Law of Inertia

Today we fly back to NY. It’s about 5:30am local time at the moment and we’ll start heading out at 9am. There is no chance I can get a run in before that. It’s not just that all my stuff is packed away, but mostly because theres a ton of snow, ice, and slush on the ground since 2 nights ago. That’s never stopped me before, but with the timing of everything else, I decided it’s wiser to skip it. To make matters worse, I wasn’t able to get out yesterday either for the same reasons; mainly the timing of our last day didn’t allow me a chance to get away.

There’s been snow on the ground since the day after I took my pictures at Grafenberger Wald. I ran in it doing a sort of fartlek, mixing in a hard tempo pace, with some hill work, and some easy paces in between. 3.1 miles @ 7:09mm, 2.2 miles of hills, .7 miles @ 6:41mm, .7 miles easy, .74 miles @ 6:33mm, 1 mile easy, .64 miles @ 6:37mm.

It’s unfortunate that wasn’t the day I decided to bring my camera. The snow has a way of sticking to the trees here. You can see from the picture on the right, which is the backyard of the place we’ve been staying, how nice the Wald looked like.

During my stay, I was here for a total of 10 days including the day of arrival and departure. Out of 10 days I was able to run only 6 for a total of 64 miles.

12-26-09	12-27-09	12-29-09	12-31-09	01-01-10	01-02-10
7 mi	7.7 mi	20 mi	8.1 mi	12.2 mi	9 mi

I would have liked to have done more and I regret not running other routes. The Grafenberger Wald reminds me a lot of the Rockefeller Estate, which is a favorite of mine close to home. Basically, it’s all hills and trees and has a very serene atmosphere. Although Grafenberger is not nearly as big, there’s a certain mystique about the place and you feel as if you can go even deeper in the woods. Remarkably, there’s so much you can find in there in the way of workmanship, like this, and this, thats very secluded from the outside.

However, there are also so many other pedestrian friendly areas in Germany that really allow for some good distance to run. You can find alleys that run for miles in between the backyards of houses.

Everywhere in Germany there is a street, there is also a sidewalk or some path for a pedestrian, and another separate path for a bicyclist. In fact, there are more convenient routes to get somewhere as a pedestrian than as a motorist.

The Germans also make a lot of use of these areas. On any given weekend, you always see quite a lot of them just walking for the purpose of walking.

The one thing I am happy to be leaving, however, is the cigarette smoke. It’s practically everywhere, although there have been some improvements. When I lived here over 10 years ago, I was also a smoker. I thought it was great to have the freedom to smoke wherever I wanted. Although the belief was the best cigarettes came from America, my favorite was a pack of Prince Denmarks which were stronger than the Camel Filtered I would normally smoke at home. I wound up graduating from a pack a day smoker to about two packs a day by the time I moved back home. I knew it was time to quit by then. Quitting was one of the hardest things I’ve done, but I haven’t gone back since. These were also the seeds which eventually made me a runner since I found hard aerobic exercise the best way to kill the cravings.

As a result, I’m very intolerant of second hand smoke. I cant stand the smell and how it lingers in my clothes, or the fact that my alveoli are being damaged by someone’s inconsideration when it comes to their smoking. Therefore, the cigarettes have been the biggest nuisance whenever we’ve gone back to Germany to visit. Restaurants don’t even have non-smoking sections for example. Or, on the rare occasion when they claim to, it consists of 3 or 4 tables without the ashtrays surrounded by tables that contain smokers.

It seems all of Europe has started banning smoking about two years ago. Germany recently, and surprisingly, also passed similar laws. When I heard of this I was surprised and actually looking forward to visiting again and being able to go the bars.

Since then, the law abiding Germans who honk at me for running in the street which is verboten, have either ignored the law by blatantly smoking wherever they wanted, or have figured out ways around the law. Almost all restaurants and bars have repurposed themselves as “Smoker Clubs”. They still serve food and drinks, but they prominently display a sign stating that the establishment is for the members of their private smoking club, which anyone from the public may join by entering and signing their charter. (I was never asked to sign anything however).

For a very practical country and people, the Germans just don’t seem get it when it comes to cigarette smoke.