my jux

I've decided to document my journeys at a new spot

gallivantingengineer.jux.com

But don't worry, I'll still blog from time to time. However, I need to balance my duties b/t my personal journal I've been writing in since a few weeks ago, this blog, my jux, and REAL works! ;)

eastern european extravaganza: prague and budapest

So I had a fairly busy end of March with lots of networking and traveling! From March 18 to 22, I was in Berlin for the Fulbright Seminar. After, Mary and I embarked on our Eastern European adventure (after Venice, I continued on my own through Italy ... next blog post):

March 22, Prague
March 23-24, Vienna (Wien)
March 25-26, Budapest
March 27, Venice (Venedig)
March 28-30, Rome (Rom)
March 31, Florence (Florenz)
April 1, Cinque Terre (Pisa and wandering around train stations because of a train strike)
April 2, Milan (Mailand)
April 3, 10-hour train from Milan to Bonn!

Prague

So our journey began with a 4ish hour train ride from Berlin Hauptbahnhof (central station) to Praha hlavní nádraží (which is Czech for central train station). The trains in the east are unbelievably slower than those in western Germany. I think the train tracks have not been upgraded to handle faster trains ... still ... it was only 29 EUR to get there!

Despite our short stay here, we saw a lot of the main sites: Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral, the famous Charles Bridge, the Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square, and the Dancing House. We knew we had to visit the Charles Bridge, especially since it was listed in our guidebooks as a tourist must. Thankfully the bridge wasn't incredibly pack when we visited. Filled with artists, Asian tourists making peace signs, Baroque statues, the bridge was quite a spectacular place for panoramic shots of Prague and the castle on the other side of the bridge on top of the hill.

In addition to the main sites, I had goulash for the first time. I think an American equivalent would be something like beef stew minus the vegetables. Mary and I met up with other Fulbrighters, Torsten and Ellie (TandE), our first night and made it a quest to find a nice restaurant for Czech food. On the west side of the river, "Lesser Town" (also where the castle is located) we found a place. Our waiter first asked us where we were from. This question is always a complicated one because we are from America but currently living in Germany for a year. And most of us can speak enough German to get by or even hold a very intelligent conversation auf Deuts

Budapest

After Prague we headed to Vienna (Wien) for a few days. I don't think I'll discuss Wien here, so I'll move on to Budapest, which I really fell in love with.

The Chain Bridge is fairly famous because of its symbolic connection bridging the East and West (i.e. Buda and Pest), engineering design at the time it was built, and importance economically, culturally, and socially to the Hungarians (according to Wikipedia). It was the first bridge to permanently cross the Danube in Budapest and is made out of cast iron. The bridge opened in 1849 and had one of the longest spans (202 m, 663 ft) in the world in former times. Luckily the bridge wasn't overrun with tourists when we visited so we were able to get some good shots of the bridge in the background along with the famous lions at the entrances. Interestingly, the bridge (and also Buda Castle) was in Katy Perry's music video of "Firework"!

We also visited Dohány Street Synagogue, the largest synagogue in Europe, St. Stephen's Basilica, and Buda Castle. There were some spectacular views of Pest and the Danube River from the latter place.

Before we left Budapest, we visited the Great Market Hall, which was quite close to the Danube and just a 5-10 minute walk from the synagogue. WOW! The market hall was quite impressive. Imagine a farmer's market inside a building the size of very large grocery store, with a basement of more food and a 2nd floor of warm/cooked food and tons of gizmos and gadgets (mostly for tourists). I really loved the way the veggies and fruits were displayed; the juxtaposition of such vibrant colors was just superb.



