http://thecolorrun.com/australia/sydney/
I've entered the boys for their first fun run. I hope they enjoy it. The Mountain Man sneered a little at the concept of a 5k fun run until I told him it was for the boys more than him and then he settled down and decided he might enjoy it after all.
I wanted to enter them into the Spartan Kids obstacle race but we will be in Japan when it's on so we'll have to give it a miss this time. Maybe another time.
Y7 (who will be 8 in a week) is very keen to do the weet-bix tryathlon which will probably be a week before or after the Colour Run. Like an adult triathlon they swim, ride and run in one event. He's still not a great swimmer and the swim is 100m but we're going to try and help him to get there with his swimming and if he's not up to scratch I'm sure they won't let him drown *fingers crossed*. He can't brake very well on his bike either but he's been practicing by riding in circles around the cul de sac.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Monday, October 8, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Tough Mudder - Sydney 2012
Ha. I was going to blog about training for Tough Mudder.
Obviously that didn't happen. The training did but the blogging didn't.
Hmmmmm, the training didn't really happen either. I went to the gym and did the same thing as I did before I signed up.
Despite the lack of blogging and specialist training I still went and I survived and had a blast.
I figure I may as well write a review since I didn't manage to blog anything else much except my clothing (priorities right?).
Was it fun? Hell yes.
Would I do it again? Hell yes but not in the middle of summer which is when the next one in Sydney is scheduled. I love my wrinkle free visage too much to put my hand up for 3 hours running around in sun in February.
The obstacles...... I grew up on a farm so some of the obstacles were kind of like a day playing about on the farm. I climbed hay bales, jumped in the creek and rolled around in the mud.
There was a fire obstacle but after a childhood where the highlight of every winter was burning off it was a bit of an anti-climax. There was plenty of smoke but very little in the way of flames. With all that lycra about I guess they need to be careful of naked flames (if you're a lycra enthusiastist I urge you to attend Tough Mudder it's wall to wall lycra).
The electro-shock obstacles weren't really like when you get dared to touch the electric fence. Actually, they kind of were only there were lots more of them and you couldn't just touch it with the back of your hand and run away. They hurt like a mo-fo and each one hurts more than the last one but the positive is that it only lasted a short time. In fact most of the obstacles were over pretty quickly once you started. For me the hardest obstacles were the ones that weren't over in a flash. Carry Your Log which is the obstacle where you do exactly that and the Muddy Mile were both long, drawn out affairs and I was heartily glad to see the back of them.
I'm not sure why I was surprised by the amount of mud to be found on an obstacle course called Tough Mudder but I was. The mud was a germophobe's nightmare. Judging by amount of horse and cow droppings I ran past there was plenty of manure in the mud and if anyone had any kind of contagious disease we're all fucked. I'm actually kind of surprised I didn't end up with gastro. I haven't gone to the chemist and hooked myself up with worm tablets yet but it's on my to-do list. I still have some of the mud lodged under my toenails and no amount of scrubbing or close trimming will get it out. I'm hoping that a swim in the sea will do the job.
The Mountain Man was a champ. His ankle is rooted but he ran anyway. And by ran I mean he ran. I was surprised by how many people we passed who were walking most of the course. The organisers were pretty clear about the cardio requirements so I did expect people to be moving a bit faster. That said, after the Muddy Mile which was about the 16km mark our run was more of a slow stumble.
The other contestants were brilliant. I couldn't have done the course without the help of strangers to get me over the wall and the quarter pipe. Since I have a hard time with asking for help I think it's probably good for me to do something that forces me to ask for help.
Organisation - they don't answer emails even for questions that aren't answered by their FAQs. Really the Tough Mudder customer service is crap and seems to generate ill will. They don't answer questions on their FB page either although they do seem to clear spam off it. Apparently they are projecting revenue of $150 million this year (I got that figure from their job ad). It wouldn't hurt to reduce that income a little by providing better customer service. On the whole despite their crappy attitude towards their customers they did manage to run a generally smooth event, had I waited at obstacle like the Melbourne people did I would have been ropeable. I noticed that they used Red Dawn for security so if there had been dramas requiring decent security they would have been in all sorts of trouble. Unfortunately they are unlikely to realise just how crappy their security provider is until too late so I'll just hope they never need good security in Sydney.
Sooo....that's the short review. I might edit it or add a part 2 later. Or I might not.
Obviously that didn't happen. The training did but the blogging didn't.
Hmmmmm, the training didn't really happen either. I went to the gym and did the same thing as I did before I signed up.
Despite the lack of blogging and specialist training I still went and I survived and had a blast.
I figure I may as well write a review since I didn't manage to blog anything else much except my clothing (priorities right?).
