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We made our first trip to Fribourg the week after our arrival in Germany. There was so much to organize - a work permit, a work contract, an apartment, a Swiss bank account (feel free to transfer your fortune…it will be safe with us), a Swiss cell phone number, and so on. We got most of it done. Our “B-permis” is on its way, the working contract is signed, we have an apartment (yeahhh) and a bank account. So we are ready for Switzerland!

Here is a picture of Fribourg’s old city center. Even though Fribourg is pretty small this is of course not it.

a.k.a. “Our cats up in the air: Salt Lake - Atlanta - Stuttgart”

Of course we wouldn’t leave our cats behind when moving to Europe. I have been following local ads on craigslist over the past two years and for many people in SLC, moving seems to be equivalent to abandoning pets. I got really used to reading things like “Moving across country, can’t take my pet” or “Cat for free. My new apartment does not allow pets” - stuff I really don’t understand. I would safe every penny to take care of my cats and when you choose an apartment, what keeps you from looking for one that actually does allow pets? They are not necessarily more expensive. It just needs to be important enough for you - you need to care about it.

Anyway, we are not such people and of course, Nori and Watson had to come with us all the way from SLC to Europe. If you think taking a pet on a transatlantic flight is irresponsible and the pet would be better off with a new owner….please, wait a second and continue reading!

We prepared a lot before moving our cats to Germany. Of course they needed to be current on their rabies vaccination and have a microchip. Those are basically all the requirements the European Union has for pets traveling to Europe. An immigration form of the EU was then filled out by our veterinarian together with an international health certificate (valid for 30 days), which was not required but can be helpful during overlays in other U.S. states. Both forms also had to be endorsed by the APHIS Area Veterinarian-In-Charge at the Salt Lake office.

The rabies vaccination was one point that freaked me out a little. Once the cats had their annual vaccination I found out that Europe requires the use of an inactivated vaccine. My vet however used a common active vaccine, which is approved in the U.S. but not in Europe. However, it was already too late and since the immigration form only contained a three-letter code for the vaccine brand I decided not to worry about it and hope that no one else would notice.

In terms of transportation, we decided to take the cats as carry-on. That way they can be inside the main cabin, they stay with you the entire time and the airline does not get a chance to loose them (what seems to happen when they fly as checked baggage). We made a reservation for them several months in advance (Delta only allows 4 pets in the main cabin) and bought some large Studibag pet carriers. Those are the best carriers available and it’s the only kind I would recommend! Even though the dimensions are a little bit bigger than allowed they work perfectly fine and are way better than the Sherpa cat tote we tried before. The Studibag top is flexible and it’s easy to put it under the seat in front of you but it gives your pet maximum space. Officially, the carrier is about an inch too long, but that’s no problem at all. Additionally, the carrier has the big advantage to come with some security features: It has a D-hook inside where you can attach a short leach to secure your pet (use a harness for that, not a collar). And most importantly, it comes with clips that securely close the two doors of the carrier. An important feature for Watson, our little hooligan.

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4:30 am (MST)- Salt Lake City, UT, USA: getting ready for the big trip

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We got them used to the carriers early before the flight and on the day of the move they went in by themselves. I bought some absorbent pads for the carriers and the cats got their last meal 12 hours before our departure. One thing that is pretty controversially discussed is the use of tranquilizers. We talked to our vet and decided to use a low dose of Acepromzine to calm them down a little in the beginning. Of course we tried it before to see how the cats respond and to make sure that we have the right dose. The morning of the move, they both got the tranquilizer with a little bit of wet cat food. And it worked out perfectly. The cats were not even very sleepy but they stayed calm and relaxed once we had to take them out of the carrier at the airport security check. Nevertheless, we also asked to get a private room for the check. The TSA officer at the Salt Lake City airport didn’t really understand why we would need that and kept telling me that the cats would be just fine passing through the body scanner (What would that look like? “Sir, please, lift your front paws…”). Who is he to tell me what my cats would or wouldn’t be ok with? Anyway, I insisted on a separate room and it worked out great.

