I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures and video. I've been having difficulty tracking them all down. I'll post them when I can find them.
So, October has been quite the month for unusual events.
One of J's close friends,S, from JA school happened to be in Germany on short break from deployment in Afghanistan. We made adjustments and visited her in Nuernberg. It was good to see her again, and she told us how things were going in Afghanistan and with her current duty station. There are very few women where she is located "downrange" as they say, so we mostly all talked during our visit. We had a very easygoing and fun time.
None of us had ever been in Nuernberg, so we took it upon ourselves to see the castle, several of the old churches, and sample some of the local food and chocolates. We also had one dinner in a Chinese restaurant which was actually really good! We stayed up late chatting and ultimately said our goodbyes.
Nuernberg Castle is worth the visit. I would equate it to a smaller version of Heidelberg with less pomp and circumstance, but a little bit more going on. It has castle gardens that are more actively being used and maintained and a pretty extensive medieval armory.
The churches were unique in their artwork as Nuernberg is known for its crossover Roman and Franco-Period artwork. J and I noticed it immediately in the sculptures' facial features. The artwork was also far more vast than any other German churches we had visited thus far.
Switching gears, I played my first legit German soccer game a few weeks ago. It was with the "old guys" team of 32+ year olds. The majority of them are probably in their 50's, but all are still in good shape. They provided full uniforms, have a team roster with player passes, and had positions all set to go and a designated uniform number and position for me as well.
The game started with me and one of the team organizers on the sideline, and everyone else on the field. They started with a very formal march to the center of the field with the starting players and the referee. Once all lined up to face the audience of about 6 people, they proceeded to shake hands. I later found that this is a newer thing that is done that has to do with respect and sportsmanship. They did still shake hands after the game was over.
After about 30 minutes of game time, we were losing 0-3. I got subbed in for forward at around the 35 minute mark, where both teams exchanged goals before the end of the first half. At the beginning of the second half, things really turned around. I got one goal and aided with at least two other goals and by the end of the game we won 5-4. It was quite a moral boost and everyone was happy that I was on the team. The next game is next weekend, and I think it is the last game of the season. Hopefully, I'll be able to play more games over the winter, but if not then I'll plan on the Spring.
With the dropping temperatures, I managed to put together a cheap "winter garden" of sorts. I simply took the equivalent of furring strips and two plastic drops with some bricks from the backyard. It sadly appears that the tomatoes are not too happy with the arrangement, but the peppers seems to be doing ok. I'll be checking daily or every other day now to see when would be a good time to pick them.
Finally, in continuing preparation for taking the MCAT, I am now shadowing doctors on post and am taking an 8 week intensive Human Anatomy course through UMUC. So far, it's been good all around. The shadowing is giving me good exposure to different types and styles of medical practice, what I would like to strive for and not strive for, and the course is conveniently doubling for my MCAT studies and common prerequisites for many medical schools. Both take a very substantial amount of time, but thus far it has all been very helpful all round in my quest for becoming a doctor.
I'll let you all know how the next soccer game goes when it happens. We also plan on visiting our friends in Ulm again very soon.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Pumpkin festivals!!!
Sorry, no pics this time.
I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I've joined the local German soccer team for our cluster of towns. I feel like I'm getting better with each practice, and I'm certainly throwing down confidence that I've never had before, but I have yet to play a game. I've been asked to join practices with the men's over 30 division as well as practice with the Men's II team. I think some would view this as a step down, but I'm viewing it at a compliment that they think that their Ueber 30 team would be better with me on it. I know that I'm no longer a detriment to the Men's II team. I also recently met a new neighbor who is on his second tour in this area of Germany. He also asked independently if I wanted to join him on the Ueber 30 team. We'll carpool starting next week. Two teams? I haven't practiced on two teams simultaneously in...ever really. This is pretty exciting.
These past few weeks J and I discovered Kuerbisfests. Kuerbis in German means pumpkin in English. Having been sorely missing our State Fair back home, we finally got a comparable experience over here. Rich pumpkin soup, pumpkinseed bratwurst, corn on the cob, LOTS of people, fruits and veggies and cheese being sold, we bought a half block of blackforest ham, and we got to spend the day visiting with local friends.
