24 Hours in Berlin

So last Friday I decided at about 11am that I was going to go to Berlin to skate in the BMW Berlin Inline Marathon. This would have been a great idea, except that it meant I had about 24 hours to get there. I’ve done the marathon before, and as long as the weather is good it’s one of the best routes you can skate. Check my video here:

Aside from the skate itself which you now know is really cool having watched the video, there were a couple of good reasons for this decision; namely 2 friends who I texted to wish them luck.
One of them is Emily. Emily is a bit of an action girl and was not just skating the marathon but also running the same race the following day. Please sponsor her; her donation page is here: http://virginmoneygiving.com/emilyorme
The other is a very close friend of mine who won’t be named. Actually she will, might as well plug her business too, which is sports rehabilitation and fitness conditioning. Her name is Kinga and she works independently at a company called Ambition Fitness – www.ambitionfitness.com
So I texted them both to wish them luck, and the responses that came back were something like this:
Kinga: I’ve never been to Berlin without you! Shame you couldn’t join!
Me: I looked into it but the flight and hotel was super expensive…
Kinga: Too bad, I had a spare space in the hotel as well!
Emily: You have no idea how much that means to me!
Me: Well I wish I could have been there to support you better…
But actually I could have been there. So I looked for a flight and booked it. Then booked airport parking. Then asked around to see if anyone who had a registration wasn’t going, so I could pretend to be them for a couple of hours during the race. Then I told Kinga I’d see her tomorrow. At first she thought I was joking but I assured her I wasn’t.
My flight was via Frankfurt so what followed was an epic journey of flight delays, the obligatory anal (not literally) German security at Frankfurt airport (only Frankfurt, other German airports seem more relaxed), and an epic fail of a skate that saw me have to stop 5 times to rest, because my back gave out about 2km in.
I did eventually finish though, and having met with friends and caught up with everyone, I was heading back to the airport within 24 hours of arriving.
I’m really pleased I went, as it’s given me a reminder of how unfit I’ve become. Starting today I went for a run in the morning; something I hadn’t done since 2006, and I felt great afterwards. My body is still aching but it was a great feeling watching the sunrise over Tower Bridge. I’ve also been eating healthily today, but it remains to be seen how long that will last. I’m fairly determined to get fitter again though, and lose the 10kg or so I’ve piled on since being in my prime 6 years ago!
Wish me luck