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6:00 am (MST)- Salt Lake City, UT, USA: taking the rental car to the airport

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Even though the carriers were replacing two pieces of hand luggage we still had to pay extra to take the cats with us. And that’s really expensive. For an international flight, Delta usually charges $200 per cat but the lady at the check-in counter somehow got it wrong or intended to be really nice and only charged us half the price. What a lucky day…

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8:00 am (MST)- Salt Lake City, UT, USA:

waiting for our plane at the terminal

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The cats stayed calm and quiet at the airport, looked through their mashed windows to see what’s going on around them (they were more nervous once the carrier was covered, so we kept the blinds down for the rest of the trip) and started sleeping pretty soon after we arrived at the gate. Of course the noise of the airplane was new to them and they meowed during start and landing. But for most of the trip they were pretty quiet. Watson had some moments when he tried to brake out of the carrier. But the mesh windows were sturdy and the clips were the best thing every. When flying into Stuttgart he managed to push the clip far enough to get his head through the hole. He had immense power and I had a hard time getting his head back inside. But of course Watson is an expert in breaking out of carriers and a bully all together. So Studibag did a really good job in keeping him inside for almost 24 hours.

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9:40 am (MST)- flight #1:

Salt Lake City - Atlanta

Flight time: 3 h 50 min

Aircraft: Boeing 767-400

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The tranquilizer lasted for about 6-7 hours and we tried to give them a second dose before leaving Atlanta. But somehow they managed to eat all the crumbs of dry cat food and spit out all the pieces of the little pink pill. So it was just not meant to be and since they were already pretty used to the noise and everything, they did just fine without it.

I was surprised that nobody noticed our cats during the flight - that was until flying into Stuttgart. But still they were not very loud. The guy in front of us told us later that he thought we were playing a “Talking-Tom”-type of iPad game without headphones.

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5:40 pm (EST) - flight #2: Atlanta - Stuttgart

Flight time: 9 h, Aircraft: Boeing 767-300

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Bringing the cats into the European Union was much easier than expected and no problem at all. The officer at the custom looked at our papers but it seemed like he didn’t really know what to look for. He did not check the microchip nor did he look at the cats.

My dad picked us up in Stuttgart and we spent another hour in the car before arriving at home. Of course the first thing was to take care of the cats (Watson REALLY appreciated the litter box). They got used to everything really quickly, discovered room by room. And our plan to keep them in my bedroom for the first 24 hours didn’t work at all. They were way too curious to wait any longer. By now they are enjoying my bedroom, our corridor, the bathroom and our entire basement. Unfortunately, the rest of the house has to stay cat-free - during the summer we have too many open doors and I really don’t want the cats to get outside right now.

Nevertheless, it was a long and crazy trip for those little cats, Watson was a little bit insecure after waking up the next morning (for not more than half a day), both were really affectionate and Watson had some troubles getting used to the new food. But overall they managed it really well, are not showing any signs of stress and are really happy every time Marc and I come home. So I believe it was the right thing to do and our cats are happy to be with us in Germany.

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10:15 am (MEZ)- arriving at home after 20 hours total travel time

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….as we know it!”

Well, that’s actually not entirely true since we are first moving back home before going to Switzerland. But still…the song Kelly was singing for the last two weeks still has a point. We are leaving Salt Lake City for real, it’s tough but it’s also a new beginning of something great.

When we came here in 2008, I wrote something about bags being packed. Now it would be about two 40 ft containers.

It’s the end of the world as we know it.

It’s the end of the world as we know it.

It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

As you know, Marc has been awarded a PhD fellowship for the last three years by the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds. B.I.F. provides prestigious fellowships for about 45 new students a year after reviewing up to 500 applications and I am now officially following Marc’s footsteps.

