Rodgau 50K – A new level of slickery

Well, the DOMS is really set in good.  Walking outside on the ice and snow is quite entertaining, especially for Goddess and Skinny.

Peaking and tapering went well for this race.  The only unknown going into it was the weather.  All week leading up to the race, winter was in full swing, with several inches forecast for the entire area in the days leading up to the race.  At one point, models were indicating up to 12” of fresh snow on top of whatever they had on the ground already.  So we just didn’t know.

Luckily, race morning broke with crystal clear skies and a Wolf Moon to greet us.  But it clouded up on the drive to Rodgau and left us wondering when the big blob of snow in Belgium would finally make it to the Frankfurt area.

Since this was my first race in Germany, I really had no idea what to expect.  The final e-mail that was sent out Thursday said that over 1,000 people had signed up, which was huge compared to last year’s ~250 finishers.  Coupled with the expected snow and cold temperatures, the organizers were at a loss as to how things would work out (or so I could figure out with Google’s translator).  But it did turn out fine, with only about half as many showing up as had registered.

What a great concept – pre-register, show up, pay your entry fee, race and leave.  No huge cost loss to the organizer, since there weren’t any t-shirts or medals to hand out.  The only thing that it looks like they had extras of were the beer and soda afterwards.  But that carries over well into whatever event the Rodgau running club holds next.  So for those folks that registered but didn’t show, they weren’t out anything and I doubt the organizers were either.

From the registration/parking area, it was about a mile walk to the start line.  Goddess, Skinny and I got there about five minutes before the gun went off.  It was a cautious walk, since the road was covered with chunky ice and some slick snow.  Wouldn’t you know it, so was the course.  Right before the start Goddess took a picture (right).  And no, that’s not a belly under that jacket; that’s my Fuel Belt.

Lots of German talk over the loudspeakers, a German countdown and the gun went off.  With 400+ crowding the start chute and a chip time system, it was just a matter of filtering down to the side of the crowd, squeezing in and then through the chute.  Off we went, over the ice, which was fairly slick.

The course was a 5km loop through farmland and forest.  Fairly flat looking, with looking being the operative word.  Just a few hundred meters into the course, we took a hard right U-turn; luckily they had spread sawdust over the corner to keep everyone from slipping (too much).

It took the first 5km lap to thin out the crowds, but that was fine.  For the most part everyone was doing pretty good, mainly trying to figure out how the footing would treat us.

The first few laps were pretty non-eventful.  With the temperature hovering right at freezing, everyone was warming up and getting settled in for a few hours (or more) of work.  Right after mile five I was lapped by the leader, so that meant he was at mile eight.  And for the rest of his race, like clockwork he lapped me every five miles.  Right after mile seven I was “chicked” by the lead female, so she was already at mile ten.  Just like any other big race that has the Kenyans and other fast runners, it’s always impressive to watch those with perfect form and quick turnover.  Unlike me.  I’m comfortable with the fact that I’ll never be the fastest or strongest.  But if it comes down to having a hard head, I may just win.

By the end of the third lap (15K/9.3mi), the ice was getting pretty beat up and started softening, which was a nice development.

For a little bit.

I hit the half-marathon point at just under two hours.  Not too fast at most other races, but would, in hindsight, be the beginning of a longer than anticipated 50K.

Rolled through 25K (15 miles) at a very comfortable 2:27, which kept me on pace for a sub-5:00, which was my goal.  But between 28-30km (17-18 miles), things started to stiffen up.  Nothing horrible, but definitely a change to the previous miles.  Mentally I worked through everything, identified what was uncomfortable, and just kept pushing forward.  Nothing was wrong, just a bit of discomfort.  At left, that’s me at 30.2km (just over 18 miles).  When Goddess asked me how I was doing, I said “I’m not dead yet”.

