Bier, Bratwurst, und Buffet Brötchen

Not to mention wine, dinner, coffee and cakes. I am a sucker for German breakfast rolls (Brötchen) and beerpubs (Kneipe). Carb week.

Fortunately the damage is only two pounds thanks to some sweet running. The weather was in the 60's and 70's all week. My heart rate monitor must be broke since it consistently read 10 bpm lower than in Houston for the same effort. Had I died and gone to running heaven? Recovery week my ass, let's run. My log:

Tuesday: 10k, 58:11, 130 avg HR, 9:23/mi pace, easy. Arrived in Frankfurt early Tuesday morning, rented a car, drove an hour to our hotel, checked in and immediately went for a run since the weather was gorgeous. Ran a flat route upstream along a river full of canoers, past a brewery (every respectable German town has their own) and a few locks. My effort and heart rate was ridiculously low so this counts as a low heart rate run. This is likely my fastest 130HR distance run ever.
Wednesday: 4.2mi, 39:30, 136HR, 9:24/mi pace, fartlek. Early morning run across the river, along some trails, back through some town, and along the river downstream at various paces.
Thursday: 5.3mi, 49:06, 132HR, 9:16/mi pace Another early morning run downstream along the river, cut short since they had blocked the route for tree cutting and the detour took one on a narrow, well traffic'd road. No way I was running on a main street between towns, they do drive a little bit quickly on narrow main roads in Germany, although nothing like the Autobahn.
Friday morning: 6mi, 57:00, 130HR, 9:30/mi pace Moved to Mannheim for the night near the Watertower, ran through a park, did one loop of a track to check my pace, circled the outside of a very large zoo, ran back to town along the River Neckar, criss crossed the river once and back to the hotel. Saw my fair share of other runners. Picked up a nice brochure for the Mannheim marathon, which has a 6:15 pm start time in the evening!
Friday night: 4.6mi, 45:00, 132HR, 9:45/mi pace Doubled up on Friday! Moved to a hotel convenient to Frankfurt airport. They had a brochure showing a 60min jogging path along a tributory of the Rhein, that is all the push I needed. They did not have the distance, but my estimate is 4.6mi. Several runners and walkers on the path, which also passed a nudist park. I could not verify if it was as advertised since the hedges and fencing around it defeated any possibility of peeking. I think I will stick to (clothed) running as a hobby rather than nudism as I do not understand the attraction. Besides, my pale Celtic skin was not designed for the sun to see.
Saturday: 5.2mi, 48:45, 139HR, 9:22/mi pace, fartlek One more run on the recommended path, but spiced it up via a forest detour and various paces. Off to the airport for the long trip home.

Got back home at 9:30 pm, very tempted to run the Seabrook trails this morning, but decided to savor my German running for another day.

Sorry Barbara, no chocolates came home with me, but I did bring a lot of gummi bears. Claudia is upset that you have not called her Jamoosh. Hope Maribelle's went smoothly Veronica, looks like a good turnout from the results.

Keep the faith all, cool weather running will be oh so sweet in the not too distant future.