As the novel Coronavirus started to set in and increase the health threat in the local region, we were asked to separate our workforce and go to 50% manning. That meant I was asked to be at home every other week. All I could do was work on email so I decided to increase my running and set my eyes on some bucket list runs before leaving.
First on my list was to run to Trier and back, second, was to run the River Kyll. While working on these goals a third project was born and is in the works but has required substantially more time and energy in preparation.
A few things to know about running far, food becomes as important as your shoes or socks. I have experimented with a lot of different gels and other store packaged running foods. Truthfully, after a little while the mixed glucose/maltose/dextrose based gels and jelly beans and fruit leather bars can start to make your stomach turn against you. The very thought of one more gel starts to make you feel nauseated. I recall a moment this last fall while running a 68 km trail race about 1 hour from here in Belgium where I hit an aid station where they were serving the jerky-like sausage that is supper fatty and slices of French bread and dark chocolate and goodness did that sausage hit the spot. I think I ate near a foot long's worth of it. Normally I find that highly fatty sausage nasty but at the moment, I guess it was just what my body needed.
So I have learned to pack my own food like flour tortillas with peanut butter and Nutella; sometimes with slices of banana inside :)
I usually start out early morning mostly because I know that running like I do takes time; time that I could have spent with the kids. The downside is that 4 am comes early and that it is usually colder. The upside are the sunrises which never disappoint.
I love visiting the Mosel River due to how calm and flat it is. It seems that just sitting and looking at it helps me feel relaxed
During this first Trier run the flowers were blooming in early spring and due to COVID-19 cases, most people were at home and the traffic was low. It was a strange feeling with the city being so quiet but that just added to the majesty of the moment.
Here we find the beginning of an idea. As I ran past some of these grape vineyards I thought to myself "wouldn't it be neat to run the entire Mosel someday...?"
Never did find any frogs
This is the traditional signage here in Germany showing you which town you are leaving (on the bottom) and where you are heading (on top). Schweich is the first town I run to on my running project planned for early June.
Crossing back over the Mosel
Inspired by local statues :)
Here I am on the way home via a different road.
It led me up some steep roads to the forest which looks much different just a few weeks later now that the leaves have all grown on the trees
I think as much as I love the Mosel, my first love is the trail. However, I was running in Altra Torin shoes which have a zero heel to toe drop so my anterior ankles started to hurt on the climb :(
THIS was a fantastic find. Scottish Highland cows. Their hair is amazing. After finding these cows I dropped a pin in Google maps so I could bring the kids back to see them. I never thought of cows as being bold or brave so to find them to be slightly fearful was no surprise. However, these cows were SO jumpy!
The cows would huddle together closely and if one spooked, they would all spook and as a herd run together to a far point in their fenced area. When we visited them later as a family we decided to call them "Skiddish Cows" rather than Scottish Highland cows.
I was making reasonable time until just before the cows. The uphill climb in my zero drop shoes caused my left anterior ankle to have an impingement which was really hurting so I had to walk/hike at an angle which added on a chunk of time. But I don't mind going slow because I have found that running can be noisy and the faster pace means you miss some simple beauty that you can see (or in some cases hear) when hiking rather than running.
Here is a shot from another morning commute to work. The Rapeseed fields are spectacular. This particular field is between a town called Dudeldorf and Spangdahlem.
On another occasion I decided I wanted to run the Kyll river so I drove to the Speicher Train station and headed north along the river. I had run this route before, but this time it took me father than I had gone. Here are some morning shots. So lovely.
The sunrise was awesome!
After a while, I realized I was lost and that I had somehow ended up in Bitburg rather than heading north like I had anticipated. When I came to realize this I was upset because it means many miles more I would have to backtrack and delay my rendezvous with a friend who was going to run the second half of the run with me.
But after checking the maps I found that I was not actually off track and that I simply didn't realize that the Bitburg train station was as far east as it is.
The Train stations in this area of Germany are so beautiful. Most were build in the 1820-1840s and have been preserved. There is usually a family that lives in them that has been since it was built and the home passed down from one generation to another.
I love seeing churches in Germany. Like the train stations, they were often built in the same time frame. Many of them are only in use during certain times of the year. The larger villages may have active congregations that meet with a clergy member. The reason the churches stay so beautiful is that the Germans have to pay income tax to support them (8% per year by the report of a German we became friends with)
This is how I tried to navigate my way north. Yes I could have simply made a GPX file and uploaded it to my watch and followed it... after all that is the reason I bought this watch is so that I could create a route and follow it. But sometimes it if more fun to follow the signs and occasionally pick out your next village you need to aim for.
Here is a view looking into Kyllburg. You can see how the river snakes around this section of land.
The drop down into Kyllburg was pretty intense. I think I hit an 8-10% grade which made for a fast-paced run. My legs were not used to running downhill like that so I am glad it was not s super long section (maybe 0.5-1 mile)
Some views of the Kyll inside the city.
At this point I threw on a mask and hit up the local grocery store (Edeka) and grabbed a sweet role to share with friend who was showing up to run with me.
The trail follows the river and along the way goes through some old tunnels. This one was pocked with gunshot holes. The Germans are not of a personality to simply shoot at things like road signs as some Americans do so I could not help but wonder if WWII came through here?
Running through the tunnel
Here is Paul Hukreide. He works in the clinic with me as a medical technician. He has always enjoyed running so I invited him (and others but no one wanted to come) but had never run more than 10 miles so this was in part a training run as he decided to run a marathon this spring on his own.
A little ways north we found this random castle
So we crossed the river...
And climbed a short but VERY steep hill to check it out. You can see me at the base of the castle there. Due to COVID it was of course closed but still really fun to stand next to.
A while later and nearing our destination we came across this natural source of mineral water. It had potassium, calcium, sodium among other electrolytes and was very bubbly. It would have been more refreshing if it did not have so much sulfur in it. There was a sign out front which according to google translate states that the wealthier generations from 1800-1880 would frequent this spring to sample its healing qualities.
When we arrived at our destination, I grabbed some food from the grocery store and then jumped on the train. The ride home of course required a mask which was not a big deal. So many people from base were worried about public transportation as a potential course of contracting COVID but I think the Germans felt the same way because we were some of the only people on the train.
Random rainbow around the sun when I got back to the car.
Total distance: 30.21 miles, Time: 5:43:03, Pace 11:21 per mile, Vertical change 2,093
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