Kallmunzer Fruhlingslauf Halb Marathon

For those of you who don't read German, that's the Kallmunzer Spring Run Half Marathon. That was the race that I did on Saturday. Here's the review.
This was a great race in a picturesque little village on the Naab river in Central Bavaria. A friend of mine recommended that I do the triathlon that the local sports club here puts on but I'll be deployed when it takes place so I did the Spring Run Half Marathon instead. The route takes you through the cobblestoned village center and over the Naab on a stone bridge that was built in the 1500s and then along the Naab until the turn around point and back.

We ran down river so it was mostly downhill on the out leg with a tailwind to push you. It was a little chilly at the start of the race so I ended up leaving my half zip Nike waffle jacket on over the top of a long sleeved running shirt. At about the 4 mile mark I was starting to heat up pretty good and was beginning to wonder if that haden't been a tactical mistake on my part. But when I turned around and headed back up the river and I caught the wind full in my face I was really glad I had it.

I really struggled on the return leg with the generally up hill grade as well as the head wind. In combination they really cut into my average that with the lack of any significant distance in the last few weeks was telling as I hit the well at about mile 10 and I was forced to speed walk a couple of times. Overall I only finished 29 seconds off my personel record for the half marathon with a time of 1:55:26. I'd really wanted to go under 1:50 and probably could have if that darn wall hadn't popped up. Here are some pictures.

Feeling good at the start. Little did I know what I was in for.

I don't look like I'm enjoying it quite as much as I was in the earlier picture, do I? That darn wall took it all out of me.

A beer and a putensteaksemmel (grilled chicken breast sandwich) at the end of the race. Damn the beer tasted good. I went back for a second and since there were no putensteaksemmels done I got a bratwurstsemmel and another beer. We didn't make it all the way home before I started feeling quesy, Shantel had to make two emergency stops, one for me to hurl and then one for me find a bathroom. I didn't even drink a quarter of the second beer. I'm blaming the grease from the bratwurst.A beer and a putensteaksemmel (grilled chicken breast sandwich) at the end of the race. Damn the beer tasted good. I went back for a second and since there were no putensteaksemmels done I got a bratwurstsemmel and another beer. We didn't make it all the way home before I started feeling quesy, Shantel had to make two emergency stops, one for me to hurl and then one for me find a bathroom. I didn't even drink a quarter of the second beer. I'm blaming the grease from the bratwurst.

This was the sight that dominated the last couple of mile of the run. The castle ruins at the top of the hill with the picturesque little village at the bottom. We actually finished in the open area just beyond the tree line in the mid ground (I stole the picture from the town's website).