James - 3.1

~30:00

Trail. Thought a running guy and a woman on a bike were behind me for the last half mile, so pushed it and refused to look back. When I finally finished it transpired that they must have turned off right when I thought they were there.

Saw that segways are the only form of motorised transport allowed on the trail. A few days ago we watched a film about friendly, skinny, soft-spoken west coast guys going west to east across the U.S. in an unusual fashion (on segways, but does the rest remind you of anybody?). The film made me want to do something like walk (or er, segway) down our 47-mile trail, but since you aren't allowed there after dark I need to work on the idea.

Luke - 13

13mi, 1:46:41 (8:12)

Ran over to Relentless Hills, did the loop plus one extra offshoot, then took Ribbon Trail to the backside of Hendricks, got on the roads, hopped the railroad tracks onto the bike path, crossed the river to Pre's Trail, and came home pretty much the usual way. It was dark by about the time I started Ribbon Trail, so I had to slow it down in some darker places. Most of the run was pretty good, except my stomach bothered me a few times. Distance is an estimate.

Luke - 5.25

5.25mi, 49:10 (9:21)

Mile loops of 9:22, 9:03, 9:14, and 9:26. Runs this early suck...this was harder than yesterday's run.

Luke - 13.6

13.6mi, 1:56:17 (8:33)

The Butte, with Zack. Took it fairly easy, felt good. It was pretty rainy to start out and then was just sprinkling by the end. A lot of the trail was covered in leaves, which I love running on, and everything being wet made it a lot of fun.

Splits: 12:26, 13:46, 9:21, 7:38, 8:44, 3:54, 3:39 (60:31) / 4:26, 3:15, 6:46, 6:39, 8:07, 14:35, 11:54.

Steve - 5.1

43:03 (8:36)

Waited til about 5pm to do this run. My leg is still pretty beat up. Doing that little bit of speedwork last week really set me back. My right calf is really tight. It actually felt OK during the run, but now a day a later it's tight again. I'm going to acupuncture tomorrow for the first time. I'm hoping to get some good pain relief for my foot since my heel has hurt ever since I started walking after my surgery.

Weekly Mileage Totals, 10/23-10/29

Luke - 91.3 (11)

Zack - 60.6 (7)

Steve - 15.6147 (4)

James - 8.45 (3)

Chris - 3 (1)

178.9647 miles in 26 runs by 5 runners.

James - 2.2

23:16

Alison and I went to the same store that caused that huge panic last week. I said I'd run around it while she went in to get the one thing she wanted. I didn't want a long run, we didn't have much time, and I just wanted to get one in. I also ran around her some as she was walking to/from the store. Anyway, she has me run around that thing FIFTEEN times and I am knackered. Nearly lost her again on the way home.

Zack - 6.3

61 min (9:40)

Pre's with my lady Erin and her pup Matilda. She wasn't feeling great and hence running slow for her, so this was super easy. However, I really enjoyed the beautiful evening fall scenery around the trails. We also let Matilda take a swim in the creek and threw the stick for her to fetch. This is her favorite thing in the world, so it is great to see.

Luke - 5.5

5.5mi, 43:46 (7:57)

1.4-mile loop of Pre's in 11:24. Started out real slow, but the last two miles I was pretty springy.

Luke - 9.7

9.7mi, 1:21:53 (8:26)

Took the Ribbon Trail to Relentless Hills, after coming off The Wall took a different trail than usual. Found a very lightly-used trail and hacked my way through, til I came to a road. Took that road up the back side of Hendricks Park, took the Ribbon Trail again, and came home from there. Took it pretty easy most of the way, and I felt good. Just a fun little run tromping through the woods.

Luke - 8.3

8.3mi, 67:02 (8:04)

Fox Hollow with Zack. 8:28 up, 8:26 down. It was really dark so we wore headlights the whole time (hence the slow descent). Felt pretty good the whole way until a mile or two left, when my stomach started hurting. Zack's went out too just a little ways from home so we walked the last bit.

Steve - 2.1359

17:13

Crappy run on a Friday night. Ran for the second day in a row but my whole right leg was hurting so I cut it short.

Zack - 8.3

67:45

Fox Hollow with Luke using a flashlight to navigate the trails. Felt exhausted from the solid week of training and then succumbed to stomach troubles the last part of the run. These days happen once in a while, especially during solid training blocks.

Luke - 6

6mi, 48:17 (8:02)

1.6-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 12:41, right when I woke up...at 11:15am.

