tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13540836825458061782024-03-13T04:26:45.693-07:00Stefan's Point of ViewMy own thoughts and experiences with people, things and situations. As I'm interested in random stuff - expect random stuff to appear here. Focus will be on IT/Software development and travel.Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-69791877715000769622016-10-26T07:20:00.001-07:002016-11-01T13:25:48.305-07:00Limone Extreme Skyrace 2016<h2>
How did I get into this?!</h2>
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More than a year ago I fell in love with this one. Watching
the videos of the prior editions thrilled me a lot:</div>
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I happened to be at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Garda">Lago di Garda</a> at the time when the 2015 edition was on. I definitely wanted to visit the race in order to see those
incredible athletes running on the fantastic course - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to soak in a little of the atmosphere. I know <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limone_sul_Garda">Limone</a>
and the stunning mountains that are raising right behind the small village, which
is beautifully pinched between the mountain and the lake. So I didn’t spend a
single thought on competing there. Not for me. Orders of magnitudes too tough. As
things turned out, I didn’t make it even to actually visit the race in 2015.
Still I was thrilled about the race. </div>
<h2>
What is it actually about?</h2>
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Sky race – sounds challenging. But what is it actually? Well,
the corresponding wikepedia definition reads: </div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">“<b><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Skyrunning</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">is an<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_sport" style="cursor: pointer;" title="Extreme sport"><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">extreme sport</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fell_running" style="cursor: pointer;" title="Fell running"><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">mountain running</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">above 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) where the incline exceeds 30% and the climbing difficulty does not exceed II° grade.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">“ - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyrunning">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyrunning</a>. </span></div>
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So not exactly a walk in the park.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Actually there is a series for race all over the world: (<a href="http://www.skyrunnerworldseries.com/)">http://www.skyrunnerworldseries.com/)</a>. And the final race of the series is the one in Limone. Almost 2500m of positive elevation
over the course of 27 km. And yes it is a loop, so you also need to go down all the
way. A good impression of this – beside the above mentioned videos – can be
provided by this flyover video: <o:p></o:p></div>
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Pretty tough stuff if you ask me …. </div>
<h2>
Things are getting slightly crazy …</h2>
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This year, as the October holiday period approaches, I check
again if the race date would match our holidays. They do. Just a couple of
weeks before, we still hadn’t decided where to go on holidays, I check if
there are still free seats for this year's race – not to watch but to actually run it.
There are, so I sign up – what a change of mindset in only a year. I feel
ready to actually give it a try <span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span>.
Took a little while to convince family to have another vacation at the Lago di
Garda, actually in Arco – Climbers’, Mountain bikers’ and hiker’s paradise. Off
we go.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In terms of race preparation, Limone has the 2<sup>nd</sup>
priority after the Berlin Marathon which took place just 3 weeks before the Limone
race. After having happily finished Berlin with a new PB (1<sup>st</sup> time below 3h – Yay!), I take a week off - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>only
easy running and then right away jump into the Limone preparation. As I’m
living in a totally flat part of Germany – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhr">Ruhrgebiet</a> – the only option to simulate Limone to a small extend, is to do hill repeats
on the <a href="http://www.halden.ruhr/halden.html">Halden</a>, which can give you up to 100m of elevation per climb. So I went there 3 times
over the cause of 8 days, before I actually leave on holidays in Arco. Example
activity below:<o:p></o:p><br />
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="405" scrolling="no" src="https://www.strava.com/activities/736031866/embed/e442e249b6ee4c48c9f6169bce7f47fe025a5424" width="590"></iframe>
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I spent the leading week to Limone in Arco, spending time
with a little trail running, biking, hiking and climbing. Nothing too extensive
as I know that I would need some relatively fresh legs for the race. At this
time, Limone race, still didn't get the focus, other races had got in the
past. Just too many things on the plate – too many balls in the air. Limone
just being a little experiment in there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Towards the race weekend, the weather gets worse and the
forecast for the race day reads terrible: A little bit warmer – by far not hot –
but heavy rain and thunderstorms already in the morning. Fantastic <span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">L</span></span> </div>
<h2>
The vertical race – picking up the bib …<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PfNOEy7cfX8/WBC4E9zSCbI/AAAAAAAADwI/L7Gnl_uAxJ8xLf1nbYSZBbEQzSpRfccHwCEw/s1600/IMG_8378.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PfNOEy7cfX8/WBC4E9zSCbI/AAAAAAAADwI/L7Gnl_uAxJ8xLf1nbYSZBbEQzSpRfccHwCEw/s320/IMG_8378.jpg" width="320" /></a><o:p> </o:p>On Friday – the day of the vertical race, the Skyrace is
about to start on Saturday – I go over to Limone to pick up my BIB and soak in
some event atmosphere. Weather is really bad on that day. Heavy rain all day
and the wind gives Lago di Gardo the face of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea">North Sea</a> – waves a hitting the
shore. </div>
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Event organiser had put up a tent which actually was targeted to
host the event party, but due to the weather conditions, it also host the event
fair. I get my BIB and a nice race pack, spend some time in Limone to wait for
the vertical race start. They start on a b-course (1200m+, 6k) as the weather doesn’t
allow to run on the original course. Elite and field runners start is put
together and all runners are gathered in the tent. My boy and me sneak into the
tent as well. Nice to get close to the runners and soak in the atmosphere.</div>
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As a side note, my boy spots a stand of Petzl who showed off
their gear – including climbing harnesses. He asks me if I need to bring my
climbing gear for tomorrows race as well. “Nah – I don’t need that for the
race, it’s a running race not a climbing event” is my response – we revisit
this one later <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>;P<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zrRDXZ52onE/WBC4FZmqPAI/AAAAAAAADwc/3NZ26JPAjmMuKwtp4Ug1rHX-wT5IbIcSACEw/s1600/IMG_8445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zrRDXZ52onE/WBC4FZmqPAI/AAAAAAAADwc/3NZ26JPAjmMuKwtp4Ug1rHX-wT5IbIcSACEw/s320/IMG_8445.jpg" width="320" /></a>They do a pre-start in the tent and then head to the real
start outside. My boy and myself manage to sprint from the tent to the start to witness
both. Fantastic experience. I love the nervous pre-race atmosphere a lot and
those runners taking off like rockets. All that in heavy rain & wind,
rolling thunder in the back. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Finally, some pre-race tension builds up on my side.
Mentally preparing for a tough day out on the trails. </div>
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The morning of the race …<o:p></o:p></h2>
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I wake up slightly before the alarm clock, so I have plenty
of time. Standard morning routine takes place and started relaxed for the 25
min drive towards Limone. Some light rain but overall much better conditions
than on the day before. This looks promising. I arrive early in Limone and
leave most of my stuff in the car – parked 5 min from the start. Nice walk into
the old town, checking the event location on the <a href="https://www.tuttocitta.it/mappa/limone-sul-garda/lungolago-guglielmo-marconi">promenade</a>.
The crews are busy building up the stands outside close to the start line. Some
first runners are there – while everybody is relaxed, you can already feel the
race-vibe in the air.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M_kYvHvcKnQ/WBC4F9FF2mI/AAAAAAAADwg/p8E8vjDQNV4YR1ktLKxBjUEO2rLp72MSACEw/s1600/IMG_8461.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M_kYvHvcKnQ/WBC4F9FF2mI/AAAAAAAADwg/p8E8vjDQNV4YR1ktLKxBjUEO2rLp72MSACEw/s320/IMG_8461.jpg" width="320" /></a>In front of the start line the doc-car is parked. Kind of a
mix between a jeep and a golf cart, two seats and looks like it could manage
pretty rough terrain. As I see one of the docs, it reminds me of the
conversation with my boy the evening before – the guy was completely geared up
in climbing harness. Would I need a climbing harness after all?! ;) <o:p></o:p></div>
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Nah, but it seems to be pretty tough. After having a nice
coffee and countless walks to the toilet, I get up to my car and prepare for
the race. Still a little bit chilly but it is not as cold as the days before.
Sun is even coming out and no rain anymore. Nice <span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Back down in the start area it’s getting pretty crowded.
Interesting to see the different teams staying together and loads of
international individual starters. On the other hand, the regular tourists are
slowly conquering the place as well. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A German tourist couple interested in the race and every
detail of it and another German fellow running who missed to bring his
windbreaker shorten the waiting time for me. Only 5 min left for the start. GPS
watch on and climbing over the fence into the starting field. The view towards
the start sign is intimidating. The mountains are stacking up high, you can’t
even see the top of the ridge without putting your head in to the heck. What
the hell I’m into?!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<h2>
The start<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qulowlaRQ80/WBC4HnTBRZI/AAAAAAAADxU/UYnpPEQteuIRTkps43fQC25AdQlsNO-6ACEw/s1600/IMG_8960.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qulowlaRQ80/WBC4HnTBRZI/AAAAAAAADxU/UYnpPEQteuIRTkps43fQC25AdQlsNO-6ACEw/s320/IMG_8960.jpg" width="320" /></a>And BÄAAAM off we go. The field is <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 20.592px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 20.592px;">funneling</span> its way through
the small alleys of the beautiful old town of Limone. I’m taking it easy and
just go with the flow. I notice that some of the runners are very eager to
overtake others at this point in time, I will only later understand why …<o:p></o:p></div>
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The first uphill</h2>
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After almost 2k of gently flowing through the village, we
reach the first uphill. Not a little one. We are climbing approximately 1100m
up over the cause of 5km distance. Holy Moly. All that on a fairly technical
narrow single trail. Overtaking others becomes close to impossible and now I
understand why people have been so eager to overtake others before the climb. I
stuck behind a big guy who is fighting up the hill – pretty much starring at his ass for the next hour. Random thoughts crossing my mind at the time:<br />
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<ul>
<li>This is too slow – I should have been pushing
more on the flat.</li>
<li>This is so steep – why did I sign up for
this?</li>
<li>If n runners per time unit can pass this single
trail per time unit, it is most likely 2/3n or even ½ n runners with poles – I got
annoyed with the poles around me…</li>
<li>Apparently there is no negative gravity build
into this Salomon Slab gear the guy in front of me is wearing</li>
<li>What a beautiful view – this is awesome …</li>
<li>Maybe it’s good not to start too tough – after all
my HR is not that low anyways</li>
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Looking back the last thought is key. While I still think
that I could have pushed a little more on the first uphill, I’m now happy that
I didn’t overdid it in be beginning and by that screwed up my first sky race
experience. </div>
<h2>
Running up there … </h2>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LqXX7b1dCKs/WBC4HieKyjI/AAAAAAAADxQ/GJ1MeMcQaJoIZ2NX0Km_UrxAWvrNYpG3QCEw/s1600/IMG_8958.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LqXX7b1dCKs/WBC4HieKyjI/AAAAAAAADxQ/GJ1MeMcQaJoIZ2NX0Km_UrxAWvrNYpG3QCEw/s320/IMG_8958.jpg" width="213" /></a>Once we reach the top of the mountain, the field gets a
little bit more distributed and it’s possible to overtake other runners without
causing major stress. Also we get back into stretches of running – It’s so nice
if the pain peaks and then slowly disappears ;)<o:p></o:p></div>
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I find the course to be just awesome – fantastic single
trails, some smaller climbs which get your hands dirty (why the hell do the
guys still use poles in here?!), smooth down hills, technical downhills – just
a perfect mix.<o:p></o:p></div>
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All the time you catch beautiful views down to the lake.
From a weather perspective we are actually lucky. The light rain at the start
stopped quickly and the air is warming up a little. On the top of the mountains
we get into the cloud and face a little condensation – this actually feels nice
and refreshing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Overall I feel strong and despite the effort I need to put
in and the question mark <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>about what else
the race is going to bring, I really can enjoy running up there. Feels
fantastic.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In terms of exposure and technicality I feel pretty good as
well. Technicality is not overwhelming and most of the very exposed parts are
actually fairly easy trails. The organizer has marked them with some flatter
band, so that the racers get another visual hint where they should be extra
carefully.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Most of the trails are in very good condition despite the
bad weather in the last 24 hours. Some of the trails in the Forrest are deeply
muddy though – I still need to clean my shoes ;)</div>
<h2>
Not a kindergarten up there … </h2>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8v_rVrD0LeU/WBC4G2sjw_I/AAAAAAAADxY/EJfLI4diOEQBjD7rpot9iX1-tFMyZbWEACEw/s1600/IMG_8951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8v_rVrD0LeU/WBC4G2sjw_I/AAAAAAAADxY/EJfLI4diOEQBjD7rpot9iX1-tFMyZbWEACEw/s320/IMG_8951.jpg" width="213" /></a>Despite the permanent sound of the helicopter which was
constantly in the air, two events during the race got me back to pay more respect
to what I’m doing right now.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The first one happened during a downhill in the forest. All
of the sudden there was a long, male scream of outstanding pain – maybe like
100m in front of me. Sounded so terrible. Pictures of an open fracture and an
eye ball punched by a stick popped up in my mind (I should check on my media
consumption). To be honest I turned my head back to verify that I wouldn’t approach
the situation alone – I was alone. Shit. Anyways heading down the trail and
mentally preparing for the worst. On more turn and then – Relief. The guy is
lying in a big muddy puddle with two runners around him. It is “just” a cramp.
I felt sorry for the guy and happy for myself at the same time ;)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The second situation takes place on a very steep and rocky
downhill. I’ve heard the roar of the supporting cross motor bikes before and
all of the sudden, I see one of those lying in the middle of the – from my
point of view absolutely undoable with a motor bike - trail. One female runner
apparently did fall on this steep downhill. Luckily she is taken care already
by the med crew. I see her crying and her in-pain face. The whole body is
shaking. I turn my head to avoid to let this sink in to deeply (failure here!!)
and then I again focus on my own running – a little slower for a while…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Myself was lucky. I stumbled twice but kept control (mostly
;))<a href="https://iancorless.org/2016/10/15/limone-extreme-2016-sky-skyrunner-world-series/"> Ian Coreless</a> reports about loads of bloody racers at the finish line …<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2>
Last uphill</h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the bottom of the last uphill, I feel my quads being sore
from all the downhills. I decide to get out my poles and use them. Very good
decision. The trail isn’t that technical and I’m able to recover my legs a
little and even overtake other runners. Looking at those destroyed faces, I feel
happy that I paced slower at the beginning and I still feel strong.</div>
<h2>
Last Summit<o:p></o:p></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>On the top of the last summit, the feeling of disappointment
crosses my mind. Only 5k of downhill is left? I would love to run here forever.
