I will definitely be keeping up doing this one...
Tuesday, 16 June 2015
Ringing Gran
My Gran lives in New Zealand and she just turned 93. I decided that I don't call her enough so this task was to call (or Skype) her every month. My Uncle's Skype unfortunately is not working so calling it was. I did miss out on one Month (February) but did call twice the following month!
I will definitely be keeping up doing this one...
I will definitely be keeping up doing this one...
Roar & Snore
Taronga Zoo is a fantastic zoo - it not only is on prime real estate and has the most amazing views of Sydney city, the zoo itself is a great organisation.
I experienced this first hand with Cath and Caitlin at our recent Roar & Snore adventure... we arrived at the zoo having taken the ferry after work at around 6:15pm. Met with the group and our leaders for the night and the we went for a walk (it was dark!) around the zoo to the camping area which turns has fantastic views. The official part of the evening starts with cheese and wine, a look at some animals, a great dinner and a night safari. Then you sleepover at the zoo (woken in the middle of the night by some monkey like animal noises) glamping style.. luckily for me my camp bed had an electric blanket.
We woke to an awesome sunrise over the harbour and then breakfast and then onto our close encounters where we fed the giraffes breakfast, had a local native animal petting encounter and watched the new seal show training.
I had to go to work after that but everyone has the option of staying at the zoo all day - and you get 30 minutes of the zoo all to yourself before the masses enter. What a great experience and well worth the money that goes straight back into the zoo!
I experienced this first hand with Cath and Caitlin at our recent Roar & Snore adventure... we arrived at the zoo having taken the ferry after work at around 6:15pm. Met with the group and our leaders for the night and the we went for a walk (it was dark!) around the zoo to the camping area which turns has fantastic views. The official part of the evening starts with cheese and wine, a look at some animals, a great dinner and a night safari. Then you sleepover at the zoo (woken in the middle of the night by some monkey like animal noises) glamping style.. luckily for me my camp bed had an electric blanket.
We woke to an awesome sunrise over the harbour and then breakfast and then onto our close encounters where we fed the giraffes breakfast, had a local native animal petting encounter and watched the new seal show training.
I had to go to work after that but everyone has the option of staying at the zoo all day - and you get 30 minutes of the zoo all to yourself before the masses enter. What a great experience and well worth the money that goes straight back into the zoo!
the Big Issue...
This is another one of my charity tasks. I had to by a copy of the Big Issue every month. It gets published every month and is sold by people who do not have a job and they get the profits of selling the magazines.
What ended up being my main challenge was being out on the streets when the magazine was being sold! Recently I have been going into work quite early (before the guys are out selling) and rushing home after work to get to training on a route that doesn't have anyone selling them! But I have now found a couple of guys that I like to buy from and will continue to buy the magazine when I can.
It is actually quite a comprehensive magazine full of good articles and well worth buying. A great initiative and a great publication.
What ended up being my main challenge was being out on the streets when the magazine was being sold! Recently I have been going into work quite early (before the guys are out selling) and rushing home after work to get to training on a route that doesn't have anyone selling them! But I have now found a couple of guys that I like to buy from and will continue to buy the magazine when I can.
It is actually quite a comprehensive magazine full of good articles and well worth buying. A great initiative and a great publication.
10 Chin Ups??
Chin ups are quite hard for girls, especially taller and bigger girls - there is a lot of weight to lift up!
2 years ago I did my first unassisted chin up but never really got very far with the development of them. Even though I loved being able to say I can do chin ups, the most I could ever do was 2 or 3 in a row, then I would have to stop and regroup and then do 1 or 2 more, and never really more than around 5. So I set this challenge to do 10 unassisted chin ups.
I actually didn't start training for this properly until mid-April when most of our racing season was out of the way and I was able to fit a 2nd and 3rd gym session in (before then I had been running as well as doing both DB and OC and I was finding it hard to do more than 1 gym session a week). So with the additional sessions under my belt, my improvement curve went up fairly quickly.
With adjudication of my awesome PT Alani, who helped me get there, I have successfully completed this task!
Monday, 15 June 2015
Learning impossible new skills
I have never been able to click my fingers or whistle, not properly. Sure I can do it, but not with any solid or audible sound, every time, consistently. I have discovered however since revealing this lack of skillset that there actually are quite a few people who cannot do this. And there are people who cannot wink. So I don't feel so alone.
However much I tried to improve my skills in this area over the last few months, all were to no avail - I still can't do it.