Even though we were only here for a day and a half, I felt Budapest was the city I would most want to return to out of the cities I visited during this E. Europe tour. Not only was Budapest very cheap (they use the Hungarian Forints), but the atmosphere of the city was just right. Furthermore, there not many tourists, since it is fairly east. Budapest is a place I would recommend to anyone wanting to venture outside the typical Western Europe culture and also avoid crowds of tourists (i.e. Prague). 

my first marathon

When I first got to Germany, I had toyed around with the idea of running my first marathon in Germany. I thought to myself that I needed some sort of goal (Ziel) to keep my running in check. I had a few half marathons under my belt so I decided to run two half marathons in October (Cologne and Oldenburg; see previous posts). Around Christmas time, I began to seriously think about signing up for the Deutsche Post Marathon here in Bonn. Not only was it in Bonn (where I am living and working), but it was in April. Just enough time for training (January-April). So I signed up in January - and thus begun the training.

the training

Now, I'm one of those folks who don't like to follow schedules. Maybe a year ago when I was training for my first half marathon, I downloaded a schedule from Hal Higdon. I ended up scratching everything out and making my own! But what did I know about running? This time around, I told myself I needed to follow a schedule because I had heard of so many things that can go wrong with improper training and preparation for 26.2 miles (physically, emotionally, and mentally). Well, you can't teach an old dog new tricks and I'm the old dog apparently. After the 2nd week, I was creating my own plan and doing what I thought was best. If my body responded well to an increase in mileage, then I continued; however, if something I tried made me tired that day, I knew I should tone it down. I've learned from reading comments on running forums that a lot of training really depends on the individual and that person's past running history, feelings, etc.

I'm going to assume my training paid off since I finished the marathon and in an unexpected fast time of 3 hrs, 10 min, and 11 seconds! Here are the most important tidbits from my individual marathon training schedule:

1. At least 2-3 long runs of 18 miles or more within a month of the marathon. I ran an 18-miler and 20-ish miler about 5-7 weeks before the marathon. I couldn't get it closer to the race date because I was traveling around Europe.

2. Build a base of at least 50 to 60 miles per week (mpw) within 1.5-2 months of the marathon. I was running a consistent 8 miles per day and doing a longer run Saturdays/Sundays (9-13 miles).  Then the day after the long run I'd rest a little.

3. Prepare yourself mentally and emotionally for the start, during, and after the marathon. Luckily, I had a friend from my institute come meet me in the morning of the race to see me off. That really helped. He also saw me at the half way point, which I was surprised. That kept me going. I knew that my friends from around the region (Nordrhein-Westfalen, NRW) were going to be at the end. While I was tanking at the end, seeing them near the Ziel was super helpful to give me that last push. More on how I felt after the run later.

4. Eat something before the marathon, but with enough time for digestion. I woke up 4 hours before the start of the marathon to eat two pieces of toast and a banana. Then I went back to bed. I don't usually do well with food in my stomach, so I woke up super early.

5. Plan your recovery after the marathon. I read online that one should reverse-taper and basically invert your marathon training plan the 1-2 weeks before the big race.

6. Sip some water at each water/food station and walk. While I usually hate drinking water during races, it did help to give myself some walking breaks.

the big day

As I mentioned, I woke up 4 hours before the start of the marathon at 6.30 am to get food in my system. I went back to sleep and woke up to the sound of music, which I assumed was for the half marathon, which started at 8.30. Luckily, the start of the race was near the university main building (Uni Hauptgebäude); literally less than 5 minutes. Also, the running course (Laufstrecke) went by my dorm as well (okay, like 1 min away).

I met with Cristian right before the race started who gave me some awesome words of wisdom before the race. There were only about 1600 full marathon runners out of a total of about 12000. They still split us into groups. I was black according to a dot on my bib. Apparently the "black" dot runners were in the very front! I was super nervous!

Some videos of the start from Cristian.

The weather was supposed to be interesting. According to the forecast, a high of 52 degress Fahrenheit was expected, but which some showers. I decided to wear my lucky running shirt (my first half marathon shirt from Moscow, Idaho's race - Emmie Law Memorial Run) with my light Mountain Hardwear Running jacket. I also wore my knee-length running tights, which I've been wearing since winter and have been used to. Something different I did was put vaseline on my nipples! Haha. Most def helped. I didn't want to be bothered by chafing like with Andy in The Office (the episode for the rabies fun run b/c Michael ran over Meredith!). This  turned out to be a good idea because after the marathon I saw a runner with red streaks down his running shirt. I assumed it was blood from his nipples, which had chafed. Super scary!

