Merry Christmas

Well, my last working day for 2005 is over, tomorrow moring I'll leave Mannheim to drive home to Mecklenburg and visit my family for Christmas. Luckily 2 friends from home will accompany me, so the long car drive won't get boring.

Around New Year I'll be in Utrecht (NED) visiting friends before going back to Mannheim on 2nd January. My work will start again on 9th, so I'll have some time for friends, my flat and maybe a short ski trip, I'll see.

As a Christmas present ;) I have finally finished the report about my first long distance triathlon. Get the PDF-File here. Moreover I have already registered for next year's race in August.

I wish everybody a joyfull Christmas time as well as a smooth slide into 2006. CU then! ;)

Christmas is coming near...

Christmas is approching fast, so it's time again to stroll over beautiful Christmas markets, drink a lot of mulled wine, break your head on gifts for the family and organize all the visits of friends and family between Holy Eve and New Year.

Moreover it's time to plan next year's events, especially the runs I want to take part, as many of them are booked out fast or the starting fee significantly increases at the end of the year. Right now I've considered several marathons (Weinstrasse and Leipzig in April, Mannheim in May) and ultramarathons (Rodgau in Jan, Baerenfels in July) as well as shorter distances (Schwerin in July, Lichtenwald in April etc.). Moreover I have registered again for the Ostseeman triathlon in August and will probably start in Ladenburg again as a test race. But except the big marathons and the Ostseeman nothing is fixed yet, so I may modify the plan as I feel. ;)



Above you can see my garland of evergreens with four candles for the Sundays in Advent, a German tradition. I will drive home on 23rd and stay in Schwerin until the 30th before visiting a friend in the Netherlands (Utrecht).

So, you're almost up-to-date right now. Just one more thing, I'll visit my granny in Thuringia and run a hilly marathon in a disused salt mine on Saturday morning. Temperatures of 27°C on a December day have simply been to tempting for me to resist the challenge. ;)

Golden Autumn

The weather meant it good with us this autumn. October has been unnormally warm and sunny. Perfect weather for running, which doesn't mean that I run much these days. ;) Now it's getting significantly colder and I have bought a used rollertrack for indoor cycling. I was astonished how difficult it is to stay on, but I'll get better everyday a bit.

Last Wednesday some collegues and I saw the ice-hockey match Germany vs. USA in Mannheim and luckily became eyewitness of the first victory sind 1971, Truly a historic moment. Last weekend I was in Berlin to visit my cousin. Saturday was a 10 km run and we went to a friends party on the evening. Sunday I strolled around the city to see what has changed. Moreover I went into a exhibition, sighted the new holocaust monument and found this nice piece of neon art.



Next weekend I'll visit a friend in the Saarland with whom I ran the Jungfrau marathon in Septmeber and we'll drive to Luxemburg for a trail run. I hope the weather doesn't change too much until then.

Lost in time...

Hmm, almost a month has passed since my last message. Not much happens at the moment, I'm not even running much these days. But things will change. I've still not forgotten my Ostseeman report as well as to upload some photos from Switzerland, Dublin etc. But first I need answer some letters from friends and family. Somehow I managed to do not much else than working in October.

But on Friday I'll go home for a long weekend and I'll finally bring my bed to Mannheim. 2 months on the floor is enough. :)

I wish you a very nice autumn, Jolle!

Bremen Marathon

I just came back from the Bremen Marathon in the North of Germany. I've got a new personal best of 3:03:20 h, so I'm quite happy, even if had speculated to crash the three hours barrier. ;)

CU, Jolle!

Ireland

I am back from Switzerland. The marathon went well, it took me almost 5 hours to climb the mountains. Since yesterday I'm in Ireland for 4 days enjoying the publife in Dublin. See you then, Jolle!

The last weeks & coming days...

The stress is not over yet, but a lot has been achieved yet. Finally, I have my first real flat to live in, almost 70 m² in Mannheims nicest quarter, the Oststadt (East town), one of the very few quarters with old houses.





It was good luck, that my mom visited me the weekend when I had to move, so she helped me a lot and I had completed the whole process from visiting the new flat, moving and finding a new tenant for the old room in less than a week. I even had enough time for a 10 km run in Mannheim on Saturday, where I met two collegues.