Luke - 9.25

23' w/u

1600m on the track in 5:22 (74, 82, 81, 84)

1:45 jog from the track to the bark loop

1 Mile on bark in 5:14

1:56 jog from the bark loop to the track

1600m on the track in 5:02 (77, 74, 76, 73)

25' c/d

Worked out with a bunch of people, which is so much better than alone. Josh Gordon was there doing the same times as me (my plan was 5:20/5:20/5:00) so on the track ones we alternated leading laps (the first one he led laps 1 and 3 and the the last one I led those laps). On the first one he went out a bit fast and then we overcompensated a little on the remainder. The one on the bark was pretty even I think, I didn't take splits but I looked at my watch at the quarters and I think we did something like 81, 78, 78, 77 or so. The rest between the second and last one seemed really short, so I struggled a bit just at the beginning of it. On the last lap, Josh was leading and I wanted to go slightly faster than we were moving, so on the backstretch I pulled up almost next to him, and he sped up like I'd wanted...but then of course I couldn't hang. I still don't have much speed, so these interval workouts are good to be doing. Anyway he pulled away a bit over the last 200m...I was able to keep my speed going for the whole thing so he ended up about a second in front of me and pulled me along to a nice time.

After a cooldown with a half-dozen other people, Zack and I went home and watched the second half of game 6 of the World Series (a CRAZY game) and had pizza and beer.

Zack - 10.25

75:32 (7:22)

22 minute warmup, 3 x 1 mi (5:48, 5:41, 5:35) w/ 2:00 rest alternating track and bark with some friends and the Eugene Running Company's Thursday night group.

Ran nearly all of the workout with Renee (a top female runner in the area) and we stayed together for about 2.5 of these miles. It was great having company. Long 32 minute cool down where I was still feeling really springy despite the solid miles thrown in there. This workout is a sign of progress, but I must stay after it!

Steve - 4.7663

39:17 (8:14)

Ran through Santa Monica in the dark carrying my iPhone in my hand as I'm still watchless. Running with it in my pocket is too annoying so I decided to just carry it. 4 decimal points, just for you Luke.

Zack - 4.25

32:46 (7:42)

Recovery loops on Amazon at night. Splits: 7:52, 7:44, 7:36.

James - 3.15

~28:00

After reading some of you lots posts about beautiful places recently, I realised I hadn't run on my beloved trail in some time. I've been using the gym and the apartment complex but an injection of life is needed! Especially since it's starting to cool down. I checked and my last confirmed post about the trail was 2.5 months ago, but even if it isn't that long it's been at least 1.5 months.

I also haven't been running in the day much, so this was nice. Some slow spots but also some hard-pushed speed. This is a very satisfying outdoor time for a 5K.

Luke - 10.75

10.75mi, 84:03 (7:49)

1.6-mile loop in 12:15, 1.4-mile loop in 10:58, 10:47, and 11:15.

I don't know if anyone else will find this funny, but: I came upon a couple on the side of the trail standing there talking, and all I caught as I ran past was the man saying to the woman, as serious as can be, "Yeah, well guess what, Raven, we're supposed to be looking out for each other, not picking on each other."

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 36:51 (8:40)

Mile loops of 8:51, 8:27, and 8:30. 3:45am, 31º.

Steve - 4.3125

38:02

Ran at the track with my friend in Santa Monica. He was doing a workout of 3 mile repeats at 6:25/mile pace before his marathon in early November. I decided I would run a few random 400s with him at this pace when he caught up to me running my slowish ~8:00/mile pace. I warmed up about a mile and then ran a 400 at 1:35. Foot felt ok. Ended up doing two more 400m jaunts with him. Foot held up, although I still feel some pain in there but seems like I can do a little bit of speedwork. I'm going to run a Halloween 5k this weekend...

10:18 1800m
1:35 400m
6:11 1200m
1:38 400m
7:53 1600m
1:30 400m
8:56 1100m
6900 m

Luke - 8

8mi, 56:34 (7:04)

2mi w/u (16:28), 4mi tempo (24:44), 2mi c/d (15:21). Same route as last week, but a little further. Splits: 1:40, 97 (downhill), 93 (uphill), 91, 92, 93, 92, 93, 90, 90, 89, 91, 92, 89 (downhill), 94 (uphill), 91. A little faster and a little longer than last week, and felt better. Was a bit colder than I expected--gotta start wearing gloves again.

Zack - 8

62:50 (7:51)
Rexius Trail (7:55, 8:08, 7:42), 1 extra lap on the Adidas Trail (7:46) and another half-mile in the dark and cold for a nice solid hour. This was mentally a bit tough, but I got the miles in.

James - 3.1

~32:00

A post-drinking run that went okay. I was unfairly struck by the Voice of Golgothan but persevered (we've been watching a bit of Kevin Smith lately).

