La Revedere!

"Leaves are falling all around, It's time I was on my way. Thanks to you, I'm much obliged for such a pleasant stay"

(from "Ramble On" by Led Zeppelin)

Well folks, this is it for Steve J's Running blog. My thanks to all of you Steve J fans (all 2 or 3 of you) who have endured this not-so-frequently updated blog for the last.....wow, 20 months. At least I ended my running on a strong note this weekend.

Saturday's long run

Despite being a bit distracted by this latest life change, I pounded out an 11 miler yesterday. I ran in my two most popular run locations, National Park (Parcul National) and Titan Park (Parcul Titan). Throughout the day Saturday, I was doing some packing and trying to gather up the remainder of our stuff to give to the missionaries on Sunday. My mind was pretty full and the run provided a nice break. It took about 4 miles before I was really focused on running though. The weather in the past two weeks has been nearly perfect for running. Temperatures have been in the 60's and low 70's with little humidity.

The final run (and final photo bonanza)!

I decided today, Sunday morning on Sept 16 would be my last run in Bucharest. The only other possible running day would have been Monday after work, but that's not gonna happen. The landlady is coming by to say farewell and I will also be dropping by the Bucur family apartment for some more goodbyes (or La Reverderes) later. With the final packing to do and not having a washing machine anymore - you get the idea (I'm busy!). Tuesday night will be spent at my coworker Neil's apartment closer to the airport.

Anyway, on with the photo's for my last run in Parcul Titan....

First the familiar sights I pass on almost every run here....

The Kitty den

I'm sure you cat lovers (cough...cough...GRANNY...cough cough) think every park should have one of these. I don't how many are in there. They all run in there when I come running. People are always leaving food and water for them. I hope they are good rat-catchers, since some of these rats are bigger than they are.

The lakeside cafe

Although it's empty this early in the morning, it's usually chock full of Romanians relaxing on nice afternoons and evenings over drinks. For the last 20 months these Romanian's would stare (and occaisonally laugh) at Steve J as he goes by on his 2 mile lake loop.

Fishing for "CRAP!"

I'm sorry, it had to be done. In Romanian, the word we use "carp" is spelled (and sounds like) our word "crap". Hee hee hee, I had to do it. I'll probably get a PG rating slapped on my blog now. Anyway, the carp fishermen are all over the lake on pleasant weekend mornings.

Ok, on to some new things. Improvements have been made all over our section of the city, and Titan Park has seen alot of changes too...

Have a seat

Lots of new sitting area's have been added. This one is nearly finished and will eventually have several arbors. It's located right near the small amphitheatre that I blogged about last year.

Are you ready for some "football"?

A few small soccer courts have been added on the south side of the park, complete with an artificial turf surface. These started getting use immediately, as soccer is easily the most popular sport here in Romania.

B-ball courts

Obviously, basketball is not ready to replace soccer as the sport of choice, but it is getting more popular. Several of this courts have sprung up in Titan Park in the last month. They appear to be permanent, but I'm not sure. I also don't know about the artifical turf surface on a basketball court!

Bike Paths

I finally got around to getting you a shot of these bike lanes which are being installed all over Bucharest. The Romanian government is trying to encourage cycling to help with the traffic and pollution problems. Also, Romanians are getting fatter (wanting to be like us Americans I guess) and cycling is one of several health initiatives being promoted. I still think anyone who rides a bike on the streets of Bucharest has a death wish, but at least they have some lanes now.

Of course, the more things change...the more they stay the same.

Try to run on these sidewalks

Despite all the new parking spaces being added, its still a free-for-all in most neighborhoods, including mine as you can see.

Ah, those lovely strays

What would a final run be without a stray dog incident. This guy was sleeping near a parked car when I came by and startled it. He came out after me barking and I tried to get my camera ready as I turn and faced him down (my best strategy). I was hoping I could get you guys a good action photo and possibly another good "bite shot", but he started backing down by the time the camera was ready. Sorry folks.

So, I guess that's it. Thanks for running along with me. And a special shout out to my bud Ashley who convinced me to blog this experience. It will be fun to look back on it after a few years.

Steve

2 Weeks to go.....

Well, with Maria and the Helpmeet heading home on Friday Sept 7, it looks like two weeks of normal running remains for me in Bucharest:

Denied! So much for the Bucharest 4K Race...

