Dresden

After the marathon, I took a bus the 2.5 hours to Dresden, a city close to Berlin in East Germany. I planned to head to Munich, but I figured I could check out another city before drinking all those liters of beers.

I was staying in "neustadt", the New Town, for a couple of nights. I spent the evening walking around and grabbed a beer at a local biergarten. The weather was pretty nice, so I spent an hour outside working on my journal. After some dinner, I headed back to the hostel and got a German lesson from a local. I downloaded German on Duolingo and have been trying to improve my German each day. Please note that it's pretty nonexistent. I know danke and gesundheit.  Anytime I try to say something, I get a response in English. It's either my accent or my pronunciation that is giving me away. I'd like to at least try a bit while I'm in Germany though. Even if I'm completely butchering the language.

Neustadt.

Kuntshofpassage.

Bier at the biergarten.

Dresden was completely destroyed during WWII. Since then, the city has been rebuilt, including most of the historical buildings. The following morning, I headed out to explore the "altstadt", the Old Town. Most of the buildings in this part of town have been restored to what they were like before WWII. I'm no expert, but they do look old. So I guess they did a good job. It's nice that they attempted to restore them instead of completely doing away with them.

Beautiful buildings of Dresden.

Frauenkirche.

Zwinger.

Love these bridges.

I did have to do a little bit of shopping in a very nice mall in the middle of the Old Town. Clearly that wasn't there before WWII. One of my USB cords completely melted a few weeks ago. I have no idea what happened, but threw it away immediately. On my search for said USB cord, I may have bought a new purse. Of course. I do have to say, it's come in handy. And it was on sale. If I'm not buying food or spending my money on travel costs, I need to justify every purchase. And ensure it's worth it to carry around for the next couple of months. I have to say, it's been worth it.

After getting my fill of the Old Town, I headed back to the new town and found a Craft Beer store where I sat outside and people watched for a bit. I noticed that Dresden is full of young families. I saw so many children running around and being pushed in their strollers. Also, I love that men help carry their children if they are young. Back home, it's mostly women that carry around babies.

I finished off my evening in the hostel listening to a Canadian woman play her viola. She has been traveling a bit and hasn't played as much as she would like. We were her first audience in several months. I got to catch up on a few things and enjoy some live music while I was at it.

My visit was quick but I was looking forward to my next stop. I got on an early morning train to Munich in order to start Oktoberfest celebrations.

Berlin

And just like that, the Berlin Marathon is over.

After our visit to Amsterdam, Lindy and I took a train to Berlin. The train was pretty uneventful, except for the fact we played musical chairs for a good part of our trip since we didn't have seat reservations. Once we figured out the method to the madness, it was a little too late. Now we know.

We arrived at the shiny Central Station and headed out to Charlottenburg, where our Airbnb was. The couple showed us around their nice top floor apartment. Fortunately it wasn't a walk-up. Going down all those stairs after the marathon would not have been pleasant.

Once we finished settling in, we headed to the expo. I knew the expo had to be pretty decent since Berlin is one of the Majors, but it's Europe so I wasn't entirely positive it would be smooth. But then again, we are in Germany. We got our bibs and bags in no time. Yay for German efficiency. We wandered around the expo to do a little bit of shopping. Lindy was in the market for a watch, and I was looking for my marathon souvenir. Which is usually a running jacket or sweater. We were successful and found both.

My next major marathon.

We will Berlin.

We wanted to start to rest up, so we got some pasta and called it an early night. The following day would bring Lindy's friend Kaj from NYC, and his friend Philip from Munich. Then it would be time to focus and get into marathon mode.

     
The next day, Kaj and Philip both arrived, and since they needed to go to the expo, Lindy and I did a little bit of sightseeing. The good thing about this being my 3rd visit to Berlin, is that I didn't feel the need to see everything. We stuck close to the Reichstag, and walked around a bit in that neighborhood. We saw the Brandenburg Tor, which we would run through the following day, the Holocaust Memorial, and some of the Berlin wall. After a couple of hours, we wanted to sit down desperately. We headed back to Charlottenburg to rest up and carb up.

