runner in the dark, YO
two entries for the price of one? i mean, it is the cz rpb.
having jettisoned prague, for smaller venues, our taxi plopped us off an hour and a half south, in the town of tabor. this town is crazy! i have been here for only about 6 hours. we managed to sneak in a little shooting, and then the sun set and was time to check into our hotel. somehow we manged to stuff all 14 of our bags into our clients car. all david could comment on was "is this a honda?!" while the tripod case and i were busy in the backseat having more than just a casual spoon.
tabor is amazing. we are situated in the old section, and i am a total sucker for twisting and turning cobblestone streets and old facades. what can i say? we actually finished work early enough that i was able to get run in before work. i love running, and i especially love running in foriegn countries when the odds of getting lost are good. i thank my friend brad paris for this. (http://bradparis.com/cozine-lorber/ said wedding several posts earlier)
have i mentioned that tabor is in southern bohemia, and surrounded by a bohemian forest? (also near the birthplace of budweiser) perfect. i head down to reception, and ask about a good 10-15k run i can do. something out of town, and into the countryside, the woods, what have you. i havent run in a bit and i am totally chomping at the bit. the ladies look at me, talk amongst themselves, hand me a map and say, "here" pointing to the crooked little river running cross town. then they laugh and roll their swivel chairs back to hotmail or where ever they came from.
awesome i think.
witches, warlocks and maybe even damzels in distress? (little did i know, the damzel in distress would be me. ha.) i am totally amped and ready to go. i literally run out the door and head down the winding hill, turning right here, yes yes, this must be correct. oh yes, there is the dead elm, i think, hanging a left. dusk has set in, the air is cool and crisp and i can hear the river, not far now. not far now at all. down a gravel road my brooks take me and i am off! a single lane road into the woods, rolling hills. forest forest forest. this was definitely bordering as one of the best runs ever on one of these trips. i think the only thing that could have possibly made it better would have been to find n. at the end of the trail, with my bike, princess.
the thing that i love about running in the dark, through foriegn weird new places, is that in a strange way, it puts my mind at ease and i feel totally free. as i progressed along the road, it started to become less road and more forest. bohemian forest. alas, i reached a bend in the road and headed down towards the river. i came to a little foot bridge that went across the river and i headed out on it, and i had what an alcholic might refer to as "a moment of clarity", do i have my references straight?
i reached the middle of the bridge and everything felt surreal and completely present. i felt i could continue across the bridge and dissapear into the woods and this plane of reality, and out of this consciousness. it felt natural and so tempting. its happened a few other times, in china on top of a mountain, in oman in the desert...and now in bohemia, in the dark woods.
it felt like a life choice, an important philosophical life choice.
i chose to turn back.
thats when the forest decided to turn on me. by this time it was pitch black and i think some of the awe of the woods had worn off and had been replaced by a dark shifting, not quite quiet forest. trees swayed differently than i remembered. as i ran i heard the sounds of small animals scuttling off to the side as i passed. then the sounds got larger and the shadows got teeth. soon, the sounds of breaking twigs, were replaced by the sounds of breaking branches and for a full thirty seconds or so, something was running along side me and i am sure it was smiling its wicked smile, up there, along the hillside, just past the darknes.
it went like this.
it.
me.
river.
my choices were few. i ran faster and squealled ever so slightly (damsel damsel).
pulse rose, sweat poured, corner rounded, more shadows, more noises, another corner rounded, gravel turning to pavement and i finally saw the soft yellow glow of a lone street lamp. my pace slowed. my breathing eased. i thought back to the ladies in the hotel lobby who recommened this run, and the way they laughed, and how they offered to give me the number to the hotel "just in case". and what exactly am i supoosed to do with that number? call it with my aura? perhaps burn the piece of paper were i to become lost, in the middle of the forest, in order to keep warm?
this run turned out to be a nike add that met the movie teen wolf, that met bjork, who happened to be listening to queen, on her headphones.
hope you are all well.
