leeches yeck!!!!

hi all

yesterday i went with the brisbane bushwalkers club to do mt cordeaux/bare rock (12km). the group was lovely and very welcoming but the rain and leechers werent as much fun. when the mist cleared the views were beautiful and the small waterfalls we walked through were fresh and clear but the leechers were out in droves, by the end of it i gave up and just let them have a go and fall off.

my big problems were 1. my feet (these orthotics are hopeless, so much pain in my archers by the end i was hobbling and put my knee out) and 2. my new day pack was not comfortable.

so today i bought another day pack thank goodness 50% off (it has a large hip belt and sits more comfortable than my other one which seemed to put all the pressure on my shoulders) and i made an appointment to see steve manning (olympic marathoner and podiatrist) to try and sort out my feet, maybe new shoes as well, may be lots of money but unless i get my feet better i wont be competing in kokoda!!

so wish me well, next weekend is polly's kitchen with the guys, so hope the weather is lovely and the feet improve

sore feet

i have been spending quite a bit of time at the podiatrist, i even had some acupuncture done today (ouch!!!). they now have put some heel wedges in my hiking boots, so it feels like i am walking in high heels but hopefully will stop the pain in the balls of my feet.

got a great new black wolf day pack with a 3L bladder, so this should last during a long day walk. have been reading some blogs from last year's challenge and it sounds abit overwhelming just how tough it really is.

we now have a new team member (majella) poor rodney had to pull out with a serious knee injury but he has kindly said that he will be part of the support crew.

next hike is with the brisbane bushwalkers next week (12km at mt cordeaux) then we are doing pollys kitchen on sat 9th jan. wish us luck

dee

drive to check out the track

today rachel and i went for a long drive to have a look at the check points and see pollys kitchen.

great to see where we will be going but also a bit daunting to see some of the mountains. we went to mudgeeraba village (start point) and then to mt nimmel lodge, polly's kitchen (where we had breakfast and got some tips from the owner) - we checked out the entrance to the mountain track from polly's (the steepest) where we are walking in jan 2010. it looks dry, hot and steep, will definately need walking poles to protect the knees. then we went to numinbah hall and then backtracked to sid duncan park (amazing views of the lake) and then oval st checkpoint and then the finish line at nerang. it certainly gave me an appreciation as to how far it is as the car struggled up some of the roads, and we will have to walk the long way through roughed terrain!!!

still have to keep telling myself that we have 7 months to train and will be very familiar by the time we start kokoda in july 2010.

dee

whites hill reserve

thought i would check out whites hill reserve, thought it would be a walk in the park ..... NOT
it had some real hills with rough stones and old gullies, no one around so felt a little alone. it was so hot, got some sun burn, there are some circuits that you almost need walking poles to ensure that you dont do a knee or ankle, also a bitumen hill, great for running up and developing more strength.

so i am going to grab some of the guys and do this during the week as well as hiking on the weekends. would recommend to anyone to try and workout at whites hill reserve.
'
dee

shopping

have spent some money today at anaconda at loganholme. went to buy a hydration backpack and got a good deal, also bought some black diamond walking poles, they are very light and hope i can figure out how to use them (having been watching youtube for hints). also bought a shirt and pants that zip off to be shorts, they are really light and should help with sweating. last week when i did mt warning in my track pants i looked like i had peed myself by the end (not attractive).

i can see it will be very easy to spend hundreds of dollars by next year, but at least the products last years, so hope to get lots of use out of them.

maybe santa will bring me some more gear!!!! hint hint!!!

dee

have taken up the challenge

i am always looking for a challenge, so 3 months ago i decided it was time to get off my butt, lose weight and get fit (once again!!!)

i had heard about the kokoda challenge 2 years ago and thought it would be an exciting event to do but was so in love with cycling at that time and was training for the "round the bay in a day"in melbourne.

friends from work did really well in the 2009 challange, and it inspired me to try for 2010.

so have gathered a group of lovely friends to compete, alan (from work), brad & rodney (brothers of my best friend tracey) and me.

we have done a couple of training walks (mt mitchell, mt warning) and in one month we start full on training doing pollys kitchen and other walks that are part of the track.

the excitement is building and have now lost 10kg, with a further 15-20kg to go by july 2010.

wish us luck and will keep you posted

dee