Namaste !

Greetings from Kathmandu !

Life has been so busy this week that I didn't have an opportunity to update before leaving. We (my folks, R & I) spent Sunday & Monday night at a fantastic self-contained cottage in Megalong Valley. The fact that the Six Foot Track passed through the property was a mere co-incidence ;-) I had planned to do a long run on the Track - needless to say that didn't happen - so I spent a very relaxing 48 hours with my foot up taking in the view-





Given that my foot looked like this at the time, it goes without saying that my feet needed all the TLC it could get-





Two physio visits and an incredibly painful hour spent in the (Easy) Tiger's liar has resulted in a big improvement in my ankle since those photos were taken on Monday. Although still swollen & tender, the bruising has faded and the range of motion continues to improve.

I flew out of Sydney on Thursday night and arrived here in crazy, polluted & wonderful Kathmandu on Friday afternoon. I have a few days of R & R before we fly for Lukla & start trekking on Tuesday. So now that my travels have resumed, it's back to my other blog for the time being. This one will remain my training diary which, this week has been-

Sun - 1 hour on the bike
Mon - rest
Tue - rest
Wed - upper body strength at the gym
Thu - 40mins on the bike
Fri - rest
Sat - 40mins on the bike.

I also have a stack of strength & stretching exercises to do for my ankle on a daily basis and I am continuing to ice it. I'm sure that housekeeping at the hotel thinks I'm weird, or an alcoholic, due to the number of times I've asked for an ice bucket so far!

Roll on my next grand adventure !

Purple is the new black

Here ya go Tesso - it's a bit more purple than blue right now...

Stuffed...

Thanks for the link Will - very helpful!

I’m feeling really tired right now from a lack of sleep over the last two days. Icing every 2-3 hours is starting to take its toll - getting up at 3am to ice is not much fun.

Update on the ankle is the bruise has now come out nicely. My foot is various shades of blue – and not only when I take it out of the ice. The swelling hasn’t started to go down yet but it isn’t looking as red (presumably from inflammation) that it has in the last few days. I saw the physio yesterday – it is a high grade 2 sprain; a particularly bad partial tear. The physio suspects I am probably as close to a complete tear as you can get without completely tearing it! You know me – I like to do things well :-)

On the bright side, this means I have very little pain – just a foot the size of a brick. I started on range of motion exercises this morning which I need to do 3 times a day. I was allowed to get back on the bike (at least on the trainer) today - yippee! The physio wanted to put me in an air cast – basically a solid plastic ‘cast’ held on by velcro – for 3 weeks (!) but fortunately or unfortunately (I'm not sure which) it won’t fit inside my trekking boots. So I’ve gone with a softer ankle support. Combined with my trekking boots which are a full leather, rigid boot, it should provide me with plenty of support & protection. He did warn me that it is going to be uncomfortable; I’m just going to need to suck it up & do my exercises so that I don’t have long term problems with it. What’s an adventure without a bit of last minute drama eh?

So the training this week has been -

Mon – rest
Tue – easy 45mins run - 6.99k - 6:26m/k - 145BPM
Wed – 45mins hike w/16.5k pack + 1 x sprained ankle
Thu – rest
Fri – easy 40mins on the bike

I’ll have another rest tomorrow (Sat) before a longer session on the trainer on Sunday morning before heading up the mountains for a couple of nights away. Oh, and I guess I should start packing.....

Houston, we have a (small) problem....

Well, it's not really a small problem. A rather big one actually....



Yes, that is my right foot - and yes, I do have an ankle bone under there - somewhere.

I didn't have a particularly good morning today. Rolled my ankle while walking down a step on a bush trail today. I ended up on the ground on my back in the 'turtle position' - thanks to a 16.5kg pack - thinking that I had just broken my ankle. My life didn't flash before my eyes but my holiday did. Anyway, I picked myself up, hobbled for 20mins back to the car & prompted burst into tears while on the phone to TigerAngel. I have never rolled an ankle before (touch wood) so it's quite a novelty really. I've spent the rest of the day on my butt, either on the couch watching cr*p daytime tv with my foot elevated or in the bathroom with my foot in a bucket of icy water. Nice.

It could be worse I suppose. Thankfully I didn't brake it. But I've got a heck of a lot of work to do to get the swelling down before I get on the plane to Nepal in 8 sleeps time....

RNP weekend

Spent the weekend walking the track from Otford to Bundeena with a group of girls from WWoT. I'm really pleased with my recovery from Kokoda. Although the pace was a bit more sedate than what I'm used to, the heat and 18kg pack more than made up for it. Fantastic weekend filled with lots of laughter, gourmet food & spectacular views!

Figure 8 pool


So-called Eagle Rock. Looks more like a turtle if you ask me...



Looking forward to getting back into the training this week - and returning to one of my favourite places in the Blue Mountains next weekend.... :-D

MTD:
Hike – 157k
Run – 4.55k

Ladies who lunch

[*rant mode on*]

Right. I’ve just gotta get this off my chest. I didn’t think much of the race along the Kokoda Trail before going to PNG. I think even less of it now. The Trail is sacred land IMHO. Doing the race for the sake of doing a race – without learning the history of the Trail and the battles fought on it – just feels like sacrilege. Imagine the uproar if someone proposed a race up & down the beach head at Gallipoli…..

[*rant mode off*]

Phew. I must admit that I am quite enjoying this ‘not working’ thing :-) I have caught up with two friends for lunch this week. I’ve slept in. I’ve read. I've (finally) written about Kokoda (see the other blog) & generally organised ‘stuff’ ahead of my 3 month stint o/s.

I made it through Kokoda with no injuries, niggles, blisters or foot rot. So training this week has been firmly in the ‘recovery’ mode; easy sessions with a rest day on alternate days.

Sat – rest.
Sun – 45mins walk around Killalea State Forest south of Shellharbour in the rain that I didn’t get on Kokoda (4.51k).
Mon – rest
Tue – easy 30mins run. HR was not particularly elevated & the pace was (surprisingly) reasonable but my legs still felt I was walking through mud – 4.55k – av. 6:37m/k – av. 140BPM
Wed – rest
Thu – 35mins bike session including 5 x 2min firm
Fri – rest

The early starts begin again tomorrow when I need to be at Cronulla just after 6.30am to meet the girls from WWoT for a overnighter along the track from Otford to Bundeena. With an 18kg pack, I suspect I’m going to find out very quickly whether (or not) my legs have recovered ;-)

MTD:
Hike – 130k (w/15kg pack)
Run – 4.55k

The muddy bloody track

Thanks to everyone for their emails & comments - much appreciated!
Well I made it back to Port Moresby this afternoon after finishing the Kokoda Track this morning :-) It has, quite simply, been the most amazing, uplifting, inspiring & humbling experience of my life - easily the hardest physical, mental & emotional challenge of my life. But all the mud, sweat& tears was certainly worth it.

I get back to Sydney tomorrow afternoon. I will try & string a couple of posts together (yes, with photos) about my adventure over the coming week. But I fear - I know - that there are no words that will do justice to it nor come even close to explaining how this country, its people and the bloody track have touched my heart. But I'll try :-)

Apinun from Port Moresby

Well I've made it safe & sound. Just a quick blog update - actually Lorna is posting this for me as 'blogspot' is blocked here at the business centre in our hotel. And we have been told not to leave the hotel compound so I stuck with that, and the (high) prices they charge!

It's been a long day so far - the alarm went off at 2.45am this morning. I had been warned to be at check-in a full 3 hours before our 7.30am flight as Air Nuigini is renowned for overbooking its flights - so that a paid ticket is actually no guarantee of a seat! You can imagine my amusement when my folks & I arrived at the airport at 4:30am to discover that I was the first to check-in. I had to laugh when I finally got on the plane to discover it was half full! Thankfully I'm running on adrenaline and nervous energy right now ;-)

The weather in Port Moresby is slightly overcast & a balmy 33 degrees. Nice weather to lay by the pool - which I'm about to do - not so nice to be climbing mountains I suspect. But then again, the weather is just about the only thing I can't control so I'm not going to let it phase me. I'm still feeling rather nervous but I must admit to looking around our group at the airport on arrival in Port Moresby & thinking to myself 'man, I've got to be fitter than him' :-) Of course, I am carrying my own pack and most of the others aren't - so perhaps it's a bit too early to make that kind of call!