We also found out that our town will host its own Kuerbisfest in mid-October. We'll see how that goes, but J and I are interested in checking it out. There will also be a shooting club competition at the same time with free admission. Sounds interesting :)
In other news, my car is now tired of being ignored for repairs. To its credit, it lasted roughly 4 or 5 months longer than I expected. I was forced to replace the exhaust system, and then the very next week it randomly stopped firing its 1st cylinder. That turned out to be a fuel injector pump failure. Now, the front discs for the brakes are finally starting to go. I'm going to try to repair those myself, but with supervision if I can manage it.
In getting the parts for the disc replacement, I was told by a German mechanic that my German was very good. Personally, I think he was lying but was sincerely appreciative of me actually trying to speak the language and not requiring him to speak English.
I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I've joined the local German soccer team for our cluster of towns. I feel like I'm getting better with each practice, and I'm certainly throwing down confidence that I've never had before, but I have yet to play a game. I've been asked to join practices with the men's over 30 division as well as practice with the Men's II team. I think some would view this as a step down, but I'm viewing it at a compliment that they think that their Ueber 30 team would be better with me on it. I know that I'm no longer a detriment to the Men's II team. I also recently met a new neighbor who is on his second tour in this area of Germany. He also asked independently if I wanted to join him on the Ueber 30 team. We'll carpool starting next week. Two teams? I haven't practiced on two teams simultaneously in...ever really. This is pretty exciting.
It's official, I'm currently working on getting into Medical School. I'm presently setting up shadowing doctors over here, I have a mentor, and I plan on taking the MCAT April 2014. I'm currently leaning toward General Practice as a focus, but I will use the shadowing as a tool to aid in my specialties of choice to study. It's been 2 months and counting for me to get set up for shadowing because of all of the red tape involved on post, and I'm now finding that I may have to take an additional ABA accredited course for admission into at least one medical school of interest. The work continues, but thus far it's been a lot of stop and go. Restudying all of the material is not boring, but it is tedious. I am almost done with an overall review book, and will start branching off into other materials soon.
In the near future, with family members' generous birthday gifts, J and I will get a pocketwatch for me. The plan is to get a new one made at a local jeweler's store and have it engraved. It will be a fantastic piece of nostalgia from out time here and support from family during our time here. I will post pictures once this happens.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Berdorf and Niederanven, Luxembourg
Last week, we decided to go camping in Luxembourg. The big draw there was both a volksmarch and very unique rock formations.
It was a nice campground all around. Every other site had a dog or kids, so when you mix the four or more cats that were roaming around, it was a bit rambunctious at times. I also woke up in the middle of one night to a Tawny Owl cooing (always cool to hear and see owls). There were also a lot of people with mountain climbing gear. I found out why later.
We had enough time there to do a bunch of hiking one day and then a volksmarch another day. The day we went hiking, we got a workout. It was about four hours of uphill and downhill green trees, green rocks, and lots of crevasses and exploring. Some of the rock formations looked so beautiful it almost looked landscaped. I'll just get to the pictures as that is really more explanatory than simply talking about it.
This was cool! Unlike in the States where they cordon everything off, most things were left open for people to roam wherever they chose. In a few spots, that had these ladders or stairs into the deeper crevasses. This particular one was too steep for the dog to get to and opened out on the other side of a large rock. It was like a mini-cave!
Etsy thoroughly enjoyed roaming around everywhere.
She even managed to get on rocks where we weren't quite sure how she got on them!
The way they have this forest area set up, only certain rocks are allowed to be climbed. I had never seen so many rock climbers in one spot, including belays and spectators, there were easily 80 people about simply climbing or watching climbers. Funny story with this...while at the top of one of the lookouts, a woman's head suddenly popped out from the ledge! She was climbing to the lookout point! It was very unexpected.
Some spots really did feel like we were in the movie The Labyrinth.
LOTS of places to explore!
Unfortunately, the pictures simply cannot capture the sheer massive scale and depth of these rock formations. They literally go for miles, the rocks and the trees are so equally green that sometimes it's hard to distinguish between them, and some of the canyons and creek beds are so beautiful and on grand scale that pictures simply make them look "flat" and rob them of the three-dimensionality that makes them so impressive and intriguing. We actually could not post my absolute favorite formation because there was no way to make the picture look like it even remotely resembled what we were seeing.
For those who care to go, Camping Martbusch in Berdorf, Luxembourg, not too far from if not inside of Little Switzerland.
The volksmarch the next day was in Niederanven, Luxembourg. It wove through fields and forest, like most volksmarches in the area. It was a nice day for a walk and was a little bit of a language barrier for us. Most people spoke German or French and very likely a Luxembourg dialect. Very few spoke English, so we got to work on our German skills a little more.
