CRIScom travel experience flow – The personal website of Christoph Potzinger

Thinking back on how I used to spend New Year’s Eve – heavy drinking that is – this year has seen a change to a completely different approach on how to close the year . Participating at the Silvesterlauf 2007 in Graz, an 11.4 kilometer run around the Schlossberg (3 rounds ? 3.8 ks), was part of my preparation for the Linz marathon on April 13, 2008. The run was quite challenging as there are three steady climbs from the river Mur to the Stadtpark on gravel sideways. Still, the run was great, taking place in bright sunshine . Kudos go out to Georg Ruess, my coach, for his great training plans and his assistance and advice. This performance wouldn’t have been possible without his expertise. Now we have the official results from the Pentek-timing website: Total time: 43.26 min; 3:49 min/km; 15.75 km/h; 169 av. HR; Position: 11 (total runners 166) Age-Group-Position (30 – 40): 8 1st round (3.8 ks): 14:07 min 2nd round: 14:51 min 3rd round: 14:27 min Oh, I nearly forgot: HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! Hope to see you soon in 2008.. .

2007 is nearing its very end, a time to take stock of the last 12 months, to take a closer look. For me it’s been a great year . I managed to take a great leap forward: both in my relationship to Sylvia (Sylvia and I are getting married next June), professionally (giving lectures at the Wifi) and athletically (completing two marathons) . But also sonically, 2007 has been an interesting year. Here’s my personal Best Of: 1 . Radiohead – In Rainbows 2. Air – Pocket Symphony 3. The National – Boxer 4. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga/Digi 5. The Shins – Wincing the Night Away 6. Interpol – Our Love to Admire 7. Keren Ann – Keren Ann 8 . Rilo Kiley – Under the Blacklight 9 . PJ Harvey – White Chalk Limited Sleeve Edition 10. Burial – Untrue

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It’s been now a year since I started running on a regular and competitive basis. I have been able to dedicate a good deal of my spare time to an activity which slowly has become an indispensable habit. There are a lot of rewards some obvious and easy to grasp, others are more subtle, slowly oozing into the consciousness. I have talked about them already, so I will not go into too much detail here. After my last marathon in Graz in October 2007, I realised that I have come a long way from my humble beginnings, which most of all revolved around trying to introduce a regular running habit into my daily routine. You might not believe how difficult it actually turned out to be. This difficulty may stem from my past as a soccer player, where activity and running was closely tied to play and a ball. Running for its own sake in this light appears to offer small rewards and little satisfaction. As a matter of fact, I only managed to make running a habit after I had moved from the countryside to the city. At that point I started discovering a whole new universe. Everything that followed, by comparison, was easy . Having scratched on the three hours mark, Read the rest of this entry »

What a perfect day for runners this Sunday happened to be . Cool temperatures at around 16 ?C and wonderful sunshine set a perfect scene for about 6.000 participants at the Graz Marathon 2007. Training more than 143 hours and 1.580 ks, I was well prepared for my second marathon. The conditions were just perfect for me and I had a good first few kilometers. I chose my speed according to my heart rate at about 158 – 163 beats per minute, clocking in the kilometers at about 04.10. After 12 ks I joined two guys running exactly at my speed, also trying to challenge the 3 hrs mark. With joint effort we made good progress towards the end of the first round. When I finished the first half marathon at 1:28:13 still feeling Read the rest of this entry »

Radiohead have released a new album. In Rainbows is available as of today as a download-only zip-file from their website inrainbows.com. You can also order a discbox which consists of the new album on CD and on 2 x 12 inch heavyweight vinyl records . It comes along with a second, enhanced CD containing more new songs. The package also features digital photographs, artwork and lyric booklets, all encased in a hardback book and slipcase. The discbox can be ordered from the same website and ships for BPN 40,00 on or before Dec 3, 2007. It features 10 songs:

• 15 STEP
• BODYSNATCHERS
• NUDE
• WEIRD FISHES/ARPEGGI
• ALL I NEED
• FAUST ARP
• RECKONER
• HOUSE OF CARDS
• JIGSAW FALLING INTO PLACE
• VIDEOTAPE

The new album follows the avant-garde route the previous records have taken but, at first listen, appears more accessible than, for example, Kid A . Still it paints a bleak, desolate soundscape, interspersed by faster guitar tracks, which still cannot escape the melancholy . Download the new album from: inrainbows.com