Sonntag, 25. Oktober 2015
Racing Fun
durhamfamily, 16:21h
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:
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:
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