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