Nevertheless, I drink approximately half a liter of coke at the aid station and
eat a few bricks of chocolate. And off we go … </div>
<h2>
Down we go ..<o:p></o:p></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>The downhill to Limone is the most technical one of the
race. It’s cruel. I’m happy once again that I have saved some legs. My mood is
now – all or nothing. So I push relatively hard on the downhills. This requires
all my focus. Meanwhile I see Limone approaching and feel the civilization to
reconnect. The disappointment from the summit is now replaced by positive anticipation
of the finish line. I’m overtaking some slower runners on the steep downhill
and later on the flatter part, I almost get a little into a racing mode ;) </div>
<h2>
The Finish</h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once I have almost falling down to the village, the last 1k
is flat next to the lake. First we run on the beach and then getting back to
the promenade. The finish is at the same place like the start. Hence again you
get the view of the impressive mountain ridge. I struggle to realize that I
just climbed that bitch. A very emotional finish.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZYcfCC0GeSQ/WBC4HOxBtWI/AAAAAAAADxY/QO1tNL-XzEwYa_3waFASPRCam1prONouQCEw/s1600/IMG_8954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZYcfCC0GeSQ/WBC4HOxBtWI/AAAAAAAADxY/QO1tNL-XzEwYa_3waFASPRCam1prONouQCEw/s320/IMG_8954.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
After crossing the line and spending some time in the finish
area, I walk slowly on the promenade – struggling to realize what just
happened. Eventually I get myself a bottle of beer and 1.5 Liter of water. I
lay down on the quay wall, facing the mountain ridge and catching a few last
sun rays. Happy.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q26cHTBOxx0/WBC4GiTgzHI/AAAAAAAADxY/5T0j6HwqK9MT1eQvcyI66HxGq18SMKUQQCEw/s1600/IMG_8476.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q26cHTBOxx0/WBC4GiTgzHI/AAAAAAAADxY/5T0j6HwqK9MT1eQvcyI66HxGq18SMKUQQCEw/s320/IMG_8476.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<h2>
Pasta Party<o:p></o:p></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After some time of recovery, I get back to the car to
finally change my cloth. Dry cloth. Nice. Still a smell – who cares?! I’m
heading back down to the event tent. Anticipating some nice food and drinks. I
spent a while there eating, daydreaming … Eventually I’m done and head back to
our little hut. What a day. What an adventure. What a joy.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l8Zl3ISAOZ0/WBC4GsG-XFI/AAAAAAAADxY/eTo59nnsc5owtOiITOgMESgKCuEqbECegCEw/s1600/IMG_8478.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l8Zl3ISAOZ0/WBC4GsG-XFI/AAAAAAAADxY/eTo59nnsc5owtOiITOgMESgKCuEqbECegCEw/s320/IMG_8478.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<h2>
Afterthoughts<o:p></o:p></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fantastic race. Fantastic place. Beautiful trails. It feels
good to be able to take part in this kind of little adventure. I need to come
back. At least twice. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I need to come back in good weather conditions and enjoying
a hike on the course. I will bring a proper camera. Those views are mind
blowing. I got some of them in my heart. Priceless. More out there. I need to
embrace it.<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SdjEn87X1io/WBC4Gu9iBrI/AAAAAAAADxY/dgJWn9cInHA1PNPDHw_ZUBRUqsGGQPz3wCPcB/s1600/IMG_8479.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SdjEn87X1io/WBC4Gu9iBrI/AAAAAAAADxY/dgJWn9cInHA1PNPDHw_ZUBRUqsGGQPz3wCPcB/s320/IMG_8479.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I need to come back for a proper race. There is unfinished
business. I know that I can be much faster out there. A little bit of more
specific training. Different mindset and it will be epic.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So at least – I need to come back twice. Limone – better be prepared
;P<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-54023587579469333772016-05-29T15:15:00.001-07:002016-05-30T08:28:33.386-07:00TorTour de Ruhr 2016 <h2>
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The week before</span></h2>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0fjv9xp2SLI/V0tTsgfFQvI/AAAAAAAADmA/s9Z36LMn4-w9wisnRy3M6j86sjk19Fw9gCKgB/s1600/13248368_10206936595915634_5806844472983556981_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0fjv9xp2SLI/V0tTsgfFQvI/AAAAAAAADmA/s9Z36LMn4-w9wisnRy3M6j86sjk19Fw9gCKgB/s320/13248368_10206936595915634_5806844472983556981_o.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The thing - <a href="http://www.tortourderuhr.de/">TorTour de Ruhr</a> - is clearly turning into reality. While it always has been in the back of my mind and I dedicated some of my training efforts to it, the TorTour de Ruhr has always been hidden behind the the Düsseldorf Marathon, which took place three weeks before the TorTour de Ruhr. Main focus for the Düsseldorf Marathon was to significantly improve my PB, which kind of worked out. Now, the the entire focus is on the TTdR. Thinking about the 100k is still overall intimidating and close to impossible. Thinking about it as less than five half marathons only make it slightly better. But hey - this will work. It's now almost two years ago that I first heard about the race and witnessed it as a spectator. A lot of things change over the cause of this time.</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wsO8pqnFJ24/V0tXE9E7_pI/AAAAAAAADnI/2lb7qQUrMPo3Hum7cXlfPOwyDgJWvUa-QCKgB/s1600/IMG_1897.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wsO8pqnFJ24/V0tXE9E7_pI/AAAAAAAADnI/2lb7qQUrMPo3Hum7cXlfPOwyDgJWvUa-QCKgB/s320/IMG_1897.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">Earlier the week, I met Lars, who agreed to me by staying next to me on the bike and carry all the supplies in the bike trailer of my daughter. All the supplies - we quickly created a list of things we might need and estimated the amount of the items. INSANE - while I'm pretty optimistic that we are overestimating our needs, it's still intimidating to see the large list of things, we might potentially require.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b8-qoCtRBME/V0tXrZogkHI/AAAAAAAADno/5dhJwldTLn09BKo-E8ZartLHy-mgL288gCKgB/s1600/IMG_1909.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b8-qoCtRBME/V0tXrZogkHI/AAAAAAAADno/5dhJwldTLn09BKo-E8ZartLHy-mgL288gCKgB/s320/IMG_1909.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span>Before the race on Thursday I seemed to have pulled my left calf muscle. Tight like a stone. I couldn't even properly walk on Friday. Will I be fit in time? Two days of intensive application of salve, Blackroll and some stretching. Only the day of the race I mentioned this to Lars, to not disturb his motivation earlier. I definitely wanted to give it a try and calf was much better now. I estimated three more days of rest for totally recovery at race day- this would need to be delayed to after the race.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">On Saturday we packed all the stuff. Easily we have been able to fill up the entire trailer. I tried to relax as much as possible and went to bed early. Alarm clock should ring at 0:50am and I should be picked up at 1:30am.</span></span><br />
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The race day - Pre Start</span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">Loads of strange dreams, plus the blanket was totally soaked in sweat - Hydration needed to start from zero ;). Quickly jumping into the race cloth and grabbing the last things. Smooth ride to the start line in Hagen, where we found an interesting atmosphere: a lot of runners and crews where preparing themselves on the parking lot. Headlamp lights everywhere. People in pleasant anticipation, nervous whispering and warm welcoming of people who meet. A vivid community.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Inside of the building it has been nice and warm. Good mix of runners of the longer distances, who dropped in for a good drink and a plate of noodles and 100k runners signing in. Super smooth sign in and warm welcome - Felt like home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">After having a good cup of coffee - next to a guy sleeping with his head in the noodles plate, we went out to prepare the bike and the trailer. I was getting a little nervous about the timing, but Lars's calm character did the magic trick on me to cool me down. I mingled between the other starters, listened to the short briefing and then Rock and Roll, baby!</span><br />
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The race day - Finally we run</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">We started behind a bike for a short introduction round of 500 m and then off we go. I kept my headlamp off for some time - as the path was packed with quite some runners, who already shed enough light. Right after crossing the Ruhr river for the first time, somebody yelled at me "Ah Vodafone" - I couldn't identify the person as it was pitch dark. Only a few hours later I recognized that was a colleague of mine, who did crew some other runners. How small the world is!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">After a 1-2k the excitement was slowly going away. Running is something which I have been done before, is something I can focus on. I felt good. The feel of my tight calf was still present but clearly no showstopper at this point in time. My mind slowly realized what has started 2 years ago by reading some Facebook posts about the TorTour de Ruhr and a short visit to the finish line, formed in a crazy, fantastic idea in the back of my mind, has been formalized by accepting the invitation to the race, will now turn into reality. Goosed bumps. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I focussed on myself and Lars nicely supported me in watching over my pace. I started too fast - like always - but he kept reminding me. I think it took me more than 50k to finally naturally run in the targeted pace - it always seemed to slow. Like mentioned in <a href="http://stefanspointofview.blogspot.de/2016/05/preparation-tortour-de-ruhr.html">my earlier blog post</a>, I aimed running on average 6 min/km pace and allow myself two extra hours for resting or compensate for walking periods.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">I wore my race backpack the whole time. I had two filled softflasks, some gels and bars with me. While mostly intended for the possibility that I might get separated from my crew, it turned out that even with Lars next to me was a good setup. I could constantly eat & drink and he reminded me by asking : "Stefan, do you need anything?" - that I might have a need. So overall, I definitely ate more than I would have done it if I were on my own. This was a pretty good thing!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">Only after 3h40mins I asked for a first stop. Needed to eat something different. I still felt awesome and did some social media stuff. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">The atmosphere on the cycle path was super nice. Silent morning, not much non-TTdR folks around. We passed a lot of crew members waiting and catering for their runners. Super friendly atmosphere and everybody was supporting everybody - I once again felt part of the family.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">On the way to <a href="http://www.ruhr-tourismus.de/en/cities-in-the-ruhr-area/essen/lake-baldeney.html">Baldeney See</a>, I got some good news over the phone. One of my favorite running buddies - Cris (http://www.cookitfit.com/) - confirmed us that she was on her way to support me on the run. Last logistics being sorted out to confirm a good meeting point took place. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">All this was perfectly supported by my Garmin watch. I'm super happy with the performance of the Fenix 3 during that day. I had uploaded the GPX-track for navigation, which I used regularly during the day, and I started Garmin Live Tracking on the phone. So, watch was connected all the time to the mobile app, which then was broadcasting my current position to the folks following me on the Internet. It worked like a charm. After the finish, I had still 25% battery left on the watch (just normal mode - no ultra mode). My phone would have probably survived, but at some point in time I recharged it with a power bar in the trailer. Fantastic setup - worked easily and reliable. I got a lot of feedback from friends, who spent a lazy Sunday by watching my slow and constant progress...</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">When I arrived at the Baldeneysee, things were still fine. Body was ok, no bigger pain or anything - it only slowly transformed from a nice, just being in the flow to some recognizable level of being bored.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">A change would be nice at this point I said to myself ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">And there was the change. First, I met my brother and my sister in law on the old train bridge heading to Kupferdreh. They took a short video of me and joined in the forces until the nearby aid-station. Super nice and surprising support. On the aid station Cris showed up as planned as well - superb timing. From then on there was a good level of distraction. She joined Lars in going next to me on the bike. Leaving the aid station my brother stayed next to me running for some kilometers - awesome support. As he left me, he confirmed that he would be waiting for me at the finish line - nice motivation again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">The next 30k until km 80 were quite relaxed. Cris and Lars kept a good level of conversation going, which was quite helpful for me to keep a positive mood. It was quite like a normal social run - we had good fun and took it in a relaxed mode. After a short rain, we had quite some sunny moments - I even used my sunglasses ;). The section after the Baldeneysee is actually a super nice, silent place - I just love it.</span></span><br />
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</span><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Kj9Z86m2xxc/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kj9Z86m2xxc?feature=player_embedded" style="clear: right; float: right;" width="320"></iframe><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">At the aid-station we were getting more food&</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">drinks and friendly words one could ask for. Also we experienced a couple, who was on the 230km, who showed a magnificent mix of being exhausted, keeping controlled and being 100% confident. Chapeau!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">After some more kilometers Cris said goodbye and headed back on the bike. Being super thankful for her support, Lars and I continued our way. Now, some level of tiredness eventually kicked in, but I still felt pretty good. We had sunshine though, a colleague of mine mentioned that there might be some hail ahead of us. Still in good sunshine, he actually showed up at the side of the track, took some video/photos and found some motivating words. Again - awesome support and dedication. Thank you so much, Paulo!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PAToXC9p6KI/V0tWEhDEJLI/AAAAAAAADmo/SsHZXU7Nbb8aVQ4ctmzCJz_37Uf4q90AACKgB/s1600/IMG_1337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PAToXC9p6KI/V0tWEhDEJLI/AAAAAAAADmo/SsHZXU7Nbb8aVQ4ctmzCJz_37Uf4q90AACKgB/s320/IMG_1337.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Shortly after km 90 some things happened. On one hand moving on was taking more effort now as I was getting more tired. I felt my feet - at the time I anticipated to be in process of loosing two more toe nails (actually only two blisters which tripled the size of the individual toes ;)) - Lars mentioned later that I turned slightly pale around that time. At km 92, I asked for a final stop - refreshing my energy with coke and chocolate. At this point in time it became clear to me - all the fight being in front of me taking aside - I will definitely reach my goal. I had quite some emotional moments during the next kilometers realizing that my two-year-dream was becoming reality. Lars recognized the change on me and asked me if he should entertain me or keep his mouth shut. Apparently, I answered in a relatively impolite manner "Do what you want, I'm not listening anyway." What should I say - this was exactly what it was at the time. I now was even more focussed than before. I got the feedback during this and other races, that I tend to be quite focussed through the races anyhow, but this was for sure a different stage now ... Running was getting tough but at the same time I could keep a reasonable pace. I even overtook some runners, who pushed me with statements like "You are looking good!", "Awesome pace" which even raised my confidence level.</span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ffoYSZKSme8/V0tVoH3T36I/AAAAAAAADmg/qzgwRyZzFGUz37qiRxD18AuvCV4jjHCiQCKgB/s1600/IMG_1331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ffoYSZKSme8/V0tVoH3T36I/AAAAAAAADmg/qzgwRyZzFGUz37qiRxD18AuvCV4jjHCiQCKgB/s320/IMG_1331.JPG" width="240" /></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The wind was freshen up quite a bit. Lars gave his best to shield me from the wind, but didn't succeeded. Anyways - I was in a fighting mode - so what can a bit of wind do any harm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">On the last crossing of the Ruhr via <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhrschleuse_Duisburg">Ruhrorter Schleuse</a>, I walked the first meters during the race. Not much, maybe 150m, but I kind of needed this to ensure that I gathered myself for the finish. I also spontaneous decided, to try the Facebook Live Video feature to stream my finish to my Facebook page - Worked awesome as Lars took over the camera.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The last 1.5km were tough, but luckily there were other runners and crews everywhere who cheered me up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Unfortunately I can not really cover all my feelings, as I eventually reached the Rheinorange, in words. It was a mix of immediate relaxing, being proud, not able to realise what happened and pure relief. Actually I'm missing many more aspects here. Finally I received the congratulations from Jens, who was a little bit shy to tell me my finishing time 11:00:03 - just about 11 hours. I couldn't care less about the 3 secs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Beside all the runners and crews at the finish, it was also nice that my brother and sister in law show and some friends showed up to welcome me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Lars has carried 2 cans of beer the entire way - never tasted a better beer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">After some 10 minutes of enjoying the finish, we went back to the cars - it was getting quite cold. Interesting I had little trouble walking. What a day!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">
