What a different a week makes!

This is me last week at the half-marathon.

This is me yesterday at the 11K.

First, please observe my fancy of some purple in my outfits and then... Yes, it was pretty cold yesterday. It actually is pretty cold today still.

Well, I was supposed to go on a nice bike ride today, but I woke up yesterday morning with a messed up neck and it's not any better by today.... So the trainer it is... I guess.

And now, let me share some pictures from Friday night from the top of Paris Mountain.

I hope you all have a great Sunday and hopefully I'll have the race report up by tomorrow! ;-)

Who Switched Off The Light?

There is no denying anymore. Fall has arrived. I love the color everywhere and the cooler temperatures, but the getting-dark-early part of it, I wouldn't miss. And when day light saving time ends this Sunday, it's going to be even worse.

So tonight was kind of my last chance run after work while it's still light outside and then someone switched off the light.... FAST! ;-)

I got out of work on time, but by the time I finally started running at Furman, it was once again 6.30PM. I was wearing my safety vest, but left the headlamp in the car, since I thought I should be able to get 4 to 5 miles in before it's really dark. Besides, I planned to head out to the Swamp Rabbit Trail first as long as I still have daylight and finish up the run on the campus, where there is light everywhere.

From the parking lot at the McAllister Auditorium, I headed out to the dirt trail next to the soccer fields and dorms and from there on the Rabbit Trail towards Travelers Rest. My turnaround point was the BP gas station at mile 2.2. I headed back towards Furman and once again got into trouble with my stomach. At mile 2.7 I started walking and I thought I will have to walk back to the car. After maybe ten minutes I felt better and started running again.... Two motivations here: 1) this stomach stuff just starts to annoy me and I want to beat it, 2) all of a sudden, it got dark fast, especially on the trail, where there are no lights and a lot of trees around that take away the moonlight on top of it. Funny enough, once I started to run again, I felt fine. I turned back on the Furman Campus close to bell tower, took the little dirt bridge over the lake and then made a straight shot back to the car. Once the Garmin beeped for 4 miles, I hit the stop button and walked for another five minutes.

Well, I guess this is it with evening daylight runs for the rest of the year. But fortunately, the campus is well lit and as long as it doesn't rain, this is going to be my training stomping ground over the dark season! :-)

A Run And Someone Else's Race

Oh.... I almost forgot how much fun running can be. After last week's trouble at the Ache and a boring treadmill run on Wednesday, I finally had a good run again! It was dry, cool and not too windy. It was the first time this fall, that I wore a long sleeved shirt, a headband and some gloves too.

I mentioned yesterday, that I needed to catch up on some sleep and that's what I did. Slept in and then very slowly started my day with some lounging around and then out for a run. In order to get the puppy out as well, I decided to do a short two mile loop around the block first and then drop her off before heading out for the rest of my run. She actually did pretty good today running on the leash. NICE! Oh... And after those first two miles, I also got rid of the gloves! ;-)

Around here, Terry has specific routes, he always uses e.g. his 2 mile loop, his 4 mile loop, his 6 mile hill loop etc. I pretty much took my workouts from his loops, but today I felt like I wanted to mix it up a little and I also didn't know how far I wanted/could go. So I started out and turned here and there, picked up a stray dog for a while to keep me company, kept on adding mileage to my run and felt great doing it. I ended up with a 7 mile run in 1h 10 mins (incl the 2 miles with the puppy) and was once again reminded that I really like to run.

After getting back in from the run, I grabbed a shower and a snack and then we headed out to watch the Paris Mountain Downhill MTB Race. We took the shuttle to the first parking lot and then hiked up to an area that was maybe the last .2 miles of the course. Cheered for the riders that where just about to finish up their first run. Then hiked down to the finish and back to the parking lot from where we took the shuttle to the top. Up there we saw the first couple of riders starting their second run. It was quite chilly out there, so we called it a day after that. Returned to the house for some extreme couching! That's the only sport I haven't been doing lately at all! ;-)

Here are some pics from the race:


That was at our first viewing spot. Before this, the riders where coming down a hill, had to cross a wet wood bridge and then up on the other side while trying not to hit the tree in the middle of the trail.


That was close to the top. You can see the starting line tent in the background. This guy was riding down the hill with two MTB frames welded on top of each other. I don't think that needs to be further commented! ;-)


Action shot!


Oh yes, that us... This time the self portrait worked at the first try! ;-)

Fall Flavors And Following The Line

It's fall (at least in the northern hemisphere)... I don't have to tell you that, I am sure you know it already. I just had to remind myself yesterday, when I walked out of the office. I didn't notice the smell when I got in the morning, but in the afternoon it almost knocked me out of my shoes. Blooming holly trees around the plant create a wall of scent. Allergic people really never get a break around here... South Carolina's Upstate is not called allergy capital of the U.S for nothing.



