Maastricht Part 9: Running

Since I don't have my bike over here (my race bike that is), I've been running a lot more than I do at home in order to stay in shape as well as get out and explore the city and the countryside around Maastricht.  There won't be much to read in this post, just some pictures of a couple runs I did a few weeks back.

The first set is a trail that I run on Saturdays that heads south out of the city and up to the top of Sint Pietersberg (Saint Peters Mountain).  The loop I run is about 10 miles and has some moderate climbing to it (despite the name mountain, there really aren't any mountains in the Netherlands).

The second set is from a run into Belgium.  It was about an 11-mile loop and led me through a couple of Belgian towns close to the border.

Just south of town is the trailhead, just past Fort Sint Pieter.

This is just short of the "summit" of Sint Pietersberg.  I've never taken the stairs up because by this point I've normally been running for ~35 minutes and with more than that left to run I've been afraid of tiring myself out.

Part of the trail goes through farmers' fields.

It doesn't look like it, but that hill is a killer.  It comes with only about 2 miles left in the run and it is very steep.

Heading west from Maastricht I saw this old bunker before heading over a bridge and into Flanders.

I thought this house was interesting, especially give the traditional architecture of the other houses in the area.

A new bridge over one of the many canals I crossed.

The only Mexican restaurant I've seen over here.  I'm not sure of the quality of the food.

These markers delineated the border between Belgium and the Netherlands.

With the weather getting nicer I think I will run even more, though it will be a little bit before I get back into shape.  Penny was out for the last month or so and with all the traveling we did (I'll get those posts up soon), studying I had to do for two exams, and the poor weather I didn't run much.  For motivation I think I am going to do a trail race in Valkenburg, a town about 13 kilometers from here, in a few weeks.  The course is two laps around an 8.9 km loop, so in total it will be about 11 miles.  The entrance fee is really low (9 Euros), so I really don't have much to lose.

Lastly, with all the running I've done I've listened to a good amount of music.  Here are my current top-10 running songs, in no particular order:

Ten Speed (Of God's Blood & Burial) - Coheed & Cambria

Key Entity Extraction V: Sentry the Defiant - Coheed & Cambria

Gravemakers & Gunslingers - Coheed & Cambria

Same Old Kid - Froggy Fresh

Lose Yourself - Eminem

Moment 4 Life - Nicki Minaj

Paper Planes - M.I.A.

Cameo Lover - Kimbra

Release the Dogs - Boy Sets Fire

The Margretville Dance - The Prize Fighter Inferno

Free Bonus Track: Capital H - Motion City Soundtrack