The Romanians are very outwardly expressive people, especially the teenagers. Here's a hypothetical example:
Let's pretend you're an American living in Bucharest in mid February. On a rare winter day, the temperature shoots up to 60 F and you decide to go running after work. Let's also assume that you decide to wear shorts, low cut socks, and a sleeveless T-shirt. Hypothetically, you are 1 of only 3 people running in the park this day, and definitely the only one wearing shorts and shortsleeves (In fact, since the Europeans don't wear shorts much, you may be one of only a handful of people in the city of 3 million people wearing them). In short - you stand out, got it?
In most cultures, when people (especially groups of teens and young smokers) see this ridiculous sight of this crazy american yankee running through a park, they will wait until you pass and then laugh at you behind your back. Not in Bucharest. They will stare right at you, smiling, when you approach. They may even point at you. Many will burst out laughing at you. Let's just say I did a little "research" before coming up with this example.
From the Comment line:
NC from Georgia writes:
"You need more pictures on this! words, words, words."
My reply:
How much more of a freak do you want me to look like over here? You mean besides my goofy American running clothes, you want me to tote a camera? I don't recall seeing any pictures from you route in China you little independent baptist punk!
Anonymous from SC writes:
"Very well written dude."
My reply:
Kissing up to the blogger is always in vogue here! Multumesc!
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Goooood Morning Titan!!!
Yes folks, another lame intro - oh well. After nearly a week of freezing temperatures, 4-5" of snow, wind and ice, this morning was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. Last Monday, we got about 4" of snow, and it stayed around most of the week. The highs all week hovered at around 32 F. The snow would start to melt, but then quickly refreeze making the footing too treacherous to risk.
Warming Trend!
On Friday, the weather took a turn for the better, shooting up to nearly 50 with lots of sun. The snow and ice finally melted from the sidewalks making running possible once again. Due to our 11th wedding anniversary celebration (its actually today, but we arranged a sitter and celebrated last night) Friday, I couldn't squeeze in a run. Today (Saturday) we also had some family activities planned including a trip to the mall and dinner with our landlady's family. So, my only chance to run was this morning. Fortunately, the 8:00 am temp was pretty good at 37 F, so I headed out for a 4.5 miler at 8:20.
After a week of cold, I was happy to just be-out-there and get the legs moving. I didn't push the pace, staying in the middle 8's per mile. Due to the melted snow and ice, mud and muck was everywhere, so I stayed on the upper lake path and avoided the 1/4 mile unpaved path along the lower lake. Running on half the lake is fun, especially when you add the stairs in to cross the lake at the junction, and avoid running the whole lake.
The Birds!
The early Saturday morning in Titan Park is a different running experience. The young children and teenage couples (showing much affection usually) were nowhere to be found. They were replaced mainly by a few adults walking their dogs and some park maintenance workers trimming bushes and trees. One thing I also noticed today was the large number of birds in and around Lacul Titan (Titan Lake). Lots of Ducks (mallards and some others I didn't recognize), seagulls and other shore birds, and of course, the crows. Bucharest has some of the biggest crows I've ever seen. They are about the size of medium sized hawks back home. Like something out of a Hitchcock horror film.
Stray away
One great thing about Parcul Titan has been the lack of stray dogs. After the infamous biting incident near my old apartment, this has been a big bonus. I've also noticed that most people who own dogs keep them well trained. Many people were walking dogs (leashed and unleashed) today and I had no trouble. The pooches seemed to be much too happy enjoying a nice morning of free running in the park. I guess after a long week of cramped apartment living, they had much more important things to do than chase a goofy looking American running in the park with shorts.
It turned out to be a good thing getting this run in this morning. We had about 3-4 hours of non-stop eating ahead of us at our landlady's house. Check out our family blog soon for the details on that. Later!
Warming Trend!
