A while back I proclaimed my intent to sign up at the gym here in Waldkraiburg. I finally got around to doing so last Thursday. I've been in the gym three times now (not including when I'll go today after work) and relishing in the familiar sensation of being sore. Since coming to Germany I've physically tested my body on a number of occasions, but it's nothing like the workload I'm used to subjecting myself to back home. I covet the daily 5 milers and 4+ days of climbing each week that were routine. I've yet to obtain a car and my array of friends lacks interest in physical or outdoor endeavors. This leaves me with limited options for companionship in kicking my own ass at the closest climbing gym or shredding my tips out on the cliffs. That being said, going to the gym (regular gym) in conjunction with running and getting outside on my bike is seemingly a good way to spend my time in between the more lofty outdoor adventures.
However, this regimen isn't likely to feed my appetite for too long. Sooner or later something has to give. Perhaps after a few visits to the climbing gym I'll be able to track down some other loonies like myself to venture into the wilderness with. If that doesn't happen it won't be long before I either start going insane or start planning a solo trip. Outdoor pursuits aside, I'm back to being injury free and my fitness level is rapidly returning. I won't say I'm 'back to normal' since many will argue that I don't particularly qualify for normal. I weighed myself at the gym yesterday on their scale that also tells you body fat percentage. 5.9% with a healthy BMI of 20.5? Yeah man, certainly back to abnormal.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Instinct
Running before work has not been successful. Running after work has been alright though. I replaced my shoes about 2 weeks ago after taking a look at what I'd been running on. Every time I ran made my left calf muscle hurt more and more. I think this is why:
Just a hunch
My orthodics are long past due for replacing as well, but they're insanely expensive. I'm looking to get away from needing to wear them if I can. A friend told me about a store that would be hosting a race. Any store that hosts a race must have a few employees with solid running shoe knowledge, so I opted to check it out. My assessment was dead on. I could tell by the shoes that they carry that somebody there knew a thing or two about running shoes. The selection was mostly Asics and Brooks but consisted of their top models. I already knew my foot type and strike pattern, but I let the guy check me out anyway. After trying on few different models I was pretty much sold on one pair. The guy helping was trying to put me in a lesser known model from Brooks, but I wasn't having it. Having read some reviews of this shoe, I knew what they were all about and they just didn't compare to the other models I had tried on. It was a recent release that Brooks more or less decided to drop after it didn't receive the feedback they were looking for. They have a great selection of running shoes and this didn't really add much to their line-up so they took it off their website. I figured this guy was trying to get these shoes out of his stock so he could bring in a different model. It's not uncommon for shoe stores to do this. They will never put you in a shoe that isn't right for you, but if it's pretty close to a shoe that is right for you then they're going to push that one a bit harder to get it off their shelves. No harm done, I just didn't want that shoe. I walked out with a pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10's. I've run in several older versions of this shoe so I was familiar with the fit and feel.
While at the store I couldn't help but sign up for the race. Sure, I wasn't in very good shape having not run for a month or better because of that ugly hamstring injury, but this was just for fun. Hmmm, fun. I didn't get much training in during the following week because of work. A bunch of Netzsch employees, and distributors, from America came to Germany for a water treatment conference. I went to the conference on Wednesday and got invited to dinner with our guests on three days out of out of the week. Saturday came up fast and I had only run on Monday. Oh yeah, I'm so ready for this race. I woke up at 7AM to get ready and decided to take a glance at the race flyer. The race was on Sunday. After double checking the date against my watch and my cell phone, I hopped back into bed for a few extra hours of sleep. I made sure not to waste the day and went out for a few miles later on.
