A running threesome - sounds like a dream come thru

 

Portimao

I had a good run today which means i hit my 100 mile training week in the last five days in three different countries: a 60 km (38 miles) in Germany on Friday, the Rotterdam Marathon in The Netherlands on Sunday and today a 60 km (38 miles) in Portugal. And I hit the 1K miles today (1600 km) this year.

The run in Germany was a 38 mile or 60KM run in the forest in the Nortnern part of Germany, about 15 miles north of Hamburg.

This was on Friday - The next day I heard on the radio that the Rotterdam marathon was happening on Sunday which completely skipped my mind, since I don't live in The Netherlands. I did the Rottterdam marathon several times, back in the days (read 'back in the 80's)

and always loved this race, as the amount of people along the route is enormous. They estimate 1,000.000 spectators....what an event. Small problem though is that I wanted to do this race but didn't have a bib. Another problem is that I was 400 miles or 700km away......driving would take a the whole day.

But, where a will is....and thus with some sore muscles I decided to give it a change. Got in my car and drove from Hamburg to Rotterdam where I arrived at 10:00 pm - throughout the day I found out that some runners were selling their race number and guess what...I found a runner who wasn't able to go and thus I bought his race bib. Slept in the car somewhere close to the race and fell like shit when I woke up after driving 400 miles and staying overnight in a car. Great way to prepare for a race :)

But ok - I managed to start AND managed to finished in 3:15:00 so not bad.

After the race in Rotterdam I drove to my mom in Breda, and two days later we drove to the airport to fly to Portimao, an area in the southwest area in Portugal for a family reunion

Portimao is rather hilly and as I needed to do some more running, I ended up doing some extensive hill exercise.

3 days after the Rotterdam marathon I ran another 38 mile (60km) run in Portimao, followed by another 13.1 mile or half marathon two days later.

after the running, i took a few days off to enjoy the beach with my family

Semana Santa, Antigua, Guatemala

 

Semana Santa, Antigua, Guatemala

A few years back our ship visited a port in Guatemala and I had the privilege to visit Antigua and watch the world famous procession during the Semana Santa.

Semana Santa (Holy Week) is one of the most important religious and cultural celebrations in Antigua, Guatemala, and is known for its elaborate processions, colorful sawdust carpets, and intricate religious traditions.

The celebrations begin on Palm Sunday, with a procession through the streets of Antigua featuring palm fronds, which are blessed and distributed to the faithful. Throughout the week, there are daily processions, each featuring a different statue of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary, as well as floats or "andas" depicting scenes from the Bible. These processions are accompanied by music, incense, and the sound of drums.

One of the highlights of Semana Santa in Antigua is the creation of sawdust carpets, or "alfombras," which are made by local residents and religious groups. These intricate carpets are made using colored sawdust, flowers, and other materials, and are created along the processional routes. They are meant to be walked over by the processions and are carefully crafted as a form of devotion and reverence.

The procession is very impressive and the carpets made of saw dust and flowers even so. It is unreal how detailed the carpets are and how much time is put into these pieces of art.

If you ever have the opportunity to visit Antigua, go during the Semana Santa….

Here are some of the photos I took

Voyage Of The Vikings

 

What an amazing experience, to sail the 'voyage of the vikings' and visit Iceland, Greenland, and all these other amazing countries. Totally worth the trip.

Here is a video I took of photos and videos I took during this trip

A 'Walk in the park'

Here is a post I wrote about a 100KM or 62-mile run in the park where I live; 100 laps in total....

 well friends and runners, here is an update on the challenge i did yesterday. I was planning to run a 100 km (62 miles) in the park here; 100 km on a small loop which I wanted to do on purpose because of the mental training it takes to run such a long distance on a small loop. I've done long runs before but never on a small loop. I always think running a loop over and over again is too dangerous for me. Once I get tired, I think I would get too tempted to stop - it's easier to stop when you pass your car every 5 minutes than if you would have gone out for a long run whereby the loop is 100 km instead of 900 mtrs.Changes that you can quit on a 100 km loop are much slimmer since it would be too tough to get back to your car.

I got up at 4:15 am, same time I would get up for the Keys100 next month. Got some caffeine in my system and a banana and then got off to the park. I started running around 6:15 am, as soon as it was light enough. Early morning here, you don't see runners. literally didn't see a runner for the first 3 hours so I got to really focus on the mental part. Around 11:30 am, just when I was about to pass my halfway point, my sister showed up, as planned, to be my 'race crew on location'. That was great, because till then, i had to get my own water in the car every hour and that really breaks up your rhythm. Anne put up a small table next to the course and got all my well needed supplies.; water, more water, bananas, energy gels, socks, caps, shirts, sun lotion etc. It was really great to have here there. At 80 km, I realized that I was going too fast. OK, I actually realized it earlier in the run, but then it still fell good. Passing the 80 km mark I realized that if I would continue this pace, I would run a sub 10 hour - something I couldn't imagine in my wildest dreams. My PB for this distance is 10 hrs 55 min; Of course I wanted to get a sub 10 in, but on the same time, you know from experience, that you can still crash in the last 10 km which would result in a finishing time past 10 hours. I decided to slow down a bit but to still stay at a 9 hr 50 min time. This way I would still have 10 minutes leaway. At 90 km I realized that I was still OK enough to push the last 6 miles although it did get really warm which usually slows you down. At the last 5 km I got really excited since I now was certain that no one could stop me from beating my time by over one hour...WHOOOHOOO - with still 2 km or two laps to go, i was able to maintain a steady pace and when finally the finish was in sight, I then was thinking that my 'go slow to go fast' idea indeed worked for me. Pace yourself; it's better to run slow and stay fit then trying to run too fast and crash after 50 miles when you still need to go 12 more.... I would like to thank my little sis, Anne, who helped me during the challenge. I loved every minute of it.

