MILLY VOICE

Within the next hour I will begin my journey back from St. Anton, Austria. I had been looking forward to coming out here for some time, to spend time with my family and to get in some training at altitude, to help prepare for my next race. Mountain trails are the ultimate running terrain for me, as I adore the landscape, the quietness, and the panoramic views.

Over the week I visited some beautiful places, with near to 4000M total elevation gain overall. Quality training! The trails here are very much like what I have discovered so far surrounding the French Alps,(beautiful, scenic..etc ) with perhaps sightly more unpredictability underfoot - Day 1 revealed this when I slipped on a downhill footing on a hike! It all however adds to strategic thinking in the mountains and all helps me to learn more about the off road running I enjoy so much.

The weather has been perfect - so warm, the majority of the days being clear, and only two noticeable rain patches. It has been a good routine of running in the early morning, to then relax in the afternoons, and do things like stretch and swim, read/ hang out in the spa. And eat delicious cake!

Definite highlights to mention are such things as seeing, what I assumed (however unlikely this would have been this high up) to be a big fluffy cat jumping in surprise at my presence, but turned out to be a marmot, the amazing trails high in the mountains, the warm welcome of all the local people. And the cake.

I will have fond memories of this trip.