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During my Athens semester, I’ve had significantly more free time than I had during the first term in Oldenburg. We generally had one class of 3-5 hours each day, no mandatory homework, and no lab experiments/reports to do… Plus, I didn’t do any singing this semester – which might ordinarily fill much of my free time – so I devoted significant time and energy toward improving my fitness level (and trying to shrink that post-30 “spare tire”). During the first couple of weeks in Athens, I jogged two or three times per week with one of my flat-mates, François, who is a long-time runner. I also joined a gym and began exercising there several times each week. As the semester progressed, I kept up with the regular gym workouts but gradually eased off the jogging. I continued, however, jogging the short distance (~3/4 mile) to my gym each time I went for a workout. It’s not far, but at least it gives my heart and lungs a short workout every couple of days.
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A couple of weeks ago, many of my classmates started talking about an 8km (5 mile) run through downtown Athens. Lots of them are avid runners, and there was definitely a sense that this would be a “group activity not to miss.” Although I wanted to join in the fun, I wasn’t confident that I could run 8km – it sounded kind of far for a “non-runner”. But then I learned that there would also be a 3.5km (2 mile) run at the same time. That sounded doable, so I signed up.
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Ten EUREC master’s students (and one wife) – from both the “wind energy” and “buildings efficiency” groups – participated in the races (which started and finished together). I had fun experiencing all of the fanfare and communing with the tens of thousands of people there… but, in the end, it was a slightly disappointing experience for me. I expected to have difficulty and feel like I’d pushed myself to the limit when I crossed the finish line… but much to my surprise, I discovered that 3.5 km really isn’t very far. When I got to the finish line and barely felt winded, I wished I’d run the longer distance. Ah, well – live and learn.
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Since most of my pals ran 8km, I was able to arrive at the finish line early and snap photos of classmates as they finished the race. Here are a few shots from the event.
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François, my roommate, crossing the finish line
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Carlos y Carlos – і bien hecho !
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This tortoise found me while I was trying to (privately) water a tree after the race
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Ok, now what’s for lunch? (photo by F.Santodomingo-Llamas)
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L-R: Marion, Emmanuel, Fernando, Emma, Carlos, Carlos, Pierre, François, Filippo, Scott, Nora
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After the race, a few of us walked to the Olympic stadium (where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896) for some photo ops.
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On your mark, get set… (photo by C.Godard)
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Hmmm… What gender do you figure this statue was intended to be?
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Emmanuel, Fernando, & I reach for the gold (photo by C.Godard)
