Clare

Clare
The first time i beat ten boats in the nationals!

Friday 29 March 2013

Great Friday

Today's walk went ahead despite Good Friday!

Sandra missed Church with her family to be there, which we were happy about because it would not have been nearly as fun without her! We met at Spit Bridge in a brisk south-westerly wind, and managed under 11min kilometres for most of the first hour, even though it was alot of uphill, stairs, and we were all carrying 10kg in our packs. Our goal was Fairlight, just short of Manly so we could park easily.

Once again i appreciated the specatular scenery, and the diversity. We saw a number of water dragons and one rat.

The walk was at high tide, so included clambering on soft sand, rocks, and not-really-tracks bushland. We discovered how much lower we had to crouch at one point to get under a tree with our packs on. In retrospect, we probably should have taken them off and helped eachother across.

Lisa has a busy corporate lifestyle, so it making use of the weekend to do 2 sessions a day; one 30min speed and intervals, and one long 60-120min amble. The rest of us will continue with one walk daily, carrying 10kg.

We are getting fitter and stronger, and looking towards Macchu Picchu with confidence and mounting excitement. We are raising money for Diabetes Australia Research, support us at www.everydayhero.com/au/team-intoyou









Saturday 23 March 2013

On My Lonesome

I missed Fridays walk because i had a first aid course. The girls did a walk through Bicentennial gardens then spend the day on their feet at the Easter Show.

With our monthly focus on increasing mass, i filled a pack with Evie and her various essentials (food) and walked a 9km loop from my place around Long Reef and back.

Mass training can take two forms- what you carry, and also the steepness of the hills you go up and down (because you are either pushing against gravity or falling with it and absorbing the impact).

Those of you who know Collaroy Plateau, and the size of my kid, know that i did both types today!

We will be doing 4x 6km walks with week carrying 8kg.






Friday 15 March 2013

Another Rainy Day!

Luckily, although overcast, the rain held off!

Today was a tough walk. We met at 3pm with the intention of shaving an hour off the Warringah's standard time of doing the Park Circuit at Manly Dam. However, we did not realise that the Park Circuit included two other walks, and was 2km further than the 7.3km expected!

Manly Dam is such a beautiful walk. It feels like it could be in the middle of the rainforest in some parts, and the country in other parts! With georgous streams and lush ferns, we could have been anywhere. We saw lizards and rabbits, and wildflowers.

The fatigue hit about half way with a very steep hill (although i have a feeling Macchu Picchu mountains will be a bit bigger!). After that it was all we could do to keep the pace on. We had a fall, so i carried an extra pack. Poor old Deb's knees and hips started failing about 8k in, but she had another kilometre to go unfortunately! Our splits went from 12-14min kilometres to 16-18min, but that did make the finish line so much sweeter!

Tired and bedraggled, and late to pick up our kids, we still shave 1hr 45min off Warringah Council's reccomended time for the walk. We can tell you it is 9k -not 7.3!!

Friday 8 March 2013

A Need for Speed

This Friday's walking session was engineered for speed improvements. There are a number of ways to increase speed, and we used a variety of them in this session.

We did 5 x 30sec intervals, for 12 sets - six in one direction, and six back again.

The first set was all about big strides - the point of which was to increase the flexibility through the hips, and work the calves and feet harder.

The second set was small steps and quick leg movement - this is the traditional method for increasing speed.

The third set was a tiny weeny jog - designed to push their fitness (remember they are all wearing 6kg in their packs).

 
We did this twice and then turned around and came back again, repeating the exercise. Total speeding time was a full 30 minutes, which will hopefully translate into an overall speed improvement with their regular walks. The actual session was close to 2hrs, which will be excellent for our endurance.

Needless to say, there were a few tired muscles this morning, and they received a well deserved extra massage in their session!