Moreover I already had some friends visiting me to explore Mannheim's nightlife. We also went to Heidelberg, which looks quite nice in the evening at the moment.



As I wrote already, my new project in Frankfurt started from September on. It consumes quite some travelling time by train. On the other that allows me to read a lot.

The coming weekend I'll be on a trip to Switzerland. On Saturday I'll enjoy the Jungfrau-Marathon in Interlaken, the rest is not yet planned.

Adding some speed to my life...

I had some exciting last days and much more are now to follow. Last weekend I did another triathlon in Biblis, a sprint distance (0.5-20-5 km) which I finished after 1:09 hours in the first 10th of the pack. Moreover I've visited a new apartment and spontaneously decided to take it. The contract was signed today. As a result I'm now a bit in a hurry to find someone who will take over my old room, so that I don't have to pay two flats for the next three month.

Moreover I'll have to move during the next 10 days and need to buy some furniture and a kitchen. The latter I'll may postpone though, as I guess I won't have time for that in the next weeks. The reason why I think so is, that it's now official that I'll work in Frankfurt during the week from September on and I've already planned my weekends in the next month (Switzerland, Ireland, Bremen Marathon), all except the first one, where some friends will visit.

So, I'm looking forward to that. Maybe it distracts me a bit from my overflowing ToDo-list.

Back to work...

I haven't found much time to finish my Ostseeman report, but I'll promise to deliver it soon, whatever that means. ;)

Chances are high that I'll be on project in Frankfurt starting in September, let's see. Moreover I'm looking for a new flat from time to time. Let's see what happens. Til later!

It's done...

...11:59:21 ;)

Now in recovering mode!

Let's rock it!

Sunday will be my sportive highlight this year. I'm getting nervous a bit these days, but time will show...



Friday I'll drive home in an Audi A3 Sportback and have vacation until Tuesday. That is hopefully enough to recover from the weekend.

For the triathlon my mother will join and maybe some old friends from the army and university. I hope they find time, it would be really cool. Let's rock it!

His name is Jolle...

Sometimes Google returns the right things. So just in case that you might forget my domain, simply type in "his name is jolle"...

...and Google will show you the way to my virtual home. ;)

My first triathlon...

...I've finished. The Olympic Distance triathlon in Ladenburg went very well. I was quite slow in the water and very strong on the bike and run, so I finished as 65th overall from 320 starters in a time of 2:37 h.

Following you can find a description of my triathlon from 3athlon.info (in German).

"Ich bin hellauf begeistert von meinem ersten Triathlon. Hab unser Sommerfest als einer der Ersten verlassen, damit ich so ca. 4 Uhr auch im Bett lag und noch etwas Schlaf bekam. Gegen 10 Uhr dann aufgestanden und nach Ladenburg geradelt. Unterlagen abgeholt und der erste kleine Schock, ich hatte meinen Chip vergessen. Die Orga war unkompliziert und freundlich, ich bekam kostenlos in wenigen Minuten einen Leihchip. Und man hat die Änderung auch gleich in den Zeitmessrechner eingespielt. Super!



Dann musste ich erst mal rausfinden, was jetzt in welchen Beutel und in welche Zone platziert werden musste, ist ja als Neuling ein wenig aufregend, vor allem, wenn man so an die Plätze links und rechts vom eigenen Rad schaut. Da siehts doch a weng professioneller aus. Aber Triathleten sind nette Leute und so hatten meine "Nachbarn" den ein oder anderen wertvollen Tipp für einen Rookie.



Mit dem Neo gings dann auf's Schiff, wo doch recht hohe Nervosität unter den Teilnehmer herschte. Es wurde jedenfalls viel geschnattert. Meine Strategie war, als einer der Letzten von Bord zu gehen und mich dann ganz am Ende der Startlinie zu plazieren. Das tat ich auch, die letzten Minuten vor dem Start empfand ich als sehr angenehm, sich ein wenig in der Sonne im Wasser treiben zu lassen.

