Maintaining the rage

August sees a maintenance program. I haven't run in a couple of weeks due to my dodgy hip. With no goal races in mind & everything else going on in life at the moment, the training is going to take a (slight) back seat for a while - though not so much that I won't fit into my wedding dress of course!

Mon: functional stability (FS), core + stretch session at lunch & then 3.2km at swim squad after work. Hard, hard work for me - I'm not sure what hurt more; 8 x 50m sprints or 3 x 300m with paddles - but technically its coming together. I really need to develop some swim fitness though.

Tue: FS exercises at lunch but otherwise a rest day

Wed: 30mins each of FS & upper body strength work in the gym before work

Thur: FS again at lunch. Then 38mins ride on the trainer after work including 3min stints in various gears. Good session; I'm really enjoying the riding at the moment. 15.8k

Fri: rest

Sat: 2hr ride (including a 5min pickup at the 80min mark), for a change of scenery, on the M7 bike path. Early in the ride I seemed to revert back to my usual (bad) habit of using a higher gear & lower cadence but a bit of focus saw my cadence increase. Finished with 46.7k / aver C83 / aver 23.3k/h. I seem to be averaging around 23k/h now. Next stop, 24k/h :-) The day ended with a surprise mini-birthday celebration for R who turns an age ending in zero next weekend ;-)

Mud cake rocks :-)


Anyone got a fire extinguisher? ;-)


Sun: busy busy day. I was at the pool when it opened at 7.30am to do my 1.8km swim. I was showered & home in time to eat breakfast while watching (for the first time) the City 2 Surf on the telly. Then it was off to Parramatta with Ma for shopping for shoes & jewellery for the wedding (which mission was accomplished). A couple of books also managed to find their way in my bags. No idea how that happened ;-) It was such a struggle to get out of bed this morning but I'm so glad I did. There is no way I would have swum after getting home after 5 hours of shopping! Surely that must count as additional cross-training?

It was 3 months to go until the wedding on Thursday. I can't believe the last 18+ months have gone by so quickly. I'm sure the next 3 months will fly by as well... (gulp)

MTD:
Swim: 5.0km
Bike: 111.8km

Smokin'

A strange week. Started out with good intentions but increasing work commitments & wedding-stuff seem to take priority as the week went on.

Mon: another tough night at swim squad for me. The highlight however was discovering that I am a MUCH better at breaststroke than R :-) Given how much faster he runs /rides / does freestyle, it's a small victory but a victory nonetheless! I gave him a 5m start in a 17m pool & beat him. I'll give him a 10m start next week so he can retain some degree of blokey pride ;-) About 2.2km in total

Tue: unplanned rest (& chocolate souffle) day

Wed: core + stretching session at the gym before work; a change from the usual strength session

Thu & Fri: nada

Of course that brought July to an end with the following totals:
Swim: 9.7k
Bike: 142.5k
Run: 14.8k
Not as much running, or riding for that matter, as I would have hoped but a significant increase in my swimming work loads.

Sat: long (cold) 2hr ride before heading to Canberra for a mega Mango family birthday celebration. Had a fantastic ride. I did the Greendale Rd loop again, this time (somehow) managing to ride it 9 mins faster than when I last did it. My speed over this loop also increased by 1.5k/h. It was one of those rides when it all comes together & finally you see some (significant) improvement in performance. 2:05:30 / 49.33k / aver. 23.6k/r / aver.C 88



In other news, wedding plans are coming along well - the invitations have been ordered, the hair & makeup booked & we have found Mini Mango's bridesmaid dress (phew)

I'm reading a fascinating book called Stability, Sport & Performance Movement about functional stability; basically how the body responds to the challenges & loads we place on it as athletes. I guess my background in my strength training has largely been 'isolation-based'. I've been doing integrated exercises more so in recent years but this book has really explained the rationale behind functional movement and, most importantly, given me tools to test myself & then exercises to improve the problem areas. I guess I've had so many injuries over the years that it seems that what I have been doing hasn't worked particularly well (except for last year when I have a heavy training load & still was injury-free). I wonder if doing years of (primarily) isolation-based strength training has taught my body bad habits which aren't relevant, or of assistance, for the sports that I now do. We shall see.

MTD:
Bike: 49.33k

Move along..

Nothing out of the ordinary to see here.

Mon: 3km at swim squad. Felt a bit flat in the water tonight, c'est la vie.

Tue: up early for a run which is difficult after a late night due to swim squad. Still, I managed a 30min run; the first time I have run 30mins in almost 11 months! Crazy to think that its been so long. The foot had no complaints; the lungs & HR were a different story.(##k)

Wed: strength + core session before work

Thu: a brick after work consisting of 10min run / 30min bike (incl 6 x 2min). A good session; the pace of the run was (of course) slow but running is starting to feel more comfortable again

Fri: rest

Sat: 1:56 ride (45.75km) in the morning. I almost talked myself out of it but I'm glad I didn't. Although the first 30mins were a struggle, I felt reasonably strong for most of the ride. Paying attention to my cadence & technique seem to be paying off. Average cadence was 91 & aver. speed was 23.5k/h which I think is the highest average speed I have recorded yet (yes, I also ride slow).

Sun: rest. Was supposed to run but a slightly funky hamstring, the need to work on my assignment for my Certificate III & a lack of sleep due to the combination of watching the TdF & playing driver for Team Mango / Kel at the M7 Marathon put an end to that.

MTD:
Swim: 7.5k
Bike: 142.5k
Run: 14.8k

Another week, another candle burning at both ends...

A recovery week. From what I'm not sure. My lifestyle (lack of sleep due to work / TdF / studying / wedding planning etc) rather than any actual training load I suspect..

Mon: 1.2k swim at lunch.

Tues: easy 10min walk & 20mins run before work. Did 7.5mins on the grass before finishing on the road. 2.97k

Wed: strength + core before work.

Thu: 1.1k swim before work. Felt really good in the water; strong & my 'catch' seems to be coming along.