We worked out what I do wrong with my clicking (it's all in the technique), but I can't change it - I cannot change my hand, my fingers, or my thumb so clicking is just a skill I will continue to live with limited abilities. Whistling is the same - if I concentrate hard and be patient, I can whistle. But I cannot carry a tune and no matter how much I tried I still could not improve (I would say it would take years, not just a couple of months).
So the co-creators of 'The List' came up with a replacement challenge of their liking (my friend Cath is currently in protest about this)... To perform a short skipping routine in front of a small audience. We did an OC1 session on Saturday morning out around the Sydney headlands which was great and afterwards a small group of friends stood around and watched my do a short skipping routine. Some of it was captured on video and some photos as well... it was pretty funny.
(Warning: video contains coarse language, parental guidance is recommended): https://vimeo.com/130607786
However much I tried to improve my skills in this area over the last few months, all were to no avail - I still can't do it.
We worked out what I do wrong with my clicking (it's all in the technique), but I can't change it - I cannot change my hand, my fingers, or my thumb so clicking is just a skill I will continue to live with limited abilities. Whistling is the same - if I concentrate hard and be patient, I can whistle. But I cannot carry a tune and no matter how much I tried I still could not improve (I would say it would take years, not just a couple of months).
So the co-creators of 'The List' came up with a replacement challenge of their liking (my friend Cath is currently in protest about this)... To perform a short skipping routine in front of a small audience. We did an OC1 session on Saturday morning out around the Sydney headlands which was great and afterwards a small group of friends stood around and watched my do a short skipping routine. Some of it was captured on video and some photos as well... it was pretty funny.
(Warning: video contains coarse language, parental guidance is recommended): https://vimeo.com/130607786
Tennis anyone??
I played tennis a lot when I was growing up - mainly in Hong Kong at the Ladies Recreation Club (LRC) where I spent many a Saturday morning playing with my friends. I was good at it, not great but good enough to play a couple of games, have long rallies and win shots. I could serve, volley, and I always hit straight shots (never spinning the ball at all).
So I discovered that a couple of my friends here play tennis semi-regularly! So I asked them for a game. Adrian set up the court and on a lovely winter's morning we played a game. Hit the ball around for a bit of a warm up, chose our teams and then played a set and a bit. It was great fun! It all came back to me after a while too. I think we all produced some winning shots, we all hit a ball over the fence by accident and we all had fun.
Followed by a recovery breakfast, what a great way to spend the morning, I think I might do that again!
So I discovered that a couple of my friends here play tennis semi-regularly! So I asked them for a game. Adrian set up the court and on a lovely winter's morning we played a game. Hit the ball around for a bit of a warm up, chose our teams and then played a set and a bit. It was great fun! It all came back to me after a while too. I think we all produced some winning shots, we all hit a ball over the fence by accident and we all had fun.
Followed by a recovery breakfast, what a great way to spend the morning, I think I might do that again!
Giving Blood
It has been around 14 years since I have given blood - for around 3-4 years I was a regular donor and then stopped for some reason (can't remember why). There is a Red Cross near my office and so I decided to start donations back up again. Compared to before, I don't smoke and I do a lot of exercise so I figured my recovery would be a little different but wasn't sure.
My first attempt to donate again unfortunately did not go ahead... I had an upset tummy the day before so they told me I could not donate :(
Then I went to India and unfortunately India is on the list of countries that needs a buffer before you are allowed to donate... 4 months!
So May it was - however it was the height of my race season so I decided to wait until after our final race of the season to donate so the recovery didn't affect my paddling. I just must remember not to do a heavy weights session the morning after as it is not good!!
It was exactly as I remember it, and I do highly recommend it. It takes a long time the first time if you haven't donated before, but subsequent times are a lot quicker. It really is a great thing to do and I received an email to say that my blood had gone to Westmead Hospital and had helped to save someone's life. How cool is that?
My first attempt to donate again unfortunately did not go ahead... I had an upset tummy the day before so they told me I could not donate :(
Then I went to India and unfortunately India is on the list of countries that needs a buffer before you are allowed to donate... 4 months!
So May it was - however it was the height of my race season so I decided to wait until after our final race of the season to donate so the recovery didn't affect my paddling. I just must remember not to do a heavy weights session the morning after as it is not good!!
It was exactly as I remember it, and I do highly recommend it. It takes a long time the first time if you haven't donated before, but subsequent times are a lot quicker. It really is a great thing to do and I received an email to say that my blood had gone to Westmead Hospital and had helped to save someone's life. How cool is that?
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