7 days ......

"For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream."
VAN GOGH

Tonight I know nothing with any certainty. But there are stars in a clear mountain sky, and so tonight, just tonight, I will dream.

Zermatt - two weeks in one place - and waking to the mountains. It has been a privilege just to have had the chance to be here, and for that I am grateful. Time in one place - a time to take stock - a time to prepare - a time for work - and a time for training. But the days have swept past too fast.

From autumn to winter. During the past few days winter has arrived. An incredibly swift change. Beautiful. And yet somehow it seems to have shocked the mountains into a hushed quiet. Me too - neither mind nor body quite prepared for the cold, the intensity of white.

Those beautiful days of autumn have past. The intensity of colour, the warmth of the mid-day sun, the frosty cold of morning and night.

But now again I leave - tomorrow to Winterthur - Sunday to meetings with North Face in Saalfelden - and then back to Winterthur before my flight to Rome. But that is the root of my uncertainty. Pain in my knee during my long run last Sunday has forced me to stop training for a few days.
Will I be fit to compete for the 100km World Championships on the 8th?

Mal luega ....

I haven't given up hope yet. Trying to keep strong in heart and mind.
If the knee is good I run ... if not ... then this one is not for me.

One step at a time .... always one step at a time?

A grimshaw moon ....

"Music in the soul can be heard by the universe."
LAO TZU

So tonight the moon is half hidden by a little cloud - but it is a still and beautiful evening. It is a true 'grimshaw' (see below for explanation) moon ....

Back in the nature - back in the mountains - a privilege after days in the cities. The music of the soul can again play. Or that's how it feels. I wonder if the universe hears ....?

So - after leaving the UK, I went to Koln/Cologne to compete in the city marathon there. Just one week after the 50km time trial it was maybe too much to hope for a PB. The conditions were wet, very windy and street after street after street .... 2:52 (6th woman and 1st in my category) ... so the PB waits for the next time?! And then a series of talks/presentations for TECOSIM in Russelsheim, Stuttgart and Munich. I hope they were worthwhile for the company - I'll be happy if in some small way I could open a door for someone into a new world. But traveling to a new city each night - for me - it's sort of more tiring than being out on the mountain all day!

Onwards to the Austrian Tirol - there I was happy again to be in the nature - this time to experience a 'press trip' writing an article about the Tour de Tirol for Athletics Weekly. It is certainly a very beautiful region and we were treated to a stunning autumnal weekend. An autumnal celebration of running: the warmth of the autumn sun, the vividness of the autumn colours against a blue sky, the clear crisp mountain air, the silhouette of the mountains against a moonlit sky and the warmest welcome you could hope for!

The 3rd edition of this Tour de Tirol has only served to strengthen its position to become a classic event and it well deserves the honour of hosting the World Long Distance Mountain Challenge in 2009. The Tour consists of a series of three races; a 10 km on the Friday evening, followed by a marathon on the Saturday (with about 1616 m ascent and 460 m descent over the classic course of 42.195 km), and a flat half marathon on the Sunday. It can be completed in its entirety, or any number or combination of the three races. It has something for everyone - whether you are aiming to enter your first 10km or half marathon, if you are keen to try your first mountain marathon, or whether you take the challenge of completing all three races (73 km). The Tour welcomes all runners - novice, elite and anything in between. But for the elite there is the ultimate challenge of performing well in some very different disciplines of running - a fast 10km, a mountain marathon, and a fast half-marathon - and churning out those performances on consecutive days. A small British contingent gave sterling performances and their enthusiasm was great to see. I have grown over the last couple of years to really love these mountain races that inspire you on to try (and sometimes, just sometimes, to achieve …) more than you thought possible. So it meant a lot to me to see that an event like this is a special experience for other runners from the UK. For myself it was a mixture of frustration and the joy of just being in the mountains again. I competed in the 10 km and half marathon - but with the 100 km World Championships fast approaching I couldn’t get permission from UKathletics (despite being an independent athlete without UKA funding) to compete in the full Tour. Having run on the mountains all summer the focus must now be on training again on the flat. Feeling a little the effects of a bit of flu, I was disappointed not to perform as well as I could have done - and my heart bled not to be part of the marathon and so the entire ‘Tour’ - but the welcome from the organisers, the Tourist Office in Soll, the other runners, and all the supporters was something very special that I will not forget. I hope very much that in 2009 I can compete in the Tour in its entirety - including the challenge of the World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge.

Now an oasis of calm - two nights with friends in the Graubunden on my way back to Winterthur. The autumnal colours really are something very special in the mountains .... And just now we have a brief return to warm sunshine before the first real snows herald the start of winter. Tonight in the city and then tomorrow to Zermatt ..... Two weeks in the one place and waking to the mountains - it will be a treat!


http://www.tourdetirol.com/

http://www.atkinsongrimshaw.co.uk/

"People do not resist change; they resist having change imposed on them"
FRITJOF CAPRA

Life is at the moment a rollercoaster of constant change - a night here, a night there .... Sometimes hard to keep track of where I am, literally and figuratively. But it is good .... I guess at the moment for me there is still a lot of change, but it is created by opportunity rather than being imposed.

Now ahead I have the challenge of focusing on preparation to again represent Great Britain in the 100km World Championships (8th November in Italy). Somehow legs and head and heart worked together and I achieved the time I needed in Boddington 50km race at the weekend. At 3:29:10 it wasn't my best time (3:20), but still 2nd fastest in the world this year - and with only 10 days back on the road and still relatively soon after the Tour du Mont Blanc - it was better than I'd hoped. But hard work to do before I am ready for the World Championships.

But one step at a time - for now I enjoy the last night home with my parents in the UK. Then back to Winterthur for a night and onward to Cologne. I will run the Cologne marathon on Sunday - having run hard last weekend I can't hope for a good time, but it will be good preparation for the 100km. Then a series of five presentations for TECOSIM before a train journey to Austria to cover the Tour de Tirol for Athletics Weekly. Finally ... I will wend my way back to Zermatt and my beloved mountains.