True Grit in the South Australian desert

True Grit: A military inspired 12km obstacle course set out in the desert of South Australia.

 

The time has finally come! We set off on our road trip to Mildura after the four of us had worked all day (crazy, I know). After a long drive and only just shy of midnight, we got into our jammies and make-shift bedding because yours truly forgot to take bedding for the girls, we got into bed for a good night sleep because D-day.

We got up super early to set off once again to get across the border to the South Australian desert where our 12 km race awaited. It was amazing how the landscape changed to arid, dry looking rolling red hills with dry grasses and emus! 

By the time we arrived, we were about 10 minutes before our race wave started. And then, by the time we parked the car and got out of the car we heard our wave being called... and the cheering was clear evidence that they kicked off without us. We ran to sign in and found out we were ok to start with the next wave. Without even having time to have a drink or void our bladder we lined up at the start, took a quick happy snap of the group, flames fired and we were off! With a short run through the bush and jumping over tree stumps we approached our first big obstacle which was an A-frame cargo net. We all did so well, despite a couple of the group having a fear of heights. We all supported them and cheered them on til the entire group made it over, and off we were through the bush again. Another cargo net was waiting for us next. This time it was free-standing, roped between two trees. It was shorter but more difficult because it moved so much while each person tried to pull themselves up. Again, we all made it over with a bit of help from eachother pulling it tight to make it a bit easier for us who struggled more.

The third obstacle was the rope traverse. I found this so much harder than I ever though (I knew it was going to be tough but not so hard on my arms!). After already having wobbly arms from the cargo nets, by 2/3 of the way across the rope my arms felt like they had seized up and wouldnt bend or stretch any further! I unfortunately couldn't physically make myself go further, so I had to drop but I was proud of how far I had got. With wet, muddy feet I carried on, as I felt the squelch while I ran. It brought back such great memories of the Spartan race, I found myself excited to get muddy!

 

As we ran through the desert, over the sand dunes and through the vines of the Caudo Winery.

We climbed up rock ledges, ran over hay bales, crawled under nets and ran a lot! It felt like there was so much distance between obstacles. As exhausting as it became, none of us stopped once, we just kept moving, even if it was walking a lot of the time.

 

We jumped over fire pits and although the flames weren't very tall, it was blisteringly hot as you approached, then it hits you as you fly over them!

We carried huge wooden logs, climbed more sand dunes, scaled an 8 metre wall and ran through even more vines.

The second last obstacle was a long, thick, muddy creek we had to trapse through. In fine form, Mark decided to bomb into the mud and came out looking like a swamp monster with bright white teeth! The mud stunk, it was grey and thick and slippery. It was so hard to climb out of it.

To end it all, we slid down a slide into the cold Murray River as our last hoorah! It felt amazing to have accomplised the entire 12km. Comparing our 7km Spartan race done in 2 hours and 24 minutes, we expected 5 hours was not going to be such a long shot. Proud to say we finished the 12km in 3 hours and 15 minutes. We were so proud of ourselves for our time.

We got some fantastic video of the race, and total calories burnt were off the chart!

Now I am so excited to see how we can smash out our next 5km Greatest Athlete in July! Can't wait to do this one with my dad!



Group workout in beautiful sunny Melbourne

It marks the final efforts of 12 long and exasperating weeks of tough love. It was a balmy 13 degrees Saturday, overcast and the occassional shower or two. Amee, Loz, Laura, Chris and I headed out to Albert Park Stadium for our big group workout with Michelle Bridges.

As freezing as it was, by the time we got moving it was much much easier. Even though we didn't blast out the calories as we had all planned, we still managed to get out and enjoy our exercise in the cold and wet. This is something we would all struggle with normally.

I was so proud of our hard work. I noticed a difference in my fitness between this workout and the one back in February. I was able to put in more effort for more of the duration - whereas last time we went all out in the warm up and then drifted into the background and lagged for the rest. This time I worked hard the entire time and kept up the best I could - not always jumping or kicking as high as I could but always moving.

Look out Adelaide, here we come in 3 months for the next group workout!

 

 





An amazing glow day!

So Saturday was such a busy busy day for me. Pack, Amazing Race and Glow Run.

In the morning I had to pack the big furniture in my house up, along with a whole heap of little things still laying around. We were moving back to mum and dad's that night!

At 11 we set off for the city to compete in the Amazing Race - Great pursuit. It was a 3 hour long race to the finish line to complete all the challenges and tasks set for us.

With a desperate scurry amongst 130 other couples for our clue sheet at the beginning we sat down together to figure out the clues and sort out of route for the afternoon.

First stop Birrurung Marr for a stamp, then onto Rod Laver Arena for some tennis! After getting a little lost and wasting vital energy running up and down a massive flight of stairs, we discovered our entrance to the tennis courts and had a small hit before heading over to the Fitzroy gardens for our "tasty treat".