When my foot touched the RFID-mat, I knew I had to start out slow! I was running 26.2 miles and I needed to conserve at least some energy. Because I had taken the Saturday off and only run about 4 miles on Friday, my legs were a bit stiff. In the first 7 km, I felt I was developing shin splints! I was so worried. I thought to myself, how can I finish this goal that I've had since January if I'm already feeling injured in the first half hour of the race! Luckily, the "pain" or whatever subsided and my legs were in full swing. The first half went well. I finished the HM in about 1:30, which is still pretty fast. So, in hindsight, I may still have been going too fast! Near the Rhine, I saw Cristian again who had come to see me before the 2nd half! I was so grateful for that.

I read something online that I should try to sip water at every water/food station. I decided to follow this because I didn't want to be thirsty and dehydrate myself. I also walked at each station while drinking water. This was my time to (1) drink water without having it spill all over the place (I have yet to master this) and (2) walk and rest my body a little. While I usually don't like having water in my body running, the increasing heat during the day made it a little warm. When clouds would cover the sun, the ambient temperature was perfect.

During my only two long runs, I actually packed a tiny packet of Haribo gummy bears with me to get some sugars to sustain my energy during longer runs! I decided to pack a little plastic baggy of raisins during my marathon. I will have to remember that it was (1) freakin' difficult to get the raisins out of the bag and (2) awkward to eat them while running. I think I did pretty well without eating much during the marathon. I'm afraid of trying those running gels, but I feel like I did run out of energy near the end of the race.

The second half went off well, but I could feel my body beginning to tire. I don't know if I like kilometer markers or mile markers better. Kilometer markers are nice because there are more, but it also makes it seem like you have further to go. Because the Bonn Marathon was just a half marathon route run twice, I knew where the tiny climbs were and I knew how much further I had. I don't know if I really did hit "the wall", but I think I "scraped" it during the last 10 kilometers. My body just felt sluggish. Mentally, I kept thinking, will I finish? When is the next water station coming up so I can walk? Should I walk now? Will I make it? What if I just give up? I truly experienced the mental wall so many marathoners hit.

I remember it quite vividly. I was on the main street heading towards the Post Tower. I past Deutsche Welle and started to walk. I knew I had about 3-4 km left. Again, questions came up as to whether I could finish this darn race. A few runners past me. I remembered there was one more water/food station. I told myself to run to the station, walk a bit, and run the last 2-3 km. I was so close. I decided I needed to finish this damn race running and not walking! As I ran down Adenauerallee away from DW, the Langer Eugen (the UN Building), past Haus der Geschichte, and towards the Hofgarten and Kaisersplatz, I heard the words (or screams) of encouragement from spectators. As I entered Münsterplatz, I saw someone with long hair jumping up and down. It was Kim!

I had invited a few friends of mine in the Fulbright program to come and celebrate my finish of the marathon. Kim and Tyler (Münster), Mary (Düsseldorf), and Robert (Bergisch-Gladbach) came to join me in my post-marathon celebration (hopefully!). I had expected them at a certain place within 1 km of the finish line but didn't see them. I was a little worried their train was late or something. But within a minute, I saw Kim's wonderfully flowing hair, Tyler's hand up in the air (w/ his high school ring), Robert and his umbrella, and Mary taking pictures! Seeing them there helped push me to keep going. At this point, I think I had about 0.5 km to go. I was really trying with all my might to finish this damn race! (Literally what I was thinking!)

after the marathon

It was a relief to finally run up the yellow mats with the black Deutsche Post symbols and see a time of 3:10:11. Most def surpassed my "tiered" goals. I had initially set up a goal to finish around 3:15. After talking with some peeps I realized that may have been too lofty of a goal so I set up another one of 3:30. The night before the race I was getting butterflies in my stomach and decided that the overall goal was just to finish and I knew I could do that under 4 hrs. So I had three goals. Lol. Essentially I surpassed them all and I was very excited.