I applied for the scholarship this January, passed the first round of selection in March (30% pass that round) and last week I received the final letter that my application was approved!!! Yeah…I will be a B.I.F. fellow for the next 24 months starting in September. Since I’ve been in the US all that time I didn’t have an interview (which seems common for applicants in Germany/Europe). But my application alone must have convinced the external reviewer and the Board of Trustees, which consists of several internationally renowned scientists.

Of course I’m pretty excited about it. I have seen what that scholarship has meant to Marc, I have met many former scholarship holders (and it’s a really nice group of people) and I’m looking forward to being part of that community. They have a great network of people, an annual seminar in Germany and an annual retreat in Austria. So B.I.F. provides much more than just money and prestige.

The title says it all. Soon, we’ll be starting a new chapter in life. After almost two years in Salt Lake City we will leave the US again (sooner than expected) and move back to good old Europe: Switzerland to be more precise. Our PI accepted a job offer at the University of Fribourg and with the exception of Makiko and Shukui our entire lab will move. The idea came up about 12 months ago and every since it was a “we gonna move to CH”/”we’ll stay in SLC”. But it was finally decided beginning of the year and in a few days it will be time to leave.

This coming Monday, the moving company will be here to pack up the lab and our private move will follow soon after. Most of our contracts are canceled (today is the last day with internet access at home), the cats are ready to leave and in 7 days the four of us will be up in the air on our way to Germany.

Since shipping the lab will take about 4-6 weeks we’ll first go to Germany to stay with my parents for a little while. That gives us enough time to relax, to organize everything and to drive to Switzerland every once a while to find a nice apartment in Fribourg.

A little bit about Fribourg: Marc, Janni, Rainer and I went there for one day in December to check out the lab and the city itself. From what we could see it looked quite nice. With a population of 34000, Fribourg is much smaller than SLC but everything is much closer, much more crowded and much more European. I really liked the old city center and also the lab space looked great. The lab is located in an old train manufacturing building with very high sealing and big glas doors facing the botanical garden. The official languages in the entire Canton Fribourg are French and German - and I’m really excited about the French. Finally a great opportunity to dig up what I learnt in school ages ago.

So that’s it for now. We are pretty busy finishing up work and selling our furniture. Tomorrow night will be our big fare well party at Makiko’s house with many people from the U and everybody invited their friends. And tomorrow morning we will pick up our rental car, which we will have all next week. It’s time to do some shopping and we want to go on some hikes. There are only 7 days left and we better enjoy them.

We will really miss SLC a lot but it’s also nice to open a new door and be closer to our family and friends…..*think pink*

Well, our Maui trip kind of interfered with my Japan report. But now forget about tropical rainforest, beaches and volcanos and let your mind travel back to Japan. Back in March (”A long, long time ago, I can still remember…lalalalala”) we took the train from Hiroshima to the 16th Japan Flagella Meeting in Gamagori, a small place close to Nagoya.

The conference was only two days, but very interesting - as far as I can tell. Most of the talks were given in Japanese (not quiet my first language) but at least the slides were in English. However understanding people’s work by only looking at their slides is kind of hard. Before going to Japan, I didn’t really believe that Japanese students/scientists would not be able to speak English. Now I do. I was shocked by the fact that most Japanese do not speak English, especially the younger generation. According to our host, our generation has no urge to go abroad and learn another language. They are plenty of jobs available anywhere in Japan, which makes them want to stay instead of discovering the world. Luckily, the organizers invited some international speakers from the US, UK and Switzerland and those talks alone were worth coming to Japan. They were telling some pretty amazing stories.