Food was awesome and inexpensive, as usual!
Etsy was quite happy to get all of the exercise she did on this weekend. She even got a nibble of dog kibble from some very nice ladies at one of the control stops on the route.
I honestly can't tell you where we'll be going next. Luxembourg was a bit impromptu and we're working on being good about sticking to a budget. Fortunately, there is still lots to offer on the cheap, as you can see. I'll keep you posted.
It was a nice campground all around. Every other site had a dog or kids, so when you mix the four or more cats that were roaming around, it was a bit rambunctious at times. I also woke up in the middle of one night to a Tawny Owl cooing (always cool to hear and see owls). There were also a lot of people with mountain climbing gear. I found out why later.
We had enough time there to do a bunch of hiking one day and then a volksmarch another day. The day we went hiking, we got a workout. It was about four hours of uphill and downhill green trees, green rocks, and lots of crevasses and exploring. Some of the rock formations looked so beautiful it almost looked landscaped. I'll just get to the pictures as that is really more explanatory than simply talking about it.
This was cool! Unlike in the States where they cordon everything off, most things were left open for people to roam wherever they chose. In a few spots, that had these ladders or stairs into the deeper crevasses. This particular one was too steep for the dog to get to and opened out on the other side of a large rock. It was like a mini-cave!
Etsy thoroughly enjoyed roaming around everywhere.
She even managed to get on rocks where we weren't quite sure how she got on them!
The way they have this forest area set up, only certain rocks are allowed to be climbed. I had never seen so many rock climbers in one spot, including belays and spectators, there were easily 80 people about simply climbing or watching climbers. Funny story with this...while at the top of one of the lookouts, a woman's head suddenly popped out from the ledge! She was climbing to the lookout point! It was very unexpected.
Some spots really did feel like we were in the movie The Labyrinth.
LOTS of places to explore!
Unfortunately, the pictures simply cannot capture the sheer massive scale and depth of these rock formations. They literally go for miles, the rocks and the trees are so equally green that sometimes it's hard to distinguish between them, and some of the canyons and creek beds are so beautiful and on grand scale that pictures simply make them look "flat" and rob them of the three-dimensionality that makes them so impressive and intriguing. We actually could not post my absolute favorite formation because there was no way to make the picture look like it even remotely resembled what we were seeing.
For those who care to go, Camping Martbusch in Berdorf, Luxembourg, not too far from if not inside of Little Switzerland.
The volksmarch the next day was in Niederanven, Luxembourg. It wove through fields and forest, like most volksmarches in the area. It was a nice day for a walk and was a little bit of a language barrier for us. Most people spoke German or French and very likely a Luxembourg dialect. Very few spoke English, so we got to work on our German skills a little more.
Food was awesome and inexpensive, as usual!
Etsy was quite happy to get all of the exercise she did on this weekend. She even got a nibble of dog kibble from some very nice ladies at one of the control stops on the route.
I honestly can't tell you where we'll be going next. Luxembourg was a bit impromptu and we're working on being good about sticking to a budget. Fortunately, there is still lots to offer on the cheap, as you can see. I'll keep you posted.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Queidersbach Hahenfest
Here's a local gem.
In this part of Germany, most towns, no matter how small, have some sort of fest at least once a year. Most do them in the summer or fall. Generally, they are simply the locals selling very inexpensive food and beer and have a tent or gym open for people to socialize to music. A select few go the extra mile and have a theme to their fest. Queidersbach is one of them.
Queidersbach is about 10km away from where we live. Every year, they have a "Hahenfest," which roughly translates to a chicken fest. They offer beer, music, crepes, and rotisserie chicken...a LOT of rotisserie chicken!
We inadvertently arrived 3 hours after the start of it and missed the rush. We waited in line for 40 minutes, but apparently several hours earlier the line was over an hour wait. What's the wait for? Half of a rotisserie chicken, cooked to perfection.
As you can see, the place was packed. It was the best chicken I can ever recall having: very moist, just slightly salty, LOTS of meat (very little if any fat), and a great smoky flavor from the fire cooking.
How did those contraptions run? An electric motor turned the spits. To heat the boxes, they literally tossed in halved four foot by eight inch logs into the tops of the boxes periodically. Flames licked out the top of the boxes and the chicken patiently rolled on the outsides. They just stacked the chickens right on top of each other.
