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

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.

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!!

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!

Raining again, nothing to prove

Today's session was the first time i had been asked "is it still on?" - i sensed a bit of weariness. Fair enough too, since out of the 5 sessions we have had, 3 have rained (not just a little either).

Plan A was to circumnavigate Narrabeen Lake, about 10km, climbing around fences to do it.

That quickly changed to Plan B when the weather didn't clear, which was to walk the bike track around the eastern side of the lake to the beach and back.

That changed again with this comment, and the fact that the bike trail was flooded (yes i checked), so we confined ourselves to the gym.

The session was a cross-fit inspired one. For any of you who have done cross-fit, you know how intense it can be. I don't follow their exercise selection, but i do enjoy their format, and so adapted it for a hiking workout from hell.

The goal was to complete 100 reps of each exercise (see http://intoyousfs.blogspot.com.au/ for the full workout) in under an hour. After that, we have 4 choices:

1. leave early
2. sit on a bike and yell "encouragement"
3. assist those still going with a hand-up
4. keep training and add the extra numbers to someone else's score

No-one left early! It was a nice feeling when Sandra pitched in and finished my set of thrusters for me, and then we all did an extra 16 of the pack lift for Lisa (although Lisa probably did twice as many as the rest of us in everything - she got a little confused...!)

We puffed, our legs are shot, but we are that little bit stronger and more ready for Peru!

Hike and Bike Tazzie

This weekend i surprised my husband by showing up at his work on Friday, and taking him to Tazzie to mountain bike for the weekend. So the Walking Group was left to their own devises.

Their mission was to walk the coast road from Dee Why to Manly - including soft sand. Friday afternoon was when that enormous southerly came through and battered Sydney - do you think it stopped them? We had one stuck at work, but the rest all made it, and hiked into the wind and rain, one of them with a 12kg child in their pack. I was suitably impressed to hear this!

Winner of our challenge this week was Sandra Fowler, who did 10min K's with a 5kg pack. She got a handful of oregano from my garden.

The oldest standing bridge in Australia, 1814 i think.

I was left to my own devises, as Chris did 5-6hrs of mountain biking a day, and was consumed with filling his face in between rides (i must admit i engaged in that too...!!). I endeavored 2 walks a day, one with Evie in her backpack, and one with her in the pram, with lots of baby-activities in between to make sure she was happy to be still for a couple of hours!

The first walk on Saturday morning was supposed to be 4-5k.... it was actually 10! I took a walking trail instead of the bike trail (to be polite), but a train track cuts the walking track, so i had to walk 1.25k back to where i started and begin again! On top of this, but our friend had incorrectly "guesstimated" the distance, but communicated it to me like it was a fact....!

Mount Wellington Walk

Evie mercifully slept a lot of it, and i rewarded myself with a trip to Salamander Markets. That afternoon we headed up Mt Wellington, where the boys did a 2hr downhill expedition, and i did a gorgeous hike then drove down to meet them. It is such dramatic scenery, with spectacular views, and only 10min from town. This day was 15k's, i was off to a good start.

Evie in my boots

On Sunday i started with the pack, on a fantastic mountain bike course built by the private school, St Virgil's. This was a 5k walk, slow because my foot was starting to really hurt (not just generally hurt like it has been lately!). In the arvo, i did a lackluster 4k around the waterworks, and called it a day.

Sunday's walk

Despite my sore foot, i was pretty happy to get some decent kilometres under my belt! And so proud that my group went ahead without me even in the extreme circumstances. This is a journey that i am enjoying immensely already!

Soft Sand, Agility, Spectacular views (and equally spectacular climbs...!)

This week we met at Collaroy Surf Club. The day started miserably, but by the afternoon it was a mild, sunny, and cloudless day. Two kids loaded into packs, we set off for a simple walk to Dee Why Beach.

We took the coast road, which doubles the length of the walk, and means most of it is on soft sand. In addition, once we made the top of long reef, we went down the eastern side to the rock platforms for some agility training, and then climbed the stairs back up again.

Sprightly Deb and Sandra were setting a cracking pace again, so to tie them up i had them doing walking lunges and little sprints up the beach. Lisa had the dubious honor of a passer-by confiding in her that our walking lunges were the "funniest thing he's ever seen".

Curiously, Lisa saved that for the bus ride home, so who knows how many other people we entertained!

Sandra's little girl did the 1 & 1/2hr trip with a lot of food bribes, but no peeps. I was not so lucky, with Evie crying relentlessly the entire stretch of Dee Why Beach. She eventually collapsed asleep against my neck, leaving me in peace (although somewhat uncomfortable!).

We will be working on our speed over the coming weeks, building towards our goal of 10min per kilometre, with our packs on. See our facebook page for updates: https://www.facebook.com/events/151241235033080/

Remember anyone is welcome to join us, 3-5pm Fridays , or we have some full day hikes in May and June, including an over-nighter in the Blue Gum Forest. Contact me if you are interested!

Otherwise, we would really appreciate your support, as we are not doing this just for ourselves! Sponsor us at: https://give.everydayhero.com/au/team-intoyou

Onwards and Upwards!