Summer in the Alps

Friday: rest
Saturday: rest (travel)
Sunday: hilly bike tour, 93K, 1620m, 5:50 hrs

Starting the summer expediton to the Alps.

First rest on the Sunday bike tour: Litzl-Alm is high above Ramsau at 1636m.
It's a meeting place for bikers. The way up meant a record for me: There was a ascent of 24% to overcome. I thought about descending the bike but I feared to fall aside before getting out of the pedals. The result was probably a new maximum heart rate.

For more photos please visit my Summer in the Alps gallery

On Tour Again

Wednesday: biking, 58K, 385 meters, 2:45 hrs
Thursday: slow jog, 10K, 1:08 hrs
Friday: rest

Things are (nearly) packed now and the living room is looking like I would be going on an expedition. Equipment for running, biking and various kinds of hillwalking will fill up the car boot tomorrow morning when I make my way to the very very South of Germany. The area around the fjord like Königsee is Germany's only National Park in the Alps and it is truly gorgious - as long as the weather is fine.

My main target next week is to climb Watzmann (2713m). Many call it the second highest mountain of Germany, in fact it is just the forth but it is certainly the most beautiful one. It is my third attempt to get to the top. First time there was too much snow, second time I made it at least to Watzmann hut at 1930m before the weather forced me to turn back to the valley.

I had to cancel the hilly intervals this week due to the problem I still have with my left thigh. I thought it was cured but the pain returned during the slow jog yesterday. So I will have to be cautious not to put next week's hill race on risk.

Of course I take my camera with me and hope to post some mountain pictures during following days. My b&b provides WLAN access (what affected my choice obviously).

Tiger in the Cage

Tuesday: rest

It was another hard day with the sun out all day and me condemned to refrain from any kind of sports. Several times during the day I walked up and down the living room and balcony like an imprisoned wild animal. At least I managed to do some work on the website. All three pages on the Tanzanian National Parks are now translated into English - just in time before the new London Marathon season starts on Aug 1 when I hope to get more overseas visitors. Tanzanian National Parks

The commented photo gallery about the Azorean islands is published, too, but I regret it is only in German so far. I intend to translate these pages though it will take some time as next Saturday I am off to the Alps for at least a fortnight. Azores Gallery

My thigh seems to be fairly fit again. So I hope to go for a bike tour tomorrow. Running has to be postponed again because there is another little ache to be cured near the hip - a bone called spine of iscium I found out. Wiki

Tired

Saturday: gym, 2hrs, and biking 39K, 130m, 1:37hrs
Sunday: long hilly run, 31K, 530m, 2:58hrs
Monday: rest

The double workout on Saturday turned out to be too much for my left thigh. During the Sunday long run the muscle hardened and I am now forced to rest for two or three days. Regarding the fine weather it is not easy to stay at home but I have no choice as long as I will not put my next race at risk.

Sunday evening I was so tired that I fell asleep before the end of the World Cup Final. I missed Zidane's blackout and the penalty shootout. I wonder what Materazzi, the Italian player, has said to Zizou. It must have been a really severe provocation. Words can harm more than a physical attack. I feel for Zidane and I reckon the Italian had to be sent off, too. The French's bad luck was that there were cameras but no microphone. I looked up Zidane's zodiac sign because I expected him to be Aries like me - but he is cancer.

Local Alps

Wednesday: fast hilly run, 16K, 310m, 1:21 hrs
Thursday: rest
Friday: biking, 81K, 627m, 3:12 hrs

Luckily all fellow runners of the Thursday group called off the run yesterday which I was sort of glad about because of the tough workout the day before. I call the Wednesday group "The fast Stags". They are runners of a league different to mine. Spontaneously I tried to keep the group's pace and I was surprised that I was able to stay with them for 13K. I lost two minutes on the final ascents but it was still the fastest training run on this route I did for years. Due to the rest on Thursday I will only run twice this week but I don't worry. With a long hilly run of 30+K on Sunday I will hopefully be ready for the Zugspitz race and the following mountain marathon at Davos in Switzerland.

I did something silly yesterday. I entered a bike race! It will take place in my native town Bochum on a rather tough route of 60K. The locals call the hills south of the town the "Alps of Bochum". On Aug 13 in the afternoon there will be a race for professional bikers and in the morning there is also a race for everyone. That is to say everybody who is able to cover the distance with an average speed of 25K/h which is a total time of 2:24 hrs for 60K. The challenge is that the 4 laps of the route have a total height difference of about 700 meters. I tested the most arduous part of the race today and just managed to reach the demanded average speed. I look forward to this event as the race passes the theatre area where I grew up.


Link: Sparkassen-Giro Bochum

Pat or Part

Sunday: hilly long run, 26.5K, 585 height meters, 2:34 hrs
Monday: gym, 2 hrs
Tuesday: biking, 60K, 385 height meters, 2:45 hrs

The media created a new word to describe what is happening in German during World Cup times. It is not patriotism, it is partyotism. Exactly that's it, but it is over now after the last two minutes of yesterday's semi final.

I tried to get a ticket at the black market in front of the stadium in Dortmund. But the situation was much more difficult than 32 years ago. The demand remained much higher than the offerings right until 9 o'clock when the match started. The cheapest ticket I saw being sold cost 300 Euros. There were also VIP-tickets on sale for 500 Euros. But all this exceeded my budget significantly. So I left the place while even the neighboured event halls had to be closed after 60.000 people got in there. I missed the first 25 minutes of the match until I arrived at a public viewing place in my hometown Witten. But finally I was happy to have saved my money.

World Cup 74 in Dortmund was indeed a different thing. Ticket price was 10 Deutschmarks!
The match Netherlands vs. Brasil was the best I have ever seen with the most elegant player I have ever seen: Johan Cruyff. He scored and Holland made it to the final where they lost vs. Germany.

Hot Biking

Wednesday: hilly intervals, 14.5K, 550 height meters, 1:27 hrs
Thursday: slow jog, 10K, 1:05 hrs.
Friday: rest
Saturday: biking, 73K, 735 height meters, 3:22 hrs

The rest day on Friday was not planned. A visit to the gym would have been necessary according to the usual schedule. But this was forbidden because I got an injection into my right elbow to cure a tendon injury. A bike tour was also impossible as I ran out of time (Germany's World Cup Quarter Final started at 5pm). But the rest day turned out to be the best option after 15 days of consecutive training. I felt really recovered today and had a great bike tour through the hilly countryside south of the river Ruhr. It was a hot trip with the temperature at 32°c which is 90° Fahrenheit. At the end I managed to find an ice cream parlour where I could watch the first half of the England vs. Portugal match. Then I arrived at home in time to see most of the second half and the bad end for the English team.

I took my camera with me:

The trip led me to a small reservoir called "Hasper Talsperre". It is a beautiful little lake with trees bordering its banks all around. Even on a sunny Saturday afternoon like today one meets hardly more than a dozen people walking around. It is a wonderful calm place because visitors have to walk about 1K to get to the lake. While there are other reservoirs nearby which can be reached just by stepping out of the car. These lakes are managed by marketing companies and on a sunny Saturday afternoon they are visited by thousands of people.

A swarm of trout in the lake.

The dam was built in 1904 and restored in 1994.

In May there takes place a nice run of 11K starting in the valley and circling the reservoir. I took part last year and enjoyed the route very much.