On fire!

Pepster, of course I remember you! Lovely to hear from you.

Mon 25/7: arrived at Balmoral by 7pm for my next session in my Wild Women on Top (WWoT) internship. This one consisted of 2hr walk (carrying an 11+kg pack) from Balmoral to Middle Head, then some reps up & down (with & without pack) a bush trail, then a running game, 30mins of core, strength & stretching (which included 100 mountain climbers & 100 squats!!) before walking back to Balmoral.

A great fun session; sooo nice to be back in the bush, through mud & puddles. Being back in the bush makes me feel vibrant & energised (despite the fact that I had probably had less than 10 hours of sleep in the last two nights thanks to the TdF & caring for my nan over the weekend). Approx. 7kms.

Tues 26/7: recovery & regeneration session for my poor sore body (10mins of movement followed by using my foam roller & tennis ball to do some SMR)

Wed 27/7: 3hr walk from home down to the river, around the river & return. A reasonably flat walk which was good as my legs still had a healthy dose of fatigued & DOMs after Monday nights session. I hit the wall after about 1:45 which, I now realise, was because I hadn't left home until almost 2hrs after breakfast & then had only had 1 gel up to that point. Very tired afterwards but content that it's done. 18.1km

Sun 30/7: I had arranged with Sonia & Fliss to meet them at the Rangers Hut at the Glenbrook National Park for a 4 hour walk at the decadent hour of 9am. An out & back walk to the Nepean Lookout ultimately took 4hrs 47mins of walking time (26.72km in total). So glad the girls came with me. I would have really struggled to get it down without them!

July total: 78.2kms

I'm still here!

So since my last post:

Mon 4/7: 30mins walk w/ a 6kg pack at 6am around the streets near home; the first time I've carried a pack since (link) Aconcagua I think way back in March 2008. Yikes! 2.7kmb

Tues 4/7: after work, an easy 20min recovery & regen session consisting of 15mins of SMR on my tight bits followed by 10mins of 3d movement largely with the VIPR. Felt sooooo much better afterwards!

Wed 6/7: a change of plans saw a hastily arranged visit to go up, down & around Parramatta Park at 7am for a 45min walk w/ my 6kg pack on a beautiful clear & only slightly windy morning. 4.3km

Mon 11/7: 2hr walk around the Glenbrook National Park from the gate down to Euroka & return with a couple of stair repeats thrown in for good measure. 10.4km
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Wed 20/7: this week I started a 12 week coaching internship with Wild Women on Top, a group that focuses on adventure fitness for women who I have trained with on & off over the years. And what a way to kick it off – with a 2hr walk around the Bay with an 11kg pack in the pouring rain! Approx. 9km

Somewhere in all of that -

• my contract role as a lawyer expired on Thursday 14th so I am now working on a full time basis building Sparta, my personal training business;
• R had surgery on Friday 15th & spent 2 nights in hospital recovering from having 5 plates, 61 staples, 20 external stitches, gawd knows how many internal stitches & screws inserted into his face;
• watched more stages of the TdF than I have in any year I have watched it (and what a year to do so); and
• spent 2 nights 'nan-sitting' my 86 year old grandmother with advanced Parkinsons. Far from relaxing but it was nice to spend some time with her & be able to do something for her.

Hopefully things can start to settle in the next few weeks with a return to some routine!

MTD:
Walk/hiking: 26.4km

Well, I didn't see that coming....

What a fortnight.

I think all 2 of you still reading my blog would know about R's crash last weekend. Suffice to say, it's not been a great week. I have been able to do a bit of training but not a great deal. So I am officially calling June a write-off & will continue my story from 1 July -

Fri 1 July: 30 mins walk including a couple of hill repeats near home (3.6km)

Sat 2 July: 75mins walk from home down to the Nepean River where I met R (who had driven down) and had a coffee with the guys he normally rides with on a Saturday morning & who were with him, & looked after him, last weekend. Beautiful way to start the weekend & probably the first time I have relaxed (momentarily) since last Saturday morning (8.5km)

Sun 3 July: rest

MTD:

Walk 12.1km