Training Log - Sunday, June 6, 2010 (Berlin, Germany)

Fifth day of running for the week, third country. I am very lucky to have a job that requires me to travel every once in a while. I arrived in Berlin early afternoon and decided to go for a run right after I had settled into my room and grabbed a bite to eat. I did not manage a run this morning while still in Dublin and I punished myself by skipping breakfast. Well, that caused me to be starved by the time I arrived here. Luckily, there was a Doener shop right near the train station and that did the trick. My conference hotel is located pretty much in the center of Berlin near the famous street "Unter den Linden" and the "Brandenburger Tor" (Brandenburg gate). So I decided to go for a light jog through Brandenburg gate and into the "Tiergarten", a large park approximately the same size as Central Park in New York. The weather was just fantastic causing just aboiut everyone in Berlin to head down to the park to walk, run, bike, stroll, lay or barbeque. In addition, there was some kind of festival going on so the place was just happening. What a perfect setting for a run. I ran 5 miles at an easy pace. I couldn't be happier to be back home in Germany to "work and play." Berlin is a great place to start my final week of tapering before the big race next Saturday in Kiel, Germany. I hope I will be ready. I have to force myself to relax and rest. I feel like I've been lazy. On a very positive note, my strain was barely an issue on today's run. I am going to take it easy in hopes that it will be completely gone by Saturday. However, I will go for two more runs here in Berlin. Who knows when I will be getting another chance to run in this great city. And the Tiergarten is perfect with so many trails and ponds and streams and trees and meadows. Hopefully, the weather will continue to be awesome.