I had a 9 km/5.5 mi. run on the schedule, so changed quick and headed out the door. I ran in shorts, but wore a light jacket against the cool wind that traced across the open fields. My legs felt pretty good, despite the fast 10K race the day before, do I maintained a good pace as I ran my loop. After being uncomfortably cold most of the day the run warmed me up and I was in good spirits as I returned to the house. I averaged around 8:30/mi. (5:18/km) for the loop, which is pretty good for me right after a faster race.

This week I am continuing my taper for the Baden Marathon on the 21st (Sunday). I plan on running the 11 km (6.8 mi) loop with my running club on Wednesday, then probably go for a half hour run on Friday after work.

Saturday will be a bit busy as I want to pick up my race packet in Karlsruhe, plus it is my wife's birthday so we are celebrating with friends that night at our local Greek-Italian restaurant. Luckily we are meeting at 6:00 p.m. for dinner, so it shouldn't be too late of a night.

We arrived at the sports center near the golf course where the race was to start and collected our race packets. Soon we were joined by several more from our running club, the most running the 10K like us, but two running the half-marathon (HM). We chatted for awhile, until about 15 minutes before the start, then stowed our jackets in the car and got ready to run.

At the starting line I wished everyone a good race and found a place in the middle of the pack. The 10K and HM runners were starting together (the 5K began 10 minutes prior) so it was pretty crowded. As I waited I thought about my goals for the race. I was hoping to complete the 10K in under 50:00, and had a "good day" goal of 48:00. I knew that I wasn't up to breaking my 46:37 best time, but didn't rule it out either, anything can happen in a race.

My thoughts were interrupted by the starting pistol and soon I was shuffling along in the middle of a mass of people. Somehow I had misjudged those around me and was trapped behind a wall of slow starters. I knew that trying to weave around them on the narrow path was counterproductive, so I patiently made my way forward as an opportunity opened. Eventually the crowd thinned out and I was able to get on my way at a fluid pace.

The race course was more or less a loop around the golf course in Rot. For the most part the route was flat, but there were quite a few turns that slowed things a bit. After the first couple minutes I settled into a pretty good pace, eventually passing the halfway point (5K) in 23:15. My breathing remained strong and my legs were still feeling good, so I did my best to keep this pace going.

Around kilometer 6 I could tell I was slowing down a bit, and soon after the course started heading back against a steady headwind. I pushed on hard knowing I would need even more effort is I wanted to keep the speed up. Time seem to pass slowly along this stretch, the wind was having a noticeable effect. My breathing grew heavier and my legs strained as I pressed on. It was clear that a best time was far away, but I was determined to at least have a good race.

Finally I passed kilometer 9 and could hear the crowd at the finish line. This spurred me forward as I fought to keep the legs moving. Finally I entered the small stadium and did my best to sprint over the finish line. I ended up finishing in 47:22, good for a new second best 10K time! I finished 24th in the M45 age class and 126 out of 319, not too bad.

Afterwards I joined the speedy member from our club who had finished nine minutes before me in 38:28 (good for first place in the M50 age group). He had stored his bag in my car before the race because he rode his bike the 35 km to the race (did I say he is an Ironman Triathlete), so we walked to the car and got our jackets. I also grabbed the jackets for other two, knowing they would need them as soon as they finished - it was still cool and windy.

When we returned the first of my two female passengers arrived, finishing in 52:51, good for 7th place in the W45 group and what I believe is a new best time for her (I'll have to ask). A couple minutes later another club member arrived, in 53:50, 8th place in the W45. After that we all got something to drink as we knew it would be a little while until the next from our group arrived. We had a good time chatting as we waited. After a bit two of our seasoned runners showed up, a husband and wife team. The wife finished in 1:05:54, good for 2nd place in the W70, and her husband was a second behind her capturing 3rd place in the M70 class. Three minutes later my other passenger arrived in 1:10:03, good for 4th place in the W55 class!