Aber dann ging's auch schon los. Startschuss und Arme wedeln lassen. Es war wohl eine gute Entscheidung, ganz am Ende loszuschwimmen, um dem Anfangstrubel zu entgehen. Allerdings schwamm ich schon recht bald auf die letzten Schwimmer auf. Nach ein paar Tritten und Schlägen liess ich mich wieder zurückfallen, das in der Masse schwimmen muss ich noch üben. Hab dann jeden 2. Atemzug hochgeschaut, um mir große Lücken zu suchen, durch die ich meinen Weg bahnen konnte. Das Feld zog sich ja auch zunehmend auseinander, so dass ich bald meine Ruhe hatte. Nach 27:13 min stieg ich aus dem Wasser (172.Schwimmzeit). Ich war damit vollauf zufrieden, da ich komplett im Kraulstil durchgezogen hatte, was mir im Training bisher nie gelang.

Die erste Wechelzone war recht schnell passiert. Neo aus, Füße abtrocknen, Socken und Schuhe an, zubinden (da muss ich noch optimieren), Helm auf und ab mit dem Rad. Auf der Strecke erst mal die Handschuhe an, Brille vom Helm und aufsetzen und einen Riegel essen. Dann im 35er Schnitt an die Berge ranfahren.

In Dossenheim hab ich am ersten Berg schon voll attackiert, alles was ging. Mit meinem Gang hatte ich bei den 16% eh keine andere Strategiemöglichkeit ausser absteigen. Dann wieder ein wenig ausruhen und mit ruhigem Tritt in den Anstieg zum Weißen Stein fahren. Ich kam super hoch, überholte Dutzende von Fahrern und fuhr fast 90% des Berges sitzend und auf dem Trialenker hoch, den Rest im Wiegetritt. Oben dann bis zur Bundesstrasse wieder volle Pulle, auf er Abfahrt liess ich es dann rollen und ein paar Fahrer haben mich erwartungsgemäß wieder eingeholt.

Den 2. Anstieg empfand ich nicht als sonderlich schlimm. Ich überholte wieder einige, bevor es an die große letzte Abfahrt ging, bei der ich dieses Mal mit den meisten anderen mithalten konnte. Allerdings hat mich hier ein Pack von ca. 10 Fahrern überholt, die voll am Draften waren, sehr unschön. Bin aber am kurzen Anstieg in Großsachsen am ganzen Pack wieder vorbeigesprintet.

Aufgrund der guten Zeit hab ich bin zur nächsten Wechselzone richtig in die Pedale getreten (Radzeit 1:27:59), was wohl im Nachhinein ein Fehler war, denn ich kam nach dem Wechsel auf die Laufstrecke nicht richtig in Gang. Erst in der 2. Runde gings dann und ich fand meinen Rhytmus und ich konnte noch ein paar überholen. Laufzeit war am Ende dann 42 min, eher schwach für mich, aber die Laufstrecke war auch nicht sehr angenehm, weil sehr viele enge Kurven, die doch auch Kraft kosten.

Mit meiner Gesamtzeit war ich allerdings mehr als zufrieden. 65. Gesamtrang am Ende, das war mehr als von mir erwartet, so dass ich nach einer kleinen Stärkung im Festzelt zufrieden zurück nach Mannheim radelte. "

So the Ostseeman can come. I am fit and with some luck I can finish fourth time the distance, I hope.

Ladenburg Triathlon

Yesterday our global planning and basis administration team jointly visited Mannheim's brewery "Eichbaum". Later we went to the Irish pub like every Thursday. As a last step we went to an Asian karaoke bar before getting some sleep.

Today is our company's summer party, which will be conducted in a location near Mannheim. This time I'll not stay until the end, because I'll compete in the Ladenburg triathlon on Saturday afternoon.

Time is ticking away. The 2 week countdown for the Ostseeman begins on Sunday. :)

Tour de France

Last weekend I've made a bike trip to the Black Forest to visit the Tour de France on its stage through Germany. I went by train to Rastatt near Baden Baden, later by bike to the 4th climb of the stage. I was cheered up the mountain by the spectators that had already crowded here.
Quite a cool feeling and just half an hour later the riders arrived.