Brandenburg Tor.

Holocaust Memorial.

Berlin wall.

Leading up to the Berlin, as usual, I stalked the weather forecast. Since I packed over a week before the race, I prepared for a colder morning. But as the race approached, the weather turned warmer. I had in my calendar that it was an 8am start. It was actually a 9:15 start. That meant I wouldn't be finishing until around 1pm. No good if it was going to be warm. The latest forecast said 50s at the start, and high 60s/low 70s at the finish. Not ideal. Hopefully my summer training hasn't gone away and it will all work out.

Since it was a late race start, we all got a good night's sleep. I woke up, ate some food, and got dressed. We headed to the S-bahn and 15 minutes later, we were walking to the start village with about 40,000 other runners. Lindy and I were in the same start corral, while Kaj was one ahead of us, and Philip was behind us. We found Kaj's bag drop, and then Philip's. But couldn't find ours. We said good luck to Phillip and parted ways. We wandered around until we finally found our tent to drop off our bags. A little later than I would have liked. The map wasn't super clear on where we needed to go. Once that was done, it was time for the porta potty. At this point Kaj left us. Of course the line was too long. So we risked it and continued on our way in hopes to find another. And we did. We finally stopped right before we entered our race corral. And boy was that the most inconvenient spot to put a porta potty. We had to maintain some sort of order in line, but also let the racers through since that was the only path to the start. I was trying to hold my anxiety in. This would be my first suggestion to the race organizer.  We finally took care of our business and made our way to the start. 

Pre-race.

Then we were running. We had to wait for a few minutes to get into our corral, but soon we were off. I spotted my second NBR runner, and worked to get into my pace mode. As with my last marathon, I needed to figure out my kilometer pace. I haven't decided whether I Iike races in miles or kilometers. In a marathon, kilometers do go by so fast, but there's 42 of them, instead of 26. Since I'm in Europe, I'm happy to run in kilometers for now.

So what was my goal pace? Based on my race history, a 3:15 marathon isn't out of the realm of possibility. Based on the last few months, 3:16 is probably more realistic. But you know, this is a marathon. Anything could happen. If I get a PR (breaking 3:19:55) I'll be very happy. If I get close to 3:15, I would be thrilled. So my plan was to aim for 3:20 for the first half, which would be a little conservative, but oh well. I have to start somewhere. I would then see what I could do for the 2nd half. This would mean starting with 4:45 kilometers (7:38 miles) and then speeding it up.

I had Lindy in sight for the first 5k, but then lost her at the first water stop. I assumed she was behind me since her goal was slightly behind mine. I just went on and ticked off the kilometers. Some were on target, some were not. Either they were a little fast or a little slow. The race was fairly crowded, so I put partial blame on that. I couldn't really get into a groove before I ran into someone again and had to pass them. I was hoping it would lighten up earlier in the race, but it didn't. It was consistently crowded the entire time. Eventually though, I think I was in a good place and wasn't encountering as many people. I feel good when I pass people, but I know I'm adding up my mileage, a tiny bit at a time. Adjusting the starting corrals would be my second suggestion. 

At the half marathon point, my time was 1:39:58. Right on 3:20 pace. But it was time to speed it up. I carried on, and at one point, Kaj found me. We did a quick check and separated. I was feeling pretty strong and wanted to see how long I could keep my pace up for. I was still hoping for a time close to 3:16, even though it would be challenging.

Somewhere in the 2nd half of the race, I picked up a running buddy. I found out later he's French, but we didn't talk at all while we were running. I didn't want to chat anyway. Fortunately he wasn't one of those annoying guy runners who can't stand having a girl pass him and then try to stay with me when he clearly can't. One of the things I noticed about this race in particular is the number of men running. Since it's European, I assume not as many women run like back home. And since I'm fast, I was hanging out with all the guys. I was happy when I spotted a fellow female though. I cheered for her on in my head. 

