The Good, The Bad & The Inspirational
Below are the updates of entrants and trainers from the 2011 series 8. Some are short, some are long, we just post up whatever gets sent in, so scroll down and pick and choose a few to have a read of at as they will give you a good idea of what entrants got up to and how they felt throughout the journey.
Wendy’s 10 km Walk
Well I never would have thought I’d do a 10km walk/run and finish it in a good time of 1hr 29mins so very pleased with myself. Feeling a bit sore, but still managed to go off to the gym at 6am this morning. Wendy (far left, is trained by Roger (middle) and that’s Jo Lean on the far right.
300m, Slips & Electric Fences
Just a wee update, a good week of biking and walking, a year older, and I actually decided and ordered my bike. Yay.
Off for a wee walk today with my sister just up the hill at the back of my parents place in Puketahi Street, the Power Pole Track, which goes up to 300m altitude and past a substation (my brother in law suggested it). It was a gravel road, then an old dozer track, it was a great walk up, stopping occasionally to take in the views which were fantastic, finally we reached the top and were greeted with a smelly chamois head on the fence.
We then thought it would be too boring and easy to go back the way we came, so decided to decend towards Kaiata on the old dozer track. We phoned my sisters husband to ask where the track was and what it was like, he said it’s rough, don’t do it, we chose not to listen to this sound advice.
We set off, the track was fine, a little slippery (nothing like the mud run lol), until the old dozer track ran out! and we had to bush bash the rest of the way, we mainly slipped and skidded down what appeared to be a water race which was dry but very slippery. We weren’t sure a few times how we were going to get down as it was very steep and slippery. I grabbed a tree and was edging down, then lost my footing, slipped and was dangling by my arm, it’s darn sore now. Further down my sisters knee started locking up. We did decide on the way down we probably should have listened to my sisters husband, as it wasn’t a track at all, and was a very hit and miss shimmy down the hill, we also decided it would have been a good idea to bring some food with us, I mentioned Em’s power cookies and my sister had heard of them too.
We finally got to the end and met an electric fence with cows in the paddock (which we had seen from above), we had to crawl under some scrub to get to a hole in the fence to enter the paddock, then precariously walked/jogged towards the road for fear of a mad cow chasing us (spot the townies). Thankfully the cows weren’t on a chasing mission today and we made it to the end. What an adventure, it was fun, we wouldn’t come down that way again, but nevertheless it was way out of our comfort zones and a thrill.
I would never have contemplated doing any of this stuff before the challenge, and are absolutely thrilled with the new experiences I have had on this journey, I’ve gained so much more confidence in my ability and now seek out adventure. My legs aren’t even sore after today’s escapade, so the training I’ve been doing must be paying off. Deb is trained by Michelle from BodyWorx.
Deb & Glenys Get Muddy
Mud run was fantastic fun, even with the hangover of all hangovers (I haven’t been out drinking for 3 years due to pregnancy/breastfeeding and went to a cocktail party last night!) wasn’t the best planning, however Glenys and I really enjoyed it, lots of laughter and choice words. Glenys will send in the update and the pics.
Also I have completed the Ironman Challenge with Kerrie De Haan, we done half the distances each, and have each completed our halves of the distances. Deb is trained by Michelle and Glenys is trained by Charlotte and both trainers are from Bodyworx in Hokitika and Kerrie is trained by Michelle Edwards in Christchurch.
James
I have now run my 10km race and have lost 10 kgs. Claudia is now keeping my feet on the ground when I want to enter the next half-marathon available. She is good at keeping it practical and getting there through small steps. James is trained by Claudia Disney.
Racey Goes to 1000 Metres
Update 1: Great start to my altitude challenge today 495 meters from Zeros (Coffee Shop) to the Trig Sight at the top of Sugarloaf, I took along an extra 10 Kg in my pack to make things interesting and to score those bonus meters. Next leg tomorrow.
Update 2: Zeros to the Takahe that’s another 200 meters on my total. Hips and legs fine but shoulders getting a bit sore, that 10kg seemed a lot heavier today.
Update 3: “1000 METERS”. The final leg last night Zeros to Victoria Park 305 meters, I can finally dump that 10 Kg from my bag what a relief. It was amazing to see just what a difference it made, what was before a enjoyable walk became a bit of a struggle.
The best bit: Next time I will read the whole challenge properly as and individual I only had to walk 250 which I found out the next day but as they say no gain without sacrifice the extra effort was well worth it.
Congratulations to all who completed the challenge. Dave. Dave (Racey) is trained by Cate Grace. That’s Dave in the photo with Riwai behind him doing a circuit at Zest.
Dave Hikes 13km in the Snow!
My how time flies, here’s what I’ve been up to – I haven’t missed a session with Dwayne 3 X times per week for the last 18 weeks (before the earthquake I was following a similar schedule) I have also been making use of the great facilities at City Fitness, I have my favourite bike for the ride class and me and the bike know just what’s required. In an effort to shed the final pounds I have adjusted my nutrition to get a bit more protein and also I’m drinking more water. I’ve done the altitude challenge wearing a 17kg weight vest and walked 13km in heavy snow to get to my daughters house because I couldn’t get my car out of the garage.
At the moment I’m reviewing all the newsletters again and extracting every last drop of encouragement and information out of them and noting where I picked up my ‘catch credits’ from. Strangely enough now we are so close I don’t want the competition to end it’s been so helpful felling that I’m part of something bigger than myself and that all around NZ people are making huge changes in their lifestyles. I am feeling confident that I will reach my goals because I’ve done all the hard work and finally feel that everything and I mean everything has fallen in to place. It seems like this update is all about me and I suppose most of it should be but once again I’d like to wish my fellow competitors all the best and hope to meet you when you come to Christchurch for the Awards night. Dave is trained by Dwayne Thomas
More updates on the way in the mean time you can check out the Altitude Challenge, The Radio Interviews, some big blisters and generally what every one has been up to by clicking here and clicking here 
