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...