Xi'an's Og

While the workshop schedule in Les Houches was rather tight and exhausting, I managed to squeeze in early morning runs as well as one (and only one) later morning ski session on the Kandahar run of Les Houches. Run that was quite nice due both to the quality of the snow and to the low occupancy, as French school vacations were not yet underway. Actually this Alpine week was my first week of steady running since Xmas, as my sciatica re-awoke on the very morning we were leaving for India, as I found out then during a 5am fast & furious run before heading to CDG Airport. It had been years since my sciatic nerve hurt that much and it took me up to my arrival in Chamonix to feel okay enough when running more than 4km at once. To compensate for the loss I turned through January to pool training most mornings but this proved more complicated, both timewise and locationwise, since very few nearby pools open at 7am at least once a week. And they are relatively nearby, meaning an extra 10km of extra biking at the very least each day. Henceforth a significant part of the morn having evaporated by the time I am heading to work. Still this daily training improved my swimming to some extent, mostly my endurance to get over 2km, as my speed only improved at most 10%! As I am preparing for another half-marathon at the end of March, I hope I can get back to the speed and volume reached the past Fall, tant pis for the swimming! (Unless I run to and from the pools.)