Chick peas and tahini

Ha ha ha! Humous!!!!!

Easy breezy

Sunday morning and another walk in the woods. Imagine new green leaves backlit with sunlight, air charged with raucous mating birds, the smell of fresh damp humous from yesterday's rain.

On the hunt

Today was another Feiertag in Saarland - I think that's 5 days off this month. I've lost track of why we even have a holiday, but I'm learning to make good use of them. Today I jogged to Güdingen. It was supposed to be Week 10 Run 2, or 4x 10 minute runs with 1-minute walks, but it felt so good, I just jogged it straight through.

I'm having my boss and his wife over for a barbecue tonight, and fresh asparagus would be a nice addition. But nothing is open on a Feiertag, not even the giant Globus in Güdingen. I walk the line to Brebach, but the small produce market is closed too. That leaves France - so I hop on a tram to Sarregemuines. Definitely got my exercise today and earned a French gold star!

Into the woods

What a difference a few weeks makes - the Saarbrücken Stadtwald is dark under the green canopy and, after the recent rain, it smells richly of humous and horses. Today, we took a new route up the steepest trails and over the hill to Eschberg. The conversation was as light as the spring air.

Today's star: the Pole Star, of course :-)

The Finish Line

The Full 10K is in sight around the corner. By the time we leave, we should be up to Week 12, Run 2. I have a plan:
June 2 - first morning in Vancouver, wake up and hit Jericho Beach for Week 12, Run 3
June 4 - Week 13, Run 1 on scenic Mill Bay
June 6 - Week 13, Run 2 on Sunshine Beach
June 8 - Week 13, Run 3 a.k.a. The Full 10K around Stanley Park
finishing with a moccachino grande latte at Blenz in Denman and a celebratory grill on my boat.
Are we up for this? Go Team!

Over the Wall!

I made it! HTW to Forbach in 1:20, including hiking up a hill or 2, getting thoroughly lost in a new development, kicking up red dust along a new highway foundation and even jogging down the median of an intercity route because there were ditches on both sides! Talk about un-jogger-friendly! But in the end, I found the Forbach train station, thanks to a few kinds souls (including a lone jogger) who provided directions in some mixture of French, German and some local Schoenecke dialect. I hit the wall on the second hill at about the 15-minute mark of run#2, wondered if I would turn back, but then found my groove and jogged straight through the rest of the way except for wading through knee-high weeds around a couple traffic circles. Who needs 1-minute breaks? I even walked home from the train station.

ah ... French wine ...

Made in the shade

*phew* 23° in the shade. This is like summer - I need sunglasses. Glad to get that out of the way. Wasn't sure I had another 4x10 left in me. Made it all the way along the river to the 5th bridge. By the time I climbed back up the hill, it felt so good, it calls for another - I'm thinking Forbach or bust! But I think we have something planned in 2 days that will change that tune ...

coming up next: Week 10, Run1, a.k.a. Lethal Weapon. Be afraid ...

The power of the mind

I thought about jogging this week - at least daily. Does that count? Well, if not, the 2-hour Nordik walk through all of Saar farmland followed by a detour to my walking-buddies house to buy her bike, followed by a hike up the hill home to get my pump, followed by my first wobbly bike ride in 3 months to work, followed by the long push home up the hill, carrying a wooden chair should count for an orienteering award ... 16km would explain why my feet protest. And then there was the half hour furniture delivery route home yesterday with a wooden garden bench balanced on my head including the climb up the hill.

Ok, so I'm doing just about anything to avoid Week 9, Run 3 (unabridged) with is actually 4x10min walk Madame. But that was the plan, since now we are in sync again. So with only 3 weeks to blast-off and coincidentally 3 weeks left in the program, I guess that was the last of our slacking off. (Incidentally, the Vancouver Sun Run was April 28 - over 59 000 registered!)

Hit the road, Jack! Week 9, Run 3 tomorrow - be there or be square! And do not under any circumstance look at Week 10, Run 1 or you'll regret it. Go Team!

It's easy to stop.......

....but ever so hard to start again.
Having fallen off the bandwagon (again) in order to complete licence application before the May 5th deadline, I had the unpleasant experience of going for a run after 2 non-active weeks.
I did my best old-lady impression and clambered awkwardly back on the bandwagon and managed an attempt at week 9 run 3. Five 5 min runs with 1 min seperations. It'll have to do and I'll see if I can walk in the morning!

New heights

Today was the first Nordic walk I've been on in a month, thanks to my constant travels. Not only did I keep up with the locals, our speed-demon kidnapped me for a quick side trip up the local water tower. And he wanted to run the 200+ stairs! I ran about half, but just about slowed to a crawl by the end. The view from the top was totally worth it though.

Next weekend our class is cancelled, but one of the walkers who lives close to me is going to take me for a tour of my neighbourhood. Next Sunday, same time, new place.