Aftermath</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Times are busy these days. Its Sunday evening - well already Monday morning to be precise - 2 weeks after the TorTour de Ruhr. I'm still thrilled on what I have experienced. Some key points:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I'm able to run 100km in one go - 4 years ago my horizon was the opposing goal line of a - small - football field. I'm proud of this achievement and also a little surprised</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">the TTdR is a fantastic event. Awesome organisation gathers a family of runners in a unique atmosphere </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I want to redo this - this time everything went so smooth - Let's see how it would go the next time</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I'm in process of constantly pushing boundaries. 100km is the current boundary. Looking forward to push it out - Maybe 160km @ TTdR 2018?!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Comradeship is key to achieve this kind of things. You can train like a horse for your won, but you need friends who believe in you and support you on the way. Thanks for this!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">You! - Right, you reader. You might be just a single person reaching this line of the long blog post, but you, should consider to do the same! Running 100km, well - maybe yes, maybe not. It's more about living your dreams, leaving your comfort zone and explore new things!</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="405" scrolling="no" src="https://www.strava.com/activities/576803561/embed/40b260e36ed86f4e2f94dbf8d14f2c9c88bb139d" width="590"></iframe></span>
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Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-53082403397119040622016-05-09T02:25:00.001-07:002016-05-10T23:40:02.803-07:00Preparation TorTour de Ruhr<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RVmde3fJZO8/VzBYY3MuCbI/AAAAAAAADkw/6V3qQx1tfX4x3VbEh4P5kmQyfvzslCsxACLcB/s1600/IMG_1585.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RVmde3fJZO8/VzBYY3MuCbI/AAAAAAAADkw/6V3qQx1tfX4x3VbEh4P5kmQyfvzslCsxACLcB/s320/IMG_1585.jpg" width="240" /></a>Man - I'm really lazy in terms of actually writing anything on this blog. Anyways, I hope I used the time to prepare the TorTour de Ruhr properly - we will see.<br />
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I'm writing this, as now more and more people ask me about what kind of endeavour have been signed up, where does it take place and when? In this blog post I will capture all relevant information as they are available to me - so, <b>watch out for updates of this blog post.</b><br />
<h2>
What is this TorTour de Ruhr thingy?!</h2>
The Tortour de Ruhr is a ultra running event, which takes place at the bicycle path - <a href="http://radreise-wiki.de/Ruhr">Ruhrtal Radweg</a> - next to the Ruhr River. The complete race distance covers all the way from the origin of the Ruhr to the entry in Rhine River. Finish is at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine_Orange">Rheinorange</a>. These are 230km. While I'm crazy, I'm not that crazy <b>- yet ;)</b>. Luckily they also provide shorter distances. 100 miles and <b>100 km (Bambini Edition)</b>. I signed up for the latter. All race editions share a common finish locations, which is the above mentioned Rheinorange. The event takes place every 2 years, but it is a private event. So you can't just sign up for it, but you need to obtain an invitation. All the details are available on the event web-page: <a href="http://www.tortourderuhr.de/">http://www.tortourderuhr.de/</a> (while mostly in German, it provides everything you might want to know about the event).<br />
<h2>
When does it take place?</h2>
<div>
The Bambini Race starts at Sunday the <b>15th of Mai 2016</b> at 4am at the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?date&ll=51.413019%2C7.467999&hl=de&iwloc=00043d6579f1c8776f93f&mrt=kmlkmz&spn=0.013276%2C0.038581&t=h&ttype&geocode&msa=0&z=15&time&ie=UTF8&om=1&mid=1yrMNAPvl7ksMekTRf5bISH3pueg">Hengsteysee</a> in Hagen, DLRG-Wache Südufer, neben dem Hengstey-Freibad.</div>
<h2>
Where are you running?</h2>
<div>
You find a magnificent GPX track at event <a href="http://www.tortourderuhr.de/strecke.shtml">website </a>or directly at <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1BOtptaKMiFueq9ng96_eLq3321k">Google Maps</a>. I will start at <b>KM 132,6 (62,9) = VP = Start TTdR100</b> and running down the Ruhr river until <b>KM 231,5 (161,8) [100] = Finish TTdR</b>. So, don't get confused by the naming of the aid stations. As they are shared between the different distances, they are named after the full distance race.</div>
<h2>
When will you be where?</h2>
Easy question, but super hard to answer - at least in general.<br />
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<div>
For sure I will be at the start at 4am. This is easy, but maybe not a good point in time to visit me. Might be too early for you and actually I should need less of support at the start.</div>
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Another - slightly less, but hey I'm optimistic - sure statement that I will be eventually at the Rheinorange ;).</div>
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Beside this, the organise provides a <b>live tracking </b>available at <a href="http://www.webscorer.com/tortourderuhr">http://www.webscorer.com/tortourderuhr</a>. <strike>The accuracy here would be on aid-station level</strike>. Apparently updates will only be done once a runner hits the finish.<br />
I'm thinking about providing more detailed information on the run, not sure yet how. I might just update my FB status from time to time, Use Garmin Live (I'm a little bit shy because of the battery consumption) or find other means. Definitely I will have my phone with me.</div>
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In terms of planning I'm not so sure. The organiser provides this <a href="http://www.tortourderuhr.de/TTdR-Zeitplan.pdf">general time plan,</a> which might give you an idea.</div>
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Personally I have too little experience to actually provide an accurate plan about my running. Initially I put a thumb in the air and estimated 10+2h for the distance. Rationale here: 6min/km pace is pretty slow for normal running (this would give me 10h) and for sure stuff will go wrong - so let's add 2h more. So highly unscientific and most likely obsolete right after the start ;)</div>
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In the meantime I played a little bit with numbers: <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IBdhrncSbFUi4u6zezvfj0NqJgog3RDaV8MJSiWWgQE/edit?usp=sharing">Google Sheet</a> - Maybe even less accurate. Anyways my goal is to finish - I couldn't care less about the time.</div>
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<h2>
Should I pass along to sheer you on?</h2>
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<b>Absolutely.</b> Sheering is always nice on those long runs. I would be supper happy to meet some known faces, which could distract me a little from the effort.</div>
<div>
At the same time, don't over estimate the experience on your side. I will not pause for an extensive talk, I might me totally broken and hence a bad conversation buddy. </div>
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If you are still up to pass along - great! The actual course is a cycle path - so passing along on a bike tour should work perfectly. If you are a runner, you might want to jog along with me for a while - I'll be slow! - Also a family excursion, e.g. to the <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldeneysee">Baldeneysee </a>could work.</div>
<div>
Just show up to surprise me, or let me know in advance, so that I can manage to communicate where I am according to your plans. If you don't show up (weather forecast is not too good) - don't worry. I'm in a fight anyways ;)</div>
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Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-12599447467077555542015-06-10T01:07:00.000-07:002015-06-10T01:07:09.192-07:00Running UTLWOnly posting this one 2 weeks after the actual race. Mind-blowing experience! I'm not to cover it here in any great detail. Head over to <a href="http://www.joaovieirasantos.com/2015/05/31/ultra-trail-lamer-winkel-konig-vom-bayerwald/">http://www.joaovieirasantos.com/2015/05/31/ultra-trail-lamer-winkel-konig-vom-bayerwald/</a> which is the blog of my buddy. We spent to whole race together and his description is pretty comprehensive...<br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="405" scrolling="no" src="https://www.strava.com/activities/314870677/embed/d2858149301d19f5d4cd22fb8fd6e1bc56d60cbd" width="590"></iframe>
Next thing on my running radar is spending to weeks of holidays in the Zugspitze region - should be a trail running paradise - stay tuned...<br />
Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-62312379072639594852015-04-14T02:28:00.001-07:002015-04-15T01:01:06.176-07:00Running Tenerife - Teide Summit <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CpnPdemb9bE/VSzXHLYmHlI/AAAAAAAADZY/3BPGtOsU_2I/s1600/IMG_5010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CpnPdemb9bE/VSzXHLYmHlI/AAAAAAAADZY/3BPGtOsU_2I/s1600/IMG_5010.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mount Teide - view from Parador, 10 min drive from the starting spot</td></tr>
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<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
The Plan</h2>
Obviously climbing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teide">Pico del Teide </a>is almost a must-do if you are on the island. While technical not too challenging, it remains a steep hike exposed to different weather conditions, heat, cold, wind, snow, ... Reading through some - mostly hiking - descriptions, the idea was born to try to reach the summit with as much running as possible and traverse via a different route.<br />
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Actually, I also found a video of a guy running on the Teide - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg5v2MjD0Us">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg5v2MjD0Us</a>. Quite motivating though he is definitely in a different league - no way for me to just copy that.<br />
Eventually my planned Route looks like this:<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="400" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.gpsies.com/mapOnly.do?fileId=mwfooiufdlrdtfuo" width="600"></iframe><br />
As you can see this is quite a demanding route. Some of the constraints driving the selection are:<br />
<ul>
<li>only one day away from the family </li>
<li>minimal logistic effort</li>
<li>as much of a roundtrip as possible</li>
</ul>
<div>
I choose public transport as a means to get close to the mountain. Unfortunately the bus(342) goes only ones a day and to rather unpractical times: Arrives at 11:00am in the morning and leaves at 15:45pm., assuming you are staying in the south west of the Island. This leaves you with a rather little time window. Hence the plan to not use this bus on the way back, but run&hike further down to a village - Tejina de Guía -, where another, more frequently operated bus can be reached.</div>
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On the long way down to from the summit to the village, water supply could easily become an issue. Hence I was quite happy as I spotted some drinking water spots in the Open Street Map, close to my selected route.I verified via email with the author of those map entities,that those should be indeed functional at the time I would be on my way.<br />
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<div>
Overall the plan seemed to be quite ambitious for me and I looked at a couple of exit strategies - which turned out to be a wise decision.</div>
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<h2>
The Reality</h2>
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="405" scrolling="no" src="https://www.strava.com/activities/280399409/embed/b69c996add41a2e87ec20a438809e17784ad8a76" width="590"></iframe></div>
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<div>
We arrived at Tenerife in a rather poor medical condition. My daughter had fetched a cold with strong coughing and inflamed eyes, while I had a sore throat and light cold thanks to the a/c in meeting rooms and planes. Turned out that neither of us recovered completely during the vacations. The last too day before the summit attempt I played it quite easy and felt rather good so that I decided to give it a try. But already during the 2 hours bus drive, strong&painful coughing was back. Not good, but let's see.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NdcjMm7-YjI/VSzXG0GLcKI/AAAAAAAADZQ/KgbF3vfAxXw/s1600/IMG_5012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NdcjMm7-YjI/VSzXG0GLcKI/AAAAAAAADZQ/KgbF3vfAxXw/s1600/IMG_5012.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Info board at <span style="text-align: start;">entrada montaña blanca</span></span></td></tr>
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I arrived at entrada montaña blanca 25min delayed - the time window got even smaller - and immediately started in a gently jogging tempo.<br />
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I was hoping to be able to run at least the first 4km, as the track seemed to be rather easy and not too steep. All true, but I had really difficulties breezing and needed to invest a lot of effort to keep a minimum running tempo. So I decided to give up on running at this early state and instead to hike as fast a possible.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CtUB3ki4QFw/VSzXJGZqEjI/AAAAAAAADZw/RIYFyDd1D-M/s1600/IMG_5018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CtUB3ki4QFw/VSzXJGZqEjI/AAAAAAAADZw/RIYFyDd1D-M/s1600/IMG_5018.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jcJOxJ96Dvc/VSzXJnXFI3I/AAAAAAAADZ0/6ynBQ7B1aqE/s1600/IMG_5020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jcJOxJ96Dvc/VSzXJnXFI3I/AAAAAAAADZ0/6ynBQ7B1aqE/s1600/IMG_5020.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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In the following I made my way up the <a href="http://www.telefericoteide.com/en/altavista/altavista-refuge">altavista refuge</a> rather quickly.<br />
