« Cold Weather Running | Main | Confessions of a Confused Runner »

12K Run and a Lesson on Forestry

I ran my 12K route last night. I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of the paths through the woods were freshly ploughed. Methinks that the town plowed the paths so that the locals can do their logging. In Germany you can bid on a certain section of the forest and go in and cut the trees in your section, either the thinning’s for firewood or the adult trees for lumber. I guess this is highly controlled by typical German bureaucracy, probably a panel consisting of a forester, game warden, environmentalist, naturist, animal rights activist, a member of the local logging club and at least one from the town board.

This is not too far from the truth, wood is a valuable asset in Germany (i.e. expensive). I know when I was in the military we used to go on maneuvers in some of the training areas. After we were done doing our thing, a team similar to that described above went through the training area and assessed what damage we had done, and promptly send a bill for every tree, bush, pig and chicken to Uncle Sam.

Anyway the run went well, it was about -1°C (30°F), a slight breeze, but bearable. I finished in 84 minutes, which is about average. I only missed my old friend sunshine, I guess the sun had better things to do elsewhere.

Here is a breakdown of my 12K route:

2-3K asphalt path between the open fields leading from my town to the neighboring town (north).
1-2K gravel/mud path between the neighboring town and the woods where I run, open fields again (north).
2K dirt/mud path along the edge of said woods (north).
1K asphalt road through said woods (my fast track - west).
4K dirt/mud path though said woods (south)
1K dirt/mud path between two fields (south)
1K asphalt path (south)
1K gravel/mud path (south)
a couple hundred meters road/sidewalk

I’m pretty sure the route is over 12K, but I like to think of it as 12K, it's a mind thing - makes those half-marathon's seem a little bit shorter.

Posted by Jack on March 3, 2005 3:12 AM |

Comments

DATE: 11:34 AM
Hey, just found your blog. The Germany part caught my attention as I used to live in Karlsruhe and Mannheim when I was in high school! Loved it. Good luck with your running. You have some wonderful places to train.

Posted by: Susan | July 5, 2006 11:55 PM


DATE: 12:32 PM
Hi Susan, I live about 10 minutes north of Karlsruhe. I'm running the Badischemeile (8.8889K) in May which runs right through the middle of the city - close to the old Patrick Henry Village and Smiley Barracks if you remember those places. I have also run 10K races in almost every corner of Karlsruhe at one time or the other.

Mannheim is on my list, maybe the marathon this year in May, or a half later in the summer.

Posted by: Jack | July 5, 2006 11:55 PM

DATE: 2:53 PM
Heh, heh. Beurocrats are made in a special secret lab in a neutral country and distributed to the different countries of the world as needed. A free service. :D

But running in the woods is nice. I like it where I am but sometimes I hear gunfire and it makes me nervous.

By the way, they do have Nutella here. Its usually next to the peanut butter. There are two problems with it: 1) wife is allergic and won't allow it in the house, 2) I have a tendency to eat the entire jar in one sitting. :(

Posted by: Jon in Michigan | July 5, 2006 11:55 PM

DATE: 3:28 PM
Sounds like a nice run. Funny I find since running a marathon all other distance seem so much shorter.

Thanks for visiting my site, I am enjoying yours...Dawn

Posted by: Anonymous | July 5, 2006 11:55 PM

Post a comment