As I was running around Budapest, I came across their largest public park, Margaret Island, which runs through the middle of the Danube River right in between the two halves of the city. Since the Ironman Triathlon was being run that same weekend in the city, I followed a crowd of triathletes as they made their way to a rubber-coated track on the island, which runs roughly 3.33 miles around its perimeter. For all intensive purposes, it was the largest single-lane track I've ever come across, completed marked out with kilometer splits, which was perfect for the lane 6 tempo work I wanted to complete. The island itself was shaded by natural trees and cooled by the fast-flowing river on either side, so I ran at 4:48/mile pace, jogging for 20 meters every quarter of a mile, and did enough loops around the island to complete all of my splits for the day (18 in total). It was a fantastic way to get easy, consistent mileage in an unfamiliar city, and I got to see once again a lot of the culture that I wouldn't have been able to absorb by merely going to all of the touristed destinations. On the inside of the track was Palatinus Water Park, the largest open-air swimming facility in Budapest. I wasn't alone out on the track either that morning, since the city was crawling with great athletes who had shown up for the race, so I had people running with me during several of my splits.
The emerald water of Zurich's rivers and lakes
#1: Around Lake Zurich in Switzerland
My favorite run of the summer came when we were in Switzerland, staying in Zurich. I had the chance to run along Lake Zurich in one of the few months that the city is warm enough to get away with wearing shorts, but it still wasn't quite warm enough to avoid a long sleeve shirt. I went out along a trail that circumnavigates the lake, which stands at a massive 34.23 square miles, and I progressed through the several of the small cities that line the lake's banks. Obviously, I wasn't able to make it all the way around the loop, but I was able to make it far enough around the side to pass by the Lindt Chocolate Factory, which stands just outside of Zurich. I'm not exaggerating when I say that you can smell the factory from a mile away, and the chocolatey air only intensified as I got closer to the source. It made for a very sweet smelling stretch of miles when combined with the crisp mountain air and nearly pollution-free woods, so I loved every minute of it. I also had the chance to see the fishermen pulling out of the city's harbor right as I went running by, and to see the shop stalls and bridges preparing for the day. Zurich is one of the cleanest cities in the world, to the point that the water in their public fountains is entirely potable, so I stopped on my way back to grab a drink at the main square's largest fountain.
