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Berlin next year and my journey towards it.

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Berlin and me       I first heard about the Berlin Wall when I was 10, with President Reagan's "tear down this wall" speech. When opened 2 years later to allow people to cross it without preconditions, it was almost literally torn down. As a teenager during the year of effective reunification in 1991, I saw Berlin for the first time. On the drive there from Bavaria, between crossing the old inter-German border and Berlin itself, the entire family got to see some of the withdrawal of the last units of the Red Army from our Vauxhall Cavalier. I was transfixed at the sight of them and the gradually dilapidating remnants of the end of the Cold War. The 3rd year of my degree was both work experience and concurrent research assignments. I had managed to successfully pester my German Studies professor into me going to Berlin. It had been the capital since my first visit, and the parliament was due to move there from Bonn the year after living there in spring and summer of 1998....
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Crowning the ultimate recovery - bumrun 5K

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         Bumrun  aims to raise funds for and awareness of colon cancer. The fact that the Calgary version of their nationwide 5k races starts and finishes at Foothills Medical Centre  is highly fitting for me, as n early 9 years ago at FMC  I had 3 neurological operations, the 1st of which was urgent. The opportunity for me to completely redeem myself is how and why I was at that start line on May 10th at 9am.           About a minute before the race began, an ambulance passed, fittingly with its lights and a few seconds of its siren expressing kudos to the 140 participants, not only just for me.          Having lined up near the front, my plan was to have the frontrunners as pacemakers - a means of ensuring that 5 minutes per kilometre would be the slowest I would run. Before the first road crossing, I also ascertained that there were 10 in front of me.        Af...
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2025 plan and wish list

While I have been busy with the Basement Tapes routine, wishes and plans are afoot when it comes to actual races and training for them.  *The start of the season will be Spring Trio in April. Whereas I did the 5k last time, I will do the 10k so as to take in even more of the Elbow River.  *May will feature 2 races, starting with a 5k, Bumrun . The course loops around the University of Calgary. Most significantly of all, the start/finish is on the grounds of Foothills Medical Centre . Given how my life hung in the balance there 9 years ago, if any of the surgeons/doctors/nurses happen to be at the finish line, I may end up saying, "thanks for keeping me alive. I would hug you, but as I have just run 5 kilometres, I stink ."     At the end of May at the Calgary Marathon event which I have run countless times, I will take part in  the only distance I have never run there: 10k. *Six weeks later, on the anniversary of D-Day, there is the Stampede Road Race . Whil...
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The Basement Tapes

        More than just a Bob Dylan and The Band album, it also describes my train of thought while working out and planning how to become full runner once again. While the lead up to my head injury and resulting coma will always be unknown, I can only guess that it was a glancing blow by a speeding car while I was crossing a nearby road. Ever since, it has been beside the point of recovering fully.          After I was discharged from hospital many years  ago, I have done 3 5k races. The resulting pleasure doing them and my enthusiasm meant I got carried away - metaphorically jumping too soon. A few seizures have prompted me to not get too greedy and to only restart properly once I have proven to myself that I am truly ready. Since those episodes, I have been doing workouts in my basement for over 3 years. At least 5 times per week, I have been doing fast back-and-forth running intervals, interspersed with sit ups and free wei...
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Future Dreams & Runs

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The comeback happened on September 9th. There will be more races in the future. I'm not in a rush to do more, I'm mainly keen to collect more finisher's medals.  Next year , I will volunteer at the Calgary Marathon. As well as the package pickup, I hope to hand out finisher's medals. I will wear my GoPro at the time. A welcome return to the Dino Dash will also take place. 2-4 years from now, there will be more road races, mostly in Calgary. 2022 The main aim and dream is the Berlin Marathon . I speak fluent German, I know Berlin well, so it would not be my first visit.  Looking at the course map, the run crosses the Berlin Wall route 4 times. In addition, the course takes in Kurfürstendamm (Berlin's equivalent to the Champs Élysées) and Potsdamer Platz .  Most significantly, the start line is next to the Brandenburg Gate. The finish line is underneath it, and the finisher's medal has the Brandenburg Gate on it.  That will be my favourite finish medal after I ...
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