On Friday, the weather took a turn for the better, shooting up to nearly 50 with lots of sun. The snow and ice finally melted from the sidewalks making running possible once again. Due to our 11th wedding anniversary celebration (its actually today, but we arranged a sitter and celebrated last night) Friday, I couldn't squeeze in a run. Today (Saturday) we also had some family activities planned including a trip to the mall and dinner with our landlady's family. So, my only chance to run was this morning. Fortunately, the 8:00 am temp was pretty good at 37 F, so I headed out for a 4.5 miler at 8:20.
After a week of cold, I was happy to just be-out-there and get the legs moving. I didn't push the pace, staying in the middle 8's per mile. Due to the melted snow and ice, mud and muck was everywhere, so I stayed on the upper lake path and avoided the 1/4 mile unpaved path along the lower lake. Running on half the lake is fun, especially when you add the stairs in to cross the lake at the junction, and avoid running the whole lake.
The Birds!
The early Saturday morning in Titan Park is a different running experience. The young children and teenage couples (showing much affection usually) were nowhere to be found. They were replaced mainly by a few adults walking their dogs and some park maintenance workers trimming bushes and trees. One thing I also noticed today was the large number of birds in and around Lacul Titan (Titan Lake). Lots of Ducks (mallards and some others I didn't recognize), seagulls and other shore birds, and of course, the crows. Bucharest has some of the biggest crows I've ever seen. They are about the size of medium sized hawks back home. Like something out of a Hitchcock horror film.
Stray away
One great thing about Parcul Titan has been the lack of stray dogs. After the infamous biting incident near my old apartment, this has been a big bonus. I've also noticed that most people who own dogs keep them well trained. Many people were walking dogs (leashed and unleashed) today and I had no trouble. The pooches seemed to be much too happy enjoying a nice morning of free running in the park. I guess after a long week of cramped apartment living, they had much more important things to do than chase a goofy looking American running in the park with shorts.
It turned out to be a good thing getting this run in this morning. We had about 3-4 hours of non-stop eating ahead of us at our landlady's house. Check out our family blog soon for the details on that. Later!
Saturday, February 11, 2006
ICE ICE BABY TO GO...TO GO
Oh brother, now I'm quoting Vanilla Ice. I am one sick puppy (no Bucharest dog pun intended). How did this happen to me? I think it's because I heard Vanilla Ice on the way to work before Thursday's (2/9) run. The radio stations here play a lot of American 80's music, which takes me back to my teenage years. I also heard "Tainted Love" the same day. My 80's savvy audience should know who sang that - your trivia answer is at the end of this post.
ICE IS NICE!...NNNNICE! (an 80's movie quote)
Well, most of this week was cold, barely getting above freezing for my 2/9 run. I had to do it though, with the long awaited reunion with my family coming on Friday 2/10. It was only a month, but it stunk. I really feel for military families that have to go much longer.
Lacul Titan was nearly ice covered and many more kids were out there Thursday. A couple of more organized Romanian kids were busy smoothing a large rectangle for an upcoming game of pick-up hockey. As dangerous as this looks with portions of the lake still un-frozen, I found out that much of the lake is very shallow (1-2 feet) in many areas, which mitigates the risk somewhat. Of course, I still don't see Maria getting out there - that's for sure.
I was hoping to do another long run with at least 2 lake laps, but I was beat, the conditions were cloudy and dreary, and I had some emergency errands to run (I had dropped my coffee pot earlier in the week and needed a replacement - a tragic situation). So I just did 1 lap and finished the run at about 3.5 miles. The good thing about the ice and cold was that the unpaved portion of the lake trail was completely solid and easy to run on. Nice!
Steve
P.S. Tainted love was sung by a group called Soft Cell. Post a comment if you guess the movie quote.
ICE IS NICE!...NNNNICE! (an 80's movie quote)
Well, most of this week was cold, barely getting above freezing for my 2/9 run. I had to do it though, with the long awaited reunion with my family coming on Friday 2/10. It was only a month, but it stunk. I really feel for military families that have to go much longer.
