View Workout (Matthew Simonson)

Return to Log

EPIC run around Cologne

August 13, 2018 (Afternoon)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
Let's just say I didn't plan on running this far. I'm actually pretty sleep-deprived from staying out till 4am yesterday watching the Perseid meteor shower from roof my rental car in a national park in the Rhineland, but let's set that aside for another time. I went out fairly casually with the goal of exploring the parks at the north end of the Cologne inner ring of spaces that I missed last time I tried this. Along the way, I chanced upon a zoo (could see donkeys and horses, but not much else after hours), a medieval-looking fortress where I climbed to the top of a giant cargo net playground pyramid that was inexplicably at its center, and a stunning botanical garden with just about every habitat they could you think of from rocks covered in hardy alpine moss and lichen to a corridor of palm trees. I'd forgotten how much I love botanic gardens; the plants have almost as much character as animals, especially when they're arranged into such distinctive natural-looking habitats rather than on display in a field guide or behind glass or in a flowerpot. I then crossed the river for the first time into the east side of Cologne (the wrong side, some Cologne dwellers would say) , on a highway bridge that had a pedestrian walkway and led me about a kilometer inland before depositing me in warehouse and auto dealership neighborhood. The view of city going over the Rhine was fabulous. I headed north through the neighborhood of Mulheim and eventually reached the river again, just when the architecture of the colorful town houses was starting to get pretty again. I though about turning around at this point since I was already at 9 miles and it was nearly 9pm, but I saw a really pretty such just a little farther up the river and after that a prominade over concrete arches overlooking the river from which I enjoyed the spectaular post-sunset glow over the west side of the city. My phone battery was almost shot, and I decided rather than trying to use my phone to access one of the hundreds of bike share bikes scattered around town (that had been my earlier plan for getting back) to just make this a long day AND a tempo and see how fast I could get back home again. Turned out to be 7 miles, a bit more than the 5 or 6 I was expecting. Started to finally feel pretty tired in the last 2 miles, which makes sense since I was, I later learned, maintaining a sub-7-minute pace for the final 7 miles. When I finally reached home I just felt like walking so I walked a good half mile to a lively pub where a bunch of locals were avidly watching the FC Cologne v. Berlin United football match. I never actually managed to figure out which team was which, but that was okay because they were already in overtime when I got there and ended up tieing 1-1. And so with that last slice of local culture to top off my run, I made my way home in the dark by way of German supermarket where I bought fruit and vegetables for myself for the first time in weeks---I was starting to really miss fresh berries and apples after all those restaurants! Now I'm very tired. I'm going to bed.