Friday, September 2, 2011

Oberstdorf Germany Update

On the drive from Fuessen to Oberstdorf on Wednesday I could barely keep my eyes open!  I was nodding to sleep in the back seat but the drive was less than 1hr so it didn’t really give me a chance to settle in.  By the time we found our guest house and packed our stuff in I was awake again.


We walked around and found a pizzeria for lunch.  After lunch we drove to (one of many) a tram where we hiked at the top.  Our hike as about 1.5hrs and it basically climbed had a bit of flat and climbed again.  Trent went all the way to the ridge and Sarah went part way up but Carter and I turned before the approach to the base of the ridge.  I didn’t want to do too much but at the same time I didn’t want to miss out on anything.  It was so beautiful!  There we were… in the ALPS!  We hiked past cows with big cow bells around their necks and so many people.  Kids of all ages and adults of all ages… they were all so happy!

We enjoyed a beer at one of the café’s and hiked down the steep paved road instead of taking the tram.  The tram cost us $20 euro ($30 cdn) for the three of us to go up and it would have been the same to go down.  We headed back to our guest house and then took Carter for Schnitzel!  He has been waiting since we arrived and it was so good!!!!  I had it too and we finished the day with schocolate gelato J
I slept much better for the first time since arriving, however I still have diarrhea.  And Thursday morning when we woke up at 7:45am (breakfast is at 8am) I felt like shit.  I went to bed with a headache and woke up with a headache. I forced myself to eat a bun, salami and cheese (yes, plates full of meat, cheese, fresh bakery bread and buns is what they serve) and then I went back to bed.
We were all going to take another gondola up and hike/hang out at altitude, but I could barely make it back to my room from breakfast. (plus it was raining) So I knew I needed rest and I was running out of days till the start of the race to get any.  So Trent took off in the rain and hiked up over 5000 feet to the Neddlehorn Peak.  He had a great day and despite getting wet, he was elated when he returned at 3pm.
 I stayed in bed and slept on and off until 11:30am.  Carter was so good.  Poor guy… he played his iPod touch, read and snuggled with me.  Then Sarah, Carter and I walked into town for lunch.  I started drinking water with Gatorade that morning thinking it might help to bring my electrolytes up.  We walked around again for almost 3hrs.  The time just goes by so fast when you’re here because there is so much to see and it is so beautiful.  We stopped at a bakery, picked up some apple strudel and cheesecake and headed back to the guesthouse.
By 5pm we were on the road again and went to register for the race.  How exciting!  We didn’t see many teams, but there were posters and volunteers all over the Oberstdorf Haus where this took place.  We got some sweet schwag too!  A Salomon bag, race shirt, visor, sunglass case and food.  They gave us our ID tags and race bibs.  We paid a $50 euro deposit because they have the race chip on the back of our bib numbers.  They also give you a sheet with a list of emergency numbers on it for each country we will go through.  Lastly, a set of maps for each stage that we much carry with us every day. 
We went for dinner and then back home to our guesthouse by 8pm.  I still was not feeling well, with headache and diarrhea.  Trying not to get too worried, but with only 1 day and 2 sleeps away from the start of the race and knew I couldn't have a morning like this where I couldn't even get out of bed.  I went to bed and just hoped for a good sleep and to wake up feeling better.

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