From Nagoya we went to Kyoto, the place I was looking forward to the most. And it is really amazing. Most Japanese neighborhoods don’t really fall into the category I would describe as beautiful. Houses are not built for live, they are supposed to stand there for a couple of decades max, and recurring earthquakes don’t make it worth putting lots of money into architecture. At least that’s how the Japanese explained those cityscapes to us. (This might also be different in other parts of Japan, Nagoya and the cities we went to are more industrial regions). But what is really beautiful are all the historic temples and castles. And that’s what we got to see in Kyoto. Actually, Kyoto has more temples and shrines than one can possibly visit and we only saw a handful. When we went there it was out of season for Western tourists and it was basically only Japanese people and the two of us. So we had plenty of opportunities to watch the Japanese do their rituals and it was a completely different world we experienced there.

A short train ride from Kyoto is one of the first UNESCO World Heritage sites in Japan: Himeji Castle, the “White Heron Castle”. It’s pretty plain from the inside but really beautiful from the outside. Himeji Castle dates back to 1333 but its architecture is mostly from the 17th century - so it was a nice piece of traditional Japan we got to see there. On the very top they have a little shrine and I was amazed to see all the people climbing those narrow wooden stairs to get up there - even the oldest grandma. And believe me, it was really hard, especially wearing those Japanese slippers (you were not allowed to enter with regular shoes). But that’s a different story - shoe culture in Japan…very fascinating but very hard to practice (a different pair of shoes for the lab, for the office, for the bathroom, for some historic sites, no shoes in the dining room, in rooms with tatami mats, in some temples,…seriously, it was very hard not to make a mistake).

Finally, we spent the last three days in Tokyo. An impressive city but to be honest…we were kind of lost ;). Of course not literally, but Tokyo is not like Paris, London, Berlin and other big cities where everybody can name tons of tourist attractions. And since we were not really prepared we probably missed lots of cool stuff. But we went to the famous fish market (even though the tuna section was not open to the public) and tried to have some sushi there. Well TRIED is the word. We were there at 9am ready to wait in line for some sushi breakfast but the hostess told us right away that we would have to wait more than 5 hours (and the place actually closes at 2pm). So no sushi for us. But we found another awesome place in a different neighborhood later on. And to be honest….sushi for lunch was more my style anyway.

Other than that we went to Hama Rikyu Gardens (a nice park with fields of blooming canola in the middle of the city), the international forum (nice, modern architecture), Asakusa and the Sensō-ji Buddhist temple, Ryogoku (the former (?) center of the sumo world with the sumo stadium and many sumo stables), we took a water taxi and our highlight was definitely taking the elevator to the top of one of the skyscrapers (and in Tokyo you don’t have to pay for that) to look at Tokyo from above.

13 days in Japan - quite an experience and we are ready to come back for the next International Flagella Meeting in 2012!

Here’s a final Hawaii post. Unfortunately, our trip ended after 7 full days on Maui. You read plenty about the first five days, so to close this chapter I have a little something about day 6 and 7 for you. Even though we didn’t do very much at all. Well, we went Geocaching and even found a few. One of it was my personal nightmare. I actually found the cache hidden under rocks but when I was just about to grab it I realized that it was hidden inside a plastic bird spider. Uarghh.. As you probably know I’m terrified of spiders and for a chicken like me it doesn’t even matter whether they are alive or not. But what are guys for if not to get logbooks out of plastic spiders!? The cache was actually dedicated to one of the local spiders that live in the sugar cane fields….luckily I didn’t meet those!

My grandma would have loved the little trip we did on day 6. Maui is famous for it’s locally grown fruit and we went to one of the plantations to look how those fruit and crops are grown. And they had a lot…. mangoes, pineapples, coconuts, papayas, star fruit, ginger, avocados, coffee, apples, bananas, guavas, and macadamia nuts.

Parts of Maui could have been the set of the TV show “Lost” (which was actually filmed on Oahu) and we went to one of those places called Iao Valley. Even though we didn’t go on any long hikes it was pretty amazing: steep mountains, awesome rock formations, everything covered by rain forest. Being there makes you understand Maui’s second name, “The Valley Isle”.