Luke - 8.3

8.3mi, 68:34 (8:15)

1.4-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 11:13, with Zack, then 1.6-mile loop in 13:25. Had to take it a bit slow in some parts near the end because it was so dark.

Chris - 3

27:14 - 9:04 pace

Lunch run with Jeeni. We went to Seattle this past weekend and had a blast. She introduced me to a couple of her really good friends and showed me around. Went to Pike Place Market, rode to the top of the Space Needle, had a couple great meals, saw the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, and walked around on the SPU campus. She played her first ever drinking game (flip cup) with me on Saturday night also! Luke and Zack, I told her we should all play beer pong when we come to Eugene to visit.

Zack - 5.5

43:28 (7:54)

Pre's Trail in the evening with Luke. Tired feet but managed okay. Stretched afterwards and tried to get a solid night sleep to speed up recovery time from yesterday's massive effort.

Luke - 3.25

3.25mi, 30:25 (9:21)

Mile loops of 9:15 and 9:05, on the bark, with a headlight, at 3:30 in the morning.

Luke - 18

18mi, 2:08:45 (7:09)

67:45 out, 61:00 back

Went out to Springfield to run on a logging road with Zack and a bunch of fast people. There were 9 of us heading out together, plus two more who went a bit slower and a bit shorter. The first couple miles were reasonable, just over 8 and just under 8, and then we settled into 7:30s and a bit under by the turnaround. On the way back we sped up more, and the overall pace for the last 9 miles was about 6:45. I was struggling slightly the last third of the run, and especially the last mile or so, but didn't really fall off much.

It was great to get out there with such good runners, I think I was only faster than two guys (including Zack) and the one girl (who turned around at 7½). I had a gel at about 45 minutes in, and some Gatorade at about 45 minutes left. One of the guys brought his dog, who not only was fine for 18 miles at 7:09 pace, but also had a saddlebag pack with water, Gatorade, and some gels and stuff.

Afterward I was toast. That's the longest run I've done in I don't know how long, and at a very good pace even. I was really impressed with Zack, who also kept up with everyone the whole way. Post-run we had some great organic chocolate milk, and I had a giant ham sandwich for the protein. Then had a beer in the shower, which felt nice (although I really think we need to install a hot tub in the living room). I feel like I'll be pretty sore and tired all of today, and tomorrow morning's run will be slow, but I don't think I'll be out of it for any more than a day.

Steve - 4.4

44:36

Slowish run.

Zack - 18

2:08:51 (7:09)

With large group on Weyerhauser Rd. Out in 67:45, back in 61:06!! Legs tight the last 30 min but really really solid run. Here is a Garmin file from one of the guys (Tim) running to show the splits: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/123826733. As you can see, we were blazing pretty much throughout!

* Tim had his turnaround a little short for a pit-stop and then caught up, hence the 17.6 miles.

Weekly Mileage Totals, 10/16-10/22

Luke - 68.5 (9)

Zack - 51.2 (7)

Steve - 10.3 (2)

James - 8.7 (4)

Chris - 8.7 (3)

147.4 miles in 25 runs by 5 runners.

James - 2.2

20:57

Again not much distance but the first half in particular I was minutes ahead of my usual speed. For the first time in ages I felt cold air in my lungs, and all it took was running at 1am in late October because we were at a horror film festival all day.

In my last entry I shared something reflecting a philosophy of running. Well here is something about how running can effect philosophy!

5 Tips for Good Writing (Judy Reeves): Start with Eating Right:

1. Eat Healthfully. Give your body what it really wants so it can support you. You may think it wants caffeine, sugar, or alcohol, but it really wants broccoli and spinach. Eat healthfully for stamina, good health, and the sensory experience of it. (Notice your carrots when you eat them, their color and crunch. Smell that onion; look closely at its layers and textures.) Eat several small meals throughout the day; begin with a good breakfast.

2. Be Physical. Remember when your mother warned you about making faces (“your face could freeze that way”)? If you’re sitting at your desk all hours of the day and night, your whole body could petrify that way. Move it — stretch, exercise, work out. Breathe. It roils the blood and feeds the brain. When you walk, run, bicycle, or swim, you’re in touch with the earth (unless you do it in a gym, and in that case, get outside). Do it alone so you can pay attention to your body and notice your environment as you glide along.

3. Laugh Out Loud. ...
4. Read. ...
5. Cross-Fertilize. ...

Running has so many more uses than at first appears evident.

Luke - 10.5

10.5mi, 94:19 (8:58)

Double-looped Relentless Hills. Great weather, great views, tough run.

Zack - 6.4

47:31 (7:25)

Pre's Trail easy before watching the UO-Colorado game (blowout). Gorgeous fall weather and lots of sun, felt tired on the last mile.

