End of hibernation

Mountain winters are cold. And long. And full of snow. So far, my idea of living a healthy life around here materialised in endless cubical meters of snow shoveled :-). I have been working a lot, physically, that is – but there was significantly less time for running, skiing and recovery. As a result, my favourite pair of jeans shrank. So did my mileage. At the moment I am struggling (and not winning) the battle of 100 km a month. But I do not worry too much.

We did manage to change our life entirely and as a family, leaving the city lights behind, we are happy here. The two smallest family members spend loads of hours outside each day (e.g. searching for what the Easter Bunny left behind…).

   And we have the most fantastic and ever changing views every day:

And so I work, run, ski, bike, I count less (no Garmin these days!) and most of all, I am enjoying my life with my girls because facing the elements here I get to realise every day again and again that the rest does not matter at all.

Happy spring, everybody!

Preggo running IV.

20-22 weeks: As many of you know, we have spent last week in the Alps. As V was busy with her ski instructor training (Anwarter), I had all the time to work, eat and… run. My daily routine consisted of 1-2  hours of early morning (6.30 – 8.30) running and geocaching and then working and eating and walking – until it was time to go to sleep again. This scheme did me good. I managed to run 40 km that week and until now, I actually feel very good.

Total weight gain: 7 kg

My running has reached a point where anything faster than 8.5 km per hour is not comfortable, however, maintaining the snail speed of 8 km per hour is quite nice, actually. Walking/hiking is good, too. And here it the evidence: last Saturday (when many of you ran marathons all over Europe) we took a little hike from the Hinterglemm valley to Forsthofalm:

Weekend in the Alps

Our outdoorsy life has gained yet another dimension: after developing the running bug, crossing lakes with the inflattable canoe, V’s ski instructor training and a new mountain bike (all in course of several months), we have finally secured a mountain apartment for ourselves. It is located in Piesendorf, Salzburgerland, about 4 km from Kaprun and Zell am See and it is GREAT. More posts on HOW great it is will follow as we will explore the surroundings in the coming months but here already something to start with. This is our view:  We spent there a great weekend furnishing, arranging 1000 things and getting to know our neighbours. But most important was that we went running and hiking: