Owee ow ow. Anyone who knows me knows I'm prone to injury (not just because I am a klutz but I have hypermobile joints and a few damaged discs in my back). At the moment I also have an injured shoulder from another fundraising initiative (the MS 24hr Mega Swim). The advice from my physio just now until I strengthen my joints is that I can't stretch before or after exercise. When you don't stretch after exercise, muscles tighten up which is fine for your glutes if you want to have a tight butt but bad for a person with a stuffed lower back.
How does that play with today? Well, after the walk yesterday and a pile more walking around the place, my hips were achy last night and my glutes were sore so I slept a bit wonky (aparently). When I woke up this morning my back was sore (to get technical - errector spinae had siezed, particularly on the right side) and by the time I got to work it hurt to move my head even. In my cleverness of ow I left my work ID at home which also has the key to my drawers which had the docs in it my boss had asked me to read over today while he was away.
Having ridden the scooter today I wasn't keen on riding home at lunch to pick up my ID (and compendium and water bottle both of which I forgot to take back but I did remember the ID). But, ride home I did and as I went over a bump, my hips clicked and my back felt much better - I could move again! Back is still sore (several hours of a spasmed/cramped muscle takes a toll) but needless to say, no training was achieved.
I did however get booked onto the security course for Wednesday so here's hoping that when Friday rolls around I can use the Gym at work to start ride training! Whee! Oh yeah, at the moment I can't ride a bike (as in push bike) for another couple of weeks, nor can I run - swimming is off the books for a couple of months. Stupid shoulder!
Tomorrow is another walk up Ainslie - thank god I found my ear muffs I bought in Prague! Tonight I will sleep with a pillow beside me to remind me not to roll on that side and put my back out again!
Every single day 300 Australians are given the news that they have cancer. I was one of those people who was lucky to catch it in time. My mum wasn't. My challenge is to raise funds and awareness through embarking on a physically demanding trip through Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam so that Cure Cancer Australia can provide funding for doctors researching a cure. This blog is an honest unbarred online account of my journey to prepare and complete the challenge.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Day 1 of training
Today was the official start o
f my training. Did it go well? Hmmm...not as fit as I would like but with perserverance that will of course improve. Today's trek was up Mt Ainslie - 2.2km with a gradient of .... actually I can't find info on what the gradeint of the walking track is. The good news is my legs faired well, knees got a little achy but have been fine since. Unfortunately the altitude doesn't quite match what I have ahead of me, but that's ok.
My ever supportive home team of Danielle and Steve were with me this morning and we had a good few laughs along the way. The best story I think was Steve talking about their Yoga instructor. Before I get to it though I need to set a little context. A couple of months ago a lingerie shop had an advert in their shop window looking for staff. The wording was along the lines of "Come and use your talents to be part of our team" I immediately posted it on my facebook profile given that it was predominantly a bra shop and thus boobs are now codenamed "talents". It's been a great laugh and Danielle and I agree we are very talented!
Speaking of pics - attached is Danielle and I at the bottom of the hill, a view from the top and a view about 50m down the track of Steve and the view of Canberra. We're so lucky to live in such a beautiful city!
I forgot all about the tongue twister which is not a bad thing - I was so out of breath without even talking! Now, this afternoon I went out to Columbia and paid a deposit on a pair of trekking boots - YAY! Now I just need to wait until next pay day to pick them up :)
One of the best things about the walk - a bunch of us went for Yum Cha afterwards and it was spectacular. If you haven't been to 4 Rivers in Dickson, take the time to organise a group of friends and go hit it. There were 10 of us, we took loads and loads of dishes and it worked out (with non-stop green tea too) as less than $17/person. I still can't believe it! We even had a serve of the super not so cheap crispy skin duck along with loads and loads of little parcels, veggies and sweets (Must try is the sticky rice ball desert thing - has sesam
e seeds on the outside and red paste on the inside...YUM YUM YUM). We really didn't hold back on what we ordered and were all pleasantly surprised at the price. I love it that it's about 2 blocks from home too - note to my friends in Canberra, if you are ever planning on going there I am soooooo in for it!
