As we wrap up March here in Bucharest, the weather has gone from ugly to nearly perfect in the last 2 weeks. This week has seen highs in the 60's and 70's all week! Without having to worry about snow, ice and the Siberian wind, I'm getting back to my regular running routine as it was in the states.
Carb Loading Monday, Romanian style - yeah!
Monday's run in Titan was the warmest yet. The temp was about 75. It was a nice 1 lap of Lacul Titan and back for 3.6 miles. I would have gone longer, but we were invited to Anca-n-Flavius' apartment for dinner. Anca prepared a traditional Romanian dish called "mamaliga" (I reserve the right to fix the spelling later). It is a kind of casserole made from yellow corn meal (like yellow grits) with layers of different cheeses in between the corn meal. It is served with sour cream and usually with some kind of meat. In our case, it was a type of sausage (there are literally hundreds of varieties here). You basically cut up the sausage links and mixed it in. I think you can eat vegetarian in Bucharest, but why would anyone want too??? Anyway, we ate about 1 hour after my run, and I just devoured the stuff.
The Need for Speed...Training
I slept poorly Tuesday night for some reason, so I wasn't really in the mood to run long or run fast Wednesday. So I decided to take it easy and explore a bit. I'm hoping to start some speed workouts soon, but first I have to find a good route to get to Parcul National. If you remember, I ran to Parcul National back in January from my temporary apartment and discovered a 400 m track next to the National Stadium. I had not attempted to get back there since I moved to the permanent place.
It turned out to be about 1.4 miles to the track at Parcul National. I cut through Parcul Titan on a trail and then basically heading down 1 street to get to the Parcul National entrance. I initially passed the track and made 1 complete lap around the National Stadium just to get the lay of the land. Well, Parcul National was filled with activity - and that activity was soccer. There were youth practices, league games and pick-up games wherever I looked. They love soccer here in Romania, and they will play on any surface. I saw games on grass, on this clay surface, and of course, on the streets that wind around the National Stadium.
Finally, I decided to enter the area with the track. There was at least one kids team practicing and a couple of pickup "half-court" games going on, but nobody had a problem with me running on the track. The track was once a high-quality all-weather surface in its day, but it has seen a lot of winters. Although the surface is deteriorating, it's still plenty smooth for sprints. Heck, if it was good enough for the commies, it should be ok for me! My first Romanian speed workout awaits!
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Spring Fever!
Well, even if I don't run tomorrow (Sunday), this has been my best week running here in Bucharest. With today's run factored in, I now have 15 miles for the week ending tomorrow. Today I also passed 100 miles for 2006! Looking back at my arrival here in Bucharest on Jan 10, I am pretty pleased I've logged as many miles as I have.
Week Recap
The week started with two fantastic running days on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, I did my standard mid-range run of 2 full lake laps (about 5.7 miles) at good pace. The run was interrupted (a good interruption) when I acutally passed Anca, Flavius and Georgia as they were heading to one of the playgrounds in Parcul Titan. Anca and Flavius are the Romanian couple that provided a ton of help in getting me settled here. It was Anca who helped me find our apartment.
Tuesday's weather was even better with temps in the low 6o's. I decided to challenge myself a bit for a fast 3.6 miler (2 laps of the north lake). With distractions such as people, bad pavement, and the stairs - I was pretty proud of the 7:25/mile pace I held on this one. On Wednesday, the temperature actually hit 70; but I needed a rest day from the previous 2 runs. The un-even surfaces here seem to create alot of fatigue in the ankles.
"Fun" (or more precisely "Food") Distractions
Week Recap
The week started with two fantastic running days on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, I did my standard mid-range run of 2 full lake laps (about 5.7 miles) at good pace. The run was interrupted (a good interruption) when I acutally passed Anca, Flavius and Georgia as they were heading to one of the playgrounds in Parcul Titan. Anca and Flavius are the Romanian couple that provided a ton of help in getting me settled here. It was Anca who helped me find our apartment.