With our group complete we headed to the showers, and afterward found a place among the tables outside the sports hall in the sun for the awards ceremony. After a couple hours of eating cake, drinking coffee and just enjoying each other's company our little band (reluctantly) headed home.

I worked several hours and was just about to take a break and run a round when one of my friends from the running club called and asked for a ride to the trailhead on Saturday night. Apparently she reads my blog and noticed from my earlier post today that I was home, cool!

Anyway, after a nice talk with her I was motivated to work a couple more hours. I finally I headed out for a run around 1:45 p.m. It was cloudy, cool, and had rained earlier - I really wasn't sure how far I wanted to run. For the first time in a long time I wore my MP3 player and after the first kilometer was immersed in music and picked up the pace.

I ended up running the 4 km (2.5 mi.) to my running club trailhead and began running the 11 km (6.8 mi.) loop in reverse. According to my Garmin I finished the first 10K in 56:04, not too bad, about a 9:00/mi. (5:36/km) pace. The music was good, it was cool outside and I kept pushing the pace. I finished the second 10K in 54:04, about an 8:40/mi. (5:24/km) pace.

Finally I headed back towards the house, but decided to take an extra round town to give me 21.1 km (a half-marathon). I finished almost in front of the house in 1:55:18, not bad for a training run. My legs feel good, I think they will be in good shape for the marathon on the 21st. If not, then I'll just take my time and enjoy the run.

I went for an 11 km recovery run on Tuesday night after work. My legs were incredibly sore still from my fall and race on the weekend. I took it slow and made it through it. On Wednesday I met my running club for a run at our trailhead. My legs were feeling better and I had no problem keeping up with the mid-pack group.

On Thursday I took a training day off and this morning (Friday) my legs feel fine. The only memory of my fall on Saturday is an itchy knee where the wound scabbed up. Today I took a day off from "normal work" to prepare a presentation for a meeting next week. In other words I am working from home, which has the added advantage that I can head out for a run at lunch time.

On Saturday night I want to run with my running club in Graben again. On Sunday is another 10K race in Saint Leon Rot, near Heidelberg. A couple ladies from my running club are riding with me to the race, it should be a fun day!

As I warmed up with a 15 minutes run before the race, I noticed that my injured left knee was not allowing me to stretch out my stride as much as I normally do. But I didn't think much about it as I joined several from my running club at the starting line. As we waited for the start signal I thought to myself that I would probably not have a good race, but I intended on at least not having a really bad one either.

My thoughts were interrupted by the starting pistol and soon I was flowing forward in the middle of roughly 300 runners.

It remained congested for a minute or two, but finally I broke free and settled into a steady pace. I was content to pass the first kilometer marker in roughly 4:46 (7:40/mi. pace). My left knee remained tight, throwing my normal stride off a bit, making my running feel quite awkward.

I managed to maintain the pace over the next couple kilometers, but then I started getting a muscle cramp in my left thigh. I knew this was caused from my awkward stride and tried to ignore it. By the halfway point I was hurting and was losing speed rapidly. I did my best to adapt my stride by taking shorter, faster steps, and finally at least stabilized my pace.

A couple runners from my club passed me around the 6-7K point and I tried to stick with them as long as possible, but they moved ahead. With 1K to go I realized that they were slowing down, so gradually started closing the gap. I ended up passing one and crossing the finish line on the heels of the other. My finishing time of 50:52 was actually much better than I expected for the day.

After the race I showered in the sport facilities and joined my club for the awards ceremony. As a club we had a very good day with several age group prizes, plus the prize for having the largest participating group (34 runners).

On Monday morning my knee looked (and felt) much better, it is healing nicely. The muscles in the back of my left leg were still sore, but this week I am tapering for the marathon on the 21st, so I my leg should be fine by then.

I had a 20-mile run on the schedule, so showed up early so I could run 5K before meeting the group. About 10 minutes before eight I stood in front of the school where we were to meet and started looking for "crazy runner types". I found a likely candidate without too much trouble and sure enough it was a member of the marathon club. We waited a bit and eventually had 15-20 people gathered. We split into small groups based on running pace and we were off.

