Parkrunning 2

Today saw me getting up early again (on a Saturday!) to head to Bunyaville for my second trail run at Bunyaville Parkrun.

There was a really good attendance again, with friendly and helpful volunteers to welcome everyone and ensure the event goes ahead smoothly.

This time on the run I wasn't feeling too good. I had been a little ill with my sinuses through the week, and I felt like it was really hard work just to keep going around the track. Somewhere near the halfway point I passed another runner, who yelled some encouragement at me, and we ended up having a little bit of a joke together. I pulled away from her, but she caught back up towards me further on and carried on yelling encouragement. When I had to break and walk a little she caught right up to me, and encouraged me to keep going round the rest of the way. She was awesome - so much energy and such a positive attitude, it really helped. She completely left me for dust on the final uphill section towards the finish line, but with her encouragement I was nearly half a minute faster than last time (my first Parkrun PB!).

Parkrun time 37:52

My new running mate, Yvette, invited me for coffee after the run, and I gladly accepted the invitation. We met up with a few others, and I was fascinated and impressed by the tales of their distance runs, stage runs, ultra runs, and so on - plenty of things for me to dream of aiming for in the future. And less far off, I got invited along to a trail session tomorrow afternoon too - I see trail running in my future...

Back On My Mountain Bike!

No Parkrun for me this Saturday. Not because I am dropping out after just 1 week, but because I looked on Meetup the other day and happened to see a mountain biking lesson coming up for just $30 Australian. Bargain!!

The lesson was aimed at beginners, but as I am not very good, and haven't been on a bike in some time - let alone mountain biking - I thought beginner was the right level for me.

The lesson was through a mountain bike meetup group, and provided by Roadie Rob's Bicycle School. Roadie Rob himself was an experienced rider, and seemed to get a great balance of lots of instruction without making it feel too tedious or dry. There were only 2 of us who turned up at Gap Creek Reserve, and we both seemed to be at a similar level, so it was a really great (and super cheap!) session. We practiced a few different handling skills that make a foundation for more advanced skills later on, and then used the obstacle skills park for a bit more handling practice.

The lesson culminated with some trail practice, working on cornering first on an area of switchbacks and then on gentler trail. This was ideal for me, as cornering is definitely a huge downfall (often literally!) for me. I will still need lots of practice - and maybe even some more lessons - to get any good, but learning is fun :)  I just need a new Owen to take me out on the trails ;)

I'm the top one - photo credit to Roadie Rob

Parkrunning

Today I did my first Parkrun, which was also my first trail run!

I turned up to the start point for the Bunyaville Parkrun, a 100% trail route, feeling quite excited. I got lots of kudos from the volunteer I approached to ask about how it all worked, as I was not only there for the first time, doing a trail run for my first one, but also I had come alone. I'm kind of used to turning up to stuff alone - I think it would be more sad to sit home alone and miss out on stuff, than to get out there and do stuff alone - but apparently some people find that a bit impressive, so I got to feel kind of good from the positivity :)

Parkrun is a free, timed, 5km run organised at many locations in many different countries. You register online first, and that gives you a barcode which is then used every week to save your run times to your profile. This profile keeps a record of all your runs and keeps track of your PB (personal best).

My slow run - the proper time 38:18 - I always mess up Strava recordings!

Bunyaville is a fairly hilly trail run, with just a little bit of single track amongst the slightly wider bits. The trail is shared with mountain bikers, so we give way to them - must be the only time mtbs are not bottom of the trail-priority pile! I wasn't fast, especially uphill, but I finished with a smile and will definitely be doing it again!

(Almost) Trail Blazing

Way back at the start of my time in Brisbane, before I began this year's uni course (a distance ed Graduate Certificate in Human Services) and before I got my current job, I had plans. Lots of them. For all kinds of fun adventury-type things!

I made a list of some of them here, and looking back over that list I have actually actioned more of them than I would have thought, given how busy I've ended up being (I should do a re-cap at the end of the year, see if I can tick them all off!).

www.wildrunners.com.au

Anyhoo, one of the items on the list was to have a go at trail running. I had written to a group called Wild Runners, who seemed like a good bunch from what I had read online, and then, well... I didn't really do anything else... I made a couple of half-hearted attempts to get up in time for the antisocial 5.30am starts, and then between uni, a trip back to the UK, then starting work on top of uni, I simply gave up.

Fast forward to September, and I decided to pop into a trail running shop to ask about trail shoes, with a view to saving up for some if I decided I liked trail running. It turned out that the shop, The Trail Co., is run by the same people as Wild Runners! So they managed to persuade me to drag myself out of bed the following day at the horrendous hour of 4am, so that I could meet them for a run conditioning session.

Somehow I did manage to get up, and even feel enthusiastic enough to follow through with getting ready and heading out of the house. Very unlike me to be so human early in the morning!

I drove to the area at nearby Mt Coot-Tha where the session was to be held, and despite such an early start everyone was really welcoming and friendly.

Tim led the session, with a mixture of strength and stability exercises after a bit of a warm up. Some of the exercises were pretty funny to watch, so there was lots of laughing involved too!

We were working too hard for me to take photos at the session, but this one is from a similar session via the Wild Runners Facebook page.

I worked hard through all the variations of squats, lunges and various plyometric exercises. At first I was amazed at how well I was keeping up with the group, given that I had only started back at running some short distances a couple of weeks before. The following day I realised that it had been enthusiasm rather than fitness that had gotten me through - I suffered the most excruciating DOMS for several days after!!