It was a bit of a wait, and to our surprise about two thirds of the people there were American, but it was worth every minute for that sumptuous bird. Oppa Deutschland Style!
In this part of Germany, most towns, no matter how small, have some sort of fest at least once a year. Most do them in the summer or fall. Generally, they are simply the locals selling very inexpensive food and beer and have a tent or gym open for people to socialize to music. A select few go the extra mile and have a theme to their fest. Queidersbach is one of them.
Queidersbach is about 10km away from where we live. Every year, they have a "Hahenfest," which roughly translates to a chicken fest. They offer beer, music, crepes, and rotisserie chicken...a LOT of rotisserie chicken!
We inadvertently arrived 3 hours after the start of it and missed the rush. We waited in line for 40 minutes, but apparently several hours earlier the line was over an hour wait. What's the wait for? Half of a rotisserie chicken, cooked to perfection.
As you can see, the place was packed. It was the best chicken I can ever recall having: very moist, just slightly salty, LOTS of meat (very little if any fat), and a great smoky flavor from the fire cooking.
How did those contraptions run? An electric motor turned the spits. To heat the boxes, they literally tossed in halved four foot by eight inch logs into the tops of the boxes periodically. Flames licked out the top of the boxes and the chicken patiently rolled on the outsides. They just stacked the chickens right on top of each other.
It was a bit of a wait, and to our surprise about two thirds of the people there were American, but it was worth every minute for that sumptuous bird. Oppa Deutschland Style!
Friday, August 2, 2013
Zermatt Marathon
Ok, so about a week after we get back from the states, I have to run a marathon in Zermatt, Switzerland. I'll keep the boring details to a minimum and stick to pictures and the experience.
To start off, I ran in this marathon not so much out a burning desire to run this particular marathon, or any marathon in general. I ran my first one several years ago, and decided to never do one again. I was effectively strongarmed into this race as I was volunteered by J to run with someone who was running their first marathon and needed a running buddy. The irony is that I was clear that I would train with him but not run in the race. Several weeks after training, I was asked to run the race with him and I had no real reason to say "no" because I was already in shape for it and had nothing else of importance going on. Thus, the saga began.
Once we got back from the states and picked up our dog, our dog Etsy developed some odd infection on her back foot. Fortunately, we caught it early enough and she responded to meds well enough that we were able to bring her along to the race. This was the first of many quirks throughout the trip.
Poor Etsy in her cone of shame. Fortunately, after this day, she didn't need it anymore.
Getting there was definitely different. It was a 6 hour trip from where we live, with the German border being at about the halfway point. We were nervous because we had to go through a tollway, only to find out that because we were from Germany going to Switzerland, there was no toll to worry about. It was odd to come across a tollway that was supposed to be ignored. It didn't make much sense to me.
Once in Switzerland, we got to go through a mountain on a rail-ferry for cars. It was pricier than I would have preferred, $25 per car minimum, but it cut travel time by about an hour and made for a totally different experience.
One of the many pretty views on our way there.
Yeah, the roads through the Alps involve a LOT of switchbacks.
Loaded up on the rail-ferry through the mountain. J was none too excited about this, but I was!
I wanted to pick up my marathon items at the start point first because I wanted to get logistics and paperwork sorted out before and not on the day of the marathon. It was a good idea because we were able to get a day-pass train ticket for J (mine was included as part of the race package) and they gave J several options for being at the right place at the right time for pictures and cheering on runners.
LOTS of cool mountainside waterfalls. All of them from the snow melting off of the mountain tops.
All locked and loaded for the race the next day!
Getting to the hotel was also a different experience. The hotel was set up by the guy I was running with, so I figured if we all started at the same place that things would be easier in the long run. We followed our GPS Navigator to the hotel address, only to find ourselves smacking into a gate that was next to a large car garage and was only passable with a plastic card. We went into the garage and talked to the cashier and were informed that it was a "no car town." I had vaguely read about this in prepping for the marathon, but I didn't realize that the hotel we were going to was in one of these towns. This made logistics to the start on race day annoying in that it was a 40min drive from the town to the start line, and it took roughly 30min just to walk from the hotel to our car.
Saas-Fee
Hey! We saw some of these in Norway!
How do you like my hair in the wind. We both wondered if I was going bald when we saw this picture.
