Running in the Heart of Germany

Before I talk about Germany, the events of today deserve a mention. I finished and passed (!) my trial job (to work as a physician in Denmark) in the Internal Medicine Dept. So now I start a combined eye surgery residency and PhD August 1st. To congratulate myself, I ran a marathon on trails around Næstved. It was sweaty and rainy and gorgeous. AND I kept a pretty decent pace. I did have a Steve Quick moment when I fell on my hand and thought it was broken, but it's just a common bruise. Anyway, no doubt I'm back into the shape I was in last summer (perhaps better). Watch out Helen Lavin, I'm coming to Voyageur 50, too (okay, maybe I'm not in THAT kind of shape).

Here I am after my solo marathon.

I've got a perfect body because my eye lashes catch my sweat. (can anyone name that song?)
Okay, okay. I don't think my body is perfect. I just like the song.

Over the weekend, we were in The Harz Mountains, Germany. Being from Milwaukee and having a longer and more German maiden name than you could make up, I have always been a bit fascinated with the country. One thing (of many things) I didn't know was that there is a beautiful mountain range right in the middle of the country, on the old border between East and West Germany.

This is Germany. The red arrow points to the Harz mountains.

And all one needs to do is pick a town in the mountains, put on your running shoes (which SR forgot... but emergently purchased some "entry level" New Balance ones), and one will find an abundance of trails leading up into the mountains. These trails are ostensibly for hiking and mountain biking, but are also a runner's paradise.

Harz mountains in the mist.

A view of Bad Grund, the town we stayed in, which really wasn't bad at all, ah ha ha.SR and I had one beautiful run which lasted for hours, but went by so quickly. We didn't see another person the entire day. Harz was apparently a huge tourist area in the early and mid 20th century, but is now nearly abandoned.

Here is a dammed lake we came upon.And SR and his brother would not have been satisfied unless we attempted to hike to the highest peak, Brocken, at 1141 meters.Above are, of course, the brothers. Can you locate the poor Lorax anywhere in the picture?

We would have made it to the top if it hadn't started pouring, creating disquietude with The Lorax. But on the way down, he was once again his happy self.We later came upon an old tower in the town of Osterode. It was completely unmarked, but I have subsequently learned from German wiki that it was built in the 12th century and is called Alten Burg.Here is The Lorax playing with his cousin. If you take a close look at the photo, "Compton" is written on the wall in graffiti.

And here we are playing the Von Trapp Family Singers, saying Auf Wiedersehen.


Running Song of the Day: D.T.A.P. by Nephew

and the song the quote came from...