What now?

The first month of school was like no other in the previous 6 years I've spent teaching. I've been trying to energize lackadaisical colleagues, prepare my students, their parents, the school, and myself for the annual visit from our German guests, keeping said guests happy for two weeks, and winding down training for the Chicago Marathon. Oh, and there's that whole teaching thing. Oh, and trying my best to maintain a pleasant disposition at home.

As of yesterday, the Germans are gone. I assisted them through check-in at the airport, watched them file through security, and suddenly felt confused. What do I do with myself now?

The short-term answer was to gorge on chicken chunks and beer at Swig. As soon as I was feeling all fat and slightly tipsy, though, I was lost again.

I didn't run today. It probably would have done me some good, but I woke up with serious GI issues so I opted for rest and recovery. Somehow, I still felt high-strung and confused. I re-watched Grey's Anatomy and Siberia to calm my head to no avail. My innate knack for being a good wife usually does me good--cleaning the house gives me peace. I washed bedding and towels, vacuumed, did dishes, mowed the lawn, cleaned countertops, scooped litter boxes, and refreshed the kitty dishies. Still, I am feeling unfulfilled.

My GI issues seem to have subsided, at least for now. Will beer calm my nerves? Some farfalle and marinara? Do I need to bust out the P90X yoga routine? If I resort to that, put me into a straight jacket.

I can't wait to wake up tomorrow and run.

Rennen in Deutschland

Three months later I'm ready to write about running in Germany. I'm not sure what took me so long.

One day after arriving in Frankfurt I took to battling jetlag head-on with a short run. It was so long ago that I can't remember if it helped or not, but I eventually got into a pseudo-routine. It was a little rough getting used to real hills. Sometimes I felt like I was the butt of some joke, running uphill for miles, turning around, then somehow continuing to ascend farther. I think the experience was a character builder.

The timing of the trip with regard to Chicago Marathon training could have been worse; at least the program started while I was in Germany as opposed to peaking. My longest distance would be 14 miles to take place on the tail end of my time abroad, just two days before flying home. By that point, for the sake of my mental health, I needed it.

On Sunday, 30 June, I laced up my Mizunos and snuck out of my host's house. I didn't tell anyone where I was going or how long I would be gone because at that point I was entirely ready to be home. Although I had previously tried to pretend I wouldn't be running 14 miles up and down in the heat of the German summer, by that Sunday morning I wanted nothing more than to be alone with my Garmin.

I took my phone to document my journey from Istein along the Rhine to Huningue (France) and back. At every mile I took a photo. These are the highlights:

Look! It's German dirt!

Here's a dam and bridge to France, all in one!

I crossed the bridge, ran a loop in France, then took this when I re-entered Germany because I had hit another mile.

I took this one at about mile 7, which was my turn-around point, from the 3-Laender Eck bridge, which crosses the Rhine at the German, Swiss, and French borders. That's why the bridge has its name.

This is a good one on my way back to Istein.

And here is my final photo, the Istein chalk factory in the distance. I took this one shortly before I saw my hosts driving out of the village, apparently on their way out to try and find me because they were worried about me being gone for two hours.

I didn't get any good photos of the bad part of this run, which was when the dirt path became stone and broken concrete. I understand that the Rhine is being re-routed near Istein so the shoreline is completely ripped apart and under construction. I ran nearly a mile in pain resulting in a huge, gross blister on the bottom of my right foot and the death of my Mizunos.

And so it was. This run took me into France and almost into Switzerland. Part of me wanted to run into Switzerland just so that I could see me crossing the borders of three countries on Garmin Connect, but it was really hot, I had no fuel or water for the entire run, and when I had my chance to run over to Switzerland, the desire to get back to my host's home trumped everything else. Maybe next time...

Just another 20-miler

Today we ran our second and final 20-mile run in preparation for the Chicago Marathon. The way I felt when I woke up this morning, I was ready for a miserable run very possibly to be cut shorter than planned. We went to a wedding last night, at which I wore 5" wedges, drank in moderation, and danced to excess, then had a night cap care of Taco Bell at about 10:30PM and stayed up until about 11:00 to finish an episode of Breaking Bad. At 6:00AM today I was feeling tired, my toes still had that post-squished-into-a-shoe feeling, and there were some serious hangover symptoms.

I bucked up, got dressed, took the Browns to the Super Bowl (FYI, they are winning at halftime against the Vikings right now), sucked down my Gatorade Prime Pre-Game Fuel, and on our way to our running pals we were. Still, I was not exactly in the 20-mile spirit.

I don't know if it was the crisp, cool air (Welcome to Northwest Ohio, autumn!), the Gatorade Prime in my belly, or the running gods being kind to me, but it didn't take long for the karma from last night to wear away. I did make a pit stop at the nature preserve, which is usually closed as early as we run, but the stars were aligned and the cleaning dude was there, so I was able to get in and clear my bowels of what remained after my first morning visit to the toilet. The guy even offered up a roll of toilet paper in case there weren't any in the stalls! In spite of the way I felt early, this run was meant to be.

Around mile 10 I was feeling like a champ. At Side Cut there were lots and lots of doggies for a 1-mile walk to benefit doggy cancer research. Doggies make everyone happy, so they made this great run even greater. On my doggy high, I strong-armed our group into taking the more challenging route out of the park, which involves a solid ascent up Broadway into uptown Maumee. At the top, I felt like Leonardo Dicaprio.

Around mile 13 Joe and I parted ways with the others in our group who weren't up for 20 miles; one is sick, one was having calf issues, another was having blister issues, and the other just wasn't feeling it. The Balwinskis trudged on, even hitting negative splits in the final few miles.

If today's run is any indication of how I'm going to run Chicago in a few weeks, call me a happy camper. Also, hangovers can suck it.