I'm hiking and my friends are drinking lattes

I did my first hike today. Have still been going to crossfit, surfing and doing the stairs but I need to get into the walking and endurance training. Decided on a walk through Noosa National Park.  It was a pretty gloomy morning and raining, good practice.  I started at the northern end of Sunshine Beach. Last time I walked up there was about a year ago with my cousin Nat, we were knackered by the time we got half way up the headland. Today I got to the top and felt fine.  Getting fitter woohooo.

Looking south over Sunshine Beach from the Headland

Walked up the headland, across and down to A Bay, the local nudist beach (yes Nat, remember A Bay and the dude bending for the towel, my eyesight has still not recovered). I then headed inland across the Tanglewood Track.  Most of the track is sand so not as easy as a normal surface to walk on, but I have to say in general I do not think that this track was challenging enough. 

I did find out some pretty interesting and important things though. Today I carried a pack with about 8 kg. I was fine with the weight it did not bother me at all (thank you crossfit).  What bothered me were annoying little things, like I wanted to take a photo and had to take the whole pack off to get the camera out. Then it started pouring and I had to stop again to get my jacket out. I couldn't reach my drink in the stupid side holder thingy on my pack and had to take it off every time i wanted a drink. I guess it's good to sort all this stuff out now. I am sure I will get better at refining it over the next few weeks. My right boot also rubs so lucky I am breaking them in now.

Despite the track not being hard enough it was really a beautiful walk and I enjoyed it.  Unfortunately I did not get to my favourite places in the National Park (Tea Tree and Granite Bay), but next time I think I will go the coastal track (and maybe take the surfboard too).

Why the track is called Tanglewood maybe?

Towards the end of the track was getting pretty hot. Luckily the beach was close by!!! And how great was the water looking today!!!! There were even some 2ft peeler sets at Little Cove and noone at all on it!!! Where is my surfboard when I need it?

I am so going in there

Had a swim at Little Cove with about a million massive blue jellyfish (not bluebottles though, never seen them before, weird, they were not stingy at all).  Then I had to walk another 1.5k's home up Noosa Hill.  Not nice putting boots and socks on when your still a bit sandy. Was absolutely starving.  Was just about home and feeling pretty knackered when I saw a friend sitting outside a cafe sipping his latte. I really thought he might hold a latte out over the footpath and give me just a sip (you know like in a marathon), I just got a friendly wave. Good one Josh haha.

Later this week will start on some more challenging walks. I think I did nearly 10 k's today, I just need more hills and more challenging terrain, and maybe a latte.

ON THE BOIL YEEEEW

Just went for a surf, I'm boiling again.  Look out this week your getting smashed. That is all.

OFF THE BOIL!!!!!! but I did Jiu Jitsu

Well where do I start since last post???  


I have been TOTALLY OFF THE BOIL for the past week. I have been reading a really good book and going to sleep quite late and this has had a massive effect on my body. Have been to crossfit 4 times this week and performed pretty averagely.  I even had a little nana nap one day.



The other area that went downhill in a massive way this week was my surfing. We have had heaps of rain and bad weather in Noosa, there has been a lot of tea tree and other tanins washing into the sea from the river, making it look like chocolate, as well as a north easterly blowing continually.  Did not surf for two weeks and finally went on Wednesday.  Surfed like a moron and had a continually occurring wedgy which annoyed the living daylights out of me.  Went again on Thursday and surfed like a moron again.  I was just really getting the hang of it before the 2 week break.  Took me a long time to get my confidence in the waves and in just two weeks it left me again.  Paddled out again twice today but did not try and catch any waves really, there is a big swell at the moment fuelled by a cyclone forming in the Coral Sea,  which also means huge crowds.  Anyway was a bit busy for me and some of the 5ft waves just seemed a little too big.  Looking forward next week when it calms down a bit and the crowds go back to wherever they come from.  There really are too many people in the world sometimes and today I think they were all in Noosa!


