Running with Jack

Diet Report

So my two week vacation is slowly drawing to an end, from a the standpoint of my diet this is a good thing. I have at least not gained any new weight since Christmas. However, I gained a couple pounds on Christmas weekend that I haven’t lost yet. I am blaming myself for letting Sweettooth out of his cage on Christmas Eve, he has bee ravaging through every bakery and supermarket in town sucking up anything with high sugar content. But I have him cornered and I know I will have him back in the cage by the end of the weekend. In any case Monday will be my official return to my diet. From there it will be no turning back until I reach my goal of 68kg (150 lbs.).

Running Report

Yesterday afternoon I headed out for an easy 14K/8.7M run. It was a frosty 1C/34F outside with a few occasional snow flakes floating around. My goal was an easy pace, somewhere around 6:00/K (9:39/M). I have a 30K long run Friday morning, so I didn’t want to work the legs too hard. The muddy trails along my route were slightly frozen, which made running a lot easier. Along the way I passed a couple joggers about my age, I guess they were on vacation this week also. It was a nice quiet run, I particularly enjoyed the 6-7K stretch through the forest, it was so calm and quiet. I made it back before dark, feeling refreshed – my average pace being 5:49/K (9:21/M).

Other Ponderings

A couple people questioned my sanity in reference to running a 10K race two weeks after my marathon in March. Just to ease your minds, I would like to say that I am indeed insane, or at least the idea to run a 10K so soon after the marathon is insane. But Thomas hit the nail on the head when he said “…it depends on how fast you want to run it…”. This will be a “just to finish” run.

The 10K Stutensee City Run is being offered for the first time in the neighboring village of Blankenloch. As the event is only a 10 minute drive from my house I want to be sure to attend in the hopes of meeting more local runners.

Names of Towns in Germany

Stutensee, by the way, is the Township where I reside. The township is made up of five villages: Friedrichstal where I live, Blankenloch where I sometimes swim, Buechig, Spoeck (along my running route), and Stafford. In Germany you generally write the town and village when referring to an area, e.g. Stutensee-Friedrichstal. In a lot of cases you also have to list the State as well, e.g. Baden Wurttemberg, as there are towns with the same name in different States throughout Germany. For example, there are at least three towns called “Weingarten”. The Weingarten 11K from us, where our garden club is located, is Weingarten-Baden. There is also a Weingarten-Pflaz (in Rhineland-Pfalz) and one located in eastern Germany somewhere.