Fri: rest (& a decision made about the wedding invitations)

Sat: 90min ride along the Northern Ride, the first time with a cadence sensor (thanks R!). Just focused on spinning the legs. 34.94km - 22.9k/h - aver. 88C. Then it was off for bridesmaid dress shopping....

Sun: work (again) but otherwise rest. I've worked 6 days per week for the last 4 weeks; glad its over. For now.

MTD:
Bike: 84.04k
Run: 8.98k
Swim: 4.5k

Blah...

A bit blah-ish at the moment; I have spread myself too thin in recent weeks (months) & have now decided to take a few goals off the table for the coming season - what's new. I'm so sick of having to do that...

Mon: James' swim squad again & another strength & endurance session. About 2.2k in total

Tue: rest. Was supposed to run but felt like I was fighting off a cold so I took the sensible course of action

Wed: another strength + core session before work. Focused on legs together given the pounding my shoulders took on Monday night.

Thur: more rest. I was supposed to do another reverse brick today but had to change that plan in lieu of some different 'cross-training'; testing samples of wedding cake :-)

Fri: 30mins ride on the trainer after work (including 10mins at AT).

Sat: 20mins run after work. It's a good thing that my heart rate monitor has died. Otherwise I would have had to crawl rather than simply plod (3.3k)

Sun: even more rest. Was supposed to ride but I rolled over & went back to sleep after the alarm went off.

MTD:
Bike: 49.1k
Run: 6.01k
Swim: 2.2k

Allez, allez, allez!

This is my favourite time of year - Tour time :-)

Another good week of training. Very tired but the end of the weekend but that's life I guess.

Mon: James' swim squad again. Remind me never to eat dinner for one of his sessions. A strength & endurance session was on the cards; it included (for me) 16 x 50m sprints, 16 x 50m breathing every 5th stroke & over 1k using hand paddles. I left with tired shoulders & arms, a nasty chaff on my neck from my cozzie & about 3.1k in the bank. Far. Out.

Tue: got up early for my run which was hard after a late & tiring night; 25mins run - my longest in 9 months (!) - including about 20min on the grass oval & then 5mins run on the road home. This was the first time I've ventured onto hard surfaces in my come back; so far, so good. It is, however, a good reminder in specificity. My HR monitor has died so I was working on perceived effort; it was very hard to keep my HR down so the pace was not much more than a crawl (3.5k). Still it was a nice way to round out the month. It will be nice next month (fingers crossed) to be able to record the distances I run in kilometres, not minutes!

Total for July
Swim: 11.65km
Run: 154.5 mins
Bike: 8hrs 33min (132kms +)
Time spent with florists: too many !

Wed: a slightly shorter strength session this morning (45mins) to spend a bit more time on core & stretching.

Thur: 1.4k swim (in a ladder) at lunch - so nice not only to have a lane to myself but the whole pool :-)

Fri: rest

Sat: after the high winds in Sydney on Friday, I had visions of needing to do this session on the trainer (boring). But I was blessed to wake on Saturday morning to a clear, still morning :-) I headed out on my lonesome for my 2hr ride, again on the Greendale loop via Wallacia (ie same direction as last week). While my speed doesn't seem to be picking up (grrrrr), I am feeling (somewhat) stronger on the hills. Oh, and I managed what I like to refer to as a 'lying dismount', but otherwise it was a good ride. 49.1km - 2:06 - 23.3k/h

Sun: worked until 2pm, came home & slept for an hour then dragged myself out for my session; 10mins w/u walk then a 20min run (12min on grass then 8min on road) (2.98km) followed by a 30min walk - 60mins in total.

4 months today until the wedding. We now have a florist so its time to organise the cake; it's tough work but.... ;-)

MTD:
Bike: 49.1k
Run: 2.98km

Position vacant: 28 hour days required

A weird week. I'm working 6 days p/week for the next 4 weeks which is going to make life interesting; TA & I have worked together to try & get a program for July that will balance everything...(fingers crossed!)

Mon: headed to the gym at lunch for a short core + stretch session. It may have been short but I still managed to completely & utterly fry my lower abs :-) Then after work, I headed to my first swim squad since I learnt to swim as a kid; this one was conducted by James (B+ on CR) who is also club coach for Panthers. I thought it would have been very ironic had I drowned as an adult in the pool that I learnt to swim in as a kid - but fortunately I didn't :-) Lots of (much needed) drills were on the menu. I have to admit that I wasn't really in the mood to go after feeling rather tired throughout the day but I'm glad I did. I have no idea about the distance; I lost count but I'll guess & say 2km

Tue: was supposed to be a 20mins run but for a variety of reasons, I had to cut it short to 10mins with 5min walk either side.

Wed: (unplanned) rest day

Thu: another reverse brick; 10mins followed by 20mins bike (including 3 x 3min efforts). Good fun!

Fri: dragged myself to the gym after work for a short, sharp & hard strength + core session.

Sat: I worked til 2pm then headed to Ripples for another 'reverse aquathon'; my first 20mins run in 9 months (yippee!!) followed by a 1.45k swim. A good session although doing my strength session on Friday night wasn't such a good idea; I paid for every one of my 40 pushups on my toes (and 40 x lat pulldowns & 40 x deadlifts & 40 x bent over rows &....). It was a very slow swim but I tried to focus on putting everything I had learnt on Monday into effect

Sun: another 2hr 'hell ride' (aka Greendale Rd loop through Wallacia), this time in the reverse direction. This direction seems to have a lot more long, grinding hills & then the drag back up the Northern Rd at the end is testing. Still it was good; I felt stronger on the hills than I have previously - not to mention the fact that the chocolate indulgence cake I had this afternoon was worth every hard hill :-) 2:08 / 48.44km / 22.7k/hr

MTD:
Swim: 8.55km
Run: 129.5mins
Bike: 8hrs 33min (132kms +)
Time spent with florists: 3.5hrs !

Climb every mountain...

