"If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere." - Frank A Clark

"If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere." - Frank A Clark, originally uploaded by It's life Jim.....

Of course the reality is that the obstacles are my will power & ageing carcass…. Not a simple tree.

A couple of weeks ago there were two life changing events that got me into this painful & depressing situation.

1 - I was late walking down to catch the train & had to run about 1/2 mile in my overcoat & hat. Although I caught the train (just)…. I felt like death warmed up & declared I had to get fitter.

2 - A friend was muttering in the pub the next night about doing the local 10k race… and I had consumed a beer or two by that stage

Naturally the result was that I declared I was also going to do the 10k….. despite not having run for 8? years or more. I was convinced that having run marathons etc in the (dim & distant) past, a 10k would be no problem.

F*** - how wrong can you get !

Running at 50+ is way harder than I ever remember it being before. Shana has been joining me on my training runs. She clearly hates me now - but it is doing the old girl some good regardless (she is 11 1/2 years old - a veritable pensioner for a Ridgeback dog)

Stranger #15 - Marco, Doctor

Stranger #15 - Marco, Doctor, originally uploaded by It's life Jim.....

I really didn't want to meet Marco…. Having to meet a Doctor in a hospital on a ski trip is usually bad news.

Thankfully, he was a really nice chap and also confirmed that my ankle wasn't really broken….. Despite feeling like it when I wiped out on my snowboard the day before.

Turns out that this had been a light week for ski injuries…. the extreme cold temperatures have reduced the volume of people on the slopes.

Been to this hospital several times before… although my first time as a patient. The list of injuries for our party has been as follows:
1 Broken arm
2 sprained ankles
1 broken collarbone
1 puncture from skipole tip
1 knee sliced open to bone from ski edge
1 damaged knee tendon
1 cut head

Sounds alot doesn't it….. but we are typically a group of 20-28 people, half adults, half kids and we have come here every year for 12 years. Statistically thats about 1 hospital visit per 40 ski trips per person.

Given that I have been skiing / boarding for 30 years with at least 1 and often 2 ski trips per year I guess I was due a personal visit to the hospital.

This picture is #15 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at www.100Strangers.com

It's been months since my last stranger picture - I guess I have got out of the habit

Good morning Switzerland....

Good morning Switzerland...., originally uploaded by It's life Jim.....

Of course any morning when you are about to head out for the slopes with your snowboard is good.

Really f***ing cold though. Minus 18 centigrade at the hotel before we headed up to the slopes. Meant that every millimetre of exposed flesh on your face was in pain.

Barn buried in the snow, originally uploaded by It's life Jim.....

Come to Switzerland... Learn to snowplough!, originally uploaded by It's life Jim.....

The church in Chateau d'Oex, originally uploaded by It's life Jim.....

River Thames at sunset in Wargrave

River Thames at sunset in Wargrave, originally uploaded by It's life Jim.....

2/52 - 5 Mins from my home

Driving back from Henley when I saw the sun setting over the river so we stopped to make an image. Only camera I had was an iPhone, but it seemed to do a fine job.