While I am relatively well integrated over here I’m constantly looking at new ways of making friends and discovering Neuchâtel. The BCN Tour du Canton is something I have wanted to do for a while now and this year I’m going to do it!
Let me fill you in: the BCN Tour is a series of 6 races between 9.3km and 11.4km run all over the canton of Neuchâtel on Wednesday evenings during April and May. Anyone can take part, for a small fee, with categories for 9 year olds all the way up to the over 60s. You can choose to run or there is also the Walking Tour (which starts a bit earlier in the evening so it doesn’t get dark). There are also a few shorter races for kids as young as 5.
Before now it simply wasn’t practical for me to do it. I was based in Lausanne, then in Lucerne and when I finally moved to Neuchâtel I fell pregnant. This is really the first time I can do the races so when a friend of mine asked if I would be interested in doing it with her I jumped at the chance.
I have run before and completed a few 10k races but I am not very quick. I get around a 10k in under an hour (or I did back then) but that was when I was at University and I was a overweight and less fit despite the running. Since having the children I have found weight loss much easier. Maybe it was the breastfeeding or the fact since my first started walking I haven’t been able to sit still for more than 5 minutes at a time. Working out with a personal trainer has also definitely helped. I had one back in 2006 over the summer and managed to shed a few kilos and keep them off. After the birth of E I started looking for a new one over here to shed my baby pounds. We have one session a week which is enough to keep me healthy.
While I am fit I haven’t run properly since before the kids so I am a little concerned as my friend’s father is a running legend here. He is over 60 and still runs faster than most the 30 year olds I know. I have no idea on her level but we are going to be training together starting this weekend.
So, yes you’ve probably figured it out by now, there is an ulterior motive: I am also currently dieting. I stopped dieting officially last time I reached this weight in October as it was cutting my milk supply. Slowly a couple of kilos crept back on over the winter months but I have managed to lose them again over the past 3 weeks since stopping breastfeeding. I’m looking forward to the extra exercise calories – that should give me extra motivation to train!
Ok, so I hear you say, you aren’t overweight and you seem in reasonable shape; why are you pushing yourself to do all these mad things? Well… because:
- I’m stubborn and I like to complete a challenge.
- It seems like fun!
- I get to meet new people.
- I’d like to have a body at some point in my adult life, in peak condition, that functions as it should.
I feel like with all my eating issues, in my teens and at Uni, my poor body got pretty abused. I was so hung up on how “awful” I thought I looked I never saw how amazing my body actually was before my yoyo dieting behaviours weakened it.
Also, before you worry, I am doing this sensibly. Before I agreed to do the races I did a test 10k which was fine and I have a trainer who monitors me. My trainer has also actually calculated my goal weight based on my ideal weight worked out from body fat percentages (I hate callipers!). What is more I do actually love my body now for what it did carrying and growing my two munchkins.
The races increase in difficulty as you go through them but it seems doable. Below you can see the race statistics that they publish on the website:
The gradual increase in difficulty should mean that I improve my stamina as we go through them and become a better runner.
I am very excited and I plan to keep a photo diary of my races and thus take you on the tour with me. Hopefully we can all discover Neuchâtel together!
Check out the official BCN Tour Facebook page here.
You, Me and Teddy 
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