Chris - 2.7

25:01 - 9:15 pace

Ran with Jeeni during lunch today. She hasn't run in awhile due to volleyball and life, so we kept the pace nice and easy.

Luke - 8.75

8.75mi, 70:17 (8:01)

Fox Hollow with Zack. 8:19 up, 7:56 down. Felt quite good after.

Zack - 8.75

70:16 (8:02)

Fox Hollow with Luke in the evening. Nice uphill in 8:23, down conservatively in 7:53 as darkness started to encroach. We then relaxed on the way back.

Steve 4.3

37:30 (8:43)

Time is somewhat approximate as I still can't find my watch. I started the clock on my phone when I left the house and walked down the stairs and did the lunge matrix that I now do before all runs. In my head I counted how many seconds before I started. I did the same after I finished.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5161890

Luke - 6

6mi, 45:40 (7:36)

1.6-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 12:14. Was pretty slow to start out, and my plantar fasciitis was hurting a bit, but felt great by the end.

Luke - 5

24' w/u; 4x400m, 200r: 75, 78, 75, 75; 6' c/d.

Was hoping to do 8x400 at about 70, but instead everything was bad. I'd worked 4-4, and was dead tired when I got home, so I took a too-short nap and got up at 7:15, by which time it was dark out. Went to the bark loop where I usually warm up, and the lights were off, so I had to warm up on the track instead. It was dark, I was by myself, and my legs had no pop, so I did the four of them and then I was feeling dizzy so I headed home.

Glad I at least did a little bit of speed, as it has been a while and I want to start doing at least one interval workout every week. Zack and I are now on a group on Facebook for Eugene-area runners, where people share the workouts they're gonna do so people can join in. I think it will be a great way to get some really good workouts in, as a lot of the people in the group are faster than me (see Zack's post below).

James - 2

18:28

I was trying to do a fast 5K due to time restrictions but my shoe came undone.

I present here something to think about on those difficult runs. From the book How To Be Free and the chapter Disarm Pain:

"Nietzsche was of the opinion that the rejection of pain is a rejection of life . . . I recently decided that, instead of avoiding hardship and pushing it away with central heating and air-conditioning, it might be sensible to embrace it. Yes, that might sound like a strange idea coming from the pen of an idler, but could embracing hardship be the path to freedom? For example, I recently considered buying a draughty old Land Rover to replace my old, luxury American van, partly because, in the Land Rover, you are better exposed to the elements. This is not to deny the pleasures of the log fire; indeed, the pleasures of the log fire are all the more intense when you have been out in the snow to chop up the logs for it. This is a pleasure that those with underfloor heating cannot experience. This is what the medievals enjoyed -- the harsh contrast between hardship and pleasure. The fire is all the cosier when you've been for a long walk in the cold.

Or for a long run. What runner can't relate to this pain/pleasure satisfaction?

Zack - 5.5

42:09 (7:39)

Amazon to 32nd Ave and uphill, eventually to campus via 24th/Agate and home in the dark. Super tired and had really dry eyes which bothered my contacts.

Zack - 8.5

4 x 1000 m workout w/ 60 s rest on Adidas Trail

Warmup 13 min, splits: 3:25, 3:28, 3:29, 3:29, cooldown 29 min.

Had plenty of company on this evening run which made it really enjoyable. Ran the 1k's with Josh (~15 min 5k) and Steve (~14 min 5k). Of course with these guys, they were only doing cruise intervals whereas I was a few seconds off the back running intervals! I ran my cool down with Josh's fiance Renee and another dude Jeff.

Chris - 3

24:25 - 8:08 pace

Felt in a lot better shape today and my pace reflected it!

Luke - 6.5

6.5mi, 47:37 (7:19)

Long loop of Pre's, then took the trail around the pond to finish. Then had DoughCooooooooooooooooo

Luke - 6.1

6.1mi, 56:41 (9:17)

29:16 out, 27:24 back. Got up at a quarter after three in the morning, so that's why it's so slow. Wanna get used to doubling 3-5 times a week, so I gotta get up stupid early, when my legs no worky.

James - 1.4

An unplanned run. Alison and I decided to go somewhere. It was after dark. She thought we were walking, I thought we were driving. She went on ahead of me as I did something in the flat, while I waited at the car, thinking she'd have been there first. And after looking around a bit, panicked. And ran all the way to our destination and back and around the complex and was ON THE EDGE. Somehow we missed one another until I was about ready to call the police (and I would do almost anything to avoid doing that). Turns out she walked all the way there and back too, but couldn't get what we went for because I had the money. And phone and keys for that matter. We think we might have been in the (small) store at the same time and just had terrible bad luck.

