You may have noticed that Trailing Grace has been very stop start, all over the place, and with no real direction.

Guess what?

So have I.

Aside from my training in preparation for the New York City marathon, the rest of my life has been like an erratic pinball bouncing around from one end of the machine to another - ting, bling, flash, shake, woooooo, yeah, ahr, no, boo. 

I couldn't ignore the decline in numbers and the interaction I had enjoyed with Project Grace 2010 taking a dive. It was disheartening. However on the upside, everytime I'd post a Facebook status about a personal acheivement in my marathon training - the response was overwhelming.

This got me thinking...

Trailing Grace was to be a central spot for people who know me to keep track of me - whether I'm hosting a cycling tour, preparing for a marathon, publishing a children's book, producing a song or having moments of enlightenment - you can always drop in for a virtual visit. But for those that don't know me - it's pretty boring.

You see, when you're a 'somebody', everybody wants to know EVERYTHING about you - what you ate for breakfast, who you met for lunch, where did you go, what did you talk about and what brand of toilet paper you use. On the other hand, when you're a 'nobody' - people don't care. And let's be honest - right now, in the big wide blogging world, I am a nobody. This will no doubt hinder me on my road to world blog domination ;-)

So how do I become a somebody?

I write about things that people want to read - call it marketing if you will [gasp!].

If the response to my Facebook post is anything to go by - people are interested, even inspired, by my journey to New York. So in light of that, a new blog - 9 Months To New York - was born.

9 Months To New York is specifically about my mental, physical and emotional journey to the New York City marathon. It's the blog that you subscribe to by email, you share on Facebook, tell all your friends, family and colleagues about, and wait for each post with bated breath. It's the blog that everybody tells everybody about and in a few years there'll be a movie about it and you'll get to say "I was following Grace waaaaaaaay before the rest of the world was"... and you'll be cool (which I already know), and everybody will want to know what your next hot tip is. 

So what will happen to Trailing Grace? 

Well, Trailing Grace was to be what it was always intended to be - a central spot for people who know me to keep track of me. So watch this space and see what else evolves in this bustling world of mine. 

Until next time, allow your pinball to settle before shooting it straight where you want it to go.

Grace xx

My husband Pat and I received a call late last night and have been asked to step into the shoes of a Brisbane couple who have a bicycle tour scheduled to operate during Adelaide's Tour Downunder. We were informed that their house has been flooded and are consequently entrusting us to take their places while they pick up the pieces of their lives.

So today I attempted to compress 2-weeks worth of work into 24-hours before I board my flight early tomorrow morning. As all the details have yet to come through, I cannot be sure how much computer time I'll have while I'm on tour - so I'll say in advance, please excuse my potential lack of contact between from now till the 27th January.

If I sent you a personal email earlier today and are reading this blog - please excuse it's repetitiveness. In a bid to save time, I've cut and paste from a few sent items. Sometime you just have to do, what you just have to do.

Until next time (not sure when), do what you have to do to stay afloat.

Grace xx

ps. Our thoughts are with all those impacted by the floods in Queensland and other affected areas within Australia. 

Way too tired to even type. 

Just stay tuned and all will be revealed.

Until tomorrow, keep your head above water.

Grace xx

On December 3rd, 2010 (one month after turning 40), I mustered up the courage to enter my dream event and partially declared it on Project Grace 2010 in a post titled 'It's Official'.

I was very reluctant to name the event for three reasons:

1. I was recovering from a relationship of broken promises to myself, so I was very wary of avoiding old patterns and adding insult to injury.
2. Though I had registered for the event, my participation was determined on whether or not my name was drawn from a lottery.
3. I was just plain scared. 

Then after five and a half weeks of training six days a week, something magical happened this morning - I crossed over a threshold. I went from shuffling, to barely jogging into what I can honestly call running. Yes, I ran. By the end of my session, I had gone ran furthest distance in my set time frame whilst remaining in my optimum heart rate zone. A huge milestone.

When I returned home I knew that no matter what, I had to run my dream event. No. Matter. What. Not only that, I had to tell the world - for how else would the cosmos conspire to align all the planets for me. So here is my public declaration, made on this day 11/01/11...

I am running the New York Marathon on 6th November 2011 (3 days after my 41st birthday).

Attached is a photo I've had all around my house and on my desktop for the last month. It's time to share it with the world.

Until tomorrow, be brave to declare your goals and dreams - even if you don't quite know how it'll all happen.

Grace xx

Since embarking on Trailing Grace a week ago, there has been a noticeable shift in my desired method of communication - which I'm finding a little disconcerting. 

Project Grace 2010 was primarily about writing - my arms had become an extension of my heart, eager to transfer words and feelings onto the keyboard via my fingers (well... on most days). However I'm noticing that I have a greater need to talk right now and typing has become quite difficult. There's a disconnection, which I hope is only temporary.

I had become familiar with PG2010. Comfortable, actually. So this new platform, new design and new direction is leaving me somewhat uncomfortable.  I hope that this is just a natural response to change and it won't be long before I return to my fully-expressed, writing self once more.

If truth be told, I feel a little uneasy in this new space. It's a bit like moving into a new house and instead of dining in your brand new kitchen, you opt to go outside and have a BBQ. I also wonder whether my old friends know that I've moved house... have they stopped popping over for our regular chat and a cup of coffee? Perhaps.