A beautiful hike with mind-blowing views over a obscure landscape which was framed by lower hanging cloud carpet. The path itself evolved from a relatively flat gravel road, to a steep rocky hiking path. Interestingly the volcanic rock is quite light in mass and gives you a strange feedback. If you don't put your steps properly, a lot of sliding is involved. I happily used my trekking poles, which where a nice help to avoid wasting too much energy.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H34_GfX96gA/VSzXKB85HPI/AAAAAAAADaE/h3XQa0ACQFM/s1600/IMG_5023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H34_GfX96gA/VSzXKB85HPI/AAAAAAAADaE/h3XQa0ACQFM/s1600/IMG_5023.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huevos del Teide</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Altavista Refuge</td></tr>
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As I arrived the refuge, I decided to have a short break inside. While the entrance room of the hut was open with access to vending machines for drinks, the remainder of the refuge was closed until 5pm (including toilets). I bought a bottle of water to spare my own water for the long way down and talked briefly to a young, french couple. While it was a very nice conversation, I figured out that it took some effort to express myself. I really didn't felt fit. Let's see how this is going to develop.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">quite some snow given the perceived high temperature</td></tr>
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The way up from the refuge to the mountain station of the the cable car went relatively easy for me. Here everything got quite crowded. A lot of folks was walking here after arriving with the cable car. I quickly checked in for the summit as you need a permit. Luckily the mountain guides accepted my permit for a later time period of the same day.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">still some way to go</td></tr>
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Before I started to hike up to the summit, I put on long trousers and a jacket as it got a fresh breeze up there. The last 200m of elevation are done via a nicely created path. While technical easy, I had again issues breezing and was quite exhausted. I need to to quite some breaks on the walk up and felt dizzy. So, you should be healthy and try to get used to the altitude slowly. 0 - 3700m is quite a jump.</div>
<div>
On the summit itself you have a beautiful view. For me it was a white cloud carpet with some islands spiking through.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fW4fqwwTLmY/VSzXOQqyCDI/AAAAAAAADbA/VNtI8be24oM/s1600/IMG_5045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fW4fqwwTLmY/VSzXOQqyCDI/AAAAAAAADbA/VNtI8be24oM/s1600/IMG_5045.jpg" height="86" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panoramic summit view</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-js3bKUWJnSk/VSzXMtdPOYI/AAAAAAAADac/hNW-7oh-6ko/s1600/IMG_5044.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-js3bKUWJnSk/VSzXMtdPOYI/AAAAAAAADac/hNW-7oh-6ko/s1600/IMG_5044.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Summit view</td></tr>
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I left the summit rather quickly and headed down to the mountain station. I felt quite dizzy and had difficulties to breeze. After a larger sip of water and some food, I felt better but still not good. It was around 3:15pm at the time. Would be a long day down with not much options to shortcut if needed. So I decided to rather stop here than risking a bad day. If I would get the cable car down, I should be able to catch the bus. Too many if and should-s it turned out. I missed the bus by 5 min. But better to be left in front of the cable car station then somewhere in the middle of an empty road (which could have been the option if I would have continued my traverse). And true - only 15 min later I secured my ride back to the hotel. A German couple took me with their car. We overtook the bus and had some nice conversations during the ride. My family was happily surprised to receive me back during daylight. </div>
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<h2>
Resume</h2>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aMYIEbL2CHM/VSzXNdwpVeI/AAAAAAAADak/AnirQZDNc_Q/s1600/IMG_5048.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aMYIEbL2CHM/VSzXNdwpVeI/AAAAAAAADak/AnirQZDNc_Q/s1600/IMG_5048.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">exhausted, but happy on the summit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Fantastic experience. If you happen to be on the island Tenerife, you should plan for a summit tour. Next time I would plan two days (stay over night in the mountain refuge and do the summit at sun rise), which is a common recommendation . Also I would aim at doing some hike at higher altitude before.</div>
<div>
Actually I'm quite happy with my decision to not finish the run. You can argue that I shouldn't have even tried it in the first place, but still I'm proud that I was strong enough to exit, where needed.<br />
I'm looking forward to return to the island and eventually finish the run.<br />
<br /></div>
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Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-64751668618919494832014-11-18T04:54:00.001-08:002014-11-18T04:55:34.928-08:00Bloody Nipples - Autsch<style>
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</style><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Browsing through the Internet and listen
to experiences of fellow runners the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fissure_of_the_nipple">fissure of a nipple / jogging nipple</a> - or
to bring it to the point a <b>bloody nipple</b> - is a common thing which happens to
quite a lot of runners. Never happened to me until today and I must confess
this really sucks.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I still remember that I was reviewing
pictures from the <a href="http://stefanspointofview.blogspot.de/2014/11/first-little-utlra-experience.html">Bottroper Herbstlauf</a> and saw a runner with a bloody shirt. I
smiled in relief though I had no idea about the real extend. My pictures from
today:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I usually keep an eye on using
compression shirts for my longer runs. While those look kind of funny – given
that my body has never experienced the torture of a gym – and come with a price
tag (skins stuff), I never ever had any issue with those. I tend to use
events/finisher shirts only for shorter runs. This is the rule. There are
always exceptions to rules: Today I wore the <a href="http://www.tetraeder-treppenlauf.de/">Tetraeder Treppenlauf </a>Finisher
Shirt (fantastic event which is on my list for 2015 again and the T-shirt is
fine – no complain here). There should be no more exceptions – ever ;)!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Beside this I had a fantastic run
today, which brought me back to the start location of the <a href="http://stefanspointofview.blogspot.de/2014/11/first-little-utlra-experience.html">Bottroper Herbstlauf</a>
and on the top of <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halde_Haniel">Halde Haniel</a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Perfect start in the day, which brought some
money in for <a href="http://kinderprojekt-arche.eu/">die Arche e.V</a> via <a href="http://runvember.de/">runvember</a> and brought me close to finish the
"<a href="http://www.strava.com/challenges/bring-back-the-boom">Bring back the Boom"</a> Strava challenge. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sore but happy </span><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">!</span></span></div>
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</span>Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-73791080933267470092014-11-13T07:43:00.001-08:002014-11-13T07:58:18.380-08:00First impressions of the Altra Olympus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sCt8Stm8wTc/VGTP_efGoTI/AAAAAAAADUo/C6iBIEFxBb0/s1600/IMG_2789.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sCt8Stm8wTc/VGTP_efGoTI/AAAAAAAADUo/C6iBIEFxBb0/s320/IMG_2789.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m using quite different shoes from various brands. I’m following the trend to having more minimalistic shoes and zero-drop. Not because this is a popular trend, but because it seems to make sense.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">At the same time, I acknowledge, that running frequently long distances in the urban environment, could have a negative impact on my body. Up to now ther<span style="font-family: inherit;">e are</span> no issues, but with increasing the mileage this could easily changes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The first time I saw some <a href="http://www.hokaoneone.eu/">Hooka shoes</a>,
which come with extreme cushioning, in real life I was amused. Thinking
process started and yes this extra cushioning made sense to me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So zero drop is fine, but I want to have some good cushioning for longer distances as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As of today I was running minimalistic shoes (<a href="http://www.vibram-fivefingers.de/vibram-fivefingers/komodo-sport-ls">Five Fingers Komodo Sport LS</a><b>,</b> <a href="http://www.runnersworld.com/shoe/asics-gel-lyte33-3-mens">Asics Lyte</a><b>)</b> for shorter distances and form drills, while I have found a good fit into<b> </b><a href="http://www.runnersworld.com/shoe/mizuno-wave-rider-17-mens">Mizuno Wave Rider</a> for longer distances. The latter are wide enough for my <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunion">Hallux valgus</a> and provide some good level of cushioning. At the same time those are not zero drop (14mm). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Before I actually get hands on a Hooka shoe, my attention has been drawn by a different brand - <a href="http://www.altrarunning.com/">altra shoes</a>. Besides having shoes with just extreme cushioning, they also embrace zero drop and advertise a wide toe box, which should come in handy for my feed. I got exited. Then I got frustrated, as it seemed to be impossible to obtain those shoes in Europe/Germany, without ordering them directly from the US. This got solved in the meantime. I got in touch with Altra and eventually I got hold of the list of first shops, which should be selling <span style="font-family: inherit;">A</span>ltra shoes in Germany:</span><br />
<ul><ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.wat-laeuft.de/">Wat Läuft, Bochum</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pöllhammer, Garmisch</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Orthopädie Schäfer, Rheinzabern </span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As Wat Läuft shop is located close to my hometown, I went there. Nice shop and I got very good sales advise. I ended up with buying the <a href="http://www.altrarunning.com/fitness/en/Altra/mens-shoes/olympus-men">Altra Olympus</a>, which is an extreme cushioned trail shoe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vtt1OBnRsvg/VGTQHOPh8NI/AAAAAAAADU4/RnwALaPs1fY/s1600/IMG_2779.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vtt1OBnRsvg/VGTQHOPh8NI/AAAAAAAADU4/RnwALaPs1fY/s320/IMG_2779.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">On my first run, I needed a little while to get used to the high stack - fear of twisting my ankle- , but after a few km I already forgotten this and had no issue anymore. The cushioning is impressive and releases my legs quite a lot. Again on the first kilometers I felt a little detached from the ground, but this is no issue anymore<span style="font-family: inherit;"> -</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">even</span> not, if I'm switching between different shoes, which I do a lot.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Overall I was so convinced of the shoe, that I decided after only 60 km of running in them, to actually use them for my very first 50km run - <a href="http://stefanspointofview.blogspot.de/2014/11/first-little-utlra-experience.html">My first - little - ultra experience</a>. The race went well and no issues with the shoes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">While trying the shoes in the shop, I recognized that the tongue of the shoes is a little short. I feared that this would become an issue, but it hasn't so far. The tongue is locked properly once the laces are closed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Only little drawback of the shoes so far is the grip of the soles. Perfectly sufficient for running easy path in forest, but if it gets wet, one can already experience the limits of the grip (e.g. wet wooden planks). I think this will be not sufficient for more technical trails. Looking forward to try the <a href="http://www.altrarunning.com/fitness/en/Altra/mens-shoes/lone-peak-2-mens">Altra Lone Peak 2.0</a>, which seems to have a more aggressive sole.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">To summarize - and take it with care as I only run like 140 km in this shoes: The Altra Olympus is right now my go-to shoes for long distance runs - both on easy trails and on the street. I love them and my feet even more!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OSoV4MqI3WE/VGTQAyCqWBI/AAAAAAAADUw/V9sew4HYLQ0/s1600/IMG_2777.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OSoV4MqI3WE/VGTQAyCqWBI/AAAAAAAADUw/V9sew4HYLQ0/s320/IMG_2777.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-24948428257016452502014-11-06T23:04:00.003-08:002016-05-12T23:06:02.599-07:00FIrst - little - ultra experience<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Whoa - done!</b></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4AxbFr7W2nE/VFu0hXW8fSI/AAAAAAAADTc/DeWz1-Dx_aU/s1600/IMG_2729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4AxbFr7W2nE/VFu0hXW8fSI/AAAAAAAADTc/DeWz1-Dx_aU/s1600/IMG_2729.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Since a while I kept playing with the thought of running distances beyond a marathon. Definition comes in handy here - everything beyond the 42.195 km is called ultra. Be it 50 km, in a flat landscape on a well-maintained path, or be it a 100 miles race in the mountains. I love to think in iterations - hence I've chosen the former. The latter can come later. - Or I'm just shitting my pants?;)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Beside being interested in how it would feel to run longer distances, I also have been observing that e.g. half marathon distance became a normal thing to do for me over the cause of time. I still remember the careful planning before running HM distances in the past (no party in the night before, what to eat before and on the run? what to drink? and what to do if things go wrong?). These days is drinking a sip of water and off we go. How cool would it be, to achieve a similar level of easiness for the marathon distance by making it a relatively short run? Not sure if this works - but first step is done.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Beside listening to and reading all those insane - absolutely motivating - reports from the various ultra dudes, visiting the <a href="http://www.tortourderuhr.de/">TorTour de Ruhr</a> earlier the year gave me a big push. Tortour de Ruhr is a private race that takes place on a cycle path - <a href="http://www.ruhrtalradweg.de/">Ruhrtalradweg</a>- next to the river Ruhr - all the way from the source to the junction into the bigger Rhine river. Just 230 km. What?! True - they also have shorter distances - down to 100km (Bambini run). I visit the TorTour de Ruhr this year by running from home to the finish line (around 30 km) - watching some of the runners arrive a the finish line and running back 20 km before actually taking the train back. Took quite some times and I made quite some breaks, but it felt fantastic.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I already had a big goal for this running year - Berlin Marathon - but I also wanted to explore longer distances. There is a short Ultra Race - 50 km distance - close to my home, the<span style="font-weight: normal;"> Jürgen-Liebert-Ultra which is part of the </span><a href="http://www.adler-langlauf.de/?s=laufveranstaltungen&c=bottroper-herbstwaldlauf&c2=">Bottroper Herbstlauf</a> event. Easy to get there for me. Only issue is that it took place just one month after the Berlin Marathon. Would I be recovered? Hard to say - so I delayed my registration.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FIM7D2P5QY4/VFu0SPSzPAI/AAAAAAAADTE/MGXk5N-A6Pg/s1600/IMG_2718.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FIM7D2P5QY4/VFu0SPSzPAI/AAAAAAAADTE/MGXk5N-A6Pg/s1600/IMG_2718.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Two weeks before the race I decided to register. All set. How would it be?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I picked up my BIB the day before a race so I was super relaxed on the morning. This is the first difference I noticed to the marathons I have run so far - the people are way more relaxed. Though it happened to be the 42. edition pf the event and hence they also offered a marathon, the majority of the starters where quite relaxed. I started in the last third of the crowd - taking it easy.