Was it fun? Hell yes.
Would I do it again? Hell yes but not in the middle of summer which is when the next one in Sydney is scheduled. I love my wrinkle free visage too much to put my hand up for 3 hours running around in sun in February.
The obstacles...... I grew up on a farm so some of the obstacles were kind of like a day playing about on the farm. I climbed hay bales, jumped in the creek and rolled around in the mud.
There was a fire obstacle but after a childhood where the highlight of every winter was burning off it was a bit of an anti-climax. There was plenty of smoke but very little in the way of flames. With all that lycra about I guess they need to be careful of naked flames (if you're a lycra enthusiastist I urge you to attend Tough Mudder it's wall to wall lycra).
The electro-shock obstacles weren't really like when you get dared to touch the electric fence. Actually, they kind of were only there were lots more of them and you couldn't just touch it with the back of your hand and run away. They hurt like a mo-fo and each one hurts more than the last one but the positive is that it only lasted a short time. In fact most of the obstacles were over pretty quickly once you started. For me the hardest obstacles were the ones that weren't over in a flash. Carry Your Log which is the obstacle where you do exactly that and the Muddy Mile were both long, drawn out affairs and I was heartily glad to see the back of them.
I'm not sure why I was surprised by the amount of mud to be found on an obstacle course called Tough Mudder but I was. The mud was a germophobe's nightmare. Judging by amount of horse and cow droppings I ran past there was plenty of manure in the mud and if anyone had any kind of contagious disease we're all fucked. I'm actually kind of surprised I didn't end up with gastro. I haven't gone to the chemist and hooked myself up with worm tablets yet but it's on my to-do list. I still have some of the mud lodged under my toenails and no amount of scrubbing or close trimming will get it out. I'm hoping that a swim in the sea will do the job.
The Mountain Man was a champ. His ankle is rooted but he ran anyway. And by ran I mean he ran. I was surprised by how many people we passed who were walking most of the course. The organisers were pretty clear about the cardio requirements so I did expect people to be moving a bit faster. That said, after the Muddy Mile which was about the 16km mark our run was more of a slow stumble.
The other contestants were brilliant. I couldn't have done the course without the help of strangers to get me over the wall and the quarter pipe. Since I have a hard time with asking for help I think it's probably good for me to do something that forces me to ask for help.
Organisation - they don't answer emails even for questions that aren't answered by their FAQs. Really the Tough Mudder customer service is crap and seems to generate ill will. They don't answer questions on their FB page either although they do seem to clear spam off it. Apparently they are projecting revenue of $150 million this year (I got that figure from their job ad). It wouldn't hurt to reduce that income a little by providing better customer service. On the whole despite their crappy attitude towards their customers they did manage to run a generally smooth event, had I waited at obstacle like the Melbourne people did I would have been ropeable. I noticed that they used Red Dawn for security so if there had been dramas requiring decent security they would have been in all sorts of trouble. Unfortunately they are unlikely to realise just how crappy their security provider is until too late so I'll just hope they never need good security in Sydney.
Sooo....that's the short review. I might edit it or add a part 2 later. Or I might not.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
What are you doing....
Dinoboy - What are you doing? You're not in there to muck around, you're meant to be finding my pyjamas.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Happy Birthday
"Go shorty, it's your birthday
We gon' party like it's your birthday
We gon' sip on Bacardi like it's your birthday"
We gon' party like it's your birthday
We gon' sip on Bacardi like it's your birthday"
50 Cent.
Happy Birthday Lucy.
I'm kind of angry and always sad that you aren't here to share it with me.
Sometimes I visit your blog just for old times sake, to revel in how splendidly unperfect you were.
I miss you.
Happy Birthday Lucy.
I'm kind of angry and always sad that you aren't here to share it with me.
Sometimes I visit your blog just for old times sake, to revel in how splendidly unperfect you were.
I miss you.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Word search
Y7 was doing a word search for his homework. We had a conversation that ran like this...
Y7 - "I found another one".
Me - "What is it".
Y7 - "Ho".
Me - "um, I don't think ho's a word". (to myself - "where the hell did he pick that up?")
Y7 - "Yes it is".
Dinoboy "It's what Santa says".
Y7 - "That's right!"
Me - "Oh".
Y7 - "I found another one".
Me - "What is it".
Y7 - "Ho".
Me - "um, I don't think ho's a word". (to myself - "where the hell did he pick that up?")
Y7 - "Yes it is".
Dinoboy "It's what Santa says".
Y7 - "That's right!"
Me - "Oh".
30 cm's
30 cm of snow fell on Perisher last weekend.
The first significant fall of the year.
I'm excited.