As expected, we did get lost finding our destination in the gardens, again wasting time and energy but eventually found the group as we raced up the hill. Our tasty treat came in polystyrene cups... not exactly what we were expecting. 3 dead cockroaches was on the menu. Down I popped 2 with a mouthful of grape gatorade, reluctant to keep them down. It was scratchy on the way down, I didn't chew.

A quick sudoku found us with another stamp and with only 20 minutes to spare we raced across to the Melbourne Arts centre for our next stamp.

On the tram up to the Melbourne baths saw Amee and Lozzy bobbing for duckies in their clothes. Soaked but cooler, we ran to the old gaol for another stamp, down through China town for our next stamp and an answer to one of our clues, down to GPO for another answer and last stop Mr Larry Latrobe to count the studs on his collar. We had 15 minutes to spare and decided to take the time penalty instead of running for the last clue and wasting more time and energy. We had to conserve what we could for the run in the evening!

So we didnt win any prizes, nor did we place even close to the start. The winners finished just over an hour early! Meanwhile we touched down at the finish line 2 minutes early having not completed all our challenges!

We did get a stress ball each though! Makes it all worth it though, right?

 

Next on our agenda was the 5km Glow Run. I was a little nervous about this because I haven't actually ran 5km at once yet. On top of that it was going to be freezing outside and I don't like to exercise in the cold because it hurts my ears and my throat (yeah, I know. Suck it up princess, right?)

Luckily for my ears they gave us a terry-toweling head band which covered my delicate ears nicely. I had brought a bright pink, long-sleeved running top just incase I got frost-bite but didnt end up needing it. The adrenaline and excitement was the fuel for mine and Laura's fire! We were comfortable in the cold temperature in just our tshirts!

So Chris finally arrived and we spent a bit of time in the arena with the glowing and the DJ's and the dancing... then took our place at the start line. Oh how pretty it all looked, in all its glowing splendor! (as you can see to the left!)

There we so many people, so many glow sticks! I can't even begin to imagine how many glow sticks there were everywhere the next day! Even when we ran they already littered the path!

So we made it through the first wave of the first ever Glow Run in Australia. We were pretty chuffed!

As we ran, I couldnt wipe the smile off my face. Not only was I running with two of my favourite people in the world, but I was RUNNING! And enjoying it. I never even imagined I would be doing fun runs in my life. It was not something I even thought about. It was amazing to run with so many people, and it felt good! So many people ran past me, but a lot of them encouraged me if I slowed down. And every time you approached a volunteer, or even just a spectator, they'd high five you and cheer you on which pushed you to push harder! It was a great feeling.

And just having Laura and Chris there to push me on, but also for me to push them on was great too. Sometimes you FEEL like walking but then they tell you you can't so you don't!

As we approached Federation Square we could hear the music and see the lights again. All we had to do was weave our way up the ramp to Birrurung Marr and cross the finish line. I said "after this ramp we run the rest" and Laura said "No, we run the ramp and THEN run the rest". So thats what we did. Exhausted we weaved left, right, left up the ramp and then ran the last 500m to the finish line. We could see the brilliant bright lights, hear the music pumping, and at the finish was the MC for the night, egging us on as we chase down the party!

And here it is! The most amazing sight after running all over the city, approx 20km for the entire day, 2500 calories burnt and some fantastic memories. As I so often do, I teared up as I approached the huge finish line, with the crowd at the side cheering us through. We ran down the "catwalk" and entered the arena with pride. We had done it! What a day, so much accomplished, and I was on top of the world!!!

                    Chris and I before the race...   And then after, my usual red face on

A simple walking workout

Ive had a niggling, dry and persistent cough for the last 2 weeks. Its been awful with the cold weather. I have avoided exercise because when I get into my coughing fits it gives me a headache and hurts my tummy (probably come out with a six pack from it all!).

I decided it was time to get moving and since my car is out of service I thought what a nice day it was to walk (quickly, not casually to keep my heart rate 15-145) all around Melton to do my errands. I knew it was going to be a long walk because I would never consider walking to the Chemist Warehouse if I had my car, ever EVER! I was determined to do light exercise that wasn't going to make me have to breathe too heavily so I donned my heart rate monitor, ipod, fitbit, and GPS tracker on my phone and out I set!

In total I walked 9.8km and burnt 1070 calories! Got some lovely sun, worked on my tan a bit and collected my perscription, dinner for tonight, and also my parcel from the post office. I treated myself to subway for lunch and used my heavy bags of meat and veg to work my arms while walking home. So I looked like a weirdo... I got a workout out of it!

Slow fortnight

This fortnight has been a bit slow in the fitness and weightloss department. I have had an inevitable lull in motivation and as such, have not complied with the most nutritional diet, nor have I put in a great deal of effort in exercising.