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Chatting people, greeting each other and loads
of hugs, surrounded me</span>
. Large Community. Discussion have been so vivid, that everybody was surprised as the gun went off. No comparison to the hectic marathon folks.</span><style>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I took it easy to not over-pace in the beginning. Still I was a little faster than most of the others which started just in front of me. So I slowly hopped from group to group, which is always nice. Beautiful weather and the coloured autumn forest made it a fantastic experience.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">During the first lap I met my father, who made his way into the forest to cheer me - very nice and good motivation! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ozBdPK13xn8/VFu0jfY1HmI/AAAAAAAADTk/4A4KhEGWDQU/s1600/IMG_2731.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ozBdPK13xn8/VFu0jfY1HmI/AAAAAAAADTk/4A4KhEGWDQU/s1600/IMG_2731.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Around km 22 I arrived in a group in where I met <a href="http://www.michaelkiene.de/">Michael Kiene.</a> He is a experienced runner and we had a very nice conversation, in which he shared his experience. Thanks! During our conversation, we increased the pace a little, but everything was still under control. At km 33 he left me and I was running the remainder of the distance alone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Everything went fine and I could hold the pace relatively easy. During the last 10 km my brother turned up to cheer me and take some photographs - thanks!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l_9WoFQ8InY/VFu0ajWCOEI/AAAAAAAADTU/Tkt8alZuD9Y/s1600/IMG_2730.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l_9WoFQ8InY/VFu0ajWCOEI/AAAAAAAADTU/Tkt8alZuD9Y/s1600/IMG_2730.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I must confess that the last 5 km where getting a little tougher, but still easier than the Berlin marathon. My calves started firing and I was a little afraid of cramps. Next time I need to take more salt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9SsP1wXpt70/VFu0j0ZRGrI/AAAAAAAADTo/wq6i_3aj4xo/s1600/IMG_2732.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9SsP1wXpt70/VFu0j0ZRGrI/AAAAAAAADTo/wq6i_3aj4xo/s1600/IMG_2732.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finishing felt awesome and Michael congratulated me right after the finish line. Topping of the day was that I actually made the 2nd place in my age group. Nothing that I was aiming at, but well - this feels nice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I recovered quickly from the race and looking forward to then next. Maybe <a href="http://www.rennsteiglauf.de/">Rennsteiglauf</a>?!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Update<span style="font-family: inherit;">:</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Have a look on <a href="http://strava.com/">strava</a> to see how it went<span style="font-family: inherit;">...</span></span><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></b></span><br />
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="405" scrolling="no" src="http://www.strava.com/activities/214663087/embed/4682dc191dbed9062db2e2e95569b4af8680d968" width="590"></iframe> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-90434303050403726042014-10-02T02:23:00.004-07:002014-10-02T02:24:42.493-07:00Berlin Marathon 2014<b><span id="goog_1801182745"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1801182746"></span>wow!</b><br />
Two days after the race and still thrilled from the weekend. Fantastic event!<br />
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<b>Getting there & getting settled ... </b><br />
We arrived a little late on Friday evening in our hostel. The hostel we stayed -<a href="http://www.jgh-hauptbahnhof.de/">Jugengästehaus Hauptbahnhof</a> - is really close to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Hauptbahnhof">Berlin Hauptbahnhof</a> and hence to the Start- and Finish area of the Berlin Marathon. Turned out to be a perfect selection. Kids had fun and the hostel is run by nice and friendly people. Extensive breakfast buffet. Perfect.<br />
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<b>BIB pickup</b> <br />
I left the family in the hostel to quickly get to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Tempelhof_Airport">Tempelhofer Flughafen</a> in order to pick up my BIB. A little stressful to get there in time, but the aim was to have the whole Saturday for a relaxed Berlin sightseeing event. The whole train station was full of runners with the same destination. I got in touch with a couple from Nürnberg, Germany so we could head together towards the <a href="http://www.berlin-vital.de/english/2014/fall/home/index.html">Berlin Vital Messe</a> - located in the Tempelhofer airport.<br />
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We had some nice chat on the way, and actually I got a question answered which I had in my head for a long time. Usually the BIB pickup is surrounded by opportunities to buy new gear - including running shoes. Usually I'm in a hurry and quite focused on the race, so buying a new pair of running shoes would be the last thing, I could actually think of in this kind of situation. So would be buying a pair of running shoes at the day of/before the race? Well, the guy from Nürnburg as he had left his shoes at home;)<br />
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Tempelhofer Fluhafen is such is a great location. I was amazed of the scale of the running exhibition - I couldn't come up with any brand not being there with it own presence. Fantastic. Given the fact that I arrived 30 min before close of play, I didn't spent to much time there, but it was a fantastic, relaxed and well organized atmosphere. I think I spent less than 5 minutes to pick up my BIB.<br />
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<b>Saturday - Berlin as a tourist</b><br />
On Saturday, I spent a relaxed day with my family. We walked to the start/finish area to see where we would to go on the race day. Already quite some runners around - scouting and having a loosening-your legs run. I missed this in favor of spending more time with my family - something which I might want to differently in future. During the day, my legs felt more and more stiff - a sign of what going to happen on the race day - more of this later.<br />
We spent some time to visit the typical tourist locations like, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_Gate">Brandenburger Tor</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexanderplatz">Alexander Platz</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackescher_Markt">Hackescher Mark</a>t, ...<br />
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Overall a nice trip, which we partly explored per pedes and partly with public transport.<br />
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For the first time I visited the east side gallery, which left a deep impression with me and the entire family. It was a perfect location to provide our boy with an insight, how cruel the separation of family&friends actually is and how cruel this has been enforced. I'm sad to see this momentum to fade away in favor of making money buy removing it to build new houses.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">East Side Gallery - Each year is represented together with the individuals being killed a the wall per yer (represented as red flower shapes)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">East Side Gallery - People floating through a gap in the wall - I watched this live on TV </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where money is to be earned, it will be earned. So monument is fading away in favor of new buildings</td></tr>
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We finished the day early with some race preparation and final Italian lunch. Aim was to get to bed early - a challenge on its own ...<br />
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<b>The race day</b><br />
After a night of interrupted sleep (mostly my own nervousness - so no need to blame the family ;)) , I silently picked up my prepared running gear, dressed up an arrived at the breakfast buffet at 6:10.<br />
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Quite some marathon runners already have been there. For me, breakfast as such is an unusual thing and requires - specifically that early in the morning - quite some push. I started hydration/eating according plan - everything smooth. Around 7, I returned my key card and slowly walked toward the start area. Starting from the HBF I was part of a huge stream of runners heading to the race. Hydration kept going.<br />
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The weather forecast has promised a beautiful day and - hold true. This means it was pretty cold, so arriving at the start area, I located the bag deposit, but kept my stuff with me. Kept hydrating and finish food intake with on final banana. I guess around 8am the first sun rays hit the ground and it was getting warmer. So I changed cloth and deposited my bag in order to head to the starting block. All easy and without any queuing or ambiguity about where to head. Nice.<br />
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Listening to my body was less nice - still the legs felt quite stiff. Not good at the race day.<br />
Arriving in the start block there was a nice spectacle to observe. Block E was next to the TV station podium, where they already prepared for moderation of the start. The camera was already mounted and guess what - almost all runners in the relatively empty block gathered in the area which could be covered by the camera ;)<br />
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I spent my time with some warm up and some visits to the toilets. Thinks got a little bit worse - actually I had a first, little muscle cramp before the start in one of the toilets - not what I have hoped for at race day. So I decided to carefully monitor it. I decided to stick with my plan: Aim for a 3:10 finish time, which would require a 4:30 pace in a homogenous race pace. Quite an ask, given that this was almost 10 minutes faster than my current personal best, but this is a race - not a kindergarten right ;).<br />
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The block - I was located in Block E (3:15-3:30) time filled up continuously and I was surprised how close I actually have been to the elite runners. This looked promising. On the speaker the racers have been welcomed in all possible language -including Bavarian ;). The last minutes and the start itself have been quite emotional. The large crowd, the view of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Victory_Column">Siegessäule</a> behind the start gate, the huge number of balloons being started on the race shot and the large crowd added to it. Unforgettable Experience.<br />
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Interestingly the start was quite fluently and there was no traffic issue. So I could take up my planned pace without any external hassle. Only my right leg was sending some low-level warning signals. Like said - to be monitored during the race. The first past 10km passed by relatively relaxed. System worked, HR and perceived stress value where quite OK. According to my watch I was even a little bit faster than planned - not quite true, but more on this later. So all good.<br />
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Well, some other signals came up more present. Hydration is good, but you need to balance this - like everything in life. So a toilet would be nice - just nice at this moment not - yet - mandatory. Half a year back, I had a bad experience with this kind of challenge. Back at the Vivawest Half Marathon, the start time has been delayed by around 40 minutes. Eventually as the gun went off, I only had one single thought in my mind - where is a toilet?! I think I hold it until like km 7 - lost quite some time on the toilet break and more importantly, lost the focus and motivation. I finished the race - actually in quite a good time, but it could have been way better if I only would have kept the focus.<br />
Back to the current race in Berlin it was less of a problem - just before km 15, I spotted somebody leaving a toilet like 100m before I arrived. I kept my eye on it and it was still free as I arrived. So it was mine. After leaving the toilet, I run a little fast and only lost like 30s on the km. That was fine - all good.<br />
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What is amazing in the Berlin Marathon - and that might have burned my future marathon experiences - is the crowd of supporters. There are not single 100m where your are not cheered by the crowd. Awesome. Music all over the place. All different flavors - including private parties on balconies. Marvelous.<br />
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At half marathon, I had my first reality check. I already recognized that my lap alert - 1km laps - has been de-synchronized significantly from the actual km marks on the track. My math capabilities where already a little weak, but the half-marathon time displayed, didn't looked like it would totally back-up, the data provided by my watch. But still I trusted the the lap alerts of my watch.<br />
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So I kept pushing with mixed emotions. Still I felt good overall only my right leg worried me more and more. As you can digest from the diagrams below, everything went fine until around km 27. Already before the legs got more and more tight, but around there, I definitely had an issue.<br />
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From the heart rate graph above, you can see the little toilet at around km 15 quite nicely. You a also can see that the hear rate increased relatively slow over time, which corresponds with my perceived relatively low overall stress level. Everything get's a little bit more spiky after km 27. Potentially more easily to digest from the pace diagram below.<br />
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The graphs also show, that my watch had measured more distance than I actually have been running - or should have been running. This lead to the slightly better than reality paces being reported.<br />
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But back to the amazing race itself. On positive aspect of the race is the huge amount of runners. You never run alone. Though I didn't run in a fixed group - maybe I should have been running with the 3:15 group - there where always people around you, who run in a similar pace. Quite good for the moral. One minor observation on this one. I used to be able to recognize my own "Piep" while crossing the time measurement stations. Overall sound like "Piep - Piep, Piep - - Piep" in other races - at least at later stages. In Berlin it was "Piiiiiieeeeeeep" all over the place.<br />
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Another nice encounter was a paper sign hold up by some of the spectators, announcing "New World Record 2:02:57" - quite some extra push for us hobby runners as well.<br />
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The rest of the race was mainly fighting with myself, enjoying the atmosphere and not looking at my time. Around km 40/41 I spotted a collapsed guy, who already got medical support. A gently reminder not to over pace, I think. While I remember this and it obviously touched me, this was gone soon later, as made the last turn, providing me with the first view on the Brandenburger Tor. I was super happy and pushed my arms into the sky - Almost there. Body reacted immediately, at both legs the hamstring contracted. Autsch - so back in old running form and don't overdo it.<br />
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The feeling to actually pass the Brandenburger Tor and then do the final meters toward the finish line are quite hard to describe. Actually while you can not spot it on the video being taken, I got quite emotional and finally reached the finish line, totally exhausted, super happy, proud of my new PB.<br />
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The after race support was fantastic as well. I got everything I needed, the medal, food and drinks without any queuing. I spent some time on the loan in front of the Reichstag with the other runners, before I stepped out of the closed area to meet my family.<br />
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Meeting point of the family was well organized as well and it was super relaxed atmosphere. I learned from my family that they got a good spot to watch just next to the Brandenburger Tor and even saw me finishing. As a nice topping I met a former colleague of mine, who I haven't met for ages. All fine.<br />
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My take aways:<br />
<ol>
<li>I must come back to the race - it was fantastic</li>
<li>I need to figure out how to proper loosening my legs in situation like this</li>
<li>Hydration: I guess I need to stop earlier</li>
<li>GPS Watch: Trust level with my current Fenix 2 is still broken. So either I need to replace it or - maybe better in any case - prepare better to be able to conclude my progress just based on the time spent.</li>
</ol>
<br />Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-70213084565048022562014-09-25T00:02:00.001-07:002014-09-25T00:06:34.314-07:00Pre-race bluesOnly 3 days left. 10 months ago the mission started as I received and email saying:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<span style="font-size: 1.3em;"><b>Take two!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 1.3em;"></span>Dear Stefan Christoph, <br />
<br />
After getting an unlucky draw during the first round, we are delighted
to inform you that you are one of the fortunate "second chance" winners