On the bright side, I did manage to do 4 x 50m sled pulls at 55 kg which is more than my body weight, and I am pretty sure that I could have done more. I did have to grunt in quite a primal way at one point but it helped.  Think all the squatting and weight work at crossfit with the combination of the stairs has helped immensely with this.  This is a great training exercise for Kokoda, and one of those ones if you keep up your husbands will love you (or mostly your butt) for it.  The other good thing that happened was that I have increased the stairs to six climbs now  (I am not my faithful pooches favourite person at the moment!) I noticed descending the stairs this week that my quads have completely changed shape in the past few weeks. (ie, they are bigger, now I am just waiting for my boobs to catch up)


The other exercise I did this week was a Jiu Jitsu class. Yeeeew.  Well OK, I did a parent and kid class with Daniel, and it was sooooooo much fun.  It has been at least 12  months since I have been on the mat to do any type of martial art, and maybe 2 1/2 years since I last did a Jiu Jitsu class. I didn't realise how much I missed it. For now though I will just keep doing classes with Daniel once per week, I think I am doing enough already, plus the last thing I want to do is injure myself before Kokoda, which is highly likely with me on the mat!!


So off to get some sleep which I have discovered this week is so important!! I am sure there will be days on Kokoda where I have had bad sleep and am really tired so I am actually pretty glad for the experience this week and being able to work through it.

Some Workout Stuff

Training for Kokoda is obviously an important part of my preparation. I am not really sure just how hard it is going to be, so I figure if I am prepared I can spend 10 days enjoying myself rather than 10 days wanting to go home and slowing everyone else down. Exercise and diet will be pretty important.


I have been going to Crossfit Noosa since July last year, as well surfing, throw in a bit of swimming and body surfing and hopefully I already have some OK level of fitness.  I usually go to Crossfit 3 times a week and I am stepping this up to 4 or 5 times, with the addition of some walks (including the stairs) which I will gradually start building up and adding pack weight to over the next few weeks.  I try to surf 4 - 5 times a week rain, hail or shine, crap waves or not. 


For those of you who do not know what Crossfit is and are interested, this is a good little explanation in less than 100 words.  This is pretty much the diet and lifestyle and am living by at the moment. 


'Distilled down to the simplest terms, CrossFit workouts are about intensity, variability, and functionality.

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat. Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, clean & jerk, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc. hard and fast. Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports.'

I have noticed improvements in a lot of areas since July, my surfing has improved, I can dance for heaps longer at music festivals (yeew) and  lifting a heavy teak bar stool now only takes 3 fingers instead of two hands. A few months ago I even deadlifted a 60 kg cactus after it blew over in a storm.  There has been stuff I definitely do not want to do (800m runs spring to mind) but I have to say after 6 months I feel better and better all the time, stronger, more flexible, my body has changed shape and everything about my life has improved both mentally and physically. 

Crossfit is definitely something I will keep up all the time even after Kokoda as it has so many practical applications in daily life.  In addition I have made some really great friends!   Functional fitness at it's finest.  

This is the link to the box I train at.   http://crossfitnoosa.com.au/. You can get more info here and also check out our workout of the day, complete with great write-ups on why we are doing the workouts.

Some of the fun stuff we get up to at Crossfit Noosa, weighted chin-ups

Daniel & Holly at The Stairs of Death and No Speaking

Since my last post I have done the stairs a couple of times, now the workout includes a post stairs swim and coffee (woops). I am sometimes doing the stairs with a friend,  which is great because it's extra motivation when you have to meet someone else, as opposed to the temptation of just sleeping in for another half an hour.  Holly & Daniel even came with me one day, they loved it surprisingly!  Have also had another couple of Crossfit sessions since the last post.  This arvo (Monday) I did the stairs x4 and a small walk in the pouring rain with our black & tan kelpie Mackie, otherwise known as the Macuum Cleaner. She is a bit on the tubby side and has been passed out on the floor since we got home. My post stairs swim featured me losing my bikini bottoms at Noosa Main Beach all the way to my ankles.  More squats and stairs needed, if my thighs were bigger I seriously doubt that would happen.

and so it begins.... the stairs of death and no speaking

Took a drive down to Maroochydore last Friday morning to get some boots, waterproof jacket and some other bits and pieces.  Took a while to find some boots that I liked but I came home happy, a little bit poorer and still had some fun despite hanging out in outdoor shops all morning. I even secretly liked it a little.


