Breaking in the books with a training hike

Hi everyone, I got out for my first training hike today to break in the new boots. Just a short 10km hike from the Spit Bridge to Manly.

I must admit that I'm pretty impressed with them, they are already feeling so comfortable and I didn't even really get a hint of them being a problem :)

That meant that I really got to enjoy the hike and the beautiful day that it was. Thanks so much to Dawn, Tam and Colin for being my trekking buddies and for the wonderful post trek feed at Ribs and Rumps Manly :)

If you wanna see the route - I tracked most of it on strava. Use this link and you can see my saved activity details.

http://app.strava.com/activities/124794850

I have a few more treks planned over the next couple of weeks that will be tougher and I'll make sure I incorporate a bit more gear so I'm used to carrying everything. I did take the GoPro out today to try it out so can't wait to see what video and photos I got from it (keep and eye out)

For now though here's some pictures of the day from my phone.. and, if you've never done the hike before I thoroughly reccomend it. It's not too far and there's some nice stairs and hilly terrain.. what's more there's plenty of really beautiful views along the way to stop and appreciate.

Colin, Tam, Dawn and I pre hike.

Beautiful views along the way

Yep, beautiful

We made it

What do you know about Kokoda?

Just a quick post to see what everyone knows about The Kokoda Track.

Personally, I can only remember back to history lessons in school but that's about it.

What does everyone else know? It'd be great if you share your knowledge :)

In the meantime, I've uploaded some extracts from BackTrack Adventures Information Guide which will give you some brief details:

Papua New Guinea and Kokoda at a Glance

 

Kokoda - The Heroes of the Track

 



Kokoda - Campaign Events

Sharing the experience and being there..

This is all such a new experience to me that I'm not sure what to expect or how to prepare or how I will feel afterwards? So, I'm just going to do everything :) Really my motto is head down, butt up and do it!

People probably think that I go a little bit overboard when I start endeavours.. with enthusiasm, with preparation, with gear, or with thinking, but hey! better safe than sorry right - If you're going to do something you may as well do it right - right?!? (if you don't agree argue with my mum)

Anyway, I do want to try and share as much of this experience with everyone and anyone as possible for a number of reasons, and I will tell you in a minute how I'm going to do that, but for now let's list why? :)

1) Kokoda Track - A massive part of Australian military history and one of the toughest jungle treks there is - I'm willing to take on the challenge. I classify myself a normal (albeit a bit nutty) but if I can do it any one can.

I have posted previously about this experience and it's military history. I truly don't think that I could ever be as amazing as our service men and women that protect our country.. but in my way I'll try.. maybe sometime in the future I'll find more.. but for now, what I can give is to follow their footsteps and live what they lived. Maybe not in the same peril, but the demands are there. I'm sad that only just found out about Rusty (Godfrey Priest) - more so I never knew him, but now I have a connection that will make this all the more special.

2) Sir David Martin Foundation - Their help with disadvantage youths is awesome. If I can help them while I have amazing experiences then I'll be there 110% of the time. I know everyone didn't have what I had growing up, or has been fortunate in their lives as I have.. (that's all relative to everyone to be honest). To be real I might even fall on tough times myself. I'm not the SDMF target market, but I always hope there would be someone for me.

a) because it's just the right thing to do.

b) because you never know you might end up in the same situation on day and hope someone was there for you.



If you got this far, you're interested (as you should be) and this is what I'm trying to do.

I want to share this experience as much as possible with everyone. I think that it's going to be amazing, so if I can get others that feeling too - I'll try my best! :)

This is what I want to do, I'm going to try and capture as much as possible., and to do this.. "magicians exclamation".. ta da.. Here's my gear that I have to sort out before the Trek so that I can share with everyone.

 

 

I started wearing  a GoPro video camera on my motorcycle helmet because I've have a few scenarios with other drivers that weren't so nice.. I always have it on now and it helps me to capture everything that is going on - just in case.

 

It makes sense to me that I can do exactly the same thing for the Trek. The GoPro is ideal to be able to easily capture either photos or videos. Sure I'm not going to have it going all of the time, but if I'm lucky enough to capture some key experiences that I can share I'll be really happy.

 

I'm not sure about internet connectivity, but I will capture as much as possible for everyone.. and I will make sure I share it! :)

 

Finally, I have had a message from the tour administrators saying that the tour lead will be wearing a GPS during the Trek and there will be the ability to look up exactly where we are. So, stay tuned to more information about that before I go - I think it's a little something that will be really neat :)

 

The little things that make this experience even so much more special..

