i cried like a sissy!

yesterday was another long, long, long hike (30km)and lasted a exhausting 11 hours!!!! we (brad & me) left home in at the dark and got home in the dark, i thought it was never going to end.

BUT we survived the section used for the "Mini Kokoda" event in June, so at least we know we can do it. the plan was to do pollys hill (pages pinnacle)7km to environmental centre 2km and then the water circuit 14km and back (total app 30km). we had done pollys kitchen in january this year and it had taken me about 70 minuites to get up it with lots of stops, this time i did it in 55 mins without a stop (want to knock another 10mins off by july) then over the top and down. the map to the watercircuit was so hard to read and we got lost and struggled with the instructions on the way back (it helps if you can tell the difference between right and left) but eventually made our way back to the bottom of pollys. by then my feet were sore, i was tired and wanted it to stop!! but we had 7km to go.

i remembered the back of the mountain (see photo) of brad and look up that is the mountain in the background we still had to climb. i hate it so much as it lies to you!!!!!! you think you are at the top and go round the corner and again it is going up this happens about 10 times, you think it is never going to end.

by the time i got to the top i was so tired, sore and it was about 4.40pm and we knew that we wouldnt make it back in time to the cafe before it closed, going down pollys i really went for it, didnt care about the toes mashing into the front of my shoes, my right knee was hurting with descent, i just wanted to get down quick, so we got within 30mins (which is pretty fast). i shuffled to the car, opened the back door, sat down and burst into tears, poor brad he rushed over to undo my shoes for me and i was such a girly girl just let him take care of me (gave me cold can of coke that he had in the esky) and put my gear away.

eventually i stopped crying and feeling sorry for myself and we drove home and stopped at yatala pies (it was the best meal i ever had) and then i got home at 7.30pm.

will it ever get easier??? i surpose so as this morning jumped out of bed, no tiredness, no aching muscles felt like i could go hiking again, so maybe bit by bit it is going to be easier.

next week easter, so will do some solo hikes at mt cootha and fix the overgrown garden (harry gets lost trying to pee in the long grass) and look forward to our next long trek

thanks for everyones support and well wishes, it means alot

mt cootha

we decided to have an easier walk compared to last weeks adventure, so set off to mt cootha at 7am. the plan was to walk about 20km using the instructions on the kokoda webpage.

all went well until i took the wrong turn and some how ended up at The Gap in surburbia, we went through some local streets past some beautiful houses to reenter the forest.

i was forgiven for my poor directions but then at the end of the road we were to go up mogill track (i thought) it was the overgrown path leading almost vertical, so up we went, my heart rate over 170 by the top only to find a gentle even track beside it named the mogill track, oops but its all about the training anyway.

all in all we did about 18km in about 4 1/2 hrs so good pace. lovely lunch with great views and home for a glass of wine and a afternoon kip, very nice.

but next week to make up for it we are doing 28km on the main event track with some big inclines. the best news this week is that both times i have hiked i have had no pain in my feet for the first time in the past 4mths, the cortisone worked a treat and hope it continues, i now feel that there is a chance i can at least get to the starting line as last week i thought there was no chance.

"walk the line" here we come!

OMG I am starting to doubt!!!!

Yesterday we chose to do Nerang Forest (14 and return - total 28km) when you start talking about walks in comparison to 96km you think 28km should be easy. You forget that it is longer than a half marathon through serious terrain.

So why was i so shocked as to how hard i found it, i just thought we have done 18km what's another 10km? Well an extra 10k on these feet make a big difference.

the first section was "moderate" undulating hills - it was constant up and down with large rocks over the fire trail, so you could get any speed up and the first 1.5km took us almost an hour, we thought we werent going to make it in the time we had. it did get flatter after 2 hours and the inclines were smoother so we got some pace up, but still took us almost 5 hrs to get to the halfway point (the finish line on the day).

we had some lunch, i retapped my feet to try and give them some support, but could feel the beginings of some blisters. i felt okay but realised i didnt have as much water left as i hoped (about 1L) to get back.

so we set off back, thinking right lets put some speed into the journey home, we charged off and did well for the first hour, making some good headway, we met up with another team (team sai) that we had met before and had a chat, i was abit sore by then but thought we only had another 4km to go. it was probably more like 6km and both me and majella were stuggling, brad took the lead and seemed very comfortable. by the last 2km (which took almost 2hrs) i was crying when no one was looking, my left knee was hurting, left hip, lower back, feet were screaming in pain with every step and we had the worst section to do.

i put my ipod on and listened to songs like "relax, born to run, and other motivating songs" helped alittle to distract from the pain, i think we had all forgotten how bad the first section was because on the way back it seemed to be twice as steep and took forever, i had run out of water and thought if this was the event i would be pulling out after only 30km.

i had to keep telling myself, no point stopping as you have to get to the car to get home and i have the keys, we finally got to where we had parked the car in 9H45mins.

the photos show majella sitting by the car in shock and a photo of the blisters i got between my toes (i didnt ever feel them til i stopped)

so how do i feel this morning, not too bad physically a few sore muscles but emotionally abit down hearted. i have to keep telling myself this is the training that will help you get stronger, so it has to hurt and push yourself and that next time??? it will be easier.

so bring on next saturday and kudos to my team mates for completing yesterdays walk!!

feet bah humbug

i went to the sports physician today and am going to have a MRI of my feet and bloods tests for rheumatoid arthritis (just to exclude), then hopefully next monday i will have some cortisone injections. he thinks i have a biomechanical issue (which means old lady feet) and has suggested more changes to my orthotics. he also says i have weird callus on my feet, never seen a vertical callous on both feet, must be the way i walk.

going to take some more anti inflammatories for 3 weeks as well, to see if settles, i will do anything to settle things down so i can do the long walks painfree.

this week the plan is to do about 28k, so need to be at my best

recovery week

the rain has been a real pain. i didnt hike this week, and decided to cancel mt cootha walk today, alan and majella werent able to make it, it was still raining (over 100mm) this week, so decided to do two spin classes instead.

i'm off to the sports physican on monday to see about my feet, i hope to get some MRI's done and then cortisone injections into the metartarsal heads to get the inflammation down.

so next week am going to do twice the work with hopefully doing nerang forest and back on saturday (total of 28km) our longest walk to date.

must start doing some more fundraising as need to get at least $500 each. if anyone wishes to support us just go to www.kokodachallenge.com.au and donate to "walk the line" every bit helps.

chat soon about our adventures

dee