I wasn't dressed well for running, but in terms of speed, panic works.

Steve - 6

58

Pretty slow but long. Oh yeh.

Zack - 7.8

59:05 (7:34)
Another AM run (6:45 AM and 37F). Both loops of Pre's Trail, beautiful scenery with fog hovering over the Willamette River.

Luke - 7

7mi, 50:15 (7:10)

Two miles warmup (16:10), three miles tempo (18:42), and two miles cooldown (15:23). Ran on the bike path (quarter-mile markers) and planned on running the first two quarters at 100 and 95, then the rest 90s...actual splits were 99, 95 (slightly downhill), 97 (uphill), 92, 91, 93 (9:30 at the turnaround), 88, 94, 91, 86 (downhill), 96 (slightly uphill), 94 (9:12). Felt like I was going harder than tempo while I was running it, but I should really be able to do better than 6:15 pace for a 3-mile tempo considering my race paces. Probably just a bit rusty.

Zack - 3.9

30:14 (7:45)

Ran out on Amazon bike path at 6:45AM to Rexius and back on the bark easy.

James - 3.1

~34:00

Beach wedding yesterday. Free booze. Took advantage of it.
I feel alright today but I expect to feel the difference during the run. On the other hand, my back, dare I say it, feels entirely better. I did not feel spectacular but normalcy was pretty exciting.

Until.

Lap 5 of 5. I need to cough up because of my mild illness. It turns into a mini-vomit. I stop briefly. Then - and I am hesitant to admit this - I started to go faster, and it was manageable. Then I decided to do a fast last lap. I am speeding up and up. The pain does not control me. This is what it used to be like. I am president of this! That first haircut since July really helped! I AM BACK! THE HEAD-ON WIND SERVES ONLY TO COOL ME, I AM FEARLESS. COME ON FUCKER, YEAH! I can't wait to see how fast this last lap is it's going to be a scorcher...

Somewhere around minute 32 the stopwatch must have gotten reset.

Luke - 8.3

8.3mi, 65:04 (7:50)

Both sides of Pre's, plus a little extra. Felt pretty good the whole way. Beautiful sunset.

Chris - 3

25:26 - 8:28 pace

Another lunch run, but this time it was sunny! I still kept on my dri-fit long sleeve the whole time, but it was pretty much perfect out. My left hamstring is really bugging me, it's pretty irritating. I'm wondering if some light weight lifting or wall sits would help strengthen it back to normal more than just running on it would, since just running doesn't seem to be helping much.

Zack - 10.35

1:22:22 (7:57)
Fox Hollow + 1.6 mi upper loop w/ Luke.
Splits: 9:24 up, 13:52 loop, 7:14 down. Rexius: 7:23, 5:39 (0.75 mi).

Luke - 10.35

10.35mi, 81:41 (7:53)

Fox Hollow plus the 1.6-mile loop at the top, with Zack. 8:43 up, 7:16 down. The whole run felt pretty tough, but it was really just what I needed.

Weekly Mileage Totals, 10/9-10/15

Luke - 42.75 (6)

Steve - 13.32 (3)

James - 9 (3)

Chris - 6.47 (2)

71.54 miles in 14 runs by 4 runners.

Luke - 6.5

6.5mi, 52:17 (8:02)

Rexius, took it real easy. Came back and finished up making chili and cornbread and watched a fun Ducks game.

James - 3.1

30:50

On top of everything else I started to catch a cold from Alison yesterday, so I ran to try and head it off. I was sweating an unusual amount so hopefully that was a good sign.

I also had my first energy gel. We finally found some a few weeks ago after looking and failing for ages (then of course saw them in like 2 other places), but I wanted to be in better shape so I could more accurately see how they felt. It was a banana Hammer one. It tasted okay, and I am sure it helped with me feeling run down. Squeezing mush out of a metallic tube whilst running was hard not too easy though. Do you guys normally eat them when you're taking a rest?

Steve - 5.14

44

My watch is currently MIA but I think this run was about 44. Ran around my neighborhood and did two loops on the short dirt path that goes down to the beach.