Tuesday's weather was even better with temps in the low 6o's. I decided to challenge myself a bit for a fast 3.6 miler (2 laps of the north lake). With distractions such as people, bad pavement, and the stairs - I was pretty proud of the 7:25/mile pace I held on this one. On Wednesday, the temperature actually hit 70; but I needed a rest day from the previous 2 runs. The un-even surfaces here seem to create alot of fatigue in the ankles.
"Fun" (or more precisely "Food") Distractions
After Tuesday, I was unable to run until Today. We had a busy week, featuring 2 after work dinner dates. Wednesday's dinner was German fare at Die Deutche Kniepe with my coworkers. This great little place features chicken, sausages and various snitzels in large portions. On Friday, we took Anca, Flavius, and Georgia out to an italian place. It was a "thank you" dinner for all their help. I paid the bill for the 6 of us, and it cost about 40 bucks (generous tip included). Eating out here rocks!, especially with my American salary.
Spring is in the air
Today's run was an enjoyable 5.7 miler at noon time. Although it was not as warm today as it was earlier in the week, there was plenty of Sun and only a light wind. The park was very active and I saw the most runners today since I've been out here at Parcul Titan. I guess the other runners figured it was now Spring, the end of March, the Sun is out, and they decided to get out there. There was actually a warmer weekend in February that had far less runners than today. It seems like the date has as much influence as the weather for the people here...well not quite, but you get the point.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone...
Actually, those lyrics don't quite fit - it's the SUN that's gone! Although it has warmed up to the 40 F mark for highs, we have not seen sunlight since we were in Barcelona last Sunday. This is the kind of weather that would make my friend Dave Mercer (a running colleague and soon-to-be-relatively-famous old guy triathlete in Greenville, SC) homesick for his native Britain.
Somehow, I managed to get motivated to complete 2 runs this week. The first, and wetter of the two, was on Thursday. The only good thing about that run was that it ended. The dreary weather and the melting snow combined for pretty lousy conditions. I was unable to run very far into the park due to the massive puddles, so I circled the northern section of the park on the sidewalk instead.
As I noted on earlier posts, the pavement here is awful. If there was one thing the communists stunk at (actually they stunk at a lot of things) it's laying down asphalt. Some of the pavement on the sidewalks outside of the park is about as smooth as a low grade cobblestone street. My fellow runners know how much fun it is to run on cobblestones, so they should understand my description. My ankles must be getting strong though, since I haven't rolled one since mid January.
Slowly Drying out...
Today's run was definitely the better one. The park has slowly begun to dry out despite the lack of Sun, so I started my usual 2 mile lake loop. When I got to the south lake, I decided to detour around the 1/4 mile un-paved portion of the path and re-enter the park after. I figured it would be a quick 1/2 mile or so and then presto - back in the park. All I had to do was exit the park and loop around a couple of apartment blocs. HA! I had forgotten how tough it was to navigate these streets when you enter a new area. All these apartment blocks look the same! Soooo, about 2 miles later, I finally found my way back into the park.
Somehow, I managed to get motivated to complete 2 runs this week. The first, and wetter of the two, was on Thursday. The only good thing about that run was that it ended. The dreary weather and the melting snow combined for pretty lousy conditions. I was unable to run very far into the park due to the massive puddles, so I circled the northern section of the park on the sidewalk instead.
As I noted on earlier posts, the pavement here is awful. If there was one thing the communists stunk at (actually they stunk at a lot of things) it's laying down asphalt. Some of the pavement on the sidewalks outside of the park is about as smooth as a low grade cobblestone street. My fellow runners know how much fun it is to run on cobblestones, so they should understand my description. My ankles must be getting strong though, since I haven't rolled one since mid January.
Slowly Drying out...
Today's run was definitely the better one. The park has slowly begun to dry out despite the lack of Sun, so I started my usual 2 mile lake loop. When I got to the south lake, I decided to detour around the 1/4 mile un-paved portion of the path and re-enter the park after. I figured it would be a quick 1/2 mile or so and then presto - back in the park. All I had to do was exit the park and loop around a couple of apartment blocs. HA! I had forgotten how tough it was to navigate these streets when you enter a new area. All these apartment blocks look the same! Soooo, about 2 miles later, I finally found my way back into the park.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Barcelona Blues...
