Pre-blog runs in Bucharest

----2nd Run, 1-16-2006

Yesterday, I was able to get out of work on time and get out for a run from my "new temporary" apartment. It was only 23 degrees, not an ideal day, but I just can't count on free time during daylight hours right now - so I headed out (wearing my new tights and 2 layers up top, compression long sleeve and wind jacket, doubled up on gloves, ear muffs). The good thing was the lack of wind, so I shed my top layer of gloves and unzipped the wind jacket partially within 10 minutes.

Not knowing the side streets yet, I headed down a fairly busy road on the sidewalk in the general direction of Parcul National (National Park). I got a lot of curious looks and a few old people said some words as I passed. I'm think it was the Romanian equivalent of "What the heck are you doing?", but I'm not sure. I'm not sure if I scared the girls more than the guys (its a very conservative culture - so I'm sure my tights made an impression).

The Garmin picked up the satellites within about 2 minutes, which I thought was good since I started out in an area with lots of blocs (apartment buildings).

Although I had to slow considerably when crossing the streets, I made pretty close to a 9:00 min pace towards the park. I'm learning that you actually CAN run on ice, if you go slow and careful. At around 15 min, I made it to the national park. The paths were pretty good and mostly ice-free. There is a small lake and I headed around it. Unfortunately the path doesn't go flat completely around the lake, so I had to do some stairs and some trail before I figured out how to get around it. There were a few dogs there. Only a couple actually barked and tried to follow me, but they did not come too close.

The end of the run was really cool. I'm starting to get some directional sense here, and I was able to take side streets on the way back which really cut the number of cars down to what you would typically find in any city. I still do not trust any intersection though so I'm going to have to keep the pace slow for now.

My long-term aparment is near the larger Parcul Titan, and that will hopefully allow me more room that is car-free to start some up-tempo runs.

The Garmin works great, and performed nearly perfect except for the instantaneous pace (It varies due to the occasional, but only momentary, loss of signal, and is not a necessary function anyway.

Well, that's all for now. Hope all is well.

Steve
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---1st Run in Bucharest 1-12-2006-

Hey all,

After another death-defying drive home, my nerves were completely shot, I decided it had to be done. It was dark, below freezing, the dogs were out, I was (and still am hungry) but I didn't care!

I made 2 pieces of toast, 2 cups of coffee, and prepared to get out there!

I put on my stuff, headed outside and sat in the car while the Garmin reset itself for Romania (you must do this after moving more than 500 miles). Despite the buildings, it did find satellites, so that was good.

I headed out in the direction of a smaller park, but I must have took a wrong turn and I couldn't find it. I then headed in what I thought was the general direction of a bigger park. I did find that one, but I decided not to cross a very busy road and headed up a decent sidewalk on the other side of the street before doubling back.

The Garmin is awesome. I just went out there and adjusted my route any time I wanted to avoid cars, ice, potholes big enough to hide my rental car and whenever I heard barking dogs.

Anyway, thought I'd share my experience. I miss you guys, sniffle-sniffle.

Steve
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