The title is only partially a reference to my passion. It's also a reference to the Sound of Music soundtrack which I have been listening to my family sing (loudly) in the car this morning. Yikes....

Anyhoo, t'was a recovery week :-)

Mon: rest. Was due to go to swim squad but woke with a badly pinched nerve/muscle in my neck. Very little movement in my neck all day & a tad painful :-(

Tue: back to the treadmill at lunch for another 15min run just to prove the first one on Saturday wasn't a fluke. Not only was it not a fluke, I managed to go a tad faster :-)

Wed: another solid strength + core session before work.

Thur: back to the gym for 15mins bike (spin) + 10mins run. T'was supposed to be another 'reverse' brick but the treadmills in the gym were occupied when I arrived which meant that I had to switch this session around. Yesterday's strength session left me with serious DOMS in my butt & adductors so I was very glad that it was an easy session.

Fri: due to my plans for the weekend, I had decided to swap my sessions around so headed to the gym at work at lunch for a swim. Unfortunately it was closed for maintenance. Grrr.

Sat: 90min ride along the Northern Road from Penrith in the direction of Camden (34.88km - av. 23.2k/h). My mechanic decided to stay home so thankfully I didn't have another flat ;-) A really enjoyable ride on a rather warm morning.

Sun: rest & recovery from my uncle's 50th birthday party in the Hunter Valley last night :-)

In other news, I have signed up to do my Certificate III & IV in Fitness :-) It has been something I have wanted to do for many years & its taken a few months of planning to come to fruition. I have a lot going on in life at the moment (2 x jobs + training + planning the wedding) so I am not going to put pressure on myself to finish it quickly; I anticipate that I won't finish it until about March next year but its a start :-)

MTD:
Swim: 5.1km
Run: 89.5mins :-)
Ride: 6hr 25mins

On a roll...

Another good & busy week. The wedding preparations are now well underway but there is still much to do & only 4.5 months to go!

Mon: you gotta love a public holiday! Does spending 3 hours trying to find a photographer for the wedding count as cross-training? Nah, I didn't think so. Luckily I dragged myself out for a 1.5k swim which actually felt much better than Saturdays effort (thankfully).

Tue: 3 x 5min run intervals (2min walk recovery) on the treadmill at work at lunch (10min walk w/u). All good :-)

Wed: another good strength + core session before work.

Thur: another Thursday, another reverse brick. 7.5min run (yippee!) followed by 20min bike (including 3 x 2min pickups). All good :-)

Fri: rest :-)

Sat: after finishing reading the paper (an essential part of my Saturday ritual), I headed off to the gym for my session - a 15min run (!!!!) followed by 1.4k swim which included 4 x 300m. The first rep sucked terribly; my lats were fatigued & I felt like I was just spinning my wheels in the water & going nowhere. But I gave myself a bit of an uppercut, sucked it up & eventually finished happy with the session.

Later in the afternoon, I took myself off to Fernwood at Penrith to listen to a talk by Emazon of Biggest Loser fame. An women with an amazing background & a particularly interesting take on training (both physically & mentally) -


Sun: headed out for a 2hr ride on the Greendale Rd loop & managed to get a flat tyre after 7mins. Thankfully I had my mechanic in tow ;-) I felt really flat for the first 50mins or so; no doubt dehydrated after drinking bugger all water during the last couple of days. R gave me the (easy) option of just doing an out & back along the Northern Rd but after a GU & some positive thoughts, my bike mysteriously turned off the Northern Rd & onto Greendale all by itself ;-) I find it a very hard loop with some short, sharp hills on an absolutely dead surface which reminds me that lactic acid is my friend.


It didn't kill me so I guess I'm a bit stronger for the experience. Finished in 2:14 (49.68km)

Looking forward to a slightly easier week & then heading up to the Hunter Valley next weekend :-)

MTD:
Swim: 5.1km
Run: 64.5mins :-)
Ride: 4hr 40mins

Reversing

A good week of training :-D

Mon: easy 1km swim (as 2 x 500m) to ease myself back into it after last weekend's disruptions to my training.

Tue: headed to the gym at lunch; 10min bike w/u then 4 x 3min run intervals (60sec walk recovery) on the treadmill. It's a bit sad to think that 3mins is the longest I've run in 8 months now. Still, it's (much) better than nothing at all :-)

Wed: strength + core session before work.

Thur: a great session at lunch; I really enjoyed this 'reverse brick' - 10min walk on treadmill to w/u, then 1 x 5mins run followed by a solid 20min bike with a few one legged drills thrown in for good measure. Nice :-)

Fri: rest :-)

Sat: after work, I headed to Ripples for another 'reverse' session; this time an aquathon! First up was a 10min walk on the treadmill to warm up, then 2 x 5min runs on the treadmill. After a change & quick shower it was into the pool for a 1.2k swim. The swim was a real slog, but gosh I'm really enjoying running again :-)

Sun: it was raining when I woke this morning so rather than go riding in the rain I did a solid 2hr ride on the trainer in the garage while listening to podcasts. The time passed surprisingly quickly.

That's the first time I have run 3 times in a week since I had my fall & stuffed my ankle in September last year. Oh and its less than 5 months to go to the wedding now. Happy, happy days :-)

MTD:
Swim - 2.2km
Run - 27mins :-)
Ride - 2hr 20mins

Grooveless

A strange week. My training started off strongly but the lack of sleep in recent weeks has been catching up with me in recent days; I've had one day off work in the last 14 days :-(

Mon: 1.2km swim, as 3 x 400m. The first time since I got back in the pool I felt strong in the water & moving well :-)

Tue: the comeback continues: 10mins walk then 5 x 60sec run (with 90sec walk recovery) in a park by the water at Rhodes. A beautiful clear, warm autumn day. Nice!

Wed: strength + core session in the gym before work.

Thu: lunch today saw a 10mins walk then 5 x 2min run (with 2min walk recovery) on the beautiful Foreshore walk at Concord. So nice to be running again - yippee!