Then - of course - there was the last mandatory trip to the beach. My dad will probably picture me standing on a surfboard twenty minutes before the airport shuttle leaves. But no, this time we actually went there in time and since there were no surfboards around we also made it back in time for our flight Monday night.

So that was it (or at least part of it). Seven awesome days and definitely more than just another pin in our world map.

Hi everybody, here are a couple of pictures from last night. We went to the ‘Old Lahaina Lu’au’ for some traditional Hula and some traditional food.

We were introduced to Ote’a (drum dance of Tahiti), Kahiko (ancient hula), ‘Auana (modern hula) and a lot more. And it was really amazing how fast those dancers could move. The food was great as well. They showed us how the meat was prepared in the beachside “imu”, the Hawaiian underground oven where it was steamed for 12 hours. And during the feast, we could taste all the different kinds of food, like Kalua Pua’a (pork roasted in the imu), Ahi Poke (fresh yellow fin tuna), sweet potatoes, Pulehu steak, Island style chicken,….

Assuredly hula is the most breathtakingly beautiful and popular of Hawai’i’s performing arts. And yes, every hula does indeed tell a story. Listen to the oil (chant) and mele (song), to the implements and instruments, and take in every move the dancers make with their feet, their hands, their hips, their eyes…

Day 4 was again reserved for another exciting trip. It was time to drive the road to Hana, famous for its waterfalls, its winding and narrow roads, stunning views, tropical rainforest, awesome beaches (one of it is famous Black Sand Beach) and more beauty one could possibly absorb in one day.

So we grabbed a lunch box on the way for our picnic at the end of Nahiku Read, had some fresh papaya-ginger smoothie at the Huelo Lookout, enjoyed some traditional Maui candy (chewing on a sugar cane stick), were adopted by a little puppy that jumped into our car as soon as I opened the door and just had an awesome time.

Our exciting day yesterday was followed by a more quiet and relaxing day today. Even though we got up at 8 am we stayed at our condo all morning. Our lanai was just too nice. We had our daily fruit plate and some banana bread for breakfast and I enjoyed spending some time with my Kindle (I have been reading the same Steven King for months but the book is either too long or I just don’t have the time. Anyway, I still have 51% left. So we’ll see how far I can get while I’m here).

So it was about reading and making plans for Saturday in the morning and hitting the road in the afternoon. But again…nothing really big. We drove down to Kihei on the other side of the bay and had some eco-food, including lots of spouts, live (??) mustard and a burger (also made of sprouts…surprise) without a bun but two big salad leaves instead (we never figured out how to eat that in a presentable way).

Then it was time for the beach. We brought all the stuff we could find at our condo, including the mandatory body board. But to be honest, I never got the hang of it. The water was really nice and I enjoyed swimming. However, the sun was really strong and with no shade around we didn’t stay more than an hour. I guess we’re just not like the typical Maui vacationer who belongs to the subphylum Crustacea (and probably finances the dermatologist back home).

After beach #1 and an awesome sundae we went to the Ahihi Kinau Natural Reserve, almost at the southern tip of Maui.

The fields of lava rocks (partially mixed with corals) were pretty amazing and it was a nice contrast to all the golf courses and posh resorts at the Wailea coastline. That’s something I really don’t like…all those golf courses. I know it’s a popular sport but I don’t really see why one should spend all the money to come to Hawaii to play golf when it doesn’t matter where you are. Those golf courses all look alike, everywhere in the world. I know, I probably just don’t see the charm of the sport. But when I go on vacation I would like to discover new places - and by that I don’t mean a couple of holes in the lawn.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure golf is fun (I only played it once in the UK) but for me the dry volcanic landscape that used to be here is definitely more appealing than all these golf courses that  were built here…one after the other.

But it’s not about what I don’t like but what I like. Back to the nice things…we went snorkeling, chilled at Big Beach and enjoyed an amazing sunset. Isn’t that a nice way to end a nice and quiet day?