7AM came again Sunday morning and I made sure to eat and hydrate well before the race. My friends came to pick me up an hour before the gun would go off, and asked which distance I was planning to run. A bit confused, I justed looked at them. I had been thinking this was a 5k and found out that the race was set up for 7k, 14k and 21k. I should pay more attention to what I sign up for. I settled on running the 7k but wondered why the obscure distance. I realized the logic once I did the conversion to miles. 21k is about 13 miles or a half marathon. We got to the start with about a half hour until the start and the friends I'd soon be running with didn't appear too concerned with warming up. Short on time, I went to get a few laps and some drills in before the gun. I was really just planning to treat this race like a normal training run but when I heard that gun, instinct took over. I strode out with the leaders for a while before settling into a rhythm. About a mile in, the first hill appeared. It didn't look all that bad so I approached it with liberal speed and shortened my stride a bit. When I got the to top I realized no one was opening up on the downhill. This was my chance to let gravity take over and move up a bit. I kept with this strategy throughout the race and managed to work my way up quite nicely. At the 1km to go mark I started eying up the runners ahead of me. They didn't look much like kickers which left me wide open to pass on by. I silently closed the gap before hittin' the throttle at 200meters. I crossed the line at 33 minutes and feeling great. My friend who wasn't racing told me that I had finished in 8th place. Hmm, not too shabby. I suspect that most of the serious runners opted for the 14 and 21k races. My time wasn't anything to brag about but the race was fun and I was happy to be running at my normal pace again. More training and more racing await. Next year I'm going after the 21k!
7AM came again Sunday morning and I made sure to eat and hydrate well before the race. My friends came to pick me up an hour before the gun would go off, and asked which distance I was planning to run. A bit confused, I justed looked at them. I had been thinking this was a 5k and found out that the race was set up for 7k, 14k and 21k. I should pay more attention to what I sign up for. I settled on running the 7k but wondered why the obscure distance. I realized the logic once I did the conversion to miles. 21k is about 13 miles or a half marathon. We got to the start with about a half hour until the start and the friends I'd soon be running with didn't appear too concerned with warming up. Short on time, I went to get a few laps and some drills in before the gun. I was really just planning to treat this race like a normal training run but when I heard that gun, instinct took over. I strode out with the leaders for a while before settling into a rhythm. About a mile in, the first hill appeared. It didn't look all that bad so I approached it with liberal speed and shortened my stride a bit. When I got the to top I realized no one was opening up on the downhill. This was my chance to let gravity take over and move up a bit. I kept with this strategy throughout the race and managed to work my way up quite nicely. At the 1km to go mark I started eying up the runners ahead of me. They didn't look much like kickers which left me wide open to pass on by. I silently closed the gap before hittin' the throttle at 200meters. I crossed the line at 33 minutes and feeling great. My friend who wasn't racing told me that I had finished in 8th place. Hmm, not too shabby. I suspect that most of the serious runners opted for the 14 and 21k races. My time wasn't anything to brag about but the race was fun and I was happy to be running at my normal pace again. More training and more racing await. Next year I'm going after the 21k!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Untimely Motivation
I started the weekend off by going to the beerfest in Mühldorf this weekend, spending yet another night in my proper 'German' attire. The climax of the night had to be when my friends got me to stand up on the table with them and taught me a very interesting dance to a popular folk song. Friends from the table across from us thought it was hilarious and captured the act with their cameras and phones. I'm venturing that the pictures will surface on facebook eventually. Perhaps I'll share them here, if I don't destroy the evidence first. Some friends wanted to go again on Saturday night. I reluctantly went along as I did not want to be out too late the night before an early morning ride. As it turns out, my friend and I were right in not wanting to go as the entire place was packed. Reminder: beerfests are like carnivals with all the rides and such, and they serve lots of beer in 1 Liter mugs. Saturday is the most popular night to go and there was not one seat left in the house. After over an hour of endlessly walking around in an unsuccessful search of a place to sit down, eat and drink, my friend and I decided we'd had enough and went home. I didn't bother to ask him if he went back to pick them up later as he said he would. He was pretty heated about event, as his girlfriend was the one that insisted on going and then decided that we had to find a table rather than just heading to the bar. So I decided not to bring it up with him again.