Once I hit the feed station at 30.5km, I sucked down two Powergel’s, had a bit of banana and a coke.  I figured I needed a bit more fuel than I had been taking in.  Normally I’ll suck down a Powergel at 40 minutes and then every 20 minutes after.  But considering how narrow the road was and the knot of people, I decided that I’d be fine with just taking in fuel every time I hit the feed station, which was working out to every 27-28 minutes.  That meant that instead of taking in 300 calories per hour, I was taking in 200.  A huge difference?  Probably not.  But by this point, that meant I was 300 calories deeper into a hole than I normally would be.

The extra banana and coke helped out for the next 10K, but the stage was set.

During this stretch, between 30-40K, I noticed that the ice, which was softened with all of the abuse, was turning very, very slickery.  We had worn a few bare spots through the fields, which were nice.  But for the most part, it was still ice and snow.  These long stretches of ice and snow offered little traction.  Based on feel, I figure that there were two separate 1-2km stretches where we were lucky to have 40-50% of our energy translated into forward movement.

The rest of the energy was strictly “Scooby Doo” motion.  You know, when Scooby and Shaggy start running when they see a “ghost” and their legs just spin in place.  That kind of motion.

Good times.

I rolled through the marathon (42.2km/26.2mi) at 4:40.  Not great, but not horrible.  Putting it into context with the sub-2:00 half, I realized what was going on.  But I didn’t realize how much “fun” the last five miles were going to be.

Not soon after the marathon, the wheels came off.  Not gently.  But with great force.  Folks talk about hitting a wall; this wasn’t a wall, but my legs turning to stone.  All other systems were go, but the legs had had enough.

Right about that time, the snow started drifting gently down.  All day long it had been cloudy, with a stiff cold breeze.  But no snow.  Slowly the spigot was opened and pretty soon it was dumping.  Well, without a breeze, it would have been dumping.  With the wind that we had, the runs through the field were interesting in the sideways snow that dropped visibility down to less than 100 meters at times.  Once in the forest, the flakes drifted down, making for beautiful scenes.  At right, that’s me crossing the timing mat at 45K (28 miles); Goddess asked me how I was doing and I said “I’m still alive”.

The saving grace of the new snow was that it increased our traction over the ice.  Too bad my legs weren’t there to take advantage of it.  But this is where my stubbornness pays off – I just put my head down and keep moving forward.  Which got me to the end.

5:51:46, almost an hour longer than I had hoped.  But a good time considering the conditions.  Another surprise, once I downloaded the data and ran the route through the terrain maps, was that the “flat” course had a total of 1,230’ of climbing/descending through the 50K.  Those gentle rolling fields were sneaky, I tell you.

Am I disappointed?  Nope.  Not in the slightest.  Could I have run a better race?  Absolutely.  Even though I’ve been racing a while and have learned a lot, I learn better from my mistakes.  And in this race, there were plenty of learning opportunities.

So right now the legs are tighter than they’ve been in a long, long time.  The stairs are my nemesis today, especially going down.

And I’m already looking for another marathon in a few months time.

Oh, and how bad was the snow and wind at the end ?  Compare my race number from the picture at 28 miles (above right) to my race number below, just three miles (40 minutes) later.

Hmmmm

A dilemma.

A scheduling dilemma.

July 25th, 2010.

 

 

 

 

Antwerp 70.3, with little to no chance of swim training between now and then (it’s been 2.5 years since I’ve done any focused swimming).

 

 

Or

 

 

 

 

 

German F1 Grand Prix at Hockenheim Ring, just a 10 minute walk from the house.  A race with the (as yet unconfirmed) Michael Schumacher (right) in the mix.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One is potentially a once-in-a-lifetime event. 

The other maybe not.

Life is full of choices.

Whew

All done with this training cycle.  Now for a bit of active recovery this coming week.

But first, I need to give credit where credit is due.  I’m married to a true Goddess.  The one who asks me what I want to do during my holiday break, to which I answer “sleep and run”, and she gives me that “Are you serious?” look, to which she already knows the answer.

So that’s what I did over the past two weeks, which was my last Base period before racing at the end of January.