among the 73,707 applicants and thus now have the opportunity to
participate in the 41st BMW <span class="il">BERLIN</span> <span class="il">MARATHON</span> 2014 ? Congratulations! " </blockquote>
Loads of things happened in between - not just running related.<br />
On the running side of things, Strava reports 2302 km in 159 runs. Time elapsed for this is 208h and 5 minutes. This are almost 9 entire days - spent running.<br />
I finished a number of races during this time - including the Düsseldorf Marathon earlier this year. I could have used a boat for this. It was wet - really wet. Luckily I forgot the blisters - many, big and at nasty locations - which I took away from it - Did I forget?<br />
And now? Feeling tired from an intense working week, Deutsche Bahn expanding my daily commute times beyond anything acceptable. Back home family is coughing, noses are dripping. I have a little scratchy throat, tired legs and some little pain here and there. Not feeling well. Will I be fit on Sunday? Will it work? Can I reach the target time I set myself? All this questions are circulating in my head ...<br />
<br />
Luckily I <b>did not </b>forget that this is the pre race blues. I had this before every - OK just 3 by now and hence not statistically relevant - marathon I run. So I do know I will be good :D<br />
<br />
So off we go and sneak in a lunch break run - #160. Hopefully with one of my buddies, who provide such a great deal of motivation. Everything will be fine ...<br />
<br />Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-27112051765025759502014-01-14T06:04:00.003-08:002014-01-14T23:58:15.996-08:00Vacation in Erzgebirge - Tellerhäuser/Oberwiesenthal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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Over the turn of the year, we spent lovely days in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erzgebirge">Erzgebirge</a> area. We lived in a tiny village called Tellerhäuser which is close to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberwiesenthal">Oberwiesenthal</a>. Though we did not had much snow, we spent some high quality days, including our first experiences with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-country_skiing">cross country skiing</a>. </div>
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Coming from downhill skiing and snowboarding, the expectation was that this should be rather easy and boring. It isn't. First of all it is technically difficult and you need a lot of energy to keep it going. Nice alternative training. </div>
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Due to the fact we only had a quite limited amount of snow, we couldn't really experience the touring aspect of it, where you spent the whole day exploring the nature, I can really imagine that this is good fun. I explored some of the trails during my running exercises and the area has clearly great potential. </div>
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As a picture says more than thousand words, I add some impressions from those days:</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wcxg0vbefXQ/UtU80MqQCUI/AAAAAAAADE4/wzs48WLYFF4/s400/IMG_7048.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">beautiful, isn't it?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ek6_4wDPnvI/UtU8pa25LHI/AAAAAAAADEo/q2bg7ZJJnUs/s1600/IMG_7049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ek6_4wDPnvI/UtU8pa25LHI/AAAAAAAADEo/q2bg7ZJJnUs/s400/IMG_7049.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lKOVU07FirU/UtU8qu2Bl1I/AAAAAAAADEw/MRivaz_Jcr0/s1600/IMG_7052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lKOVU07FirU/UtU8qu2Bl1I/AAAAAAAADEw/MRivaz_Jcr0/s400/IMG_7052.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our <a href="http://erzgebirgsferienwohnung.de/">home</a> for the days</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tN_Rd2yH2dA/UtU8_cxH4vI/AAAAAAAADFA/odrGSlgAAs4/s1600/IMG_7070.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tN_Rd2yH2dA/UtU8_cxH4vI/AAAAAAAADFA/odrGSlgAAs4/s400/IMG_7070.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fbsgG67EM9g/UtU9CUo1-5I/AAAAAAAADFI/Md2hHIKbAFE/s1600/IMG_7139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fbsgG67EM9g/UtU9CUo1-5I/AAAAAAAADFI/Md2hHIKbAFE/s400/IMG_7139.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our daughter being pulled by a dear friend</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-47UAwk6-W8Y/UtU9YnofjPI/AAAAAAAADFY/r02i_iq1tUc/s1600/IMG_7183.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-47UAwk6-W8Y/UtU9YnofjPI/AAAAAAAADFY/r02i_iq1tUc/s400/IMG_7183.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XcjZ9EhKge4/UtU9TzgWcTI/AAAAAAAADFQ/W1dpEhXl2Vg/s1600/IMG_7197.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XcjZ9EhKge4/UtU9TzgWcTI/AAAAAAAADFQ/W1dpEhXl2Vg/s400/IMG_7197.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early sundowner</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x6Sg0_uATQM/UtU9dUZ8HTI/AAAAAAAADFg/O-HcqsSCGzw/s1600/IMG_7218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x6Sg0_uATQM/UtU9dUZ8HTI/AAAAAAAADFg/O-HcqsSCGzw/s400/IMG_7218.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical Erzgebirge creation</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GJTyrg1BsU8/UtU9lD--yNI/AAAAAAAADFo/9Lj6BNXo1BE/s1600/IMG_7240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GJTyrg1BsU8/UtU9lD--yNI/AAAAAAAADFo/9Lj6BNXo1BE/s400/IMG_7240.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wz9x1xQ-6Us/UtU9qfqsFdI/AAAAAAAADFw/APmr75wkEwo/s1600/IMG_7243.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wz9x1xQ-6Us/UtU9qfqsFdI/AAAAAAAADFw/APmr75wkEwo/s400/IMG_7243.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artificial Snow blown to the trees during night</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As you can see: While we don't had to much snow, we had quite some nice sun shine :)<br />
<br />Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-14647190939401082442013-08-28T04:19:00.001-07:002013-08-28T05:12:41.208-07:00Five Fingers - a two weeks review<br />
<h2>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Why would you possible wear such strange looking shoes?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Those Vibram Five Finger shoes have caught my
attention every now and then during the last years, but up to now I couldn't
really get myself to give them a try. Due to my upcoming beach holidays and my
recent interest in natural running, I finally got myself equipped with a pair
of those. Due to the fact that it is hard to find a local store, which has a
good coverage of the various Five Finger models - yep I was surprised as well,
there are like 15 different flavors of those - I decided to order from their
German <a href="http://www.vibram-fivefingers.de/"><span style="color: blue;">online shop</span></a>.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I selected to different models from the website: <a href="http://www.vibram-fivefingers.de/vibram-fivefingers/komodo-sport"><span style="color: blue;">KMD Sport</span></a> , <a href="http://www.vibram-fivefingers.de/vibram-fivefingers/komodo-sport-ls"><span style="color: blue;">KMD Sport LS</span></a> and <a href="http://www.vibram-fivefingers.de/vibram-fivefingers/kso"><span style="color: blue;">KSO</span></a>. I hoped to use the shoes as leisure/beach
shoe and for some - yet to be determined - extend also for running exercises.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Unboxing experience<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">At the day the parcel arrived, I first tried the
KSO. Took me quite some time to get my feet - specifically my toes - into the
shoes, but have been rewarded by a superb barefoot walking experience. Actually
the KSO is almost not recognizable on the feet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">While it was a hazel to get myself into the KSO,
it was close to impossible to get into the KMD models - at least the first time
I tried. On the second try it took me still like 10 minutes the maneuver all my
toes in the appropriate boxes. Compared to the KSO, the KMD models are
more recognizable on the feet. In direct comparison to the KSO, they feel
almost heavy, but in comparison to normal shoes like nothing.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Which model to keep?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I spent like 3 days in which I spent my spare
time in the flat with alternating between the different models and than finally
decided to keep the KMD Sport LS model. While my initial love is with the KSO
model - fantastic barefoot experience - I decided to go with a KMD model.
Reasoning here is that I would think that this shoe would cover a broader
spectrum of possible use. Specifically it should be more suited for running. I
decided for the LS model with comes with laces as those gave me a better fit of
the shoes.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Does it work?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">Yes - During my 2 weeks of vacation a Usedom -
German island in the Ostsee - I used to Five Fingers as my standard shoes. I
drove the 600+ km car journey to the island still in my vans and didn't touched
those for the entire two weeks of vacation. Beside the 5F, I only used running
shoes for my running exercises.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">The 5F are perfectly fine to walk to/on the
beach (yes, you will have sand in the shoes just like in regular shoes) and
standard walking activities in town, beach promenade and alike. I also have
been wearing them for our casual family bike tours - no issues here. I would
still prefer my click shoes for real biking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">I did quite some running exercises with the 5F
on the beach and on asphalt. This works fine as well. I tried to hold down on
speed and extend of those exercises, to provide my feet and legs some time to
easily get used to the new shoes, but running on the beach in the sun was so
much of good fun that I ended up with 14km run, which is probably not what you
want to do during the first 2 weeks. Refer to <a href="http://www.newtonrunning.com/shop/books-dvd-s/natural-running-book"><span style="color: blue;">"Natural Running"</span></a> book from Danny
Abshire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">Definitely even only walking in the shoes does
put some stress on your feet and lower legs as they need to get used to this
kind of shoes. In my case this got a little bit pushed in the background due
the overall training stress I put to my body as I ramped up my training for the
upcoming marathon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">During the two weeks I had issues with blisters,
but those only appeared while I was either running in my standard running shoes
or purely barefoot. I guess those are unrelated to the five fingers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Not sure if this actually is a good idea, but I
also wear the 5F on the car ride back at the end of vacation - nice direct
control through the pedals ;).</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18pt;">What is the *AF?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">Most importantly is obviously the WAF -
specifically the opinion of my wife. She kind of concluded that those shoes are
looking very strange but kind of fit to the overall way I dress/appear. I took
this one as a GO.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">The general acceptance of this kind of shoes is
actually quite mixed. Although I only have been wearing those shoes in
holiday/leisure situation, people do recognize those shoes. But to be honest,
you can easily mitigate this by wearing an action cam mounted to your head :-).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I still need to figure out the BAF - Business
acceptance factor. At the time of writing this, I'm on my way to the 1st office
day, actually not wearing my five fingers. Mainly because they need to be
cleaned, but to my feet, the plain old business vans feel awkward already ...
I'm considering to possible buy an additional pair of black KSOs - as they
provide just a pure feeling and are less exposed in the design. Still
undecided.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18pt;">What is next?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">I'm looking forward to wear the 5F as much as
possible as my standard shoes as they really provide a good walking experience.
Furthermore I plan to have regular short& light training sessions with the
5F for the time being. As I prepare right now for the next marathon, I'm not
able & willing to transit to a natural running style. This should be the
aim after the marathon. In the meantime I'm still seeking for some good natural
running shoes. I would aim for a pair of Newtons, but it seems to be pretty
hard to get hold of them in Germany - and not really at the cheap end of the
spectrum as well..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I'm looking to test the BAF tomorrow in the
office - I'll keep you posted...</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--></h2>
Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-72330306841109228332013-04-19T05:08:00.001-07:002014-07-31T00:48:31.690-07:00How do services like Runtastic refine elevation of my GPS tracks?<h2>
How Does elevation refinement work?</h2>
Recently I recorded a load of GPS tracks during my running workouts. Those tracks a recorded with a <a href="https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/into-sports/discontinued/forerunner-410/prod83274.html">GPS watch</a> and I tend to upload those tracks to a fitness service - specifically to <a href="http://www.runtastic.com/">runtastic.com</a> - in order to review my runs, obtain statistics and share runs with my friends. Similar to other web services <a href="http://runtastic.com/">runtastic.com</a> offers the functionality to refine the elevation of the track recorded. This makes sense as most of the times the track shows peaks and lows which cumulate to unrealistic altitude difference. So far so good - but how does this work?<br />
<br />
My initial assumption - maybe driven by the fact that you can trigger the elevation refinement next to the map plotting your run in <a href="http://runstatic.com/">runstatic.com</a> - was, that they would use the elevation information coming from the map provider to correct the elevation. So basically for each track point they would need to obtain the elevation information and correct the track. Quite some effort and since elevation API provider like <a href="https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/elevation/?hl=us">Google</a> enforce limits to the number of API calls you could make or charge for them, this might be too much effort.<br />
Alternatively they could use some kind of filter (e.g. like outlined in <a href="http://blog.ridewithgps.com/blog/2012/04/19/April-2012-Ellevation-Data/">http://blog.ridewithgps.com/blog/2012/04/19/April-2012-Ellevation-Data/</a>). This would allow them to smoothen the elevation information without dependency to external knowledge.<br />
<br />
So what is the truth? Hard to say as I couldn't find any information on this topic on <a href="http://runtastic.com/">runtastic.com</a>. What now? Experiments - what else? If we could have GPS tracks which are not made on the ground (e.g. during walking/running on the ground), but above the ground, we should be able to figure out which approach has been taken. If it is map information based, those tracks should be refined to the ground, while a pure filter approach should just smoothen the elevation curve, but not map it to the ground.<br />
<h2>
Experiment #1: GPS track on the plane</h2>
So first idea is simple. If I can not run on the sky, I need to board a plane. Luckily I had the opportunity to track the launch of a flight from London Heathrow to Dusseldorf. Unfortunately the watch lost GPS signal after 150km, but this should be good enough for our purpose.<br />
<br />
The screenshot below illustrates, how the track looks like without any elevation refinement being made.<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2-v7y-j2wVw/UXEuE2BvSDI/AAAAAAAAC8A/GwJPJ0YAIok/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-17+at+10.53.04+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2-v7y-j2wVw/UXEuE2BvSDI/AAAAAAAAC8A/GwJPJ0YAIok/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-17+at+10.53.04+AM.png" height="303" width="400" /></a></div>
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As you can see, the track shows a quite smooth elevation curve, which actually shows to periods in time where the plane gained steadily height and finally a small adjusting to travel height, which is slightly above 5000m. So far so good. What happens if we ask <a href="http://runtastic.com/">runtastic.com</a> to adjust the elevation? See screenshot below.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VnFNd8oun7A/UXEuvFtWiVI/AAAAAAAAC8I/nljYlnSsYAg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-17+at+10.56.56+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VnFNd8oun7A/UXEuvFtWiVI/AAAAAAAAC8I/nljYlnSsYAg/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-17+at+10.56.56+AM.png" height="283" width="400" /></a></div>
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Whoa - I wouldn't have wanted to be in this flight. Two reasons: a) the former nice and smoothly curve is now showing a quite rough ride and b) the whole flight is shown to be below 150m. So - without checking the geographic conditions - I would assume that the track has been mapped to ground height.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Let's do one more experiment...</div>
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<br /></div>
<h2>
Experiment #2: GPS track on a - presumably unknown - landmark</h2>
<div>
