As part of my continuing quest to regain fitness I have been regularly doing exercise but this can be quite tough or boring at times. In my younger days I did sports competatively so find it easier to be motivated if I have a goal to reach. With this in mind does anyone know of any sporting events that are open to amatures to take part in that are happening later in 2008? I can't run but do like to walk or swim.

Hey Lou,

Are you open to suggestions from all over CH or just around where you live?


~ N

The Zurich & Zug areas would be best for me but if anyone else shows an interest any area could be included.

Here's a couple of websites that maybe of interest;

www.swisssnowwalking.ch

and

www.meet2move.com - new i think and designed for people who don't belong to a club to meet up for sport, mostly nordic walking by the looks.

Increasingly traditional running events like the Davos mountain marathon and the Zurilaufcup races are adding walking events too.

Sadly in my experience there are less 'fun run type' events here, the swiss tend to be quite serious about their sporting events

Of course personal goals/challenges work really well too. e.g. identifying a route/hill that would be a real stretch to complete at the moment, but with aplan of action might be possible in say 4 wks time or plan to do a long distance walk like the Tour du Mont Blanc with a friend (short and long term goals/steps are key)

I couldn't find any events that suited so I have decided to train with the goal of climbing the Shilthorn by the end of September. Of course now I have posted it here there is no going back .

An excellent form of training, which I enjoy very much, is snowshoeing. It can be as much of a workout as you want, and the woods in winter have a magical quality. Surely, given what I have read about December snow in Switzerland, there is good snowshoeing close to you? Between the Uteliberg/Albis and the Rigi you should have lots of possibilities.

I had been thinking about that but I have never tried it & have no idea what it entails. I need to do a bit research to see what is involved, if it is more than strapping them on & going for it!

Snowshoeing is great exercise and a fantastic way to see the mountains. It is, basically strapping them on and grabbing a set of poles and off you go (with the correct clothing, map, first aid kit, food and water supplies). You can hire them at most places that hire cross-country ski's and they will advise on the correct size of shoes and height of poles. The poles give you a bit extra balance (especially getting up after falling over ) and a great upper body workout. I would recommend sticking to the marked snowshoe trails that you can find in most ski resorts, as there is always the danger of avalanches if you head off the marked trails into the mountains. Also, try to avoid the cross-country ski trails if you can (or stick to the edge of them),as it does ruin the grooming and frustrate us cross country skiers.
There is plenty of information on the web and you can also check out
www.swisssnowshoe.ch and www.raquettes.ch
for events in Switzerland. I think Coop or Migros are running a few events over Switzerland this year.

You can start with some training off the snow by doing some walking with poles (also called Nordic Walking). The trick is to actually use the poles when you walk (unlike all the women I see dragging them behind while they are catching up on the weeks gossip ) and add some hills to your walking. There are lots of events you can plan for at the end of the snow season (they normally have a nordic walking event with every major running event here in CH) and it will help you train for your mountain climb.

And lastly, I would recommend giving classic cross-country skiing a go. It is easy on the body and the knees and a great all over workout (you will find muscles that you never thought you had). There are lots of events all over Switzerland (and Europe) that you can aim for (loppet or Swiss loppet series). The Engadine Ski Marathon (42 or 21km classic or skating race through St Moritz) is one of the best races in the world. Its fantastic to see people in their 70's and 80's still getting out there and racing.

Don't worry about the competitiveness of the races. Yes, the Swiss are competitive, but they stay up the front and there are always a few of us down the back having a great time. Its all in the competing and not the competition.

Anyhow - just a few thoughts. Happy training.

Is it possible to do snow shoeing with a baby in a baby carrier on your back? Obviously doing this I would be restricted time wise so the little guy is not outside for too long but I have noticed that some ski resorts have trails that are 30 mins to 1 hour long. Has anyone done this?

Mechanically snowshoeing is very stable, so I would not worry about falling (but do not carry baby on your first attempt ). I would worry more about temperature control. I believe that the temperature control systems in babies is not as good as that in adults, plus the little one cannot tell you s/he is cold!

I suspect that it can be done; a Google search for "snowshoeing with babies" returns several links to organized trip of that nature, such as this, this and this.

Thanks for the links. We have a fantastic snow suit for him but I would rather stick to only short circular routes of about 30 mins then go inside again to make sure he is warm enough which can be repeated. It would mean I could do somthing & get some training in while my husband & older son ski.

Now you say you can't run. Is that because you don't, or are physically unable. If it's just because your out of shape. Who cares, get back into shape. I've had to relearn how to run many times after injuries and surgeries. If you are physically unable to because of a physical issue, try racewalking. http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/rayzwoc...s/homepage.htm I was unable to run for a year and did this as a replacement. A friend of mine also shattered her entire leg in a horseback riding accident. After being told she would never even walk again, she racewalks marathons and long triathlons. If you get good enough you can do it as fast, or faster than some runners.

Which brings me to my suggestion. Triathlons. It's not just for young people. Or the super fit. There are many different distances. Sprint, Olympic, Half Ironman, and Ironman. The sprint is quite fast and can be covered in under and hour and a half. It's a great sport because you have to train for 3 different diciplines. You never get bored. I even got my 55 year old mother who has never done a sport in her life to do one.

And even better than the US, the European triathlon scene is very popular. Many many local races. Try www.trimapper.com I know where I will be in CH, there are 3 races with in a 30 minute drive. Much better than Chicago where it was a 3 hour drive and an overnight stay for each race. At 8 races a year, it was getting expensive.

If you want more info or help, I would be very happy to help you.

Unfortunatley it's physically unable, I was baned from all impact sport 5 years ago. I do try running every now and again but normally regret it afterwards but you can't give in too easily despite what doctors tell you.

Being able to racewalk a triathlon sounds interesting, I was begining to train for one when I had to give up running. My husband has done a triathlon, he did the Olympic length one in Neuchatel, we were planning on training together for the next one. I will look into that some more. Thanks.

In that case there's always aqua jogging too - the no impact form of jogging, wearing either a vest or belt to keep you upright. There's even a race in the zurich lake during the summer.