Tomorrow I'm not sure what I am going to do - I wanted to mix it up and do a walk one day, bike the next, but I'm not allowed to ride my bike unless it's on a wind trainer or is an exercise bike (I don't have access to an exercise bike at the moment and my friend has my wind trainer, but I can't set it up at home until I move into Mary's house in a couple of weeks). I scoped out a little 30min walk near work that takes me up a short rise to the Senate side of Parliament House which I guess will suffice for tomorrow. Plan for tomorrow then is to get booked on the security course at work so I can get access to the gym (the gym is considered and incentive to doing the course) and getting into a GP to get a medical clearance to use the gym - penalty of being a contractor!
f my training. Did it go well? Hmmm...not as fit as I would like but with perserverance that will of course improve. Today's trek was up Mt Ainslie - 2.2km with a gradient of .... actually I can't find info on what the gradeint of the walking track is. The good news is my legs faired well, knees got a little achy but have been fine since. Unfortunately the altitude doesn't quite match what I have ahead of me, but that's ok.My ever supportive home team of Danielle and Steve were with me this morning and we had a good few laughs along the way. The best story I think was Steve talking about their Yoga instructor. Before I get to it though I need to set a little context. A couple of months ago a lingerie shop had an advert in their shop window looking for staff. The wording was along the lines of "Come and use your talents to be part of our team" I immediately posted it on my facebook profile given that it was predominantly a bra shop and thus boobs are now codenamed "talents". It's been a great laugh and Danielle and I agree we are very talented!
So, we were talking about their yoga class and as it turns out their yoga instuctor is very talented too. As she was talking them through the Warrior 1 pose she was trying to gesture to push their sternum up as they reach up, instead she pushed her hands up the sides of her talents - not a problem if the class is all girls, but lucky for Steve he is there as is another older chap. It was a good distraction to his training and a good distraction and laugh during our walk today. Reading back over that doesn't do it justice. Maybe I can get Steve to demonstrate it again while I take a pic and post it on here soon?
Speaking of pics - attached is Danielle and I at the bottom of the hill, a view from the top and a view about 50m down the track of Steve and the view of Canberra. We're so lucky to live in such a beautiful city!I forgot all about the tongue twister which is not a bad thing - I was so out of breath without even talking! Now, this afternoon I went out to Columbia and paid a deposit on a pair of trekking boots - YAY! Now I just need to wait until next pay day to pick them up :)
One of the best things about the walk - a bunch of us went for Yum Cha afterwards and it was spectacular. If you haven't been to 4 Rivers in Dickson, take the time to organise a group of friends and go hit it. There were 10 of us, we took loads and loads of dishes and it worked out (with non-stop green tea too) as less than $17/person. I still can't believe it! We even had a serve of the super not so cheap crispy skin duck along with loads and loads of little parcels, veggies and sweets (Must try is the sticky rice ball desert thing - has sesam
e seeds on the outside and red paste on the inside...YUM YUM YUM). We really didn't hold back on what we ordered and were all pleasantly surprised at the price. I love it that it's about 2 blocks from home too - note to my friends in Canberra, if you are ever planning on going there I am soooooo in for it!Tomorrow I'm not sure what I am going to do - I wanted to mix it up and do a walk one day, bike the next, but I'm not allowed to ride my bike unless it's on a wind trainer or is an exercise bike (I don't have access to an exercise bike at the moment and my friend has my wind trainer, but I can't set it up at home until I move into Mary's house in a couple of weeks). I scoped out a little 30min walk near work that takes me up a short rise to the Senate side of Parliament House which I guess will suffice for tomorrow. Plan for tomorrow then is to get booked on the security course at work so I can get access to the gym (the gym is considered and incentive to doing the course) and getting into a GP to get a medical clearance to use the gym - penalty of being a contractor!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
And so it starts - Casino Royale planning
Well really a bunch of planning is already well underway. Danielle and Steve came up with an awesome idea to have a Casino Royale night and use it as a fundraiser rather than just a bit of fun. They have been awesome - Steve downloaded a special font to do the invites up MI6/Bond style, Danielle has been madly searching for boxes to put the poker chips in for each guest (no mean feat - she's been to a bunch of places that sell them and with no one able to give us enough she's found us an oragami instruction so we can sit and make them). Their idea is that guests will pay for entry for which they will get some poker chips and a Vesper Martini (the martini Bond describes in Casino Royale which was the only book that this martini featured in and was named after the lead female character).
After one of our Sunday runs, we came up with a bunch of developments including having a "how to host a murder" plot running through the night. After breakfast we started shopping for green felt, poker/roulette sets and boxes for the chips. By this time another friend Derek had joined us and a couple of hours later and stretching the patience of my friends we had a shopping list and some of the goodies.
The following day I started getting perplexed about how much to charge, how best to cater and what drinks should be provided and what should people buy. Thankfully another good friend Paul works nearby so I ducked down to his work for a coffee and lots of advice.
Can I just note, I am very lucky to have so many beautiful friends - I'd be a very sad person without all of their support and counsel and love.
So the drink decision was the Vesper Martinis, champagne and mid-strength beer. The food - ask a couple of good friends to make a finger food style dish each. The cost for the alcohol is $15pp so the cost of the night is $35 ($20 going to the cause). 6 Staff who will be asked to only pay the contribution to the cause and I will cover their drinks, and a limit of potential murderers of 20. The problem being that one of the ingredients for the Vesper Martini is Kina Litte - doesn't seem to be available in Australia....hmmm....Paul suggested trying Dan Murphys in Belconnen because they have helped him find specialty alcohol before.