Luke - 8

8mi, 56:41 (7:05)

Zack's girlfriend picked us up at PDX and we went to dinner at an Irish Pub called County Cork. They were out of like five beers on their taplist, but the food was good and filling. I got dropped off at my friend Patrick's house and talked with him and his wife about my trip and stuff before going to bed. I woke up kinda early, I guess from jetlag, but was able to go back to bed for another hour or two. Zack picked me up a little after 11 and we drove to Forest Park. We took Zack's girlfriend's dog Matilda. We stayed on the Leif Erikson Trail, which is the main path, more well-maintained than the fun little offshoots of single-track, and also more gradual of uphill. There are quarter-mile markers, so we turned around at four miles (31:18). We sped up a bit on the way back, and then at a mile to go I picked it up even more. Zack stayed back to give Matilda a break, but we kept on talking as I pulled away and Zack said something about Matilda being able to beat me and I said "Suuuuuure" sarcastically even though of course she could, she's a dog...so Zack told her to catch me. I of course sped up and tried to race the dog; she stayed right behind me or even with me the whole time so I of course told Zack that she wasn't quite strong enough to pass me. My last mile was 5:03; my first quarter I was still accelerating so it was 80, then I went 75, 77, 74. That doesn't quite add up to 5:03 so I don't know exactly my splits or time. Anyway it was a nice downhill so it was faster than normal and also a lot of fun. Zack was maybe a minute behind, a nice little 6-minute mile at the end of an 8-miler. Also at the end of a great vacation.

THE END

Chris - 3

25:22 - 8:27 pace

Ran during lunch in the rain. Definitely felt better than I did on Monday, even though my left hamstring is bothering me again.

Luke - 3.5

3.5mi, 27:34 (7:52)

Zack and I had set our alarms to get in a quick run before leaving for the airport. When we got up Zack decided not to run, because he is weak and soft of will. I did a short run in the rain in the areas in which we got lost on Saturday. Then Zack and I got on a 9-hour flight, went through ridiculous amounts of security and stuff in Toronto, then got on a 5-hour flight, and arrived in Portland.

Steve - 4.2

36

Another run that I had my watch for at the time, but I don't know the time cuz my watch is still MIA. Ran around SM mostly on dirt, some on grass, some in the street.

James - 3.1

30:50

Just squeaking under 10 minute miles here on my first 5K in over a month. The back pain hasn't subsided yet, and I need to be wary of launching again prematurely, but I am desperate to build back up.

Luke - 7.75

7.75mi, 60:00 (7:44)

After Neuschwanstein we took the train back to Munich and this time we knew how to take the subway to get back to my sister's place. When we got in they were making Japanese curry, which was a perfect meal after the day's hike. The next day we headed to the English Garden again for a nice hour-long run (we made sure to stop at exactly sixty minutes and zero seconds because we are weird).

We were thinking of heading to the German Museum, the world's largest museum of technology and science, but we got up pretty late and really would need more than a couple hours to take that in, so we instead headed to the University district and walked around. There were so many bookstores that it was ridiculous; we found an English-language one and Zack got a cool book for his girlfriend. We walked around downtown a bit too (past shops with $10,000+ watches) before heading back to my sister's. For our last night in town we treated my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew to dinner at a nice little Bavarian restaurant. Afterward I tried to get a picture of my nephew in a Mariners hat I'd bought him, but it was pretty tough since he hates hats (probably because he has amazing curly blond hair). Then he got put to bed and the adults had drinks and played a game of Carcasonne. I should mention that I won--not to brag, but for journalistic accuracy.

Steve - 3.98

33:20 (8:37)

Starting to run a decent pace finally. It's been a long road back. My foot still hurts a bit but I think it's pain I can run through since I always had a little pain in both feet at times before my surgery. Mostly on dirt/grass.

James - 2.8

32:49

I made totals updates for the previous two weeks - I hope that's okay with everyone. I didn't backdate them just because they would have been needlessly far back in the posts. None of us were particularly special in those weeks (Steve's consistency probably puts him at Number 1) but I figured it would prevent Luke from having to do 4 or 5 weeks when he returns. On that note, I won't do anymore because obviously he will have more to post later and I don't want to make it look like I'm trying to steal the number 1 spot during a semi-fictional collective downtime, hah.

In other news, some young boys tried to sell me cakes and cookies during this run. And I found out that the medicine I've been taking has a side effect of back pains, so now that I'm no longer taking it I hope to get better fast.

Luke - 9.5

9.5mi, 75:20 (7:55)

After relaxing a bit in Munich on Saturday and Sunday, we were back to travelling again on Monday. We took a train South again, to the town of Füssen, which is near the famous Neuschwanstein Castle, and only a couple miles from Austria. When we got in it was raining, and we decided to visit the castle in the morning instead of that day. We walked a couple minutes outside of Füssen to the town of Bad Faulenbach and found a hotel. Our room was on the top floor and had a great view of the town and the surrounding mountains, and more importantly, had two recliners and giant blankets. We sat in the recliners with our blankets and dozed off for an hour or so, and it was glorious. When we got up and headed out for our run the rain had stopped. Once again the running was amazing. The town was geared towards the outdoors, and had a lot of trails for hiking, running, or Nordic walking, with signs at pretty much every single fork in the road telling you how to get to wherever you wanted to go. We ran from Germany into Austria, through a tiny town called Vils, and then found a trail that went straight up. There were switchbacks but it was still crazy steep. From Vils we could see an old castle on a hill; since our trail was heading around it I thought we should maybe come back in the morning and run to it, but then when we headed into the woods the trail led us to it after all. We stopped to check it out a bit; it was built in 1220, so it was pretty crazy to think about people being there that long ago. On the way back I was feeling pretty good so I invited Zack to accelerate a bit. We got down to about 6-minute pace for a while...we thought we were closer to the end than we actually were, so it ended up being a good couple miles of fast stuff, and I felt great. I guess the relaxing over the weekend and the hotel recliners got my body feeling right.

