„Never give up, never surrender.“ Galaxy Quest

Braking the silence

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 11:54:01 +0800

It has been almost 4 months since my last entry...! Well, some things happened in the meantime. We just returned from a great vacation in the US. We have been south of San Francisco, doing some sight seeing and added some running, biking and swimming. Yes, that‘s right, I am learning to swim free style...! Have not been a great swimmer in the past, so this is new territory for me. I take lessons and make some progress. Reason for this was the weather in the summer here in Guangzhou, just too hot for running. Now I am planning my first triathlon in October in Hong Kong. Let‘s see how this goes, will keep you updated.

you learn every day...

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:15:08 +0800

Yesterday, I had an accident. While I was showering, suddenly, the water turned cold. As a reflex, I turned around and could almost immediately feel that something was wrong with my back. During the day, the pain grew and this morning (Monday, yic!) I could not move. Had to stay home but could work from there, fortunately. But, what to do? I called an Acupuncture doctor, Cherry. She was highly recommend to me by friends. Well, I never ever had an acupuncture and just thinking about these long needles makes me shiver. But, my back was in bad shape and I had no other choice but to call her. Fortunately, she was available and around noon time I got first a massage and then the acupuncture treatment. The needles felt not too bad, some electricity in the legs and the back got very warm... 30 minutes later, I could walk, stand, sit without any problem! Unbelievable!!! Thank you so much, Cherry...!

Baiyun reloaded...

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 19:07:12 +0800

Great Wall Marathon (15.May) is quickly approaching. This is probably why the bravest of all Guangzhou runners did the unthinkable today: they ran three(!!!) times all the way up to the top of Baiyun mountain. First of all, I have to admit that I did this only two times, since Christiane and I started at 8am. Had to sleep in due to the jet lag. But, the „Fantastic 4“ started at 7am and climbed these brutal 450m elevation again and again and again. This climb includes ca. 700 steps and a lot of natural trails. Finally, they clocked 35km, Christiane and I did a mere 23km... Well, looks like Great Wall Marathon can come.

The first long run for weeks...

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:19:30 +0800

This Saturday, I could do my first Marathon distance after Tokyo Marathon in February. We ran 15km in the Baiyun Mountain, which is shown on the right side of the picture. Then, I circled Luhu lake 5 time (km each lap) and added another 2km. Finished 42,4km in 4:13. Interestingly enough, I ran my first Marathon in 2010 in Berlin, finishing it in 4:13 as well. Coincidence?

„on the road gain...“

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:16:55 +0800

Again a decent week. Ran 76km including a quite strong 36km yesterday, 22km of them in Baiyun mountain plus 4 laps around Luhu lake (each 3,7 km). The Baiyun lake has no water, looks strange, seeing all the people wandering there. Temperature was 24C, but not a big problem, although, I tend to dehydrate a little bit if I don‘t drink ca. 1 l per hour in such conditions. Today, I did my first bike ride in China. Can‘t believe I waited that long! We went to University city, which features a 16km round, very little traffic and decent road conditions. I did three laps, pushing the last one pretty hard. The wind felt great and riding the bike was much cooler than running.

Back on track

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:12:39 +0800

This week was pretty good. I could run 96km in total, most of them on Saturday (23km, Baiyun) and Sunday (32km, Ersha). It was cold during the week, 6-14 C till yesterday, but today, temperature went up again to 24C. Not really hot but the humidity made things difficult. But, I am happy with the result and hope I can continue with this mileage next week as well.

after the Marathon is before the Marathon

Sun, 7 Mar 2010 17:30:27 +0800

Last Sunday we participated in the Tokyo Marathon. It was our fourth Tokyo Marathon and we participated in all of them up to now! The weather was pretty much like it was during the first race in 2007. Rain, cold (6 Celsius!) but not much wind. Well, this time, I ran with a rain coat during the whole race. Christiane and I finished in 3:55. The rain stopped around the 40k point and we could enjoy the last 2 km. After the finish, we were interviewed by Japanese TV. Well, had to think hard to understand the questions they asked. They were very astonished to hear that we ran all Tokyo Marathons! Back in China I have to crank up my Mileage now to get into shape for my next race. Today, the weather was really nice (hard to believe but only 14 Celsius! ). So I took the Bull by the horns and did another long run, 30km to be precise. Felt pretty ok, even though I lost 1,5 kg of fluids during the run. Will be much harder when the temperatures are up again.

another new year is near...

Fri, 5 Feb 2010 21:43:02 +0800

Next week, the Chinese are celebrating their New Year. The year of the Tiger is coming. The picture above was taken in Kemer. Interesting spelling of some the international brands!
My running training goes ok. Doing the long runs and track training as well as some medium runs. Averaging 70km/week.

Happy new year 2010

Sun, 3 Jan 2010 22:48:42 +0800

I am just back from a great running week in Kemer, Turkey. We had some really great runs with our running friends and enjoyed the good weather, the friendly people and the great scenery.

Back on the island

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 11:10:10 +0800

My entries have been slow for the past weeks. Need to catch up on a few developments, I guess. Two weeks ago, we went to Japan and attended a great wedding party of our running friends there. Visiting Japan this time, I felt like a tourist. We went to Hakone via the Romance car, cable train, rope way and by boat. Had a great weekend there. In the meantime, temperatures went down a little here in Guangzhou. Today, we did the first Ersha island outer loop. Running on the south river bank is great, because of all the shade the buildings provide. It‘s a total of 11km and it seems this loop can be used for the long runs to come. Btw, we got a spot in Tokyo Marathon 2010. That‘s for the forth time in a row. We are so excited about this. Have to start training again. February 28th is not so far away ;-)