All told, 110.97 miles of running in the past two weeks; 50.43 miles last week, 60.54 miles this week.  Snow, rain, well below freezing, well above freezing.  The whole stinkin’ gamut.  And it was all good.

I did get a few commutes to/from work on the bike, but swapped one ride home for a run, which served two purposes.  And instead of 35 minutes to get home, it took 1:20.  So it really didn’t impact the home life too much.

And the runs were a mix of short hill runs, medium tempo runs and long steady runs.  In other words, a normal training plan.  But it wasn’t all normal.

- A 10-mile tempo+ run last Monday, which started out slow thanks to the 50 miles of the previous week.  The first three miles were OK, but nothing to get excited about.  Then the gears switched and I was rolling through the forest at a comfortable clip, finding my groove.  The (+) portion of the tempo was when I decided to go visit an old friend, the pain cave, whose threshold I hadn’t crossed in quite a while.  I didn’t want to get too deep in, but decided to head over, open the door, look around the make sure that the drapes hadn’t been stolen.  Nothing was disturbed, but there was definitely a layer of dust from lack of use.  I’ll have to get back there soon.  So even after the slow opening miles, I finished the 10 miles just a few minutes off my 10-mile PR.  But I did feel it the next day.

- The 20-miler on New Year’s Eve was a mixed bag of weather.  It was a steady 45F, rapidly changing from sun to pouring rain and back again.  Since the rain was going to be intermittent, I left the shell at home, which made for a few borderline hypothermic moments.  Luckily it cleared out just before sunset, which let it cool down quickly into the upper 30’s(F).  So soaking wet, cold.  I couldn’t get into a warm shower fast enough.  But that worked out well, since it was New Year’s Eve.

- New Year’s Eve detraining – lots of resveratrol was consumed, which my doc (“drink early, drink often”) swears is good for my heart.  And let me tell you, the German’s know how to greet a new year.  I swear every family up and down the street bought hundreds of euro of fireworks.  It looked like a war zone out there.  It did my teenaged-boy heart good.  And though I was perfectly fine the next day, I just didn’t get out the door to run.

- Today’s 15-miler through the ice/snow was great, especially considering the amount of miles these legs have endured in the past 14 days.  Although after a poor night of sleep, I wasn’t too motivated.  Goddess got me through that (something about “get out now”).  The legs were heavy and tired, but found their rhythm after a few miles.  Then a nice negative split.  Nothing too drastic, but considering the abuse that I’ve put myself through, I can’t be anything but pleased with that.  It was a great way to close out the cycle.

So now it’s a recovery week, which will include some thigh-busting skiing in the Alps.  And if that doesn’t teach the quads who’s boss, I don’t know what will.

=====================================

Year in Review – 2009

Lots of thoughts during these long runs about posting a year in review.  Some discussion with other folks on their year’s in review.  For me, the review is only meaningful to the one posting it, unless the numbers posted are compared to the year’s goals and/or previous year’s totals.  Otherwise they’re just numbers.

So for those of you who want numbers, you won’t find them here (unless you read above).  I look through my numbers fairly often in both Training Peaks and SportTracks.  Matter of fact, I keep a rolling 10- and 28-day chart in my SportTracks to make sure I’m not doing anything too crazy.  With the move to Germany this year, there wasn’t any sense in setting annual goals, since there were way too many variables.  All of my short-term goals were early in the year (March’s LBL 60K and April’s Country Music Marathon) and were resounding successes, even if I didn’t meet certain time goals.  I learned quite a bit, including how much I enjoy a good trail run.

But thanks to the commute to/from work, my bike mileage jumped considerably over last year, which had a six-month chunk taken out thanks to a deployment to Iraq.  No cycling during that time.

And what will 2010 bring?  Who knows.  A 50K at the end of January, then I’ll start searching for something to do later in the year.  The Antwerp 70.3 looks fun (I love that distance triathlon), but finding a swimming pool with good hours is a trick.  The local pool is open 10am-10pm, but is too far from work for a lunchtime swim.  After work I’m usually too knackered to do anything.  Plus, that’s Goddess’ time.  So unless I think I can pull off a 70.3 without any lap time…

So here’s to a great year for each and every one of you.  If you’re one that makes resolutions, I hope that the resolve you currently have lasts through the year.

