Friday, October 29, 2010

Black Hill challenge.


Last Sunday The Twisted Sisters and 3 of the Chubby Hubby's competed in the toughest trail race on our Summer calendar ; The Black Hill Challenge.



It is only 12.5 km. but involves a very steep ascent of 335 metres over 1 km straight up Black Hill.  If you stop moving forward in this run, believe me you will just wind up going backwards.
Black Hill as seen from the start line.

Once you get to the top there is a steep descent which totally trashes your knees. Then just when you think you have done all you can you turn a corner and there before you are more steep hills.
All four Twisted Sisters competed this year, plus 3 of the Chubby Hubby's and my BIL James who is visiting from Darwin.



I took 1/2 an hour off last year's time and came in at 1:44:33. This time is not because I have got any faster but because in previous years the temperature has always been well over 35c. and so hot it has been cruel. This year it was a crisp and cool Spring morning and very pleasant running conditions.
Chubby Hubby Mike was clearly on a mission in this run. We all think he's sneaked in some illegal performance enhancing drugs. ( he's always on Ebay don't you know, buying crap and this despite being banned from it by Susi no Bum his wife. ) 
BIL James beat the lot of us and obviously won't be invited back again. My Chubby Hubby Daryl held up the rear and has now been renamed Rear End Charlie !!!


Moi coming in to the finish line.


Chubby hubby Daryl.

Thank God, the finish line.

BIL James.

Only 119 runners were crazy enough to do this run, and only 41 were ladies. Several runners did not finish. Those who took the winning positions were all disgustingly young. Quite frankly I have meat in the freezer older than some of them.
As older runners we know the value of replacing all those lost calories,  so coffee and pudding was in order. So much nicer than Gatorade !! 


Jam Roly Poly Bread and Butter Pudding. Essential for replacing all those lost nutrients. I'm sure  all the 5 food groups can be found here.


Thankyou for visiting my Blog.
Cheers, Karen.


 

Monday, October 25, 2010

Pink October.


October in Australia as in most countries is the month we remember and support ladies with breast cancer. My family has unfortunately been affected by this awful disease. My sister Helen, cousins Dawn and Sandra, and friends Lynne, Annie and Helen have all had breast cancer. Sandra sadly passed away from it at only 39 years.

On October 17  DH, Moi and 2 of the other Twisted Sisters,  Tracey and Jacky ran the 10 km. Race for Life here in Adelaide.


This was my first road race since February and it felt very strange on a flat surface. This run took us along the River Torrens and through the parklands of Adelaide and many runners really got into the Pink Theme.



I ran a time of 61 minutes, not brilliant, but a good starting point for the middle distance racing season. My sister Helen also did a survivors lap in Darwin.


My sister Helen on the right.

The Twisted Sisters do the race for Life.

 
Adelaide warms up for the race.

My stitching this past week has also been pink. I am making a selection of cross stitch pink mini cushions for my sister.





The Pink Ribbon cushion is a freebie from the DMC website and the other is a Lizzie Kate freebie.


 This Saturday I went on my first bike ride for the season and amazingly I stayed upright and did not add to my blood trail on the bike track. DH and I went with friends Lil and John and we a did a 20 km. Tour de Bakery. DF John,  also known as Mr Fix It makes bikes out of  piles of junk. His wife Lil was not impressed with his latest creation for her and she got a mega case of Bot Rot.


 John and DH sorting Lil's NEW Bike !!

We cycled 20 km. to a brilliant bakery at St. Peters, had coffee and cake and then cycled back up Linear Park.


Guess which cake belongs to the Chubby Hubby ?



Lil and my Chubby Hubby.




Lil, Daryl and John.

 I am hoping to enter a couple of bike races over Summer with Susi no Bum and her Chubby Hubby.
Those of you who have visited my blog before will know that I do not care for Chubby Hubby's in Lycra. But please tell me : do you think my Chubby Hubby has gone too far to please me ???



 Thank you for visiting my blog.
Cheers Karen.

 

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Are men really necessary ?

This is not my cake, it is the Chubby Hubby's.


Summer is just around the corner here in South Australia and with our summer comes intense heat and BUGS !
Now ladies have traditionally been reluctant to go bug and spider hunting in their homes. Preferring to allocate this task to the " men of the household. " Not because we can't do bugs I might add but because our heroic menfolk need to feel wanted and useful.
However with the development of high impact bug sprays I find myself pondering on whether men are now really necessary.

Let's consider their previous uses;
- Heavy lifting : well we have forklifts now which girls do operate.
- Babies : reproductive medicine has now virtually eliminated their role in this process. Not to mention the variety of battery operated do it yourself toys now available.

Of course man's original role was as hunter and gatherer. Now any lady watching her man trying to find something in the refrigerator will understand that the gathering instincts have long been bred out. When my chubby hubby goes to the fridge, if the item required does not jump out and say " here I am ", then there is no way he is going to find and gather it.

Now back to the bugs ; watching the chubby hubby trying to hunt and kill a fly is poetry in motion and akin to a Greek Tragedy.
Hunting tool required : Rolled up TV guide.
Now like prehistoric man DH treats his hunting tools with utmost reverence. It is his life line don't you know and his entire life is guided by it.
Chubby hubby's guide to fly squatting;
- take rolled up precious TV guide.
- raise left arm 90 degrees and take a practice aim.
- announce to the entire household including said fly that he is about to make a KILL.
- aim and swat, halting the killer blow just before making contact so the TV guide is not damaged.
- fly in question escapes.
- DH looks at Moi; " you get it if you're so good ! "

I REST MY CASE.