When I crossed the finished, I knew I had to keep walking. I read online that laying down or sitting right after the marathon might make stiff muscles stiffer. My legs felt like sticks and my feet were on fire. My muscles did not want to function properly. But I headed to the tents where they had refreshments and food. I headed there right away because I read online about a marathon runner who took about 5 hours to finish and there was no more food! This same race (Bonn Marathon) had advertised all this food, bars, fruits, etc (like this year), but apparently after the HM and the fast marathoners, there was nothing but like a tiny piece of bread left. (And there is a picture on his blog as evidence. I was quite determined to get SOMETHING for the HELL I just ran through. ;))

Kein Problem. There were tons of bananas, some sort of lard/butter spread on bread, rando sausages, chocolate bars, water, Apfelschorle, etc. I downed about three cups of Apfelschorle, a banana, and that lard spread (of course, with some salt on the side - typisch Deutsch). I got my bag from the storage tent and met the other in front of the Rathaus. I had three free coupons or "Bons" for food/drinks (Essen/Getränke) in the marathon tent set up at Münsterplatz, so I said we should use them. I was able to procure two beers (I had a Kölsch), a bowl of noodles with red sauce, and 4 yogurt things. I had the pasta, which gave me some needed nutrients.

I was able to find Mary, Kim, Robert, and Tyler at the Marktplatz by the Rathaus. Of course, it started RAINING when I was trying find them. Gott sei Dank (thank god) I finished when I did!

The photo (above, left) was taken 15-20 minutes after finishing the marathon. I was having difficulties walking. Mary snapped this awesome picture of me being über-confused. "Are you taking a picture?" The answer is always yes. The next photo is of Mary, Kim, and I with our awesome coats: Mary's tattered, old blue coat that has survived who knows how many trips, my burgundy running coat that I ALWAYS wear, and Kim's awesome BENCH coat. It should have been a coat party. ;)

post marathon festivities

Luckily, the HARIBO-shop in Bad Godesberg was open that Sunday so we headed down there before dinner. As always, it was an amazing experience. I ended up buying a 2 kg bag b/c it was cheaper per kg and had a few varieties I haven't had! I was quite excited, and so were Robert and Tyler, this visit being their first to the HARIBO-shop!

However, during our trek from the U-bahn stop to the actual store, we got caught in an intense lightning/thunder/hail storm! It was so bad we found cover in some building opening! I was lucky to have finished the marathon by this time! In reality, 30 minutes or so after I had crossed the finished line and met with my friends, it started raining. So the forecasters were right ... there was going to be rain ... just a little later than planned, and maybe more intense than expected!

I had made reservations at Cafe Pendel (one of my favorite places to eat/drink in Bonn). I was last there with Guilherme and a friend of his for wine. I had eyed a waiter bringing another table their food that night and the burger looked awesome. Even though I kept saying Pendel was sooo good (without actually having had the food at that time), I was quite confident. Out of us 5, 4 of us got burgers at Pendel! Haha. It was a bit silly, but I think it was worth it. The Basic Burger (6 Euros) was simply divine and came with fries (Pommes), the latter always a selling point.

A funny reenacted conversation between Kim and I at Pendel:

Julian: Oh, I highly recommend the burgers. Actually, I think everything here is really good.
Kim: How many times have you been here?
Julian: Oh, just once. I had drinks with a friend.
Kim: What? You didn't have any food?
Julian: No, but the burger looked good. I think you should get it.
Kim: That doesn't make sense. What are you drinking?
Julian: I think I'll have a Kölsch. All the beers look good.
Kim: Did you have the Hefeweizen?
Julian: No, I had wine, but I highly recommend it.
[Kim gives me that look of YOU ARE CRAY CRAY.]


Typical me. I told Mary this and she pointed out that the beer in this region, Kölsch, is pretty much the same everywhere. Stimmt.

After our amazing burgers, I said goodbye to my friends and headed back to my dorm. With my tummy full and feeling very happy after spending some time with awesome peeps, I certainly slept well that night.

the recovery

The next day, I woke up with stiff muscles. I was afraid I was not going to be able to walk or climb/descend stairs, but I was okay for that. Kim had told me a story of a friend who ran marathons and was unable to go down stairs after. So she had to descend backwards! But my shins and associated stiffness have slowly died down. I'm slowly beginning to run again. I may have run too much yesterday, but I think it should be okay!

Stats
Deutsche Post Marathon Bonn
Time: 3:10:11
Splits: 10k (00:42:48), HM1 (1:30:46), HM2 (1:39:25)

Links
http://www.deutschepost-marathonbonn.de/
http://www.cafe-bistro-pendel.de/

Karneval ... it's like Halloween on crack

Costumes. Candy. Chocolates. Carnival.

While similar to the Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday in the states, Carnival (Karneval)  or the "Fifth Season" officially starts on November 11 (11/11) at 11:11 am and actually ends on Ash Wednesday. According to Wikipedia, there are a couple different types of "Karneval" in Germany - and this is quite true. The Rhineland is probably most well-known and famous for its Karneval celebration with the biggest and most famous parade/celebration in Cologne. In other areas, such as eastern/southern Germany and Austria, this time of the year is called Fasching. In the SW of Germany and Franconia, it is known as Fastnacht (Fast in German is similar to our fasting). Mardi Gras is one day. Karneval is a week-long, drunken party starting on Thursday before Ash Wednesday - Weiberfastnacht. There are parades throughout the week. The main parades and festivities occur on Rosenmontag (Rose Monday) and the day after is called Faschingdienstag. 

After hearing about the exciting candy collecting possibilities, I made it one of my goals to see as many parades as possible. My friends and I were able to attend Karnevalsumzüge (Carnival Parades) in Kessenich (Bonn), a small one in Cologne, Endenich (Bonn), Bad Godesberg (Bonn), and the big one in Cologne. In my opinion, the best parade was in Bad Godesberg. Not only did we have a great spot (we were in the front basically), but there was sooo much candy and stuff being thrown at us for about 1.5 hrs. Also, Obi (a store similar to Home Depot or Lowe's) was handing out BUCKETS for candy collection. Legit. Also, my friend caught an onion, which we later used for dinner. Haha.

If it is also your first Karneval, the following steps should help you make the most of your first Karnevalsumzug!

Step 1. Dress up.

Step 1b. If you can't find the parade, follow the German women with strollers or people with bags. Or, simply follow people with duffel bags or suitcases. 

Step 2a. Have candy, onions, tissues, chips, and rando other household items thrown at you.
Step 2b. Collect aforementioned thrown things.

Step 2c. Accept any shots of alcohol. In this case, a shot of Eierlikör (eggnog liquor ...) at 10 am. Perfect breakfast.

Step 2d. If buckets are provided, use for collection.

Step 3. Organize.

Step 4. Enjoy!

I don't think I can stand Halloween now. Why go door to door, when you can plop yourself down at one spot and have candy thrown at you?

Now that's service.

Christmas and New Year's!

Sooo this should be considered a retroactive post ... but I felt like I could just post a few videos which might describe my adventures during the Xmas and New Year's holidays with a few descriptions!

Before the Christmas holidays began, Tyler and I decided to visit Trier, which is located in western Germany on the Mosel River. Trier is probably most famous as being the "oldest" settlement or city in Germany. According to Wikipedia, it was founded around 16 BC. Most interesting in the city is the ancient Roman ruins and the Porta Nigra, a gate used by the Romans in the ancient past. Along with collecting an awesome Christmas market mug (Weihnachtsmarkt Tasse) - also another story: my mug collection! - we heard this awesome "boy band" on the street! Hehe.

Probably the biggest, most well-known and famous Christmas market is in Nürnberg. My friends, Mary and Tyler, and I traveled to Nürnberg and Bamberg during the weekend of December 9th to experience the Christkindlemarkt.

 For Christmas, I travelled with Marianna and Kim up to Sweden! Yes, it was quite  dark (especially after 4 pm), but it was actually not that cold! We've had colder during the month of February! We trekked it all the way up via train from Germany! I started my trip at 1 am on a weekday and arrived in Göteborg around 7 pm. We did have a three or four hour layover in Copenhagen. The entire trip took around 10-11 hours on the train. The most interesting part of the trip was when they placed the train on a ferry! This occurred b/t Germany and Denmark. Quite exciting! The views from the ferry were just simply superb.

 We stayed with in Göteborg (Gothenburg) near Marianna's relatives. For our Christmas Day dinner, we made a splendid dinner!

In addition, we were able to visit the Swedish version of the Christmas market and luckily got to see an ice skating show!

After Christmas and before New Year's, our group from Marburg got together in Münster for an after after Christmas day dinner! This video shows Kim mastering the art of the Feuerzangenbowle, which is a drink involving a sugarloaf soaked in rum being set on fire. Then the stuff drips into the mülled wine. According to Wikipedia.

