lost in the heide
3° celsius. sunny and sometimes windy. 10:20 (3:00:34 hrs)
i was supposed to be at the meeting point at 10:00. received an email last night and found out that some of my running mates were going to do long run on saturday. i wasn't sure about going there and joining them due to the crazy weather condition and therefore wouldn't want to confirm about my participation. unfortunately i arrived there at about 10:07 and i guessed they have gone running. searching for a parking space was troublesome and ended up leaving the car at an extremely slippery road (for my running shoes). i had to be careful!
the starting point
didn't do much warm-up as i knew that i would be going real slow, firstly because of the distance that i tend to cover and secondly, the paths were covered with snow. so i decided to take the main path to begin my journey. i purposely didn't take the route that i'd ran twice (in spring last year) due to its narrowness and it was deep inside the "forest" of the fischbeker heide (a nature reserve).
after about 2 km of running, another runner came from the opposite direction. we greeted each other, a custom that i've observed after running here and alstertal, where there is little traffic (joggers) and less tourists, unlike my alster lake. we do it either verbally or just by nodding our heads. then came the first small hill. it wasn't that bad running up. after a short downhill, another way up for to master. hmm... i knew this would come but not directly after one another. it was rather steep and i was almost out of breathe after only about 3.5 km! lucky for me, the next kilometer wasn't that hilly. my legs had only a little rest before the next steep climb. i was totally flat after this. gee... where has my fitness gone too?
the ups and downs continued throughout the whole run. what i hate most was the steep part, it didn't matter whether uphill or downhill. sometimes i slowed down to a stop and walked up the hill and going down wasn't that easy either due to the slipperiness(?) of the path. i had to be extra, extra careful cos i didn't want to end up rolling down!
there were two spots that i must go through before crossing the road. the first was the berghotel, before crossing over ehestorfer heuweg to get to the other side. it was just a coincidence that i found this hotel after running through the "right path". the second spot was to find a cemetery.
that wasn't easy. after making a big loop (involuntarily), a detour that i hadn't plan, i reached the cemetery with the "guide" of another runner in purple(!) running gear (he was way far in front of me). i was relieved as i saw that place. i took off the hand gloves to take a sip from my water bottle (cos it was so complicated to get it out of my running jacket and the gear belt). wind started to blow strongly onto my face. my hands froze only after a short while. the coldness really poke through your skin! ouch...
after crossing over falkenbergsweg, being adventurous, i'd decided to run a totally new route instead of following the righteous path from my previous runs. my aim was to reach the tempelberg. i missed the place by a huge margin. i was quite frustrated cos i couldn't find it and ended up making a big loop (unintentionally). it was really lonely running alone in the middle of nowhere. even though the path was quite wide, the gradual long climb was really a torture, especially if you are frustrated. the only positive thing about this was that i found the cemetery again!
alone in nowhere, just the snow and the trees
getting back to the first checkpoint, the berghotel, was really troublesome cos i didn't know the way back. my path was filled with barriers. i had to crossed or jumped over fallen trees.
my luck was down as i crossed over this fallen tree (see picture). at the end of this path was a dead end! a dead end in the middle of a nature reserve. the area was fenced. first i went to the right and climbed up the steep hill and once on top, i realised that it was wrong. so i went down real slow, grabbing the fence for support. if not for the fences, i would be tumbling down cos it was so damn slippery! now i had to climb up again to reach the other side. gee... the path that i had taken earlier was a small valley! after running for awhile, turning aimlessly to the right and left, i've been contemplating if i should take a taxi if i were lost and ended up on another road or area to get back to my car. with 20 euros in the pocket, i wasn't sure if that was enough. i decided to ask an old couple the whereabout of the nearest main road. they explained that i had to follow the main path for a couple of kilometers and later turned left. or was it right. i wasn't sure either once i reached the junction. lucky for me, i met a healthy old woman (she must be at least 70 years old) with her nordic walking stick and asked her for direction. she explained to me and i was a bit shock when she said that the nearest train station was about 5 km away. shit. i was too tired to run already. thanked her and ran off towards the direction that she told me. a few hundreds meter later, i recognized the place again as i was here before this morning. it meant that i had to make a u-turn to get back to my first checkpoint. i was really happy.
i finally came to the main road and before i could cross, i saw two people riding horses on the other side. well, they must be damn lucky not to have to go on foot by themselves. took their pictures and continued my run. suddenly a car stopped behind me and horned. thinking that something had happened, i took a short look and then continued with my run. then i realised why the driver had horned. one of my handglove was on the pavement. what a considerate driver!
the last stretch of the route was quite okay. even though i got a little lost at the start, it turned out to be perfect. i even found the route from my two previous runs on the way back to the starting point. did my warming down before going back to the car to change into fresh t-shirt (i hate that icy gust of wind when i was changing)!
the three hours of unintentional journey today was better spent if i were to come a bit earlier or at least told my running mates that i'm coming to join them, so that they could have waited for me for a few minutes. but then i wouldn't have this adventurous run! thanks mp3 for accompanying me throughout my run.
alsteration (week 4) : 45.210 km
alstering : 7.33 km
non-alstering : 37.880 km
total running (january) : 81.809 km
davon
alstering : 36.65 km
44.80% gehört zu alsteration
i was supposed to be at the meeting point at 10:00. received an email last night and found out that some of my running mates were going to do long run on saturday. i wasn't sure about going there and joining them due to the crazy weather condition and therefore wouldn't want to confirm about my participation. unfortunately i arrived there at about 10:07 and i guessed they have gone running. searching for a parking space was troublesome and ended up leaving the car at an extremely slippery road (for my running shoes). i had to be careful!
the starting point
didn't do much warm-up as i knew that i would be going real slow, firstly because of the distance that i tend to cover and secondly, the paths were covered with snow. so i decided to take the main path to begin my journey. i purposely didn't take the route that i'd ran twice (in spring last year) due to its narrowness and it was deep inside the "forest" of the fischbeker heide (a nature reserve).
after about 2 km of running, another runner came from the opposite direction. we greeted each other, a custom that i've observed after running here and alstertal, where there is little traffic (joggers) and less tourists, unlike my alster lake. we do it either verbally or just by nodding our heads. then came the first small hill. it wasn't that bad running up. after a short downhill, another way up for to master. hmm... i knew this would come but not directly after one another. it was rather steep and i was almost out of breathe after only about 3.5 km! lucky for me, the next kilometer wasn't that hilly. my legs had only a little rest before the next steep climb. i was totally flat after this. gee... where has my fitness gone too?
the ups and downs continued throughout the whole run. what i hate most was the steep part, it didn't matter whether uphill or downhill. sometimes i slowed down to a stop and walked up the hill and going down wasn't that easy either due to the slipperiness(?) of the path. i had to be extra, extra careful cos i didn't want to end up rolling down!there were two spots that i must go through before crossing the road. the first was the berghotel, before crossing over ehestorfer heuweg to get to the other side. it was just a coincidence that i found this hotel after running through the "right path". the second spot was to find a cemetery.
that wasn't easy. after making a big loop (involuntarily), a detour that i hadn't plan, i reached the cemetery with the "guide" of another runner in purple(!) running gear (he was way far in front of me). i was relieved as i saw that place. i took off the hand gloves to take a sip from my water bottle (cos it was so complicated to get it out of my running jacket and the gear belt). wind started to blow strongly onto my face. my hands froze only after a short while. the coldness really poke through your skin! ouch...after crossing over falkenbergsweg, being adventurous, i'd decided to run a totally new route instead of following the righteous path from my previous runs. my aim was to reach the tempelberg. i missed the place by a huge margin. i was quite frustrated cos i couldn't find it and ended up making a big loop (unintentionally). it was really lonely running alone in the middle of nowhere. even though the path was quite wide, the gradual long climb was really a torture, especially if you are frustrated. the only positive thing about this was that i found the cemetery again!
alone in nowhere, just the snow and the trees
getting back to the first checkpoint, the berghotel, was really troublesome cos i didn't know the way back. my path was filled with barriers. i had to crossed or jumped over fallen trees.
my luck was down as i crossed over this fallen tree (see picture). at the end of this path was a dead end! a dead end in the middle of a nature reserve. the area was fenced. first i went to the right and climbed up the steep hill and once on top, i realised that it was wrong. so i went down real slow, grabbing the fence for support. if not for the fences, i would be tumbling down cos it was so damn slippery! now i had to climb up again to reach the other side. gee... the path that i had taken earlier was a small valley! after running for awhile, turning aimlessly to the right and left, i've been contemplating if i should take a taxi if i were lost and ended up on another road or area to get back to my car. with 20 euros in the pocket, i wasn't sure if that was enough. i decided to ask an old couple the whereabout of the nearest main road. they explained that i had to follow the main path for a couple of kilometers and later turned left. or was it right. i wasn't sure either once i reached the junction. lucky for me, i met a healthy old woman (she must be at least 70 years old) with her nordic walking stick and asked her for direction. she explained to me and i was a bit shock when she said that the nearest train station was about 5 km away. shit. i was too tired to run already. thanked her and ran off towards the direction that she told me. a few hundreds meter later, i recognized the place again as i was here before this morning. it meant that i had to make a u-turn to get back to my first checkpoint. i was really happy.
i finally came to the main road and before i could cross, i saw two people riding horses on the other side. well, they must be damn lucky not to have to go on foot by themselves. took their pictures and continued my run. suddenly a car stopped behind me and horned. thinking that something had happened, i took a short look and then continued with my run. then i realised why the driver had horned. one of my handglove was on the pavement. what a considerate driver!the last stretch of the route was quite okay. even though i got a little lost at the start, it turned out to be perfect. i even found the route from my two previous runs on the way back to the starting point. did my warming down before going back to the car to change into fresh t-shirt (i hate that icy gust of wind when i was changing)!
the three hours of unintentional journey today was better spent if i were to come a bit earlier or at least told my running mates that i'm coming to join them, so that they could have waited for me for a few minutes. but then i wouldn't have this adventurous run! thanks mp3 for accompanying me throughout my run.
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alsteration (week 4) : 45.210 km
alstering : 7.33 km
non-alstering : 37.880 km
total running (january) : 81.809 km
davon
alstering : 36.65 km
44.80% gehört zu alsteration