Must go. The pool awaits before a group briefing at 5pm, then dinner and an early night. Who am I kidding? I'll be up late packing, and re-packing, and re-packing my bag. Especially after our group leader asked me at the airport how much weight I was going to carry - and then raised an eyebrow when I said 12kgs.... (*gulp*)

Back in Port Moresby next Thursday afternoon / evening. As the late great Big Kev would have said - I'm excited :-)

T-1....

After a great night at our tri club's presentation dinner last night, I did an easy 30min run this morning (4.52k - av.6:40m/k) to round out my taper. I'm feeling rather fat, unfit & tired as I always do at the end of a taper week. Guess that means that I'm ready :-)

MTD:
Bike - 51.41k
Run - 38.6k
Hike - 47.85k

T-4...

Last day at work tomorrow - yippee :-) Which reminds me - if you have my work email address or mobile phone number, delete it!

It's been a weird week. I returned to the office on Monday after the mountaineering course feeling like I had been away from it for a month; there really is something to be said for having a holiday or break that is so far removed from everyday life. My head is now well & truly in 'holiday-land'. My butterflies about the difficulty of Kokoda are not yet in formation - I realise that I had a really good, solid prep & that I am confident that I did all that I could have. But of course this isn't always enough to settle those usual last minute I-haven't-done-enough-training panic attacks.

Tuesday
AM - easy 45mins run - 6.25k - av. 6:55m/k
I ran only on PE as my HR monitor - and the rest of my mountaineering gear - remained unpacked in a big pile on the floor in the rumpus room. T'was slow going but that's ok.

Wednesday
AM - 35mins ride incl 5 x 2min efforts
While still watching the climb up the Col de la Croix de Fer during this year's TdF. Next year's race could be on by the time I get to watch the end of this stage....

Thursday
AM - easy 35mins run - 5.33k - 6:35m/k - 141BPM
My last 4-something AM training session for 6 months! Woohoo!! Alas, it's not the last time I see 4-something AM - I need to be at the airport on Monday morning by 4:30am! No strength session again (argh!) due to a farewell lunch & too many others things to do.

Now for my trip, I have decided to start a separate blog to document my travels. I figured that my family and non-running friends won't be particularly interested in my training. I have no idea why - personally I think its fascinating ;-) I will certainly keep - and continue to use - this one as a record of my training over the next few months. But if you are interested in my travels, my travel-blog is here. Just don't bother checking it at the moment - I haven't got around to posting anything yet - but will over the weekend!

MTD:
Bike - 51.41k
Run - 34.08k
Hike - 47.85k

T-7...

This time next week I will be in PNG. The fact that my grand adventure has arrived has suddenly dawned on me; I'm feeling rather nervous about Kokoda right now. Hopefully the butterflies will be flying in formation by next Monday....

Now, as for the updates - let's see, where was I...

Sat 16/8 - R's birthday (happy birthday mahal!) - everyone headed to the snow. Me? I stayed in bed & had a nice long sleep-in at our apartment in Jindy before a rather slow 50mins run along the shore of Lake Jindy. The pace was incredibly slow - I choose to blame the altitude ;-) Finished with 7.22k - av. 6:55m/k - av. 143BPM. Afterwards a visit to the bakery for breakfast & coffee, I spent the rest of the day reading the paper, watching the Olympics & taking in the view from our apartment -



Nice :-)

Sun 17/8 - rest. Spent the day at Blue Cow reading & drinking hot choc :-)

Mon 18/8 - Fri 22/8 - 5 day mountaineering course. Wow! What an incredible, exciting week!

Met up with my team for the week at Jindy at 8am on Monday morning and, after getting organised, we travelled by mini-bus, snow-cat & then finally on snowshoes to our camp somewhere between Charlottes Pass & Blue Lake.




I had a fantastic time, ate lots of chocolate (the sekrit to keeping warm at -10!) & learnt soooo much during the course of the week - I learnt how to show-shoe, tie all manner of knots, build snow caves, use crampons, build ice anchors & stop myself sliding off the side of a mountain by using an ice axe. The week culminated in a multi-pitch climb up a snow slope adjacent to camp.



Yes, that's me - on the right ;-)

Unfortunately due to the weather, we were only able to make the 7k return trip to Blue Lake on
snow-shoes once.



Despite the obvious reminder of last Sunday's tragic event, it was a beautiful place to train. I rounded out the week by carrying my pack (weighing around 15kg) and pulling a sled (weighing around 10kg) up 3/4 of the slope from the Snowy River to the top of one of the ski runs behind Charlottes Pass and then down the other side to the chateau - now that was bloody hard work! A truly fantastic week - can't wait to put some of my new knowledge to good use; not to mention head back next year for some ice climbing :-D :-D

Sat 23/8 - I was due to have a rest day but a christening in Canberra on Sunday meant that I had to swap my long sessions around. To allow for the fact that I was still tired from the mountaineering course, I dropped the pack weight back to about 16kg and did a 4:20 hike,
'summiting' Mt Majura twice & Mt Ainslie once. Finished with 19.09k. Surprisingly I felt reasonably strong although a bit tired & hungry by the time I finished. Afterwards, I cleaned myself up & headed to the War Memorial for a quick lunch in the café before spending a couple of hours looking at everything I could find related to Kokoda. All I can say is that I'm going to be a serious sap the whole way along the Owen Stanley Ranges I suspect.... As my head & thoughts have been in the mountains so much lately, it was also a good way to end my last real training session & to start getting my head in the right 'head space' for Kokoda. As all the hard work is now done, that is the only thing I can still do...

Sun 24/8 & Mon 24/8 - rest days & start of taper week :-)

MTD:
Bike - 51.41k
Run - 22.5k
Hike - 47.85k

New season footwear

It seems yellow is the colour for the (my) upcoming season. I'd put my feet up & take a photo of them a la Runner Susan but they are too freak'n heavy!



Monday - rest day. Much needed. Tired & sore after Sunday's hike.

Tuesday - unplanned rest day. Was supposed to run but canned it after a cr*p nights sleep. Grrrrrrrrr.

Wednesday - 45min ride including 2 x 10mins AT while (still) watching this year's TdF climb the Col de la Croix de Fer. Good session; felt really strong :-) In the evening after a work function, I went to a great presentation by Andrew Lock on his successful ascent of Makalu, the 5th highest mountain in the world. Cool :-)

Thursday - easy 40mins run (6.09k - av. 6:35m/k - av. 144BPM) on an icy morning in Penriff. I was supposed to do a strength session as well but couldn't escape from the office. Grrrrrrr. So much for my last week of 'heavy' training.

I have a big 10 days ahead. After a half day in the office tomorrow, I am heading down to Jindabyne for the weekend in the snow with various members of the Mango-clan. Then next week I am doing a 5 day mountaineering course. Really looking forward to it after getting some great feedback from another WWoT member who attended it last week. We are camping above the snow line somewhere near Charlottes Pass I think so the weather might be a tad fresh ;-) And then (after a weekend in Canberra for a family function) it's back home for my last week at work. It's almost here - can't believe it - yippeeeeeeeeeee :-D :-D :-D

MTD:
Bike - 51.41k
Run - 15.28k
Hike - 28.76k

I've fallen & I can't get up...

Another weekend gone; only 3 weeks tomorrow (Monday) til Kokoda.

My recovery week came to an end yesterday (Sat) with an easy 30min run around the hood after a bit of a sleep-in. Finished with 4.71k - av. 6:24m/k - av144BPM. I spent the rest of the day running around the house like a madwoman cleaning my trekking poles & boots (which were a mess after the mudathlon in Canberra a few weeks ago) and packing, unpacking & repacking for Kokoda and the mountaineering course. The Kokoda pack is down to 11.4kg now; my mountaineering pack still needs some work...

Today it was off to the magnificent Perrys Lookdown & Blue Gum forest for my 5.5hr hike today with a 20kg pack (18.84k). There was an icy wind & a nice light dusting of snow on the ground as I drove into Blackheath at 7.30am; I have to admit that I was asking myself why I hadn't taken up an easier - and warmer - sport. Still bad weather is, if nothing else, a good opportunity to test out my gear & the wind, rain and snow (yes, I got 'snowed' on!) certainly did that.