-amadeo, the bohemian rhapsody
having jettisoned prague, for smaller venues, our taxi plopped us off an hour and a half south, in the town of tabor. this town is crazy! i have been here for only about 6 hours. we managed to sneak in a little shooting, and then the sun set and was time to check into our hotel. somehow we manged to stuff all 14 of our bags into our clients car. all david could comment on was "is this a honda?!" while the tripod case and i were busy in the backseat having more than just a casual spoon.tabor is amazing. we are situated in the old section, and i am a total sucker for twisting and turning cobblestone streets and old facades. what can i say? we actually finished work early enough that i was able to get run in before work. i love running, and i especially love running in foriegn countries when the odds of getting lost are good. i thank my friend brad paris for this. (http://bradparis.com/cozine-lorber/ said wedding several posts earlier)
have i mentioned that tabor is in southern bohemia, and surrounded by a bohemian forest? (also near the birthplace of budweiser) perfect. i head down to reception, and ask about a good 10-15k run i can do. something out of town, and into the countryside, the woods, what have you. i havent run in a bit and i am totally chomping at the bit. the ladies look at me, talk amongst themselves, hand me a map and say, "here" pointing to the crooked little river running cross town. then they laugh and roll their swivel chairs back to hotmail or where ever they came from.
awesome i think.
witches, warlocks and maybe even damzels in distress? (little did i know, the damzel in distress would be me. ha.) i am totally amped and ready to go. i literally run out the door and head down the winding hill, turning right here, yes yes, this must be correct. oh yes, there is the dead elm, i think, hanging a left. dusk has set in, the air is cool and crisp and i can hear the river, not far now. not far now at all. down a gravel road my brooks take me and i am off! a single lane road into the woods, rolling hills. forest forest forest. this was definitely bordering as one of the best runs ever on one of these trips. i think the only thing that could have possibly made it better would have been to find n. at the end of the trail, with my bike, princess.
the thing that i love about running in the dark, through foriegn weird new places, is that in a strange way, it puts my mind at ease and i feel totally free. as i progressed along the road, it started to become less road and more forest. bohemian forest. alas, i reached a bend in the road and headed down towards the river. i came to a little foot bridge that went across the river and i headed out on it, and i had what an alcholic might refer to as "a moment of clarity", do i have my references straight?
i reached the middle of the bridge and everything felt surreal and completely present. i felt i could continue across the bridge and dissapear into the woods and this plane of reality, and out of this consciousness. it felt natural and so tempting. its happened a few other times, in china on top of a mountain, in oman in the desert...and now in bohemia, in the dark woods.
it felt like a life choice, an important philosophical life choice.i chose to turn back.
thats when the forest decided to turn on me. by this time it was pitch black and i think some of the awe of the woods had worn off and had been replaced by a dark shifting, not quite quiet forest. trees swayed differently than i remembered. as i ran i heard the sounds of small animals scuttling off to the side as i passed. then the sounds got larger and the shadows got teeth. soon, the sounds of breaking twigs, were replaced by the sounds of breaking branches and for a full thirty seconds or so, something was running along side me and i am sure it was smiling its wicked smile, up there, along the hillside, just past the darknes.
it went like this.
it.
me.
river.
my choices were few. i ran faster and squealled ever so slightly (damsel damsel).
pulse rose, sweat poured, corner rounded, more shadows, more noises, another corner rounded, gravel turning to pavement and i finally saw the soft yellow glow of a lone street lamp. my pace slowed. my breathing eased. i thought back to the ladies in the hotel lobby who recommened this run, and the way they laughed, and how they offered to give me the number to the hotel "just in case". and what exactly am i supoosed to do with that number? call it with my aura? perhaps burn the piece of paper were i to become lost, in the middle of the forest, in order to keep warm?
this run turned out to be a nike add that met the movie teen wolf, that met bjork, who happened to be listening to queen, on her headphones.
hope you are all well.
-amadeo, the bohemian rhapsody
posted by dirty cookie at 12:52 PM
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