With just a few days left before Sept 9, I emailed race sponsor "Petrom" (The largest oil company in Romania). I got this back:

----------------
Dear Steve,
I am no longer in charge for this project. As far as I know Petrom Running Competition will take place on October 14th, 11:00 a.m. but I don't know if this is the final decision.

I'll keep you up to date.
------------

So, let's see here. It is now Sept 5. The race, which is still shown on the Romanian Track Federation Calendar for Sept 9, is apparently being rescheduled for Oct 14 (without a final decision yet - what's the rush?). However, as far as I can tell, nobody in this city of 3 million people knows this, except me of course.

Long Run in the Rain

Hey all, just checking in. I noticed a couple of my Ultimate Frisbee peeps commented last week. They are obviously waiting like vultures for this blog to end, since they know I will be back in the states and back on the field on Sunday afternoons. Looking forward to it guys!

August is Done!

My last full month in Romania is officially over. It was a decent running month with 80+ miles - much better than the 50 I struggled to get in July. I've hit my weekly long run (90 minutes or about 10 miles) each week, so I'm getting into the groove. I've also made a couple of return trips to the track at Parcul National for some speed work to prepare for this possible 4k in Bucharest on Sept 9.

Long (WET) Run Saturday

After what hopefully was our last string of 90 F temperatures, the rain moved in on Friday night cooling things down. Woke up Saturday morning and although the rain had stopped (actually paused), I wasn't too motivated to get out there for my usual long run through the city. So, I laid around eating homemade cinnamon rolls (courtesy of the Helpmeet of course!) and decided to watch track and field (Osaka World Championships) on TV. Hey, if you don't feel like running, this is the next best thing.

Unfortunately, there was no distance running on TV this morning so I started to feel guilty watching pole vaulting instead of running. While it was overcast, it wasn't raining so I headed out right around noon.

Translation challenge

When I got outside, I set my fancy schmancy GPS watch down to allow it to lock on to some satellites and started to warm up. An old guy saw me do this and asked me something like "Why did you put your watch down" in Romanian. I had to put considerable effort into explaining what this watch was in Romania. I pronounced "G" "P" "S" with Romanian phonics and then pointed to "the sky" (cerul) and I think he finally got it. In fact, I knew he had understood, because he then said "Dece?". "Dece?" means why?. As in "What are you doing here on the sidewalk with a GPS watch you weirdo?". I then said "I'm running" and he seemed somewhat satisfied with that and walked off.

One part long run, one part steeplechase

So anyway, the rain held off until mile 2 when it started sprinkling. There was already plenty of water on the path around Lacul Titan and I had to periodically jump over the larger puddles - kind of fun at first. By mile 4, the sprinkle turned into a steady rain and I continued around the lake until mile 7. By that time, the path was turning into a muddy, water-filled mess. Titan lake is one of the lowest spots in this area and is essentially a drainage pond that is made up to look "pretty". So I headed up to a higher section of the park for some 1 mile loops to finish up. By mile 8, the rain turned heavy and I was completed soaked-to-the-bone by mile 9. I finished up and headed back to the apartment to dry off. This may not sound like fun, but I loved it. The park was nearly deserted with the exception of one very good runner who was doing laps also. It is rare to be anywhere in Bucharest without lots of people, so you enjoy it when in comes.

Saturday's wildlife sighting

By the way, I think all this rain was flooding out the rats, because I saw the biggest rat I've ever seen crossing my path during mile 10. It had to be 1 foot long and I thought it was a rabbit at first.

Speedweek for Steve J?

I still have found out virtually no information on this 4k race this Sunday. This lack of information (and organization) is pretty typical for Bucharest and is the main reason the only race I've run in this country was not in Bucharest. What's worse, they are supposed to be re-starting the international marathon here on Oct 21 and the website is still "under construction" and contains nothing except a phone number. Seriously, how many serious international runners are going to prepare for a full marathon when there is no information given 7 weeks away? I wish them luck since I won't be here for this spectacle. No doubt if the race does happen the unfortunate runners will be dodging Bucharest traffic throughout the race.

Ok, enough whining!

Just in case the 4k race does happen though, I have 3 track workouts planned to run some more 400m repeats to get ready. The temperatures look really good for this. Even if the 4k race doesn't go off, these workouts will help me for my next 5k in good 'ole U.S. of A. on Oct 13 (Woo Whoo!).