Once I had decided I was going to do my winter training camp in Germany, a race in Liechtenstein caught my eye on the ITU website.   It was a winter triathlon which involved running, mountain biking and XC skiing, all on snow. How hard could that be?!?!?   In my typical style, I entered without really thinking about what I was taking on so you can imagine my horror when it was upgraded to a World Cup with all the top girls racing.   There's nothing like throwing yourself once more into the deep end head first.......

The first problem was that I had never done any mountain biking or XC skiing, so the first stop in Germany was to the bike shop.   Quick lesson to Christian (my boyfriend) in what I thought I needed as the guys in the shop we went too didn't speak English and Christian hasn't done any cycling before. All resulted in a very humorous conversation which was like the blind leading the blind as I am no mountain bike expert and even less when it comes to riding on snow!   A couple of hours later we emerged with a mountain bike, some very nobly tyres, winter clothing as I had nearly frozen to death the day before in my normal training gear and an indoor bike trainer.   Needless to say, the bike shop had been more than obliging to stay open late and keenly told us to come back anytime!  

The closest ski tracks to Christian's house are 40minutes away, so the next week I merrily packed all my new equipment into the car and set off for a practice triathlon.   After driving to the mountains in the snow, I finally found the tracks and after a quick coffee to get me in the mood, I started off with a run.   There was so much deep snow and the tracks were not well packed, I must have resembled something like Goofy as I ran and fell my way up the hill.   I think spent as much time on my arse as I did my feet but still had a smile on my face as I made it back to the car for my bike.    This was my first time on a mountain bike, so I decided to ride a little way up the snow covered road to check out the gears before attempting the ski tracks.   Man, no-one had told me how hard riding on snow is as you spend the whole time skidding and sliding. I soon discovered the trick is not to panic and to take really small, steady movements with the steering when you start to slide and braking....well that just doesn't work!!   I headed to the ski tracks thinking I would be safer there than on the road and this would be what our race would be on.....I think I made it about 20cm before everything sunk in as there was lots of fresh snow and I promptly fell off.   This race was beginning to feel like a mammoth task and it was only three weeks away.   After a couple more attempts, there was no-way I was going to be able to ride on the tracks, so I set off up the road and just prayed I wouldn't run into any cars and need to stop in a hurry.   I returned to the car an hour later feeling a little more confident, so now just the skiing.   I had definitely made progress since my first attempts in Rupholding but it was far from pretty.   I spent the next 1hr30 skiing loops round the fields on really bad tracks, a combination of bad preparation and too much snow. I found it exhausting especially for my arms and shoulders as I simply didn't have the technique to glide enough so had to resort in using my upper body strength.   All said, a good day of training and I had a smile on my face as I drove back home ready for a hot bath.

The following week Christian had a week off work, so we headed to the mountains in Switzerland to stay at his sister's chalet - lots of skiing and mountain biking.   The highlight of the week was downhill skiing at night under the full moon closely followed by a visit to the Winter Olympics to watch the Women's Biathlon.   Skiing at night is so cool but it has to be said going up on the lift I was absolutely petrified, as you really can't see the piste.   As we stood at the top, it is the most amazing view I have ever seen as all the high mountain peaks around you are lit up by the moon reflecting off the snow and slope ahead looks really eerie.   As soon as you get going it's such an adrenaline rush and an amazing feeling flying down a deserted mountain.

My XC skiing was coming on and we had a great afternoon skiing on the frozen lakes at St Moritz.   Luckily Christian was able to help me as I still resembled something like the Tasmanian Devil on ski's with arms and poles going crazy in all directions....definitely not the graceful sport I had been watching at the Winter Olympics!   We were also able to spend another afternoon skiing with Kathy, Australian Biathlete we had met in Rupholding, which was great as she is a really good teacher.   It was this day where I finally felt some glide and really started to enjoy the sport.   The other nice thing was I was also able to ride on the snow every morning right out of the door and was starting to love the feeling of speed and sliding around on snow. I had my first big wipe out - luckily I just ended up head first into a massive mound of soft snow! The week finished off with Christian's 30 th Birthday and some of his family and friends came to the chalet and we had an awesome time downhill skiing and celebrating.  

We finally headed back to Germany and stopped on route in Liechtenstein to ski on the course.   It's a really small country but very beautiful and basically sits on the side of a mountain.   To get to the course, you drive up a steep road from the Rhine through a tunnel and pop out the other side at this tiny village, forest and wilderness.   The ski tracks were gorgeous and we snaked our way up this little valley through the forest.   Now I was truly beginning to appreciate the benefits of this sport....you get access some amazing places and now I was able to pick up some speed so you feel like you are flying across the snow.

I am always surprised how easy making friends is in a new place is when you do a sport. Within a couple of weeks I had found a mountain bike pro and another good biker to ride with, the best Canadian bike mechanic 50m from home (he used to be a pro and worked for one of the TDF teams) and lots of friendly old people who swim at the pool every afternoon and various people at the races I went to who lived nearby.   I can definitely get used to training in the snow with views like the below................who couldn't??????