Winter Training in Switzerland – done

Well, the 3 weeks in the snow went quick, and I am on my way home to sunshine and warmer temperatures. Have to say so that running in the cool winter weather was quite pleasant, and the few long runs over the hills and mountains around my home town St. Gallen were very nice – great, fresh air and views over the alps and all the way to Germany. But to be honest I am glad to put my gloves, beanie, long Skins and wind jacket away for my next run. I was good with food and drink and did not put on too much weight, so keeping up with the guys back in Sydney should not be too hard.

Counting the 7 days skiing in the alps plus the few 25+km runs I did here, I am happy to have kept up an almost uninterrupted training schedule over the last 3 weeks. The skiing was actually quite hard on my knees.  Racing down those steep hills at 60km/hrs was lots of fun but also lots of pressure on the knees and legs.

Off to the airport now. I hope it is open again after yesterday's big snowstorm and wind. I have never seen a snowstorm with lightening and thunder – quite spooky.

Winter Times

After a long 27-hours trip I finally arrived in Switzerland. Getting off the plane in a snow storm gave me a little idea of what will be ahead the next 3 weeks training wise. The first 3 days I simply tried not to freeze to death and stayed warm and mostly inside.

After spending a few days with friends in the French part of Switzerland I drove across the country to my home town St. Gallen. Driving on snow-covered road was a bit like driving on sand... I took my time and visited some friends on the way but arrived save 'home'.

The next day I was ready for a run, and I went with my dad his gym where I clocked up a few hours on the treadmill. My dad kept up for a while but at 84, I was impressed that he kept the speed up at almost same level as myself. I just hope I will be in same shape in another 35 years... After two days in the gym I was ready for an outdoor run, but after 70 minutes I had to turn home. Zero degrees and a biting wind was no fun.

I will give it another try tomorrow as the weather improved somehow, not temperature wise but at least the blue sky seems inviting enough.

Next week will be cross training high-altitude stuff -- skiing at 2000m+ above sea level has to be counted, no?

I hope everyone had a wonderful Xmas, and I wish you all save training and great races for 2012!

Coastrek Training Part 1

Team Run 4 Vision meet for the first time today on the steps of the Opera House for a great run along the coast of the Eastern Suburbs all the way to Coogee Beach. It was a brilliant morning, not too hot, but blue sky and sunshine. I am sure it was a good move to run this section as we got lost a few times of course and had to backtrack to find the right way. The view along the tracks over the harbor and city is stunning, and once we turned South from Watson's Bay we had the ocean on one and the harbor on the other side of us. A nice cool breeze made the last few km more comfortable, and we managed to take cover in a cafe in Coogee just before the nasty cold wind and rain started.

This was a first for Kate, having never run more then 21km in one go, she lead us to the beach in Coogee and after 31km and 3.5 hours still had a smile on her face. Well done, Kate. I think we just found us another ultra runner here...

Next stop Xmas and New Year. Going easy on the champagne and salmon and keeping up the running should make the trick to start 2012 in top shape and ready for the count down to 2 March, Palm Beach to Coogee Beach. Team Run 4 Vision is ready.

Team Run4Vision

Great news today - we are a complete team. Found our 2nd female runner for the Coastrek 2012 and just have to wait for Kate to get back from her Europe trip to have our first team meeting. First 2 weeks November training looks good - done regularly 65km the last couple of weeks and will hit 80 this week. Can't wait to get to some new training ground in Inner West and North West Sydney and also start training on the actual trek.

Coastrek 2012

Still looking for the 4th runner but the rest of team 'Run 4 Vision' is already in full training. Kate ran the Lucerne 1/2 Marathon yesterday and Denis and I are covering lot's of kilometers already. At the moment I do about 65 km a week with some long back to back runs on the weekend.
I also started the fundraising and you can now find our fundraising pages here. Thank you for supporting our efforts.
Happy Feet

13 October - World Sight Day

Today the world is marking World Sight Day and The Fred Hollows Foundation joins individuals and organisations worldwide. Fred Hollows dedicated his life to working to restore sight to needlessly blind people, and The Foundation in his name is carry on his work.

I urge you to do your bit to help make Fred's vision of eliminating avoidable blindness a reality. Please share the fact below with family, friends and workmates – overcoming avoidable blindness is up to all of us.

• 3 out of 4 people who are blind don't need to be
• 90% of avoidable blindness occurs in developing countries
• 50% of avoidable blindness is due to cataract, a condition which can be overcome with a simple operation costing as little as $25

Thank you for helping making a difference we all can see!

Happy feet

New challenge - 100 km for 100 blind people

This week I signed-up our team 'Run 4 Vision' for the Coastrek 2012.
A team of four (Kate, Denis, myself and a yet to be found fourth person) will run the 100 km from Palm Beach to Coogee Beach on the 2nd March 2012. In the lead-up we will raise money for The Fred Hollows Foundation and help needlessly blind people see again. Today I went out with Denis on our first training run. My first since the Marathon with Ben last month. Felt a bit sluggish and after 20km and 2 hours in the pouring rain we called it a day. A good start of what is going to be a long 5 months of fundraising and training. Poor Kate is currently traveling in Europe and yet to realise what is going to hit hear when she comes back. Good news is that she has signed up for a 1/2 marathon in Switzerland end of this month, so she will be fit and ready for our training regime, when coming back in November. Support us here --> Thank you for your much needed support
Happy feet
Markus