After they had passed I started my own tour and rode the stage in the reverse direction back to the start, passing the previous 3 mountains (third category climbs) and passing nice villages.





After leaving the Black Forest I followed the Rhine until Mannheim.
This weekend I'll relax in Mannheim, enjoying the sun. Coming Friday is our company's summer party which will last until Saturday morning, where I'll compete in the RoemerMan, an Olympic distance triathlon in Ladenburg.

I wish you a nice weekend, Jolle!

17 kph average

At the moment I am writing this I'm sitting in the train that takes me directly from Schwerin to Mannheim, an eight hour trip.

It was a nice weekend, which passed too fast again, even I had already taken a free day to lenghten it. But three days are still too short, there's soo much to do at home.

I left Mannheim directly after work on Friday evening and arrived Schwerin around midnight.
Saturday morning I went to famous the 5-lake-run in Schwerin, starting in front of the castle, that beholds our regional parliament and is restaurated with a 150 million Euro budget over the next decades. There are three distances, a 10, 15 and 30 km run. I had registered for the 15 km run (which is actually 15,8 km), that I had also ran last year.

I met some friends from the Berlin Marathon Forum (ForumTeam) as well as members of my local triathlon club. Then a friend showed me his secrets of warming up before a race. Shortly before the start we positioned us in the first row. Actually it was my first time starting directly in front of a race, but with my tenth overall place last year I think it was not too arrogant. ;)
We started fast in a group of around ten to fifteen runners in front, but had to let go seven of them quite soon. Globi and me and two other runners formed a second group and changed the lead several times. It became quite hot and I felt very good at km seven in the race, so I am not sure if I became fast or the others slower, but I overtook them and ran away. From that moment on I also had an official biker in front of me which cleared the way a bit, cause we were running into the 10 km runners that had started 10 minutes earlier.

Right before the finish line I overtook another runner which had been originally in the first group, so I ended the race on the 7th position of around 1150 participants in a phantastic time of 55:33 min, a bit over a 17 kph average. It has definitely been the fastest race in my short career as a runner. ;)

I also got some bottles of a local beer as the prize for the second place in my age group, which I had also last year. There are participating better runners every year, but if I again get seven minutes faster, I may be in the pace for the big trophy next year. ;)

What else did I do on the weekend? Steffi, a good friend and former fellow student from Ingolstadt visited me and we went through Schwerin with my sister, which is an official city guide. Moreover we went swimming in the lake, had a strawberry cake and cherries and went on a boat tour on the Schweriner Lake. Moreover I met my uncle and grandparents again. ;)

As you can see, there was quite some action, so it has been a good decision that I had taken free on today. Sleeping long, go on a small bike tour with my recumbent bike and watching the first hours of the Tour de France coverage was all I did today before I had to leave for the train around 5 pm.

In 5 weeks I'll go home again for the Ostseeman weekend. Oops, it's really getting time to intensify my training.

Have a nice week, Jolle!
PS: Boonen did it again and won also the second sprint final of the Tour de France. Good for me, as I have bet on him getting the the green jersey. :)

Effective training weekends

If every weekend would be like the last one, I would have no doubts in finishing the Ostseeman. I went to Julia in Stuttgart on Friday evening. Saturday we relaxed on the balcony and went running in the afternoon. Following the run in the sun I went swimming before we had a sunset BBQ on the balcony again.

Sunday was time for the one disciplin that had been left out the day before. I got up early in the morning ( a quarter before six) and cycled down the Neckar valley from Stuttgart to Mannheim, passing dozens of wonderfull towns and castles.







I arrived at home around 5 pm with over 200 km in my legs and a considerable sunburn. Oouuch!

Maxdorf Tri

Our relay team did well. We placed third (from the bottom). ;)

Jens (the one on the left) who competed in all three disciplines, had been a lot faster than the three of us.



Anyway, we had a lot of fun and definitely gave our best. I needed a bit under 3 hours for my bike part, as I had hoped before. But the mountains had been hard, as you can see on the photo that has been taken directly after my ride.