I took a picture of the holly tree yesterday already, but it was all grey and foggy and rainy. So today, it was just an amazing mild fall day and that is a so much nicer backdrop for the picture! Enjoy and envy, if you live in other parts of the country/ world, where it's not that pretty right now! ;-)

The leafs take their time this year to turn the color. You see a couple of trees in bright red and yellow, but it's going to take them another couple of weeks until the peak. Beginning of November we are planning to take part in the "Leaf Tour" (not to be mixed up with the "Tour de Leafs") organized by the Greenville Spinners. By then, I need to get my cycle legs back otherwise the hills are going to be a sufferfest.

In the last couple weeks I started to get back into the pool on a regular basis. There is hardly anything I hate more (exercise-wise) than swimming in the morning. But going in the evening is not really an option, because the pool is always full and I don't mind sharing lanes in general, but sometimes that's a little irritating too. So I got my lazy butt in the pool this morning once more and I bet it's funny to see me there. I just dread to get into the cold (it's a competition pool and I think the water is way too cold) water and most of the time, I sit down a little and stick my toes in there a couple of times until I can work up some courage. But once I am in there, it's great. A lot of people don't like to go swimming, because they say it's boring. But for me it has some therapeutic value to just swim and follow the line on the bottom of the pool... Not being distracted by anything, my mind just wanders and works through whatever bothers me. I guess my form suffers when my mind is somewhere else and without my lap counter I wouldn't know how much yards I made.

And now, I will get my reality TV fix and watch Biggest Loser! :-)

Random Thoughts on a Pretty Thursday

1. Even though it's Thursday, it's actually Friday for me... I will be off tomorrow. Terry is taking me on a hiking trip for my birthday. The itinerary is not completely finalized yet, but most likely, will have Grandfather Mountain and Mount Mitchell in it. Hopefully the weather holds up.

2. I really had a good birthday. The phone didn't stop ringing, I got tons of text messages and e-mails and I got a birthday card from my parents (via snail mail ;-). It really means the world to me, that people still check in on me on my birthday after I have been gone for so many years.

THANK YOU and DANKESCHÖN to everyone that thought of me.

3. I wish people would leave their swine flu at home. Newsflash: The world doesn't end, only because you miss a day or two at work.

4. Sabotage is the name of the game. Last night I skipped my run because I just felt tired and wiped out. But I set the alarm in order to do a strength class this morning. Come to find out this morning, that I set the alarm on 5:45AM exactly when the class starts. Harmless mistake or do I sub-consciously sabotage myself? Will I really end up having two rest days in a row?? NEWSFLASH: The world doesn't come to an end, if you miss a day or two of workouts.

5. Dogs dream too! Karma must have had a very exciting dream last night... Maybe she was chasing a squirrel or something... She woke me up and it took me a little to realize that she wasn't in pain, but rather squeaking with excitement! I never heard a dog squeak... I wonder, if we have a swine flu thing going on here? Just kidding.

6. Have you already heard about dogbook? I am torn on this topic... NOT! I am busy enough keeping up with my own facebook page.

7. Can someone please explain to me, why meat is more expensive here than vegetables? I tried to do a little research on the topic, but didn't get very far. Can it really be the case that the government subsidies are the whole reason for it? Is it that simple?

Source: PCRM Article

8. Why is this Thursday pretty? Have you looked out of the window today at all? It was clear blue skies and nice temperatures.... Not too hot and not too cold.

9. Can't believe that it's already the first day in October.... The rest of the year will be a blur of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas candy.

10. Speaking of Christmas. I am really looking forward to going to Germany over the holidays and even better is, that Terry is going to join me this year.

11. I wonder if I still remember the Salsa steps... We'll find out tonight!

12. How OCD am I? I am looking for additional random thoughts, because I don't want to end this list on 11.... But what would be a good number to end it with? 12 maybe?? :-)

Fighting the Flab

Today is my Dad's birthday! Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Papa!! :-) As usual over his birthday, he got a couple of his sailing buddies together and they charter a boat for a week in e.g. the Baltic Sea. I called him on the cell phone when it was already afternoon over there and he sounded like he had a good time sightseeing in Flensburg. According to him, the weather still leaves some room for improvement but overall it's okay. Safe sailing!

This is not only my Dad's birthday, but also the first full day of fall and in the Runner's World blog from today, you find tons of reasons, why this is good news for us runners! :-)

But this is not what I wanted to talk about today, because I want to talk about my FLAB!

Like I mentioned previously, I lost a lot of weight in 2008. I did this with a mix of change in nutrition and a lot of exercising... Cardio and strength. That combination is the oldest recipe in the world and I believe the only one that actually works in order to keep the weight off over time. The strength training helps with toning up the body which is especially interesting, if there is a lot of stuff on you that needs toning up and on top of that, added muscle mass means your body has a higher resting metabolic rate. My exercise routine included one hour of strength exercises specifically for sculpting. Of course, you use your muscles and build your muscles during running and cycling as well, but the strength training gives you the opportunity to balance out your muscle mass over the whole body, since you mostly use your lower body to do these sports (nice article on muscular imbalances here).