Well, I have no running to report so far this week. This past weekend was spent in the beautiful city of Barcelona, Spain with Dana and Maria. You can check our family blog for a bunch of pics.
I'm trying to get motivated to run, but going from this in Spain (Sunny with highs of 65-68F each day)
I'm trying to get motivated to run, but going from this in Spain (Sunny with highs of 65-68F each day)
Back to this, in Bucharest - it's a little bit demotivating. What you see below is the forecast for this whole week. Cloudy, cold, and wet - dreary.
Why I didn't bring my running stuff to Spain, I'll never know. I do know I won't forget next time!
Now, some comment responses:
Ashely wrote: "Looks like the ghetto dude! Do they have street ball like up in NY?"
Streetball? Not exactly, and definitely not like NY. Take a look at "streetball", Parcul Titan style on the left!
Like most of the world outside the US, soccer is the king of sports here. You know when there is a big match in town too. The fans of a particular team will be waving flags and singing as they board the public transportation to the nearby stadium. There are 4 or 5 professional teams in town. Unfortunately, many of the best Romanian players will end up playing in other European countries where the salaries are higher.
Nathan wrote: I'm sure the Park athestics will improve when Spring comes.
Agreed! Look for another photo op in May...
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Titan Exposed!
Well, after a good run Saturday, the weather turned foul again. Not really cold as far as temperature, but the wind was really blowing putting the "real feel" temps down to the low 20's F. The wind finally let up today and I was able to do 5.6 miles with the temp in the low 30's F.
Bring on the photos!
Now for the real reason for this post! After the run last Saturday, Maria and I headed out to the park after church on Sunday. The weather was still pretty good so we brought our cameras. So here we go with my Titan exposé:
In the beginning...
The only real tricky part of my runs is right here. After leaving my bloc, I have about 1/4 mile on this fairly busy street. The sidewalk is nice and wide, but you'd never know it since its used as a parking lot!
After dodging the pedestrians, the cars, and the dogs, I have to cross one big street at a traffic light and then enter the park.
The Park Entrance...
After surving 1/4 mile of urban jungle, the park entrance awaits. You can see the puddles, which are due to the remainder of last weeks snow melting away.
The smooching teenagers are usually found on the park benches, but as you can see - you can run into them everywhere.
To the Lake we go
After about 1/2 mile along the park walkways I usually take this set of stairs down to the lake level.
There are several sets of stairs and "ramps" down to the lake, and I usually do some stairs during the runs for "fun".
I know - I'm a sick-o.
Like a Bridge Over Troubled Water....
Is that Simon & Garfunkel in my head? I wonder what brought that on? Anyway....This bridge divides the north half of the lake with the south half. You can go up stairs, cross the bridge and go back down another set of stairs to stay on one side or the other.
Or you can go under the bridge and run the whole lake. Total distance around the lake is 2 miles (1.1 for the south and .9 for the north).
The South Side....
From the bridge, we are now looking at the South end of the lake. The only interesting part of this section is the unpaved portion of the trail located on the far right side of this pic. When the snow melts, it turns into a muddy mess.
Due to the lack of a restaurant here, there are usually less people on this side.
The North Side
The next couple of pics are taking on the north end of the lake. This end has the highest concentration of people. This is also where I run during wet weather to avoid the mud at the south end. This first shot is from the bridge. The trees in the middle of the pic are on an island in the lake. There is a small bridge to walk to it.
This next pic shows the center of activity around the lake. There is a bar/restaurant here with lots of outdoor seating along waters edge and on a permanently moored boat which you can see in the distance.
There were quite a few people there on Sunday, with the temp over 50 F. I may have to detour around this area in the Summer!!
We have not tried eating here yet, although we enjoyed a good meal at Casa Rustica, another large restaurant in a another area of the park.
This pic shows the extreme northern end of the lake. You can see the different levels of walkways here. There are acutally 3 levels in this section of the park.
Casa Rustica, the restaurant we ate at on Friday is located roughly behind me when I took this photo.
So, who's that cutie?
If you haven't guessed, here is Maria, my daughter. She was my photography assistant Sunday. This pic shows her with a bridge that connects an island in the background.
Bring on the photos!
