Eight months ago I head out for my first ever bike ride in the French Alps. I got up early as I wanted to make sure that I had everything....not that I had any idea what everything was! I packed the car up (something that I still have a hard time getting my head around, we live in the Alps, yet we still drive somewhere to start a bike ride...whats wrong with riding from your front door?) and set off down the valley. I had no idea what I was l letting myself in for, but all I knew was that I needed to learn how to ride a road bike pretty quickly as I had an ironman triathlon in 2months time!! I arrived at the meeting point, I didn't know who was going to be there, but I was pretty sure I would be able to spot the guys and gals with bikes and sporting sexy lycra :-). The first person I saw, was a striking blonde girl, dressed head to toe in blue lycra...I remember thinking, jeez I think I'm out of my league here - maybe I should get back in the car and head back home to my turbo trainer, surely cycling on the road can't be that different to spending many painful hours on the turbo. But I had let the thought linger too long, next minute I see the blonde girl heading in my direction, she looked far to happy to be heading out on a 60k bike ride ;-). She introduced herself as Nikki.....and that's where it all started. A 60km bike ride, with a 11.5k climb has never gone so quickly, we chatted the whole way round - hmm, well ok, maybe we didn't chat on the climb ;-). Nikki told me about this little race she was doing in 2014 - running a marathon at 5400m to raise money for a charity that helps women and children suffering from cancer to reach their own Everest! I remember thinking, wow she is crazy - but equally there was a hint of jealousy, I have always wanted to do an Everest base camp trek, how cool would it be to top it off with completing the world's highest marathon for such an AMAZING charity, pushing yourself to the limits!. I was hooked, for days afterwards I couldn't stop thinking about it - I finally facebook stalked Nikki to see if there was any room for another crazy woman! I was in....I was so happy, but a little scared, what had I let myself in for!? Eight months down the line, I can safely say that I am still having those thoughts - who runs a marathon at 5400m of altitude, only nut cases, surely!? BUT those thoughts are quickly banished when I think about what we are doing it for. A Chachun Son Everest truly is an amazing charity. I have been privileged enough to go to the house and see where the miracles happen - women and children doing things they never believed possible and even more amazing, doing it whilst they are recovering from cancer. The team led by Christine Janin are inspirational! If these women and children can reach their own Everest, I'm sure going to do everything I can to reach mine and cross the finish line..... WATCH THIS SPACE FOR TRAINING BLOGS FROM THE GIRLS.
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