Workouts I Did During My Vacation in Germany

Brezhnev/Honecker kiss mural - Berlin Wall

Let me see if I remember most of what happened last June. Packed luggage, exchanged dollars to euros, picked up by Shuttle2LAX, dropped at LAX, flew to Charles De Gaulle Airport, connected to Bremen, Germany, picked up by Emy at the airport, took the train to Bremen Central Train Station where Emy told me that if I had to remember anything, remember the Hauptbahnhof because the practically all look alike everywhere, then took another train to Bremerhaven. So far, so good.

Hannover Hauptbahnhof

Wait, I left something out. While at CDG, in order for me not to miss my daily workout, I walked for 30 minutes in a crowded terminal while pulling my carry on luggage. So how did I manage to do my requisite at least 30 minutes of exercise a day while I was on my German vacation? Actually it doesn’t take much provided you are able to make some adjustments like for example the aforementioned walk through the airport terminal.

Germany Workouts

June 22: 30 minute walk in Charles De Gaulle domestic terminal – Well this one didn’t elevate my heart rate much or at all because it was like an obstacle course in a terminal where people didn’t keep right in the hallway.

June 23: 30 minute jog in a farm town in the outskirts of Bremen – upon being woken up by horses neighing and cows mooing, I ventured out in a slight drizzle in my Northface jacket, found a loop and the main street and ran beside farm houses. It was a struggle finishing the 30 minutes probably due to jet lag. This was my only run in Germany. The moving van arrived, belongings were loaded, and my friend Emy moved to her new apartment in Hannover.

June 24: 30 minute walk from Emy's new apartment – Amid all the boxes in the living room, I woke up early and got ready to venture out for a walk in a strange neighborhood. Did I tell you that in the summer, it gets bright early at 4 p.m. then doesn’t get dark until past 10 p.m.? I walked several laps around a block until I finished 30 minutes.

June 25: 50 minute walk from Emy’s apartment. Instead of the loops, I found an out and back street course which took me over a bridge with a river which name I don’t know ran under.

June 26: 45 minute walk in Hannover from Michael’s (Emy’s son) apartment. After having dinner the previous night with family and friends of Emy, we stayed with Michael. This course involved a loop and going up and down side streets. Later in the day, Emy and I left for Berlin via train.

Berlin City Tour bus

June 27: 40 minute walk from B&B Tiergarten. This is a hotel right beside a lesser known gate in Berlin called the Charlottenburg Gate. I walked out and back on the main street for 20 minutes starting from the gate.

June 28: 30 minute walk in B&B Tiergarten river path. I found a paved and unpaved river path near the Charlottenburg Gate and walked out and back for 15 minutes, and saw a few runners and walkers. We left Berlin for Hamburg in the mid afternoon.

Right side of Charlottensburg Gate

June 29: 32 minute walk in Hamburg. We checked in at Hotel Condor yesterday which was very near the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof and I walked from there. I chose an out and back course along what looked like a main street, and on the way I found myself among shops and a business area. I saw some polizei removing some sheets from a naked statue. I guess someone dressed the statue during the night. I also walked by a huge building old building and on the way back, I asked some polizei who were standing nearby what building it was and they said it was the Town Hall. We went back to visit it later during our tour of the city. We left Hamburg and returned to Hannover later that day.

Hamburg Town Hall

June 30: 45 minute walk in Hannover from Emy’s apartment. This day, I found another out and back course on another street. So far I haven’t found any hills in this area and the terrain is very flat other than the bridge I mentioned earlier.

July 1: 60 minute walk in Hannover from Emy’s apartment. I walked towards the other side of yesterday’s street and found the end of the train line which traverses the area. I made a right turn and continued on until I reached 30 minutes, then turned back. Good thing I was able to do an hour this day because we had a heavy dinner and beers later at the Hannover location of Hofbrau Munchen.

Michael & I at Hannover Hofbrau Munchen

July 2: 30 minute walk in Hannover from Michael’s apartment. We stayed here overnight and I managed a 30 minute walk at 4 a.m. before we went back to Emy’s place. Later, Emy and her friend took me to the Hannover Hauptbahnhof for my trip to Kassel where I visited her sister Bernie and her husband. I was able to do an additional walk that afternoon when Bernie and her husband took me to a lake with some hilly trails. I didn’t even time that walk anymore, but it lasted more than an hour.

Lake near Kassel

July 3: 1 hour walk in Baunatal/Kassel from Bernie’s house. Bernie showed me a walking path near her house which had a fork in the end. I took the right side and walked by some wheat fields until I reached a street. I turned around and went back home. Another hour walk that helped because I went to lunch & dinner at Lisa (another of Emy’s sisters) and her husband’s house in Kassel, where I met up with their mother Becca and another sister, Irene and her husband. Later in the evening we went to another beer garden where I had a beer tasting consisting of 4 kinds of beer in 11 ounce glasses. Yikes!

The fork in the road

July 4: 1 hour walk in Baunatal from Bernie’s house. Today I took the left turn at the fork in the road and saw some small parks and dirt trails that veered off from the main path, but which I didn’t dare explore for fear of getting lost. At noontime, a cab took me to Kassel Bahnhof where I took the train to Bremen where I was going to fly from the next day, to go back home. And then this adventure happened: Last 2 days Germany adventure - part 1

July 5: 40 minute walk from and around Bremen Airport Holiday Inn Express. I found a park right across the airport, walked around it and along some adjoining streets. A couple of hours later, I walked from the hotel to the airport for my trip back home, and then this next adventure happened: Last 2 days in Germany - part 2 and Last 2 days in Germany - part 3.

