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