Training Log Archive: Torino

Overcast day but with 40 cm of beautiful new snow! We drove down to La Corbatière and went up to La Communal and walked along the top tracking in that new snow all the way. The open woods were dotted with incredibly beautiful big fir trees.
I had problems fighting my flu-symptoms at the beginning but then the meds kicked in.
My Garmin ran out of juice, but we actually walked down to La Sagne and down in the valley back up to where we started.

Met my previous (Interlaken) fitness-/Nordic Walking group on Tête-de-Ran for a 3-day weekend of snowshoe touring. Was not sure I could actually lead the group because of my long-lasting dear friend cold/flu. But it actually was not that bad, I let the men break trail through snow on the uphills and when I had moments of lower energy, they waited for me, but never more than a few seconds.
I rushed the group out the door after we had checked in because a storm was supposed to move in. We started on the East side of Tête-de-Ran and still had a beautiful view onto the Alps all the way down to Mt. Blanc. But to the West the front with dark clouds was waiting. At 1:30 we finally ate our sandwiches but during that time the clouds moved in and we were in the thickest of fog. The group wanted to move on and climb Mt.Racine (!), so I led them through the fog with visibility of maybe 20 m. Luckily, I know the area quite well and knew when to turn off to "climb" our point.
On the way back I opted to follow the cross-country tracks which were barely visible but they were marked with stakes. We made it back to the hotel just when the wind picked up and wet snow started whipping our faces. It had been fun anyway.
A nice fondue rewarded our efforts in the evening while the snow was piling higher and higher on our windows.

The first day without meds. Some of my old energy is back. Went running, at the beginning the legs were still kind of wobbly, but then the control came back and it was not too bad. Felt good anyway even though the nose is still running faster than the legs.