Getting into Saas-Fee was also an experience. We parked our car in the garage and were driven to the hotel by a bellhop of the hotel in an electric car. We found out that we were staying in a slightly upscale hotel, which was odd because it felt like a standard hotel. Saas-Fee is totally a ski resort town. Space was at a premium, but it was clear that the town was "off-season" because of the lack of people roaming town. It was a charming place with all of the older looking buildings around, and everything had a "tight" feel to it because the town was built on a slope smack in the middle of the Alps with very few straight roads of any kind. We met up with the other people who were joining us and had dinner and went to bed in prep for the marathon.
Before going to dinner, we realized that needed an early checkout. Knowing how rigid things functioned in Germany, we thought it best to ask the desk if an early checkout could be accomodated. We were very glad we asked because it ended up being that no early checkout could be done in the morning. We had to settle the bill and coordinate checkout right away at that moment. We were lucky to have asked otherwise we debatably would have been unable to all get to the marathon at the start gun otherwise.
Language was another thing that made Switzerland unique. Almost everyone spoke three languages. Throughout the race, we heard German, Italian, French, and English everywhere. It actually created an atmosphere that seemed very friendly. However, most long-distance races are filled with very friendly people.
There were three of us racing and three spectating in our group with three dogs. R, B, and I were running, all three of us from Minnesota. J, R's wife Ja, and Ja's friend K spectated with the three dogs, Etsy, Mabel, and Stella. B and I made it to the start line well in advance and thus got a good parking spot and plenty of relaxing prep time before the race. About 15 minutes before the start of the race, R was able to make it to the starting line and join up with us. The gals and dogs made it about 5 minutes before start time. Talk about cutting it close!
Alpenhorns got the racers started off right!
B and me, all geared up, waiting for the rest of the posse to arrive. J showed up first, and started taking pictures right away.
He made it!
Don't mind me. Just some pre-race jitters.
More pre-race jitters.
Can you spot me? J sure could.
The race itself was very different for me. The scenery was very beautiful and there were a good number of runners from all over Europe speaking lots of different languages. I needed to use most of my racing tricks I learned throughout my entire life. The first half was relatively flat and I managed to piss off a German because I was talking too loud to R and B. I was just trying to keep things light and friendly, but apparently it was understood that the race was to be done in its entirety in silence only enjoying the scenery and the challenge of the event. B and I thought that quite strange, and also noticed very few runners with earbuds in and even fewer running in even small groups like we were. And I thought I could be intense.
The second half of the marathon was two-thirds uphill and one-third downhill. This caused me to separate from R and B and take about 10 minutes total of recharge. Once recharged, I surprised all three of us by catching up to them at the 24 mile mark. We met the gals and the dogs at the finish line. I do not exaggerate when I say that all of the uphill motion by all of the runners was walking. Fortunately, the finish was downhill, so it made for a pretty finish.
The ladies were waiting all waiting for us rather patiently at the finish line.
This was a map J found after the race at the top of the mountain at Gornergrat. It's actually a pretty good illustration of the second half of the race. Zermatt, the city at the bottom of the map, was the half-way point of the race.
J proceeded to take some great pictures of the scenery around the finish line.
Matterhorn, I presume. :)
The finish area before the runners arrive.
Etsy, 1/4 Saint Bernard, seemed to be quite at home in Alps. This was one of the calmest moments she had when she was there. Yep, that's a snowmelt creek behind her. Yep, that's snow only about 400 meters behind her.
Here are some photos taken by the race. Sadly, I had to pay for those, but they were some pretty good shots.
Yes, there were moments where I was walking as fast as people were jogging.
Yep, more walking during this race than I prefer to admit. I tried to remember to smile for all of the photographers.
A stock photo of that lake behind me two pictures above. It actually was a cool little random park on the mountainside.
This was somewhere within two miles of the finish line.
The three of us struggling to get up the last hill of the race.
Yep, still struggling.
Rapid-fire professional shots of me at the last 200 meters before the finish line.
Me crossing the finish line.
Me at the finish line. Needless to say, I was tired.
Back together after the finish line.
R enjoying the taste of his first marathon finish medal.
Here is the whole posse. One of the Minnesotans we met took this picture for us. From right to left: Etsy, J, Me, K, Ja, Stella, Mabel, R, and B.
K got a little jealous of some of the runners' "recovery ponchos." Someone abandoned one by the tracks, so she decided to get it for herself.
