A Run on the Rhine

It was a gorgeous sunny day and thankfully I was feeling almost back to normal. The last 4 days I’ve been sick with the same virus that hubby suffered last week. I hardly ever get sick and so I didn’t think it would get me but it did. My head was totally stuffed up and it was so painful that I couldn’t even bend down. Also a horrendous cough, which is still kind of present, made me feel miserable. Man did it kill my head when I had to cough. I still was able to function with accomplishing all the daily tasks because as you know… moms don’t have time to get sick!


Of course I was not able to run.  Last weekend I ran 8 miles and then on Tuesday I hit the treadmill for 50 minutes of speed work. Then I got sick and was laid up during all my free time. I did, however, get out a bit on my bike but not for any long rides. But today…ahhh it was so gorgeous outside that I was so happy to be able to get out and breathe in the fresh air on another 8 mile run. I didn’t cough once and it felt great to move the muscles and work the lungs.

Normally I run alone but today I had some company. My son bought a new mountain bike yesterday and so he was happy to accompany me and get used to the new bike. I am fortunate to live in a runner’s paradise here in Germany. You can run or bike forever through wooded paths and paved bike paths through the fields. Plus I am a two minute walk away from a track, have a gym within walking distance for bad weather and a luxury gym in the next town. I have absolutely no excuse to get out and exercise. In addition, the entire town is side walked and it's all flat! The only thing I lack here is a place to do hill work. Well there are a few small hills that I can run but they are not very challenging.

Today we started off through the town to get to the Rhine Island. We passed a big camping area that was having a big medieval festival and also some bike teams blasted past us. Then we got to the Island located right over the covered bridge that goes over the old Rhine River. Once on the Island, there are wide dirt paths ideal for runners, cyclists and walkers. There is a big fenced in area, which houses many wild boar and their babies. On a nice day like today there are many families and children running around and enjoying the atmosphere. We went along the outer perimeter of the island, which is located on the Rhine River proper. It’s so absolutely gorgeous to run along this route. There are also many looped routes within the island, which I can use to extend the run when needed. After finishing the island route we headed back home but took a different way going around the town and back into it through the white asparagus fields. With the warm–up and cool down walk it was 8.5 miles. I thought I would have to stop at some point to help my son if he fell or something but that was not necessary and he did great through the whole thing. He had so much fun figuring out how he could manipulate his new bike over rough terrain and inclines. And he was proud to tell people that he rode over 13 kilometers.

But that wasn’t then end of our adventure. We got home, I took a 2 minute shower, got dressed applied some eye make-up, ate a banana and got on the bikes with the rest of the family and cycled another 20 minutes or so to a restaurant in the next town for lunch. My father-in-law invited us out to lunch since his wife is away for the weekend. That worked out perfect for me since the last thing I wanted to do on a beautiful Sunday morning was stay home and cook. It was a tad too cool to eat outside but we still enjoyed a nice meal at a small and cozy family restaurant. After we ate we cycled home and then I was happy to hit the couch and read my Paula Radcliffe book. I love to get into the head of elite athletes!

I was happy to finally get back on the road today. Seems like I may be racing before Berlin. Kim has expressed some more craziness… The girls may be coming to Deutschland for another adventure!

I have lots to do in preparation. I’ll work on a new plan this week.

I'll focus on the following 5 main areas:

1)  Slimming down
2)  Running form
3)  Improving speed and distance
4)  Strengthening muscles with weights
5)  Stretching and pilates

Get out and MOVE!

:)

Tina