Well, we've come to the end of a long hiatus. When last I posted an entry, we were about to depart for Switzerland to visit Cristina (my wife's longtime friend) and her family. It was the middle of the summer of 2011. I was running well from April to July, logging in some of my best times in many years. But my routine was upended some when we left for Europe. It wasn't put to a stop, only altered somewhat. The following is a rundown of those couple of months as the summer wound down:
When I went to Switzerland with my wife and her parents, it was with the expectation that I'd continue my running even in Europe. Cristina had recently begun running herself and she had told me there were some great running spots near her house. I was extremely excited to run in a foreign place; the thought of it was exhilarating! After a few days in Switzerland (in the town of Olten), Cristina invited me along for a morning run. Unlike my runs back home, I didn't time this one. I didn't care to. I simply wanted to take in the scenery and enjoy the freedom of running without the added pressure of having to hit a certain time. So off we went. From Cristina's house we ventured away from the town and into an untouched tract of forest. And the forests of Switzerland are as beautiful as any in the world! The trees were tall and numerous. The flora was dense all around us. At times the trees and bushes covered our heads, forming a natural tunnel through the woods. I was in awe as I ran. Cristina led the way up and down a meandering dirt path, at times wide as a road, at times narrow as a small animal trail. At certain moments the trees would open up and we'd catch a view of the city. It was simply a stupendous run! I hardly got tired I was so distracted by the beauty. Finally the path wound back down toward town and emptied us out onto a neighborhood street. We ran for probably about 45 minutes. When we arrived back at the house I felt invigorated like never before. It was by far one of the best runs I've ever been on (along with the run along Newport Beach in June 2011).
Little did I know, though, that Cristina had another run in mind that would be even better! After a few more days in Switzerland, traveling all over the country and spending time with great friends, the opportunity for our next run came about. Cristina had mentioned a place called the "thousand steps," and said she and her dad would run there a lot. Just the sound of it intrigued me, so they invited me along one afternoon. Cristina's dad, Peter, drove us to a spot near the outskirts of town. The three of us then proceeded to run up a path that steadily climbed up into the dense forest. After a short while we came to the bottom of what was indeed "a thousand steps"! I had imagined more of a large, wide-open stairway. But these steps were very narrow and basically hidden within the thickly forested hills. They were very "organically" constructed as well. In other words, these were not uniform stairs, each of equal size; these steps were made out of the wood that was found everywhere in the forest, somewhat rickety, some high, some low, some wide, some narrow. It made for a rather striking image in the forest! Originally I had wanted to run up the whole thing, but Cristina and Peter warned me against that, and indeed I hadn't really realized just how many one thousand steps really is! So once we reached step 1, I decided instead to walk them briskly. After the first 100 I knew exactly why they had told me not to run! These were steep steps, and even walking quickly I was tiring fast. Every 100 stairs there was a marker so you always knew about how long you had left. Determined to get a good workout in, though, I plowed ahead, with Cristina and Peter behind. It seemed to last forever. 500 steps. 600 steps. 800 steps. And on and on. It even started to rain! (Which added to the experience). We finally neared the top, took a few pictures, and then took a breather. Once at the top the rain really started coming down. But now that we were high up on a hill, the only way was down, however (thankfully) not by the stairs. There was a winding path that switch-backed down the mountain. So with the rain flying in our faces, we raced down the hill! It was a free and wild experience, running through foreign and exotic forests, the ancient forests of Europe, the forests that the first peoples explored, the same forests that the Roman legions patrolled, the same forests that the Medieval knights traveled through! We stopped only once so Peter could show me a viewpoint. It gave an incredible vista of Switzerland's broad slopes and valleys on the north side of the Alps. We continued on till we reconnected with the steps. From that point we had to go back down the steps, about 300 of them. That was a precarious task, as it was slick from all the rain. But we all made it and continued to run all the way to the car, soaked to the bone but all smiles!
Cristina brought me along on one other run later during our visit, back to the same route as our first run. It was again an incredible experience. I also had the awesome opportunity to go with Cristina and Peter on an epic bike ride along the Aare River. We rode from her house up one bank of the river far north of town, crossed a bridge and rode down the opposite bank. It was a truly amazing ride and just as great an experience as the runs. All in all, the runs and the bike ride in Switzerland were memorable experiences that I will always treasure. It was immensely gratifying to run in a setting worlds apart from what I usually run back home in the deserts of California. To run free in another country. To experience the wilderness in all its glory. I can only hope I'll have a chance to return someday and run those trails again!