The gate was locked so I had a 3k walk in the cold wind to the lookout(down). Thankfully the trail down the escarpment & the forest were both largely protected from the wind. I had a bit of tumble in the forest when a stick jumped up & bit me ;-) It was a good reminder that the weight of my pack means that it sometimes has a mind of its own. I landed in a nice lush patch of grass where I did my best impersonation of a turtle on its back unable to move. Thankfully no-one was around to see it. Had to undo & take off my pack in order to get back up again.

A beef & guinness pie, large coffee and chocolate cake afterwards in Blackheath rounded out my day nicely :-)

MTD:

Bike - 51.41k

Run - 9.19k

Hike - 28.76k

15...

21 sleeps to go until I finish up at work, Bro :-D :-D

What a weird week it's been.

Friday - rest day.
Developed a 4 hour stomach bug on the way to work. Arrived at work, was sick & then turned around & headed for home. Given it's a 3 hours return trip, it was rather annoying. Slept 3 hours on Friday afternoon, another 9 hours on Friday night & woke up fine on Saturday.

Saturday
AM - 2:10 ride on the M7 bike path - 51.41k - av. 23.7k/h - av. 131BPM
Strangely after being sick on Friday, this was perhaps my best /strongest ride to date! Our average pace was 24k/h (a first!) until we turned off the M7 for the 2km c/d ride home. I also managed to stand the whole way up both of the big hills heading north near Elizabeth Drive; I've never had the strength / endurance / cardio fitness to do that before. Nice :-)

The day ended with R, Rags and myself attending the WWoT masked ice ball in Manly. A fantastic night of great food, alcohol & rope games ;-) to raise funds for the WWoT Seven Summits Team and the Fred Hollows Foundation. I managed to win two prizes in the silent auction - a gorgeous photo taken from Mt Elbrus in Russia (one of the Seven Summits & perhaps my next one after Aconcag) as well as a fantastic photo of Everest taken and signed by Lincoln Hall. However I think the highlight of the night was watching Rags being dragged, by his tie, onto the dance floor by a blond Amazon :-D

Sunday
PM - 2:27 hike w/14kg pack - 9.92k - av. 109BPM
After Friday's illness and a bit of a sniffle on Saturday, I decided to start my recovery week a day early & so cut this session back to 2.5 hours & reduced my pack weight to 14kg. Fully fuelled thanks to pancakes at Chez-Rags & lolly bags courtesy of Mouse & the kids, R & I headed for Glenbrook to walk up to the Red Hands Cave. I was a bit over the idea of walking & a bit tired but the company was nice :-)

Monday - rest day - 4 weeks to Kokoda!

Tuesday
AM - easy 30min spin

Wednesday - rest day

Thursday
An easy 30mins run at 4.30am [4.48k - av. 6:43m/k - av. 143BPM] and a 60mins strength session later in the day. Man I lurve weight training :-) Very excited to realise this morning that I only 2 more weeks of pre-5am training starts to go before I am a lady of leisure for 6 whole months :-)

Thanks to Ellie & Vurt for your hospitality last night (*waves*)

Friday - rest day - 3 weeks left at work! Bring on the Olympics - what is not to love about the Olympics - sport, sport & more sport :-D

MTD:
Bike - 51.41k
Run - 4.48k
Hike - 9.92k

Hills, coffee, food, mud & more hills !

I am one tired gal today after a big weekend in Canberra followed by an incredibly busy week - lots of late nights & early morning. Apologies in advance for the length...

Saturday - Bush Capital marathon festival 10k - 58:27 - av. 5:51m/k - av. 170BPM :-D :-D

The Mini Mango & I lined up at the 10k at the Bush Capital marathon festival at the absolutely decadent - although somewhat inconvenient - time of 1pm which meant I could have a (much needed) sleep-in. I had decided to treat it as a temp run so paid no attention to the HR & ran simply based on feel. Given that I don't even run hills in training (I walk once my HR has spiked) I expected to finish around 65mins. I revised my estimate to 70min after being forced to walk at the 812m mark (!).

I hit the 4km mark at 24min & realised that a sub-60mins was possible. So I concentrated on my pace, easing back slightly on the uphills to prevent a blow-up & pushing the flat and (in particular) downhills. I also had two 'rabbit's in my sights; one, a man who I had overtaken earlier in the race & who later overtook me going up one of the hills and the Mini Mango who I was determined to keep in my sights.

I hit the turnaround at 30:29 and knew that I only really had 3km to hold it together as the last 2km were largely downhill. I managed to hold it together, keep Mini Mango in my sights (just) and beat the male rabbit with a final surge to the finish line.



Finished in 58:27 - my first official sub-60km 10k. On that course and given the limited running I've been doing in recent months - and zero hill work - I am absolutely ecstatic with that result.



Was great to catch up with Strewth, CJ & Aki's later in the afternoon. Shame Ewen couldn't join us - BTW I didn't know you were an ABBA fan Ewen ;-)

Sunday - 5hr hike w/ 20kg pack - 20.17kms - av. 134BPM

Funnily I had commented to R on the drive to Canberra on Friday night that short of emptying the contents of Warragamba Dam on a firetrail somewhere, it would be very difficult (in the current - dry - winter) to replicate, and get used to, the muddy conditions that I will experience in PNG. Let's just say I spoke too soon!

Being in Canberra meant that I could head up to the Brindabellas for my hike this week. When I left the car to start this session, the temp gauge read -1; it was only 6.5 degrees when I got back to the car at 1pm. Perfect Canberra winter weather ;-)

After getting up to watch Cadel's TT, I was pretty tired to start with so it was the first 3hrs were a real struggle. This walk had everything - lots of mud (!), rain, fog, sleet, snow/ice on the ground at the top of Mt Coree, sunshine & cold wind. Got back to Ma & Pa Mango's place & after a quick shower, sat down to a huge lunch courtesy of Ma Mango. A nap followed by a coffee with a double shot in the car on the way home & I was almost feeling human again.



Monday - rest

Tuesday - easy 30mins run - 4.4k
Lower legs were v. beaten up after I barrelled down Mt Coree with my pack on my back on Sunday. So I swapped my sessions around & did a very easy 30mins paying no attention to pace or HR. Thanks to Mouse & NTR (*waves*) for dinner - it was great to catch up with you guys again - and thanks for the lolly bags :-)

Wednesday - 50mins bike session
Included 4 x 3mins in a grindy gear / low cadence with 2mins spin recovery while watching Stage 17 of the TdF. Followed up with a beating up at the hands of Easy Tiger. While being fully carb loaded after dinner last night ;-) insufficient rest / sleep over the last few days was catching up.

Thursday - 35mins run - 5.72k - av. 6:23m/k - av. 148BPM.
Did Tuesday's session. 15mins with a 15sec surge every minute, with a 10min w/u & c/d. Fun but tough session on probably the coldest morning so far this winter.

No strength session today; instead I went back to the physio this afternoon for a bit more work on the tendonosis in my right glute. I must admit to feeling pretty beaten up right now; everything is a bit tight so I need to pay particular attention to my stretches & core / glute work over the next few days. Bring on the recovery week :-)

So at month's end, I have had another great month of training. It was slightly interrupted by the blisters I got during the TW session but fortunately they healed very quickly. Highlight of the month was my run at the Bush Capital 10k - did I mention that I was really pleased, and surprised, by it? ;-)

Jan: S - 8.65k + B - 71.32k + R - 26.6k
Feb: S - 10.9k + B - 114k + R - 49.2k
Mar: S - 8.75k + B - 101.88k + R - 68.19k
Apr: S - 0 + B - 1.3k + R - 50.1k + H - 45.4k
May: S - 0 + B - 0 + R - 25.75k + H - 28.83k
Jun: S - 0 + B - 56.97k + R - 35.4k + H - 72.59
Jul: S - 1.4k + B - 43.41k + R - 57.92k + H - 72.19k

HTFU

Bubble & squeak

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
PM - 1.4k swim
Was supposed to run but couldn't due to my blisters so I headed to the pool instead. If there is one thing I love about being a multi-sport athlete (ok, there are several!), it is that there is always something to fall back on if I can't get a particular session done for one reason or another :-)

10 x 100m with a 25m effort in each with 200m p/b w/u & c/d. Nice to be back in the water again :-)

Wednesday
AM - 40mins ride incl 20mins at AT
Tough but good :-)

Thursday
AM - easy 20mins run - 3.02k - av. 6:42m/k - av. 137BPM
An easy short run on a chilly & wet morning for the sole purpose of testing out the taping on my heels to make sure that they will be ok for the race on Saturday. I think it will be ok (bloody hope so). It occurred to me this morning that I may need to rethink my HR strategy. So far when I've spiked my HR on a hill, I've stopped to walk to get it back down. But should I walk or rather slow my pace as much as possible? Presumably as I become more efficient working at 80%, I'll be able to run further up the hill before spiking my HR (and walking). But in the meantime walking up the hills isn't actually going to increase my efficiency so maybe I should be running them, albeit slowly, instead and just keep the average for the session at 80%. Any thoughts ?