Over the summer I pretty much slacked off on the strength training and focused mostly on the tri sports and maybe some yoga. Yupp... And now I am paying for it big time! I am trying to re-vamp my exercise routine in order to adapt to the new living location as well as the fact that fall is here and long evening rides are pretty much out of the discussion... Sorry, call me a sissy, but I am just not feeling like riding my bike in the dark. I started out with the Boot Camp Class last Saturday and yesterday I tried out an "Intense Fitness" Class which is basically the same thing with a different name. Well, I wanted to join the early bird run at the Cleveland YMCA this morning, but every time I turned around in bed last night, I woke up, because something was hurting bad. So I reset my alarm to 6AM and slept in. Good choice. Today I don't walk, I waddle... Very attractive indeed. Neither the class on Saturday nor yesterday felt like a hard effort to me. I was able to keep up with the class no problem, but as it turns out, I lost a lot of my muscles and now they are screaming at me. Last year I started out working on 100 consecutive push ups... I never made it to the 100 as I gave up six or seven months into the whole deal, but at the very end of it, I was able to squeeze out over 80. In those classes they make you do push ups too and it's amazing how much I struggle with doing 20 now.... I can do them, but it's tough.

That reminded me of this month's motivational story in Runner's World about Dr. Ed Wolfgram. At 76, he is currently training for the Ironman World Championships in Kona next month. In the article, they quoted him saying:

"You can't put fitness in the bank. You have to maintain it."

Looking at my recent knee issues, I feel like there was an overuse thing going on while I was ramping up my mileage a tad too fast. But talking to my chiropractor, the possibility of muscular imbalance was mentioned over and over again. Seeing, how my body is reacting to strength training, makes me think that there is quite a possibility that exactly this is the case. Believe me, this would be the preferred diagnosis, because it would be a fairly easy fix. Also, I still have some flab to tighten up and therefore I would kill several birds with this stone.

Running feels like hard work for me these days. I hardly get any mileage in. Last week it was a whopping total of 3.79 miles only topped with the 3.88 miles run that I did tonight. The run was fairly good, speed-wise and also my knees held up pretty good, but it still feels like hard work at the moment. I know things come in seasons and right now, this is not the season for running for me... It will get better sooner or later... I will start to love running again... hopefully.

Sometimes, I Don't Know What I Say

Yeah, I know…. We all have these moments, but I mean the headline quite literally. English is not my native language and that presents challenges to me even after 9 years of classes in school, 2 years in college (I didn't take English all the way or wasn't able to... Can't remember), 0.5 years in England and over 4 years in the USA . After such a long time, you would think I have it down, but there are still things I don't know… And maybe never will. You can compare it to the first five questions people get ask in "Who wants to be a Millionaire". If you didn't grow up in that country, you just don't have a chance. Funny enough, the things I know or don't know are very random... according to BF. There are things he kind of expects me to know and on the other hand, I often enough surprise him with an expression or saying that he never thought I can know. How I pick up the vocabulary I use, I don't know. I guess it is highly influenced by the people that I talk to every day and by TV.

During my school time, I had my share of hours and hours of endless repetitions in order to keep up with the class. Early in college, I started to read books in English and that was quite a reality check. At this point, I studied the language for around ten years, but making it through my first English book (other than the small pamphlets we had to read in class that were tailored to our level) was quite a task. At this point, I kissed the illusion good-bye of understanding every word in every sentence and moved to the approach of keeping on reading as long as I think I have a general idea about the content and only pull out my dictionary, if I wasn't able to make any sense out of the sentence or the paragraph. So I moved on from studying translations to learning words based on which context they are used and up to this day, I stick to this most of the time.

Using this approach always has a moment of truth whenever I first use a particular word myself. If you never looked up the translation and just thought you know what something means, it can get quite interesting. I learned that three things can happen, when I try out a new word: 1) Nothing. I got the word right and used it right... Everything is good. 2) Blank looks... Then I just hope that I didn't offend anyone. Or 3) Blank looks followed by the question, if I meant so and so... This happens mostly, when I skew up the pronunciation. This method has worked pretty good for me. I learned that people are very forgiving, when they notice that I am not a native speaker... That helps a lot to overcome fears of embarrassing yourself. It also helps me while I write this blog, that people most likely are not going to tear me up over a funny sentence or little mistakes. My mum and dad always say: "Only if they speak a foreign language as well as you speak English, then they can judge you." That's not a bad ankle to this topic either...

On other news: It feels like fall has arrived in South Carolina. It has been pouring down for the last two days and they say it's not going to get better over the next couple of days. If it's not raining, fall is my favorite season of the year... It's not too hot and not too cold and whenever the fall leaf foliage is coming into full swing, it's just plain beautiful. In the meantime, it takes some adjusting. I don't feel like running or cycling in the rain, so today I decided to try out something new and joined a Boot Camp class this morning. It was really fun, the workouts were tough and it felt good to do things a little different for a change. I think I might go back for more next Saturday... Depending on the weather... If it's nice than I just have to be outside, while I still can this year!