Tomorrow we’ll discover the northeast of Maui - Hanna goes Hana.

An dem blauen Himmelszelt?
Weißt du, wieviel Wolken gehen
Weithin über alle Welt?

I remembered this children song when we went on our trip this morning. And by morning I mean morning-morning. As planned, we sat in the car by 3:01 am to head to Haleakala, the east Maui volcano at Haleakala National Park. Of course it was pitch black when we drove up the serpentine road to the summit (a very American thing to build roads all the way up there…but nice in that case, otherwise we would have missed the sunrise for sure). So we started off with some stargazing and around 5:40 the sun said hello rising above the clouds. And we were lucky because having clouds is the most important thing when watching the sunrise. Without them it’s just not the same.

Haleakala’s summit is 10,023 ft (3055 m) above sea level and watching the sunrise up there is one of the most popular activities on Maui. But being above 10,000 ft at 4:30 in the morning also has a downside - not  only is it way to early to be up anyway but it’s also coooold.

This morning it had 7ºC (according to the weather forecast it felt like 3ºC) with lots of wind. I was happy to wear six layers of clothing - so preparation was everything. For the weak ones out there they had a little observatory where you could watch it from the inside. But of course we wanted to have the best seats in the house to get the really nice pictures.

Afterwards, we went on a little hike into the crater (which is actually not a crater but a valley) of the dying volcano. It’s going through rough times with all the erosion happening but no fresh lava coming up. The challenging part for all hikers is that you are walking downhill in the beginning but you have to make it back to the rim eventually - which is harder than expected considering the fact that you have to walk uphill on a sandy trail (I guess that’s why the trail was actually named “Sliding Sands Trail”…it all makes sense now. Doesn’t the original name “Keoneheehee” sound much nicer? Well, maybe not. In retrospect, the heehee sounds kind of sarcastic). My legs have never felt that short. Not to mention that air is kind of thin up there. Being in good physical shape has really paid off today.

Here’s another picture of the crater, excuse me…of the valley…with the three cinder cones formed during fountaining eruption of lava. The front three are called (right to left) Ka Lu’u o ka ‘Ō’ō (Plunge of the diggin stick), Kamoali’i (the chiefly stones) and Pu’u o Maui (Hills of Maui) with Pu’u o Pele (Hills of Pele) in the back.

We ended our morning with some Hawaiian coffee, macadamia nut pancakes and Belgium waffles at the Kula Lodge (as recommended by one of our guide books) and made it back to our condo around noon for the relaxing part of the day.

And last but not least, a picture of the Haleakala silversword (ʻahinahina) or Argyroxiphium sandwicense subsp. macro- cephalum for all the botanists out there. It’s an endangered plant that can only be found here at Haleakala NP on the island of Maui. Blooming only occurs once during senescence, after a life span of five to 15 years but with a flower stalk as high as 2 meters and about five hundred flower heads. Unfortunaltely, it was out of season and we didn’t want to wait 15 years. So I only have the basic picture of our hairy, silver-leaved friend for you.

Aloha, it’s day one of our Hawaii trip. We had a quiet and comfortable flight yesterday but arrived long after dark on Maui. But that’s something that I really like - to arrive at a new place in the dark. That gives you the chance to get to know a new place by its smell and its sounds first without being distracted by the view. Coming to our awesome private condo here on Maui was phenomenal. It’s right at the ocean and I enjoyed the sound of the waves the whole night. Falling asleep there was the nicest thing ever.

Nevertheless, I was again back in SLC/KN tonight, dreaming about work but I hope I will leave that behind soon. Now it’s time to relax!!

This morning we woke up pretty early just in time to watch the sunrise from our lanai (= balcony), enjoy some Hawaiian banana bread and super sweet pineapple. Only the coffee maker didn’t work so we have to get back to the Hawaiian coffee later.