Building Up & Breaking Down

Lovin’ the weather here in Southwest Germany.  Winter finally arrived last week, smack dab in the middle of my recovery week.  Not just a tease, but a full-on, in your face arrival.

Thursday morning’s very isolated snow-shower pretty much shut down any commute for anyone on the south side of Heidelberg.  But not for me.  Gotta love the bicycle.  I floated through the forest and across the fallow fields on a pillow of fresh snow.  Shaking my head at all the poor folks in their single-file parking lots.  Once I got into town, I dropped the tire pressure to 35 p.s.i. and the studs stuck to the ice.  No issues at all.  My commute was extended by only 2-3 minutes, which would be about the time that it took for me to let the air out of the tires as well as account for some creeping around corners (I haven’t found the edge of control with the studs yet).  For those on four wheels, the commute was extended anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes.

Friday was a bit more of the same in the afternoon, but everyone on four wheels seemed to behave themselves.  Then the cold set in.

Saturday was a bit chilly, dipping down to +4°F (-15°C) and gradually warming up to +12°F (-11°C) by early afternoon.  Luckily there wasn’t much wind, so the run wasn’t bad at all.  Matter of fact, I layered too much and was peeling off layers, caps and gloves just a few miles into the run.

Here it is, Monday, the Winter Solstice, and we still have a fair covering of snow on the ground.  Perfect for jumping in to the next Base period.  But I’m jumping ahead of  myself.

As I said above, last week as a recovery week.  That made it week three of my Base 2 cycle for my next race on January 31st.  Being the “old guy” that I am, following Friel’s protocol of using three week cycles for folks over 40, vice the four week cycles for those under 40, has worked quite well for me.  Especially since I’m not focusing on long-course triathlon right now, but instead basically living the life of a duathlete.

So Base 2 was a good cycle.  Through the second week I pushed my running mileage up to 35.5 miles.  Nothing extravagant, but on top of my 90-miles of commuting each week, the legs are getting abused a bit.  And with another Base cycle, leading into my Build cycle, I’ll be dancing very close to my upper manageable limit of 60 miles per week of running.  That’s not counting the commute.

Besides, if I’m to run more than 60 miles per week, I better be getting paid for it.

The workload wasn’t overwhelming, but for some reason the recovery took a bit longer than normal.  Perhaps all of the holiday parties?  Typically I’m good to go by Wednesday.  Last week it took until Saturday before I felt fresh.  But that’s OK. 

It’s the result of doing good work.  And some good parties.

Today’s run, warmer than this weekend, looked similar to the photo at right, although not as deep.  The nice thing is that it adds a nice bit of strength training to the run.  Although strength training in the middle of 10-mile runs are typically not the best thing for the legs.

But it’s good work.

Since I’ve taken this week off from work, the commute isn’t necessary.  So that leaves my legs fresh for the runs, which will tally up to ~50 miles.  Next week there will be just a few commute days, so bike mileage will remain low, but I’ll have to ramp up the miles through the weekend, seeing how close to 60 miles I can dance without overdoing it.  And then rush headlong into the next recovery week, which includes several days of skiing.  But it’ll be good recovery from running.

What’s interesting is that right now, with a full Base cycle followed and Build cycle still to come, I’m aerobically in better shape than I was going in to last March’s 60K Trail Run and significantly better than when I ran my 40-miler in September, 2008.  That isn’t a subjective feeling, but looking objectively at output from the Training Load plug-in for SportTracks.  So things are looking good.  The trick will be keeping injury free over the next few weeks as I ramp up the miles.

Then crank out an enjoyable 50K in six weeks.