Back to the French guy. Like I said, fortunately he wasn't annoying. He actually helped me out at one point with water. We pretty much just ran side by side for most of the remainder of the race. He wasn't there the entire time, but when he wasn't, he'd reappear shortly thereafter. Soon I only had a few kilometers left. At this point, I was fully aware that I was running a marathon and was ready to wrap it up. My pace was slowing a bit, even though I tried to maintain my goal pace. At about the 40k mark, I couldn't go any faster. The French guy waved me on to encourage me to stay with him. But I couldn't. I figured at that point, if I can get a 5 minute pace for those last 2 kilometers, I would still PR. So I just needed to maintain. And keep counting to 100 in my head. 

Finally the Brandenburg Tor was in sight. I knew the finish was right on the other side. Although I do think the finish should be right at the gate. But that's another discussion. I finally crossed the finish in a time of 3:18:47. Not the 3:16 I was hoping for. But hey, over a minute off my PR. My tired legs and I will take it. 

I got some water, collected my stuff, grabbed a nonalcoholic beer, and headed to the Reichstag to wait for my friends. Fortunately it was nice weather, so I didn't mind stretching in the sun. And I'm glad the heat didn't bother me during the race. It took a while and some miscommunication but Lindy, Kaj, Philip, and I were reunited as finishers. We had some PRs and a first timer thrown in for good measure.

#11 finish.

Finishers.

We went to find alcoholic beer and rest our legs. 

Post-race beer.

Then we showered, and replenished our lost calories with German meat and beer.

Prost!

The following day, Lindy, Kaj, and I limped around around and did a little sightseeing. This involved more beer of course. We did a nice tasting at Brauhaus Lemke. And then took a nice walk around the Charlottenburg Schloss grounds. 

More bier.

I'm so glad I decided to go to Berlin. It was a nice relaxing weekend with a marathon thrown in for fun. I made some new friends, and got a PR in the process. Maybe we will run London or Tokyo together. I'm very pleased with my performance and was glad there was no rain. I think I still have room for improvement but I will hold off on that until the next marathon. Which could be Boston 2018. We shall see. 

Amsterdam

After I got back from my Trip Around the World, I spend the summer at home in Upstate New York, and on Nantucket. I hung out with family, caught up on life, and ran. And just like that. It was over. And I was off on my next trip. This time to Europe.

My first stop was Amsterdam. My friend Lindy and I made plans to visit the city before heading to Berlin to run the marathon. After only a couple of hours of sleep after my sister's wedding the night before, and one last run over the Brooklyn Bridge, I met up with Lindy to head to JFK. Of course our Uber wasn't as quick as we'd like. I'm used to public transport, and tried to not get anxious with the amount of traffic we were encountering. Fortunately once we arrived at JFK, checking our bags and going through security was seamless and didn't take much time. A rare occurrence at JFK for sure.

Last day in the USA for a couple of months.

Once we boarded, my plan was to watch one movie (Allegiant) and sleep as much as possible. Which wasn't much. Leaving at 5:30pm from NYC doesn't bode well for sleeping a lot on the plane. I got about 1.5 hours according to my FitBit. It was something I guess. We arrived in Dublin, had a bit of a layover, and I took another nap on the flight to Amsterdam.

Dublin airport shenanigans.

I visited Amsterdam 5 years ago, and it was nice to see it again. It was Lindy's first time, and we got to visit with my friend Raz, who I met last year in Thailand. He was a great host and showed us around the city when he wasn't in class. Our first day was a little low-key as we were crazy jet-lagged. We grabbed food, walked around the beautiful canals, and drank some beers on a boat. A great first day in Europe.          

Our sunglasses hiding our tired eyes.