For New Year's, Mariko, Dave, Mary, and I enjoyed a nice dinner in Bonn and then trekked up to Cologne to see the fireworks. There wasn't a real "fireworks show" like in the states, but rather, a 1000 mini fireworks show. I think you can get the idea from the videos below. It was a little scary to have a mini fireworks show going on 10 feet from you. I didn't want to lose any bodyparts that night ... eek.

I guess you gotta go big or go home.

Redewendungen

Redewendungen = idiomatic expressions, idioms, phrases

Ever since that glorious day I learned a few idiomatic expressions during my summer language course, I have been a little obsessed with learning new ones every day (jeden Tag). In English, we use these common phrases in our everyday language; however, I believe it's more difficult in another language. You basically need to memorize what the entire phrase means. Otherwise, it might be some jibberish about broccoli in someone's pants or something (that isn't a real expression, or I hope not). But I thought I'd make my next blog entry about a few expressions I've learned and started to use. They are quite funny.

am Arsch der Welt = middle of nowhere, buttfuck nowhere (literally - the ass of the world)
ex. Othello, Washington ist am Arsch der Welt.

nicht alle Tassen im Schrank haben  = to not have all one's marbles; to be a little crazy (lit. to not have all the cups in the cupboard)

eine Naschkatze sein = to have a sweet tooth (lit. to be a snacking cat)
ex. Ich bin eine Naschkatze, weil ich jeden Tag Schokolade und HARIBO esse. (I have a sweet tooth because every day I eat chocolate and HARIBO.)

Äpfel mit Birnen vergleichen = to compare apples and oranges (lit. to compare apples with pears)

aus allen Wolken fallen = to be taken by complete surprise; to be flabbergasted (lit. to fall out of the clouds)

am Zug sein = to be somebody's turn/move (lit. to be on the train)

aus der Reihe tanzen = to march to a different drummer (lit. to dance/step out of line); to be an individual (basically, the folks who live in Seattle)

ex. Die Leute, die in Portland wohnen, tanzen aus der Reihe. (The people who live in Portland march to a different drummer.)

den Mantel nach dem Wind(e) hängen = to float with the tide; "to go with the flow" (lit. to hang your coat to the winds)

lange Finger (haben) = to have (sticky hands); to steal (lit. to have long fingers)

aus der Haut fahren = to jump out of one's skin; to blow one's top (lit. to drive out of the skin)

jemandem (genau) auf die Finger sehen/gucken/schauen  = to keep a sharp eye on somebody (to look/see someone on your fingers ... it doesn't really translate well into Englisch ...)

auf dem Zahnfleisch gehen = to be on one's last legs (lit. to go off the gums (teeth gums, teeth flesh)

ex. Ich ging auf dem Zahnfleisch nach dem Marathon. (I was on my last legs (exhausted) after the marathon.)

It doesn't matter to me, whatever, regardless, meh. = 

Mir (ist) egal.

Egal.

Das ist (mir) Jacke wie Hose (lit. jackets like pants, jackets to pants)

Das ist gehüpft wie gespungen = Gehüpft wie gesprungen. (lit. that is like hopping to jumping)

wie eine gesengte Sau fahren = to drive like a maniac, crazy person (lit. to drive like a singed (scorched) pig/sow)

Hope you enjoyed these phrases! They are my favorites!

Das Wort des Tages: Hochwasser

German Word of the Day: Hochwasser

Hoch: High
Wasser: Water
High waters.

Hochwasser = flood, high waters, flood waters

So a few days ago, I wanted to go my usual run along the Rhine (German: Rhein).  The nice thing about living in Bonn is that I'm über-close to the Rhine River, which (1) makes for nice, long, and straight runs and (2) warmer weather because of the water. Well, there is a disadvantage - Hochwasser. Now, I have seen these signs before indicating Hochwasser, but the water wasn't that high. Unfortunately, the water WAS high that basically the entire running/cycling paths were in the Rhine. Mind you, this is a major thoroughfare for cyclists and walkers.

