Munich, Germany: Hour 22 of 24skate#5
What a joyful day to skate! Especially because it was so unexpected: The weather forecast had predicted some showers, but instead it
stayed not only dry, but even became sunny. A little bit windy, but not too bad.
I went to my usual 24skate spot: The large area where Munich's world famous beer festival takes place each year. It's not far from
the main station in the city centre and is about 500 m wide and 1.500 meters long. It is criss-crossed by asphalt routes. People
do all kind of leasure activities there: Cycling, running, skating of all kinds (slalom, fitness, skate-hockey, aggressive in a small
skate-park...), skateboard sailing, remote controlled car racing, soccer etc. . Children learn cycling, dogs are chasing each other,
tourists are taking pictures of themselves with Munich's small version of the Statue of Liberty in the background. So it's a place
full of life and joy.
My carefully measured training lap in this area is almost 1.4 kilometers long. I reached it just in time for the church bell from nearby
St. Peter and Paul, ringing to start hour 22 of 24skate#5. This year the 24skate hour for me was an endurance training for a long distance
race which I plan to do this summer. After a few laps I reached a steady state of speed and heart rate and could focus on that what I
think may be something like a one-and-a-half-push (I don't dare to say that I can do a real double-push). My lap times where slightly
faster than I had expected, so I listened carefully to my body, whether I was not exaggerating. But everything kept feeling fine, so I
more and more began to enjoy this skate in the sun and skated in imagination through many of the places where I did skate with some of
you or alone.
The church bells finally ended my 24skate hour after 21 laps, one more than expected, plus some more meters. That brought
me closely back to the magic threshold of 30 km/h, alone and without drafting. May be, I can cross it next year?
Best regards
Clemens
History of this page:
22th of June 2008: First version