So that one run and all the walking workouts I managed to do satisfied my need or maybe compulsion to exercise every day despite being in far flung places, and I’ve been doing a daily exercise for more than 30 years without skipping one.

My Walking Workout Variations Because I Cannot Run

          What's up with this blog about life and running when I don't even write about running anymore? Yep, running has been nil in recent months, what with the myopathy caused by statins and the never healing PTTD. No matter, I'm still able to do some walking workouts after all even though those are more boring than running. With these walking workouts I try to simulate the intensity of running. It comes close but never quite the same of course. The closest walking workout I have to the feeling of running is a treadmill hill walk where the incline is set at 10% with the speed at 3.5 mph and no holding on the siderails of the machine. The next one consists of the same incline, slowly increasing the pace from 3.5 to 4.0 mph while holding on the siderails. I do both treadmill workouts for 45 minutes to an hour. Despite the cartoon above, I have not fallen off the treadmill...yet.
          As far as outdoor walking on mostly flat surface, I do a brisk walk of about 14 minutes to 14:30 per mile lasting for an hour and half or more. Such was the case when I had to drop off some papers at my work's Human Resources Department about three weeks ago. That walk lasted for an hour and 50 minutes. For variety, I sometimes carry a backpack loaded with a 15 pound barbell plate. I did that most recently last week when I walked to and from Walmart Pharmacy for an hour and a half to pick up my blood pressure medication. It was warm enough to wear shorts but I discovered that since I haven't been wearing my running shorts lately, the elastic (garter in the Philippines) in the waist had gotten dry and crunchy. The shorts had become loose and if not for the drawstring, they would just have dropped to my feet. The pace is slightly slower when I carry a weighted backpack that of course. I'm looking to increasing the weight next time but in a way that the plates don't bounce around the backpack which hurts my back. Adjustable weight vests would be preferable but those things are darn expensive and there have been instances that the police have been called because they look like bullet proof vests or body armor.

Terribly boring descriptions, aren't they? Well, whatever works to keep my fitness outside of running. Hmmm, now I'm wondering how it would feel to walk with weights uphill on a treadmill...maybe I should start setting up the webcam. (cue background music: Alicia Keys singing "I keep on falling...")

Walking Workouts of an Insomniac Post Myopathy - Part 1

AHA! That's what I've been doing wrong: I have to face north!

          In the last couple of months, I haven't done any walking workouts outdoors because I've been trying to recover from the myopathy I have suffered from as a side effect of taking generic Lipitor, and because it has been colder than usual this winter. I didn't realize that when I aggravated a running injury two months ago, it was not a run-of-the-mill type of running injury, but that its root cause was the myopathy. When I realized that, I stopped taking Lipitor immediately and started taking co-enzyme Q-10 supplement to restore my muscle functions. My recent walking workouts have been on the impact friendly treadmill indoors, which also helps with the recent cold snap.
          I've also mentioned that I've been suffering from insomnia, so when that happened again very early last Thursday morning, January the 10th, I just got up and decided to do a little shopping at Walmart. I was planning on doing that later anyway so instead of driving there, I decided to take a very early morning walk in the dark. I looked outside and saw that the ground was wet and apparently it had rained briefly earlier. Fortunately, despite it still being cloudy, the rain had stopped. I bundled up, wearing a pair of track pants, long sleeved shirt, and my bubble jacket. I also carried an empty backpack to bag the items I was going to buy. Then armed with my pepper spray, cell phone, and wallet, I ventured into the dark, black and chilly yonder.
          At first, I had my hoodie on but since it impaired my peripheral vision, I took it off so I could be more aware of my surroundings. It was bad enough that I was wearing all black and was not plainly visible to cars driving that early. How early? I stepped out at about 5:20 in the morning which I haven't done in years. I know, I know. For some people, they may have been finishing their run by then and probably already taking a shower to get ready for their day shift jobs. After the first few minutes of the walk, I couldn't help but notice the pre-dawn quietness, then realized that I had forgotten to bring my radio with me. Oh well, so much the better to commune with nature in the darkness, I suppose.
          So I reached my destination in about 42 minutes and picked up a ream of copy/print paper, a huge container or psyllium, and a can of deodorant, paid for it, and bagged them in my backpack. Since I was running short of cash, I stopped by a nearby ATM, then headed towards a grocery store near home where I was planning to buy some vegetables. With the pace I was walking, I would make it there just a little bit after they opened at 7 a.m. But as the night turned into day, I couldn't help but notice the thickening clouds. I wasn't sure if I would make it back home before the rain started again and was looking around to see where I could duck in for shelter in case the sky fell while I was still out there. I already made a turn towards the grocery store then backtracked, deciding to head home instead. The walk lasted all of 1 hour and 30 minutes. Those extra steps to the grocery store would have added about 20 more minutes. Instead, I drove there and it didn't even rain again. I wasn't planning on taking this walk since I had already done a walking workout the day before, but because of my insomnia, I ended up doing my longest walk in recent months.
          Well, this entry is long enough, so I'll just make this Part 1. Insomnia walk - Part 2 to follow.