A grand old dame

It's our rest day here at Namche Bazaar so I thought I'd take the chance to post again because it will be quite a while before I can again.

We are actually staying in a teahouse here in Namche. Very basic accommodation - with a crashed Russian helicopter in the front yard (wait til you see the photo!) but after 3 days of trekking (not to mention using a toilet tent), I can't begin to describe how exciting it was to discover that we have an ensuite in our room - with a proper toilet. And a mirror. Amazing how the simple things in life can mean so much :-) By the way, I no longer smell - I had the longest, hottest shower I think I have had - I feel like a new woman :-)

As today was our rest day, some of us set out to walk to the Everest View Hotel which was not only a chance to see the great lady herself but to assist with acclimatisation. Our teahouse sits 100m higher in elevation than Namche and the Everest View Hotel sits another 300m higher than our hotel. Sounds easy but at 3,500m, it's not - it took us 2hrs 15mins to get there!Unfortunately Everest (Chomolungma to the Tibetans & Sagarmartha to the Nepali) was feeling very shy again, hiding behind more clouds. But we still spent an enjoyable 30mins sitting in the sun (mind you it was only 7 degrees!) on the balcony taking in the view of the Himalayan ranges. I can't begin to describe how stunning this place is. Luckily for us we should be able to see Everest tomorrow - and for most of the next 10 days:-)

Tomorrow is a hard day - 6 hours of trekking including climbing to around 4,000m before heading downhill for 2 hours to our camp. My ITB is gunna love it. After that we continue our slow ascent up to the Gokyo lakes region, at an average height of 5,000m before climbing up to Gokyo Ria at around 5,400m. From there, we have a high pass to cross (again around 5,400m) before heading in the direction of Everest Base Camp. Although a visit to Base Camp isn't in the itinerary, our guide has said that if everything goes according to plan we should just a chance to visit it. Lots of prayer wheels are being turned by everyone in the group - we are all excited at the prospect of getting there. But first, we have a few more hills to climb :-)

Will post again when I can.

Everest baby!

Hello :-)

So much to tell you but so little time.

I am now on day 3 of our 20 day trek. I find it hard to believe that I've been on holiday for less than a week - it feels like I've been away for a month already.

We are now in Namche Bazaar (el. 3346m). The trek today from our campsite at 2,800m was tough - we followed the Dudhi (milk) river before climbing 700m up a trail. It was relentless. Think Pluvio :-)

I am having an absolute ball - our group & team of porters & guides are all fantastic. Unfortunately my ITB is not so great - it is not enjoying the downhills at all - but fortunately we've got another 15 days of going uphill before I have to really worry about it ;-)

Yesterday was pretty special. It got very cold at camp in the afternoon & rained for about 2 hours. Once the rain stopped & the clouds cleared, we found that it had snowed on the high ranges surrounding our campsite. We are sure to get snow the higher we go. Cool :-)

And then there was Everest. I saw her today for the first time. She is beautiful. :-) She was very shy - the peak was just hiding behind some cloud. Hopefully she'll come out to play tomorrow. We have a rest day but as part of our acclimatisation, we trek to a higher point above Namche where will (hopefully) be able to get a better view of her.

Apart from the ITB, I'm feeling great. No problems with the altitude so far. I am somehow already losing weight despite eating my weight in food. It's the best diet ever :-)

We have a rest day tomorrow & stay here in Namche tonight & tomorrow night & before setting off for even higher places. It might be 10 days before I get net access again so I'll write when I can.

Gotta go. My first shower in 3 days is waiting :-)

Namaste from Kathmandu !

Just a quick post from Kathmandu.

I only arrived yesterday lunchtime but I feel like Ive been here a week already. And I mean that in a good way. I've visited some 'interesting' places in Sth America but Kathmandu is by far the poorest & most polluted place I've ever been. And yet, it's wonderful & fascinating. And I'm not even in the mountains yet :-)

We fly out to Lukla tomorrow & then start walking. Without wishing my holiday away I am very much looking forward to getting into the mountains & starting the trek. Garmin Elektra has come along for the ride so the elevation profiles should be interesting ;-)

Off to enjoy my last shower for a few days - I'm going to make the most of it ;-)

So long, farewell...

Wow. So long since I updated. So much is happening in my life at the moment....

I have vague recollections of doing a 40mins session on the bike last week watching the '05 TdF (thanks Miners), a swim & an upper body weights session. Also spent an wonderful weekend in Canberra for the marathon... My ITB has been ok - a few grumbly moments but I'm pretty confident now that it will be a happy camper over the next month. The 'stick' is packed just in case.

Leaving for the airport in less than an hour. I'm all packed & ready to rock & roll. I have wanted to travel to Nepal & see Everest ever since I was a little girl. So you can imagine my excitement now :-)

Stay safe everyone. Will try to update when I can.

It's only cross training, it's only cross training, it's only cross training...

Thanks Benny ;-)

Easter Sunday saw me dust off several easter eggs & Apollo. I haven't ridden since before Six Foot so I wasn't sure how the ITB would go. Did an easy 30mins on the trainer in front of the telly - ITB was fine. Yah!

