Run 2:16:00 [3] 24.0 km (5:40 / km)
Not sure if I'll call this one of my best runs of 2015 - it was a little slow-paced for that (not sure how much of this is the slippery ground?) and my Achilles was intermittently troublesome - but it was definitely one of the most enjoyable.
Flew into Zurich late last night and stayed at one of the airport hotels in Kloten (a town/outer suburb around 2km from the airport). Airport hotels are often in very unpromising running environments but I knew from staying here in January that Kloten had potential.
Today's plan was fairly straightforward - head into the hills between Kloten and Winterthur with a vague target in mind, and after the initial climb, see where the yellow signs took me. In Kloten itself snow was falling but not settling on hard surfaces, but 50 metres higher it was proper snow, and most of the run was done in it - just a couple of centimetres of fresh snow with no ice beneath, the sort that's nice to run in. Took quite a while to build into this run, but had plenty of good moments, especially on the sections on white tracks across fields (if it wasn't too windy) or through forests. The highlight, though, was the descent back towards Kloten at around 16-18k - gentle downhill through a fairytale forest with a couple of centimetres of fresh snow on everything (except the track I was running on). The last loop in town to get me up to the 2.15 I wanted could have been a bum note, especially as I felt as if I was starting to fade a bit at 2 hours, but it turned out reasonably good, taking in the town's Christmas market (at which the most lucrative economic activity appeared to be the issuing of parking tickets). Rolling hills most of the way, with almost no extended flat sections until back in town.
Now on the homeward leg - due back in Melbourne Sunday night, but the tightness of my connection is such that there's every chance of some unscheduled time in Dubai (although at present our departing flight is showing on time, and as an A380 we shouldn't have a bus transfer in Dubai, which from experience can add another 30 minutes to the time required).