Not that I can really blame anything but my own laziness, but several little things led to having a not-so-healthy weekend last weekend, then it kind of spiralled on from there. I have been eating junkfood again, and enjoying it at the time but really feeling it afterwards. My tummy feels bloated and yuck, and I just feel like I need to vomit to empty it all out after. Not because I am bulimic or anything, just because my gut feels so ridiculously full and ill from the junk and needs to be cleansed! Its amazing how lazy I have been feeling; I feel sluggish and tired, and just generally crappy.

I need to get back into my healthy eating, and today I started back on track. I am going to get back on the bandwagon and lose more weight again. Luckily I have not put on as much weight as I expected, considering the amount going in and the lack of exercising to get rid of it! I put on 1.4kg in the first week and today have lost 1.1kg from that so I have a reason to keep going!

Although I am embarassed to admit going back to my bad habits, it is sometimes good to see what I used to be like because
1. it shows me how far I have come and
 
2. how much I don't like the momentary satisfaction I used to always enjoy when I ate an entire box of cheezels or packet of chips.

I am about to step up my training again. Not too long and we will be smashing out the 15km True Grit course in South Australia so effort must be put in! We have a busy year after signing up for the Amazing Race Melbourne in 2 and a half weeks time, True Grit in May, Greatest Athlete 5km in July and then Spartan Super 14km in October! Phewwww, I am exhausted just typing them all! Next year I am going to be FIT!

3 more gold coin donations!

So I am starting a workout jar, and for every 100 calories I burn, I put in a gold coin donation (basically what ever I have in my purse). When I fill the jar, I will use the money from it to treat myself by doing something for me.

Examples: A massage, going to the movies, facial, manicure or pedicure, a class of some description (ie. cupcake, cooking, candle making, soap making etc.). Maybe even a night away or two? Who knows how much I will save?!

So far I already have $10 in my jar from today and yesterday!

I am really looking forward to earning money and spoiling myself after my hard work! I am open to suggestions as to what spoils I can give myself!

We are Spartans!!!

So last Saturday I competed in the Spartan Race down in Wonthaggi with my husband, sister, best friend, and brother-in-law.

We were all so nervous about competing. We had no idea what was coming and how we would cope.

It was a 7km obstacle course in the heat, over things, under things, through things and even swimming in muddy dams! You had one chance at each obstacle and if you missed it or couldn't complete it, well.... 30 burpees for you it was!

We said our anxious goodbyes to the boys, because they were due to start 20 minutes after us, and made our way to our Spartan fate! Walking towards the start line we came across our first obstacle... a mud pit already?! Ewww!!! So shoes, already muddy... its not so bad is it? I can totally deal with this!

So we stood at the starting line, stressing about the race ahead. Already I look down to see my heart rate sitting around 120bpm! Oh god... We wait, and with 10 seconds left we count down.

TEN... NINE... EIGHT... SEVEN... SIX... FIVE... FOUR... THREE... TWO... ONE... GOOOOOOO!!!

I started off strong, I jogged all the way to the first obstacle up and down hills (which I didnt actually train for because there aren't many hills near my house). The first obstacle was a crawl under barbed wire, followed immediately by a knee-high wade through a muddy creek. Walking through the muddy water was difficult because you couldn't see where the little pot holes were under the water so you'd fall into them and then slip or get your foot stuck! Yuck-o! So many times we all came so close to losing our shoes in the mud!

The other obstacles included climbing over giant hay bales, carrying 10 kilo bags for a long walk, jumping over walls, balancing beams, 8 ft wall climb, wading through more muddy water then hauling yourself up a mud hill by ropes, rope climbs and more! At the end, the spear throw, monkey bars and lastly the Spartan WARRIORS!!! They were 3 or 4 beefy men with giant cu-tips ready to boof you or spear tackle you!

(This is me jumping the fire pit)

I got through more than halfway without missing any obstacles, and I feel I can be forgiven for the first one being the 8ft wall climb. 30 burpees for me! It was just downhill for the last kilometre or so. I got through the super long barbed wire crawl up and down a hill and was exhausted. The five of us stood up from crawl and were COVERED in fine dirt, we looked like we'd rolled in cocoa! The final obstacles were a slanted wall rope climb on slippery rubber surface which I couldn't do because it wasn't grippy enough (which I cried at because I was just so tired and hot and thirsty, and wanted so badly to get to the top and climb the cargo net). Then cargo net climbs, giant rope climb, spear throw and then finally monkey bars. I missed them all! So sad, but
fantastic for calorie burning!

Receiving that medal at the end of it all was the best feeling. I had the biggest smile on my face and the sense of pride that took over was almost enough to bring me to tears again! We all looked so muddy, cut and bruised, but very very happy.

It was so much fun, I never imagined I would enjoy myself so much! It was incredibly tough, I was tired at the end but felt hungry for more! I burnt over 1600 calories in total! I was so proud of myself for finishing it, and I can't wait for True Grit coming up in May! Adelaide, here we come!

Taking a beautiful cold shower to get off the mud

Amee and I taking a shower

Bin full of filthy shoes, socks and clothes