London Marathon - April 23

While in Switzerland and while trying to run the major marathons, I registered through a charity during the fall of 2016 for the London Marathon.  At the time, this seemed like a great idea; however, this proved much more difficult than originally planned given my training plan was significantly shorter than planned due to my scaphoid surgery on December 9.  While in a cast (until Feb. 17), I was not able to do much training and then while out of a cast...it was ski season!  Let's compare my peak training plan (Philadelphia Marathon 2014) to this one:

Philadelphia Marathon (2:56 Finish)

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Weekly Mileage	Cumulative Mileage
1	Rest	3	5	3	Rest	5	10	26	26
2	Rest	3	5	3	Rest	5	11	27	53
3	Rest	3	6	3	Rest	6	8	26	79
4	Rest	3	6	3	Rest	6	13	31	110
5	Rest	3	7	3	Rest	7	14	34	144
6	Rest	3	7	3	Rest	7	10	30	174
7	Rest	4	8	4	Rest	8	16	40	214
8	Rest	4	8	4	Rest	8	17	41	255
9	Rest	4	9	4	Rest	Rest	13.1	30.1	285.1
10	Rest	4	9	4	Rest	9	19	45	330.1
11	Rest	5	10	5	Rest	10	20	50	380.1
12	Rest	5	6	5	Rest	6	12	34	414.1
13	Rest	5	10	5	Rest	10	20	50	464.1
14	Rest	5	6	5	Rest	6	12	34	498.1
15	Rest	5	10	5	Rest	10	20	50	548.1
16	Rest	5	8	5	Rest	4	12	34	582.1
17	Rest	4	6	4	Rest	4	8	26	608.1
18	Rest	3	4	Rest	3	Rest	Race	36	644.1

London Marathon (3:44 Finish)

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Weekly Mileage	Cumulative Mileage
1	Rest	Bike	Rest	Rest	Rest	Bike	Rest	0	0
2	Rest	Bike	Bike	Rest	Bike	Rest	Rest	0	0
3	Rest	Bike	Bike	Rest	Rest	Rest	Bike	0	0
4	Rest	Elliptical	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Ski	0	0
5	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Bike	0	0
6	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Bike	0	0
7	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	0	0
8	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	0	0
9	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	4	5.4	Rest	9.4	9.4
10	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	4	Rest	4	13.4
11	6	Rest	5	Rest	10	Ski	Ski	21	34.4
12	Ski	Rest	Ski	Ski	Ski	Ski	Rest	0	34.4
13	5	10	5	Rest	Ski	Ski	Ski	20	54.4
14	Bike	6	10	5	Rest	15	Rest	36	90.4
15	5	Rest	6	5	10	Ski	Ski	26	116.4
16	5	10	5	19	Rest	Rest	Rest	39	155.4
17	Rest	5	6	10	Rest	Ski	Ski	21	176.4
18	Ski	4	3	Rest	Rest	2	Race	35	211.4

My first run of the year with no cast/brace was April 18th; this was my last run in Switzerland before the marathon and my 2nd run before the marathon.  As you can see, my goal for the race was moreso to survive than PR. 

The weekend's journey started immediately with a surprise as I arrived at the airport over 1.5 hours before my flight, but did not realize there would be passport checks in Geneva for the U.K. flight (when flying to the US this is performed in the US at poorly of entry).  I cleared customs at 9:42p for my 9:45p flight, so I made it...arrived in London at 11:45p and finally to where I was staying at 1a.

Saturday was a relaxing day where I did my final 2 mile run to stay loose and went to the expo when it opened to avoid the crowds on the final day.  Remainder of the afternoon I relaxed at the apartment and went to the West Ham vs Everton soccer game at the Olympic Stadium; game was a blast despite the 0-0 tie.  The remainder of the evening was spent in Greenwich Market near where I was staying to relax, stay off my feet, and carbo-load for the following day.  I randomly ran into one of the marathoners at my apartment for dinner and joined him so that was nice.

Expo - Prerace

West Ham Game

Sunday - Race Day

The apartment that I stayed in for the weekend was within walking distance of the starting line, which is a major time saver on race day in a large city.  The owner was staying at the apartment and cleared all of their open bedrooms to rent to runners as there were two other runners staying there.  My walk to the race area took about 15 min. and then just waited for the start and relaxed.