What else can we do? One of my favoured local running tracks goes up to a landmark called Tetraeder (<a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraeder_(Bottrop)">http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraeder_(Bottrop)</a>, sorry only German). </div>
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Bottrop_-_Halde_Beckstra%C3%9Fe_-_Tetraeder_60_ies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Bottrop_-_Halde_Beckstra%C3%9Fe_-_Tetraeder_60_ies.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The landmark is placed on a mine heap, which is about 90m higher than the surrounding are. The Tetraeder itself can be climbed up to an height of roughly 40m. What happens if we track a "run" on this one? First lets see the pure data (image below).</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xpvumWYwi7M/UXExafECj8I/AAAAAAAAC8Q/MJ7BgD3T1lA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-17+at+11.03.44+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xpvumWYwi7M/UXExafECj8I/AAAAAAAAC8Q/MJ7BgD3T1lA/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-17+at+11.03.44+AM.png" height="347" width="400" /></a></div>
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Elevation shows a more or less steady peak which consists on the way up to the mine heap and then climbing the stairs afterwards. So far so good - what happens if the refine elevation?</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uknP-JzP240/UXExuur3rjI/AAAAAAAAC8Y/S82Ua8ee-Hg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-17+at+11.04.19+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uknP-JzP240/UXExuur3rjI/AAAAAAAAC8Y/S82Ua8ee-Hg/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-17+at+11.04.19+AM.png" height="305" width="400" /></a></div>
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Ah ok - we lost the cap of the peak in the elevation chart. Looks like that <a href="http://runtastic.com/">runtastic.com</a> uses some elevation data provide which is not aware of the landmark, which results in removing the height being gained on the stairs up to the landmark - and I can assure you that is was quite some effort to get up there ... ;-).</div>
<h2>
Conclusion</h2>
<div>
Looks like that the initial assumption that <a href="http://runtastic.com/">runtastic.com</a> is using some elevation data secondary to the GPS track being uploaded is correct. This would mean that you would struggle, if you are trying to use this service for e.g. managing your ultra aviation tracks, but this is no use case for me anyway. Wonder if I should upload this to <a href="http://uselessfacts.net/">http://uselessfacts.net/</a> ;-) Thanks for your patience...</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<h2>
Update:</h2>
I just found <a href="https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/20965883-Elevation-for-Your-Activity">https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/20965883-Elevation-for-Your-Activity</a> which explains how strava - another runtastic competitor is dealing with elevation data. They consult elevation databases.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Another Update:</h2>
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I just found another service - <a href="http://runalyze.de/">http://runalyze.de/</a> which looks promising. I didn't tested it yet, but you can use the online hosted version or run your own. Seems to be around for quite some time, not sure why I never came across it. I will give it a try. On the topic of elevation correction, they provide some insight in a blog post - <a href="http://runalyze.de/tutorials/hoehenmeter-korrektur-und-berechnungen/">http://runalyze.de/tutorials/hoehenmeter-korrektur-und-berechnungen/</a> (German only).</div>
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<br />Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-69808852790900216532011-08-15T05:50:00.000-07:002011-08-15T05:50:01.909-07:00Official Google Blog: Supercharging Android: Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility<a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/supercharging-android-google-to-acquire.html">Official Google Blog: Supercharging Android: Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility</a>Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-90677107343454305702011-03-31T09:03:00.000-07:002011-03-31T09:03:12.036-07:00All about Dynamic Views for Authors - Blogger HelpJust played with the new Dynamic Views feature on Blogger (<a href="http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1227173&ctx=go">All about Dynamic Views for Authors - Blogger Help</a>). I really like the timeline view. Cool shit. BTW this is my first post utilizing the Blogger extension for chrome - so less a content -heavy post but more a test ;-)Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-72570384780938414992011-03-21T00:03:00.000-07:002011-03-21T00:03:42.245-07:00Slackline Project - Ground Anchors<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">This post is a follow up on my earlier posts <a href="http://stefanspointofview.blogspot.com/2011/03/slackline-project-requirements.html">Slackline Project - Requirements & Feasibility</a> and <a href="http://stefanspointofview.blogspot.com/2011/03/slackline-project-implementation.html">Building A-Frames</a> . You might have a look there to get the context.</div><div><br />
</div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Disclaimer: This goes on top of the <a href="http://stefanspointofview.blogspot.com/p/dislaimer.html">standard disclaimer</a>. I'm neither a experienced slackliner nor some sort of construction engineer. So if you want to utilize some information from below: Just do it but your should crosscheck the information with some experts before you apply it! No guarantees from my side.</b></div><div><b><br />
</b></div><div>The A-Frames are providing the height of the slackline, but still we need some fixpoint to attach the line to. Slackline set desigend for A-Frame using ground anchors like <a href="https://www.slackline-tools.de/slack-shop/hardware/anker/einzelansicht/produkte/slack-anchor/backPID/ankerfixpunkt/">Slackline-Tools Groundanchor</a> or <a href="http://www.kletterwandshop.de/-ToShowQQImageList/catQQ53-0-0-0-0/ArticleIDQQ1507/">Gibbon Slackline - Ground Anchor</a> which create a fixpoint by screwing the anchor into the ground. That is pretty neat as it is easy to be done and you can easily remove the anchor afterwards. At the same time it is pretty expensive.</div><div><br />
</div><div>During the search for alternatives, I found that e.g. kids swings are commonly attached to the ground with the same kind of anchors (e.g. <a href="http://www.spielplatz-shop.de/product_info.php?info=p40691_Bodenanker--Erdanker-im-Paar.html">http://www.spielplatz-shop.de/product_info.php?info=p40691_Bodenanker--Erdanker-im-Paar.html</a>). Those are way cheaper but differ at least in three points from the slackline- anchors:</div><div><ul><li>The length of the anchor is shorter. Therefore the anchor would go less deep into the ground and hence hold less. I found statements like if you dig the anchor 20cm below the ground level, you could double the strength of the anchor. Not sure if this is correct, but it makes sense that the length is important.</li>
<li>The screw diameter is lower.</li>
<li>The eye is not closed and might therefore hold less.</li>
</ul>For sure there are also more differences in material and such, but finally I decided to go with <a href="http://www.fassadengruen.de/uw/rankhilfen/uw/artikel/ea12800/ea12800_erdanker_bodenanker.htm?no_cache=1&sword_list[0]=anker">http://www.fassadengruen.de/uw/rankhilfen/uw/artikel/ea12800/ea12800_erdanker_bodenanker.htm?no_cache=1&sword_list[0]=anker</a>. They offer anchors with 80 cm length and screw diameter of 12 cm. I'm using two of them for each end to get some extra security. That is not much of a problem as I don't intend to remove the anchors frequently. All together way cheaper than buying a pair of slackline anchors.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Some first tests show that this seams to work. I could build up the line and use it a couple of times already without indicating any issues. It is quite important that you have some massive bar at hand to be able to screw the anchors into the ground. Without it is a hard to get them in to the ground. Out of curiosity I removed on of the anchors from the ground. It wasn't really easy to just screw it out, but I needed to dig it out partly. Leaves pain in the back and a more secure feeling ...</div><div><br />
</div><div>Note that not each kind of ground is equally good to places such anchors.</div><div>Finally we need to select a line and some more connection parts to get everything together - that is going to happen in the next post.</div><div><br />
</div></div><div></div></div>Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-66833795300711794152011-03-08T00:20:00.000-08:002011-03-11T22:43:07.788-08:00Slackline Project - Implementation - Building A-FramesThis post is a follow up on my earlier post <a href="http://stefanspointofview.blogspot.com/2011/03/slackline-project-requirements.html">Slackline Project - Requirements & Feasibility</a>. You might have a look there.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Disclaimer: This goes on top of the <a href="http://stefanspointofview.blogspot.com/p/dislaimer.html">standard disclaimer</a>. I'm neither a experienced slackliner nor some sort of construction engineer. So if you want to utilize some information from below: Just do it but your should crosscheck the information with some experts before you apply it! No guarantees from my side.</b></div><div><b><br />
</b></div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7W69RLheJmA/TXXkbINNWXI/AAAAAAAACFw/h_eC4TJkgTY/s1600/P1020237.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7W69RLheJmA/TXXkbINNWXI/AAAAAAAACFw/h_eC4TJkgTY/s320/P1020237.JPG" width="180" /></a></div><div>Looking at the low budget requirement, I decided to build my own frames rather to spend something like 50 - 90 EUR each. As I mentioned in my last post already: The web is full of self- and professional build a-frames. Should be possible to build something by my own. So I went into the garage to inspect the pile of left-over wood boards and found a former kitchen work disc (170 cm x 60 cm x 3 cm) made from massive beechwood. </div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">From that I obtained two frames- roughly 80 cm high and support three different slackline heights (30, 50 and 75 cm). The basic design is depicted below.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3JDUbE9gSyk/TXXjbWiAvZI/AAAAAAAACFs/SyA5GYjTzAU/s1600/P1020367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3JDUbE9gSyk/TXXjbWiAvZI/AAAAAAAACFs/SyA5GYjTzAU/s320/P1020367.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>I was not sure about the proper heights. I might want to add a fourth one between 50 and 75 cm at a later point of time. To be honest - I asked some friend to saw the frames as I don't have the proper tooling at home, but that shouldn't be to much of a problem if you are somehow a do-it-yourselfer.</div><div>That's how the frames look like after being glazed to be protected from the weather impact:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-zc7HQaaj7cA/TXXlZY4uNEI/AAAAAAAACF0/9bbHlVi6_7Q/s1600/P1020275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-zc7HQaaj7cA/TXXlZY4uNEI/AAAAAAAACF0/9bbHlVi6_7Q/s320/P1020275.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>So that are my frames. I guess the low budget requirement wouldn't be fulfilled if I couldn't reuse the work disc for this purpose. In this case it might be a better idea to go for a design which goes with less amount of wood ( video linked from my <a href="http://stefanspointofview.blogspot.com/2011/03/slackline-project-requirements.html">earlier post</a>.)</div><div>In the next post, I will talk about the fix points I have chosen to hold the line.</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div>Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-17110432163406268212011-03-06T00:50:00.000-08:002011-03-11T22:42:26.797-08:00The Slackline Project - Requirements & FeasibilityThis is all about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slacklining">slacklining</a> - the ability to do it in the own garden. Is it real project - certainly not, but sometimes it is good fun to bloat something up.<br />
We got in touch with slacklining while we spent some time in a climbing hall. Its good fun to exercise your balance while you rest between climbing routes. There a people who bring it a couple of levels ahead like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seHBwoGtZaM">video - slackliner.at</a> - that's certainly not what we are looking for - or ?!<br />
<br />
<b>Disclaimer: This goes on top of the <a href="http://stefanspointofview.blogspot.com/p/dislaimer.html">standard disclaimer</a>. I'm neither a experienced slackliner nor some sort of construction engineer. So if you want to utilize some information from below: Just do it but your should crosscheck the information with some experts before you apply it! No guarantees from my side.</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
Usually you fix your slackline just between two strong enough trees and you are done. Unfortunately our garden looks like this:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t3BSrknRCoE/TXM_zRkuDZI/AAAAAAAACEw/RlumWCKHlcs/s1600/garten.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t3BSrknRCoE/TXM_zRkuDZI/AAAAAAAACEw/RlumWCKHlcs/s320/garten.JPG" width="283" /></a></div><br />
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Quite some strong enough trees - but all planted in one single line with barely enough distance in between. That wan't be easy, but luckily we are the first ones to face this issue - there are solutions out there. So let's have a look on the requirements we have and then explore the solution space afterwards.<br />
<br />
<ol><li><b>Modifiability: </b>The whole place is rented. From that perspective the construction should have minimal impact and should be reversible once we are leaving the place</li>
<li><b>Low Budget:</b> The whole thing is just a fun project and might enqueue itself into the things we started but never really took up. So the budget should be minimal to this one.</li>
<li><b>Reliability</b>: It is intended to be used by kids as well. So it should better not break and put us in risk to be hurt.</li>
<li><b>Flexibility: </b>It needs to be adjustable to different heights and lengths to support different user groups and different skill levels. We don't intend to move the setup out of the garden necessary.</li>
<li><b>Inconspicuousness:</b> The setup shouldn't dominate the whole garden. Mind the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wife_acceptance_factor">WAF</a>.</li>
<li><b>Time to Market: </b>The whole thing should be done in a couple of days to be able to use it in the upcoming spring already.</li>
</ol>So that quite some requirements. Note that the order does not necessary reflect the priority of those. So let's explores possible solutions and there feasibility.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div><b>Solution 1 : Use the existing trees</b></div><div>Solution is depicted below. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-PFn3QE19oJM/TXNHYXPcBrI/AAAAAAAACFM/aHMuBrUBMOM/s1600/existingTrees.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-PFn3QE19oJM/TXNHYXPcBrI/AAAAAAAACFM/aHMuBrUBMOM/s320/existingTrees.JPG" width="305" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Wouldn't be big fun and does not support the requirements for <b>flexibility</b> (only quite short distances are possible) and <b>inconspicuousness</b> (plants between the trees would certainly be impacted).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4ST-SJ9SCrI/TXNHlxlQH9I/AAAAAAAACFQ/KDZDOKjaaow/s1600/nofun.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4ST-SJ9SCrI/TXNHlxlQH9I/AAAAAAAACFQ/KDZDOKjaaow/s320/nofun.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>So this is <b>not a Solution</b>.</div><div><br />
</div><div><b>Solution 2: Plant new trees</b></div><div>Again the solution is depicted below. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-PU-Y8VDMSpc/TXNJNRwZtmI/AAAAAAAACFY/Ev5mg5A9AHo/s1600/newTree2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-PU-Y8VDMSpc/TXNJNRwZtmI/AAAAAAAACFY/Ev5mg5A9AHo/s320/newTree2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Would be nice and has the big advantage that it supports the standard slackline setup - no fancy special stuff needed. However it does not necessary fulfills the <b>modifiability</b> requirement (not sure if the landlord would be happy to find a new tree in the middle of the garden) and really <b>TTM</b> is going to be a problem - certainly we would miss a couples of seasons. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-HIIzbF2QZOU/TXNJXvzEIzI/AAAAAAAACFc/6ypLYdTaZOk/s1600/waiting.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-HIIzbF2QZOU/TXNJXvzEIzI/AAAAAAAACFc/6ypLYdTaZOk/s320/waiting.JPG" width="201" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>So this is<b> not a Solution</b> either.</div><div><br />
</div><div><b>Solution 3: Use the garage as additional fixpoint</b></div><div>This solution utilizes the garage wall/corner as one fix point for the line. As a second one of the existing walls is used. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-eMC-8A5lMRA/TXNJ1YkHisI/AAAAAAAACFg/ko1jnOvmZuM/s1600/withGarage.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-eMC-8A5lMRA/TXNJ1YkHisI/AAAAAAAACFg/ko1jnOvmZuM/s320/withGarage.JPG" width="315" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Browsing through the - at least German speaking part - of the internet, you find quite a lot of discussions how to implement such a setup. Looks like you would need to drill through the wall and fix a plate on the opposite side of the wall to guarantee the required resistance. Note that the line impacts the fix-points with quite some force (you find numbers which are easily reach the equivalent of 1000 kg / not that easy to calculate). Certainly you need some good understanding of the statics of your garage to build up such a solution. From that perspective it is a hard to implement this solution. Furthermore, it does not support the <b>modifiability</b> requirement. Sure the landlord wouldn't be to happy to find such a thing drilled to his garage(not talking about a collapsed wall in case it goes wrong ;-)). Finally the <b>flexibility </b>is not to good (only one height) and <b>Inconspicuousness </b>is also not supported as it would cross the whole garden. So, that is also<b> not the Solution</b>.</div><div><br />