The view at the top was beautiful with a perfect view of the Matterhorn, one of the signature items of the race. The atmosphere at that altitude made the air thin, caused J to get a second degree sunburn on her nose (we were both peeling a bit several days later), and allowed us to enjoy an 80+ degree Fahrenheit day with pockets of snow all around us, some pockets over 1 foot deep! We also met several other Minnesotans at this race. I don't know what it is, but I feel like we bump into a lot of random Minnesotans in this part of Europe. Just flat out crazy and unexpected. After eating and rehydrating, we went to the top of the mountain we were on and gazed over the Alps, several glaciers, and the overall scenery.
Matterhorn, from Gornergrat.
I was reading about the several glaciers that were right on the other side of that ledge. There were at least 5 that I could remember.
Another view from Gornergrat. Again, it was easily 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and there was at least 1 foot of snow on the ground in some places and glaciers not too far away. It was very surreal.
Once we left, we realized that we were actually short on time to get to the next hotel. Enroute, we discovered that the town the hotel was in was another no-car town but this one was only accessible by train, making only 40min stops to check on late-comers. On the way there, J and I decided to simply head for home as we did not enjoy getting out of the last town very well with even only an electric car delay. We chose to stay at a hotel on the border in Germany, which actually worked out very well for us even though it was quite late for a weekend check-in.
We slept in late, only had about 2 hours of driving to get back home, and got to enjoy a pretty low key remainder of the day. The poor rest of the posse didn't get back until very late the day we got home, so they had less recharge time in the long run because of all of the added travel in between.
It was a race worth doing, but I would not voluntarily do it again unless someone asked me to as a running buddy. Marathons are a bit much for me. I prefer half-marathons. On the flip side, it inspired the gals to all try a race on their own. J is training for a 10k in Munich and I will be running with her in that. She already has a running buddy as well (no, it's not me). Ja and K are also training for a race and last I heard it was a half-marathon in October. I had forgotten how the friendly and infectious atmosphere of long-distances races could have such an effect on people.
Anyone wishing for further details, simply ask in the comments below. I could go on and on. I learned a lot of new things.
To start off, I ran in this marathon not so much out a burning desire to run this particular marathon, or any marathon in general. I ran my first one several years ago, and decided to never do one again. I was effectively strongarmed into this race as I was volunteered by J to run with someone who was running their first marathon and needed a running buddy. The irony is that I was clear that I would train with him but not run in the race. Several weeks after training, I was asked to run the race with him and I had no real reason to say "no" because I was already in shape for it and had nothing else of importance going on. Thus, the saga began.
Once we got back from the states and picked up our dog, our dog Etsy developed some odd infection on her back foot. Fortunately, we caught it early enough and she responded to meds well enough that we were able to bring her along to the race. This was the first of many quirks throughout the trip.
Getting there was definitely different. It was a 6 hour trip from where we live, with the German border being at about the halfway point. We were nervous because we had to go through a tollway, only to find out that because we were from Germany going to Switzerland, there was no toll to worry about. It was odd to come across a tollway that was supposed to be ignored. It didn't make much sense to me.
Once in Switzerland, we got to go through a mountain on a rail-ferry for cars. It was pricier than I would have preferred, $25 per car minimum, but it cut travel time by about an hour and made for a totally different experience.
I wanted to pick up my marathon items at the start point first because I wanted to get logistics and paperwork sorted out before and not on the day of the marathon. It was a good idea because we were able to get a day-pass train ticket for J (mine was included as part of the race package) and they gave J several options for being at the right place at the right time for pictures and cheering on runners.
Getting to the hotel was also a different experience. The hotel was set up by the guy I was running with, so I figured if we all started at the same place that things would be easier in the long run. We followed our GPS Navigator to the hotel address, only to find ourselves smacking into a gate that was next to a large car garage and was only passable with a plastic card. We went into the garage and talked to the cashier and were informed that it was a "no car town." I had vaguely read about this in prepping for the marathon, but I didn't realize that the hotel we were going to was in one of these towns. This made logistics to the start on race day annoying in that it was a 40min drive from the town to the start line, and it took roughly 30min just to walk from the hotel to our car.
Getting into Saas-Fee was also an experience. We parked our car in the garage and were driven to the hotel by a bellhop of the hotel in an electric car. We found out that we were staying in a slightly upscale hotel, which was odd because it felt like a standard hotel. Saas-Fee is totally a ski resort town. Space was at a premium, but it was clear that the town was "off-season" because of the lack of people roaming town. It was a charming place with all of the older looking buildings around, and everything had a "tight" feel to it because the town was built on a slope smack in the middle of the Alps with very few straight roads of any kind. We met up with the other people who were joining us and had dinner and went to bed in prep for the marathon.