The actual race was well organized with lots of crowd support the entire race.  Running across London South Bridge and in front of Buckingham Palace were both quite special experiences.  Running a marathon with the goal to finish, run the whole race, and sightsee was an enjoyable experience and really happy I ran the race.  I did finish with running and wasn't in too much pain although I did need to lay down at the finish for about 20 minutes to get off my feet before making my way home.

Immediately following the race, I got my fix of Chipotle as there is one in London!  I actually had 3 meals in the course of the 3 hours following the race.  After only having about an hour to pack my bags, I then had to get to the airport to fly home.  Flying after running is not the best idea!  I basically sprawled out everywhere as it was painful to bend any joints and then when arriving in Geneva running a marathon finally caught up to me and I was exhausted!

Immediately following the race!

Easter in Ischgl

With the extended holiday for Easter, I went on one last ski trip with friends to Ischgl, Austria.  In Switzerland, we were conveniently prohibited from working on the Friday and Monday of Easter Weekend.

Two friends from Geneva and myself drove to Ischgl on Friday morning; the town is 45 drive from St.Anton where I had stayed earlier in the year.  A fourth friend (Shilling) who was working in Munich from Hastings joined us as well.

Weather was awesome and there was a lot of snow on Saturday and Sunday so skiing was a lot of fun. 

Ischgl's ski resort is different than most as there is a large concert venue mid-mountain where concerts are held every weekend of ski season and they host large artists.  While we were there, there was a German artist popular during the prior World Cup, which was fun. 

The town is Ischgl was very comparable to that of St. Anton with great restaurants and fun Après ski bars after the ski day.  Fun way to celebrate Easter and definitely looking forward to the the next ski trip.

Completely unaware of the sign on this one

Après Ski in Ski Boots

Black Forest - Wkd. of April 8

I decided to take a break from ski trips in the spring to take a road trip to the Black Forest while the Roses were working in Frankfurt the week prior.

I met them late Friday at our B&B in Gengenbach, Germany; I'm quite sure they arrived before I left Geneva.  It's fun to get the chance to drive again as I have limited access to cars while living here even if I was to spend several hours over the next days within a minivan.

Gengenbach was what you would expect of a small German town from the movies and very pretty.  I would tend to argue it felt more German than Bavaria.

Gengenbach

Town Hall (Real Life Advent Calendar)

During our time in the Black Forest we spent Saturday morning hiking and then visited a few wineries in the afternoon.

On Sunday, we started our drive to Geneva and spent the afternoon in Bern to break out the road trip.  Afternoon was nice and we grabbed lunch, walked the old town, and I saw the Bern bears for the first time!

Bern Bears

The remainder of the Roses trip we did a Fondue as you need to when visiting Switzerland.

Black Forest Cake while in the Black Forest

           

Dolomiti Seconda Parte - Wkd. March 16

For those of you that don't remember, I went to the Dolomites during the prior year to ski the Sella Ronda loop (see Dolomites post on March 1, 2016).  Unfortunately, this first attempt was unsuccessful as the result of my smart car being unable to handle the snow.  For St. Patrick's day this year, I went back with friends to the region to attempt the loop again.

We arrived on March 16th in Venice and did some sightseeing on the island the first days before starting the drive to La Villa (Alta Badia).  



Venice Pier

Immediately upon landing, we ran into our first trip hiccup as the rental car was accidentally booked for the following weekend; luckily, this was quickly solved when talking to the rental desk.  Once this happened, I did a quick re-check of the hotel dates and realized that I had also booked our hotel for one day late and immediately contacted the hotel for help and was told they were full, but would call the neighboring resorts to try to find an alternative and would call me back in 30 min.

After 30 minutes, the hotel called and said they had an extra room in a condo near the hotel for rent for 400 EUR, which I decided I would accept in order to not be homeless although very steep.

After the 2.5 hour drive, we arrived and the hotel was able to rearrange and rooms for us to stay the duration of our visit at our original location, with no added cost, the only casualty being that I was now forced to sleep on the couch for the trip.  I felt this was a minimal price to pay after almost single-handedily ruining the weekend!