I ended up running with a younger man, Kevin, who said he was going to take it easy, maybe around a 10:00/mile. As we started up the first hill my roughly 15 years younger running companion didn't slow much as we cruised up the challenging slope. My breathing increased, but I hung with him as we muscled our way up a winding road towards the top. I was relieved when we reached the top and Kevin, who seemly was barely winded, started flying down the other side of the hill on a stony trail at a pace that was downright scary.

It wasn't long until we were climbing the next hill and about halfway up I finally said I had to slow down, so we did, but as soon as we reached the top off we went again. This continued for the first 10K or so, but as we started climbing a long steep hill I told Kevin that he would probably lose me on this one and he should go on ahead. He kept churning up the hill and I shuffled. Another runner (not with the club) passed me and soon was on Kevin's heels.

As I reached the crown of the hill, they were already out of sight! I started hurling down the hill thinking that maybe I could catch them and next thing I knew I caught my left toe on a rock and down I went hitting the fine gravel path hard and fast. I tried to roll to lessen the impact, but too little too late. I stood up and rinsed off my hands and knees with water from my CamelBak and did a damage assessment. My left knee was bleeding quite a bit from a couple cuts, and the other injuries were just scrapes, so started running again.

After 10-12 minutes I arrived at the next aid station. My lower left leg was covered with blood and I was getting some really strange looks from the walkers who were gathered there. I decided to have the Red Cross medic take a look at my knee. He cleaned it up and wrapped a bandage around it and soon I was on my way.

I finished the last hour of the run at a moderate pace without any further mishaps. As I arrived back at the starting point Kevin was out front waiting for me, wondering what had happened to me. We talked about my fall and the run as we waited for the others to show up. I stayed around and chatted for awhile until group started disbanding, then thanked everyone for a great morning. I inquired about their normal running days and hope I can run with them on occasion in the future.

I headed home for a shower and some hot food, and the scolding that I knew I would receive from my wife for coming home "bloody" again.

As I sit here I find myself thinking ahead to next year. Last night I added several tentative races for 2009 to the margin of my blog, I have high ambitions. I really don't know if my wife will sign off on all these, or if my job will permit the training time necessary to complete all these. But I find satisfaction in knowing that, time permitting, I have a very good chance of completing all these goals and more.

That latter point I don't take for granted, it was only 5-6 years ago that I was 70+ pounds overweight and wore myself out on a good flight of stairs. When I line up for my 21st marathon/ultra on the 21st I will be sure to take a moment and thank my heavenly Father for giving me this ability. I'm not an elite runner, I don't finish in the front, but I do try to keep improving. Not at each race, but gradually over a series of races. I don't have patience in a lot (too many) areas of my life, but somehow patience is my companion when I am out on the trail. I pray that I will have lots of good years left to celebrate running and racing, if not, well I have already enjoyed a cup full.

I headed out on my normal 14K (8.7 mi.) loop in the reverse direction, but deviated on some side trails to add diversity. I whizzed by a young jogger, scaring the daylights out of him, I guess he was lost in his MP3 world. He really was going slow, because I sure was not pushing the pace. I continued to weave my way around the woods for a bit, eventually heading back over the fields on a tractor trail. I ended up running 11K (6.8 mi.) in around 65 minutes, a bit fast for a recovery run.

After showering I rustled up a hot meal just as my wife came home, she just loves when I cook! Hey I even did the dishes...

Tomorrow morning at 8:00 I am meeting some members of the Heidelberg International Marathon Club for a 22 km (14 mi.) run. On Sunday is a 10K race in nearby Karlsdorf, I'll let you know how the weekend goes.

I chatted with a couple club members as we waited for the rest of the group to show. The rain, which had let up on my way to the trailhead, started pouring again, so we decided not to wait any more and took off early on our run.