On 24 July I have registered for my first single triathlon, an Olympic Distance in Ladenburg near Mannheim. Swimming will be in the Neckar, and cycling on another mountaineous track in the Odenwald. I hope it will be a last good test for the Ostseeman.

BASF Firmencup

Tuesday was race day at Camelot. I took part in the BASF company run at the Hockenheim race course with 4 collegues. My time was 17:38 min for the 4.8 km lap.



On Sunday is the next scheduled event. I will start in a relay team at the Maxdorf triathlon (2-82-20 km) with 2 collegues and take over the cycling part, which consists of a two lap course with quite some ascents to challenge. We'll see.

Summer Challenge

Another nice weekend. We had wonderful tropical weather for the Summer Challenge in Ingolstadt last weekend. 3 days of sport, party, friends and fun.

Rennsteiglauf =

Dumplings


+ Mountains



+ Runners



+ Party



(+ visting Grandma in Waltershausen)



= a weekend lot of fun

By the way, it took me 8 hours 20 to finish.

John Wayne,

Waynona Rider
John Lennon,

...three persons I adore, and three cocktails I had Monday night in the Stars Club in Mannheim. A nice hang out to complete a three day holiday with lots of sport and even more Playstation. ;)

Next weekend I'll be in Thuringia for Europe's biggest cross run, the Rennsteiglauf. The week after is another long weekend, which is filled by the Summer Challenge in Ingolstadt.

Have fun, Jolle!

Hamburg Marathon...

...in 3:09 h. Plus warm and sunny weather. Plus meating friends and family. Quite much for "just one" of the year's 52 weekends. I'm happy!

The Long Break

Some time has passed since my last message, but a lot happened. The Mannheim Eagles lost the play-off finals, my favourite soccer club Hansa Rostock has won some matches in the last time, so there are still some chances that they will stay in the first league.

This week I've been on another SAP-training in Walldorf with two colleges, which was quite some fun as well as helpful.

The winter has finally left Germany, it's getting warmer and brighter. I started my cycling season and added some swimming sessions, but on the other hand neglected running a bit. Well, the positive effect is, that I am well rested right now, so I decided to visit some friends over the weekend and run the marathon in Hamburg. My target is 3:15 h, eight minutes faster than in last Spring.

Ice-Hockey Play-Offs

Yesterday, I was in Frankfurt with a co-worker to watch the playoff semi-finals of the German ice-hockey league between the Frankfurt Lions and the Mannheim Eagles. It was a close match in the end, with a very exciting last third. Frankfurt had a lead of four goals after the second break, before Mannheim came back with a lot of action and speed play, shot three goals and had some more opportunities. Ice-hockey in its finest version!



The Eagles could have kicked out Frankfurt. Well, now they will have to try it again on Sunday. Ingolstadt also lost Berlin, again, and now needs two consecutive victories against the Polar Bears, which will be quite hard. Anyway, we?ll see it on Sunday. My dream of a final between Mannheim and Ingolstadt is still possible.

Jeep Tour

I'm back from the long weekend. It was nice to be at home again, see the family, run my old favorite track around the Neumuehler Lake, swim with my triathlon club...

Monday I went back with a rental car. I got a Jeep Grand Cherokee this time. Hell, what a monster machine. After some offroad tests in the morning :) it made 190 km/h on the highway. Not bad for a car weighting 2 tons. Anyway, not a car I would buy.

Ray

I just come back from town. Originally I wanted to get my hair cut, which I also did. But when passing by the cinema I couldn't resist in watching the Ray motion picture, as the cinema was playing it in the English version just this Wednesday afternoon. It is a great movie and I was really glad to have seen him live in concert a year before he died.

I'll go to bed now, as it was a long day. I got up at 6:15 am in Stuttgart, where I went yesterday for a dinner of Julia's company.

Tomorrow we'll go to an ice hockey playoff match, Mannheim vs. Nuremberg, before I'll drive home on Friday to relax some days.

Lichtenwald Half Marathon

Last weekend I was in Stuttgart. Saturday Julia and me went to Lichtenwald to take part in a small but nicely organized run. I ran the half marathon distance, and finished first in my age category, 13th overall. I guess I'm quite in a good shape this year, even the mountains were quite easy to master. For results and photos visit the official homepage www.lichtenwald-lauf.de.vu (my bib was 141).