I was happy to get home early, in anticipation of the mountain biking ride scheduled for the following day. Sundays are the day for the weekend warrior to embark on adventure since there isn't much else to do. No stores or businesses are open. So aside from house work, blahhh house work, Sundays are best for getting outside. However, after settling into bed I got a text message from my biking partner telling me that he was in dire need of a rest day. A bit bummed, I understood completely. Some days you just need a break. Instead I decided on going for a run, and not a 12k. I backed it down to 5 miles today and kept the pace down as well. I didn't feel all that great since I hadn't eaten anything yet, but dismissed the feeling in favor of capitalizing on the present surge of motivation. I paid the price. Just 2 minutes into the run I could feel that my breathing was a notch faster than usual and that my stomach felt like it was imploding. That's more or less what it was doing; eating away at every bit of fat/energy left inside me. It was one of those runs that you just have to battle through. Couldn't motivation have waited until after I had eaten? On a positive note, my hamstring didn't cause me any pain today. I didn't even notice any tension. 'Sighs of relief.'
My plan this week is to run in the mornings before work. I always tell myself that I'm going to start running in the morning but I've yet to really commit. I might go once or twice before concluding that I'm still too tired for this crap at 5AM. I get plenty of sleep as I am generally in bed by 10:30 during the week, so I can't play that card. The issue is that my body is simply used to getting up at 7, regardless of what time I went to bed the night before. It's routine. So I just have to force myself into getting up at 5, hmm maybe 6, until my body adapts and accepts it as routine. Come on motivation!!!!
On a side note, I replaced the tube to my camelbak a few months ago after it was claimed by mold. The bladder isn't so difficult to dry out as you can generally find something to stick inside it (aside from the thing that camelbak sells) to let air in. But how do you get air into the tube without taking the valve off? What's your solution camelbak users? Do you hang it upside down or something? I'd like to find an effective remedy so I don't have to replace any more tubes in the near future. I can sense someone telling me to read the instruction manual. But when do guys read instruction manuals?
I was happy to get home early, in anticipation of the mountain biking ride scheduled for the following day. Sundays are the day for the weekend warrior to embark on adventure since there isn't much else to do. No stores or businesses are open. So aside from house work, blahhh house work, Sundays are best for getting outside. However, after settling into bed I got a text message from my biking partner telling me that he was in dire need of a rest day. A bit bummed, I understood completely. Some days you just need a break. Instead I decided on going for a run, and not a 12k. I backed it down to 5 miles today and kept the pace down as well. I didn't feel all that great since I hadn't eaten anything yet, but dismissed the feeling in favor of capitalizing on the present surge of motivation. I paid the price. Just 2 minutes into the run I could feel that my breathing was a notch faster than usual and that my stomach felt like it was imploding. That's more or less what it was doing; eating away at every bit of fat/energy left inside me. It was one of those runs that you just have to battle through. Couldn't motivation have waited until after I had eaten? On a positive note, my hamstring didn't cause me any pain today. I didn't even notice any tension. 'Sighs of relief.'
My plan this week is to run in the mornings before work. I always tell myself that I'm going to start running in the morning but I've yet to really commit. I might go once or twice before concluding that I'm still too tired for this crap at 5AM. I get plenty of sleep as I am generally in bed by 10:30 during the week, so I can't play that card. The issue is that my body is simply used to getting up at 7, regardless of what time I went to bed the night before. It's routine. So I just have to force myself into getting up at 5, hmm maybe 6, until my body adapts and accepts it as routine. Come on motivation!!!!
On a side note, I replaced the tube to my camelbak a few months ago after it was claimed by mold. The bladder isn't so difficult to dry out as you can generally find something to stick inside it (aside from the thing that camelbak sells) to let air in. But how do you get air into the tube without taking the valve off? What's your solution camelbak users? Do you hang it upside down or something? I'd like to find an effective remedy so I don't have to replace any more tubes in the near future. I can sense someone telling me to read the instruction manual. But when do guys read instruction manuals?