Taking Paul's advice and not wanting to lose momentumn I set off to Dan Murphy's after work where I met the lovely and super dooper helpful Angela. We found a substitute for the Kina Litte and Angela gave me a form to fill in asking for a donation from them (hoping they'll come to the party with a gift voucher for the winner of the Casino Royale night). Another initiative for fundraising and making if fun is for murder suspects being able to buy clues for $5 and all murder suspects will need to nominate a character (all James Bond characters) and will need to try and at least dress in the theme of their charater or pay a $10 fine (at least trying adds to the theme of the evening and thus also the enjoyment as people get more into it all).
So that is about where the planning is at just now. Oh I forgot to say, continuing in their immense wonderfulness, Steve and Danielle are hosting the event at their house. Told you I had amazing friends!
Tomorrow morning starts the trekking training - just an easy start to more measure where I am at than anything else. 9am at the back of the War Memorial for a walk up Mt Ainslie. The longest and hardest day of the race involves 12hours of trekking 27km from 2400m asl to 3000m asl and back down to 2800m asl with 5 of 5 difficulty.... BIG DAY! The summit is Fansipan Peak if you want to google it.
In the morning, Steve and Danielle are going to join me for my walk and it's up on my facebook page as an open invite. I'm happy to go on my own and really given how out of breath I get just walking 1/3 of the way up to get to the run track, I probably don't need people to see how unfit I am! Note to self - Cancer is a disease that leaves you very helpless and humiliated at times. Walking with friends no matter how out of breath I get just doesn't compare to how that feels.
Goal for the walk: to mater the following tongue twister.
A skunk sat on a stump. The stump thought the skunk stunk, the skunk thought that the stump stunk. So which one stunk the stump or the skunk?
After one of our Sunday runs, we came up with a bunch of developments including having a "how to host a murder" plot running through the night. After breakfast we started shopping for green felt, poker/roulette sets and boxes for the chips. By this time another friend Derek had joined us and a couple of hours later and stretching the patience of my friends we had a shopping list and some of the goodies.
The following day I started getting perplexed about how much to charge, how best to cater and what drinks should be provided and what should people buy. Thankfully another good friend Paul works nearby so I ducked down to his work for a coffee and lots of advice.
Can I just note, I am very lucky to have so many beautiful friends - I'd be a very sad person without all of their support and counsel and love.
So the drink decision was the Vesper Martinis, champagne and mid-strength beer. The food - ask a couple of good friends to make a finger food style dish each. The cost for the alcohol is $15pp so the cost of the night is $35 ($20 going to the cause). 6 Staff who will be asked to only pay the contribution to the cause and I will cover their drinks, and a limit of potential murderers of 20. The problem being that one of the ingredients for the Vesper Martini is Kina Litte - doesn't seem to be available in Australia....hmmm....Paul suggested trying Dan Murphys in Belconnen because they have helped him find specialty alcohol before.
Taking Paul's advice and not wanting to lose momentumn I set off to Dan Murphy's after work where I met the lovely and super dooper helpful Angela. We found a substitute for the Kina Litte and Angela gave me a form to fill in asking for a donation from them (hoping they'll come to the party with a gift voucher for the winner of the Casino Royale night). Another initiative for fundraising and making if fun is for murder suspects being able to buy clues for $5 and all murder suspects will need to nominate a character (all James Bond characters) and will need to try and at least dress in the theme of their charater or pay a $10 fine (at least trying adds to the theme of the evening and thus also the enjoyment as people get more into it all).
So that is about where the planning is at just now. Oh I forgot to say, continuing in their immense wonderfulness, Steve and Danielle are hosting the event at their house. Told you I had amazing friends!
Tomorrow morning starts the trekking training - just an easy start to more measure where I am at than anything else. 9am at the back of the War Memorial for a walk up Mt Ainslie. The longest and hardest day of the race involves 12hours of trekking 27km from 2400m asl to 3000m asl and back down to 2800m asl with 5 of 5 difficulty.... BIG DAY! The summit is Fansipan Peak if you want to google it.
In the morning, Steve and Danielle are going to join me for my walk and it's up on my facebook page as an open invite. I'm happy to go on my own and really given how out of breath I get just walking 1/3 of the way up to get to the run track, I probably don't need people to see how unfit I am! Note to self - Cancer is a disease that leaves you very helpless and humiliated at times. Walking with friends no matter how out of breath I get just doesn't compare to how that feels.
Goal for the walk: to mater the following tongue twister.
A skunk sat on a stump. The stump thought the skunk stunk, the skunk thought that the stump stunk. So which one stunk the stump or the skunk?
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