AM - 60mins strength session mid-morning.
Again reasonably light weights so that I don't trash myself ahead of Saturday's race -
- 5mins w/u bike
- 20 x step ups / knee lift on bench (fast)
- 10 x step ups + 10 x step ups with knee lift with 10kg
- DB bent-over row on upturned bosu x 20
- lunge + step up onto bosu x 20
- [1 x push up + 2 x single arm row] x 20
- 20 x squats with DB shoulder press
- 25 x oblique twisty things with medicine ball
- 50 x crunches
- 10 x alt arm / leg
- lunge + step up onto bosu x 20
- DB bent-over row on upturned bosu x 20
- 20 x squats with DB shoulder press
- stretching
(and something else I can't remember right now).

Off to Canberra after work tomorrow (Friday) night for the Bush Capital 10k on Saturday - which I am planning to treat as a tempo run - followed by 5 long hours with my pack in the Brindabellas on Sunday.

MTD:
Run - 37.8k
Hike - 52.02k
Bike - 43.41k
Swim - 1.4k, LOL.

I can't get no....

But for a lecture I once got from 2P about the importance of language, I would have said that I was disappointed with my training this weekend. So instead I will say that I wasn't satisfied with it for a number of reasons, not least because I didn't look after my feet & have developed two massive blisters which not only disrupted today's training but may disrupt my training for the rest of the week. Not happy Jan.

Saturday
AM - Trailwalker training - 36.48k - 6:49
For a change I joined WWoT's Trailwalker training session (yah, no pack!). Met the girls at Gordon at 6am to catch the train to Berowa. The plan was to do 52.5k between Berowa (CP2) and Davidson Park (CP7). The pace was fast & furious from the start; there is no "dilly dallying"with these girls. My average HR for the session was 75%! After so much long, heavy & slow walking lately, it took my legs awhile to work out what to do. Unfortunately I soon developed a couple of hot spots which I didn't treat properly so they quickly became massive blisters - something I never get. Grrrrr. So I pulled the pin half way between CP 5 and CP6. I was unsatisfied because I had mentally prepared to do the full 52k and, apart from the blisters, physically I was feeling really good & strong. Of course, taking the glass-half-full view, 35k at a fast pace is still a good training session & it was a great lesson / reminder about the importance of foot care, particularly for Kokoda.

Sunday
AM - 2hr ride - 43.41k - 21.1k/h - av. 113BPM (!)
Another unsatisfying session. I was due to do a 3hr hike with 20kg pack but the blisters prevented that. Coach TA suggested a ride if I needed to do something (she knows me too well!). The Mini Mango joined R & I for the first 1:10 so while the company was fun, the pace was v. slow & despite having the bike in the biggest chain rings (front & back), I don't think I really achieved much. I was however able to push the pace in the last 50mins & had a lovely chat to NTR & Mouse about 5mins from home (*waves*).

6 weeks tomorrow until I fly out for Kokoda. Getting really nervous about it now....

MTD:
Run - 34.78k
Hike - 52.02k
Bike - 43.41k

It's not jaune; it's Aussie gold my friend !

Sorry. Tragic I know but I couldn't resist :-)

Dave, I've read Fitzy's book. Now I'm onto Bone Man of Kokoda which will be followed by Those Ragged Bloody Heroes by Peter Brune. And Bro - there is no such thing as Sagarmatha overload ;-)

Monday - rest

Tuesday
AM - 40 mins run - 6.66k

My first ever Mona fartlek session (!) with a 10min w/u & c/d.

The session was good - round & round a damp & (at one end) foggy oval with R who played 'rabbit' & made my chase him on the efforts. Having done v. little interval / speed work, I have lots to learn about pacing myself during efforts such as this. Still, I hit a new max HR (she says never having done a max HR test) of 180 and didn't have to walk any of the recoveries (despite wanting to) so I probably got reasonably close to the mark. Covered 3.58k & averaged 5:40m/k for the 20mins, woohoo!

Wednesday
AM - 46mins ride
Was supposed to include 4 x 5min @ AT but to be honest, I didn't quite get to AT - I just didn't work hard enough. For no particular reason. Gawd knows what I was thinking. Very annoyed with myself afterwards - while its better than nothing, it seemed pointless to me to drag my tired arse out of bed at 4.30 in the morning to do a session that didn't meet its objective. Grrr.

Thursday
AM - 40mins run - 6.07k - av. 6:38m/k - 142BPM
Kept yesterday's lesson in mind today and made sure I stuck to the plan - which was to run at 80% (147). Weird session - took a long time to get my HR to above 140 and then it kept spiking over 150 in the last 15mins. A serious positive split today - I suspect it is due to going a bit too hard in the first half to get the HR up as well as tiredness & stress due to a feral week at work.

AM - mid morning I headed to the gym for a 55mins strength session. Used reasonably light weights as I didn't want to fry myself before Saturday -
- warm up of 5min bike and 20 x step up + knee lift onto a bench
- step up with 10kg plate x 25
- DB bent over row on upturned bosu x 20
- [1 x squat + 5 x tricep extensions with medicine ball] x 10
- [1 push up + 2 x single arm DB row] x 20
- lunge / step / knee lift thingy onto a bosu x 20
- 50 x crunches
- DB bent over row on upturned bosu x 20
- [1 x squat + 5 x tricep extensions with medicine ball] x 10
- [1 push up + 2 x single arm DB row] x 20
- single leg deadlift with DB x 15
- stretching.

Rest day tomorrow (and some extra sleep) before a big weekend of training...

MTD:
Run - 34.78k
Hike - 15.54k

Recovery rocks :-)

I only started having recovery weeks when I started training with TA in about September last year - which is, no doubt, one of the reasons why I was injured so often. At the time, I hated recovery weeks; I thought that they were a waste of perfectly good training time. But now, as much as I love training hard, I have come to lurve my recovery weeks. Hauling a pack for hours on end each weekend probably has something to do with it! This recovery week was a bit easier than normal thanks to TA giving me the weekend off as we were going away :-)

Monday - rest

Tuesday - easy 30mins run - 4.37k - av. 6:53m/k - av. 141BPM
Woohoo! First time that I've averaged under 7min/k pace since the HR experiment began. Bring on the sub 6:30's :-D

Wednesday - rest

Thursday - 60mins strength session on my lonesome at the gym at lunch. No morning run due to a breakfast function at work.

Friday - easy 30mins spin

Saturday - rest

Sunday - easy 40mins run - 6.27k - av. 6:41m/k - av146BPM
Decided to make up for Thursday's missed run - not to mention work off some of the food I consumed on Saturday. Great run on a beautiful still morning. Nice :-)

Spending an indulgent weekend at the Crowne Plaza in the Hunter Valley eating & drinking lots rounded out the week nicely :-D

MTD:
Run - 22.05k
Hike - 15.54k

Bring on a HUGE training week. 11hrs I think next weekend alone....

Kokoda

This time in 8 weeks will be the end of my first day on the Kokoda Track. Unlike the rest of my trip which is just plain exciting, the prospect of visiting PNG and walking the Kokoda Track makes me feel everything from very emo to excited to sh*t scared.

I have been doing a lot of reading about WWII and the position, and importance, of PNG generally and Kokoda in particular in the last few weeks. I distinctly remember being taught about the 'european conflict' during WWII at high school. I have absolutely no recollection of being taught about the 'pacific conflict'. Either I wasn't paying attention or (more likely) it was 'glossed over'. That's a shame - it really was perhaps the most significant battle for Australia during WWII.

