My Accidental Marathon

I have been hiking for weeks. When I first got to Germany my time was split between school and hiking and running. In the evenings sometimes I would go to meet ups where I would have a drink with strangers. I even tried out salsa and realized that in Munich no one wants to teach a lead. Yet as time has gone on I find more and more that I love hiking in mountains the people I meet there and the adventures and invitations that come from there. That's how I wound up in Berlin!

Yet after all these adventures I realized that I've not been running and I miss it. I have signed up for 50 km in Switzerland in August did I have not run more than 30 since I got here. I haven't run more than 30 in a row. So today I decide to run 30 km to Freising.

The only problem is that by the time I run 12 kilometers I passed a sign that says "Freising 27 km."

I try not to think about this too hard because I am here to run and I'm not going to stop running before I hit at least 30 kilometers so I keep running to freising.The day is sunny and I run along the ice are back and forth as it weaves back and forth along trails and empty Woods where no leaves live. sometimes there is a trail next to the water very close and fun to bounce on as I run yet often the trail is as wine and clear as a small and gravel Road. Either way I keep running. I have headphones in and I'm listening to an audiobook about how our bodies affect the way our mind works and that maybe our mind is less in control of our bodies and ourselves and that it is instead more a coordinator and our body is the one in charge. The more I listen to this the more it resonates with me as I feel my body and let it move. I do love to feel my body in motion.

Yet when the sign starts to send freising 8 km my body does not feel so lovely. I pause and check my distance I've already run 32 km and I did not bring supplies for the next eight. Yet when I look at the map there is no convenient place to stop running and take a train home. We are not in freising and the nearest train station is also 5 km away. Given the choice between an empty train Station Drive kilometers away and a train station with a restaurant and a bar 8 km away I know the right answer. I keep running.

I run for as long and as hard as I can yet after three hours of running I have no water and my body is tired so I change between running and walking and jogging as I get more and more thirsty. Next time I do this I will have to bring snacks. I hear peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are a great choice. Either way I do get to the freising train station and there is a restaurant and there is beer. And milkshakes.

I skip the next train so I can have a burger and a milkshake and after a little while I'm buy a beer to sip on the train back to Munich. I'm always amazed and how fast a person can run. it only took three and a half hours for me to get to freising, and it wound up being 42 kilometers. And here on the train it will still take one full hour to get back to Munich. Does this mean I was running at one-quarter the speed of the train?

I have hunger that does not stop. This is a wonderful opportunity to break every diet rule in the book. I spend the afternoon searching and eating for everything, them catch up with friends for drinks.Read more