As I wait for my words to come back to my hands through my heart, I will leave you with my latest YouTube instalment. In this one, I delve into how to heal emotional injuries. It's worth noting that 'being heard' can be achieved in a number of ways - and it doesn't necessarily have to happen face to face. The incident that I was referring to (but didn't specify) was something that happened when I was around four or five. I wrote a blog post about it last April, titled Rising Star.  

Until tomorrow, know that there are many ways of communicating, even though your preferred method may not possible.

Grace xx

ps. Email subscribers click here to view video

The last week has been the busiest start to the year I've had in a very, very long time.

From launching Trailing Grace, to conducting a Thermomix demonstration in Ballarat, to launching a women's power group at my local gym - not to mention hosting Italian couch surfers, catching up with friends, going for a 3-hour mountain bike ride, training 6 out of 7 days for my dream event AND... posting a blog every day. I have not been to bed before midnight, in fact it's been a string of 3:30am finishes, with a 7:30am stint thrown in for good measure. Needless to say I am extremely tired tonight. I can barely string two words together and I have a goal of climbing into bed before I-turn-into-a-pumpkin-o'clock (aka midnight).

So I'd like to wish you a wonderful weekend, and leave you with an insight I had today regarding my recent conversation involving the inner child and parent within. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Until tomorrow, remember that it's okay to keep things simple when you need to.

Grace xx

In 1999, I met a most interesting man. He was a well travelled former TV star of a 60's BBC series, who had evolved into a tapestry-weaving, practicing Buddhist (among many other things). As I said, Garry was (and is) a most interesting man.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into Garry's home was a giant photo of snow covered mountains, with one that towered over the others. In the foreground there were a number of heavily robed men that looked like Sherpas. "Is that Mt. Everest?" I asked Garry. "Yes" he replied.

Garry continued to recount the tale of his trekking expedition to Everest Base Camp he had done some years earlier. I knew at that point that I wanted to see Mt. Everest with my own eyes. The seed was planted.

Fast forward 7 years and the seed sprouted. I found myself in Nepal, surrounded by the Himalayas and completely breathless - not only from the views, but from 50% less oxygen in the air. There was a point where I doubted my ability to complete the trek when my friend, and soul brother, Rakesh came to my aid. He instructed me to take in one breath with each step.

Slowly. One breath. One step.

After ten hours of breathing (and stepping), we had reached the day's destination - the site of one of the highest monasteries in the world. The views of Mt. Everest (Sagarmatha) were overwhelmingly stunning. I felt so close to her, the Nepali goddess of the sky.

The sense of achievement was greater than anything I had experienced previously. Despite altitude nausea, fatigue, lack of oxygen, recovering from food poisoning and enduring congested sinuses from a head cold, I had conquered my own Mt. Everest.

Until tomorrow, allow seeds to sprout and take steps towards your Mt. Everest - one breath at a time.

Grace xx

PS. Pictured from left to right is my soul brother Rakesh, me, my husband Patrick and our porter RajKumar.

Many years ago, I received Reiki by a woman who was known for 'seeing things'. The kind of unexplainable things that would make great stories in the esoteric and new age categories of a bookstore - or an episode of Medium. She once told me that she saw a little five year old girl (that she believed to be the younger version of myself) skipping around saying "I don't want to, I don't want to". This made me laugh, for at the time I was having an inner battle with myself over whether or not to move house.

Over the years I would get a message from this woman (whose identity will remain concealed) saying that she'd seen the little skipping "I don't want to" girl, which incidentally was always during a time of major conflict. I began to notice this resistance. It was a strong feeling that came from within, and I began to wonder whether this was my inner child wanting to be heard.

I did not speak openly about this for many years for fear of sounding like a freak. Instead, I navigated through life in a constant battle with myself. Then, in March 2010, the time had come where I could no longer continue with this ongoing tug of war - it was exhausting. I felt like I was constantly in a muddy mess, spinning my wheels and getting nowhere. It was time to get traction.

By the time I created Project Grace 2010 in the lead up to my 40th birthday, I was grasping at straws. I gave myself permission to devote nine months towards the restoration of my mojo, a humorous alias for my self esteem. I wanted to rebuild a me that I wanted to be, and not settle for what I had turned into. In retrospect what I had done was stop and listen to the skipping little girl and in turn, she became the me who found her voice.

In my view, we have many facets that make us who we are. There can be no conflict within if we are only one dimensional. In my quest to heal and resolve my conflicting sides (that I dubbed the inner child and parent in me) there needed to be a truce. Project Grace 2010 turned out to be an act of stopping and listening to an inner voice that has been vying for my attention since I was officially labelled a 'grown up'. 

This reconciliation between the two sides has resulted in a deep sense of harmony. I am no longer fighting over myself over a bar of chocolate or whether or not I should go for a run. We share the same goals. We are a team. Now that I am no longer fighting myself, I have so much more energy to move forward. I'm almost scared to think of what could happen. But I won't think.... I'll just do. One step at a time.

Until tomorrow, takes steps in resolving your inner conflict and reconcile your opposing facets.

Grace xx