Deutschland

While I may have rested this week, not running whatsoever, it didn't stop me from signing up for races.

Yesterday, I entered the lottery for the 2016 Berlin Marathon in September. In December we will learn if I made it in. If we aren't successful this year, then we'll just need to try again next year.

The Berlin Marathon is a very large (nearly 40,000 runners), popular race, known for its breakneck speeds. The last SIX men's marathon world records were set in Berlin (2003 - 2014) [For the record, the women's world hasn't been broken since 2003 because Paula Radcliffe is one of a kind]. If Berlin happens, I don't expect to run a personal best. I want to run it for the experience, which I'm sure will be out of this world. Maybe we'll witness history being made.

I also chose one more race to squeeze into this year: Spijkenisse, Netherlands. We are still ironing out the details, but hopefully it'll work out.

http://www.avspark.nl/marathon/english/general-information


We have cats! Scotty and Finnigan are living with us for the next 3 weeks. They are brothers who are only a few months old. The apartment is now filled with pitter pattering, squeaking, and snorting (Finnigan has a breathing problem). Seriously, breathing through his nose results in loud pigs sounds. It is as cute as it is pitiful.



This is a picture of Scotty because he is infinitely more cuddly than Finnigan. That is also heartbreaking - a kitten who doesn't want to be touched. Poor wheezy, loner Finnigan.

So, while Scotty is getting tummy rubs, Finnigan is pretending to be furniture.



I actually did run yesterday, the first time since last Saturday. Everything start out well. I was groggy, but even the annoying Schwäbisch Gmünd uphills weren't problematic. But, oh my, were downhills painful. I might have pulled or torn something in my butt. I'll be sticking to flat running surfaces for another week or two.

Deutsch Lernen ist noch schwierig. Wir haben zwei Klassen pro Woche, aber ich vergesse immer die Vokabeln. Die Arbeit ist normalerweise auf Deutsch, und ich verstehe fast nie. Es macht keinen Spaß. Vielleicht nächstes Jahr.

Macht's gut!

Hello again.

Yesterday I ran the first half of the Alb Marathon 50K. That's 31.1 miles, in case you were wondering. (Good luck to Keith today in his own 50K!!!)



It was a delightful romp through the local giant hills in the area surrounding Schwäbisch Gmünd. Good grief, it was rough.



I pride myself on running on hills these days, but I can tell you that there is no dignified way to bound up and down between 1,000 and 2,300 ft elevation. It required everything in my power to not walk. I spent a large portion of the time with at least one of my hands on my knees, keeled over in a pathetic heap.

I handed off the race bib to Other Kyle at the half (the red line, shown above), and he led our team the remaining 25K to the finish. We were a team of 2... however, most teams consisted of between 6 and 10 members, so we were at a disadvantage even at the start. I think Other Kyle took that to heart, and pushed hard. Racing those monstrous downhills is much more structurally damaging than uphill, and Other Kyle definitely paid the price for it. I hope him a safe and speedy recovery!



All in all, it was a great experience! We only received 1 medal for finishing, which sucks. I'll need to talk Other Kyle into racing again next year so that we can both have a medal.


Has anything else happened?

- Germany's time changed today (1 week earlier than the States). So we are currently only 5 hours ahead.
- We might be watching 2 kittens in a week!
- I'm almost finished with the 2nd book in the Codex Alera series (it's what I've been doing when my brain cannot handle more German).
- Elizabeth will be eating vegan starting tomorrow, which means that I'll be eating vegetarian. That's always fun because, try as one may, it's hard not to feel something when eating meat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45nYyUn6Ya8
- We are already arranging plans to visit Esslingen's Weihnachtsmarkt in December (Christmas Market).
- Elizabeth was in London, but she has to share that story herself.
- I'm on the lookout for one more (slow) marathon that I can run this year. It might not be possible to schedule, between increasing work load and our trip home in mid-December.

Lastly, here's a picture of me, very delighted to see the first ("first" as in: "not second") aid station:

Greetings! And welcome to another episode of "Durhams in Germany".

It has grown much colder here in Deutschland. Last weekend was sunny and crisp... but that hasn't happened since. I can't help but wonder if we've seen our last ray of sunshine for a while. Even if it weren't cloudy, the sun is only "out" from 8:00 AM until 6:00 PM. Every day I show up to work damp and chilled. I'll need to begin wearing gloves soon. I'm dreading the time change next week (1 week earlier than the US). Come winter, it'll be dark by 4:00 PM. Blech.

As I said last week, we had a wonderful time with Carole and Dave. They only stayed for two days, but I can't blame them. They had already been traveling across Europe for 3 weeks. I can remember Elizabeth and I were unpleasant and grumpy after our 2-week vacation. A third week might have been enough to kill us.

I studied some Schwäbisch Gmünd history before showing them around. It was fun learning about the landmarks around us. I don't think they believed all of the stories and dates that I told them, but that's understandable. We Americans barely ever encounter things more than 200 years old. My favorite part was sneaking into the Heilig-Kreuz-Münster, which is the old (but newer) church in town. It was built in 1320, 100 years after the Johanniskirche was built. History is not my best subject, but I do occasionally enjoy it.

Since then, there's not been a lot going on. I ran to keep up the habit, but short distances since I'm resting up for next week's 50K with other Kyle. He and I are allowed to split up the race however we choose... so we really need to discuss that this week before it's too late! I think I should take the most uphills and he should take the downhills. He's younger and stronger, so he's more suited for tackling those harsh downhills. They could very easily tear my body apart.

We didn't take any new pictures this week. Instead, here's a picture of Buddy from April 2015. We miss him bunches.



We had one German class this week, and we'll have one German class next week. We can feel ourselves grower dumber. It's unpleasant. If I were more disciplined, I'd probably be studying right now. But no. Shucks.

Last night we hung out with the Seegers again! That is always a wonderful experience. I played soccer with little Finn (he kicked my behind). He and I didn't break a single thing in the house. You should be impressed. We ate excellent food, drank some Amazon.de rum, and discussed the unequivocal hilarity of TV sitcoms. Afterwards, we caught the last train home to Gmünd (the smallest train I've ever seen... only one car long). Germany is lots of fun!

That's all I have this week. I can't stress it enough: you must urge Elizabeth to write a blog post in the middle of the week. She has some exciting travel plans coming up soon. Ask for pictures, too!

Tschau tschau!