# 20676
We had two races at the Team Cup last weekend. At the first one I started from the last position and moved up to fifth. The second race I won, starting from the fifth place. Overall, I had quite some luck and good race partners. Now I rank on second overall with one race missing this year. Not a bad postion.



This weekend was also an alternative event on the Nuerburgring F1 Grand Prix Course as well as on the old race course, the famous 21 km-long Nordschleife. Several bike and inline skate races had been scheduled, including a 24-hour-bike-race on the Nordschleife. When I went there on Saturday evening with Raffael, most of the races except the 24-hour-race were already over. It was completely dark by now and if you know the Nordschleife with its steep and dangerous curves, you know it isn't easy to ride it in complete darkness. Many riders had cars following them, drinving just 2 meters behind and spending a bit more light than the small battery powered bike lamps. But anyway, it remained dangerous, as they went downhill with more then 90 km/h at some points, drivers told me the next morning, when I came back for the final hour and the ceremonies. A single rider from Austria won his category with over 500 km. He didn't sleep and made just shot stops. Wow!!!

But that wasn't the reason I came back in the morning. I was thinking about taking my inline skates and ride some laps on the F1 Grand Prix Course, which was no more allowed today. But luckily nobody cared and some other riders even joined me on their bike. When will you have that chance again, riding with your skates where normally Schuhmacher, Montoya etc. turn their laps. A good way to learn how hilly the course actually is, in TV it doesn't look like.

By the way, I got my starting number for the Berlin Marathon today: it's # 20676. So watch out for that number in Berlin. It's very easy to remember...

2: # of legs I posses
0: # of marathons I ran
6: # of days I scheduled to run per week
7: # of days per week
6: # of hours I hopefully won't need for the 42,195 km distance.

Not so easy to remember? Make a better proposal to me. Just leave a comment!

Team Cup Number 3
Today evening (Friday) I met with Georg to discuss about his thesis and watch a DVD later. And to have some beer, too, as you can see on the pic. :)



In some hours I'll leave to the Nuerburgring again for the third Team Cup cart race. I packed my stuff and cleaned the dishes already, in a wise foreseeing that I won't be able to do that after having some beer. So now I'll sleep, cause I planned to go running in the morning (in 4-5 hours) before getting to the train at 9:30 am.

On the way back I'll drop by my darling in Stuttgart and come back to Ingolstadt on Monday morning. And yes, don't worry, I'll take some books to read on the train.

The final Berlin marathon countdown
My final training period for the Berlin marathon on Sept 28 has started this week. Six weeks of intense running and one week for recovery should be enough to complete my first marathon in under four hours. Moreover I changed my rhytm from training in the evening to the early morning. I ran a total of 60 km from monday to friday.

Saturday I had scheduled the first test of a near marathon distance. I planned running 7 laps around the Baggersee, each 5.3 km in length, counting to a total of 37.1 km. The time limit for each round was set to 30 min, totalling to 3 hours 30 overall.

It was much easier than expected. Until km 30 I felt no signs of exhaustion, just my knees hurt a bid from time to time, but never really bad. I automatically ran the exact time per lap, always between 29 min and 30, leaving some time to stop and drink water each lap. Cause I felt that good I speeded a bit in the final lap and ran a 27 min round, reaching the 37.1 km in 3:26:46 hours. OK, that last round was at limit. But without speeding I am sure I'd have been able to run another lap in under 30 min. I didn't want to test the whole distance, as my first marathon should be something special. A million visitors and 35,000 runners in Berlin will definitely be a nicer surrounding for that.

Well, to sum it up, I'll continue running in the mornings around a 70 to 80 km distance per week. This week it have been almost a 100. Berlin can come. I am ready.

It's hot in here...
But Thursday it's finally getting better, (they say).

Some news...
The last weekend I was in Stuttgart. On Saturday Julia and me went to the Wuerttemberg, a mountain covered with wine plants which gave its name to the whole region. On tuesday I officially registered my thesis with the name "Analysis of a Genetic Algorithm for flexible flow line scheduling". So at last there is a final deadline for me, too.

One day later my cousin Lothar came to Ingolstadt. He was traveling around by bike and working half a year in Switzerland and Italy and is now on his way back home. If he doesn't change his mind, he'll stay til Saturday. Today I had my second of four dentist visits. The session was almost relaxing, watching M-TV at a ceiling flat-screen. But now after some hours I feel some pain and hope that it goes away soon. Moreover I have two weeks time until the next visit, because of the doctor's summer vacation.