Now for the real reason for this post! After the run last Saturday, Maria and I headed out to the park after church on Sunday. The weather was still pretty good so we brought our cameras. So here we go with my Titan exposé:
In the beginning...
The only real tricky part of my runs is right here. After leaving my bloc, I have about 1/4 mile on this fairly busy street. The sidewalk is nice and wide, but you'd never know it since its used as a parking lot!After dodging the pedestrians, the cars, and the dogs, I have to cross one big street at a traffic light and then enter the park.
The Park Entrance...After surving 1/4 mile of urban jungle, the park entrance awaits. You can see the puddles, which are due to the remainder of last weeks snow melting away.
The smooching teenagers are usually found on the park benches, but as you can see - you can run into them everywhere.
To the Lake we goAfter about 1/2 mile along the park walkways I usually take this set of stairs down to the lake level.
There are several sets of stairs and "ramps" down to the lake, and I usually do some stairs during the runs for "fun".
I know - I'm a sick-o.
Like a Bridge Over Troubled Water....
Is that Simon & Garfunkel in my head? I wonder what brought that on? Anyway....This bridge divides the north half of the lake with the south half. You can go up stairs, cross the bridge and go back down another set of stairs to stay on one side or the other.
Or you can go under the bridge and run the whole lake. Total distance around the lake is 2 miles (1.1 for the south and .9 for the north).
The South Side....
From the bridge, we are now looking at the South end of the lake. The only interesting part of this section is the unpaved portion of the trail located on the far right side of this pic. When the snow melts, it turns into a muddy mess.
Due to the lack of a restaurant here, there are usually less people on this side.
The North Side
The next couple of pics are taking on the north end of the lake. This end has the highest concentration of people. This is also where I run during wet weather to avoid the mud at the south end. This first shot is from the bridge. The trees in the middle of the pic are on an island in the lake. There is a small bridge to walk to it.
This next pic shows the center of activity around the lake. There is a bar/restaurant here with lots of outdoor seating along waters edge and on a permanently moored boat which you can see in the distance.
There were quite a few people there on Sunday, with the temp over 50 F. I may have to detour around this area in the Summer!!
We have not tried eating here yet, although we enjoyed a good meal at Casa Rustica, another large restaurant in a another area of the park.
This pic shows the extreme northern end of the lake. You can see the different levels of walkways here. There are acutally 3 levels in this section of the park.
Casa Rustica, the restaurant we ate at on Friday is located roughly behind me when I took this photo.
So, who's that cutie?
If you haven't guessed, here is Maria, my daughter. She was my photography assistant Sunday. This pic shows her with a bridge that connects an island in the background.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
In like a lion, out like a....
Hopefully the old saying about the month of March is true! My last run was on Tues Feb 27. It wasn't a great day with at 42 F with some wind, but I'm glad I got the run in. The following afternoon, Feb 28, we had a blizzard! My coworker, Neil, flew in when the fun started, and had a fun ride in for his first day. My 30 min commute home that day turned into 90 min, and many folks who live towards the city center had 2 hr ordeals. We ended up with around 8" of snow (the final tally was tough to call with the wind) by Wednesday morning March 1.
The temps stayed chilly after the storm leaving a slippery, icy mess all week. Finally, the temp shot up to the low 40's yesterday and the sun came out. I was determined to run this moring, Saturday, since the winds were forcast to slack up a bit.
27 F, Good to go...huh?
Yeah, with the sun coming up, clear skies, and no wind, the 27 degree temp actually looked good to me this morning. Since we had a museum visit scheduled for later this morning, I decided to get 'er done. I threw on my tights, 2 layers up top, gloves and cap and headed for Parcul Titan. I decided it would be better to run on the frozen tundra instead of the muddy wet mess that would occur later today when the temp rose to the low 50's and some serious snow melt started happening. It turned out to be a good call, and I managed 2 full laps around the lake and a 5.7 miler in the books.
Strangely, for once, I wasn't the only one who was thinking this. There were about 5-6 other joggers out there today. The other joggers, of course, were bundled up much more than I was. I realized today there may be a reason why they are wearing more clothes than me beside the fact that most folks here are cold-natured. The running gear I had on today (a mixture of name brand and Wal-mart brand technical fabrics) would cost the average Romanian about half of their monthly salaries (around $250 American dollars per month).
