Weissensee – no points for glory

I’m pretty sure ice was softer when i was young. Yesterday i tested it myself, but just once. Absolutely not planned though. It’s not possible to avoid all the cracks in the ice, you just hope you get your skate out before you execute a poor version of Swan Lake. Well i certainly smashed it one time. Got a lot of points from the jury but it didn’t compensate my sore right knee and shoulder.

Today we got up a bit earlier to attack the ice again. The trainings schedule was 10 laps and no “dubbele rietbergers”. I have to admit that Leonie was kind of flying on her new skates, I think her motto was, as usual, no guts no glory.

Then in the third lap, just when my muscles didn’t withhold me anymore from the pain of the previous day, i crashed. No way that one had the slightest elegance in it. No points for this one. I quickly jumped up again and went on, like nothing happened.

That overconfidence almost killed me in the seventh lap. Technical smooth and like a feather i was swinging the ice when one of the thousand cracks got my right skate. My skate stopped, my ankle protested but luckely didn’t snap. At that moment my body had not yet reached the ice. A split second later i made contact, the mass of ice protested immediately with a dark rumble. My ribs also protested immediately, but no time to waist. We still had two and a half laps to go.

After we achieved this goal for the day, we stopped for a quick lunch. ‘Wienerschnitzel’ and ‘Goulashsuppe’. We had another plan for the afternoon and it’s very important to boost the energy levels with appropriate food. We went cross-country skiing on the little practice trail. My body screamed don’t do it, but I was probably very busy at that moment, didn’t hear anything.

After we discovered how to fasten the shoes to the ski’s we started carefully. Some 45 years ago we stood for the last time on this small creepy ski’s, so what could go wrong. Leonie had a slow start but passed me soon and went up that little hill. I tried to follow, but somehow my arm didn’t cooperate. My bruised ribs, sour knee, ankle and shoulder protested, screaming big idiot, try and act normal for once, please. I had to listen, so i turned around and faced the slope going downhill. You probably guess what happened. I lost control completely and smashed sideway’s in the icy snow. I remembered snow as soft, but that could have been in earlier years. And it probably also helps if you don’t land with your hip on your own ski’s. I couldn’t get up, but somehow managed to loosen my shoes and walked down the slope back to start of the trail. Leonie finished the trail a few seconds later and we decided to call it a day.

Tomorrow we plan a rest day. Leonie starts runnings early in the morning, joins me on the ice later and may be we try some cross-country skiing in the afternoon. I think there is only one problem, how do i get out of bed tomorrow morning?