Throughout the span of my pro-running career, I have experienced living in many different locales. I am a creature of habit, so my goal has always been to find a spot and stick with it, but until now I haven't quite found the perfect fit.
In 2008, my first European summer, I stayed in Cologne, Germany, but wasn't a big fan. I came over by myself, didn't bring my computer (seemed like a good idea at the time...until I got to Europe), stayed in the Sports University dorms, and overall just felt homesick.
The next year (2009), Leo Manzano and I stayed in Teddington, England, just outside of London, and while I absolutely LOVED it there, my blood-pressure rose every time I went through customs (and our coach one time got detained), so we decided that we better find someplace else.
Last year (2010) was a case of musical rooms. We went first to Egmund Aan Zee, about 45 minutes outside of Amsterdam, and though the training was great, we had to take a bus to a train to get to every plane, and the commute became too much. I did some mid-summer altitude training in Font Romeu, France and then settled into Leuven, Belgium. Things were pretty good there, but I still hadn't found my perfect fit.
So now, summer of 2011, I have to laugh at the fact that I have come full circle back to Cologne, Germany (called Koln in Germany), and I couldn't be happier!
This year, I am in a serviced apartment located equidistant from the track and downtown, and otherwise in the center of my little universe of needs. Within 400m in any direction I have access to the tram, the park, grocery stores, cafes, a Deutche Bank (no BofA fees!), and many cafes. When it's time for practice, a 5 min train ride takes me to the track, unless I decide to run there through the park, which takes about 15 min. When it's time for dinner, if I don't feel like cooking then a 5 min tram ride takes me to a huge array of restaurants.
I owe this ideal situation to Steffen Keil, one of my agents at Peter Stubbs Management. He lives in Cologne and is the one who setup everything for me and my teammates.
Below is a map I created, showing some of my favorite spots. Click on it for further details about running, food & shopping in Cologne.
View Cologne Points of Interest in a larger map
Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting Alex from FloTrack for a couple nights. He made a Euro Shack Video of my teammate (not boyfriend :P) Leo Manzano's room. Since we're nextdoor neighbors, I am there hanging out as well. Check the video below to see our accomodations.
Watch more video of FloEuro Adventures 2011 on flotrack.org
Alex also captured the workout of two of my other teammates, Treniere Moser and David Torrence. To see the track we use, check out this video.
Watch more video of FloEuro Adventures 2011 on flotrack.org
As of today I am actually off to London for one more 1500m race. After that I am heading to St. Moritz for some altitude training before heading off to Daegu, South Korea for the World Championships near the end of the month. I have never been to St. Moritz before, but I am hoping that training and living will be great there as well! As for Daegu...fingers and toes crossed. :)
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