Mummy, my legs hurt

Where: Leura, Blue Mountains Distance: 4km Duration: About 1.5 hours We decided to brave the rain that was forecast and go for a wander along the very popular Prince Henry Cliff Walk that hugs the cliffline of Leura and gives gorgeous views out to Mt Solitary and across the Jamison Valley. Access is super easy when you park on Olympian Parade - just 50 metres or so of track takes you to one of my favourite lookouts, Elysian Rock. Now, I've been very slack with my blogging and am writing this many months later - from my Strava activity it appears that there was much crying and whining on this walk so perhaps that's why I don't have a pic of the view from Elysian Rock! Ah yes, it's coming back to me now. Holly was happy and bouncing along, Ty was not. Not. At. All. We didn't end up going very far, just a little out and back along the cliffs towards Katoomba, and then back past where we began, through Gordon Falls picnic area and to the Pool of...

Hi everyone! It's now well under 50 days till race day and I hope everyone is hanging in there. Me? I'm mostly managing OK apart from the odd meltdown and freak out!! Some of the resources coming through on the Rapid Ascent facebook page have been a lifesaver for me. Sam's course run-throughs are brilliant for an out-of-towner like me, really helping me to get my head around the course. And David Eadie's live Q&A session in particular really helped me last week to get some perspective and acknowledge that 'it's ok not to feel good at this point in your training'. I have a few niggles but am not particularly injured - I'm just getting exhausted by the constant self-talk: am I doing the right thing, am I training too much, not enough, and what have I got myself into!? That Q&A helped put so many fears to rest and just having some validation that the seemingly excessive amount of walking I'm doing is perfectly fine and will stand me in goo...

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...