But my challenge right now isn’t with the running.  It’s with eating.  I know that’s a funny thing to say during the holidays, but it is what it is.  With this workload I need to be ingesting approximately 4,000 calories per day on average.  That’s a lot of food, especially since I don’t eat a “normal” western diet, full of processed carbs, fats and salt.  Basically, if I can’t identify it as something that came directly from a plant or animal, I eschew (or would that be “won’t chew”?) it.  Within reason, of course, because life’s too short to be that strict about anything.  And although I could reasonably identify a Whopper as mostly coming from animals and plants, I stay away from that stuff as much as possible.  And the recent results of my blood work tell me that I’m definitely on the right track.

So I’m typically falling short of that 4,000 calorie mark by somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,200 calories.  That’s a lot to miss.  It does hamper my workout recovery.  And since it’s such a large daily deficit, I’m not losing weight since my metabolism is slowing down to hold on to every calorie I ingest.  Basically, my body is going in to survival mode. 

Someone hand me a cookie!

<DISCLAIMER: Any and all training that I describe works for me and flies in the face of much conventional wisdom.  The reason it works for me is that I have a few decades of activity and fitness under my belt and know that my body can recover quickly from a given workload.  So don’t think that you could, or should, jump from 35 miles of running one week to 50 miles the next.  If you do, you’ll get hurt.>

Building

Gotta love the feeling of a good Build period.  It’s been a while.  Eight months, to be exact. 

Eight months ago was the Build for the Country Music Marathon.  But since finishing that race, training has been very unfocused, occasionally non-existent.  And that’s what works for me.  I’m typically the opposite of everyone else, building and peaking for some great late winter, early spring races.  Summer is not for me.

Basically it boils down to the fact that I generate a lot of heat when I run.  A lot.  When it’s 30°F (-01°C), I’m still in shorts, although I will start out with a long sleeve that typically gets pushed up to the elbows just a few miles in.  Once it reaches 20°F (-07°C), I’ll cover the legs up and start thinking about a full cap.  The range in between 20-30°F will get me to put on different ear coverings and occasionally gloves (that usually don’t last but a mile).

Summer races?  Forget it.  Unless they also involve a swim and bike.  Then I just deal with the run.

So here I am, in the middle of December, building for my next race.  Mid-December, when most of you are taking a break from the year’s schedule, just thinking about your upcoming Base schedule, hoping not to put on too much weight during the holidays.  Me?  I’m realizing that I’m not eating enough to keep up with the additional 2,000 calories a day that I’m burning above my daily caloric needs to stay alive and function.  Simply put, I need to eat more.  Easier said than done, unless I start eating at Burger King every day (no thanks).  But I’ve got to fuel to race.

My next race?  A 50K (that’s 31 miles for y’all that only use the Imperial system) on January 31st, 2010.  Fifty kilometers is not a huge race for me (after last year’s 41-miler and last March’s 60K (37.2 miler), but something to focus on.  The 50K is just for fun, mainly to see how the Germans run their races.  And to give some focus to my training.

So this weekend was my first 20+ miler weekend of this cycle, getting ready for the race.  That’s when I know I’m building strong.  Instead of single long runs, I function better with “double-long’s”, which are two days in a row of long runs.  That’s every weekend for the next five weeks. 

My first experiences with double-longs are almost two years ago and they’ve served me well.  One thing I’ve learned since then is that I can actually build to 32-mile weekends (22 on Saturday, 10 on Sunday) and recover well.  Much better than if I do a 24-26 miler on Saturday and take Sunday off.  I guess I’m weird that way, since it flies in the face of every training plan put out there by the experts.

So here I am, at the tail end of this first Build cycle.  I’m now entering my “recovery” week, which I definitely need.  Amazing how I can enter this weekend completely knackered, yet still push through comfortably.  Saturday morning it was everything I could do to drag my carcass out of bed.  But I did, had a bit of breakfast and some coffee, then headed out the door.  The first few miles were slow, but that’s OK.  By mid-way through the 13.1 mile run, I was cruising, powering up and over the overpasses (it’s pretty flat around my house, so I find the hills where I can).  I finished strong.