Now it’s time to get Marc away from his book…I want to check out the beach, buy supplies for our kitchen and explore the island. So I better get going. A hui hou!!!

It could be that this year is our lucky year or that we “just” have the right job. But it seems like the world is waiting for us and a lot of doors are open. After starting the year with a conference in Ventura, California, Kelly sent us to the “Japan Flagellar Meeting 2010″. That’s right…JAPAN! Isn’t that amazing. I never expected to  go there any time soon but obviously science makes it possible. Many labs in our field are located in Japan and since Kelly is such a Japan (and Flagellum) fan he has been there quite a few times already. And this year it was our turn.

At the Venutra conference we met a fellow professor from Japan and he invited us to visit him in Hiroshima before the Japanese conference. So on March 9th we arrive in Tokyo, spent one night in a tiny hotel room (we didn’t even have enough space to open the suitcase all the way…rooms are really small in Tokyo) and took the Shinkansen train to Hiroshima the next day. Of course, Hiroshima has some sights you can’t miss - the A-bomb dome (right below the epicenter of the blast), the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park with the paper cranes at the Children’s Peace Monument, the Peace Flame (too bad it was still burning), the museum and a lot more. It was a very impressive place and especially the museum showed the impact of the bomb on Hiroshima, which is far beyond anything our generation can imagine.

From Hiroshima we took the bus to Shobara, a little town 1 1/2 hours northeast of Hiroshima City. That’s where Chi has his lab at the Prefectural University of Hiroshima. The university is actually located outside of the town in the middle of nowhere surrounded by woods, beautiful lakes and lots of nature. Unfortunately, it was still pretty cold and snowing, so we couldn’t really enjoy the latter. But Chi was a wonderful host. His students prepared dinner for us and took us on a trip to Miyajima, a very beautiful shrine island in the bay of Hiroshima where we got some insights into Japanese culture and hiked up holy Mt. Misen.

During our time in Shobara, we had two rooms at the University guesthouse. Just focus on the word “two”. According to our host, the university has a very strict “guesthouse mother”. So we had to “stay in separate rooms and behave ourselves”. Aha. I thought it was kind of funny. It’s not like I am 25 years old and have been in a relationship for almost 10 year. But even though it was freezing cold there and I was all by myself, I really enjoyed it…thanks to the most comfortable pillow I ever had. It was filled with some sort of grain and so comfy - I slept like a baby.

On Saturday, our host took us to his hometown and some students showed us around Saijo, Hiroshima’s famous sake town. It was nice to stay at an authentic Japanese home, including tatami mats, futon mattress in the guestroom, heated toilet seats (not to talk about the Washlet type water jet that cleans whatever needs to be cleaned) and a shower that is missing the tub. And even the cat looked Japanese. After some awesome Japanese food, it was time for a movie and funnily enough our host suggested the German movie “Vier Minuten” (2006), which I have never heard of before. So there we were, staying at this authentic Japanese home, drinking Sake and watching a German movie with Japanese subtitles. The world is really small these days.

More about our Japan trip later…

Last year, I watched the 2009 (Half)Marathon in SLC finish at the Gateway mall and I was really struck by the fact that people that were less athletic than I am finished the race. Back then I wrote the following:

[...] and to see who’s running a half marathon was kind of shocking….basically EVERYBODY. Even some (let’s better say a lot of) overweight girls where I would have thought they had never done any sports in their life. I guess I was wrong.