Before going to dinner, we realized that needed an early checkout. Knowing how rigid things functioned in Germany, we thought it best to ask the desk if an early checkout could be accomodated. We were very glad we asked because it ended up being that no early checkout could be done in the morning. We had to settle the bill and coordinate checkout right away at that moment. We were lucky to have asked otherwise we debatably would have been unable to all get to the marathon at the start gun otherwise.
Language was another thing that made Switzerland unique. Almost everyone spoke three languages. Throughout the race, we heard German, Italian, French, and English everywhere. It actually created an atmosphere that seemed very friendly. However, most long-distance races are filled with very friendly people.
There were three of us racing and three spectating in our group with three dogs. R, B, and I were running, all three of us from Minnesota. J, R's wife Ja, and Ja's friend K spectated with the three dogs, Etsy, Mabel, and Stella. B and I made it to the start line well in advance and thus got a good parking spot and plenty of relaxing prep time before the race. About 15 minutes before the start of the race, R was able to make it to the starting line and join up with us. The gals and dogs made it about 5 minutes before start time. Talk about cutting it close!
The elite runners got a 5 minute head start. We're waiting with everyone else for the floodgates to open.
...and we're off!
The race itself was very different for me. The scenery was very beautiful and there were a good number of runners from all over Europe speaking lots of different languages. I needed to use most of my racing tricks I learned throughout my entire life. The first half was relatively flat and I managed to piss off a German because I was talking too loud to R and B. I was just trying to keep things light and friendly, but apparently it was understood that the race was to be done in its entirety in silence only enjoying the scenery and the challenge of the event. B and I thought that quite strange, and also noticed very few runners with earbuds in and even fewer running in even small groups like we were. And I thought I could be intense.
The second half of the marathon was two-thirds uphill and one-third downhill. This caused me to separate from R and B and take about 10 minutes total of recharge. Once recharged, I surprised all three of us by catching up to them at the 24 mile mark. We met the gals and the dogs at the finish line. I do not exaggerate when I say that all of the uphill motion by all of the runners was walking. Fortunately, the finish was downhill, so it made for a pretty finish.
J proceeded to take some great pictures of the scenery around the finish line.
Here are some photos taken by the race. Sadly, I had to pay for those, but they were some pretty good shots.
Rapid-fire professional shots of me at the last 200 meters before the finish line.
The view at the top was beautiful with a perfect view of the Matterhorn, one of the signature items of the race. The atmosphere at that altitude made the air thin, caused J to get a second degree sunburn on her nose (we were both peeling a bit several days later), and allowed us to enjoy an 80+ degree Fahrenheit day with pockets of snow all around us, some pockets over 1 foot deep! We also met several other Minnesotans at this race. I don't know what it is, but I feel like we bump into a lot of random Minnesotans in this part of Europe. Just flat out crazy and unexpected. After eating and rehydrating, we went to the top of the mountain we were on and gazed over the Alps, several glaciers, and the overall scenery.
Once we left, we realized that we were actually short on time to get to the next hotel. Enroute, we discovered that the town the hotel was in was another no-car town but this one was only accessible by train, making only 40min stops to check on late-comers. On the way there, J and I decided to simply head for home as we did not enjoy getting out of the last town very well with even only an electric car delay. We chose to stay at a hotel on the border in Germany, which actually worked out very well for us even though it was quite late for a weekend check-in.
We slept in late, only had about 2 hours of driving to get back home, and got to enjoy a pretty low key remainder of the day. The poor rest of the posse didn't get back until very late the day we got home, so they had less recharge time in the long run because of all of the added travel in between.
It was a race worth doing, but I would not voluntarily do it again unless someone asked me to as a running buddy. Marathons are a bit much for me. I prefer half-marathons. On the flip side, it inspired the gals to all try a race on their own. J is training for a 10k in Munich and I will be running with her in that. She already has a running buddy as well (no, it's not me). Ja and K are also training for a race and last I heard it was a half-marathon in October. I had forgotten how the friendly and infectious atmosphere of long-distances races could have such an effect on people.
Anyone wishing for further details, simply ask in the comments below. I could go on and on. I learned a lot of new things.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)