2016 Running Summary

Here are my running statistics for 2016. What I find amazing is that I ran almost the same distance and elevation gain as last two years... Even the number or runs is almost identical, and the speed too!

Actually the statistics for this year might be a bit inflated. During the summer, when running in the forest under the canopy, my phone's GPS  is not too precise and tends to inflate the distances... In any case, my intention was to run a bit less and a bit slower this year...

	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Running Sessions	110	173	196	196	197
Total Distance	1529	2915	3599	3665	3606
Total elevation gain [meters]			150000*	170000	158000
Total running time	156h 41m	347h 32m	433h 18m	410h 21m	403h 43m
Average speed [km/h]	9.6	8.39	8.31	8.93	8.93
Average pace [min/km]	6:15	7:09	7.13	6:43	6:43
Average run length [km]	13.9	16.8	18.3	18.7	18.3
Races	8	9	2	2	1
			* Estimated

I ended 2016 with two ski days, as this season so far we had a real winter - unlike last year.
I also plan to start next year with a ski tour from home to the top of Postavarul mountain. See you there 😅.

31 Dec 2016 on Postavarul Mountain

This Christmas I marked two years of being vegan. So far the vegan life style worked great for me! And I plan to continue it indefinitely...

Have a Happy 2016!

White Christmas!

Finally a proper white Christmas! What used to be the absolute norm in Brasov, has become more of an exception during the warming last two decades...

This photo is taken a week ago, along the most popular walking and running roads in the city.  It still looks quite similar today, thanks to the the cold weather of the last week.

 

Down in the valley, the city did not  get too much sunshine during the last week. It was covered by a low layer of clouds; yet the snow makes it look bright and festive!

Have a Merry Christmas!

Winter

This year we seem to have a normal December in Brasov. At least, it is how I remember it! So far, on most days this month the temperature stayed below zero degrees Celsius. Some mornings were really frosty, with temperatures less than -15C. We also have snow in the city for many days now...
After the last winters when we had higher and higher record temperatures and springtime like weather during the Christmas, this winter almost feels a bit odd... it just emphasizes the fact that the last winters were too warm!

Yesterday I took a photo stroll near Brasov, through the forests on Postavarul Mountain. All was still and frozen like it should be during a winter day. The sun is now about at the lowest above horizon as we are just days away from the winter solstice. The low sun, filtered through the forest canopy combined with the bright snow produces such a special lighting...

Here are some of the best shots of the day:

 

Three days, three seasons...

This was an amazing weekend! Each day was unique, with wonderful weather. Each day was so different from the others! Each morning I said that I should have a rest day, but then, when seeing the weather and the landscape outside, I had to go for a run!

Friday was a glorious day. Dry, cold and calm weather with blue skies and very good visibility. I did a long run enjoying the frozen trails and the little dust of snow from the day before. The views were fantastic... I wish I had a bit more time so I would have climb to top of Postavarul. Here are three photos from my Friday run:

The beautiful road to Poiana Brasov

View towards Piatra Craiului and Fagarasi Mountains

Saturday was one of those windy and warm days. The foehn wind was announcing the fact that the weather is going to change. The mountains were covered in thick clouds, but at lower altitudes it was rather sunny as in this photo I took while running to Poiana.

On The forest road to Poiana. Postavarul peak is hidden behind the clouds

Sunday brought us first snow down in Brasov city. The morning looked like a normal November morning, gray and wet after the overnight rain. Then, around 8 AM it started to snow. By 10AM the landscape was completely changed! Winter! The snow came with strong winds. I went for a run to Poiana, on my usual route. Most of the time the route follows the valleys, being quite sheltered from the strong winds. Occasionally, on the more exposed places the wind gusts were quite powerful storming the fresh snow, blinding me and reducing the visibility to a few tens of meters.

What a change from yesterday!

This is how I looked after 90 minutes of running through the snow storm... Not too white actually...

What can be better than running through the snow, then a hot shower, a good warm meal and a lazy Sunday afternoon in the warm home...

Should I continue higher?

Yesterday started with a cold, dark and gray morning. Nothing unusual for a late October day, but for sure, the weather was not inviting for a run. The mountains were all covered by thick clouds so the plans I made the day before for running all the way up to Postavarul peak did not make much sense. I usually avoid running up the mountains if the tops are covered in clouds and fog, especially on cold and windy days.

Later during the morning the clouds seem to get thinner so I eventually ventured out for a run. The plan was to run from home towards Poiana Brasov, and continue higher up the Postavarul mountain if the clouds would clear away. When I arrived in Poiana, the clouds started to get thinner, and I could catch a glimpse of the trees up on the mountain... they were white, covered in frost!

So I decided to go further. Half way up the mountain, the wind started to blow. Not hard, but just enough to make me feel cold in the frosty temperatures.

The clouds were melting fast and the peaks were all visible now. On one hand I felt cold and wanted to return, on the other hand, the white heights were calling me... I could not resist...

 

So I went a bit higher... 

 

then a little bit higher... 

I accelerated to get warmer... and step by step I reached the top of the mountain. The views from here were amazing!

 

White mountain tops towering above autumn colored forests, with the colors muted by by a soft light filtered through a thin dreamy mist.

 

I could not stay for too long up there. The wind was freezing and my running clothes were too thin. I started to run downhill, noticing that all ski slopes seem to be prepared for the winter season.

 

Hopefully this season we will have winter. Last winter season we had a long autumn, followed by a very early spring and only two weeks of proper winter in between! If the current cold and quite humid weather will persist over the next months, we should have a good winter.

I left the ski slopes behind and continued my run back to Brasov along Crucur ridge, through the thick and beautiful forest. For a while the trees were covered in frost creating an almost surreal landscape.

Lower down the mountain I started to feel warm again. No more frost on the trees below 1400m. Just the intense and warm autumnal colors.

It was one of my best runs of the year. Full of amazing surprising views. I did not start with high expectations, but I kept an open mind and insisted going up step by step until I reached the top.

Here is the GPS track recorded yesterday:


After I returned home, I saw on the news that a tourist was attacked by a bear very close from the trail I used to go up to Poiana. Even though all the news channels were reporting this news, none of them gave the important news. How and where exactly it happened. I have a feeling that this folk did not realize how dangerous a bear can be and probably wanted a selfie with it...  Was it on a main trail? I doubt it, as during the weekend the area is full of hikers and you never hear about bears. The bears know which are the trails used by humans and avoid them.

Full Autumn Colors!

After a week with quite a few long runs, today I slowed down to enjoy the beautiful autumn colors in the forests around Brasov. The autumn colors are at their maximum, just perfect for taking photos!

The Autumn is back...

After a very warm first week of October, that felt like a late summer, the temperatures suddenly dropped by almost 20 C degrees. The high mountains received their first snow of the season, while the forests in the valleys, started to turn the green into autumnal colors.

Here are a few photos with first autumn colors of this year, taken this weekend on my trail running "playground" around Brasov.