All three days of skiing we had were quite sunny and warm (50-60 degrees Fahrenheit), but the snow was quite good.  I did not realize, but this area of Italy is also considered as part of Tirol (Austrian) so I had yet another week of pizza and Wiener schnitzel.


Lunch on the Hill


On day one of skiing, we spent most of our time in Alta Badia and Corvara.  This day brought back many memories of skiing down the Gran Risa World Cup piste.

For day two, we skied the Sella Ronda loop and it took 6:15 including stops for wrong turns, lunch, and Après ski.  The Sella Ronda is a loop of runs/lifts that connects several cities (Corvara, Via Fasso, Arabba, and Gardena) around the central rock formation of the Dolomites (Sella).  The terrain is not challenging, but does take time as we skied 21.7 miles.  The loop was a lot of fun and great way to see the full resort.

For day three, we skied the Lagazuoi tour, which requires a cable car to one of the highest points of the Dolomites and then the run down takes over an hour and requires being towed by horseback for the last portion of the trip.  Scenery was gorgeous and a great great run to finalize the Dolomite trip!

Top of  Lagazuoi

Trail of skiers towed by horse after ski tour

We arrived back in Geneva where I think got home at 10p, unpacked, then repacked for a work flight at 9a the following morning!

   

Après Ski at Top of Gran Risa

Austria Ski Trip

I haven't had many updates in quite sometime.

  

Since November.....

 

1) I was in the US most of December for scaphoid surgery and to spend time with friends and family.

2) In January, only skied once for a friend's birthday weekend as I was in a cast and was working nonstop.

3) I was in the US all of February for US busy season and to get my cast removed on Feb. 17 (2.5 month after surgery).

...and now it's March...

After returning from the US, I worked one week and then took a week off from work for a ski week in Austria.  This was my first trip to Ski in Austria and I went with Marc, Steve, and Adam and Milena also joined.

As the Americans were to arrive late Saturday in Zurich, I spent Saturday morning with a skiing warm-up in France and took advantage of having a rental car.  This turned out to be an extremely good idea as it was then I discovered that the initial car I was given had a Magnesium roof (not magnetic) that was incompatible with the ski rack the rental company provided.  Prior to picking up the Americans in Zurich, I had to then call the rental company and go to the Geneva airport to exchange cards for an SUV that was automatic (given the risk); please note that its very difficult to find automatic cards in Europe!  Everything worked out and I eventually arrived in Zurich and picked up Steve and Marc at 11 to then drive to Saalbach where we arrived at 4:30a.  The next day we took advantage of the 1:30p half day pass and skied Sunday and Monday.

Saalbach is one of the larger resort systems in Austria and we were able to ski half in two days.  Conditions were alright as the resort's peaks are about 2K meters and we had nice sunny days with the day of driving (Tuesday) where we received a foot of snow!

Kicking off the trip in Saalbach!

Top of Saalbach

Lunch at Saalbach

Following Saalbach, we spent the remainder of our trip in St. Anton; this was a three hour drive towards Switzerland and we skied Wednesday to Saturday. 

Our first day was one of the better ski days I've ever had as it was sunny and we were making fresh tracks in bowls with over 1' of fresh snow!  The 2nd day we received 4" of rain in the city, which translated to snow and no visibility on the mountain.  The 3rd and 4th days we were able to find some fresh tracks while skiing in the sun.

View from the top during 4" rain in the city.

St. Anton is a great ski destination with tons of terrain (we skied less than half), the city has great restaurants, and also one of the best Après ski locations in Europe although definitely not the safest as going to the Krazy Kangaroo requires you to party hard and then need to ski 200m down a mogulled run in the dark.  

Off Piste Crew

Apres Ski

Krazy Kangaroo

All-in-all, we had one or the better weeks of conditions in Europe with the ski conditions and our trip was during the quarter finals of the Champions league so the city was quite lively as we were able to watch one of the greatest soccer comebacks in history (Barca v PSG).

Skiing Bowls

Rare site of both Nitz brothers buried in snow.

It was sad to see the trip come to an end after many wiener schnitzels and aperol spritzes; great trip and was excited to ski with Marc again and have him take advantage of my time abroad.

The Whole Ski Crew in St. Anton