Today, I was hobbling for the first hour or so.  I guess that’s a sign of aging, but I refuse to accept it.  Although it’s inconvenient, it works well with goals of my second long run of the weekend, which is to get the body used to running hard and fast when it’s tired and sore.  So Sunday’s run is always with the goal of running a negative split (i.e. run the second half of the run faster than the first half).  Sounds easy, until you do it with 15-25 miles of running in your legs in the previous 24-30 hours.  It builds a skill that comes in very handy after 20 miles in any race of marathon distance or further. 

So that’s the framework for the weekend now.  This weekend, it was 13.1 miles on Saturday, 8 miles on Sunday (that’s 21.1 miles for the math-challenged amongst you).  Since next week is a recovery week, I’ll back off to 9 miles on Saturday, 6 miles on Sunday.  After that, the next Build begins, so it’ll be 15 on Saturday, 10 on Sunday.  And so on over the next few weeks.  Then to race.

So enjoy the holidays, enjoy the food, enjoy the drink.  Most of all, smile when you drive past that lonely runner out there in the snow and wind.  Because most likely they’re someone just like me, who’s schedule is offset six months from yours. 

Studs

Nope, not these types of studs:

Yes, they are studs.  Just ask them.

But these types of studs:

Those are Schwalbe Snow Studs (700×38C’s).

They’ve been sitting in my garage for close to three months, waiting for winter to get here.  Finally it has arrived, with a bit of flurry today and dropping temps tonight.  The rest of the week looks to be colder, with highs in the low 30’s (F) and lows in the mid- to low-teens (F).

So that means that the ground, soaking from weeks of rain, is going to freeze.  Which will make for some interesting commutes to/from work.

 

(and yes, I did wash the bike after this pic was taken.)

Dachau

Best viewed in slideshow here.

Venice

A lovely town.  One you must visit, although it’s still not my favorite Italian city.  That spot (so far) is reserved for Verona, just an hour up the autostrada towards Milan.  But other than speeding through Verona, Goddess and I didn’t make it there this trip.  But we will.  Plus, there’s a lot Italy we have to explore.

And a lot of great wine.

So anyway, Goddess and I arrived on a Saturday evening.  After checking into the hotel to find our hotel room very cramped and reeking of cigarette smoke (both typical Italian hotel experiences), we headed off to find some dinner.  We got a recommendation from the lady working the hotel’s front desk and off we went.  We think we found the place that she recommended, mainly because there really weren’t any other options in the small downtown area of Mogliano Veneto.  We arrived “American early”, meaning around 7pm, which is at least an hour or so earlier than anyone else in Europe shows up for dinner.  So we had the place to ourselves. 

The food was good and the wine was better.  Apparently everyone else knew too, because the place filled up quickly after 8pm.  We enjoyed taking our time, but apparently not as much as the wait staff.  Once we were done, we asked three separate people and waited 25 minutes for our bill, even though they kept walking by not very busy.  It actually took us getting up to walk out before they moved.  Funny how that works.

So the next morning we headed off into the city.  Visiting Venice by train is the way to go, since parking VERY expensive (more later) and once you’re in the city, you can’t drive anyway.  So it’s better to get delivered directly to the grand canal with no traffic hassles.  And here’s the welcome:

As you can see, it’s pretty busy, even though it’s only 9am.  The tourists are already bustling around, making the walkways quite crowded.  But not unbearably so.

Goddess and I had rushed out of the house and had left behind my Venice maps from my last visit, which was just over ten years ago.  The beauty of the city is that it couldn’t change that much in ten years.  Sure, the shops may change owners, but the cathedrals, squares and markets would be in the same place.  So we had to buy another map.  At tourist prices.  And that became a recurring theme over the next two days.

