Life is not a Practice

Max and I were skiing this morning in Oberjoch. Got there before the people so could have a few "crazy" runs on the lovely mix of natural and man made snow. Frighteningly fast trying to keep up with Max.



And then there was the crazy off piste routes that I was "forced" to take.

Alison and I walked up the Alpspitz with our touring skis, enjoyed a drink in Sportheim Böck at the top and then skied back down.



The route is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=vsyqnaielfvetdos

This evening we were indoor cycling again at the Fitness Studio in Seeg.

I managed to photograph the two "trainings" that we did last week.

This was the first hour and cost me 800kcal.


Once we were warm we did the following for an hour. 900kcal.


Full size pictures at https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/103827427036815679772/albums/5952431196196400865

This afternoon out with the race bike and just now we were skiing on the floodlit Alpspitz. Just Alison and I.



We got there at six and the slope was perfectly pisted and empty. An hour later there were more people there so we had a drink sat outside looking at the full moon rising.

15th of February and +15°
Out on my race bike getting in some training in fitness zone 2 - that is what my training plan worked out by my FT60 said I needed.

Lots of cyclists out on the roads round the Grüntensee. As it was so nice, I also included a diversion to Schwarzenberg.

24.8km with 300 meters of climbing
Track at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=yivrnypqawdbhiwx

Swimming this morning (my Polar works underwater as well) and out skiing for an hour with Alison and Max on the Alpspitz this afternoon. Snow and sunshine within the one hour.



It really is a tough life when you can cycle, swim and ski all on the same weekend and all within 1 km of home.

First time out cycling with my new Polar heart monitor. Had to cycle slower up hill and faster down.

21km 246 meters of climbing
Route at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=dovuzvyfjorsgxhd

The training data is saved at polarpersonaltrainer.com

Apparently to train effectively you need to train at the correct heartbeat. I have known this for ages but never got round to buying a heart rate monitor.

But now I have treated myself to a Polar FT60 so can be sure I stay at the correct level and can keep a record of how fit I get at https://polarpersonaltrainer.com/

We had some more snow during the week and it was cold enough for the snow cannons one night so today Alison and I went for an hours skiing in Nesselwang.

Great snow but very misty at the top of the mountain.

It snowed last night so Alison and I went for an hours skiing at the Alpsitz.

Once again we, Alison, Heidi and I, are spinning through the winter. This year we are at a different studio ( http://www.fitness-seeg.de/ ) but it is just as much fun as last year.

This evening was my second session and the music this evening was fantastic and included ACDC which resulted in me ending up completely sweated through but feeling like I had really achieved something.

9.1.14
13.1.14
15.1.14 (2 hours)
22.1.14 (2 hours)
26.1.14
and then all saved at polarpersonaltrainer.com

The 12th of January you would expect news from the slopes but the snow is still letting us wait so today I used my ski ticket to go swimming in the morning and cycling in the afternoon.



As you can see in the photo, there is little snow outside of the north facing slopes.

22 kms 250m of climbing
Track at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=aplahueddnkhxglq

Normally I am a summer swimmer - in the local lakes after or during a cycle ride.

But for Christmas we gave my nephew two swimming tickets for the local pool ( http://www.abc-nesselwang.de/alpspitz-bade-center.0.html ). Yesterday I took him for the first "session" and it was so much fun that I went back this morning and swam 24x25 meters.



My season card for the ski lifts ( http://www.vitalesland.com/bergbahnen/de/winter-panorama.html ) includes 3 hours of swimming every day so I should do this more often.

Christmas morning and Max and I were skiing on the Hahnenkamm in Austria. There is a warm wind out of the south (13°C) and only the piste has snow on it but there were NO PEOPLE.



We carved from top to bottom and didn't pass a single person all the way. The whole slope empty and just for us. On the second run we passed two people and by the final one there might have been a hundred people.

Christmas Eve afternoon and Alison and I were skiing on our local ski slope. Daniel, Max and a friend were also out on skis or snowboards and we all met for a drink in the sun.

Sunday morning at 05:00 and I had to work - it really is a tough life.

Drove up the partly snow covered and very windy Riedberg Pass to 1470 meters above sea level. Not a single other car going up and down so I had real fun with my 4WD Skoda Yeti.

At the top of the pass I put on my touring skis and set off under a million stars all twinkling in the cold. Not another person as far as the eye could see.

Reached the Riedbergerhorn at about 07:00 and could see all the lights across Lake Constance in Switzerland some 60 kilometers away. In the East the sky was slowly getting lighter.



Skied down the ridge and then up to the Grauenstein where we have a station (at 1750m) that supplies Internet to the village of Bolsterlang. Changed out a router that has been causing problems and rang my colleague to check that the new component was working properly.



Skied back up to the Riedbergerhorn and enjoyed the view while taking the skins off my skis and then had a dream descent through fresh powder snow all the way back to the car park. Scrounged a cup of coffee from the ski lift and then drove back towards the rising sun and home.

The route (from my GPS) is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=mgklsrjukonsvhwk

The ski season has started.



The Alpspitzbahn have been making snow all week and today they opened for one day of "pre-opening" skiing.
Great snow, sun and almost no people. All those there were locals.

Fun four hours but by then my legs were aching.

Max is coming back from diving in Egypt ( http://maxhogarth.blogspot.de/ ) today and is going to get such a shock when they open the aeroplane doors at Zurich and let the cold in :-)