Saturday I was due to do a long ride but rolled over and went back to sleep when the alarm went off at 8am. I've had a 1hr afternoon sleep both days this weekend which is completely unheard of for me; I guess I needed it & that I am finally / slowly learning to listen to my body.

Tomorrow sees the start of a new month & the official start of my 'back to tri's' training program. It's going to be interesting to see how the training fits in my (already hectic) week. Hopefully I can also find my groove along the way.

Houston, we have lift-off (again)...

The program said that this would be an 'easier week'. But for the first time in about a month, I managed to do all of my sessions - meaning I've done more exercise this week than in any other recently. So much for that easy week ;-)

Mon: another 1k swim at lunch, this time as 2 x 500m. I feel much more comfortable in the water now though my technique is, I'm sure, pretty ordinary. Time to sort that out.

Tue:
(AM) easy 40min bike session including 3 x 30sec single leg drills which was a rather eye opening experience. There is a serious dead spot at the top of the stroke of my right leg which (also) needs sorting out.
PM: running drills

Wed: strength session before work. Unfortunately I ran out of time to do my core work :-( A good session despite far too much (sensational) gourmet pizza & too little sleep last night.

Thu: rest + running drills + WildEndurance awards night! It was a great night; catching up with team 'Happy Feet' and a few of my favourite CRs and Wild Women. Team 'Happy Feet' was awarded its bag of goodies for our 2nd placing in the 50k relay which we later divied up on the floor of the pub. Yes, we are a classy lot ;-) I was lucky enough to walk away with, amongst other things, a small torch, a $100 gift voucher for LineBreak gear and a $50 voucher for Mountain Equipment gear which is my fav brand for mountaineering stuff. Happy days :-)

Fri: rest

Sat: (AM): Provided I keep my ankle strapped, I am allowed to start running again :-) I was supposed to start on grass (before progressing to the tready and then to the road in future weeks). But all the rain in Sydney this week meant that my walk/run was more likely to turn into a swim. So I headed to the gym & did the session on the tready instead: 5min w/u on the bike, 10min walk then 5 x 30sec run (with a 1min walk recovery). Followed it up by my usual (superset) strength + core session before coming home to ice my foot as per the physio's instructions. There has been no complaints from my ankle so it looks like comeback no. 450,001 has begun ;-)

Sun: While R took himself off to run at SMC, laziness saw me do my 75min long ride on the trainer in the garage. Time passed very quickly as I listed to a podcast interview with Mark Allen on the iPod.

I hinted last week at a change in focus. I had previously mentioned here that I was intending to do Six Foot next year. But I am just so sick of breaking down & not competing in events that I have set my sights on. So I have decided to take my time, work towards my goal of perfect structural condition & build up to it slowly; a revolutionary idea for me I know ;-) So, as you may have guessed, the focus for the next 18 months or so will be on tris. Rather nervous about it; after my long ride last week, I got off the bike & thought 'my god, how on earth am I ever going to run 10km after that ride!'. But I know I can & will :-) Bring it on - do your best TA :-)

MTD:
Swim: 3k
Bike: 97.09k (excl indoor)

Lactic acid is my friend :-)

Getting a bit more consistency in my weeks now - yippee! Still missed a couple of sessions but I'm getting there - slowly.

Mon: 1km swim in about 24min (excl breaks). Interestingly, the improvement in the strength in my foot thanks to my running drills + physio-ordered exercises is very noticeable in the pool. Last week I could really feel the pressure of the water on my dodgy ankle when I was kicking. Not so much this week thankfully. The swim itself wasn't quite as ugly as last week's swim but there is still a long road ahead. Still, it's nice to be on it :-)

Tue: rest + running drills down in beautiful Brays Bay reserve by the water at Rhodes. Nice ;-)

Wed: strength + core session in the (free) gym at work :-)

Thu: rest. Was supposed to do my running drills again but was unable to escape from the office. I ran for the train though - surely that must count? ;-)

Fri: (superset) strength + core session

Sat: rest + running drills

Sun: 2:10 long ride. The plan had been to head along the Northern Road towards Camden but the road was closed at Bringelly due to an accident. So R & I decided to head out along Greendale Rd, which heads through Wallacia & then loops back onto the Northern Road. I was rather nervous about the degree of 'undulations' on this road, having heard about it from my (6 x IM) uncle. The undulations were testing but not nearly as testing as the dead road surface. I've never ridden on such a dead surface before. I thought my teeth were going to fall out at one stage from the vibrations.

On one particular sharp climb, I was reminded of a podcast about lactic acid that I listened to yesterday. It was talking about (new) research suggesting lactic acid is actually an alternate energy source & should be viewed by athletes as their friend, not foe. My quads are not yet convinced. Finished strongly with 48.96k (22.8k/h). This loop will be a great one to do regularly to test the improvements in my fitness & (particularly) strength.

Look forward to more consistency - and the awards night for Wild Endurance - in the coming week. BTW if anyone is handy in doing blog headers, would you mind leaving me a message or sending you an email. My blog needs an overall in light of my new focus... :-)

MTD:
Bike: 97.09k

RIP Jean

An uppercut delivered...

It's been a strange week. I'm slowly settling into a return to full time employment for the first time in about 8 months. I'm actually balancing 2 jobs at the moment; what can I say, I'm in demand ;-) But needless to say, it's taking some getting used to.

I delivered myself a swift uppercut this week for a couple of reasons including that I have been really hard on myself in the last few weeks in relation to the training that I have missed as I adjust to my 'new reality'. I also for some reason - rather stoopidly - was feeling like I had 'missed the boat' regarding my training for the next tri season. Only to realise of course that the off-season has only just started; the season doesn't actually start until September. Duh!