As much as I didn't want to leave Switzerland, eventually we had to. When we returned to California I was worried I wouldn't be as motivated to run after having run in such amazing locales. I was afraid of the monotony and routine of home. But at first everything was okay. In fact, those free-spirited, un-timed runs in Switzerland inspired me to do the same at home. So I ditched the stopwatch and simply ran at a comfortable pace around our neighborhood. Throughout most of August I kept running. I never timed my runs, I simply enjoyed them. I ran all the same routes I was running in July when we first moved to our new house. But unfortunately, once work started back up, the autumn curse struck and my runs began to peter out. Soon I lost all motivation to record my runs or ever time them again. Cross-country season was busy as ever, and work got real stressful once the second semester rolled around in January 2012. It wasn't until a new spring arrived, in April 2012, that I began feeling the urge again. It was this time last year that the same feeling came over me and I got back to my routine. I now look for the same to happen this year, hopefully with better times and greater miles. I'm back, and I can't wait to sweat again!
Well, we've come to the end of a long hiatus. When last I posted an entry, we were about to depart for Switzerland to visit Cristina (my wife's longtime friend) and her family. It was the middle of the summer of 2011. I was running well from April to July, logging in some of my best times in many years. But my routine was upended some when we left for Europe. It wasn't put to a stop, only altered somewhat. The following is a rundown of those couple of months as the summer wound down:
When I went to Switzerland with my wife and her parents, it was with the expectation that I'd continue my running even in Europe. Cristina had recently begun running herself and she had told me there were some great running spots near her house. I was extremely excited to run in a foreign place; the thought of it was exhilarating! After a few days in Switzerland (in the town of Olten), Cristina invited me along for a morning run. Unlike my runs back home, I didn't time this one. I didn't care to. I simply wanted to take in the scenery and enjoy the freedom of running without the added pressure of having to hit a certain time. So off we went. From Cristina's house we ventured away from the town and into an untouched tract of forest. And the forests of Switzerland are as beautiful as any in the world! The trees were tall and numerous. The flora was dense all around us. At times the trees and bushes covered our heads, forming a natural tunnel through the woods. I was in awe as I ran. Cristina led the way up and down a meandering dirt path, at times wide as a road, at times narrow as a small animal trail. At certain moments the trees would open up and we'd catch a view of the city. It was simply a stupendous run! I hardly got tired I was so distracted by the beauty. Finally the path wound back down toward town and emptied us out onto a neighborhood street. We ran for probably about 45 minutes. When we arrived back at the house I felt invigorated like never before. It was by far one of the best runs I've ever been on (along with the run along Newport Beach in June 2011).
Little did I know, though, that Cristina had another run in mind that would be even better! After a few more days in Switzerland, traveling all over the country and spending time with great friends, the opportunity for our next run came about. Cristina had mentioned a place called the "thousand steps," and said she and her dad would run there a lot. Just the sound of it intrigued me, so they invited me along one afternoon. Cristina's dad, Peter, drove us to a spot near the outskirts of town. The three of us then proceeded to run up a path that steadily climbed up into the dense forest. After a short while we came to the bottom of what was indeed "a thousand steps"! I had imagined more of a large, wide-open stairway. But these steps were very narrow and basically hidden within the thickly forested hills. They were very "organically" constructed as well. In other words, these were not uniform stairs, each of equal size; these steps were made out of the wood that was found everywhere in the forest, somewhat rickety, some high, some low, some wide, some narrow. It made for a rather striking image in the forest! Originally I had wanted to run up the whole thing, but Cristina and Peter warned me against that, and indeed I hadn't really realized just how many one thousand steps really is! So once we reached step 1, I decided instead to walk them briskly. After the first 100 I knew exactly why they had told me not to run! These were steep steps, and even walking quickly I was tiring fast. Every 100 stairs there was a marker so you always knew about how long you had left. Determined to get a good workout in, though, I plowed ahead, with Cristina and Peter behind. It seemed to last forever. 500 steps. 600 steps. 800 steps. And on and on. It even started to rain! (Which added to the experience). We finally neared the top, took a few pictures, and then took a breather. Once at the top the rain really started coming down. But now that we were high up on a hill, the only way was down, however (thankfully) not by the stairs. There was a winding path that switch-backed down the mountain. So with the rain flying in our faces, we raced down the hill! It was a free and wild experience, running through foreign and exotic forests, the ancient forests of Europe, the forests that the first peoples explored, the same forests that the Roman legions patrolled, the same forests that the Medieval knights traveled through! We stopped only once so Peter could show me a viewpoint. It gave an incredible vista of Switzerland's broad slopes and valleys on the north side of the Alps. We continued on till we reconnected with the steps. From that point we had to go back down the steps, about 300 of them. That was a precarious task, as it was slick from all the rain. But we all made it and continued to run all the way to the car, soaked to the bone but all smiles!
Cristina brought me along on one other run later during our visit, back to the same route as our first run. It was again an incredible experience. I also had the awesome opportunity to go with Cristina and Peter on an epic bike ride along the Aare River. We rode from her house up one bank of the river far north of town, crossed a bridge and rode down the opposite bank. It was a truly amazing ride and just as great an experience as the runs. All in all, the runs and the bike ride in Switzerland were memorable experiences that I will always treasure. It was immensely gratifying to run in a setting worlds apart from what I usually run back home in the deserts of California. To run free in another country. To experience the wilderness in all its glory. I can only hope I'll have a chance to return someday and run those trails again!