Once we got walking, we noticed that there were people running down the alleys, each wearing a race number.  Very odd, considering the large number of tourists.  But these folks were clearly in hurry to get places, so they were definitely racing.  We watched a few and realized that it was an orienteering race.  The folks had their map and compass and would have to pause to get their bearings before taking off again.  It was fun to watch them weave their way through the crowds.  Some even at a pretty brisk run.  And I’m sure they enjoyed the ramps from the Venice Marathon, which was held just two weeks before.  I know those ramps made it easier to get over some of the bridges than actually running up the steps.  Hell, it made it easier for us to walk.

We worked our way to Piazza San Marco, passing canal after canal after canal.  One thing I found interesting was how green the water appeared.  It almost didn’t seem natural.  But it certainly was.  Even out in the open water, it was a different shade of green, but nowhere as bright as within the small canals, framed by the pastel colored buildings.

Once we arrived at the Piazza, we decided it was time to sit down and watch the world go by.  We sat at one of the cafés and ordered our coffees – me a Doppio (double espresso) and Goddess a cappuccino.  The total was €18, which works out to about $27.  Tourist prices. 

At least we got water and a chocolate with it.

But it wasn’t all bad.  We sat for the better part of an hour watching people go by, taking in the view of St Mark’s Basilica and clock tower.  We did what we do best – people watch.  One nice surprise was to see a young Asian couple, newly married, parade out and get their pictures taken in front of many of the buildings. 

Lovely couple.

After a while, we decided to head down along the waterfront.  Outside of the canals, this to me is the best view in Venice.

That’s the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore in the background.  A phenomenal complex that I’ve yet to visit.

So, being the tourists that we are, we decided to do the gondola ride.  If you go, beware that it is not cheap.  Bring the suitcase.  But it’s worth every second.  I’ve spent many hours roaming down side alleys, through doorways and into hidden courtyards.  But this is a completely different view of the city.  At one point our gondolier actually apologized for a jet flying overhead on its approach into the airport; he was upset that it shattered the calm.

But unlike the movies, he never sang for us.

Again, worth every penny.

And those of you who’ve traveled with me know how much I hate doing the touristy things.  I’d rather explore the back alleys.

Which is what Goddess and I did the rest of Sunday, well into the evening.

And we returned Monday.

Monday was definitely different.  The city shifted energies, away from a tourist-focused city to a living, breathing city on Monday.  The markets burst to life, the canals were packed with boat traffic as deliveries were made, and children filled the streets on their way to/from school.  And the tourists were still everywhere.

So we went the other direction.  To the point that the locals were looking at us funny, because it’s pretty obvious when two blonde folks are walking down a back alley in Venice that they aren’t locals.

And we’re better for the experience.

If you subscribe to National Geographic, then you saw this past Augusts’ article “Vanishing Venice”.  A wonderfully well-written, well photographed article (as you’d expect from NG) that delves into the disappearing native Venetian population.  But we caught glimpses of them at every turn.

Plus we got away from the tourist prices.

Believe it or not, this lunch (wine included) cost less than our two coffees in Piazza San Marco.

And we had it the tables all to ourselves along the side of a canal.

It was too cold for the Venetians to come out to take our order.  It was in the mid 60s (Fahrenheit for you snarky comments [you know who you are]).  But we sat out, sans jackets, and enjoyed the lovely day.

Soon it was time to make our way back across the city to look at carnivale masks. 

When I was here in 1999, I found one that I wanted to get Goddess.  We were dating at the time and I wanted to bring her a bit of this part of the world.  So I found the one I wanted to get her, then decided to go out and do some comparison shopping.  When I returned to buy it, the owner had taken her lunch siesta, but had hung the sign that she’d return at 2pm.  Well, 2pm came and went.  By 330pm I had to leave for the airport to catch my flight, which I did without the mask.

So ten years later we were in the store, picking out the ones that she wanted.  She walked out with a few.  All beautiful, including one that’s freaky (to me) when she puts it on.  But those will remain invisible to y’all until we find an opportunity to wear them.

But here’s one that was on the wall.

After that, we headed back to the garage to pick up our car.

Where we needed a suitcase of money to spring it free.