A few sessions missed this week but I did more than last week so at least I'm going in the right direction ;-)

Mon: swam 1km at lunch. My first swim in about 14 months (!). It was slow - about 25mins excluding a few rest stops - and very, very ugly. Let's just say I've got alot of work to do.
Tue / Thu: running drills
Sat: 2:12 long ride with R in Canberra. It turned into a coffee & lunch ride; after 105mins, we stopped to watch one of the Mango nieces play soccer & then had lunch with the extended Mango clan before riding home (48.13k). After a quick shower, I headed out (driving this time) to catch up with CJ, Strewth & Ewan for coffee & afternoon tea - was great to see you all!
Sun: rest + running drills while R was running the Mothers Day Classic in a gorgeous autumn morning in Canberra.

Looking forward to a bit more consistency in my training this week as the off-season continues :-)

Bling !

What a strange, incredible, stressful, tiring week which ended on such a high!

I actually have done no training in 9 days now. First it was due to my resting HR being a bit high then a crazy week saw me get little sleep & no training. Oh well. The good news for the week is that my foot is definitely improving & the estimate of my return to running has been brought closer :-)

The lack of sleep continued when I got up at 4am on Saturday morning to crew for my team (Happy Feet) in 50km relay at Wild Endurance 100km. We had started out with the goal of the defending the fastest women's team title which team member Helen of Troy won last year. My withdrawal and Rob (vStar) becoming a last minute replacement put an end to that goal. As we had 3 walkers & 3 runners, the goal was simply a sub-24 hour finish. To say that we were shocked with the result was an understatement. It seems we needed to set our goal a tad higher & go for fastest team, not fastest female team.

Our day squad, the daydreamers, did a sensational time of 9 hours for 48ksm, particularly given two members are not runners. Then our evening girls (and runners), the nightingales took off into the night & eventually crossed the line at 2.27am, stopping the clock at an amazing 17.21! Good enough for 2nd relay team home & 3rd place overall (out of 72 teams). We are all still in shock at the result!

Another sensational result was the Wild Women girls defending their win last year in the 100km womens catagory - congratulations ladies!

We bundled the girls into the car & headed for the warmth of the Katoomba YHA to celebrate our fantastic result with (pink) champagne and chocolate mud cake - both of which taste even better at 3am :-) I eventually made it home just before 6am, one tired but happy girl!

I was presented with this sign by the daydreamers to make my place in the team official-


The daydreamers enjoying a cuppa before the start-


The beautiful sunrise in the Megalong valley which quickly warmed the rather chilly mountain air-


The daydreamers ready to go-


Mary, our resident gymnast. I wonder how many teams can do this....


....or this after 50km!


Trailpudd' (L) and Koala1 (R) with Kat - aka Cheetah Girl who was, no doubt, the newest Australian citizen in the race. Cheetah Girl attended her citizenship ceremony in Sydney on Saturday morning before heading up to the race-


Mary with a bunch of the biggest grapes I had ever seen. It's amazing what becomes amusing with a lack of sleep-


Our nightingales crossing the line-


A happy team "Happy Feet"-

Different

Thanks to everyone for your comments - much appreciated :-)

I'm a bit indifferent at the moment in relation to my training. I think its probably obvious that I am a goal-orientated person ;-) so being without a goal is not something that I enjoy. I need to find myself a goal other than one day getting the ok to run again ;-)

My training has also been a bit haphazard this week as a result of a week that was nothing short of an emotional roller coaster for numerous reasons. I haven't trained the last few days as my resting HR has been elevated but until then I did strength + core sessions on Tuesday and Thursday as well as a bike session on Wednesday (45mins @ 60% incl 3 x 4mins @ 80%)

I have a recovery/easy week ahead. Not least because I return to full time employment for the first time in almost 8 months (!) but also because WildEndurance is on next weekend. Although I have had to withdraw from team 'Happy Feet' because of the injury, I will still be heading up there next weekend to crew for the team which should be a good, albeit, tiring weekend. They are hoping to finish the 100k (walking) in sub-24 hours. Fingers crossed!

Be careful what you wish for...

I've held off posting this for a few days because I have been too upset / frustrated / pissed off to mention it. But, briefly, WildEndurance is off as I have peroneal tendinopathy in my right foot as well as a 'hot spot' on the medial side of my right ankle.

My right foot is the one that I badly sprained last year. My physio believes that the tendinopathy is a result of my fall, the insufficient rehab I had before I went o/s and my peroneal working overtime due to the instability in my ankle. The 'hot spot' doesn't look like a stress fracture (which is, of course, good news); rather a bone bruise caused by the impact of my fall. In all, although I can ride, swim, do strength work & walk (only on a flat, even surfaces), I'm not allowed to run for 10-12 weeks. Far. Out.

To say I am disappointed is an understatement. I was really looking forward to focusing on my running once WE was over & really excited about doing C2S for the first time in 4 years. I feel so frustrated right now. Blah, blah, blah.

The moral of the story I guess is this - be careful what you wish for. At the start of the year, another of my goals for the year was to work on my cycling. Looks like I've got my chance now...

Smokin'

Man, I can't believe another week has flown by. Life as a lady of leisure is seriously tough work ;-)

Tue: rest

Wed: 45min ride @ 60% (incl 2 x 6min @ 80%)

Thu: rest

Fri: 50min ride @ 60% (incl 10mins @ 80%)

Sat: strength + core session. A really tough session. Increased the weights on most of my upper body exercises. You know you've done a good weights session when you struggle to lift your arms up to take your t-shirt off :-)

Sun: 2:28 ride with R along the Northern Road from Penrith to Harrington Park (near Narellan) and return (58.94k / av. 23.9k/h / av. 75% MHR). I really enjoyed this ride but really struggled on the outward journey; I just thought that my legs hadn't recovered from Saturday's strength session. Little did I realise how strong the headwind had been until we did a 16min negative split on the return journey! I really focused again on keeping my cadence high; it's becoming more natural so the hard work is starting to pay off :-)

Mon: rest + wedding dress shopping (!) + bone scan today. I'm convinced that I don't have a stressie but will still have the scan done just to be sure...

When my long ride on Monday is thrown into the mix, it's been a huge week for me on the bike. I have never ridden 4 days a week. I'm sure (I hope) it will pay off (eventually).

