21km Done!

Today I ran the Lausanne half-marathon (21km) from Tour de Peliz back to Lausanne... in temperatures around zero degrees, with snow the whole way and icy strong wind - but WE did it!! What an amazing experience... adrenaline and excitement without a doubt kept me going and warm!

Before the run, with a "united Mzansi" buff!

As the weather deteriorated over the weekend, I became progressively more nervous... but was determined to run the race -  months of training, 5:45am runs, training in the rain and many bootcamp sessions - I knew I had to do this run. I was happy with my time of 2h7minutes - not bad considering the conditions and that it was my first half-marathon.

I ran with Hayley, and she was a trooper! This event was definitely made all that sweeter because of all the support from everyone - friends who braved the cold to come and cheer us on and take our warm things to the end for us; instructions, encouragement and training from our boot-camp instructor and months of training with my two running buddies who sadly didn't run today - definitely grateful for each person's contribution!

Proud to be done!

The warm layers came on quite quickly once we were done!

We did it!!

Autumn Days

Autumn is arriving in Switzerland and it is just beautiful... sunny days (that at the moment are still warm!) with a slight chill in the air and autumn colours everywhere! Today was a gorgeous day, so I decided to make the most of it. I headed into the forest with my running buddies for a long run - 1h40 minutes of absolute enjoyment :) After this morning burst of energy and freshness, I met some friends at a restaurant in Les Avants for a delicious meal - soup, salad, lamb chops with roesti and dessert all for 27CHF - an absolute bargain! Then we decided to walk back down to Montreaux (about a 2 hour walk) through the forest along the gorge... an absolute delight! Sunshine, fresh forest air, autumn colours and crunchy leaves. A perfect Saturday!

The French Life

This weekend was just what I needed - a weekend of rest and friendship. The last couple of weeks have been a little tough so I am so grateful to have had a couple of days of rest! 

I have been in Toulouse, France visiting some good friends and they have made the weekend so wonderful. They have been incredibly hospitable, generous and warm hosts who have taken such good care of me. It has been such a blessing to have so many wonderful meals made for me, especially after feeling a little low these last couple of days. There is something special about enjoying community with dear friends who understand the expat life! 

Toulouse is in the southwest of France, and is the 4th biggest city in France. Toulouse is the home of the aerospace industry in Europe, and the Toulouse Space Centre is the largest space centre in Europe (I didn't visit it this time - I now have a reason to go back!). Toulouse has also one of the oldest places dedicated to the photography in the world (Galerie du Château d'eau), the most ancient literary institution of the western world (Académie des Jeux floraux). Toulouse also has part of the 240km Canal du Midi running through it.

I decided to take Friday and Monday off to make the most of the weekend. On Friday afternoon Kate and I decided to get some groceries before making dinner and heading out to watch Andy play the first volleyball game of the season, which they won! 

Saturday morning we slept in, and then went to visit the market in Toulouse. I'm telling you, the markets may be one of my favorite things about European living! We went for a walk through the town and had some pastries (when in France!) and then sat and people-watched for a while! We decided to visit the Basilica of St. Sernin and arrived during organ and choir practice. What a treat! We stayed and listened for a while - mesmerized in this old building. This Basilica is the largest romanesque church in Europe,  built between 1080 and 1120 and is a UNESCO world heritage site.  This was followed by a visit to Capitole de Toulouse (the old town square) for a cup of coffee in the sun! 

Photo by Kate Hein

Photo by Andy Hein

Wild mushrooms!

Vibrant berries

Would a trip to France be complete without a visit to a patissier?

The Basilica

Capitol

Andy had practice in the afternoon, so Kate and I took Harry (their dog) and lay in the sun in the park for hours reading. Saturday night involved Mexican food, wine, pistachio Magnums and a movie - need I say more! 

Sunday brought more relaxation - breakfast made my Andy, a visit to the Toulouse International Church, pizza for lunch, a run in the rain, and an afternoon of chilling out! We ended the day with delicious dinner with pancakes and Nutella for dessert - Yum!! 

Thanks Kate and Andy for a superb weekend - Hotel Hein gets 5 stars!

On the topic of work

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I was in Germany the last few days for a conference – one of the advantages of the academic world is being able to travel to attend conferences. We were not in the most glamorous destination – Mannheim is not exactly a tourist hot-spot – but I am grateful to have the opportunity to travel and visit another place, and I was with fun people, which always makes a big difference. I really am blessed to be able to work with people who have also become my friends.

It turned out to be quite  a fancy upmarket conference and is on the topic of career guidance for social justice, prosperity and sustainable employment. Career guidance is not my field, but the conference has been quite interesting. When attending these types of events, I am reminded how privileged I am to have access to such resources, and feel a renewed sense of responsibility to be a good steward of all the knowledge I have access too. It is amazing how well funded research in Europe is  and the prestigious place it is awarded in society.

Recent weeks have been quite full on the work front – but it has been productive. I have managed to submit to two separate conferences for next year, as well as sending one article off to a journal and almost finishing another. All these 4 pieces are separate pieces of work, so it has been a bit of a challenge to keep them all in my mind at the same time! It has also been busy with half-marathon training – only 3 more weeks to go!

We have also moved offices – our old building was off campus, a 20 minute walk from the University – so now we are in a newly renovated building on the campus. It is pretty nice – very modern and trendy. There are definitely some perks to this move – having a student cafeteria, being closer to a lot of friends, closer proximity to the rest of my team and having easier access to things like the library and sport centre. We are going to have to work quite hard to create a new community in the building, the way it is designed is not so condusive to collaboration and passing each other in the passage or coffee-room, but we will figure it out! For me it is also quite a big change,  I got placed in a office with someone I don’t know – so I need to make a new friend and figure out a office routine with her. But, this means I will be speaking French with her every day, which I know will mean my French will significantly improve in the coming months.

But over the move things have been quite disruptive and now with the conference, my routine is all out of sync! People who know me well know that I like my routine, and like things to be predictable, so recent weeks have definitely been more draining than I would like. On the whole, I am much for flexible individual than I used to be, but when I have long periods of things not going according to plan, I definitely start to feel tired. With winter setting in here, and starting off in my new office for the first time next week, I am looking forward to settling into a new routine and finding my rhythm again. Need to make the most of the 7 weeks until I am home for a wedding, Christmas and a nice family holiday!