Interestingly it has been the poems written by Diggers who served in PNG which have not only reduced me to tears on many occasions but that have really got me thinking about my grandfather's experiences there. I have, of course, always known that both of my "pop's" served in PNG in WWII but it hasn't really been until now that I have 'got' it. I now find myself wondering exactly how they felt as they sailed out of Sydney. Were they amongst those who were excited & saw it as a 'great adventure' (as many of the country boys did) or were they sad to be leaving their loved ones & nervous / scared about what may lay ahead? Unfortunately I will never know.

Aside from my reading, YouTube has (of course) provided some fascinating material. Back in the 90s I think there was a special episode of A Current Affair (I'm talking back in the days when it was a real current affair show, not reality tv trying to pass itself off as news) which followed several 'celebrities' as they hiked the Kokoda Track with the company that I am travelling with. If you are interested - if only to recall what Dermott Brereton's mullet looked like - the first instalment is here.

T'was the night before a recovery week...

...and I am one tired gal!

Tesso, I need to be able to carry 25kg - at altitude - by the time I head to Argentina in January. Gawd knows how!

Saturday
AM - 80mins run - 11.41k - av. 7:01m/k - 145BPM
This low HR training stuff really works; I am absolutely converted to it now (thanks Hamburglar!). While hills / inclines / false flats still cause my HR to spike (and today fatigue started to set in around the hour mark), on the flat today I was averaging around 6:30m/k pace - about a whole minute faster than when I started this little experiment. Nice :-)

Sunday
AM - 4hrs 53mins hike - 15.54k - Grand Canyon x 2
My oh my. No wonder I'm tired tonight.



Total elevation was + & - 1,752m!

R & the Mini Mango decided to join me today so I left the car at 8am, did a bit out & back along the Cliff Top Track and then did a clockwise loop of the stunning Grand Canyon, before heading back to meet R & Mini Mango for the second lap. I did the first loop (2.5hours) with a 20kg pack (plus water). But the glute wasn't particularly happy with that so I off loaded 7kg into the car & did the second loop with 14kg which made my glute much happier. Fortunately my next pack hike isn't for 2 weeks so that I should start to see some improvement by then (touch wood).

We finished our lovely day with a great lunch in Blackheath before a pitstop at Springwood for coffee & cake on the way home. Nice :-)

Bring on the recovery week!

MTD:
Run - 11.41k
Hike - 15.54k

Deliciously golden

I love this time of year - the Golden Delicious apples are sensational :-)

Ewen, thanks for your comment re HR. I'm going to stick with my 147 for the time being - I just found 138 far too low/slow. I realise & accept that I am not doing enough mileage at the moment to get maximum results but HR training is not my primary focus at the moment. It will be however when I get back next year.

And Tesso, actually the weight of my pack didn't increase last week. It does this week (!)

Monday
Rest day - and first frost / ice on the windscreen this winter!

Tuesday
AM - 40mins stairs - av. 145BPM - max. 175BPM
Holy moly. This was one heck of a session - 10mins of walking stairs with 15kg pack followed by 10mins running the stairs sans-pack, repeated twice. I was supposed to do this lovely little combo 3 times (60min in total) but decided to pull up stumps as my right glute didn't particularly enjoy walking up the stairs with the pack. Probably a good thing too because the 20mins of stair running completely fried my calves!

Wednesday
AM - 40min easy bike

Thursday
No run this morning. Have been really tired all week so decided a bit extra sleep was more important.

PM - 60 mins strength session with PT

Friday
Rest day :-) Also headed into see the physio - aka the Strapping Lad - today about my glute. Fans of his work will be disappointed to know that he did not live up to his name! The glute niggle has been hanging around for a while - turns out it's a very mild case of tendonosis in my glute med tendon. Only v. mild because I only notice it sometimes and then only when walking up steps with a heavy pack. I left with another exercise to add to the collection & instructions not to overload it too much.

Long run tomorrow & another 4.5 hour hike - this time it hits the pack hits the magic 20kg mark (!) + water - on Sunday. Then a much needed recovery week :-)

A few of my favourite things - trails, friends and mud(cake)

Another big weekend. Feeling v. tired tonight - or perhaps that is just the glass of vino kicking in :-)

Saturday
AM - 10k run
After a bit of a sleep-in, I headed down from the Regatta Centre to do my test for a 10k challenge proposed by Alex on Transitions; 10k at 65% MHR based on the Karvonen "method" and to see the improvement of 2 months. Ok, so it wasn't on my program - but close enough :-) Using a max of 187 (according to that dodgy formula) and my resting rate of 46 - 65% gave me 138, much lower than the 147 I've recently been training at. Holy moly - 1:18 - av. 7:49m/k - av. 141BPM. There is no way I could train at that pace; I could quickly give myself an injury. It was more like a fast walk than a slow plod.

Sunday
AM - 4:21 hike w/19kg pack (+ water) - 19.33k
I had promised to meet Gnome at the finish of W2G and to pick R up so I decided to do my hike at the NP in Glenbrook again. I parked at the gate at 6:50am & took another new route - to Red Hands cave via Campfire creek with 1:30 out & back along Red Hands fire trail to make up the extra time. A gorgeous route - perhaps my (new) favourite at Glenbrook! Although the route was alot easier than some I have recently done, it was a much needed confidence boost after last weekend's shocker - not least because I managed to walk back up to the gate from the causeway some 10mins faster than last week. Gnome's wave no doubt helped :-)

I finished just before 12pm & then headed down to Euroka to catch up with the usual suspects including (finally) meeting Brick. The day rounded out beautifully with lunch in a cafe in Glenbrook with some of my favourite people and Lindt chocolate mudcake :-)

As I have a rest day tomorrow, that's the end of the month for me. The figures are:
Jan: S - 8.65k + B - 71.32k + R - 26.6k
Feb: S - 10.9k + B - 114k + R - 49.2k
Mar: S - 8.75k + B - 101.88k + R - 68.19k
Apr: S - nada + B - 1.3k + R - 50.1k + H - 45.4k
May: S - nada + B - no outdoor rides + R - 25.75k + H - 28.83k
Jun: S - nada + B - 56.97k + R - 35.4k + H - 72.59 (!)

A much better month - no niggles, no colds. Fingers crossed it continues - 9 weeks on Monday until Kokoda. The next two months are gunna be HUGE :-)

Progress is good :-)

Wow. Time is flying by at the moment.

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
AM - was supposed to run but due to an alarm clock operator error, I missed out. Bugger; I am really enjoying my running at the moment. And with the end of FY approaching, I had no chance to do it after work. On the glass half full side, I got more sleep.
PM - massage

Wednesday
AM - 37:30 bike session
Included 5 x 1m standing / grindy / hill-type repeats with 30sec recovery (ouchy) while watching the latest Everest - Beyond the Limits 2 episode :-)

Thursday
AM - easy 35min run - 4.09l - av. 7:10m/k - 142BPM
Slightly faster again than last Thursday's run over largely the same course (it's working, it's working!). My average pace on the flats seems to be settling around 6:5x actually but as soon as I so much as look at a hill, incline or false flat, it spikes. Hardly surprising really. Thinking about it today, the first 3 years of my running 'career' were injured plagued and even when I was running, I avoided hills. No wonder I am so inefficient on them now. My time will come :-)

PM - 60mins PT session
Lots of hard stuff - my PT commented that he didn't think he'd seen me ever 'glow' so much before ;-)
- 5mins w/u
- 20 x indescribable lunges - let's just say it was a kind of lunge /balance / oblique exercise all rolled into one which also used a step, one of those wobble cushion things, a (wooden) disk and a medicine ball. Phew.
- 20 x squats + shoulder press with DB
- 20 x push-ups on DBs + single arm DB row
- 20 x rotating / oblique / shoulder roll thingy on a swiss ball

repeated x 3 followed by stretching.

Rest day tomorrow before another big weekend of training. Bring it - and the end of the financial year - on.

MTD:
Bike - 56.97k
Run - 25.4k
Hike - 53.26k + pack

Packs & pancakes

Hamburgler - between 20kg & 25kg!