                                                                                                     

Visiting Raz!

Canals galore.

And then it was time to sleep. And sleep we did. Over 13.5 hours. I haven't slept that much in a very long time. If at all. We woke up refreshed, and it was like were new people. The first thing we did was go for a run in Vondelparc. It was nice to see the park, even if it wasn't for very long. I was reminiscing when I ran through it at the end of the Amsterdam Marathon 5 years prior. 

Post-run pancakes. 

We spent the next couple of days exploring the city. We looked for secret courtyards "hofjes", went to the Anne Frank House, walked along more canals, and went to a museum. Lindy went off to the Van Gogh Museum (I had already gone), and I went to the Moco Museum to check out Banksy and Warhol.

Bicycle scene.

Warhol and Banksy.

And of course we got our obligatory 'I am amsterdam' photo.

Proof we were in Amsterdam.

Another fantastic visit to a lovely city. I can't wait to return. 

Philadelphia

I made it to the city of Brotherly Love. Philadelphia was my final stop before officially concluding my trip in New York City. Why Philly? To visit friends, and of course do one of the things that I love, run. The Broad Street 10-miler has been on my bucket list and since I got into the lottery, I figured why not. 

I was staying with my friends Cori and Jeff, who were also running the race. After a pick-up from the airport and settling in for a few minutes, Jeff and I headed over the bridge to New Jersey to go to Wegmans. My first excursion back in the Northeast. It was amazing. Yes, this upstate girl loves her Wegmans. I really had to try not to buy too many items. Philly may have been my last stop for this part of the trip, but it would still be weeks until I settled in at home. I didn't need to be carrying any more things than I already was. 

Wegmans.

Since I arrived the day before the race, we headed out to a local Italian place to carb up for dinner. And drink some wine. I had trained for this race, but I wasn't going to be doing my best out there. I figured a little bit of wine wouldn't hurt. Maybe it would even help. 

Pre-race meal.

We didn't stay out too long but eventually headed back to rest up. 

Rochester reunion with Cori.

In the hours leading up to the race, we were keeping our eye on the weather. Unfortunately the forecast didn't change by the following morning. No May-like weather was happening on the 1st. It was April showers all the way. 

Staying dry.

We headed to the race start and tried to stay as dry as possible. We crammed onto the SEPTA and arrived to long baggage lines. There has to be a better way to organize the baggage for this massive race. I waited in line for way too long. I then got in another long line for the porta potty. What a difference from the last race I ran. I was running out of time, so I left the line to find a shorter one. Fortunately I did, and was in my corral before the official race start. 

The race started, and I made my way down Broad Street. The course was really flat, one of the reasons it's a popular race. I had my "not the best you are capable, but a good effort" plan, which fortunately included a PR. I started out with 7:30s, and just tried to maintain that and get a little faster in the 2nd half. The cold definitely caught up to me. I wasn't wearing proper clothes and I was reminded of last year's Boston Marathon. Add this to the race to come back and get weather redemption. I finish as strong as I was capable of, which was faster than the first half, and finished with a PR of 1:14:12. I know I can get a faster 10-miler in, but considering my training and the weather, I took it. It was now time to stop shivering, take a hot shower, and get brunch. 

Finish line shivers.

Once Cori and Jeff finished, we headed to their friends to relax, eat some bagels, and drink some beers. A perfect day to spend a rainy race afternoon. 

Downtown Philly.

The weather hadn't improved much the following day, but at least it wasn't raining. I got a few recovery miles in along the Schuylkill with some good views. However, it wasn't as uneventful as I would have thought. About halfway on my run, a guy got in a bike accident. I didn't see what happened, but heard it. I turned around and ended up calling 911. Bleeding from the head area wasn't a good sign. That was definitely a first for me. A few other pedestrians stopped as well, and we waited together for the paramedics to come along. I think he was fine. Or at least I hope so. It really reinforced that you need to pay more attention. Everyone needs to be aware of their surroundings. I'm generally pretty good, but it can't hurt to be a little extra aware. 

