Mummy, my legs hurt

Near Wolgan Valley Distance: 7.5km Duration: Around 2.5 hours A magical walk we did in winter, with crystallized frost on the grass and an interesting assortment of ruins from the old mining days. You've got to be pretty self sufficient for this one; Newnes itself is one hotel and a road - that's pretty much it - so bring lots of snacks and water, more than you think you'll need as you're a long way from anywhere if you get delayed! There's interpretive signage everywhere so you can see what's what. You can just explore a little area or do the entire site if you feel like it. We were lucky enough to see a wombat in broad daylight, hanging around the nearby campground and generally nonplussed about us staring at him. The kids got really close before he skittered back into his burrow! This was a really lovely walk with something everywhere you look to keep the kids occupied. The ruins are scattered on the side of a s...

Where: Middle Head, off Chowder Bay Rd Distance: 5.5km Duration: a bit over 2 hours Richie comes up with all the good ideas. Today we decided to go east for a change, heading towards the harbour to explore middle head forts. Complete with underground tunnels dating back to the 1870s and lots of gun turrets, ammunition stores and lookout points, it was a fantastic place to bring the kids. Very little was 'out of bounds' and they could go in around and over all the old structures, which kept them interested for a couple of hours.  The forts were built in the 1870's, used later during WWII, and the area is still active today with HMAS Penguin naval hospital located at the site. Although it was mid morning on a weekend, we only saw a handful of other people, and had lots of space to run around and explore. Apart from a few sketchy cliff edges and former ammunition stores to fall into like the one below, it was a great place for the little peo...

Hi everyone! Hope your training is going really well. As I begin to write this on the 21st June, it's the shortest day of the year, which means as of tomorrow the mornings and evenings will gradually start to get less dark and miserable! I quite like the cold but getting home from work in the dark every day is a real drag. Lucky I have a top notch head lamp for early morning weekend adventures! The last few weeks have been all about... - getting my nutrition sorted - learning to pace myself better - studying the course from afar - setting up my fundraising page for One in Five This month I ventured out in some crazy cold, windy and dark conditions.,..with snow forecast above 700 metres in the mountains, I didn't venture too far up the hill, but the trail I was on at 450m elevation was still damn cold! It was one of those days where the RFS and SES advise the public to 're-think outdoor activities'... but this spot was relatively sheltered, well populated and...

Where: Glenbrook, Blue Mountains Distance: 2.5km Duration: Approx 1 hour Despite living a stone's throw from Glenbrook and exploring the national park almost weekly, we hadn't yet been to this peaceful track overlooking Erskine Creek. First up however, we stopped along the way at Blue Pool, a great walk for the smallest of people that still feels interesting and 'bushwalky' enough, even if you happen to be going at toddler pace. I've been here a few times solo and always find it a stark contrast to the busyness of nearby uber-popular Jellybean pool. With Jellybean having its own large carpark it is a rare occasion when you can enjoy it without crowds. Unfortunately with crowds comes irresponsible people and in turn lots of rubbish. It's crushing to see how much litter is left carelessly at Jellybean, and likewise, how much makes its way down the creek to its confluence along the Nepean River. On this day, we were able to enjoy the rubbish-free Bl...

100 days to go...     When I last shared my thoughts we were only a week or two out from UTA, which is now over and done with for another year! It was a magic weekend; I finished feeling strong in the 22k with a time of 3:20, but the highlight of the weekend was both volunteering and seeing off all my amazing friends competing in the 50 & 100K races. I also got to meet Sam and Anna from Rapid Ascent at the UTA expo which was awesome! So, now that I've started training for 100KM in earnest, it's beginning to come up in conversation with a few people, both runners and non-runners . The typical response from my non running friends is a combination of wow, what?! and why??? Of course my running friends invariably get it, and their response is more like where, when and woohoo! :) Numerous times I've found myself unable to answer that 'why' question concisely . Why travel 100 kilometres on foot, in a world of cars and technology and automated ever...

Another amazing weekend in the mountains, done and dusted! Last year I decided to sign up for the 22k race at UTA, having done the 50K twice before. I really enjoyed the alternative 2017 course for the 50K, which was changed at the 11th hour due to weather concerns. This new, more runnable route took in most of the first half of the 100K course. I would have loved to have done this part again, but knew I wasn't ready to commit to the full hundo, so decided to have a go at the 22 and really try and run it strongly. Usually I would tell myself that I'm just 'here for a good time' and perhaps not push as hard as I could when things get tough. This time, I wanted to do better and not just waddle along like it was an everyday training run. UTA weekend often coincides with a huge work event for me, so after running Narrabeen Allnighter in January and doing some sporadic, non-specific training in the month or so following, I just didn't have the mental space to...