An Aussie running across France

Wednesday and certainly feel I’m in countdown mode now, this time next week I guess I’ll be having a sleepless night, contemplating the trip ahead (or dreaming about missing a flight somewhere !!).
It all begins with a 2:40 PM flight from Tulla on the 3rd and due to the magic of time differences get to Nice just after midday the next day pretty much exactly 24 Hours in the sky as well as 5 hours in stopovers.
Not sure what to expect then, jetlag or exhaustion or just pure excitement of being somewhere so very different. Just the thought of summer and being away from the cold of winter sounds great at present.
Hope to get back up on the feet pretty soon though as I won’t acclimatise in my hotel room but I reckon taking it gently for the next couple of days will be the way to go and certainly I can‘t imagine staying away from the beach (even if not sandy Gold Coast type ones !!).
A big Rolling Stones fan get together in town on the 7th complete with cover band
“Stones Donkeys” should get me in the mood for the next part of the trip (and take my mind off the run ahead), with the concert on the 8th (now to get over those two events injury free :-) ). Another couple of days in a Stones induced natural high and then off to Paris in the late afternoon.
Would like to think I can get to see a fair bit of the city in the days I’m there before heading off to Roscoff by train on the afternoon of the 14th for the race start on the 16th .
May be pretty vague about what I do before the 16th but for the next 18 days will know where I’m headed, with the race finish 1,150 KM’s later in Gruissan-Plage. I’d like to think by then I’ll have done something worth really celebrating (no outrageous predictions from me at this point in time thanks !).
After all that, I’d hope I’ve still got a marathon left in me as it’s off to Bordeaux (mmm now that sounds like wine to me) , and join a tour for the Marathon Du Medoc at Pauillac the next Saturday. A few more days in Bordeaux and then off to Paris for a couple of days before heading back to Australia on the 14th, certainly the time difference will work against me on the way back getting to Tullamarine early on the Saturday morning (now if only the “Mighty Tigers” can make it to an AFL semi final that Saturday night).
Now that I’ve written this down I’ll know where I’m meant to be !! , but first a little trip to Coonabarabran this weekend for the Warrumbungles 50K Ultra.

Having received a postcard from the race director, with a picture of the start "Roscoff" and the finish "Gruissan" i'm now definitely getting to the point of actually realising this is actually going to happen soon (and also the fact that i picked up my tickets today).
Yesterdays 30K was uneventful 2:05:10 possibly a minute or 2 slower than usual, but i think i was out to make sure the new shoes felt comfortable (they did more or less - don't reckon my feet are as flat as they used to be ??) although once out there i couldn't help but race. At least i appear to be over last weeks problem with the blood pressure etc (just how can i have low blood pressure when i think of some of the work related stress before i head off ??).
Put in my entry for next years Western States Endurance Race www.ws100.com certainly not thinking that far ahead (or the logistics of getting there), but i realised that if i wanted a chance of being in it i had better put an entry in before i got back (knowing me it's possible i may come back and swear i'll never fly again - my biggest worry to be honest), so at least that's out the way.
Nce solid 12K into work, but an easy tired 6.5K home just keep on doing that all week and i'll be happy enough in my leadup to the Warrumbungles 5oK.

Couple of weeks till i head off to France and finally i'm beginning to feel that i'm getting somewhere. Picked up the passport today (although considering the price should have expected delivery by limousine, thought it was best to pick it from the passport office as registered mail would mean i'd have to get to the local post office during working hours) so that's out of the way.
Minor dramas the last few days, strangely enough i needed a doctors certificate to run the marathon (only 42.195 KM's ) but not the 1,166 KM's, however my doctor noticing my bad circulation suggested he'd prescribe me "Accupril" in it's weakest dose and said i should notice whether it would do me good after 2 weeks (so i could test it before travelling), however he also told me it possibly could lower my blood pressure too much and i'd know if that was the case as i'd be dizzy and light headed. Sure enough only a few days along and i can barely stand up making lunch and when i eventually made it to work spent most of the day trying to sleep under my desk (as was struggling to sit for long periods) until my next appointment for him (as i thought i'd better check this was actually the problem). It was !!!
12 Odd hours sleep later and i'm in better shape (not 100 percent but better), certainly was worried my race may have been over before i had even started.
As for passport photos, don't know which is worse, the left from 1989 or the latest (and if i shave the mo off won't they let me in ???).
Anyway two races before i head off, 30K's at Princes Park on Sunday then 50K's at Coonabarabran the Sunday after, should give me time to wear in my new running shoes.
I would like to think next blog update will be from France.

First of all there realise there are many people out there who have heard me say i'd never do a blog (unless there was some big prizemoney for the cure for insomia :-)), however i've made an exception and from 4th August to 16th September while i am running Trans Gaule http://www.yanoo.net/index.php4?cat=12&id=285 and Marathon Du Medoc http://www.marathonguide.com/races/racedetails.cfm?MIDD=53060909 as well as spending time touring the country and of course seeing the Rolling Stones (again :-)) in Nice http://www.nikaia.fr/ this will be the spot to find me (conditional upon internet access and simply having the energy to update it !!