Recovery run.

Later in the afternoon, I walked around Philly a bit.

Row houses.

And enjoyed some of the spring weather. The sun even came out later in the day. 

Rittenhouse Square.

Later on I met up with some more friends, Eric and Sara, for drinks and dinner. Unusually for us, we had a low key evening. Good thing since I was pretty tired. Even though we just had a few hours to hang out, it was good to see them and catch up. 

More friends.

Before getting on the bus to NYC the next day, I got in one last run before leaving town. I have run plenty in Philly, but I got to try out some new places on this trip, which is always exciting. I also appreciate the running paths and won't take them for granted, no matter what city I'm in. 

The Schuylkill.

Just like with my previous stops in the USA, Philadelphia just aided in my transition back home. I got to see more friends and be in familiar places. A great way to end my trip. Off  to NYC, where I started my trip. And where I'll finish it. 

Dallas

After a short delay and a 3-hour bus ride, I arrived in Dallas. My trip was coming to a close, with only one more stop after Texas, before concluding my trip in NYC. I decided to tack on Dallas so I could visit my friend Pam. It was also pretty close to Austin. She was going to have to work all week, but we would get to hang out in the evenings. I needed to do a few things, and I'm a pro at entertaining myself. The last time I saw Pam was in Vietnam, so it was great to see her again so quickly. I got to technically see her twice on my trip. Lucky me. 

All I did the first few days, was go to the grocery store, do laundry, catch-up on life, and buy a new Kindle (my 5-year old Kindle broke in Peru). Super exciting. Oh and I ran and went swimming in their pool. 

However a few days earlier, I saw that that Yankees were going to be in town. I didn't need to convince Pam, so a couple of nights after I arrived, we headed to Globe Life Park to cheer on the Bronx Bombers. Unfortunately the cheering did no good and the Yankees lost. At least it wasn't as bad as the night before. And I did get to check off a new ballpark, and drink a beer out of a plastic mason jar. Little wins.

Checking out the Yankees in Dallas. 

Since I had a vehicle to use, I decided to get out the neighborhood and a run in around Grapevine Lake. The trail was amazing to run on and I actually kind of wished I had a long run planned so I could have kept going. Unfortunately throughout my run, I could see the aftermath of last year's flooding. It's hard to believe that almost a year later, the water still hasn't returned to it's normal levels.

Flooded Grapevine Lake.

After my run, I met Pam for a lunchtime barre class. It was my first ever barre class and of course it took me a little while to get the hang of it. I was trying too hard to not be out of sync with everyone else as we were doing the various exercises. I finally just had to let it go and not worry about it. I tried to just focus on the actual exercises. It was a good workout and I was a little sore the following days. After my run and the barre class, some time by the pool was needed.

Beer by the pool.

On my last full day in Dallas, I spent the afternoon in downtown. I had been down there before on a previous trip, but I was able to take a bit more time to explore. I started off with some BBQ since I was headed to the Northeast, and it was my last chance for proper Texan BBQ. There was a pretty long line, but worth the wait. 

Sammie's BBQ.

After getting my fill, I headed over to the Nasher Sculpture Garden. Since one of the exhibits was closed, I got a discount on the entrance fee, but I still got to see a fair amount of sculptures. I wandered around the garden and the two rooms open for viewing. There were some cool pieces throughout.

Nasher Sculpture Garden.

I walked over to Klyde Warren Park. The weather was a bit iffy, but people were out and about enjoying it. I also loved the library of books they had out. I love seeing books in public places for people to enjoy. I never leave home without a book, but it always fun to see what books they have. 

Dallas.

Next up was Dealey Plaza to see the JFK assassination site and memorial. I had also see these before, but from the car. I got to take my time and walk around the area. 

Kennedy Dealey Plaza Memorial.