Lacul Titan was nearly ice covered and many more kids were out there Thursday. A couple of more organized Romanian kids were busy smoothing a large rectangle for an upcoming game of pick-up hockey. As dangerous as this looks with portions of the lake still un-frozen, I found out that much of the lake is very shallow (1-2 feet) in many areas, which mitigates the risk somewhat. Of course, I still don't see Maria getting out there - that's for sure.
I was hoping to do another long run with at least 2 lake laps, but I was beat, the conditions were cloudy and dreary, and I had some emergency errands to run (I had dropped my coffee pot earlier in the week and needed a replacement - a tragic situation). So I just did 1 lap and finished the run at about 3.5 miles. The good thing about the ice and cold was that the unpaved portion of the lake trail was completely solid and easy to run on. Nice!
Steve
P.S. Tainted love was sung by a group called Soft Cell. Post a comment if you guess the movie quote.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Information for the Running Geek
I have had 2 nice runs since my last post in Parcul Titan. On Thursday, I completed a lap around the enter perimeter of Lacul Titan, which is a hair under 2 miles. With the distance to and from the park from my apartment, this run registered 4.21 miles. The path around the lake has about 1/4 mile that is not paved in the southern end, but its a smooth trail. The only problem now is the mud caused by melting ice.
The map on the left shows Parcul Titan as well as Parcul National. You can see our apartment location on the lower right with the red dot.
There is alot more of Parcul Titan than just the lake, leaving much potential for different workouts including trails and stairs, especially when the snowy weather stops and the trails dry out.
The garmin gps watch gives me great flexibility to run anywhere and adjust the route on the fly. Here is a plot of Thursdays run around the lake
TODAYS RUN
With the weather beginning to worsen, and snow in the forecast, I took advantage of a not-so-busy Saturday and broke out for 2 full laps around the lake, ending up with 5.6 miles. It was 32 F, which I've decided is the cutoff for the running tights, especially with light wind like today. I probably could have got along without them, but since I didn't try to run especially fast, I didn't overheat too badly.
THOSE HEALTHY ROMANIANS?
There were actually 3 other people jogging today, which made me feel much less freakish than normal! Even on this cool and dreary looking today, there will still quite a few people walking in the park. The Romanians definitely make good use of their parks to get a brief break from the city hustle and bustle. They walk alot which, in addition to the smaller portions of food they eat, explains why their obesity rate (like much of Europe) is much less than ours. You rarely see overly obese people on the street here like you do in America. Unfortunately, one of the consequences of the "Americanizing" going on in Bucharest will be an expected rise in those pesky numbers on the bathroom scales.
The map on the left shows Parcul Titan as well as Parcul National. You can see our apartment location on the lower right with the red dot.There is alot more of Parcul Titan than just the lake, leaving much potential for different workouts including trails and stairs, especially when the snowy weather stops and the trails dry out.
The garmin gps watch gives me great flexibility to run anywhere and adjust the route on the fly. Here is a plot of Thursdays run around the lake
TODAYS RUN
With the weather beginning to worsen, and snow in the forecast, I took advantage of a not-so-busy Saturday and broke out for 2 full laps around the lake, ending up with 5.6 miles. It was 32 F, which I've decided is the cutoff for the running tights, especially with light wind like today. I probably could have got along without them, but since I didn't try to run especially fast, I didn't overheat too badly.
THOSE HEALTHY ROMANIANS?
There were actually 3 other people jogging today, which made me feel much less freakish than normal! Even on this cool and dreary looking today, there will still quite a few people walking in the park. The Romanians definitely make good use of their parks to get a brief break from the city hustle and bustle. They walk alot which, in addition to the smaller portions of food they eat, explains why their obesity rate (like much of Europe) is much less than ours. You rarely see overly obese people on the street here like you do in America. Unfortunately, one of the consequences of the "Americanizing" going on in Bucharest will be an expected rise in those pesky numbers on the bathroom scales.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Steve’s Running Oasis
He lives…
Well, it's been several days since the infamous stray dog incident and I want to thank those of you who have expressed your concern for me getting rabies. I feel great and I’m pretty sure I’m rabies free (Yeah right…I say that as if I actually know how long the incubation period of rabies really is).