There were lots of mud puddles on our forest route and the frontrunners were gingerly running around them. After a few minutes I figured out they weren't going to run any faster, so plowed my way through the next big puddle and took the lead. A couple other runners followed and we moved on ahead at roughly a 5:30/km (9:00/mi.) pace. We cruised around the 11 km (7 mi.) loop, actually picking up speed the last few kilometers.

When we got back we learned that most of the runners behind us had taken the shorter 8K loop and were already gone - what's up with that, it's only rain people?

I chatted a couple minutes with the remaining runners until I started feeling a chill, then headed home, running the last 5K+ at a slightly slower speed. I ended up with 21.2 km (13.2 mi.), my second "half" for the week.

This weekend is my last long run before the Baden Marathon in Karlsruhe. I e-mailed the Heidelberg International Marathon Club a day or two ago about joining their club, they ended up inviting me for a run on Saturday. They are only running 22 km (~13 mi.), so I will need to add an hour on somewhere, but it should be fun running with some new friends.

Last but not least is the local 10K race on Sunday that I will be running with my running club. I suppose after running the 20 miles on Saturday, especially in hilly Heidelberg (yes, up to the castle), I won't be seeing any new speed record.

We received word that my brother and family that live in New Orleans were out of state during the hurricane, so no cause to worry. We also received word that the son of a good friend of ours is on his way to the Middle East with the military - we'll be praying for him Kim!

I find myself a bit stressed out about the Baden Marathon coming up on the 21st. I was going to (leisurely) run the marathon with a coworker from Switzerland who was running her first marathon, but life interfered and she won't be running the race. Like every year a large number of my running club will be running the half-marathon and a few the full marathon. For most this is the big race of the year and they have been training hard so they can do well. Somehow my languid "end of the season" attitude isn't compatible and in my feeble mind I now feel obligated to run a fast marathon as well.

I am pretty sure, based on my last marathon, that I really could run a PR race if conditions are right. The trouble is that my mindset is more in line with a slow 50-mile race, rather than a fast marathon, it's only too bad there isn't any 50 mile races around. Well, I still have 2-1/2 weeks to get focused, we'll see.

My legs felt good, so I was able to maintain a fairly good pace the first hour. I ran part of my normal 14 km (8.7 mi.) loop, then headed out on a longer loop that brought me to the outskirts of Graben, then back along the trail that my running club uses. As I passed by the trailhead there were several club members getting ready to do a 10 mile run. They invited me to join them, but I already had ten miles behind me, so declined and headed back to the house. I ended up with exactly 21.1 km (13.1 mi.) in 1:53:47, not bad for a "training half"!

Well, it's about two and a half weeks until what will probably be my last marathon this year. It's kind of sad really, I've been having such a good time. In October we will be vacationing in the USA and our visit doesn't correspond to any races in the areas where we will be travelling. Of course with my wife along I didn't look too hard.

After vacation the only marathons in Germany (and the surrounding countries) would require an overnight stay, so probably will not be budgeted in. If I get the urge I can always run one of the many 10K races in the area in November/December.

Although it is a bit early to talk about plans for next year, I do have a 50K race on the calendar for the end of January. If I decide to run this race I will need to start training this year. The race is in the middle of the winter, and since I'm not a cold weather runner, it will be a tough one. The race will remain tentative, probably up until the last minute until I see what the weather brings - but at least it's a worthy goal to carry me into the new year.

After the run I chatted with friends for a bit, then ran back to the house. I ended up with a total of 20 km (12.4 mi.) which was my plan.

Our club leader was recruiting runners for a 10K race next Sunday, so I decided to run that instead of the half-marathon Teufelslauf that I talked about a couple days ago. Our leader is hoping we will get the prize for the largest group, so I decided it's more important to support the club rather then meet my own ambitions.

Did you hear about the hurricane heading towards New Orleans and the area? Be sure to pray for the folks there, I know I will, I have family there!