That night we got some amazing pizza at a place authentic enough that Zack used his Italian instead of me using my German. Afterward we got a beer at a little three-table bar, then headed to the grocery store and made some amazing purchases. Beer was between 40 cents and €1.05, plus between 8 and 15 cents deposit, so for €11.33 we got a €1.50 bag of pretzels, a €2 thing of cookies, and TEN half-liters of good German beer. We kept the receipt and might frame it.

Anyway we took our haul back to the hotel room and played cards and drank eight of the beers. Very fun night.

The next day we got our hotel breakfast and then took the bus to Neuschwanstein. The bus over was about 80% Japanese tourists. Instead of just going to the castle and looking at the inside, we hiked up to a bridge that overlooked the castle, then hiked up even further. It was a pretty long hike with amazing views. We wanted to stop at every switchback to take pictures because each view was better than the last. We could see the Neuschwanstein Castle, the Hohenschwangau Castle, some towns, and some mountains. On the way up to the bridge there were a total of two Japanese tourists, and on the rest of the hike there were zero. I guess most tourists just come into town, take the castle tour, and leave...they don't go on a run into Austria or hike up to 5600 feet to see the castles from above.

At the top, there was a restaurant (this is at the end of a 2½-hour hike...the Alps are amazing) so we got some amazing food...sausages and German potato salad for me, a gourmet mac-and-cheese type dish for Zack, and potato pancakes with applesauce and raspberries to share. Plus I got a liter of beer and Zack got a half-liter. We took a ski lift down to the bottom and laid in the grass in the sun for a half hour before the bus came to take us back to the train station.

Chris - 3.47

31:23 - 9:02 pace

I went on a run! Yay me. After being sick last week and a slew of weeks of not thinking about running at all, I decided it was time to get my lazy butt off the couch and getting a workout in. I felt extremely slow and out of shape, but it felt good to get out in the weather and fresh air. Hopefully I'll be industrious enough to go on a couple more short runs this week.

Luke - 7.5

7.5mi, 54:16 (7:14)

Headed out to the park we'd tried to find the day before, but this time with my sister's smartphone. The park is called The English Garden, and it's one of the biggest city parks in the world. It's ideal for running, with miles and miles of either pavement, gravelly paths, or "real" trails to explore. Zack and I found it's really easy to get lost in Munich, because the city (and parks/trails) aren't laid out in a grid at all, but instead just turn and loop randomly, making it easy to get turned around.

Weekly Mileage Totals, 10/2-10/8

Luke - 20.75 (3)

Steve - 10.9 (3)

James - 4 (2)

35.65 miles in 8 runs by 3 runners.

Steve - 4.28

36:00 (8:41)

On the crete around my neighborhood.

Luke - 9

9mi, 69:29 (7:43)

On Thursday after our run we did a lot of walking around Bologna, and that night had a traditional Bolognese meal, which was delicious. Afterwards we got a beer at a bar that had one of the Oktoberfest beers on tap. We got to bed a little before 1 and got up at about 6 to make a traditional American breakfast for our Italian hosts. We made pancakes and scrambled eggs, and they thought the whole thing was crazy and barely ate any. A bit later we headed to the train station (got some quick pizza on the way) and took the train all the way from Bologna back to Munich. When we got in it was pouring. We hadn't made definite plans with my sister and brother-in-law when we were rushing out, hungover, on Monday morning, but luckily we'd at least written down their phone numbers and address. We couldn't get a hold of them on the phone so we took a taxi, and after a bit of confusion with the driver we actually made it back. It was late and we were once again very tired so we pretty much just went to bed.

In the morning we had some breakfast and then got out for a run. We tried to head to this big park but got turned around and didn't make it there, but did find some other trails through some smaller parks and across some fields. We were shooting for a little under 8 miles or an hour, but we got lost on the way back, and actually only really made it back because as we were getting close my sister happened to drive by and pointed us in the right direction.

Steve - 3.42

34

Pretty slow. I was following the Tigers/Yanks gamecast on my phone while I ran though.