On Friday I also received my 12 week training programme. Bugger. I have just had 4 weeks off training over Christmas and New Year. About the only exercise I have done lately are some bicep curls using beers or very heavy glasses of mojito's, wrestled a goat, grabbed a turtle on the head and surfed.  Surfing is OK when training for Kokoda, paddling is good strength training and you never know when you will need that strength to escape attacking leaches or some other tropical vermin and I seem to be attracting all types at the moment.


On Sunday I took a small walk, only about 2.6 kms, which included some pretty big hills and the stairs at Little Hastings Street, which I have renamed The Stairs of Death and No Speaking (because you really can't speak it's so bad). I think there are about 220 steps, all different heights and sizes and it's steep, really steep. Found it not too bad, time to up the challenge.


Monday I just surfed for a couple of hours and I have to say it was pretty damn awesome. I love my new surfboard, it rocks.


After some motivational issues and sleeping in a couple of times through the alarm until 7.30 (crikey) I finally made my grand (OK well it wasn't all that grand) entrance at Crossfit Noosa http://crossfitnoosa.com.au/ for the first time in 4 weeks, on Tuesday.  Good workout.  Crossfit Noosa will perhaps be the most important part of my Kokoda training strength and conditioning wise.  Danny  at Crossfit Noosa is a good bloke who knows heaps and he is on to it and pushing me, which I need.  Later in the day I tackled the stairs at Little Hastings Street again, this time 3 times with a pack in the pouring rain. Good lord. You know those marathon runners at the end of the marathon? I suspect I looked like that afterwards.


This morning, Wednesday, I had an early morning surf session then off to Crossfit a couple of hours later.  Only to find the workout was 5 reps of 5 front squats, and as many rounds of 10 deadlifts and 25 double under's as you can do in 10 minutes.  Legs? What legs? I actually can't feel them at all, pretty certain I don't even have any! I definitely needed them for this workout.  For those of you who do not know what a double under is its when you skip a rope two rotations under your feet in one jump. I know, it's really really extremely mean, but very good for you. I struggled through the workout, seemingly having no strength left in my thighs whatsoever, really struggling with the front squats and lifting 15 kg less than normal. If a pullup fell from heaven this morning I would have kissed it, my legs were so up to shit.  


Late this arvo I met a friend at the stairs, and we did them together. Me x 2, him 4 times. Strangely my first attempt was pretty easy, much easier than the first time I did it just a few days ago. After the second I decided to call it quits not wanting to overdo it considering my already feeling pretty stuffed state. Finished off with a swim and body surf at Noosa Main Beach in my undies, classy, but maybe not so shocking for those who know me fairly well. Interestingly but totally unrelated, I unintentionally grabbed two jellyfish today, once this morning and once tonight. After the turtle head grabbing incident a few weeks ago it's making me kind of worried about what I will come across in PNG.


So I am not going to post every workout as this is a pretty normal week for me, even the animal grabbing is becoming normal.  The stairs being the different thing so far.  Will try and update from here on in about once per week as I add new parts into my preparation and training. That's if my legs bother to actually walk me in to next week.........


Lessons learned this week:


1. Protein drinks are the bomb and help you wake up feeling like She-man.
2. Always always wear a bikini even when you are not planning on swimming.
3. I still feel like spewing after doing double under's.

70th Anniversary Kokoda Track Campaign 2012

As some of you already know I will be embarking on a bit of a journey this year.  The Kokoda Track has been on my bucket list for years and somewhere along the way got a little lost when kids and life in general took over. 


A couple of months ago while at Crossfit Noosa I met a trainer from Brisbane, Rob, who is a trek leader for Adventure Professionals http://www.adventureprofessionals.com.au/.  I got chatting to Rob who told me that he is doing Kokoda for the first time himself in April this year.  I told Rob it sounded amazing and he suggested I should come.  I didn't think much about it at the time but when I got home I decided that, yep, I was going to do this, finally. 


So, now it is really happening!  This trip will mark the 70th Anniversary of Kokoda, and of course we will be on the track for Anzac Day.  

For the most part people are really positive when I tell them about it. Whatever happens though I am going to give this thing a good crack.  If diggers can do in atrocious conditions then so can I.


This blog is to record my preparation and experiences on what is hopefully going to be an amazing journey at an important part of our military history.