Friday I took the bike on the train to school. Between the train and school the chain broke. Rather than go to class, I decided to fix it so I could get home. It was satisfying being able to make calls to Fahrradreparaturen shops in German. Eventually I found one, but they were too busy to change the chain for me. Luckily, they let me borrow the tool and do it myself. I felt pretty smug after the whole experience.
Then I went to get my ego checked by running with a 50-60+ year old man. We met in his office, he was with a student but invited me in. The kid says to me in English, with noticeable surprise in his voice, "You're going to run with Dr. Calles? You know he is quite fast." I sit on the floor and do some soul searching, "why am I here right now?"
When Dr. Calles is finished, I ask him how many Marathons he has run. "40-50." Perfekt. He asks me the same, I answer with "I ran a half," He asks my time and within a second of my response he says, "okay we will run 9 minute miles just like your pace" (His mental math made me a little faster- bad news for me).
We head out over the bridge and along the river for the run. Now is a good time to mention that I have gained 9 pounds since being in Germany. I'm not proud, but it's worth mentioning as to give you an idea of my current physique. As Carhart would say, "WIP- Work in Progress."
At some point along the river we take a left as if to turn around. I'm pretty much dead at this point and think that running all the way to the finish will still be difficult. Instead, Callis says, "Now we have a small mountain." I should of quit right then. Instead, because I can't talk, I just nod and keep grinding. When we reach the top of the little mountain, Callis takes a hard left onto a trail through the forest.
Callis soon suggest we extend the run to 20km (half marathon). I muster the strength to yell "Bitte Nein!" During the remaining period of trail running, I wonder what the chances are that someone would be able to find my collapsed body deep within the damn forest.
Eventually the endorphin hits and I pretty much go brain dead for the rest of the run. All in all we went a little over 8 kilometers in 45 minutes. Exactly a 9 minute mile pace for 5 miles. The guy is good; I am in terrible shape.
Back at the HTW we have a beer and then I go home. I felt pretty terrible and went to bed at 9 pm.
Then I went to get my ego checked by running with a 50-60+ year old man. We met in his office, he was with a student but invited me in. The kid says to me in English, with noticeable surprise in his voice, "You're going to run with Dr. Calles? You know he is quite fast." I sit on the floor and do some soul searching, "why am I here right now?"
When Dr. Calles is finished, I ask him how many Marathons he has run. "40-50." Perfekt. He asks me the same, I answer with "I ran a half," He asks my time and within a second of my response he says, "okay we will run 9 minute miles just like your pace" (His mental math made me a little faster- bad news for me).
We head out over the bridge and along the river for the run. Now is a good time to mention that I have gained 9 pounds since being in Germany. I'm not proud, but it's worth mentioning as to give you an idea of my current physique. As Carhart would say, "WIP- Work in Progress."
At some point along the river we take a left as if to turn around. I'm pretty much dead at this point and think that running all the way to the finish will still be difficult. Instead, Callis says, "Now we have a small mountain." I should of quit right then. Instead, because I can't talk, I just nod and keep grinding. When we reach the top of the little mountain, Callis takes a hard left onto a trail through the forest.
Callis soon suggest we extend the run to 20km (half marathon). I muster the strength to yell "Bitte Nein!" During the remaining period of trail running, I wonder what the chances are that someone would be able to find my collapsed body deep within the damn forest.
Eventually the endorphin hits and I pretty much go brain dead for the rest of the run. All in all we went a little over 8 kilometers in 45 minutes. Exactly a 9 minute mile pace for 5 miles. The guy is good; I am in terrible shape.
Back at the HTW we have a beer and then I go home. I felt pretty terrible and went to bed at 9 pm.
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