So that was really some eye-opening event and even though it took some time to make it through to my head, this event changed me a lot. Ever since, the SLC Half Marathon 2010 was in my mind but for the longest time I still believed it was too much for me. So the year 2009 passed and with the beginning of the new year it was now or never. People who know me can tell you that I can be pretty weird….at least in terms of what keeps me going. It doesn’t work with pressure but I like to collect points (Unimotion), I like to see the run miles on my computer (Nike plus) and just the idea of getting a medal for running the SLC half marathon would be the nicest treat ever. So that’s what really motivated me: to get the SLC participant medal as a souvenir of our time in SLC. Not that this was the only reason to run but it was definitely something that kicked my butt when I didn’t want to go running or when I was frustrated. It made it a once in a lifetime opportunity since we are leaving SLC soon (more to that later) and coming back to SLC just for the race is not really an option. As I experienced in the past, it’s not so easy to just come here and start working out - the altitude really has an impact on you (or at least me) and you shouldn’t underestimate it.

I started with easy workouts in January and an online coaching program in February. The latter didn’t really work for me. Well, it definitely helped getting me out on the road and suggesting different types of training but I don’t believe it was made for the level I am/was on. In the beginning you have a 4 km evaluation run where you have to go to the limit. And that’s probably where the program got the wrong impression of what I am capable of. That left me with a training schedule that was way to easy and I believe I could have done better on the big day if I wouldn’t have stuck to it that long. The last month or so before the race the training schedule was more of an inspiration what kind of run to do that day but in terms of timing I always reduced it a minute or more per km. But overall it was a good thing - I took it slow the first two months to build up strength and get in shape and it probably has also kept me from getting injuries.

So April 17 was the day and it started really early (for what I call early). We got up at 4:30 am after preparing all our gear the day before. We left the house at 5:30 am to catch the Trax up to the UofU. It was amazing to see all those people being up that early. The full and the half marathon started at the Legacy Bridge at the University of Utah. The first thing on the list was to get in line for the porta-potties, which took up most of the time before the start. And after throwing our drop-off bags in one of the big trucks it was time to start running. No wait…first it was time for the national anthem of the United States of America. *sight* Exactly what I needed at 7 am in the morning, a few minutes after dawn while standing there  in the cold wearing my ultra light sleeveless shirt and shorts.

The beginning was pretty slow. People didn’t line up according to their pace so it took quite a while for the crowd to untangle. The first km was fun with so many different people…some were already walking after a few hundred meter, one woman was telling her friend that she forgot to exercise for the race (??), people were cheering and it was more slalom than racing.

There were not that many people watching the race. They wrote something about 25.000 spectators but I don’t know where they got that number. So racing in a bigger city must definitely be more fun. But there were some crazy people cheering, making bacon for the runners (who eats bacon during a race??), holding up posters, etc. Some runners took the race really easy, waiting in line for the bathrooms at every water station and one couple even left the course to buy some stuff at a gas station (what the heck…are you here to race or are you here to go shopping?).

I guess I had a pretty good day (for the longest part), even though it was getting harder once the sun came out and going up State Street almost killed me. You turn right at about km18 onto a straight road and you see all those people running up the hill in front of you for almost 3 km. That was the hardest part of the whole race and at that point my head didn’t want me to go any further. The bad thing is that I had expected that and I was kind of scared of that part - so I really should have run there during practice (however, downtown SLC is not the nicest place to go running). I am sure I could do much better now than I did on race day….by just making it once before. But I guess that’s part of the race. So the next challenge will be to get to the point where I can go to the limit and overcome the mental barriers in my head (is that possible?). Why let my body tell me to safe energy beyond 21.09 km when there are such nice volunteers waiting to supply me with food and drinks at the finish line?

In the end I was much better than I expected and I topped the prediction of my training program by more than one minute/km. Marc and I finished the 21.09 km in 2:11:15 (which was my pace, so it was a nice and easy run for Marc). For me, finishing the race was goal #1 (otherwise I wouldn’t be allowed to wear my new SLC Half Marathon sweater…what a waste), Sup 2:30 was goal #2 (otherwise I wouldn’t have told anyone that I actually ran the race), goal #3 was 2:20 and I didn’t really dare to dream of 2:15 (goal #4). So 2 hours and 11 minutes is far better than expected and I am really happy with that time. So far so good….WE DID IT!!