Marathon Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

 

Everything Quetzal

 Quetzal is the name of Guatemala's colorful heraldic bird, Quetzal is the Guatemalan currency, and (Puerto) Quetzal is the name of the largest and most important port on the Pacific coast.

 The Quetzal bird

 

Quetzal currency

Puerto Quetzal

and here it is where I did a 26.2 mile (or 42.2km) run, starting from the pier, passing the town of San Jose and than out into the middle of nowhere for 20 miles till returning back to the city.

as you can see in the statistics, I did two 26.2 milers in Guatemala in 14 days time

Here is a video of the run

Marathon distance in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

What a magnificent run in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It was brutally hot despite the fact that it was rather overcast. I guess the humidity makes it feel warmer than it actually is. At least I brought sufficient water to cover the 26.2 mile or 42.2 km run. From the ship's terminal, you head towards to the old town in 'PV' as we say, from there on you hop on the boulevard which is supercool but rather crowded which you can see in the video; I almost ran into some pedestrians but OK, it's a very cool area to run. Leaving the boulevard after about 2 miles, you head up uphill via the main road. Some part of the course is rather steep making it tough to run in this heat but whatever, no pain no bloody gain...it is what it is. After about 8 miles you run on the road overlooking the ocean and the view is stunning. 

At mile mark 13.1 you turn around and do it all over again till you reach the ship's terminal.

Port Plaque and Charity Donation Event in Huna, Alaska

 

July 4th, 2023 Independence Day

Port Plaque and Charity Donation Event 

Today the ship was docked in Icy Strait Point, a little area located about 1.6 miles outside of the town of Hoona, a so called Klingit town, or village, as it is a small place. But, despite the size, the place is amazing; you dock in the middle of nature with nothing but beautiful forests, beautiful beaches and great campfires.

This year marks 150 years of sailing for our company, as well as being in Alaska for 75 years. 

Because of this, we had a celebration with a small group of representatives from Hoona whereby we handed some plaques as well as a check for the Hoona Heritage Foundation, a foundation which was established in 1990 by the Huna Totem Corporation as a non-profit affiliate to foster and support educational and cultural opportunities for shareholders and descendants. 

26.2 Mile marathon distance in Juneau, Alaska

July 3rd, 2023

 What a magnificent part of the world; Alaska, the last frontier, with all it's beauty, it's rainforests, the animals; everything what a wildlife and nature enthusiast like myself is looking for...

We were in Juneau and the weather was great and thus a super opportunity to do a 26.2-mile (42.2 km) run. Leaving the ship, I turned left, passed the ms Koningdam, one of our newest ships, turned left by the bridge, crossed the bridge and than turned right over at Douglas Island. From there on, I literally ran towards the end of the road, mile 13.1, turned around and than ran back to the ship. 

 I passed some amazing waterfalls and saw Mendenhall Glacier in the background...what a privilege to run here. This was marathon distance # 563

         

              Mendenhall Glacier in the background

 

Taku Lodge, Juneau, Alaska

Taku Lodge was originally built by Dr. Harry C. DeVighne in 1923. He opened it up as one of Alaskas first hunting and fishing Lodges available for overnight guests. The lodge was used as a base camp as they conducted their excursions all around the valleys and streams of the Taku River.

In the fall of 1930, Mrs. Erie L. Smith visited Taku Lodge while touring Southeast Alaska on her yacht, the “Stella Maris”.  Mrs. Smith bought Twin Glacier Camp as a second home for both summer and winter use. Her son, Hack, stayed on at Taku Lodge year-round as a caretaker. In the summer Hack kept a crew of men busy constructing new buildings and maintaining the camp. Also helping out with year round caretaking was Mary Joyce. Mary was originally hired on as a private nurse for Ms. Smith and Hack, but quickly fell in love with the lodge and stayed on to help out with the year round maintinance and upkeep of Taku Lodge.

Mary and Hack had began raising sled dogs during their years at the lodge, putting them to work in the winter hauling firewood and using them for travel on the frozen Taku River. It did not take long for word to spread about these Taku River huskies. What started as a hobby for Hack and Mary quickly became a business as they began to sell well trained sled dogs all around the state of Alaska and Western Canada.

The story goes on and on....a lot of history here. And you can feel it when visiting the lodge. 
You can take an excursion where you take a floatplane and fly over several glacier after which you land next to the lodge with a beautiful panoramic view on Taku Glacier.

Taking off in a floatplane is supercool. You have a great overview over Juneau and once you past the town, you'll fly over several glaciers 

The staff working at the lodge is super friendly, warm and welcoming. They are very informative, and they serve a fantastic lunch, including grilled salmon. Since they grill th
e salmon outdoors, changes are big that you see some bears cleaning the grill afterwards. I did....

I also some several bears in the trees, way up there and they scared the heck out of me when I walked around and looked up, straight into the face of a bear.

If you ever have the change, it is not a cheap tour, but worth every penny.