Aug
26
There's a noticeable change in the length of each day. The paths are bestrewn with yellowed leaves, dried and curled like hundreds of miniature canoes. My puffs and pants turn to asthmatic wheezes in the last mile of my run. It's early autumn, our favorite time of year. It seems to hit Berlin sooner than Michigan, not too surprising considering how much farther north we are. The season makes us anxious to return to the Midwest, where we will devour cider doughnuts, pumpkin pie and, most of all, apples. But until then, we will make the best of our European summer.A special event currently in the works involves a two-night camping trip on Germany's largest and perhaps most scenic island, Rügen. It is located in the far northeast of the country on the Baltic Sea. In anticipation, we bought a large tent at the flea market last Sunday. The trip will be a birthday present to myself.
And what else do I blog about this time of year? My semi-annual fitness kick. This year hasn't afforded me any more Bikram yoga. Instead, I've been participating in urban bike rides and evening jogs in Hasenheide. After a couple of weeks timing myself, I was disappointed that I wasn't able to get my time down to what it was in high school. But then I realized that what I have now, but previously lacked, is endurance. In 2002 I could run a 5k in 22:30. That gave me an average pace of 7:26 a mile. Now I am running 4.5-6 miles with an average per-mile pace of 7:46 (8:00 on slower days). I might not be finishing a marathon any time soon (though I might!), but I am very pleased with the results of these recent efforts. And with this upcoming camping trip, I'll even get in some hiking.
The Champions Run was on Saturday afternoon. The day started off sunny and relatively cool, picking up warmth as start time approached. The IAAF world championship men's marathon race began in the morning, so we came in time to cheer for the final lap. It is so utterly amazing what these men are capable of! The loop started at Brandenburg Gate, cut south through Potsdamer Platz, then northwest through Tiergarten, down Oranienburger Strasse and finished with a straight shot down Unter den Linden, ending at Brandenburg. 10,000 runners reserved spots three, four, even five months ahead of race day. The starting line was so packed with people I couldn't see Matt despite his hot pink racing t-shirt (thanks T-Mobile!). In the end, he didn't make the time we were hoping for, but he still did very well and finished in the top 11%.
After we reunited at the end of the runner's corral, we shared some of his complimentary bananas and granola bars. Then we went down to Potsdamer Platz to see the first half of an avant-garde dance performance, Bodies in Urban Space. There were about a dozen "dancers" in whole, wearing sweatsuits and sneakers of bold, primary colors. They moved through the city streets, the audience following excitedly behind, creating formations and manipulating their bodies to showcase the urban environment. They crouched under telephone booths, wedged their bodies upside down behind traffic signs and built a tower in the middle of a tall spiral staircase, among other things. It was really quite cool. Even though the dancers weren't moving by the time we "found" them, to hold these positions for five minutes at a time requires great physical strength and agility.
Expect soon a blog with some of our favorite recipes. As I've mentioned before, we have been cooking nearly every single meal. A few weeks ago my mom emailed and asked if I was "getting sick of lentils yet." The truth is, of course not! I love lentils. Besides, we don't eat them too often. There are a lot more cheap, healthy vegetarian options than I imagined. Each week we purchase more or less the same ingredients, which never cost us more than $40. Then we combine them, often repeating favorite recipes though sometimes experimenting. I would like to give you a compiled list so they are easier for you to find when you want to give them a try yourself.
Traverse City is feeling fallish, too. Chilly forecast for the next week. I am sure there will be plenty of donuts, apples and pumpkins left for you when you return.
Have a great time on your camping trip.
Watch your mail.