I'm also kind of nervous. Y7 is a hard charging, speed loving, all terrain skier. He skis like a boss and he knows it and it makes me scared because there is a gap there. A big space between his wisdom and his ability. His coach last year praised him for being a safe skier and I cling to that because it is a dangerous sport. There are all the risks inherent in a sport that consists pretty much of controlled falling at high speeds and then there are the risks of environment. Thankfully avalanches aren't the killers in Australia that they are elsewhere but there are other dangers out there for a boy who skis better than most adults with only a small portion of their knowledge.
Dinoboy...... he's not so hardcharging, not so fast but he loves the park and the park is full of hard things and scary tricks. And the jumps get bigger every year.
So I take them out there because I love it and because they love it too when it's all going right but sometimes I question it. Sometimes I wonder if we should all just go home and have a hot chocolate and get into a big fluffy ball of cotton wall.
EDIT - I've done a bit of googling and it seems that the average (mean) speed on an intermediate piste is 43.0 km/h. My boys ski faster than the average.
And 43 km/h is pretty fast. For comparison a good speed for a well trained road bike rider is about 35 km/h.
On the positive side competitive downhill skiers reach speeds in excess of 120km/h. My boys aren't that fast :)
The first significant fall of the year.
I'm excited.
I'm also kind of nervous. Y7 is a hard charging, speed loving, all terrain skier. He skis like a boss and he knows it and it makes me scared because there is a gap there. A big space between his wisdom and his ability. His coach last year praised him for being a safe skier and I cling to that because it is a dangerous sport. There are all the risks inherent in a sport that consists pretty much of controlled falling at high speeds and then there are the risks of environment. Thankfully avalanches aren't the killers in Australia that they are elsewhere but there are other dangers out there for a boy who skis better than most adults with only a small portion of their knowledge.
Dinoboy...... he's not so hardcharging, not so fast but he loves the park and the park is full of hard things and scary tricks. And the jumps get bigger every year.
EDIT - I've done a bit of googling and it seems that the average (mean) speed on an intermediate piste is 43.0 km/h. My boys ski faster than the average.
And 43 km/h is pretty fast. For comparison a good speed for a well trained road bike rider is about 35 km/h.
On the positive side competitive downhill skiers reach speeds in excess of 120km/h. My boys aren't that fast :)
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Possibly the best liability waiver ever....
This is from a snake handling Church. One of the ones where they drink strychnine, handle highly venemous snakes and recklessly ignore the rules of grammar and punctuation.
More snake handling.....
Friday, May 18, 2012
Chick Flicks Are Full of Suck!
Chick Flicks! Ugh!
Please Hollywood can you stop telling me that I should enjoy romantic comedies.
I look forward to the day when I can watch a movie about a woman who finds fulfillment by running off into the sunset with her dog, her sports car, her great career and a few good friends.
Yanno what's better than the average RomCom?
A Marmot!! With pear.
Please Hollywood can you stop telling me that I should enjoy romantic comedies.
I look forward to the day when I can watch a movie about a woman who finds fulfillment by running off into the sunset with her dog, her sports car, her great career and a few good friends.
Yanno what's better than the average RomCom?
A Marmot!! With pear.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
In which I win a KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer
2 posts in a month!!
It's a freaking miracle.
This is even more exciting than dead marmots. I know, I know........it's a tough gig to follow.
Delicieux is giving away a Kitchen Aid and since I'm way too cheap to buy one I'm pinning my hopes on winning one.
and a Marmot.........
It's a freaking miracle.
This is even more exciting than dead marmots. I know, I know........it's a tough gig to follow.
Delicieux is giving away a Kitchen Aid and since I'm way too cheap to buy one I'm pinning my hopes on winning one.
and a Marmot.........
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Dead Marmot.
Today with nothing better to do I had a quick look at the stats for my poor neglected blog. In particular the search terms that bought them here.
I fear that most people were disappointed.
These are a few of the search terms that have bought people here in the last month .
"how to grow a tom selleck mustache" - I can only reiterate my previous advice. If you are not a man of maturity don't bother. People will call you fluffy.
"dead marmot" - Ummmmm....... yes. I have a photo of a dead marmot in my blog. I do wish I know why a Russian person was looking for dead marmots.
"tough mudder what to wear" - Glad I'm not the only person who spends more time worrying about my clothes than my fitness.
"alligator chained to a tree in nimes" - Yes, there is an alligator tied to a tree in Nimes. I forgot all about it.
I fear that most people were disappointed.
These are a few of the search terms that have bought people here in the last month .
"how to grow a tom selleck mustache" - I can only reiterate my previous advice. If you are not a man of maturity don't bother. People will call you fluffy.
"dead marmot" - Ummmmm....... yes. I have a photo of a dead marmot in my blog. I do wish I know why a Russian person was looking for dead marmots.