Today (Monday) it was back to the pool for another swim - 1500m this time. I've almost done more swimming than running this month.

One week tomorrow I leave for my holiday - woohoooooooooo :-)

We resume our regular broadcasting....for now

Haha. Thanks to everyone for your faith in my abilities to swim, ride & run but I won't be combining those 3 activities...yet ;-)

Good Friday I headed out at the positively decadent hour of 9am for another short run. 26mins & 4.37kms later I had decided that I'm not running again until my trip. My ITB is certainly improving - the post-run discomfort is decreasing with each run - but not enough to justify the risk that it won't recover sufficiently before my trip & will cause me problems while I'm away.

Today I headed over to the pool mid-afternoon with the intention to 'suck it up princess' & get in the unheated, outdoor 50m pool. Fortunately or unfortunately (I haven't decided which) the 'big' pool has now closed for the winter so there was no choice but to swim in the indoor, heated 25m pool :-) Did 1.75k pretty comfortably, sans pull buoy this time. Every time I swim I think that I've gotta do a stroke correction class given that I last had a swimming lesson when I was about 8. Maybe later in the year...

Edit: yes, Flakey - although I've decided not to do the 10k at Canberra, I'm still coming down on Saturday with Go Girl for a weekend of cheering & socialising :-)

The sun will come out to-morrow....

Alright 'Bro - an update ;-)

Let's see. My work/life/training balance has been seriously out of kilter over the last 10 days with lots of work, even more socialising & very little training.

I temporarily relocated to Ellie's place in the eastern suburbs from Wed to Fri last week when work & social events resulted in a couple of late nights & early mornings. World's collided for a fellow CR blogger (*waves*) when I met his father at a work function on Thursday morning! Talk about a small world. Thankfully I had been on my bestest behaviour :-) Said blogger looked very shocked & confused when I told him about it at CR drinks on Thursday night ;-)

CR drinks on Thursday night was lots of fun - as always. There is nothing like spending a few hours talking to such passionate & inspiring people. I left drinks rather sober & extremely inspired & excited by the adventures ahead :-)

Early Saturday morning Ellie & I set off on our road trip to Port Macquarie for the IM. It was my second time at an IM event & I was really looking forward to cheering on Miners & MissZ (*waves*) as well as my uncle as he competed in his 5th OzIM (6th in total) & what he said would be his final IM. He has since said that he will come out of retirement & do another IM if I do one. Haha.

Portrunr (*waves*) & his lovely wife very kindly offered Ellie & I their lounge room for the duration of the weekend - thank you :-) We got to Port Mac just before 12 & after checking in, we headed down to meet Miners, my aunt & uncle for lunch. The rest of Saturday was taking up with eating, talking, wandering around the expo & hunting down ice cream with Miners and our fellow cheerers Hamburglar, the Mango brothers, Nando, TA & Gnome.

Ellie, Portrunr & I were up at 5am on Sunday morning & at the start before 6am. Somehow in the masses of people we managed to track down both my uncle & Miners & wish them luck -



L-R: me, Ellie, Miners & Hamburglar (from whose blog I pinched this photo!)

Sunday largely consisted of cheering, talking, eating, sitting, standing, dancing in the grandstand at the finish & admiring athletic ability for 17 hours! Triathletes really do have the best.......bikes :-) It was my first time hanging out in the grandstand at the finish line. What an amazing experience - so much noise! It's a cliché but the atmosphere really is electric. So many favourite moments - watching Rooster's emotional finish; seeing my uncle & Miners cross the finish line after challenging days; watching another guy kiss his wedding ring as he ran down the finishing chute; and another sprint to the line to make it under 11hrs with every single person in the grandstand on their feet & screaming for him to make it (he made it with 2sec to spare!) I get goose bumps thinking about it now.

My uncle was very pleased with his race, finishing 5th in his age group & missing out on an automatic spot at Kona by a few minutes! Not bad for an old fella ;-) Both my aunt & I have since told him that he's got to do another OzIM 'cause we both want to go to Kona for the Big One :-) I was one very tired chicky by the time the final competitor came in after 17hrs 9mins (11.39pm).

Both Ellie & I had Monday off work so we spent a relaxing morning catching up with Miners over breakfast & then catching up with my aunt & uncle on the beach before heading for home. Got home just before 7pm, one tired but inspired girl.

As for me, I've done a few short runs over the last 10 days or so & headed out again this morning for another easy flat 25mins (4.16k). My ITB is quite cranky today as a result but overall it has been improving. I was able to climb up & down the steps (seats really) in the grandstand on Sunday without problems. I've decided not to do the 10k at Canberra - my trip to Nepal is only 13 sleeps away now (!!!) & only 3 days after Canberra so I can't afford to aggravate it further - 3 weeks is a long time to trek through the Himalayas with an grumpy ITB. If that means that I need to stop running over the next 2 weeks & swim instead, so be it. Maybe it won't be my uncle's last IM after all ;-)