MTD:
Hike/walk: 38.6k
Bike: 125.5k (long rides only)

The vortex

Well it's been an interesting week. I've been limited to the bike & the gym this week due to my foot - no walking or running for me. I've been a bit blah-ish; nothing drastic. Just the usual injury-induced blahs.

Tue: 45min bike @ 60% MHR

Wed: strength + core session at the gym

Thu: rest

Fri: 30mins bike @ 60% MHR (including 2 x 5mins @ 80%MHR)

Sat/Sun: rest & far too much food

Mon: redeemed myself (and my waistline) today with a 3hr ride on the M7 bike path (66.56k) with R. I really tried to focus on my cadence. My cadence is (always) low; spinning at a higher cadence is really hard work for me. Oh well, I'm a work-in-progress I guess.

MTD:
Hike/walk: 38.6k
Bike: 66.56k (long rides only)

Get that left side going...

I love recovery weeks. Well it actually kicked off last Saturday but I've been enjoying it :-)

Mon: rest

Tue: strength + core session at the gym

Wed: rest

Thu: 47mins walk / run including 5 x 2mins run (90sec). Yippee! My ankle is fine but it was a good reminder about specificity in training. I can walk fast for long distances, climb mountains but running for 2mins is hard work! (5.57k)

Fri: rest

Sat: Recovery week came to an abrupt end today with a recon of stage 3 of WildEndurance; all 33kms of it! Met the girls at the Queen Vic Hospital just before 7.30am for 5:50 of walking, talking, laughing & eating. That worked out at a smokin' pace of 10:36min/km; I don't walk around the block that quickly, never mind on that course-

Pulled up sore & tight afterwards which (for the most part) I actually think is a good thing. I've been focusing alot recently on core strength & glute activation. And I certainly felt more 'stable' through my mid-section throughout the walk so I think parts of my body that haven't worked so well until now (eg my hammys) are actually starting to pull their weight. But, on the other hand, I now have one sore right foot :-(

Sun: (much needed) rest day

Mon: 50mins bike session (including 4 x 5min intervals) + a visit to the physio. He isn't quite sure what is going with my foot but we haven't entirely ruled out a bone scan :-(

So March ended with 85.9km hike/walking + 46.9k riding. Getting ready for WildEndurance will the focus of the coming month which also sees me get back to running (fingers crossed) twice a week - yippee!

MTD:
Hike/walk: 38.6k

I'm excited...

as the late & large Big Kev would have said! As to what, I am not quite in a position to share that. But its a (huge) scary & very exciting change in direction for me :-)

Anyhoo, after the excitement of actually running last Monday (*she chair dances*) the week continued on quietly. March has been a month of alternate rest days to allow my body to recover after the stresses of the last 6 months. So I did a strength + core session on Tuesday, an interval session on the bike on Friday & a 2hr ride (47km) on the M7 yesterday. I also lost another 0.4kg so I'm only 1.2kg now from my goal weight :-)

In other news, thanks to the GFC we have moved the wedding from the Cook Islands :-( to a beautiful property on the Bells Line of Road :-) so the wedding preparations are now in full swing. Right on, I'm on the search for a photographer and a dress and...and...and....

MTD:
Hike/walk: 85.9k
Bike: 46.9k

Operation: Six Foot 201x begins!

Today I kicked off my Six Foot 201x campaign today by going for a run :-) My first run since 17 September last year just before I stuffed my ankle - not that I'm counting ;-P

I headed out for a 60mins walk including 8 x 30-60sec runs. No complaints from my ankle thankfully - yippee!

And in other exciting news, I have just signed up to do the 50k team relay through the Blue Mountains in the Wild Endurance event. I'll be walking it with a group of girls in team "Happy Feet" rather than running but it will be the longest distance I have covered yet so I am excited and a wee bit nervous! The race is a fundraiser for the Wilderness Society so you can donate to team 'Happy Feet' here.

"Perfect structural condition"

I can assure you that in no way does that post title refer to me at the moment - but that is the plan! I've been following an interesting thread on Trannies about preparing for the Hawaii IM (purely out of interest). One guy who recently qualified was asking how, and when, to start preparing for it given that the race isn't until October. Another poster recommended that before the 16 week training program kicks off in June that the next few months are spent doing things that we all often neglect (core / strengthening / daily stretching / good nutrition etc) so that by the time his training program kicks off he will be in a "perfect structural condition", able to add volume without injury. If you have been following my crazy journey for a while you will probably understand why this struck a cord with me. 'Injury' was my middle name until around 18 months ago. However I still do have a lot of weakness which need to be addressed. I have been working on my weaknesses reasonably consistently over the last 18 months but perhaps not as consistently as I should be. And this is a perfect time to me to focus on this before my running volume increases later in the year so that I can add volume without injury. So from here on, its all about working towards achieving a "perfect structural condition".

Anyhoo, enough babbling; on with the training-

Sat: rest day (!) which was spent spectating and cheering at Six Foot. Can. Not. Wait. until next year!

Sun: after getting home around 8pm on Saturday night, I had to be back at Katoomba at 7am on Sunday morning to meet the girls for another long walk. This time it was a recon of stage 1 of WildEndurance. 26.4km in 6:20 which included my first trip up Mt Debert and Taros Ladder ('ladder' being an interesting interpretation of the word), along spectacular Narrowneck, down the Golden Stairs, along the Federal Pass and up the Furber Stairs. Phew. Arrived back at the car to discover a man in a CR hat standing next to it! Turned out to be Melbournians Maggot and Brettsrun who had come up for Six Foot.





Mon: (much needed) rest day

Tue: bike (45mins steady state ride)

Wed: strength & core session in the gym

Thu: rest day

Fri: 3.5 hours of stair repeats, bush bashing, rock scrambling, naked men and chocolate with a fantastic group of Wild Women. I lurve these sessions; I wish I could do them more often. I also wish I had been wearing my HR monitor. Wanting to throw up after 45mins of stair repeats with an 18kg pack was a pretty good indication that I was near my max!