So, ich versuche mein Deutsche zu Übung:

Am Samstag habe ich entscheidet die 4,5 km zu meinem Lauftreff zu laufen. Meine Beine waren etwas müde von dem hügelige Lauf am Freitagabend, so ich habe mit die mitte-schnell Gruppe angefangen. Wir haben eine ruhiger 6:00/6:15 km durchschnitte Tempo durchgehalten, genau richtig für die etwas warme Nacht.

Nachher habe ich ein bisschen geblieben und geplaudert, dann zurück nach Hause gelaufen. Unsere Lauftreff Chefin hat versucht Läufer für die 10K lauf in Karlsdorf zu organisieren, so ich habe entscheidet mit zulaufen, d. H. ich wurde die Teufelslauf nicht machen.

Ein neue Hurrikan sollte die New Orleans und die Umgebung Heute Abend erreichen. Sag bitte eine bete für alle die Leute dar, besonderes für meine Familie dort!

First we trotted down a relatively flat kilometer out and back, dogging stinging nettle (Brennnessel) and tall grass, and finally heading up the hill. Our chatter quickly died down as we scrambled up the first steep climb, then resumed as it flattened out a bit. We wound our way slowly upwards eventually reaching the toughest portion of the climb. I could tell that my running partner was working hard, but not once did I hear a complaint.

We cruised over the top of the hill and began running over the rolling hills on top of the plateau. Through our conversation I caught that my running partner likes to run through the vineyards, so I made the suggestion that we head over to the next hill range, which has some vineyards.

I also warned her that we must first cross a valley, so down we went and up the next large hill. This climb I was more grueling then the first, but we cruised up at a pace that I normally would not attempt during one of my longer runs, but I let my running partner set the pace and cruise we did!

At the top we were rewarded with some great views of the vineyards (note to self, bring a camera next time). I found a couple pictures on the Internet:

By this time we had been running for about 75 minutes and my running partner raised the question if would make it back under the two hour limit, which is about her limit as a half-marathon runner. I did a quick calculation and reassured her that we were right on schedule.

We a did short loop around the vineyards on top of the hill and were again rewarded with some fantastic views, including an overview of Weingarten and the surrounding region, awesome! We cruised along on the asphalt road past more vineyards, corn fields until we completed the loop and started heading back the way we came.

As we went back down the mountain I offered three options for climbing back up the first mountain: the steep and winding way that we ran before, a shorter and steeper dirt trail, or a longer, but friendlier dirt road. My friend chose the latter and we headed up our last climb for the day.

As we climbed the last portion I could tell that my running partner was working hard, and honestly I was feeling it in my legs too, but that's normal for me. I reassured her that we were near the top and it was indeed the last hill climb, the rest of the way was flat or downhill. I'm not sure, but I think she was relieved as we head down the last hill. I mentioned that we would be 5-10 minutes short of her two hour goal and offered an optional hill climb that would have us back right around two hours, but she said that was all right, it was enough to head back to the car.

The last mile or so was pretty flat, on a soft dirt road and through dense forest, a truly beautiful trail. We reached the car after running just under two hours, with 18km (11 mi.) and 924 meters of elevation gain (871 loss) behind us (3030/2856 feet respectively). We walked it out for a couple minutes, cooled down a bit and finally headed home. My running partner certainly earned my respect, hills do not stop her! Now if I can only talk her into training for a marathon...

The website for the race posts the warning that the "beer bellies" and "couch potatoes" should stay home on this one.

Sounds like fun to me!

On Wednesday night I showed up early at my running club trailhead so I could run 5K before the group run. One of my group showed up at the same time so we ran the 5K out and back together. Afterward I ran a 9K loop, the first 5K with the mid-pack group and the last part a bit slower with one of the ladies who was not having a good day.

Last night I went for a swim on the way home from work, the first time since the winter. I struggled through 700 meters and decided that was enough. I did finally start to get my form back on the last few laps, but felt very much out of my element.

Tonight I am running with my running companion from a couple Sunday's ago. I'm going to introduce her to my hilly route in Weingarten, I hope she likes hills, I did warn her and she didn't seem to be concerned. Maybe she will end up running me ragged, stay-tuned :-)