Sun, Dec 18, 2016 - 24K - 03:00:00
24K Winter Solstice Run from Pankow to Steglitz
Hadn't run in two weeks, and since there are roughly 100 days till the Berlin Half Marathon and Zurich Marathon, I needed to get a longer run in today, and plan to start adding distance throughout the winter. I put a book in my running back pack, ran out to the S-Bahn at Südende, and had a 20 minute ride toward north-eastern Berlin getting out at Pankow. It being almost the shortest day of the year, when I got out at 15:30 it was still light, but by the time I ran down Schönhauser Allee and got into Berlin Mitte, it was already dark. This was quite timely, however, since it made for a nice atmosphere as I ran through the Weihnachtsmarkt on the west side of Alexanderplatz, complete with skating rink around the Neptunebrunnen. As I ran out of the Weihnachtsmarkt, the rest of the run home through Mitte, Kreuzberg and Schöneberg was dark. Because it was dark, I ran along the main streets, which were all quite lively with night life. It was perfect running weather: about 5°C, so only a bit cold and no rain. Legs felt fine except for the 19K knee lock-up, but I just ran through it as always, and by 22K it went away, as always. Funny how predictable the body is. I'm looking forward to more cold, dark winter runs in the coming months.