Sat: backed up with another 2:15 and 11.3km hike today around the Glenbrook NP (Gate > Euroka > Tunnel View Lookout > gate) this time with a 14kg pack.

Also dropped another 0.6kg over the last week which has me less than 2kgs away from my goal weight. Nice :-)

MTD:
Walk - 78.98k

A swim with a difference...

After 2 weeks of rest and recovery as per Coach TA's instructions, it has been very nice to get moving again this week :-D

Fri: easy 5.5k walk

Sat: rest & volunteering at the Panthers tri club race in the afternoon. Mango & I were on the swim exit which saw me have not one but two refreshing, yet accidental, falls in the lake. How embarrassing!

Sun: headed up to the Blue Mountains to join a couple of Wild Women on a recon of stage 2 of the Wild Endurance 100k course. After a bit of a car shuffle, we set off from near the skyway in Katoomba and made our way to the old hospital at Wentworth Falls. It was very misty and overcast in the morning but it soon cleared to a fine, clear day. A great day though my glutes were reminding me on Monday that I had done nothing for the last 3 weeks except sit! Finished with 21.7k-


Mon: rest

Tue: easy 5.5km walk

Wed: strength / core session in the gym

Thu: rest

Fri: interval bike session (38mins)

Another rest day tomorrow (Sat) which will be spent spectating at the Six Foot Track marathon. I am really excited that the race is on again but sad that I'm not doing it. Oh well, maybe next year (*she says crossing everything*)

MTD:
Walk - 41.2k

Please sir, I want some more!

Some good news to start this post - on Wednesday I got the ok from my physio to start running again. Yippee! It's been 6 long months since the last time I ran thanks to my little stuff up involving my right ankle. To say that I'm pleased is an understatement :-)

Anyhoo, it's another rest week under instructions from Coach TA so aside from a few short, easy walks, I have no training to report. So I'll just post a few more photos from Aconcagua (that I haven't already put on my other blog) instead!

How to stay protect yourself from the wind, dust & sun-


The walk to camp 2-


My heavy pack & I arrive at camp 2 exhausted-


Bacon & eggs taste even better at 5,000m-


My impersonation of "the fly" having (finally) arrived at base camp after the long walk down from high camp-

Pizza tastes even better after 8 days on the mountain-

The long walk out from base camp-

My birthday tiramisu-


Argentina is famous for its beef and red wine. This is the cow I ate during our last night in Mendoza-

The long & winding road

Surprise, surprise, surprise.

I was surprised recently to find that my blog celebrated its 4th birthday earlier in the month while I was in Argentina. I have never before kept a diary so I struggle to believe that it's been going for so long!

I was reading back over some of the earlier posts recently. In some ways, I feel like I've made bugger all progress in the last 4 years. It sometimes feels like groundhog day. Let's face it, each year I have had a (major) injury that has resulted in me having at least one, and sometimes several, months off running. And then I start all over again - like I am at the moment.

But in other ways, I have come so very far from the person who wrote that initial post. There is no way I could have imagined the things I have done, the places I have been and the people I have met when I started this journey 4 years ago. From Six Foot to mountaineering to rock climbing to mountain biking and triathlons, I have done things that I could never have contemplated. But I think my 'mental' journey has been ever greater. I have learnt so much about myself; I have learnt to challenge my (many) preconceived limitations. I have learnt to say 'I can' rather than 'I can't' which has always been my impulse reaction. I have learnt to let go of my fears - of failing or of what others might think - and just go for something I want. I now truly understand and appreciate that the journey is far more important than the destination.

To quote the Beatles, it's been a long & winding road. And, as frustrating as it has sometimes been, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm back (again!)

I'm back (once again), this time from Argentina at the end of my 6 month o/s odyssey :-(

If you have been following the dispatches on the AC website or my other blog, you would be aware that I wasn't able to summit Aconcagua. I turned around about 1.5 hours out of high camp - about 6,280m - on summit day due to a combination of factors. I certainly don't consider not reaching the summit as failure; it was simply a strategic withdrawal. And I consider it a success if only because (as a wise CR once told me) I didn't let fear hold me back from doing something I wanted to do. And besides, I had the most amazing journey along the way.

The big 'A' and me, taken from camp 2 at 5,500m-

This trip had soooo many firsts. First full expedition. First time I've carried loads at altitude - bloody hard work. First time I've spent 48 hours at 6000m. For those who have never been to altitude before, this fact may help to give you some idea of just how hard it is and how hard your body has to work. My resting HR at sea level is 48 BPM. At 6000m, it was 100 BPM! I may have reached a higher altitude in Nepal last year but this was, by far, the hardest thing I have attempted. And probably the achievement I am most proud of.

Camp 3 at 6000m where I spent my 34th birthday-


The view from my turnaround point on summit morning. Camp 3 (at 6000m) can just be seen in the bottom of the photo-


Here's a sekrit. Mountaineering is just an excuse to stuff yourself with junk food 24/7 and still lose weight-


So now I'm back and trying to get my head out of the mountains and back to 'real life'. Mentally, I'm in great shape - I am already thinking about my sporting goals for the rest of the year. Rehabing my ankle and running again (which I haven't done since I stuffed it in September) is my no.1 priority (as is unpacking our new home!). However the fact that I wanted to lay down and sleep to recover from a long, hot shower this morning I think indicates that, physically, I still have some recovery time ahead. Pass the chocolate ;-)

T'was the night before Aconcagua & all through the house...

Jen was creating a big mess!

I am flying out for Mendoza, Argentina tomorrow morning. I really struggle to believe that I have been training for 15 months for this trip, nor that it has been 11 months since I wrote this post.

The training has been rather limited in the last few days. Saturday was a 50mins bike session (intervals) before we headed to Canberra for the night. Sunday was spent resting (and freezing) with my coffee-drinking companion Gnome & a ring in;-) while we watched Coach TigerAngel finish her first Olympic distance tri in Canberra in a great time! Congrats TA! I was supposed to do a couple of easy sessions yesterday & today but developed a touch of a sore throat on Sunday afternoon so I decided to rest. The last thing I need right now is a(nother) cold!

