6 months... where did it go?

I started this journey 6 months ago and after about 9 years of running on and off I was unsure I would actually make it. I had never run further than 22km before and my only official race was a 10km road race back in 2007. Some said I set the goal to high but that is the way I am. For me the prospect of running a marathon was not a big enough target. As David Goggins recently said in his blog that you only get one chance so make the most of it and this is true for the Swiss Alpine K78. Sure I could enter the K42.2km race or the easier C42.2km race but after successfully running a training marathon over a couple or reasonable hills I have reached that goal of running over 4okm. Plus my chances of going to Switzerland just for this race would be much lower when back in Australia.

Over the past six months I have achieved one goal and that was to lose on average 4kg per month for the six months. The total as of today is almost 26kg. I know I could have lost more but did exceed my goal by 2kg. Still a way to go until I reach where I would like to be for my best fitness performance but am happy to work on it for the rest of the year.

We depart tomorrow for Switzerland, a moment I have been thinking about almost every waking moment over the last 6 months. I have read every race report, looked at every photo, studied the elevation profiles, the cutoff times and everything else on offer on the website.

I give full marks thus far for the level of detail the race organisers have provided. They have responded to every question quickly which makes planning easier. With the weather looking unpredictable (tomorrow top of 8 degrees C) and high winds over 65km/hr it could be an ugly day next week. So much for a beautiful Swiss summer holiday!

I look back over my training diary I see that I have done almost everything possible that I could have. I have run here in Ferrol in the pouring rain, hail and fog, in Sweden in the freezing cold and snow, in the US around Charlottsville in the heat and humidity, and in the mountains just north of Madrid where I fell just short of my first alpine trail marathon. I have run many hill runs over 30km and backed those up with a solid weekly training routine.

The bags are packed with every possible combination of running clothing: socks, shoes, tri-top, tshirts, shorts, tights, winter tights, buff, hat, skins, beanie and even gloves (at least I will be prepared). As I do not trust Iberia with my luggage all of this is jammed into my carry on luggage which will be held close by!

I look forward to arriving in Davos, checking into the Steigenberger Grandview Belvedere hotel and relaxing in Davos, Bergun, Filisur and St Moritz in preparation for the big day.

8 sleeps to go...

Finally Sunshine in Ferrol

13km training run today around the port of Ferrol and up the trail on the way to San Felipe. A good run with no discomfort. I am feeling good for next Sat.

First Marathon

I ran my first marathon a couple of weeks ago. A low key event. Just me against Mr Grey the ever consistent virtual training partner in my Forerunner 305. The weather was terrible and rained all day, my feet were soaked and my legs very sore, but amazingly enough I finished for the first run I can remember with no blisters thanks to the wrightsock double layer socks.

The last 6 months

On January 2009 I decided amongst other things to finally get fit and lose the extra kilos that had been building up over the past 9 years. After more than a few weak attempts and one reasonable attempt I decided 2009 would be the year.

The goal set was to lose 20-30kg and run the Swiss Alpine 78km Ultra marathon... The time frame 6 months!

After a weak first 2 weeks where I actually put on an extra 2kg I dusted off the inspirational running books and started getting up early to run.

I have stuck to it thus far avoiding writing a blog as I was too lazy to stick to it but as my moleskin diary is almost full I guess I should be like everyone else and create an online blog.

With only 2 weeks until the marathon I am a little worried as to if I have done enough training, enough hill running, enough trail running and enough weight loss.