Bregenz

Austria has been amazing. The race directors Willi and Harry have been so accommodating, and the environment here was uplifting. When I arrived talk about the course record held by the great Austrian mountain running legend, Florian Heinzle was already starting. Everyone wanted to know if I could break the record or if I was going to get it. I went for a run on the course and from my dry run I figured the record was pretty solid and it would take a very hard effort to break it. Little did I know I ran about 1 minute extra to the wrong direction. Still, the record would be tough I ran about 7 minutes off the record on my run that day and I knew I would really need to push it on the top where it flattens out but not really.





The course maintains a pretty steady incline of about 18% with some of the course going over rocky terrain. Other sections call for some technical skills in that you must be a good speed walker over these water logs that go over the trail. On my run on the course a few days back, I decided that trying to constantly run through the log section and hopping over them would be a mistake and cause you to be dead by the top portion so I used a technique that would conserve energy. Though slower than hopping, I was able to conserve enough energy to really pick the pace up at the top. God must have truly been watching over me as I made a very bad decision for dinner the night before (Turkish restaurant). I was sick the entire night and I slept maybe 1 hour. I thought the morning would be better, but more of the same, syptoms of food illness. I met with one of the race directors before the race and said I was a bit sick, but if you know me, I'm stubborn and of course I told him I would still go for the record. In the end, with about 1km to go I knew I had the record within grasp and I was able to let off the gas a bit. I broke the record that was set in 2002 I believe and now I'm hoping to come back again as most of the locals have asked if I will and If I can break the record again. I certainly think I can and will!



Here are a few links in German if you can understand:



This article is post race info

http://bregenz.vol.at/news/TP:meinegemeinde:BregenzTP:meinegemeinde:MeineGemeindeTP:meinegemeinde:reporter/artikel/neuer-rekord-beim-pfaenderlauf/cn/news-20090913-07022807



This article here mentions that me, the American is coming to try and break the record of Austrian mountain running star, Florian Heinzle

http://www.vorarlberg-netz.de/174/2009-0051/raiffeisen-pfaenderlauf-bregenz.html

Up on the podium, second place was not far behind the old record as well.

Some sights in Bregenz

The start of a very wild night that included tasting local schnapps and beers

The Schnapps!!!

This little bottle stirs up a problem with me. It does not tell you what the alcohol % is, so you must dive in blind and hope its not too bad, however, in this case it was a stiff one!

Of course I had to try some more schneitzel

This is the Bodinsee. Quite large, shares territory in Switzerland, Austria, and Germany.

More pics to come!