The Frankfurt Half Marathon!

This past Sunday was a pretty eventful day for us... Daniel and I both completed our first half marathon here in Frankfurt!  Overall it went well... for me this was largely based on the fact that I have spent the last two months training.  As for Daniel, he is just an amazing runner naturally so it was no surprise at all that the race went well for him.  

Since we haven't had any luck finding a soccer team to play on here in Germany, it was nice to have some motivation for getting in some exercise... I can't say that running in freezing temperatures these last couple months of winter have always been a blast, but at least I can eat whatever I want because of the training :)  But all that running did pay off and it was a pretty fun race.  Below are some pictures from it... the first ones are of the registration area and of us just after signing in, sporting our race numbers.  

Of course, road races usually require a pretty early morning, which is why we look sleepy still... hitting the pavement woke us up soon enough though!  Several other people from our neighborhood also ran the race so we all went together.  Here we are all getting pumped up before heading to the start line.

Now during the race, my primary goal was just to finish so I was constantly reminding myself to take it slow and steady!  As for Daniel, the word slow definitely doesn't apply to him as he was out near the front of the pack most of the time... we actually saw each other twice during the race when the route paralleled itself at certain points, so I can say with certainty that it looked like my husband was smoking the competition :)  He did say it was actually pretty physical up near the front as he was elbowed while trying to go around a corner!  It wasn't quite so aggressive back where I was running.  Although I must say that Germans are a pretty speedy bunch... I felt like I was getting passed the entire race!  For someone as competitive as me, at first that was a little disheartening, but then I just kept reminding myself to just run my own race and take one step at a time.  In the end I was happy with the results... I had wanted to finish the half marathon in 2 hours, and I snuck across the finish line at 1 hour and 59 minutes!  Daniel also met his goal of running it in an hour and half, as he finished in 1 hour and 29 minutes!  Like I said, he is a speed demon :)  Everyone in our group successfully completed the half marathon... hence why we are all smiling in this picture from after the race.

So besides the requisite soreness, a couple of blisters, and a little bit of chafing, we survived the race unscathed, and all in all we were glad we ran it.  Now there just may be some more races in our future... we will see!

On a completely unrelated note, a brand new mall opened in Frankfurt a few days ago, and while walking around downtown with our friends, Paul and Michelle (who just arrived yesterday for their European visit), we decided to check it out... the reason I bring this up is because I just thought the architecture was so cool!  Being the photo freak that I am, I took some pictures and just thought I would share... the first two are shots from the 6th floor... apparently instead of malls spreading out like they do in the States, here they just go up!  And the last shot is what the building looks like from outside.  Pretty sweet huh :)

I guess that's it for now from Deutschland...  but make sure you check back soon as we will be in Greece all next week, and I have no doubt that we will have tons of pictures and stories to share from our time there!  Until then...