08-12-2014, 09:34 PM
Rosie's marathon started at 7:30am so she was up about 6, I kept a pillow over my head till 7 as she got ready. I dragged my ass out of bed right after she left, got dressed and quickly picked up a couple take out coffees. She likes a few sips before running and I knew she wouldn't stop on her own in case she was late. So I found her and she was quite happy to see me and the coffee. It is unusual for the races we usually run, there were more marathoners than what ran the half, more than 500, although the amount of spectators was a bit less because of the start time I guess. It was another nice day and it was going to be plenty warm soon. I watched her at the start then made my way to a spot to have some breakfast. The marathon was a different route, just one long loop taking her well out of town around a couple larger lakes then close to the neuschwanstein castle before coming back into Fussen. My plan was to rent a bicycle and try to catch up to her, but the earliest opening I could find at a rental shop was 10am, she would be over half done by that time. So I had a big buffet breakfast at a really nice cafe attached to one of the more luxurious hotels. Had a bit of sticker shock when I paid, 17 euros! At least it was good and I ate all I could (nothing new there).
I wandered around the town while watching the time. I was still a bit sore but was loosening up at least. Went to the bike shop just past 9:30 and the guy was just opening up. I had to wait for a customer in front of me but by about 9:45 I was on my way, I kind of knew the route from a crappy map they handed out, and it was fairly well marked. It took me about 10 minutes to get to a point where I thought I might intercept her where the route doubles back from circling one of the 2 large lakes they would go around. I initially was going against the light running traffic but when I came to a marker showing 17km I knew she would have passed that point already. It was about 2 1/2 hours into the race so she would have gone at least 25kms by that point. The route (at that point) followed a wide paved walking/biking trail and it no problem getting passed the runners as they were mostly spread out, and as a runner I was sure to be very respectful of giving them all the space I could and would pass as to not interrupt their cadence. As I continued on I was getting tired and my sore knees were starting to bother me. The course was very scenic and I stopped to take pictures along the way, as much to rest as much as anything. I passed by countless runners and I knew Rosie was going to have a good race time in her 2nd ever marathon. I went by a nice beach where there were several people swimming and I almost stopped and jumped in, it looked so inviting. Then I went by a couple guys carrying fly rods and I wanted to stop and talk but I knew I wanted to catch my wife, plus they probably never spoke english anyways. It was around the 33km mark that I finally caught up to her. At that point I was ready to stop biking but I had no choice. We had a small chat (she likes to talk while running), and then I worked my way ahead of her where I would wait till she passed so I could take pictures of her. I did this several times. I saw a few interesting sites along the way. At one point one of the female runners must have decided she couldn't hold it anymore, and proceeded to pull down her shorts to relieve herself right in the "bushes" (grass) as I biked passed her. When you gotta go, ya gotta go, I guess.
I wandered around the town while watching the time. I was still a bit sore but was loosening up at least. Went to the bike shop just past 9:30 and the guy was just opening up. I had to wait for a customer in front of me but by about 9:45 I was on my way, I kind of knew the route from a crappy map they handed out, and it was fairly well marked. It took me about 10 minutes to get to a point where I thought I might intercept her where the route doubles back from circling one of the 2 large lakes they would go around. I initially was going against the light running traffic but when I came to a marker showing 17km I knew she would have passed that point already. It was about 2 1/2 hours into the race so she would have gone at least 25kms by that point. The route (at that point) followed a wide paved walking/biking trail and it no problem getting passed the runners as they were mostly spread out, and as a runner I was sure to be very respectful of giving them all the space I could and would pass as to not interrupt their cadence. As I continued on I was getting tired and my sore knees were starting to bother me. The course was very scenic and I stopped to take pictures along the way, as much to rest as much as anything. I passed by countless runners and I knew Rosie was going to have a good race time in her 2nd ever marathon. I went by a nice beach where there were several people swimming and I almost stopped and jumped in, it looked so inviting. Then I went by a couple guys carrying fly rods and I wanted to stop and talk but I knew I wanted to catch my wife, plus they probably never spoke english anyways. It was around the 33km mark that I finally caught up to her. At that point I was ready to stop biking but I had no choice. We had a small chat (she likes to talk while running), and then I worked my way ahead of her where I would wait till she passed so I could take pictures of her. I did this several times. I saw a few interesting sites along the way. At one point one of the female runners must have decided she couldn't hold it anymore, and proceeded to pull down her shorts to relieve herself right in the "bushes" (grass) as I biked passed her. When you gotta go, ya gotta go, I guess.