Once I was done exploring, and before the rain hit, I headed back to Pam's for some Mexican for my last night. And some tasty sangritas.

Mexican food with Pam.

I had a great week hanging with Pam and relaxing. Seeing friends was making the transition back home much easier. 

Next stop: Philadelphia for the Broad Street 10-miler.

Luling

I was headed home. Well not home home. But back to the USA. I boarded my flight in Quito after taking a little bit of a roundabout way, but in the process getting a cab with a girl who was studying abroad. She was very outgoing, and it was great to hear about her experiences. The flight was pretty uneventful. However, even with extra legroom (it was JetBlue), some dude obviously couldn't help himself and man-spread. Fortunately, he got the hint and moved out of my space shortly after take-off. I wasn't about to deal with that for 4 hours. Before I knew it it was morning, and I was in Ft. Lauderdale.

Since my layover was over 10 hours, I got a shuttle ride to the beach. I paid for a gym day pass, and went out for a run. Fortunately it wasn't too hot. I was definitely more acclimated to Florida weather this time than all previous trips to the Sunshine State. I got a few easy miles in, got breakfast, and headed to the beach.

Layover in Ft. Lauderdale.

After swimming for a bit and getting some sun, it was time to head back to the airport. A beer and chat with my bar neighbor later, I boarded my flight to Austin. Of course it was delayed (shocking), but eventually I made it. And went immediately to the bar to meet my friends for some pre-wedding celebrations.

Made it to Texas.

I showed up with my backpack, and may have drawn some stares from the other patrons, found my friends, and got a beer. After some catching up, and maybe a shot or two, a few of us headed out. It was a fun bar and I would love to go back.  But we were all a bit tired from traveling, and definitely hungry.

The next morning, I got my long run in along the highway. Let's say running along the highway wasn't my preference. Is it anyone's? But since our hotel was in the middle of nowhere, I was stuck. Eventually I made it to a park where I was able to get some quiet miles in, before turning around. Good times. 

Running in Texas.

My post-run long run activity usually includes beer, and fortunately my friends were on the same page. They may not have run, but beer is usually on the agenda. We headed to Shiner. We had all been to the brewery before, but that didn't mean we couldn't go back. Unfortunately, like my visit in 2012, there were no tours. I'll have to come back again someday for a tour. 

Shiner Brewery.

After a variety of tastings, we headed to a nearby gas station to eat our lunch and grab some more beer. Yes, the gas station had beer on draft. And picnic tables out back to to enjoy them. Only in Texas.

Picnic.

We then headed off to meet Sara and Marie for some wedding festivities at the Zedler Mill. The brides invited all their guests to hang out for a BBQ the day before the wedding. The weather was lovely and the beer was plentiful. So we planted ourselves there for the rest of the day. 

Somehow we managed to coordinate colors.

The following morning, we walked, yes walked, along the highway to the nearby Buc-ee's, a gas station and convenience store on steroids. I literally left with a damn good BBQ sandwich, candy, a beer coozie, wedding card, and some postcards. And that was just me. Anything that you may have wanted in Texas, you could have found at Buc-ee's. 

It was time to make a move and get ready for the wedding. Just like my friend's wedding in Denver back in February, I didn't pack a dress or heels in my backpack. But luckily my friend Jess packed some dress and shoe options, and I had a suitable outfit to wear. 

The brides.

The wedding was beautiful. The brides were stunning. We had such a fantastic night of dancing and celebrating. There may have been an after-party with leftover champagne at the hotel. 

Wedding fun.

The following morning was a little rough, but I took that as a good sign of the previous night. Before heading out of town, we headed into Austin for the day. We started off with some tacos, and ended it with some drinks, with some walking around thrown in for fun.

Hanging out in Austin.

One by one, my friends all departed for their respective flights. We made some tentative summer plans and said goodbye. It was such a short visit, but so glad I made the trip.

It was time to head to Dallas and visit another friend.