It was great to get out though, and I even felt enthusiastic enough to sign up for the Bunyaville Parkrun, which is a 5km Parkrun, but all on trail. It sounds like a great way to begin trail running for me, although this week I'll have to give it a miss thanks to the dreaded DOMS...

Back on the Water

I still don't really know anyone here in Brisbane, as my work can be pretty isolating and spare time is mostly taken up with uni work. Recently however I have been getting the chance to work collaboratively with someone else, Suanne Lowery from Fitness Forever. After meeting and chatting with her a few times, I plucked up the courage to invite her out kayaking with me sometime. Suanne was enthusiastic - she had never been kayaking, but was very keen to give it try!

We found a date where we both had the day off, and Suanne met me at mine to help load the kayaks on the car before setting off to Enoggera Reservoir. Getting the kayaks down the track to the water's edge went smoothly, and I gave Suanne a bit of a dry-land lesson on what to do if she capsized, and how to paddle, before hitting the water.

Suanne was in Adam's sit-on-top kayak, as getting out in the event of a capsize is super easy - you just fall off! That didn't really matter in the end though, as Suanne was a real natural and only had a couple of 'nearly' moments, no capsizing at all!

We paddled around the sheltered area of the lake, taking in the views of the wildlife and exchanging friendly chats with other paddlers we passed.

My silly hat gets another outing

Getting to a more open area where the wind was whipping up choppy waves, Suanne fancied carrying on. She had picked up the paddling so easily that I thought this would be fine, so we picked a far off spot to aim for.

It was good for me to practice paddling further and with more resistance, my little arms aren't what they once were and need all the workouts they can get! We made it though to a little sheltered bit of water on the far side, where we paused a while to watch the beautiful, elegant sulphur crested cockatoos up in the trees - and listen to their hideous, ear-splitting screeches!

We couldn't stop for too long as the wind was still pushing us around a bit, so we turned around and paddled back the way we had come. Back at the more sheltered area, we were treated to the sight of some river turtles basking on a log. Shy and timid creatures that they are though, we couldn't get very close before they plopped back into the water.

When we finished up paddling for the day and were taking the kayaks back up to the car, we were treated to more wildlife - there was a goanna up a tree, and another couple down nearer the water. What a great day!

 

Hitting the Water

Having discovered Enoggera Dam and its kayaking opportunities, I was keen to make time to get out there for a paddle as soon as possible. In a brilliant spot of luck, Adam found himself a reasonably-priced sit-on-top kayak from Gumtree one evening while I was finishing up an assignment, and he collected it the following morning. Then we just had to wait for an appropriate weekend...

That part of the plan took a while, as a few times in a row either one of us was too busy, or the weather was too bad. Finally we got our chance though, and loaded up the kayaks on the roof of my car to head to the dam.

Adam's bargain kayak had come with all the accessories (although we did replace the seat with a Father's Day bargain from Anaconda. Gotta love a sale!) and the extra goodies included a little trolley. This was excellent, as there is a bit of a walk down a little trail to get to the water's edge and the kayak launch area.

I helped Adam launch (he is still a beginner kayaker) and then joined him for a paddle around the lake. We stuck to the sheltered parts, as Adam's kayak is a bit less tubby and stable than the kayaks he has tried before. This was deliberate, as it will make his kayak faster and more maneuverable as he improves his kayak skills, allowing us to take on more demanding kayak trips when he is ready.

After an hour or so on the water we decided it was time for a coffee back at the cafe, where we chatted about making kayak practice a regular thing so that future trips can be planned... 

Local Bushwalks

I may still be missing my friends and lifestyle up in Townsville, and I may not be much of a city person, but the good thing about Brisbane is that it does have a lot of bush around. For a big city this is really great, and it means you can get into nature without travelling far at all - even without leaving the city limits.

Not having much free time due to work and uni commitments, a short drive to get to somewhere where I can go for a bit of a walk in pleasant, natural surroundings is a real winner. I've recently discovered 2 new places that are ideal for those occasions when I don't have much spare time, but I just need to get out of the house.

The first of these places is Enoggera Dam, a mere 15-20 minute drive from where we currently live.

This water reservoir dates back to 1866 and is heritage listed, although we were more interested in being outdoors and enjoying the 5km Araucaria walking track that encircles the dam.

I was also pretty interested in the friendly local wildlife, like this super-handsome guy

The walking track played host to plenty of trail runners while we were there, it's fairly level going so it might make a reasonable starting point for me if I can pluck-up the courage to actually start trail running... (still fearing my unstable ankles...) There are also mountain bike trails to explore for when I have time to get back on my little yellow bike, and I was further pleased to see lots of kayaks and canoes out on the water. I could have my own little mini Adventurethon if I get fit enough!



The second place we checked out the following weekend was Toohey Forest Park. A bit of a further drive over to the south side of Brisbane, and this forest park nestles right up against the suburbs!

There are a few little walking tracks there, we didn't have time to do much (assignment pressure...) so we just ambled around a bit aimlessly, thinking that we might come back another time if we wanted to see things properly.

On this particular little amble there were lots of other people around, so we didn't get to see too much wildlife - although I did take a few moments to watch a few Australian king parrots playing amongst the trees (sadly too far away for decent photos).

The parrots might not have shown up brilliantly in my photos, but the xanthorrhoeas, or grass trees, were looking pretty magnificent. These trees appear kind of, 'other-wordly' to me for some reason. Very unlike any native British trees.

So, plenty of ideas for when I have time, but for now it's back to the uni work...