𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒: 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐊 | 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬

[ 034 ]

'You dream. You plan. You reach. There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, with belief, with confidence and trust in yourself and those around you, there are no limits.'
- Michael Phelps

Her alarm clock rang at around five in the morning. She got up and got ready. She tied her hair in two boxer braids, which she then tied up in a bun at the back. She applied minimal make-up and put on a pair of dark green, long sports leggings. She wore a matching sports bra and decided to put on a black T-shirt and her team jacket.

She then left her apartment with a RedBull without sugar. She had already packed her small suitcase with her training equipment the day before, so she just had to leave.

She knew it was going to be a long, intense day. Six training sessions of ninety minutes each were scheduled. Two of these were already training sessions to learn the new choreography. Although this was not too physically demanding, it was the biggest challenge for the mind. After all, a total of seven minutes had to be filled with elements and choreographic elements.

She loved learning the new choreography, but hated it at the same time. Because it wasn't just training at the rink, but also at home. Last year, she had spent hours every day learning the choreography at home.

When she arrived at the parking lot of the complex shortly before six o'clock, she realized once again that she was quite late. She still had time, but she would need it to get to the rink on time.

When she arrived in the changing room, she met Héliose, who was celebrating her birthday tomorrow and Luise still had to wrap her present.

"Good morning," they hugged each other before Luise greeted the others too.

They had ice training for the first hour, starting with five of them. Three of them were still juniors who might get the chance to take part in international competitions for the first time this year.

She unlocked her locker and took the skates out of the locker, which she then put on. She put her suitcase under the wooden bench after fishing out her water bottle.

Together, they then headed towards the ice rink, where her trainer Florence was already waiting for them. She didn't really look well-rested either. She was wearing a thick winter jacket, whereas the skaters were only thinly dressed. She was wearing gloves and had a coffee mug in her right hand, which she sipped regularly to wake herself up.

She instructed the five of them to skate in before practicing spins. She took off her skate pads before going onto the ice and then placed them on the boards.

She skated a few laps, jumped a few single jumps and easy turns. She and Héli often came together to chat. Quite the opposite of the three juniors, who were still very shy and afraid to say anything. After all, they didn't normally talk during training.

"So we're going for a drink tomorrow, right? With your friends?" asked Luise as she walked past Heli with her hands on her hips.

"Yes, everything is already organized. We're going to the APM." Her grin was wide across her face. She loved her birthday and celebrating it in the bar.

"Very good choice. When and where are we meeting then?"

"I think we will meet at my place first, around seventeen o'clock. Eat cake, chat a bit, have a pre-glow and then we can get started."

"Good plan."

"I always have good plans," she giggled and sped up again to jump once more.

Luise just shook her head with a grin and skated around for another lap. Florence then called them together to explain the plan for the first lesson. They quickly came to a practical conclusion. Before they slid off the ice almost ninety minutes later, all exhausted.