brigitta mathys: Life IS all guns and roses!

My birthday weekend (October 19 and 20) was very - let's say - intensive. Saturday "Les 10 Bornes de Courtelary", a 10km race, and Sunday the final race of Elite League. And between these competitions I said to myself that my birthday is not meant to give me enough sleep.. No, it was definitely a coffee-weekend. But it was worth it!

In any case, at the moment my life rocks. Every day I have a highlight! Monday a heavy rain jogging with a view over the whole Seeland. Tuesday a 22km-training followed by a swim in the cold lake of Thun with the view of the snowy mountains... Friday a mountain jog. But there are not only highlights in sporting terms. For example there are so many funny situations at work. One I can remember: at 9 a.m. this morning, the customer who had bought her packet of cigarettes said: "Danke, schöne oobe, adjöö." (means: "Thank you, have a nice evening, bye.") Haha, the same to you!

I'm getting more and more convinced that life IS all guns and roses! To my English-speaking readers: If you can't say this - I just want to say that life is a permanent party.. For example today. I competed in the short race of "Gurten Classic". 8.4km, about 300m climb. It's incredibly funny to give everything during the race and win with a almost one minute better time than last year (35:07,2 instead of 36:06,5 in 2012). And it's quite practical, that the pain of the muscle stiffness in my right upper leg disappears for the 35 minutes of my race... before it comes again after the finish.. I've never done such a slow cool down before! But still the whole day was fantastic. All the friendly and helpful people, the ego party at the railway-station, the gorgeous sunset at 5 in the afternoon... etc.

results Bürenlauf October 12
results 10bornes de courtelary October 19
results, GPS final race elite league October 20
results Gurten Classic November 3

Now it's time for some pictures. Please don't think I'm smiling like this all the race long! Fact is: when I see a camera, I spend maybe one second trying to smile, before I suddenly change again to my normal running face (which is not beautiful at all - look for example at the picture in the newspaper-article below), and thereby, for example, I miss the course record by 9 seconds, as it was the case on october 19 in Courtelary. But, who cares, the important thing is, that I had fun and that now there's a good picture ;-)

Bürenlauf, October 12


10 bornes de Courtelary, October 19

Article in the "Bieler Tagblatt" of October 14. We learn: don't believe what you read in newspapers!! (The text is full of mistakes)

Me almost dying in the finish of Gurten Classic on November 3

I'm glad that I can also look more or less normal.. :-)

I hope that I go to bed early enough now, because tomorrow I have to get up at 4:45, so that the k kiosk in the neighbouring village opens on time at 5:45! :-) Here are some more pictures: