Bremen | Kuß * Rosa

Everywhere I’ve called home, I’ve had a favorite neighborhood restaurant. You know the kind of place I mean, right? Delicious food and a relaxed atmosphere that keeps you going back again and again. The kind of place where you celebrate birthdays with friends, and where you always bring out-of-town guests to give them an insider’s peak at life in your city. For me that was Tup Tim Thai in Seattle, Bogota in Brooklyn, Sigiriya in Berlin, and now Kuß * Rosa in Bremen.

Based in Bremen’s Neustadt, Kuß * Rosa was started by a local collective and named after the German socialist activist Rosa Luxemburg. The menu is written on chalkboards hanging next to the bar and change regularly depending on what foods are in season. Everything is organically grown or raised, and local when possible. There are plenty of vegetarian options. I can wholeheartedly recommend any of their lasagnas, quiches, and tarts. And the handmade gnocchi with spinach and tomatoes that I had during my last visit wasn’t half bad either. (That’s German for awesome!)

The atmosphere is ultra relaxed and has a real neighborhood feel. There is no scene to have to fit into. There’s just comfortably old tables and chairs, good food, drinks, and a pool table in the back, if you’re in the mood.

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? I think so at least. Next time you’re in Bremen and looking for an evening off the beaten path, make sure to swing by!

Kuß * Rosa | Buntentorsteinweg 143 | Neustadt, Bremen
Strassenbahn: 4/5 Schwankhalle

September 8, 2014

Race Report | Rykä-Frauenlauf 10K

It’s been awhile since I’ve run a race without actually racing it. I used to do it all the time with shorter distances in NYC, just for the sake of enjoying the company of friends and a few thousand other New Yorkers. Yesterday, I did it again for a totally different reason…

Although I’ve been doing well with my speed work and tempo runs, I can’t seem to get my motivation up enough during my long runs to maintain anything other than an easy pace. Not the end of the world, but you know. So my idea was to incorporate some race miles into my long run and using the adrenaline to keep my pace up — fast enough to get a good training run in, but not so fast that I would need to collapse afterwards.

Since I had 8 miles up on deck for a step-back week in my training plan, the Rykä-Frauenlauf 10K race seemed like a good opportunity for that kind of run — small, only €7, and not far from home. My plan was to take public transportation to the race, run the 10K, and then run the 2 miles home. But as it turns out, I also got to walk/run the 2 miles to the race since the trams were blocked by an ambulance and there was no telling when the tracks would be free. Bonus miles!

The race was two loops around Bremen’s Bürgerpark — a path I’ve gotten to know like the back of my hand this past year. I planned to do the whole run at an even 10:16 pace, but my adrenaline had me hovering at about 9:45 for most of the race. Since it didn’t seem overwhelmingly hard to maintain, I just went with it. Towards the end, when all the other racers were kicking it into high gear, I made a solid effort just to keep my pace steady and remind myself of the extra miles on my plate.*

But as you can see from my splits below, as soon as those race miles were over, my pace got markedly slower. Only part of that can be blamed on running through city streets rather than in the park. A lot of it was mental.

Even so, overall I ran those 8.22 miles with an average of 10:08/mile. It might have been more effective for my training to hold that all the way through — or even stick to the planned 10:16/mile — instead of letting the pace jump around so much. But I’ll take it anyway.

Four more weeks of training to go! Are you training for anything at the moment?

* It was a good thing I wasn’t racing it for time, since my timing chip malfunctioned! It was on my wrist and should have beeped when I swiped it over the timing equipment, but nope. Spent a good 15-20 seconds trying to get it to work before one of the volunteers called my time and number out to be manually recorded. I also didn’t stop my watch until after all the chaos was over, so I can’t even tell you my real time!

September 6, 2014

Running | Mind-Body Connection

At the moment, I am attempting to balance one of the biggest intellectual challenges I’ve ever faced with a fitness goal that’s pretty challenging in its own right. It might sound crazy training to run a personal best in a half marathon during the final months of writing my dissertation. But I believe strongly in the mind-body connection and am convinced that running helps me stay focused and motivated when I’m sitting at my desk.

While some people use running as a time to think, I love using it as a time not to think. My brain is running in a million different directions of its own these days and training hard helps me shut it off for awhile. I love speed workouts for their meditative qualities — when I’m giving it my all for 800 meters intervals, I can’t think about anything else in the world besides my breathing and the rhythm of my steps (even if I wanted to). Clearing my mind is something I have a hard time doing otherwise, but I can always count on a good run to do just that.

That’s why I love the infographic below. Although the physical benefits of exercise are clear, the mental benefits shouldn’t be underestimated!

Source: Fix.com

Do you believe in the mind-body connection? Do you exercise for the mental benefits too?

P.S. As part of my training, I’ll be running the Rykä-Frauenlauf 10K tomorrow. I won’t be racing, but using it as a base for an 8-mile run and trying to hold a steady pace throughout. Race report to come next week!

September 3, 2014

Books | Summer Reading 2014

Reading in the evenings has become my way to unwind after long days and hard workouts. It’s also my preferred source of entertainment during my commute now that I only have to schlep my Kindle around rather than heavy books — this is super relevant for the heavy (literally and figuratively) books I have read this summer! Here’s a look…

A Tale for the Time Being

I tried to explain this book in a nutshell to some friends over lunch, but there’s really no way to do that without diving deep into the story and its characters — it’s a story within a story within a story. Ruth, an author living on a remote island off of Canada’s Pacific coast, discovers a Japanese girl’s diary that has washed up on the shore. In that diary, Nao describes her troubled life in Tokyo and tells of her 104-year-old great grandmother, who became a Buddhist monk after her son died as a kamikaze pilot in World War II. The tales from Nao’s diary become wound together with Ruth’s own personal struggles in sometimes fantastical ways. I loved this book for its honest and unromanticized glimpse into sometimes heartbreaking Japanese culture and customs.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

Wanting to pay tribute to Maya Angelou’s recent death, I decided to read one of her most well known autobiographies focusing on her life as a young girl. Angelou was raised in turns by her grandmother in rural Arkansas, her mother in St. Louis and San Francisco, and her father in LA. She describes both the triumphal moments in her young life — like becoming the first black female streetcar conductor in San Francisco — and those that crushed her soul — like being raped as a young girl by her mother’s boyfriend. I loved Angelou’s voice throughout and looked forward to every story she had to tell.

Bossy Pants

After the heavy themes of the previous two books, I needed something light and entertaining. I’m a big fan of Tina Fey and loved her humorous insights into the very male-centered world of comedy and improv. I tore through Bossy Pants in just a couple days and would certainly recommend it as a light read.

What are you reading these days? I’m currently loving Mandela’s autobiography A Long Walk to Freedom. Do you have any recommendations to share?