Until Wednesday I'll be in Walldorf (some SAP-education). Friday I'll drive home to Schwerin for the Easter Holidays.

Back from Skiing

Skiing was perfect. Plenty of snow and sunshine, nice panorama views, a very comfortable accomodation and party every evening.

Plus, Hansa Rostock won its first home match this season. The week couldn't have been much better. :)

Swim: Mission half completed

I went swimming tonight after work in the very old and imposing Herschelbad. My plan was 2 km in 45 min and it was a tough start, cause the water was really crowded with kids, splashers and so on. But around 8:20 pm the people started moving out and I could stop criss-crossing the water. I even had enough power to accelerate significantly for the last 250 m. A completely new feeling and a very good time for me: 44:44 min. Now I can be pretty sure to be out of the water in less than 90 min and still reach my bike alive in August. :)

And if I manage to continue my regular training once or twice a week, I'm sure I can even do much better.

Skiing

Last weekend was fun. I explored a bit of Mannheim's nightlife with Julia, guided by Basti, Eli and their friends. On Sunday Julia and me went running. I did a nice run along the river Neckar from Heidelberg to Mannheim, which is around 25 km. There is also a nice track along the Rhine, so my training can go on. I just need to find some mountains to get in shape for the Rennsteig.

Thursday I'll go skiing to Austria (Pitz Valley) with some colleges from the company, I'm really looking forward to it. After all, I've been only one day in the snow this season and had not expected to get another chance so soon.

On top of that, I even may get the heating in the bathroom fixed this week. My landlord sent me an email today. We'll see.

Short News from Mannheim

I found a room near the main station in the city centre. Very small, no heating in the bath, but ok. I won't have much time in there, anyway. I did a first run today, actually tonight, from 9 to 10 pm along the Rhine.

Julia is coming on Friday, as well as Basti, an old friend from Freiberg. We'll explore a bit more of Mannheim then. Next Thursday to Sunday I'll possibly join a ski trip with the company to the Pitz valley.

So much for now. Need to get some food and sleep now. Good night, Jolle!

Mannheim

As I already mentioned, I'll start my new job in on Tuesday. That's why I have been to Mannheim last week, looking for a room. I have got some alternatives, but I am not sure which one to choose by now.

Nontheless I'll leave Schwerin tomorrow. That's why I'm in the middle of packing and planning right now. Wish me luck for everything!

I did it!

It took me 7:20 h to finish. Quite a lot of work for a certificate and two blisters. ;)

But worth the effort, I guess. The weather was really fine. Not too cold, just a very bit snow in the middle and no strong wind. I've got one photo after the run. It's a bit foggy from the heat of the shower room, but still you should see me some minutes after the finish (click it to see all).



That's all for now, I'm tired. Good night!

Luebeck-Hamburg Run

In 20 hours I'll start my most challenging sportive event of my short career. 75 kilometers in a relatively flat terrain will be a new experience for me. I plan to finish in Hamburg after about seven to eight hours. But time is not important, my only goal is to finish in a good condition. I plan to run in a group with some other members of the ForumTeam. Hopefully we'll find a common speed. Otherwise it will be quite a lonely run, cause 80 participants easily spread out over such a distance.

The weather forecast is around zero to two degrees with a bit of snowfall. Well, I don't care about the snow, but hopefully we'll not have the wind against us.

See last year's report from Manfred (in German) including some photos if you're interested.



Wish you the best, Jolle!
PS: I've got a job in Mannheim starting in March. Therefor I'll have to move next week. But first I'll concentrate on running :), so more on that later.

33 km Monday Run

In consideration of the approaching Luebeck-Hamburg run I started for a long training run today afternoon. Especially the first lap around the Neumuehler Lake was pretty. With the glow of the setting sun over the lake there were nice shadow plays between the trees.

I saw some big birds and for the first time here a big wild boar, which was blocking the path 15 metres in front of me. It was just watching me and checking the situation, when I stopped and turned on my camera. But no luck this time, cause as soon as I stopped, the boar dashed away between the trees. Strangely enough I saw no deer today.