Wow, I'm really happy to have just had an email from a friend at work supporting me on my Kokoda Track Challenge - other than the wonderful support I get from this - it's even all the more special because, as it turns out her and her family are close friends of the Priest family and Godfrey "Rusty" Priest. (who sadly passed away in September of 2013)

Rusty was decorated war veteran who was heavily involved in the RSL and the rebuilding of community pride, awareness and involvement in Anzac Day commemorations (Initiatives such as The Anzac memorial / Anzac Bridge and the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway to name a few). As the Anzac spirit and the recognition of our serving men and women are so key to this challenge for me it means quite a lot to find a link such as this and it makes it so much more special.

Personally, I've been trying to learn a bit more about The Kokoda Track and find out more detail about the events that make it so iconic in Australian military history, but this really does give me more learning to do. I wasn't aware of Rusty prior to Kathryn's email in support, but from all that I have read since, Rusty epitomises not only the Anzac spirit but a lot about what I believe it means to be Australian.

I'm definitely going to find out more about him, so even though I never knew him whilst he was alive I can appreciate everything that he has done for me.

Here's a couple of links that I have found so far - so if you would like to find out more you can too..

ABC News article
Parliament of NSW - Tribute
War memorials NSW - Anzac Bridge
Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway

How do you train for Kokoda?

Hmmmm.. Well the short answer is - I don't know! =/

I've been talking to a few people but the general consensus seems to be go practice trekking, in all your gear and in similar conditions so that you're prepared.. All pretty straight forward I guess, but if anyone has any helpful tips please let me know, it'll be very much appreciated! :)

In the meantime, a lot of my focus has been training for a Half Ironman triathlon in Batemens Bay - Tomorrow!.. Eeeeep

Good news is I don't have far to travel to the start in the morning :) Below is a picture outside our apartment door when we arrived at Batemans Bay. In the background (just over my right shoulder) you can see the transition area (start swim area is right there!)

This is the first time I've attempted an event of this kind. With a 1.9km swim, 90km bike ride and 21km run, I'm hoping to finish under 6:30hrs, but really I'm just in it to finish. I'm sure it will be an immense challenge and great cross fitness training for the Kokoda Track, although I definitely need to spend some time training in my gear.

Speaking of gear, I've just completed my preparations for the morning and I'm about to head to bed. Here's a picture of everything that I need. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to fit this all into transition, but I'm sure I'll be able to! :)

Well bring on the morning! Fingers crossed it's beautiful weather, the water temperature is cold enough for wetsuits and that it's all over in less than 6:30hrs.. The quicker and sooner this is all done the better for me! ;)

These feet were made for thongs and sneakers..

.. But these boots were made for trekking.. Who would have thought that walking would be sooooo difficult?.. Well not necessarily walking, but trekking!.. I guess this is what happens when you come from spending as much time as possible in thongs or sneakers :)

I got out for the first time today to look at boots for the trek (yep running late on breaking them in time) and I must say I'm a bit brain fried.. I understand in looking for a boot you need good support (especially in the ankle), good soles (thickness and grip), strong durable material (preferably waterproof and breathable).. But come on! How long is a piece of string and having no experience, where do you compromise on price and quality and features?

I'm going to spend some time doing some research and talking to a few people that know more than me.. Hopefully I will be enlightened! In the meantime, here's a few of the boots that I have come across that I think will do the job for me.. It will be interesting to see what I end up with.. (To be decided soon!)

Sponsors and Sponsorship Jersey Finalised

I have now been able to finalise my Sponsors and Sponsorship jersey design. The final design differs from the original design in logo placements and sizes, but the impact is so much better. The line that goes through the jersey looks much like a track so rather than cover it with logos I have placed the logos of each of my sponsors along the track. This symbolises how each of my sponsors have helped me along in my journey.

Here's the final design submitted to the jersey manufacturer. I still have to wait on this to be confirmed. It looks good to me, but I will leave it up to the professionals if they have constructive ideas and input to make the design look better (along the same theme)

 

 

In regards to sponsorship, I'm really excited to announce that I have been doing a lot of ground work around sponsorships and am pleased to say that I got a majority of the sponsors that I was looking for.

 

Facebook:

They include: RESIMAC, It's Time To Go Dance Sydney, Navwealth Group, Rapid Personal Training, State Custodians Mortgage Company, Paul Denny Conveyancing, Australian Institute of Latin Dance, Paywise and Wyseware.

Thank you so much to each of these sponsors for helping to make this journey possible for me. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity that I can't wait for and on top of that to be able to once again help out The Sir David Martin Foundation is just icing on the cake of such an amazing experience!