So in preparation I’ve already begun to build up mileage. Because–let’s be honest–I don’t only want to finish, I want a decent time. Ideally, 4 hours.

Anyway, with that preparation in mind I ran 18 miles on Saturday morning. Slow, but decent; I was looking for endurance, not speed. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I actually turned around at the border of the next state south, which is amusing because my favorite thing about my run back in Berlin (its own state) is that it takes me into Brandenburg.

But the point of me writing all of this wasn’t to brag about running to another state, or to announce my marathon intentions, but rather to report on the strange sight I witnessed on my way back: swans, standing in line after a few pedestrians, apparently waiting for a ferry to come back across the Rhine. And when I say swans, I mean giant swans.

Though I did not actually see them get on the ferry, I can only assume they thought the water too cold for a swim across. Or perhaps they were hoping to become the stars of a sequel to that instant classic, Snakes on a Plane.

Well, that’s half true. I plan how far I’m going to run, and how fast I’d like to run, but that’s different. That process is more vague. Today, however, I set a goal for my run: half a marathon (13.1 miles) in under two hours.

And I did it. In fact, I finished in just a little over 1:50. Which gives me hope that when I finally do run a marathon, I might be in a position to do it in around four hours. I’m not there yet, of course, but I think I will be.

Today isn’t the first time I’ve run 13.1 miles: I’ve run that far several times, I’ve even done 20 miles once or twice. But today was the fastest. I think part of the reason is that I’m at a place now where running ten miles (my normal run) at 9 minutes per mile is not that hard a thing to do.

On a related note: found a Chinese restaurant with a buffet for lunch. Worth every euro cent.