I had to run along a major street which actually suits my longer distances more. There are a few major intersections to cross (oh, an off and on ramp to a freeway) and two tram tracks, but nothing too bad. But I noticed that the others who also run in the morning along the same path along the Rhine were also running along this same street.

Here are some pics of the Hochwasser.

Yup, there goes the running the path!

I really like this ship that's usually docked. It's called the Moby Dick and kind of looks like a whale. But you know there are problems when (1) you need to walk UP the gangway to get onto a ship and (2) the ship looks like it's about to attack you on land.

So usually there's a paved sidewalk probably the width of this gravel walkway to the left that is basically inundated with water.

At least they have a nice sign.

Hmm ... I don't think I'll be sitting on that bench anytime soon. I might swim to it. ;)

26.2 = 42.195

While I've been meaning to actually post pictures and blog-worthy items for a while (i.e. 3-4 months), I think I might just start fresh and talk about things happening now, rather than try to remember what the heck happened months ago. On December 31st, I, Julian Jon Reyes, signed up for my first marathon! Why that date you make ask? Well, that was the last day for a special price for signing up. I think I saved like 3-4 EUR, which is like 2-4 days' worth of meals, right? Okay, more like chocolate, bread, cheese, salami, and like juice. But still.

I signed up for the Deutsche Post Marathon in Bonn on Sunday, April 22nd. The route takes the runner through most of downtown Bonn and down south to Bad Godesberg (where the HARIBO shop is located) and across the southern bridge (I forget what it's official name is - Kennedybrücke?) to the rightside of the Rhine and through Beuel and back through Bonn. The 1/2 Marathon is this length, while the full marathon is this route twice. To be honest, I am terrified at running this distance and for such a long time.

While I have been running for the past two years and have built a very good base for running with 9 (I think) half marathons under my built, the marathon is "a whole 'nother beast" from what others have told me. The half marathon is the perfect race/distance because you can still go "all out" at the beginning trying to get the fastest time, yet the distance is just right that you'll probably poop out near or at a distance after you've finished. The marathon is different. 26.2 miles or 42.195 km. Double the 1/2 marathon. You can't expect to keep up that kind of fast pace for 26.2 miles ... or more than 2 hours. That's crazy. Most people have to tell themselves to start slow and not go too fast at the very beginning. That will be the hardest part for me. I run at a constant pace for all my runs. I have an internal pace and it's hard to just stop that and start running slower! In addition to running with "feeling", I do not wear a watch while running. I pretty much am within 1-2 minutes of knowing how long I've ran if I know the distance and vice versa. If I know the distance, I can say how long I've been running. It'll be difficult to change this route of mine, but the 2nd week of marathon training is in full gear and we'll see how my second "official" long run goes - 9 miles.

The goal of my first marathon is around 3 hours and 20 minutes. I'm giving myself enough time in case I have to walk a little bit or something happens. That equals about a 7.6 min/mile pace. My fastest half marathon was about 1:29 ... which is a pace of just under 7 min/mile. I will just have to remind myself to start slow ... I'll have to check on how I'm feeling physically, emotionally, and mentally when I reach the half-way point!

But speaking of goals, I've gone further and made another goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon! Of course, for 2013 (which, if I did qualify, and if I was actually able to sign up - which is difficult b/c of the many people who want to race - many qualify and many aren't able to sign up), the time for my age group is 3:05. And the Bonn Marathon isn't a recognized race. So I've also decided to run in the Würzburg Marathon (i-Welt, or something like that), which is later in May and recognized by the Boston Athletic Association (BAA). There and then, I hope to qualify for the BM. Sigh. I think I'm setting goals that are too lofty for myself. But I feel like I've been stuck in a rut - running every day is great, but I need a new goal. Also, half marathons are great, but at what point can I move on to a longer distance? Or maybe I should shoot for faster paces?

Anywho, these are my feelings about running and a brief update. While I like thought of starting a new blog called "Running through Germany", which can be taken literally as well as traveling, etc, I think gallivanting engineer still suits. I like traveling and I like running. Gallivanting is like both ... except maybe more aimless?

I'll leave you with two pictures from the Oldenburg Half Marathon back in October. I really like the first one, which is quite awkward with two Germans behind me and their most amazing faces.