Since we had checked out of our hotel that morning, we couldn’t leave the car in their massive parking lot of four spots.  So we drove it to Venice, full of suitcases, then parked it in one of the towering parking garages at the city entrance that had a flat rate for any amount of time for under twelve hours.  The flat rate was the low, low price of €24 (that’s $36 USD).

From there we did a fine, fine job of getting lost in northern Italy.  But that’s a different story that involves not updating our GPS with new maps since we bought it.

But I won’t tell that here.

Next stop, a few places in Northern Italy (once we figured out where we were).

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BTW, you can click on each of the photos above.  The ones with the borders around them will just take you to a larger version of the image.  The ones with the blue lined borders will take you to my website, where a few other images are loaded.  I’ll be adding more in the coming days.  And if you see one you like, please consider buying it.  I’ve gotta pay for the parking somehow.  ;^)

November. A whirlwind tour.

Wow.  It’s been a busy month.  The first week of November was enjoyed here at home.  The rest of November has been enjoyed elsewhere.

Running and riding have definitely taken a back seat during the past three weeks, but it’s time to kick it back into gear.

The next few posts will show you a bit of what we’ve been doing, but here’s the Reader’s Digest version.

First off, a week of professional development in a lodge high up in the Bavarian Alps, just across the border from Salzburg, Austria.  Staying at the lodge was a bit eerie, considering it was a hideout for Dietrich Eckart, a man who considered himself Adolf Hitler’s mentor.  There was even a picture (right) in the lodge of Hitler and a couple of his cronies looking up at the  lodge.  All that aside, it’s a beautiful area, although it was gloomy every day except for the morning we drove out.  We were high enough up the slopes that we were in the clouds the whole time.  Luckily Goddess and I would be see more of the area a week later.

Next was a quick overnight back home to wash clothes, repack and scoop up Goddess for the next couple of weeks.  We were off the next day to say farewell and thank you to someone who has served her country for more than 20 years.  What better reason to get together and celebrate?  Well, we did.  But we also played it a bit safe, since Goddess and I had a long drive ahead of us the next day.

By the next evening, Goddess and I were enjoying real Italian food and great wine in Mogliano Veneto, just two stops up the train line from Venice.  Unless you’ve got a suitcase full of money, staying in Venice is really not an option.  Especially if you have a car that you need to park.  Well, I packed well, but no suitcases full of money.  So we stayed outside the city.  That worked fine too, since we just left the car parked and used public transportation.  A bonus after enjoying a glass (or three) of wine.

So after two days of exploring Venice, we headed up the road to another work-related conference.  While I sat in meetings, Goddess explored the countryside and brought a few cases of local wines that she liked back to the room.  At one point we actually discussed mailing some clothes home so that we’d have room in the car for the wine.  That’s a sign of a good trip.

Once that conference was over, Goddess and I pointed the car north, drove through Austria, and ended back in the same town (Berchtesgaden) that I was in the week before.  A beautiful town.  Luckily the weather had cleared and the Alps were visible the entire time.  Unfortunately, not much snow.  But that was OK, since we were able to hike.  After a couple of nights there we pointed the car towards home.  But didn’t make it (yet).

Instead, we stopped for a few nights in Munich.  It truly is a wonderful city.  We made the most of our time there, although one evening of touring the beer breweries really impacted our sightseeing the next day.  We’ll need to go back again to see a few of the museums, but we also know that if we don’t make it back, we definitely did our best to get the feel of the city and we’d be satisfied with that.

Finally, we made it back home and basically collapsed.  Just in time for Thanksgiving, even though the cupboards were bare and the turkey was frozen.  Luckily some friends called that morning and invited us over for dinner and conversation. 

Anyway, that’s the month in a nutshell.  I’ll be posting pictures and words from our trip in separate posts in the coming days.  It’s really been a while (over three years) since I’ve shot so many images in a trip.  So it’s taking me a while to get back into the groove of processing. 

Plus, naps keep getting in the way.  ;^)

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