Travega: Running in Prague

As many of you know, before I left my little old town of Reno, Nevada I was training for a 10K run. And as much as I had planned to continue my training in Prague I have to say that I didn't follow through. I have ran a couple times here but it is no where near the amount I was running before I left. Regretfully, people don't run in Prague. I have seen maybe two runners the whole time I have been here! Prahans perhaps are too fit off their sausage and gulosh diet to ever need to run. At first I thought this might be a European thing, American's are often criticized as being lazy overweight king-size customers and so our culture puts more emphasis on running and going to the gym. But while I was in Berlin (just for two days) I saw many joggers and counted 15 in Amsterdam! There are several gyms near my apartment and I assume many in the city but what happened to fresh air and pavement under your feet? Apparently and sadly, Prague knows nothing about this.

Running in a place where running is not a norm causes confused glaces and the occasional squished face that asks, "Whaa?" But my last run really hit a soft spot in me. The people glared me down until I felt like an ugly rat scurrying around some sacred area. I couldn't concentrate on my run, I couldn't hear my music-I just shrank under their disapproval. This leads me to a very sad understanding of the Czech culture. One that I am sure is only half true and perhaps I don't know much at all but I have seen, in my experience, that Czech people have a very fearful and judgmental nature. I am sure that this goes back to the Soviet occupation of Czechloslovakia were it was illegal to wear your hair in different styles or colors and it was frowned on to wear certain colors. If you weren't "normal" in this society you were feared by the government and if you are feared than you will be killed. In one of my classes we speak of the Czech generation that is coming out of its shell and rebelling against the harshness of the 15 year regime but I honestly just do not see it. In Berlin we saw transvestites, punks, goths, hippies, hipsters-really, anything you name it! But where is this underground movement in Czech Republic?

It is maddening to say the least. I can't run with these glares on my back in a place where creativity and imagination are squashed because of these former fears that still have Czech's locked in cages. Go crazy Prague, go crazy!!

Sorryyy...weird tangent I suppose. Anyway...

Perhaps, the crucial point here is finding your place to run, finding a little oasis that you can call yours. I like to run around my apartment area and sometimes over the bridge to a large park which I can hopefully post pictures of soon and also to a small park near my university. The third has many different sites to see and I was able to post pictures (see below). I have also posted my running routes in case any readers are thinking about venturing out to the streets of Prague. Hopefully, I get out of this funk and can start running again soon!

The view is great on the top of the hill, there are some major stairs to get up and some heavy traffic getting there but the distance is nice and makes for a good run!

This is my favorite spot because it is so convenient, get off at I.P Paplova, go all the way to the end hang a left, and go under the brigde to the park. The park is located underneath a main bridge splitting the old town with the new town. I have to go around a few times to make it worth it but there are less people here so less to stare! Here the pictures of this run: