about running on my Instagram profile (www.instagram.com/fiercetobe) and I think it is an honour when I can inspire people, even if it is one. It always starts with a first step and I like to share my personal story J. In daily life I have a very busy office job so running is a way to set my mind free and order my thoughts.
On running…
Do you have a minute? I am more then passionate about running. In the past, I tried a lot of sports and then did it for a blue Monday or something and then stopped again. I am very passionate but also competitive; though to myself but maybe also though to others. So team sports were not mend to be for me… because I always thought I would be less then the other and felt insecure about this. In high school I also tried out running, but never succeeded to proceed with this. So I only discovered my love for running at the end of 2014. I made my own Excel list with a program for 10k and then just started. I was so proud after my first 5k! And this expanded until my first marathon this year in April.
I love to run wherever I go. I love to run alone, during competitions but also with friends or my husband. I am happy when I can run and my highest coverage in KM’s in a month was last month, were I reached 435 km. But honest: this was very though. I had to work really hard to make this happen, but if I have a goal, I would like to prove myself I can.
On your First Run...
To be honest? Probably thought ; how far did I go? And then probably about 200 meter or something.. ;)! Of course I did not have the right shoes, nor the clothes… but hey, running and learning about running is an ongoing process!
On Street culture…
I live in a quite village, so I don’t have a real street culture. I just step out my front door and go.
On Running Culture…
I love running and the global running culture. This because people are always happy to help each other with reaching their goals or give positive feedback and tips and advice. The running culture feels like ‘coming home’, sharing your passion with other runners is amazing and I hope I can keep on doing this for a very long time.
On gadgets…
Guilty! I am a gadget freak. I love to try out new things and after I became a more frequent runner I figured out I loved the stats after my run. In the beginning I used an app on my iPhone, but then when it was freezing outside, my app collapsed and so on. I now have different Polar devices and am hooked on my Polar V800. I think it is very interesting to see my training results, but also my heart rate and recovery status. I also try new other gadgets like new running shoes, better shirts, and also ‘gadgets’ like energy gel drinks and stuff. Normally I function on banana’s and coffee, but for my first marathon prep I really went more into other ‘gadgets’ concerning food.
On injury…
Been there, done that… had some light injury’s like shin splints and last year I have had a muscle torn on a very weird place… being not able to move my leg – or even walk – for 6 – 8 weeks. After this period, I noticed how much I misted running. It was very hard after this period to start running again, especially physically. I was in a lot of pain and my condition where gone. So my love for running kept me mentally going on and expanding my boundaries for my setback. I was so thrilled that I proved my body his worth after I ran my first marathon only 6,5 months after this injury.
On achievements…
I am very competitive, but don’t want to be to competitive so that my love for running will be outshined by my own competitiveness. But I am proud on every achievement I made. My first 10k race, my first half marathon race, beating my PR on my half marathon and of course my first marathon! I hope that I am just getting started and will reach and achieve much more. Not only in racing, but also in mentally growing and learning more about the right running technique, creating better running skills and also trying to inspire more people with my passion and my story.
On future goals…
Try to inspire people on my Dutch blog with my running stories (www.fiercetobe.nl), maybe a second marathon, a PR on my 10k time, covering more km’s, making more new running friends, coaching my mum and sisters to their first steps and maybe a first 5k race.. and also keep on learning new things every day. And hopefully discovering new places worldwide running!
On your social media…
I love Social Media, but I also get frightened by it sometimes. Because everything is out in the open, but of course everything is filtered.. so nothing is always quite as it seams. I try to do my own thing and don’t get distracted or insecure about others, but sometimes it is very hard not to be if you see other people’s ‘pictures perfect’. Luckily I don’t believe in picture perfect and I always try to show the moment I was in. So if it is possible I make a photo always during my run. And of course I want this to be nice, so sometimes I will pause for 15 minutes to get a ‘right’ photo. Also because I love making photo’s and capture things… but also a little bit for the eye of the public. I use Instagram the most, because I am more photo oriented then text oriented. On second place there is Facebook and I occasionally use Twitter.
On Pink…
Just another lovely bright colour. As yellow. As blue. I do like pink, but also like other colours. Especially when it comes to running gear, I love bright tanktops, shirts, and so on. In my daily live I wear a little more conservative colours, but when I go running, I mix and match every colour I can find J.
On Pain…
Sometimes you experience pain, mentally or physically. It is part of the process. Just listen good to your body (and mind), don’t ignore your pain and work on it.
On women’s running…
Everybody can be a runner. I don’t like to think in ‘women’ or ‘men’, but that is because I am from the generation were it is able for anyone that ones to run, that can run. Kathrine Switzer paved the runway for me (us) in this manner. I am happy that I live in an environment where I can just be my sweaty self and not thinking about how people look at me; well, or actually: I don’t care. I know I look like a mess while running. Yes I sweat. Yes my hair is sticky and messy. Yes I don’t pull on nice faces. But whatever. I love my endorphins and I love to be with myself. So let people think whatever they want J!
On the Past you…
START RUNNING. NOW. TRUST ME! You will thank yourself! JUST START. NOW. NOW! Be patient and never stop believing in yourself. Always enjoy and don’t be angry if sometimes it feels like your failing. At least you tried! I honestly think that if I discovered running earlier, that this would be very positive on my mental and body health status for the years before I was a runner.
When I die…
I don’t like to discuss topics like this, but I hope that I can say that I have lived the life I loved and that I don’t let fear stop me to do whatever I love or think I would love.
Live is a gift. Keep on running. Keep on exploring!
Cheers! Patty
#RunRevolution
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