News Update

We came back from our skiing holiday in Austria last weekend. The snow conditions were excellent, but the weather wasn't. Poor visibility and in fact fresh snowfall during the day made for difficult skiing most days, but we did have 1 sunny day (see photo) when we stayed on the pistes from the first until the last lift! I tried my luck with snowboarding one morning - it was fun - but also rather sore the next day as I had lots of -expected- falls. The little village of Obergurgl looked like a magical winter wonderland and all in all we spent a relaxing week with great food in good company. We will go back to the same resort next year as the skiing area and the scenery is fantastic (when you can actually see it).

Back at work now and also training in earnest for all the upcoming running events. We went to the club's speed session on Wednesday where at the moment we are doing 10 hill reps. After the first of this kind of session a couple of weeks ago I was actually told off by Thomas for not having worked hard enough. Well, I did try to save some energy on each repetition as I thought that was quite sensible given that I had to get through all the 10 reps .... But not on Wednesday! After the second one I felt quite sick and a quick glance at Thomas assured me that this was exactly what it should be like!? I only managed 4 of these though, did 4 easier ones and bailed out on 2. Not to worry I was assured by my "trainer", at least I worked hard enough on 4! Next time I have to record my HR to see if my max HR is higher than what I think it is (180). Tom has been promoted to be my coach, well at least sometimes. I do like to follow the training plans of my German Guru Steffny as they have worked out quite well so far, but as I am doing a few other runs and different speed training with the club and of course the DOTH, his plans do not quite fit in. So this is where Tom's advice will come in handy, I hope!

Anyway, we were off to TISO yesterday to buy new running shoes for me. Who came out with a new pair? Well, not me. My Asics GT 2130 model has been "upgraded" to the 2140 with apparent better heel fit etc. Well, it does not fit my heel any more. But the guy at Run4It is trying to source the old model for me from EDI. I will stockpile a couple of pairs if he can get them.

Today Thomas and I were back on the WHW. He ran from Milngavie to Rowardennan and back to Balmaha. I ran from Balmaha to Rowardennan and back. We met when I was half way back between Rowardennan and Balmaha. It took me 3:35 in total. I was quite exhausted at the end, but it was a good run. Thomas also had a good run and it seems his training is going well.