So now I'm thinking there is only one possible role left for our menfolk. That being the taking of moral responsibility for ordering desert when out for a meal.
We girls know that if we order our own deserts we are inviting a catastrophic expansion of our hips and waistlines. So we simply do not do deserts. BUT: if DH orders a creamy pie the size of Ularu and we eat most of it with a long spoon from his plate, the calories are lost in transit.
And we are innocent of the crime of desert eating.

The Twisted Sisters have now commenced summer training and I have now recovered from whatever I had that led me to retiring from the Yurrebilla ultra.


Moi in the Yurrebilla Ultra just before retiring.


This week we moved from the trails to avoid the snakes and went down to Largs Bay to train in the Snake Pit. Go figure !
This is a tough, very soft sand 500 metre hilly circuit and it's hard, hard work. I don't know why it is called the snake pit and I don't want to know.

Tracey running the snake pit.

The snake pit.

Moi, about to tackle another lap.

The Twisted Sisters on the beach.


We did 5 full laps, 5 sets of soft sand hill sprints, alternated with sets of step ups, push ups and tricep dips. We then went on to the beach and did a 30 minute sand run in bare feet.

Last Friday night I competed in the West Pac Stair Climb race. This was a race to the top of the West Pac building here in Adelaide up the stairwell.




I completed the full 30 stories and 135 metres of vertical height in 4 minutes 26 seconds and won first placing for my age group.
Each runner started in 15 second intervals and the average finishing time was 6 to 8 minutes.
Some people did the run in teams taking 10 flights of stairs each. Because I have done so much hill training I actually found it quite easy although a little hot and stuffy in the stairwell.




The sewing machine and I have also been having some deep and meaningful time and have not come to blows too often.




This is a quilt I hand stitched and which DF Amanda of Sea Breeze Quilts is Quilting for me. The pattern is Meg's Garden by Kelly at Dont Look Now.




I've also had a bit of a play with a Tilda Design and these bunnies are to be a wall hanging.



This hexagon pillow has been a lot more work than I thought it would be, but i'm totally hooked on hexagons right now.

These bags are also fun to make . The pattern is by Lorraine at Hetties Patch.

Happy running and stitching to all.
Til next time
Cheers Karen.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Humble Pie.

Okay, so a seriously big slice of Humble Pie needs to be eaten today.
For months I have been banging on and poking fun at the Chubby Hubby's, and for good reason I might add. But yesterday both DH and Mike both proved themselves as ultra marathoners, whilst I was a non finisher withdrawing from the race at 21 km.


Yes the two Chubby Hubby's successfully completed the 56 km. Yurrebilla ultra trail marathon in 10 hr 45 min, their stomachs crossing the line first in 10 hr 40 min.!!! This is a very gruelling and tough cross country run with lots of steep climbs and rocky descents through the Adelaide Hills. Many participants do not finish this run.

My run started well and whilst I felt I had over trained I was confident as I had successfully completed this run last year. I covered the first 20 km. in 90 minutes, well ahead of my race plan. However at 15km. we descended into a steep gully where it was very hot and humid.
I'm always totally crap in the heat and so within a few minutes in this gully I became quite nauseated and light headed. I pushed on through the nausea for another 3km. but by this time I was also experiencing severe hamstring cramps and excruciating back pain. With only 3km. to go to the next check point where I knew I could get help, I knew I had to make a quick and sensible decision on whether to continue or not.
However by the time I neared the check point my legs were very weak, wobbly and shaking so I really had no choice.
I also believe I was in the wrong mind set for the event. For some unknown reason I simply didn't feel motivated or interested. I must add that if this had just been one of our training runs I would have canceled, pulled the blankets over my head and gone back to sleep.



Daryl and Mike with only 6 km. to go and about to tackle the steepest climb in the run.


Susi found this particularly tasty but distressed Italian runner on the trail and they finished the run together.


The race marshalls try to make the day fun and go to a lot of trouble to make us laugh.


The event this year was very difficult for most competitors. Runners who usually do very well withdrew with severe cramping, heat exhaustion or just crawled across the finish line. DF Cathy and Judy who are new to trail events both struggled through severe pain and exhaustion and finished although not in qualifying time. DF Cathy when she crossed the finish line said if any one ever says the word Yurrebilla to her ever again she would KILL them !



Twisted Sister Tracey fell into the grass at the finish line and there she stayed for some time.

Susi no Bum has been given a very stern lecture from me for continuing the event whilst severely ill with a gastrointestinal problem and palpitations. Sheer bloody madness. No event is worth killing yourself over.



Chubby Hubby Daryl and Moi at the finish line.


Mike and Daryl after finishing.


Daryl, Mike , Susi No Bum and Kym.


Judy crossed the finished line and fell into this chair.


DF. Cathy with her daughter Georgina.


And so The Twisted Sisters and The Chubby Hubby's racing season comes to an end. We've had a very successful but tiring season, and we are all now ready for a rest as most of us are completely Burnt Out.


AND SO CHUBBY HUBBY'S DARYL AND MIKE, I SALUTE YOU,
WELL DONE TO BOTH OF YOU!
PS: YOU ARE BOTH STILL CHUBBY LOL !

Thanks for dropping by;
Cheers Karen.