"tough mudder what to wear" - Glad I'm not the only person who spends more time worrying about my clothes than my fitness.
"alligator chained to a tree in nimes" - Yes, there is an alligator tied to a tree in Nimes. I forgot all about it.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Tough Mudder - Day 1.
I've neglected my blog lately - probably because I haven't been doing anything that excites me and blogging the minutiae of life in the 'burbs isn't my cup of tea.
Anyways..... in what can only be described as a fit of temporary insanity bought upon by the lateness of the hour and a pressing need for distraction I entered myself in a Tough Mudder event in September.
Then just to make sure I couldn't back out I let everyone know that I had done so.
What is Tough Mudder you ask? It a 20km obstacle course. Obstacles being fire, mud, ice and 10'ooo volt live electrical wires (sometimes at the same time).
Smart move ChloChlo.
There was one in March but luckily I wasn't quite crazy enough to think that I could be fit enough in 8 weeks so instead I have given myself 8 months to train.
Day 1's training consisted entirely of deciding what to wear. Yes, clearly I'm going to kill this thing.
It's actually more complex than it sounds because I wear a scarf so I need an outfit that covers me but is also appropriate for crawling through mud and receiving electric shocks.
Luckily for me there has been an explosion in recent years of awesome athletic wear for Muslim women.
Capsters in The Netherlands makes wonderful head coverings for sport.
Compression garments weren't designed for Muslim women but they are awesome as bottom layers and they also design some for hot weather . All I need to do is pop a tennis skirt or a pair of running shorts over some tights and a yoga top with a tight waist band over the top and I'm covered and ready to rock the Mudder.
Lorna Jane stocks some lovely tops that are loose with a waist band to keep them in place but I've asked about their supply chains and they couldn't give me satisfactory answers about their workers. I got the line about being paid award wage which, in China, isn't a living wage so I don't shop there. Luckily RockWear in QLD manufactures right here in Australia and there are numerous other fitness brands who also provide ethically manufactured clothing. Funnily enough a lot of them are primarily Yoga brands - I guess I can see the link.
Maybe tomorrow I'll figure out what colour to wear. Or maybe not, I'm boring like that. I nearly always wear black.
Hopefully over the next few months I'll visit my blog more to track my exercise and progress.
Before the school holidays my routine was BodyPump™ 2 or 3 times a week. Cardio on the days I didn't do BodyPump™ and BodyBalance™ and some heavy weights once a week.
The boys start school on Tuesday so I think that for the next month I will stick with that to ge back to where I was and then start to build on it.
Anyways..... in what can only be described as a fit of temporary insanity bought upon by the lateness of the hour and a pressing need for distraction I entered myself in a Tough Mudder event in September.
Then just to make sure I couldn't back out I let everyone know that I had done so.
What is Tough Mudder you ask? It a 20km obstacle course. Obstacles being fire, mud, ice and 10'ooo volt live electrical wires (sometimes at the same time).
Smart move ChloChlo.
There was one in March but luckily I wasn't quite crazy enough to think that I could be fit enough in 8 weeks so instead I have given myself 8 months to train.
Day 1's training consisted entirely of deciding what to wear. Yes, clearly I'm going to kill this thing.
It's actually more complex than it sounds because I wear a scarf so I need an outfit that covers me but is also appropriate for crawling through mud and receiving electric shocks.
Luckily for me there has been an explosion in recent years of awesome athletic wear for Muslim women.
Capsters in The Netherlands makes wonderful head coverings for sport.
Compression garments weren't designed for Muslim women but they are awesome as bottom layers and they also design some for hot weather . All I need to do is pop a tennis skirt or a pair of running shorts over some tights and a yoga top with a tight waist band over the top and I'm covered and ready to rock the Mudder.Lorna Jane stocks some lovely tops that are loose with a waist band to keep them in place but I've asked about their supply chains and they couldn't give me satisfactory answers about their workers. I got the line about being paid award wage which, in China, isn't a living wage so I don't shop there. Luckily RockWear in QLD manufactures right here in Australia and there are numerous other fitness brands who also provide ethically manufactured clothing. Funnily enough a lot of them are primarily Yoga brands - I guess I can see the link.
Maybe tomorrow I'll figure out what colour to wear. Or maybe not, I'm boring like that. I nearly always wear black.
Hopefully over the next few months I'll visit my blog more to track my exercise and progress.
Before the school holidays my routine was BodyPump™ 2 or 3 times a week. Cardio on the days I didn't do BodyPump™ and BodyBalance™ and some heavy weights once a week.
The boys start school on Tuesday so I think that for the next month I will stick with that to ge back to where I was and then start to build on it.
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