So that's that. The packing is just about finished & the nervous are just about at an all time high! This will be, by far, the hardest thing I have attempted to do to date. We have a 3 day walk to base camp, during which hike we have the assistance of mules to carry our gear. But from base camp, we become the mules! It is an 'unsupported' expedition meaning that we have to carry loads of 20+kg between our camps on the mountain, erect tents, collect water and/or snow for melting, assist with cooking etc. My preparation has not been ideal but 'it is what is is'. There is nothing I can do now other than stay healthy and (perhaps most importantly) stay positive.

If you are interested in following the expedition on a daily basis, the link to the relevant page on the Adventure Consultants website is here. Alternatively you can go to the Adventure Consultants website then select from the column on the left hand side 'Expedition news' > 'Current Expeditions' > Aconcagua 0809. Technology & weather permitting (and with crossed fingers), our guide will be sending daily dispatches from the start of our expedition on January 29. You can also sign up & an email will be sent to you to let you know that a new dispatch has been posted.

I will be updating my other blog once I get to Argentina and then again once the climb is completed & I'm back in civilisation.

See you on the other side (of Aconcagua!)

Paid my dues...

Dropped another 0.6kg since last Friday; that's a total of 2.7kg down in 2 weeks - only 2.3kgs to go now :-)

The training is kinda, sorta just starting to ease off now ahead of my next great adventure which begins on Wednesday-

Tue: 60mins bike session (30sec sprints)

Wed: 60min strength session (lower body)

Thu: 75mins hike w/18kg pack at Glenbrook (6.08km). Hard work but I felt strong walking up & down (and down & up again) the causeway at Glenbrook with the pack. Due to my injury & ill-health over the last few months, my prep for Aconcagua hasn't been ideal. So I've decided to hire a porter to carry my share of the loads (which is likely to be 20+kg) for probably 3 days of the expedition so I don't tire myself out early & blow my shot at the summit. Although this session was short, it was the strongest I think I've ever felt walking back up from the causeway at Glenbrook with a heavy pack - a much needed confidence boost at the moment!

Fri: 50mins strength session (upper body)

Time to get back to the packing. Still trying to work out how on earth to get 25kg+ of gear & equipment to Argentina without getting hit with excess baggage charges...

T-9...

2.1kg down, 2.9kg to go! I know that it isn't all fat & that it won't continue, but it was a very nice surprise when I got on the scales on Friday morning.

My training over the last week has been fantastic - I am loving being a full time athlete at the moment :-)

Tue: 60mins bike (intervals)
Wed: 60mins strength session (full body)
Thu: 2 hrs cross training (concrete painting), a physio visit + 90mins hike w/16kg pack (6.88km) at Glenbrook at 5pm - very hard work given it got to 42 degrees out here (and a far change from the -42 I was experiencing early last week!)
Fri: 60mins strength session (upper body)
Sat: 80mins bike (intervals)
Sun: rest (phew!)
Mon: 2hr ride with TigerAngel on the M7 bike path - 47kms - av. 23.5k/h

My physio visit last Thursday regarding my ankle was promising. He is pretty sure that I haven't damaged any cartilage (yah!) so there is no need for an MRI at the moment. We'll see how it settles once I'm back from Argentina & (try to) start running again.

The mental fine tuning for Aconcagua continues. I've been reading & watching everything I can find about Aconcagua on the Internet (thanks YouTube). I am just about eating, sleeping & dreaming it at the moment. Getting very nervous. And a tad excited :-)

9 sleeps to go!

Edit: BTW if anyone is interested, I've started putting (more) holiday snaps on my other blog.

I'm baaaack !

I arrived back in Sydney last Thursday after 3 months o/s. I had the most amazing time. If you haven't been following my travels on my other blog, in brief I've:

- climbed Mera Peak (6460m)

(Everest is the large peak to my left)

and Island Peak (6189m)

in Nepal;

- ice climbed for the first time (and loved it!)

- spent 3 weeks travelling through Egypt


and Jordan


- seen the Red Sea (I was too sick to go in), snorkled in the Indian Ocean and floated in the Dead Sea


- climbed Mt Meru (4556m)


and Kilimanjaro (5895m)

in Tanzania,

- been on safari in Africa,

- experienced my first white Christmas, my first hockey game (that's ice hockey for those who don't speak Canadian) and experienced what -47 degrees feels like,


- gained 5kg in weight (yikes!),

amongst many other things.

The fun isn't over yet. In just over 2 weeks, I fly out again to Argentina to climb Aconcagua; at 6,962m it is the highest mountain in the world outside the Himalayas. I am really nervous about this one. It will be, by far, the hardest thing I've attempted; not only due to the altitude but that it is a full expedition meaning that I have to carry loads of around 20kg-25kg which is hard at the best of times, never mind doing so at altitude.....

Unfortunately my training between treks was almost non-existant due to 2 colds/chest infections, one which required 2 courses of anti-biotics to kick so I am feeling decidedly underdone. But with only 2 & a bit weeks left, it's time to do some finetuning physically and (perhaps most importantly) mentally. Since arriving back on Thursday, I've been easing back into the training -

Fri: 2 hours hike at Glenbrook w/13.5kg pack (9.27km)

Sat: 45mins weights session (full body) + 45mins stepper interval session. Very tough session!

Sun: rest

Mon: 3.12 ride on M7 with TA - 67.45km - av.21k/h. My first time on the bike in almost 4 months! Was great to catch up with you, TA. Thanks!

After Aconcagua, my 2 main priorities are losing the 5kg I put on while I was o/s (*she blushes*) and to rehab my ankle & get running again. I haven't run since I stuffed my ankle back in September. It is ok (but not great) for the purposes of my hiking/trekking but it is far from 100%. But I'm not thinking about that right now. It's time to get my head & body ready for the next - and freaking high -adventure :-)

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 :-)