Well, to give you an impression of what I'm speaking of, here are some of today's photos.







Happy running, Jolle!

Education in Germany and Korea

People asked me a lot why I went to Korea to study a year abroad. Read this interesting article about Korean education from the German newspaper "Die Zeit".

Korea understood that educated citizens and technology are their only real resource in the future. Simple production jobs are moving away to China etc., and the country itself has no natural resources. So education is even more important.

We've got this debate in Germany as well. Federal as well as regional government states, the universities have to do better. Universities say, that they need more money to do so.

The solution seemed all too easy. From this week universities in Germany are allowed to take tuition fees from its students. Well, one might say, this is not unusual in the world. Right! But don't believe it's the ultimate solution to the problem. I don't even believe that it helps a sh...

Well, let's come back to Korea. They also take tuition fees. And if you compare a Korean campus to a German one, you'll notice, that the Korean one is ten times better equipped. Its libraries are longer open than the subway. The visiting hours of the academic staff is not limited to two hours a week. And so on.

But the difference is not so big, because Korea has long implemented a system of tuition fees. But because they understood the importance of education. Because their universities are more flexible. And because they spend one fifth of their budget on education compared to a mere 4.3% in Germany, which is less than the European average (see here for an offical German report). I don't believe that tuition fees can come up for that difference. And that's why we shouldn't regard this problem as solved.

Ah, and if you think about studying abroad, why not visiting a country where education is really considered important?

Back on Tuesday

I'll be away on a job interview until late Tuesday evening. Tomorrow I'll visit Julia before having the interview in Mannheim on Tuesday morning. Wish me luck. Or better - wish them luck! :)

TriSport

I just come back from a training session with the local triathlon club TriSport Schwerin, which was funny and helpfull. I'll also join the next sessions if I have time and may even join the club. I think it's a good idea to get some support for my summer challenge. :)

Tomorrow Teresa and me will be in Hamburg, where she will be a candidate in a regional quiz show.

Marathon Victory

As you know, I celebrated New Years Eve in Hamburg at the Reeperbahn, together with Julia, Tim, Kai, his girlfriend, sister and friends. Our club had 3 different dance floors, Latin, Pop and Independent. We mostly stayed in the third. I tried my best to avoid too much of alcohol, which was a bit difficult, especially at the start of the evening, cause Kai's sister had prepared vodka jelly and punch in her flat.



The party lasted until the early morning and Julia and I went to bed around 5 or 6 am. At 9 I had to get up again, cause I had registered for the Ulrich Zwingli marathon some days ago. At first it was just a crazy idea, but it became fixed in my mind the more I thought about it.

So I left Kai's house around 9:30am and arrived at the Teichwiesen (a natural park within Hamburg). It was a nice lap course around some ponds and a big cow meadow. The track was quite muddy, as you can see on the photo. But I had brought my new waterproof shoes, which turned out very comfortable.



A crew of 2 and later 3 people handed us drinks and food every lap. I stayed at the lead right from the start. The first 3 laps in a team of four, then 8 laps with another guy, before I enforced the speed a bit for the last ones. I had dreamed of it beforehand, but now it really became reality. I had won my first marathon (follow the link for the official race report).



OK, my time of 3:39 h isn't world-class, and 15 runners made this marathon not one of the most distinguished. But I had been the best on this cloudy, warm New Years day morning. And it's a good feeling to have achieved something like this just 14 hours within the new year.

Some more days...

Tomorrow I'll drive back home. So I'll repair my pages this week. I've got some new photos to show and also some news to tell. For now I'll just say, Jolle and Marathon!

My site was down for a while...

because I changed my provider. Originally it was planned that there is no interruption, as I would have forwarded the domains at my new provider to the webspace of my old provider, which I paid until the end of January. But he deleted it already, so I'll have to upload it when I'm back home. Right now you'll just see the blog without photos and no website. I also dropped my johannesbeck.com domain, cause I don't need it, jolle.net and johannesbeck.de is enough. My sister's website teresabeck.de will also be uploaded when I come back home. See you, Jolle!