</div><div><b>Solution 4 : Use ground anchors / frames</b></div><div>This solution does not require any trees or building to build up a slackline. It utilizes fix points at ground level and creates the height of the slackline by using frames. The frames are typically formed in a letter A shape. The solution is depicted below.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-oJH5ohzxBXc/TXNKMVzTmOI/AAAAAAAACFk/Owt-ppqYn7w/s1600/frames.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-oJH5ohzxBXc/TXNKMVzTmOI/AAAAAAAACFk/Owt-ppqYn7w/s320/frames.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Mostly you find a-frames constructed from wood. The fix point are either established by some strong nails or specific <a href="http://www.slackline-corner.eu/us/fixpoint-systems-ground-anchor-70-cm-gibbon-slacklines.html">ground anchors</a>. You can find quite some information to build your own a-frames in the internet (e.g. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVJCIckKVCM">Build a slackline frame</a> ). Ground anchors specifically for slacklines are available by some brands but there are also other ground anchors (e.g. for fixing kids swing frames). There are also neat sets available like the <a href="http://www.kletterwandshop.de/slacklines/gibbon-independence-kit/a-1533/">Gibbon Independence Set</a> or <a href="https://www.slackline-tools.de/slack-shop/hardware/slackline-sets/slackline-sets/produkte/frameline-sets/artikel/15m-frameline-set-m-slack-anchorn-1/backPID/slackline-sets/">Slackline Tools - Frame Set</a>. Overall this solution could fulfill all of the requirements above. Some of the available sets are offering quite a nice <b>flexibility </b>- even more than we actually need as we don't intend to move the set around. Problem might be the budget. Building frames and possible select cheaper anchors could help to reduce the cost, but will impact <b>TTM </b>and possible <b>reliability</b>.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Putting everything together - <b>solution 4</b> is the most attractive solution. I will explore the do it yourself variant a little bit more closely and keep you posted on this.</div>Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-28116114451634159752010-11-29T09:25:00.000-08:002010-11-29T09:25:21.685-08:00Out of this world - Wonders of the Solar System<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtWKrtsWI/AAAAAAAACBU/hTgGtvYviwQ/s1600/P1010546.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtWKrtsWI/AAAAAAAACBU/hTgGtvYviwQ/s320/P1010546.JPG" width="320" /></a>This weekend we visited the <a href="http://www.gasometer.de/en_GB/index.php?pid=3_1">"Out of this world - Wonders of the Solar System"</a> exhibition in the <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasometer_Oberhausen">Gasometer Oberhausen</a>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Gasometer itself is a great location which is worth being visited by its own. It's the European largest Gas-holder and provides from it's top a great view on the Ruhrgebiet area. The Gasometer itself is used as a exhibition place which host changing exhibitions. Currently - only until end of December - you can learn something about our Solar System. A lot of big format pictures of different aspects of the solar system alongside with 3D figures of planets give you anther view on the area we all are grown up ;-). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtNrl_UuI/AAAAAAAACA8/BRbb5p8NYtk/s1600/P1010535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtNrl_UuI/AAAAAAAACA8/BRbb5p8NYtk/s320/P1010535.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtTsy8QtI/AAAAAAAACBM/U1_01USVw4U/s1600/P1010543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtTsy8QtI/AAAAAAAACBM/U1_01USVw4U/s320/P1010543.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtZVvgYcI/AAAAAAAACBc/DqJ1CjjnpvI/s1600/P1010552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtZVvgYcI/AAAAAAAACBc/DqJ1CjjnpvI/s320/P1010552.JPG" width="180" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Above are some impression of the 3D Objects which are distributed over the exhibition. First one being the sun and on the second one you can spot the Earth in the background. Unfortunately the last one - one the right - fails miserably to depict the fascination which originates from the large moon which seems to cover the whole hall but actually is hanging rather low in the Gasometer.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Some more impression of the different pictures and technical tools are going below.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtbiksQpI/AAAAAAAACBg/xwpuYeeRBdk/s1600/P1010555.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtbiksQpI/AAAAAAAACBg/xwpuYeeRBdk/s320/P1010555.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtdLTArFI/AAAAAAAACBk/cXe5N8YuTG4/s1600/P1010556.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtdLTArFI/AAAAAAAACBk/cXe5N8YuTG4/s320/P1010556.JPG" width="180" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtUvvhKJI/AAAAAAAACBQ/gm-gFZEWGIs/s1600/P1010545.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtUvvhKJI/AAAAAAAACBQ/gm-gFZEWGIs/s320/P1010545.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtPtEqTnI/AAAAAAAACBA/_ZEHis1yfD0/s1600/P1010537.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtPtEqTnI/AAAAAAAACBA/_ZEHis1yfD0/s320/P1010537.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtX2yH_5I/AAAAAAAACBY/zhVJn-bAbT8/s1600/P1010548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtX2yH_5I/AAAAAAAACBY/zhVJn-bAbT8/s320/P1010548.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtSUi12xI/AAAAAAAACBI/cNcevMaZ7S4/s1600/P1010541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtSUi12xI/AAAAAAAACBI/cNcevMaZ7S4/s320/P1010541.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtfZlYJ2I/AAAAAAAACBo/8LrslO1qzfI/s1600/P1010565.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtfZlYJ2I/AAAAAAAACBo/8LrslO1qzfI/s320/P1010565.JPG" width="180" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtinfue5I/AAAAAAAACBw/FBbbqBeQq3s/s1600/P1010569.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TPJtinfue5I/AAAAAAAACBw/FBbbqBeQq3s/s320/P1010569.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Make sure that you visit the exhibition - it's really fascinating and that not only for Geeks. Make sure that you bring warm cloth along though - it's not heated. </div>Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-87911906689203410582010-11-24T04:37:00.000-08:002010-11-24T04:37:17.611-08:00Public Transport the only alternative?!My work colleagues and Facebook friends got me to know as the guy who keeps complaining about public transport - even though I promised to the later to stop that. It's just a matter of fact that I have quite some time to do Facebook status updates and such while public transport is not going well - and honestly I have the strong opinion that this happens way to much. My non-German colleagues keep insisting that I should have no reason to complain about public transport in Germany at all as it is way worse in other countries. I don't think that this is a valid argument as on the one hand nothing gets better only because something is worse and also I don't really think that they have a statistical relevant amount of experience to judge on German public transport - especially in the local traffic. ICE trains are pretty good - I need to admit.But let's keep all this away for the moment.<br />
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Today I decided to go by car and that is really wasting valuable life time. A lot of small traffic jams all over the place - although everything went reasonable smooth. But still - this time was really wasted. For sure, I could have listen to my favorite music, audio book, you name it, but that actually does not really work if you have so much commuting time. At a certain point of time your favorite music just works at the time you want it not at the time you could enjoy it. Everything beyond listening to something is way out of my reach - being a male I can not really do anything in parallel to the main task being executed. What about the main task? Yep right: Driving a Car. The Prototype of Individualism in our modern civilization. You can decide where to go, which way you take and at which speed you are traveling - Total Bullshit! In first approximation - and I think that is quite valid in this case - it is just about maintaining the minimal distance to the car driving - or rather waiting - in front of you. Pretty stupid but kind of takes pretty much all of your attention.<br />
<br />
Pretty much, but not all. So let have a look around. Wow - I couldn't remember a single car - at least of the private ones (which are 99%) - which was stuffed by more than on person. OK - can't be the case. So let's assume that only 10% of the cars are taking two persons and neglect the ones which are actually convey more than two persons. In an average car 4 persons would fit. So over all the efficiency factor is something like 30% (actually less) - insane.<br />
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So all together, I will stick to public transport. Although it is pretty crowded in there I still think it would make perfectly sense to get more people on this - given that the infrastructure is improved. Would be a valid opportunity to make individual commuting more expensive and use the money to improve and extend public transport. As there are still areas and time frames where you simply can't rely on public transport like for me today. I have a business dinner tonight and can' go back home after 21:30 with public transport anymore. That's pretty crap - next time I will try to combine public transport and taxi though ...Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-78656163814748382642010-11-21T12:48:00.000-08:002010-11-21T12:48:02.226-08:00Dortmund ZooThat was a lovely day in the <a href="http://www.dortmund.de/de/freizeit_und_kultur/zoo_dortmund/start_zoo/index.html">Zoo of Dortmund</a>. Not that brand new like the one in <a href="http://www.zoom-erlebniswelt.de/">Gelsenkirchen</a> and also not equipped with an outstanding attraction like the dolphins in <a href="http://www.zoo-duisburg.de/">Duisburg</a>, it is still a beautiful zoo. Fantastic view on the giraffes. They gave their audience from the outdoor enclosure before they went to the rather new indoor part.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TOmD0Ad_GKI/AAAAAAAACAE/5u50761H6yQ/s1600/P1010399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TOmD0Ad_GKI/AAAAAAAACAE/5u50761H6yQ/s320/P1010399.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>It looks like a reasonable amount of enclosures hat been renovated lately - not all of it has been finished. Looks somehow like a software project - more than 6 month late and still not finished...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TOmEIJWkrvI/AAAAAAAACAI/OxA21itbtnc/s1600/P1010387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TOmEIJWkrvI/AAAAAAAACAI/OxA21itbtnc/s320/P1010387.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>All together a great day. The picture impressions are containing more fences and tiles than the ones from more modern zoos but we also got more eye-contact with the animals. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TOmEa4jouJI/AAAAAAAACAM/d7QXmteQG2w/s1600/P1010380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TOmEa4jouJI/AAAAAAAACAM/d7QXmteQG2w/s320/P1010380.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>So everything has pros and cons. Looking forward to visit <a href="http://www.burgerszoo.eu/">Burgers Zoo</a> again ...</div><div>BTW - don't go for Glühwein or wafers from the cabin shop at the entrance - poor quality. For the one's with kids: They do have a limited number of pull carts available. Free of charge - coins available at the entrance.</div><div><br />
</div>Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-5504563211176117062010-11-19T09:13:00.000-08:002010-11-19T09:13:29.712-08:00A Darwinian theory of beautyDenis Dutton provides an interesting theory of beauty in this TED talk. He applies the Darwinian Theory on the concept and discusses cultural and natural influences on the perception of Beauty.<br />
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<blockquote>We find beauty in Something made well.</blockquote>Hand axes as the first art works which help the artist's tribe to survive <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_selection">sexual selection</a>.<br />
Does it explain everything and is self-consistent - Not necessary. But anyway interesting approach and definitely well presented.<br />
Check it out!Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-10480284754725685272010-11-14T11:18:00.000-08:002010-11-14T11:20:29.025-08:00WoihinkelcheSeems to be a typical German dish, but beware it is a quite local one - I didn't know about it the other day. Picking up a random German person in NRW to talk about is, will definitely lead to confusion. In my ears it sounds like somebody who is asking the way to somewhere.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TOA1kTtlSlI/AAAAAAAAB_8/xU9Izljl_w8/s1600/IMAG0250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TOA1kTtlSlI/AAAAAAAAB_8/xU9Izljl_w8/s320/IMAG0250.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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In fact it is<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hessian_dialects"> hessian dialect</a> and it is one of the German Lego words. The first part "Woi" translates to "Wein" (wine) while the second one "Hinkelche" means "Hänchen" (henchmen).<br />
We have been inspired by a recipe from <a href="http://www.amazon.de/Culinaria-Deutsche-Spezialit%C3%A4ten-Christine-aMetzger/dp/3829000014/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289761298&sr=8-1">"Culinaria - Deutsche Spezialitäten"</a>- like always we didn't managed - actually didn't want to - follow the recipe one by one. The main ingredients are:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TOA10iOhLaI/AAAAAAAACAA/QRNEXiURpLU/s1600/IMAG0251.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TOA10iOhLaI/AAAAAAAACAA/QRNEXiURpLU/s320/IMAG0251.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><ul><li>Broiler</li>
<li>Butter</li>
<li>Shallot</li>
<li>Garlic</li>
<li>Grapes</li>
<li>White mushrooms</li>
<li>Brandy</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riesling">Rheingauer Riesling</a></li>
<li>Cream</li>
<li>chervil</li>
</ul><div style="text-align: left;">You can find many recites in the internet - e.g. <a href="http://www.kochbar.de/rezept/anzeigen/index/id/100921/Woihinkelche___Wein-Haehnchen.html">this one</a>. Especially the flambé part makes fun and gives the special taste. Awesome ! </div>Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-42542848615610547772010-11-12T01:40:00.000-08:002010-11-14T11:27:09.592-08:00Android Market - Downloads stalling and market crashes constantly on cancel<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I >hate< this situation now for quite a while already. A couple of application downloads keep in a stalled mode and actually never finished. New initiated download went fine though. Even resetting the Phone (in this case an HTC Desire) didn't help out. Quite Frustrating.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Now after some internet search I found a working solution for this problem. Steps:</span><br />
<br />
<ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>clear market cache:</b> Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > All > Market > Clear Cache</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>clear market data:</b> Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > All > Market > Clear Data</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>force market close:</b> Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > All > Market > Force Stop</span></span></li>
</ol><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse;">Just executing step 1 did not make the trick for me and obviously you don't need step 3 if your market application is not already running. This solved my issue - actually even without reseting the phone. I hope that I remember this one for next time ....</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse;">Source of this instruction is <a href="http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Android+Market/thread?tid=56ed00c8c069481a&hl=en">here</a>.</span>Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1354083682545806178.post-27669736019991246992010-11-11T09:00:00.001-08:002010-11-11T09:00:23.698-08:00St Martin's fire<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TNwhIALq8vI/AAAAAAAAB_4/Q_rN5F_9QLc/St%20Martin%27s%20fire_img_1.jpg"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ELzYnHIyrK0/TNwhIALq8vI/AAAAAAAAB_4/Q_rN5F_9QLc/St%20Martin%27s%20fire_img_1.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left cursor: pointer;" height="191px" width="320px" /></a><br><br>Pretty wet ...<br /><br/><font size="1"><b>Location : </b><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=51.598180532455444,6.982026100158691">Frochtwinkel 11, 45966 Gladbeck, </a></font>Stefanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346868578946556670noreply@blogger.com