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Time to kick the plague
That ugly bruise on my hamstring has disappeared completely. It didn't give me any problems during my last biking trip either. Both good signs that I'm pretty excited about. I went out for a short run last week, thinking that an easy 5km would be alright. It probably would have if I hadn't changed my mind. The 5k loop that I was planning on doing is 100% flat and the scenery, while a nice wooded area, is the same throughout and I wanted something a bit more interesting. So I decided to change course and follow a trail that parallels the roadway and eventually enters a town that a friend of mine lives in. Having made the trip by car several times I had a feel for the distance and estimated that it would take me about an hour to run out-and-back. This run is much more interesting. I arrived at my turn-around-point at approximately 33 minutes. Right on target. I had taken the pace a bit slower than usual so I could pay more attention to how my hamstring was holding up. It was a bit tight, along with my calf, so I took a few minutes to stretch before making my way back. I knew from the start that there was a well known hill that I would have to climb on the way back. This was what I came for. Still feeling OK, I decided to keep the pace down as I had on the way out. Better not to push it too far yet. Nearly 10 minutes later I was facing the hill. Long and rather steep looking. Short strides, lean forward. No problem. I was up the hill in no time and not feeling beat up at all. I made it back at 68 minutes. After cleaning up and getting dinner I logged the run at mapmyrun.com and discovered that my 5k turned into 12k (7.82 miles) and that my pace was around 8:30/mile. Around a minute slower than usual. Given the mileage and my usual pace, I would have normally clocked in around 58 minutes. How bout that 1 hour estimate?
There's still a small knot lingering in my hamstring, but it's getting smaller and should be gone within another week or so. I'm going to chance it on a bike trip into the mountains on Sunday. I can't wait to kick this plague of injuries. I haven't done much climbing since I've gotten here, but I'm looking to remedy that next weekend in Frankenjura. Depending on how my finger reacts, I may opt to get it checked out. I'm pretty fed up with not being able to climb on it. It's about time to figure out what's wrong with it so I can do what's needed to get back to climbing status.
In addition I'm looking to get back to running status. I've been wanting to get into racing shape for some time and I've got enough motivation built up right now to do it. A friend of mine suggested the Leadville Trail 100 to me and it got me psyched. This ultramarathon is in Leadville, CO and loops around 100 miles of the Rocky Mountains and climbs nearly 3,000 ft. Although mostly known for the 100 mile mountain bike race, they also host a number of shorter races. I'm really psyched on training for the marathon. Not quite as bad ass as the 100, but it still looks awesome. I figure on running it after I'm officially back from Germany, so that gives me more than a year to train properly. I've got good opportunity to run at altitude here since I'm fairly close to the Alps. I plan on signing up for a few road and/or trail races to supplement my training here and get used to racing longer distances again. At this point I'm not looking to beat any specific time since this will be my first ever marathon, and a rough one at that. This will be solely about enjoying the run, the people and the course. I'm looking forward to training at full strength once this hamstring injury lets up.
There's still a small knot lingering in my hamstring, but it's getting smaller and should be gone within another week or so. I'm going to chance it on a bike trip into the mountains on Sunday. I can't wait to kick this plague of injuries. I haven't done much climbing since I've gotten here, but I'm looking to remedy that next weekend in Frankenjura. Depending on how my finger reacts, I may opt to get it checked out. I'm pretty fed up with not being able to climb on it. It's about time to figure out what's wrong with it so I can do what's needed to get back to climbing status.
In addition I'm looking to get back to running status. I've been wanting to get into racing shape for some time and I've got enough motivation built up right now to do it. A friend of mine suggested the Leadville Trail 100 to me and it got me psyched. This ultramarathon is in Leadville, CO and loops around 100 miles of the Rocky Mountains and climbs nearly 3,000 ft. Although mostly known for the 100 mile mountain bike race, they also host a number of shorter races. I'm really psyched on training for the marathon. Not quite as bad ass as the 100, but it still looks awesome. I figure on running it after I'm officially back from Germany, so that gives me more than a year to train properly. I've got good opportunity to run at altitude here since I'm fairly close to the Alps. I plan on signing up for a few road and/or trail races to supplement my training here and get used to racing longer distances again. At this point I'm not looking to beat any specific time since this will be my first ever marathon, and a rough one at that. This will be solely about enjoying the run, the people and the course. I'm looking forward to training at full strength once this hamstring injury lets up.
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