Back Up and Running…
While I was spending a few hectic days getting my stuff moved and setup in the long-term apartment, the temperature has slowly been climbing each day to nearly 40 F. So today, I finally got enough time to squeeze in my first run from my new home – wearing shorts to celebrate the “warm” weather. This run was just what the doctor ordered. One of the reasons I picked this place was it’s proximity to Parcul Titan (Titan Park). Titan is a huge park that is broken into 2 halves (north and south with a lake in both that connects under the bisecting road). It is split by a street that my apartment street runs into, 1 city block from the park, and only 1 busy street to cross.
Titan is huge! After about .3 miles from the apartment, I entered the north half of the park. I had run this once before, at night from the other apartment, and had no idea where I was going. It turns out the park has 2 levels. The upper level has walkways and playgrounds and what looks like a bar or restaurant area, while the lower level has a lake. You can get from the lower to the upper by stairs or trails. After circling the upper level, I headed down to the lake. There is a nice wide paved path around the lake. Since, I wanted to stay on the north side of the park only, I had to go up and down stairs where the lake necks down and runs to the south half of the park. Its approximately .9 mile around ONLY the northern half of the lake. Some kids were on the ice playing. Some actually had skates, while some had a soccer ball. I’m not sure if this was wise with the weather above freezing today! The southern half of the park is actually bigger, so there is a great potential for runs of all distances in this park.
It's Shoarma Time…huh?
The pavement of the park is really good, and will allow me to do some up-tempo runs under 8:00 pace, and that’s great. I still have to make the slightly longer trek to Parcul National for speedwork though. Oh and yes, the dogs left me alone today for all 3.5 miles. I had to shower quickly when I got home, as I was off to a bible study, but I did reward my effort later with a big fat Shoarma at the food court of one of the malls.
More on what a Shoarma is in a later installment….
Steve
Well, it's been several days since the infamous stray dog incident and I want to thank those of you who have expressed your concern for me getting rabies. I feel great and I’m pretty sure I’m rabies free (Yeah right…I say that as if I actually know how long the incubation period of rabies really is).
Back Up and Running…
While I was spending a few hectic days getting my stuff moved and setup in the long-term apartment, the temperature has slowly been climbing each day to nearly 40 F. So today, I finally got enough time to squeeze in my first run from my new home – wearing shorts to celebrate the “warm” weather. This run was just what the doctor ordered. One of the reasons I picked this place was it’s proximity to Parcul Titan (Titan Park). Titan is a huge park that is broken into 2 halves (north and south with a lake in both that connects under the bisecting road). It is split by a street that my apartment street runs into, 1 city block from the park, and only 1 busy street to cross.
Titan is huge! After about .3 miles from the apartment, I entered the north half of the park. I had run this once before, at night from the other apartment, and had no idea where I was going. It turns out the park has 2 levels. The upper level has walkways and playgrounds and what looks like a bar or restaurant area, while the lower level has a lake. You can get from the lower to the upper by stairs or trails. After circling the upper level, I headed down to the lake. There is a nice wide paved path around the lake. Since, I wanted to stay on the north side of the park only, I had to go up and down stairs where the lake necks down and runs to the south half of the park. Its approximately .9 mile around ONLY the northern half of the lake. Some kids were on the ice playing. Some actually had skates, while some had a soccer ball. I’m not sure if this was wise with the weather above freezing today! The southern half of the park is actually bigger, so there is a great potential for runs of all distances in this park.
It's Shoarma Time…huh?
The pavement of the park is really good, and will allow me to do some up-tempo runs under 8:00 pace, and that’s great. I still have to make the slightly longer trek to Parcul National for speedwork though. Oh and yes, the dogs left me alone today for all 3.5 miles. I had to shower quickly when I got home, as I was off to a bible study, but I did reward my effort later with a big fat Shoarma at the food court of one of the malls.
More on what a Shoarma is in a later installment….
Steve
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