Another big weekend. Saturday morning I left the gates at the NP in Glenbrook at 7am for my 4 hour hike. Ultimately I cut it short to 3hrs. It was just one of those days - I was tired & still fatigued from my session with the PT on Thursday. I was ok on the flats, downhills & even walking up the hills (including the hill up from the causeway) but had absolutely nothing on steps. Zero. Zip. Nada. Just couldn't walk up steps. Both piriformus (piriformii?) are tight at the moment which didn't help. One of those days I would rather forget. I'm trying not to beat myself up too much about it as it was a bit of a tough course...



...as well as being the first time I've carried 19kg (plus water). Finished with 11.31km. I've cut a few of my long sessions short lately so this week is dedicated to being in the right condition (mentally & physically) for next Sunday's 4.5 hours with 19kg (+ water). No excuses!

R decided he would ride to - or at least in the direction of - Canberra on Saturday. One of the reasons I cut my session short as Mini Mango & I were to be his Plan B evac team. So after finishing my session & picking up the Mini Mango, we headed for Canberra, eventually collecting Mango somewhere along the way. Crazy man!

I had 75mins on the program for Sunday. Much to my surprise I discovered the Canada Run 4 Cancer (the old Terry Fox fun run) was also on; what a coincidence :-) I had decided to treat it as a training run so stuck to 80% MHR which meant a slow run (& occasional walk due to a hill / cheering / talking related HR spike) for R who decided to accompany me. Saw Strewth powering along; we both cheered for her but she was in the zone (and her iPod) and didn't hear us (*waves*). Was also great to catch up with Miss Z for a chat afterwards. It was a great morning; the scenery was just beautiful - I love Canberra!

My pace was slow - I think we were actually walking when Miss Z zoomed past us in the opposite direction! - but there were more signs that the HR training is paying dividends; the average pace for this was 7:10m/k. It is slowly but surely increasing. It was also the first time I've run 10k in almost one year (to the day). Nice. The pancake and real, fair dinkum Canadian maple syrup afterwards wasn't bad either ;-)

MTD:
Bike - 56.97k
Run - 21.31k
Hike - 53.26k + pack

Leavin' on a (different) jet plane !

Well as good plans often do - mine went slightly awry for reasons beyond my control. I discovered the day before I set out for K2Caves that it was likely that my trek into northern India - my first stop of my grand adventure may be cancelled due to lack of numbers. I received confirmation of this last Thursday. So much of the weekend was spent at the drawing board working out an alternate plan.

While I was rather annoyed at the cancellation of my trek, it actually didn't take me long to decide what it was that I wanted to do. I now have an opportunity to do something I have always, always wanted to do - walk the Kokoda Track :-)

Both of my grandfathers served in PNG during the war (though not in the area of Kokoda) so I am particularly excited, and feeling somewhat emo, at the prospect of going there.

Despite my mum's best efforts to convince me otherwise, I have decided to carry a full pack myself & will not be hiring a personal porter. I must say it's wonderful to have the fitness & strength to allow me to make that decision just over 2 months out from the trek. So now it looks like I finish work at the end of August, head to PNG for 12 days in early September then return home. Then for just over 2 weeks, I will be a lady of leisure and/or experience life as a professional athlete at home before heading off to Nepal at the start of October. Nice :-)

Making progress - I think...

Man, this week has absolutely flown by.

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
AM - 60mins hill reps - 6.66k
My 10k pack (amazing how light it feels now!) & I headed for a couple of hills near home at 4.30am this morning for lots of hills reps. Walked to the start and then did a 'ladder' set of reps (i.e. going slightly further up the hill with each rep) walking strongly up the steeper of the two hills with my pack. Once I'd done a complete 'set', I walked around the corner, dropped the pack on the footpath & did a 'ladder' set running up the second (slightly less steep) hill. Then it was back to the steep hill for another ladder set walking with the pack & then back to the running hill for final set before walking home. Tough session !
PM - much needed massage.

Wednesday
AM - 45mins bike session
Included 2 x 10mins @ 70-75% MHR, big chain ring & high cadence. Had great difficulty keeping my HR low & cadence high in that gearing.

Thursday
AM - easy 30mins run - 4.15k - av. 7:15m/k - av. 140 BPM
Easy & quite a confidence booster actually. Saw signs that the great HR experiment may finally be paying some dividends... (touch wood !)

AM - 60mins strength session with PT
A really tough session - by far the hardest I've done with him since we decided to ease it back & just focus on my problem areas a couple of months ago. Could quite easily have curled up under the desk & gone to sleep afterwards. Shame my client's wouldn't let me :-(

Rest day tomorrow before a 4 hour hike (with 18kg pack) on Saturday then the Canada Run 4 Cancer 10k fun run which I plan to do at LSD pace - and pancakes - in Canberra on Sunday morning. Unfortunately I won't be in Canberra long enough this weekend to catch up with my fellow bloggers :-( (*waves*)

MTD:
Bike - 56.97k
Run - 11.16k

Walk - 5.41k

Hike - 41.95k (with pack)

Recovering - with a 14kg pack

I pulled up really well after K2Caves; no DOMS; no niggles; no tightness - I've just been tired & hungry all week. Tiger commented during my massage on Tuesday that over the last two weeks, I have not been as tight as I normally am; gawd knows how after all that pack carrying last weekend. Anyhoo, whatever I am doing, it seems to be agreeing with me (touch wood!).

This week has been a recovery week so I have had a few extra rest days & a bit more (much needed) sleep than normal -

Tuesday & Wednesday
Rest

Thursday
AM - 60min PT strength session which was kinda easy/kinda hard. After being sick, then tapering & recovering from K2Caves, I think my PT is looking forward to torturing me again next week.

Friday
Rest

Saturday
AM - easy 49mins plain old, garden-variety, sans-pack easy walk - 5.41k

Sunday
AM - easy 1:50 hike w/14kg pack - 9.52k

R joined me for my hike today so I decided to introduce him to the national park at Glenbrook. He now understands why I've never ridden my MTB down or up from the causeway. Of course he said that he will one day ride his tri bike up it. Looking forward to seeing that!

Relatively easy loop today from the car - Mt Portal (via tunnel view lookout) - Euroka - Ironbarks & back to the car. Amazing to think that I carry a 14kg pack now on recovery weeks!



Followed by a great lunch at a cafe in Glenbrook including Lindt Chocolate mudcake. Nice :-)

Looking forward to getting back into the training next week.

MTD: Bike - 56.97k + Run - 7.01k + Hike - 35.29k* + Walk - 5.41k
* with >14kg pack

K2Caves

Wow. What an incredible weekend!

Last Thursday night, the decision was made not to do K2K for safety reasons as we couldn't be sure of the heights of Coxs River. So Plan B was to do an overnight out & back to Dexs Creek (via Mt Cloudmaker) with Monday spent roaming the trails around Kanangra. After meeting some
other bushwalkers on Friday night we decided to go with Plan C; an overnight out & back to 100 Man Cave which is south east of Mt Cloudmaker and, interestingly, doesn't appear on the topo. Plan D emerged on Sunday morning when we decided to spend an extra night at the cave & return to Kanangra on Monday. I was told to "expect the unexpected" and my weekend certainly turned out that way.

I can't begin to describe my incredible weekend in a concise manner - so I will simply say that I was really pleased with my ability to carry an 18kg pack for two days bush bashing & rock hopping at a fast pace over rugged terrain particularly given that I only picked up the pack about 2 months ago...






...I've slept in caves (for the first time!) with fantastic names like Dance Floor Cave and 100 Man Cave (which, of course, we decided needed to change)...


(bad photo - it was dark - but you can just see my pack - and sleeping bag - in the foreground)

....eaten Baci Kisses & had morning tea from the top of Mt Berry....





.....crossed (amongst others) the rather appropriately-named & calf-burning "Mt High & Mighty" and the wonderfully named (false) peaks of Rip, Rack, Roar and Rumble; visited the incredible 1000 Man Cave which just blew me away (unfortunately it was overcast & the photos
don't do it justice)...





...made some decisions about the future of my "athletic pursuits", spent the weekend with a group of incredibly fit, strong, generous & kind hearted women, finished the weekend with a drink & fantastic Indian dinner with the girls in Katoomba on Monday night, and pulled up incredibly well with no DOMS.





Happy happy days.

On the way to K2K

IMHO JD, that's the only way to live.

Gronk - my last one was pretty full so I have had to get a new one!

