Well, as expected, there wasn’t as much running this week as usual, since Dustin and I were in Verbier snowboarding Saturday through Thursday. We managed to run twice over the trip, but just a 5k distance each time, and then just snowboarding the rest of the days. I’m excited and ready to get back to Paris marathon training now.
Here’s my weekly recap:
Monday: Second day of snowboarding in Verbier. Second day of lessons with Duncan from New Generation school (he was awesome; really patient too.)
I took a lesson with him Sunday as well; he has been teaching lessons (ski and snowboard) for 20+ years and is the manager at the Verbier New Gen school. I was lucky to have him as he usually wouldn’t be teaching anymore, but would be guiding people off-piste. He had really great technical tips and guidance, though at times it was almost too much to think about so I felt like I regressed a bit as my brain was overwhelmed by all the stuff to think about!
He was really working to break me of some bad habits I’ve developed so that I can actually progress. I’ve been snowboarding for quite some time, but we only go once, maybe twice per season, so I feel like I’ve plateaued a bit. And I’m not getting any younger or braver!
Where I am an intermediate snowboarder, Dustin is beyond advanced. He really is SO so good- like incredibly good; I’m not just saying that! Heli-skiing, snowcat skiing, he has done it all and has been snowboarding for so long he can manage through anything the mountain throws at him. There’s nothing that scares him. I’m always so impressed when I hear about the routes he took, (though it does make me nervous when he goes alone! He could get into some trouble; he has booked a guide in the past, but was too late this year and they were all booked.)
He did say that Verbier was his favourite ski destinations so far in Europe; nice sustained steepness that supports snowboarding well, tons of off-piste options, and a strong lift network between a very expansive area.
I think that in the US, the four valleys of Verbier would be split into four separate resorts, but here it was all one. I wouldn’t say it was very accessible for beginners; in Europe, the trails are marked blue, red, or black (vs. in the US where its green, blue, black, double black diamond.) If a trail is black in the alps its going to be pretty challenging. And Verbier did not have much for blues (i.e. “greens” of the US) which is why I wouldn’t say it was beginner friendly. And even though there were loads of gondolas, there were also areas that were only accessible by very steep ‘button’ lifts, which on a snowboard can be quite challenging; actually they looked challenging for skiers too as we saw several people wipe out on the button lifts.
Dustin does so much wild and scary off-piste stuff that I’ll never do, nor do I want to, but I do want to get more confident on the rest of the mountain. So for that, I liked having an instructor in Verbier. The alps- and especially Verbier- are intimidating! I’ll always book a private lesson going forward to work on the technical aspects as well as build my confidence to navigate a new destination without getting into trouble.
Back to the recap…we ended the day on Monday with a beer and late lunch at this cute chalet restaurant called La Moay. Fortunately, the gondola was right there, so I didn’t have to snowboard after a beer (never a good thing for me!)
Snowboarding/skiing is different in the Alps than in the US, for many reasons. Firstly, lift tickets are way cheaper- just 80 CHF per day, vs the $200-$300 price in some US resorts. Also, there are no “lifties” or people scanning passes or helping people in the lines, which could be bad if its crowded, but we’ve never been snowboarding when its crowded.
So far, since living in London, we have been to Val d’Isere (France), Zermatt (Switzerland) and Verbier (Switzerland.) As mentioned earlier, Verbier has been Dustin’s favorite so far.
The restaurants and vibes were nice- not over the top stuffy, though there was some of that, and a party scene too but even so, it was really a skiers town where people take the sport quite seriously. Verbier is often noted as the best skiing in Europe!
Fun aprèi ski at Carrefour! One of my favorite days.
Tuesday: Another day of snowboarding with a lot of fresh snow. Dustin and I were together for some of the day and separate for part so he could go off-piste.
Wednesday: Last day on the mountain. I ended a bit early as four days in a row was a lot for this intermediate gal. I wanted to end on a high note vs. tired legs and a fall! (To be honest, I took many falls over the four days- thank goodness for my helmet!)
Thursday: Dustin and I ran a very steep and somewhat icy 5k around Verbier before having one last breakfast at our hotel and packing up our bags to take the train to Geneva for our flight back to London. Verbier is about 2.5 hours on the train to Geneva and we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time at the airport with our oversize snowboard bag. We’ve also had mixed experiences at the Geneva airport in past trips (it can be a bit chaotic) so we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time.
All good, and our 4:30 flight was on time and we were home in London at a reasonable hour. Ruth was in good hands with our dog-sitter, though it was her first time “home alone” without Matilda. I still can’t believe Matilda is gone; I expect to see her every time I walk through the door. She is greatly missed.
Friday: I had plans to meet some friends to run to the Tracksmith Friday morning run, but we awoke to a torrential downpour and everyone cancelled. Instead, a few of us were able to squeeze in a lunch run when the rain had stopped. I went a little long for a lunch run, don’t tell anyone, ha! I ran 10 miles and it felt so great and easy. I was happy to be running again; even though yes, I did a few 5k’s in Verbier, it felt like I had been away for a long time.
Saturday: After an easy breezy run on Friday, Saturday was a struggle. I could feel the tiredness in my legs from the snowboarding and probably from 10 miles the day before. I managed 15 miles, but it wasn’t a breeze like Friday. Fortunately I had a few friends for company which helped. I actually was quite sort afterwards, particularly in my hips and groin. I’m a little worried that I may have hurt my tailbone or something when snowboarding….
Sunday: 8 mile run with Dustin and Ruth, followed by a pilates reformer class at the Island. Sadly, I hadn’t strength trained or taken pilates in two weeks (since before I went to NYC.) Could definitely tell.
Summary: Just 37 miles of running, which is low for me at this point in marathon training. One pilates class and a fair amount of snowboarding. I’m hoping that this sore groin thing is temporary and that I can get back to some more serious training next week as Paris will be here soon!
That’s a wrap! I’m linking up with Running on the Fly and Confessions of a Mother Runner; check out their blogs to connect with other fitness bloggers for workout ideas and inspiration!
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