Mummy, my legs hurt

For the past few days I've been trying to process my epic weekend and get my brain back to normal.... I knew I wasn't quite caught up with reality when I tried to make a cup of tea for Richard and I, and get us some cheese and bikkies on Sunday night. I came upstairs with one cup of tea, on a plate, with a knife. No cheese or biscuits and no second cup of tea. I burst out laughing... clearly the mental recovery takes a little while after such an event! I have been using the wrong words and have been really scattered, but now four days later I finally feel almost back to my regular self, so it's time to get it all down in writing. So here goes... grab a coffee and get settled in as this is a long read! Firstly, a few pics from the race briefing and prepping back in the cabin - I felt so relaxed in the whole lead up to the event, zero start line nerves, just happy and excited! The only time I felt a little anxious was on the Monday prior to the race and I think that was to ...

All of a sudden, the big dance is nearly here! I hope everyone else's training and logistics are coming together nicely. The bulk of it is done now - we're not getting much fitter or better from here on in; it's just a matter of getting to the start line uninjured! I feel, as usual, somewhat undercooked - my longest run to date was 5.5 hours, and that was only once, as fitting in the same again plus more just seemed unnecessarily stressful with everything else going on in my life at the moment. Both my husband and I have resigned from our jobs and are about to start new ones in the coming weeks so I have been gentle on myself and just done the best I could at this crazy time! I still generally try to cover roughly 50km a week running and hiking which is probably a lot less than some, but it works for me. That sometimes includes bush walking with the kids; Holly is a boss at power hiking! Even though a lot of my recent runs have been a fairly modest 3 hours or so...

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...