Ellie - I'm going to start a separate blog for my trip. I'm not sure my family & non-running friends will really understand my encounters with the Hash House Harriers ;-)

Scott - I don't watch any sitcoms, let alone a whole season of them ;-)

Gosh, I've been planning the trip for a year and it only now seems real. The trip itself is organised but I am running around like a madwomen at the moment trying to organise all the supplementary stuff - the gear requirements in particular are pretty amazing (and expensive!).

Anyway back to the training -

Monday
Much needed rest day; I was very tired, sore & run down after the weekend.

Tuesday
AM - 50min run including 2 x 10min tempo (about 6:30m/k) pace with 3mins SR - 7.01k - av. 7:00m/k - av. 149BPM.

6:30m/k was roughly the pace at which I was running before I started my great HR experiment so my tempo efforts actually felt reasonably comfortable (well, except for when I was going up hill) - in hindsight, I probably should have done them around 6m/k pace. Next time. Otherwise it felt good - and I somehow to manage to avoid the rain.

PM - much needed massage.

Wednesday
AM - easy 45mins spin watching this week's episode of Everest - Beyond the Limits 2 :-)

I had a PT session on the plan for today but cancelled it earlier in the week. I've been feeling tired & run down this week so took some extra time to try & rest & recharge the batteries before K2K this weekend. Carb load started today. I've bought the topos for the 'track' only to discover that there is actually no track from Mt Cloudmaker until after the Coxs River crossing so it looks like a bit - or a lot - of bush bashing will be the order of day 2. Kewl:-) I'm pretty nervous about whether I'm fit / strong enough - 18kg is alot of weight to carry over difficult terrain for 3 days - but I've surprised myself enough times to know that I am generally fitter & stronger than I think I am. I am however trying to avoid thinking about how "interesting" it's going to be with all the rain recently, just how high the Cox River might be - not to mention climbing up Tarros Ladder with my pack! Yes, I know I know - HTFU ;-)

Off to finish packing & to get some sleep. Wish me luck !

MTD: Bike - 56.97k* + Run - 7.01k
* long rides only

Leavin' on a jet plane....

Now that the powers-that-be are fully informed, I finally get to tell my super duper exciting news.

In the first week in September, I get on a plane.

What's so exciting about that I hear you ask?

Well, I don't return to the country for 4 - count 'em; one, two, three, four - months :-D

For starters I head off for a 4 week trek in the Ladakh region in northern India which is kinda, sorta, up near Kashmir & Tibet. The Ladakh region is known as "Little Tibet" due to the influence of the massive numbers of Tibetans who have migrated over the years (centuries). Really excited about my first visit to the eastern Himalayas.

Then I head back to my beloved Nepal for a month, this time to climb Mera Peak and Island Peak, both of which are over 6000m - my first two Himalayan summits!

In early November, I leave Nepal and head to Cairo (what a contrast!) where I am catching up with my folks for a 3 week tour of Egypt & Jordan. My mum chose this trip & let's just say, her requisite level of comfort when travelling is somewhat higher than mine. The 4-5 star hotels will be a nice change after spending 8 weeks in a tent :-)

In Jordan, I leave my folks & head for Tanzania. After a few days lounging by a hotel pool, I head for the island of Zanzibar which has an incredible history as both a trading port for goods & slaves. Then its back to the mainland to climb Mt Meru - the second highest mountain in Tanzania - and then Mt Kilimanjaro - my first of the seven ;-)

After a day or two of rest, I head out for a short safari before flying to Canada to spend Christmas & New Years with my brother & his g/f. Very excited about seeing my brother again. I have also placed an order for snow so that I can experience my first white Christmas :-)

Then in early January, I come home - only for 3 weeks to recharge the batteries, see my family and family-to-be, get some of mum's cooking into me & do some training before heading in late January to Argentina and Aconcagua.

And then finally at the end of February I head for home & to get ready to go back to work in early March - and of course finalise plans for our wedding in the Cook Islands & honeymoon in the Philippines in November :-)

So in total, I'm o/s for just over 5 months :-) This trip has been in the pipeline since the day I stepped onto a plane in Kathmandu to leave Nepal in May last year. Thankfully my folks, wonderful fiance & family-to-be have been incredibly supportive of my plans. Writing this post makes it finally seem real if that makes sense. While I will be sad to leave my loved ones, to say I am oh so excited doesn't quite cut it.

13 weeks, 4 days to go :-)

Month end

LOL. You guys crack me up. If you think that I would classify being pregnant as exciting news, then you really don't know me v. well !!

Jan: S - 8.65k + B - 71.32k + R - 26.6k
Feb: S - 10.9k + B - 114k + R - 49.2k
Mar: S - 8.75k + B - 101.88k + R - 68.19k
Apr: S - nada + B - 1.3k + R - 50.1k + H - 45.4k with >10kg
May: S - nada + B - no outdoor rides + R - 25.75k + H - 28.83k with >14kg

With 15 days lost to illness, it was a pretty crap month for training. Still, I haven't been injured in about 9 months now (touch wood!) so I can't complain too much!

O.M.G

What a weekend. I am one tired & sore gal today.

Saturday I had a 3.5hr hike - with 18kg - on the cards. Can I just say that 18kg is really fn heavy? R decided to keep me company so we headed for the spectacular Blue Gum Forest in the Gross Valley. Starting from Perry's Lookdown (not lookout) we stepped our way down the side of the escarpment to the valley floor below. O.M.G. Absolutely spectacular but bloody hard work.




Half way down the escarpment my legs were already wobbly. After an hour we were close to the valley floor & turned around to head back up, significantly overestimating how long it would take us to get back up to the top. We were back at the car at the 2:25 mark so we decided to make up the extra time by doing another 20mins out & back down the escarpment again. What a decision! The first time up the escarpment, I was moving well & telling R that I was having one of those days when you realise you are fitter than you thought you were. The second time up the escarpment, I wasn't saying anything. I just crawled, starting to question my fitness & strength & wondering how on earth I'm going to carry 18kg for 3 days next weekend. Very slowly is the only answer I can come up with to that question.


Finished with 4.07k in 3:10:




Afterwards we headed into Blackheath for a fantastic lunch & coffee. Then on the way home we stopped in so I could show R my spiritual home, the Six Foot Track :-) We walked down the technical section & started walking - slowly - down the stairs. Ouch. I'd never actually taken in the amazing view from the lookout which was a nice change. Looking forward to getting out on the track on 12 foot day :-)


Then today we meet up at Prestons with some of the guys from Transitions for a group ride along the M7. There is no way I would have done my scheduled session of 2 hours had it not been for committing to this. Yesterdays session left me with a bit of DOMS and lot of fatigue. Still, it was nice to roll along chatting to various people - so much so that I ended up doing 56.94k in 2:38. Slow but there was no way I could have gone any faster.



Finished with a quick coffee & chat at Maccas before heading home for some food and nana nap :-)

MTD: B - 56.97k

False start...

Well last Thursday's session proved to be a bit of false start. I woke on Friday feeling worse for wear so decided to take a few more days rest. I finally got back into the training on Tuesday; not particularly happy about missing almost 2 weeks training due to illness but that's life. At least it wasn't due to injury I suppose!

Tuesday
AM - easy 30mins run - 4.02k - 7:26m/k - av. 140BPM
Cold morning but was rewarded with the sight of an incredible lightening show off to the east.

Had 50mins including a couple of efforts on the schedule but decided an easy 30mins was a much better way to ease back into the training. The pace was bloody slow but at least I'm moving again.

Wednesday
AM - easy 45mins spin
On the trainer watching the new series of Everest - Beyond the Limit :-)

Thursday
AM - easy 40mins run - 5.39k - 7:25m/k - av. 142BPM
Another morning; another lightening show! Not much to report. I managed to run / plod / shuffle up a hill or two without spiking my HR and having to walk which was a first so it was a bit more steady than previous runs. Still, very slow. Stoopid HR training.

PM - 60mins strength session with PT.
As I'm not back to 100%, my PT took pity on me again so it was another easy-ish session this week (with light weights/longer rests ) -
- 5mins bike w/u
- 3 sets of 20 x front squats (w/dumbbell)
- 2 sets of 15 x single leg dead lifts
- 2 sets of 20 x bent over row (20kg)
- core

It's nice to be moving again but I am really looking forward to getting back into my full training loads again. I'm still not 100% but getting there. Only 8 days now to K2K - holy cr*p!