Luke - 4.75

4.75mi, 39:02 (8:13)

From Innsbruck we took another train South, and got into Bologna, Italy in the afternoon. We explored the city on Wednesday evening and stayed with a friend of Zack's in the middle of the city. Thursday morning we headed out for a run...we had to run through the city a lot, but then headed up towards a cathedral on the edge of town. We took a few wrong turns so we didn't actually make it to the cathedral, but we did do a lot of very steep hills. I felt a bit out of shape, or like I was at altitude (we weren't).

James - 2.5

26:59

Hard to tell if I'm really getting better, but this was mostly manageable with only a little back pain. Got a stitch towards the end too, which was exciting because it has been a while since I worked hard enough to really get one. Then I realised how sad that was.

I left flyers in some of the machine cup/item holders for this demo that I am going to tomorrow. Occupy Everywhere!

Luke - 7

7mi, 55:06 (7:52)

So the last run before this one was the easy run in Eugene Saturday morning before leaving. Sunday morning Zack and I got up early, in Portland, getting to the airport at about 5am. Spent all day flying, ending up in Munich Monday morning. My sister (along with her husband and their 17-month-old son) picked us up at the airport, we dropped our stuff off at their place, and headed to Oktoberfest.

Oktoberfest attracts 7 million people across the two weeks it goes on, so it's huge. There are twelve tents, constructed each year by the participating breweries, each holding six- to ten-thousand people. There are long picnic-style tables and benches where you sit and order a little bit of food and a lot of beer. The beer comes in one size: a one-liter glass stein. That's just over three 12-oz beers' worth, plus the special Oktoberfest recipe is a bit stronger than regular beer at about 6.6%. There's a band in each tent that plays traditional oompa songs, some more contemporary stuff, and lots of drinking songs. Every time they play a drinking song you have to sing along and drink, and whenever a stranger at your table cheerses you you have to drink.

Zack and I had somewhere between four and six beers (liters, that is) each, and after I went on a carnival ride with my sister (we went upside down quite often and I somehow did not throw up) we went home and slept the sleep of people who hadn't rested due to flying for sixteen hours and then drinking all day.

The next day I had the worst hangover of my life (pro tip: drink water!) but Zack and I had more travelling to do. We took a train a couple hours South, to the highest mountain in Germany, Zugspitze. The train ride itself was real rough for me but I was pretty much better after that. We didn't go to the top of Zugspitze because the ride up there was about 50 Euros each, but we did take a ski lift to another peak on the mountain. We had hoped to find lockers where we could leave our packs and go for a run, but there were none available so we hiked with our packs, breaking into a run every once in a while, and ended up at the bottom after two or three hours.

From there we got on another train going South, and in the evening got into Innsbruck, Austria. We found a nice hotel that was like 600 years old and wasn't too expensive, then got some nice Italian food and a beer and then slept.

The next morning we got up at about 6am to run. We found mention of some running trails in a brochure at the hotel, so we headed in their direction. Innsbruck is right in the Austrian Alps, surrounded on all sides by giant mountains, so our run took us into the hills a bit. The running there ended up being absolutely great...there was a huge system of trails that I could have spent a year exploring, some well-maintained and some offshoots into the forest. We stayed mostly on the nice paths, and took a few roads as well. Finished up feeling not too bad and then had a nice big breakfast at the hotel.

James - 1.5

~11:00
4:50
-------
~15:50

Didn't have time for much else, still having back problems.

So, Steve, Chris! With Luke and Zack gone I suppose it's just us around here. We'll have lots of fun won't we! Lets turn this fucker into something unrecognisable. It's not like you're both partially out of the running loop at the moment for very legitimate reasons. Right?

...



... guys?

Steve - 3.2

29:53 (9:21)

Easy run around Santa Monica on dirt/grass. Ho-hum. Hard to remember much when I post this one week late.

Weekly Mileage Totals, 9/25-10/1

Luke - 30 (5)
James - 8.3 (3)
Steve - 5.95 (2)

44.25 miles in 10 runs by 3 runners.

James - 2.5

34:16

Back to slowness due to back problems now... grahh.

Luke - 5.5

5.5mi, 41:20 (7:30)

1.4-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 10:48. Ran with Zack and Matilda. We stopped a couple times to throw a stick into the water for Matilda. At one point Zack threw a little stick in and Matilda somehow found a 10-foot long pole of some sort and dragged it on back to the shore for us.

Last run in Eugene for a couple weeks! Driving up to Portland tonight, then leaving early tomorrow morning for Munich...we're both very excited. I'll try to keep a log of my runs in Europe so I can update the blog with them when I get back.