I want to know, what you're thinking...
Morning runs in Titan are nice. The smooching teenagers are largely absent and the people walking the park are pretty much the older age groups. As Dana noted in the family blog, it is rare for someone to return a smile or a "good morning" when you pass them, even when you make eye contact (For more you can check out our family blog at http://romanianadventure.blogspot.com/, and yes I get paid for this plug, heh heh.)
I tried my best this morning, since I now know most of the common Romanian greetings. Every now and then I did get a couple surprised and/or mumbled responses to my "Buna Diminata" or "Salut" (Good Morning and Hello). I wonder what the poeple are thinking as I pass? Do they recognize me right away as a westerner (a virtual millionare by their standards of poverty) or what?
Communist hangover....
You would think after finally breaking free of 40 years of godless communist rule, that the people would be ecstatitc, jubilant and looking forward to the future, but that is not the case. Especially among the older set, the reaction to the 1989 revolution is mixed. Although they like the freedom to be able to travel and they enjoy buying things like gas without worrying about exceeding the government imposed limits; the potential for economic success is too distant for them. Many feel the chances of owning a home and a car are very small. In America, a good example is professional sports that kids dream of playing. Sure its possible, but its a long shot. Some of the older folks here miss the days when the communist government took care of them and paid all the factory workers a decent wage.
Hopefully, one day, many of these people will find that there is Someone that they can count on. That Someone is much more dependable than any government or economic ideology.
The temps stayed chilly after the storm leaving a slippery, icy mess all week. Finally, the temp shot up to the low 40's yesterday and the sun came out. I was determined to run this moring, Saturday, since the winds were forcast to slack up a bit.
27 F, Good to go...huh?
Yeah, with the sun coming up, clear skies, and no wind, the 27 degree temp actually looked good to me this morning. Since we had a museum visit scheduled for later this morning, I decided to get 'er done. I threw on my tights, 2 layers up top, gloves and cap and headed for Parcul Titan. I decided it would be better to run on the frozen tundra instead of the muddy wet mess that would occur later today when the temp rose to the low 50's and some serious snow melt started happening. It turned out to be a good call, and I managed 2 full laps around the lake and a 5.7 miler in the books.
Strangely, for once, I wasn't the only one who was thinking this. There were about 5-6 other joggers out there today. The other joggers, of course, were bundled up much more than I was. I realized today there may be a reason why they are wearing more clothes than me beside the fact that most folks here are cold-natured. The running gear I had on today (a mixture of name brand and Wal-mart brand technical fabrics) would cost the average Romanian about half of their monthly salaries (around $250 American dollars per month).
I want to know, what you're thinking...
Morning runs in Titan are nice. The smooching teenagers are largely absent and the people walking the park are pretty much the older age groups. As Dana noted in the family blog, it is rare for someone to return a smile or a "good morning" when you pass them, even when you make eye contact (For more you can check out our family blog at http://romanianadventure.blogspot.com/, and yes I get paid for this plug, heh heh.)
I tried my best this morning, since I now know most of the common Romanian greetings. Every now and then I did get a couple surprised and/or mumbled responses to my "Buna Diminata" or "Salut" (Good Morning and Hello). I wonder what the poeple are thinking as I pass? Do they recognize me right away as a westerner (a virtual millionare by their standards of poverty) or what?
Communist hangover....
You would think after finally breaking free of 40 years of godless communist rule, that the people would be ecstatitc, jubilant and looking forward to the future, but that is not the case. Especially among the older set, the reaction to the 1989 revolution is mixed. Although they like the freedom to be able to travel and they enjoy buying things like gas without worrying about exceeding the government imposed limits; the potential for economic success is too distant for them. Many feel the chances of owning a home and a car are very small. In America, a good example is professional sports that kids dream of playing. Sure its possible, but its a long shot. Some of the older folks here miss the days when the communist government took care of them and paid all the factory workers a decent wage.
Hopefully, one day, many of these people will find that there is Someone that they can count on. That Someone is much more dependable than any government or economic ideology.
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