Stay tuned for super duper exciting news in the next few days.... :-D

MTD: H - 24.76k* + R - 25.75k
* plus lots of stairs

Finally, she moves :-)

It's a good thing that I had just started on a rather voluminous (and, as it turns out, great) book just before I got sick. So much time spent sitting on my butt over the last 8 days means that I've almost finished it :-)

Yesterday I got the ok from Coach TA to start moving again provided that my cough doesn't worsen. I'm still not 100% but getting there.

So I headed back into the gym today for an easy 60mins strength session with the PT. He took it easy on me; light weights - lots of breaks between sets etc:
- 5mins bike w/u
- lunge + single arm row on cable machine w/front foot on disk
- squats on upturned bosu
- squat + row on upturned bosu
- lunge + bicep curl w/ front foot on upturned bosu
- squat + row on upturned bosu
- full pushups on upturned bosu
- core + stretching

And other stuff I can't recall right now. Another rest day tomorrow before a short run & shortish hike (fingers crossed!) on the weekend.

Good news

1. I don't have pneumonia.

2. I got lots of reading done over the weekend.

2. I'm doing this course in August which should be fun :-)

Not. Happy. J(e)n.

Headed down to the doc this morning to get a medical certificate. I don't think I've ever taken two days off work in a row. His verdict is bronchitis. He actually joked that I'd either be better by Monday or I'll have pneumonia. I didn't think it was particularly funny.

I was supposed to a 60k overnight hike with WWoT this weekend. Three weeks out from K2K the timing was perfect. Instead, I'm under instructions from Coach TA to have total rest at least a full week. The sensible - and right - option I know, but that doesn't make it any easier to accept or any less frustrating right now...

Just when I thought it was safe....

..to begin to think that I could get through a whole two weeks doing every single session, when planned, on the program (which I haven't achieved in the last 6 months), I started coming down yesterday with a chest cold. Clearly I don't have - and am yet to develop - the immunity that most parents or those who spend lots of time with kids seem to develop over the years....Grrrr.

Monday
Rest day :-)

Tuesday
AM - 51mins walk w/16kg pack (incl 4 x Penrith station stairs) - 4.65k - av. 129BPM
Had to improvise this session. I was supposed to walk to the station but (a) they are too far from home and (b) I would have to pass through a commercial/industrial which is not well lit. So instead I drove to the station, did a small loop through the centre of Penrith, did my stair repeats & walked back to the car via the loop again. I find it amazing that 16kg now feels reasonably comfortable; it wasn't that long ago that 10kg felt heavy :-)
PM - massage

Wednesday
AM - 41min bike session incl. 5 x 4min efforts @ 85-90%
Ouchy. Worked up a very healthy "glow" ;-)

No run or PT session today - although I will probably do some glute / core work a bit later. So today & tomorrow are rest days before a big - or should that be long - weekend....

Most people I know think that I'm crazy.....

I had two people say to me at work on Friday that they don't envy the training I do. Afterwards I found my eyes drifting to the photo on the wall of my office. It is the same one as on my blog over ====>> The photo of me standing on Gokyo Ri at 5,357m admiring Everest. Their remarks strike me as sad. Not because my training doesn't sound crazy - even I think it is a bit crazy sometimes. But because the "crazy" training that we "athletes" do, no doubt, has opened the door to many wonderful experiences that others never have the opportunity to experience. Their choice - and their loss - I suppose.

Speaking of somewhat crazy ;-) over the June long weekend I am doing a 3 day full pack hike (ie. carrying 18kg) from Kanangra to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains with WWoT . It is something in the order of 43k-50k through a very remote, hilly & tough - not to mention bloody cold - part of the Blue Mountains. I've been able to pick the brains of a trail guru or two about the course which has been v. helpful. Perhaps unsurprising a fat ass run was held along the course many moons ago. An 8k section of it took one of CRs ultra legends 2:25 to cover. Gawd knows how long it will take my pack & I but I'm looking forward to finding out :-)

Now in order to do the hike I needed to do a fitness assessment with WWoT at 5.30am on Saturday morning at Manly (*gulp*) so my alarm went off at 3.30am (crazy). The assessment was basically 60mins of intervals on Raglan Street with my 16kg pack followed by 40mins rock hopping with our packs (7.41k - av.144bpm). The session finished with core work & stretching. It was a great session; I really enjoyed it. The hill reps were hard work but I felt strong throughout. It's always wonderful to find out that you are fitter (& stronger) than you thought you were. The group of girls were fantastic; v. strong, generous, welcoming & enthusiastic. Several of them have also climbed Aconcagua so I have plenty of brains to pick over the coming months. After the session, it was off to a cafe for breakfast & chat with most of the group before heading home. Needless to say, I later decided that a nana nap is an essential part of my recovery :-)

Today - Mothers Day - saw me compete in my first Mothers Day Classic at Parramatta Park. I wasn't too sure how tough Saturday's session was going to be so I elected to do the 4k as an easy recovery run. Good decision it was.



Brother Mango & another member of the extended Mango clan also did this event. However it wouldn't be accurate to say that I did the race "with them" as they both left me - and R who decided to run it with me - in their dust :-)

R did the 8k early. As the 4k wasn't until 2 hours after the 8k, I have to admit that the Mini Mango, my folks & I chose to miss his race in lieu of a bit more sleep (*she blushes*). The 4k was ok - I wanted to walk by the 700m mark but slowly warmed up & 100m before the finish line I took off, leaving R to eat my dust. Finished in 25:33 according to Elektra. It's ok mahal, you can't be the fastest family member all the time ;-P


Yes, this man is my husband-to-be. No, I have no idea what he is doing ;-)


Practising our Chariots of Fire slow-mo running style. Needs work I know.

We finished the morning with perfect recovery food - bacon & egg rolls :-) -



in the park before heading home - for another nana nap :-) For someone who used to think that nana naps were a waste of perfectly good daylight and/or reading time, I'm certainly getting the hang of it :-)

MTD: H - 20.11k* + R - 16.34k
* plus 40min stairs

18...

I see that the Olympic torch apparently made it to the summit of Everest today. What a farce.

Anyhoo, on with the show, this is it :-)

Tuesday
AM - 40mins stairs with 15kg pack.
4.30am this morning found me walking up / down / up / down (repeated about 30 times) the stairs at Penrith railway station with my 15kg pack. It is only a relatively short set of stairs with two flights but the best I could do on short notice. A few stares from those passing by but I'm getting used to being a freak show with my pack & walking poles. Both piriformis (should that be piriformii?) are a bit tight so I need to get back into the glute med exercises. Otherwise my legs were fine - certainly no jelly-leg sensation - so the training is certainly paying off.
PM - massage

Wednesday
AM - easy 30min spin while watching the dvd of IMOZ 2008 :-)

Thursday
AM - easy 30min run - 4.26k - av. 7:17m/k - av141BPM
I know it is only early days in the great HM experiment but my av. pace seems to vary in each session I do. Maybe its just due to varying degrees of fatigue; dunno really. So frustrating but I am trying to temper it with the thought that being able to run, say, 6min/k - let alone faster! - at the same effort level will be so cool :-)

PM - 60mins PT session.
A "easy" session this week for a couple of reasons, not least that I need fresh legs for the weekend. So we settled on a rehab-type session to target those areas that I still - and probably always will - need to work on (TVAs, glute med, VMOs etc) all with slow & steady movements with perfect form:

- 5mins bike w/u

- dead lifts: 20 x 20kg / 20 x 30kg

- 2 x supersets of:
(a) 30kg x 20 dead lifts; and
(b) 20 single leg step ups.

- dead lifts: 20 x 30kg

- 20 x step ups + plunk jump thingy (she says having forgotten the name)

- front squats: 20 x 7kg DB

- 2 x supersets:
(a) 10 x single leg dead lift (8 kg KB)
(b) 3 x 10sec VMO activation exercise

- front squats: 20 x 7kg DB

- double leg extensions x 10

- stretching.

Felt refreshing easy after some recent sessions with him :-)

Rest day tomorrow :-)

MTD: H - 12.7k* + R - 12.34k
* plus 40mins stairs