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Well, with my new lease on life i decided to try something that normally would of scared the crap out of me. I have never really liked boats and always had a bad fear of letting things out of my control happen (rollercoasters etc).

Since i no longer have the excuse of “im to big” i cant really get out of it. So last time i saw my sister we were chatting about all the freebies i get and she told me next time i get a freebie to cairns we should go up to go rafting. I was like “whatever i wont win anything for cairns.” Two weeks later i did. So that meant i had no excuse. So we organised it for when i got back from Kokoda. Saturday rolled around and it meant time for rafting. We had both flown to cairns especially for this.

I was still a little scared, worried about falling out and smashing myself on a rock etc, especially after all those horror stories from when I was on the customer care lines of people breaking bones and stuff. Fun fun. Well I sucked it up, pushed the fears to the bottom as much as I could and off we went.

I had the BEST time. It was so much fun. I did fall out of the boat at one point coming through some rapids but i was quickly yanked back in (thanks for saving my butt ben!). The guys we went with (Raging Thunder) were all awesome and i met some awesome new people. Our boat crew were a lot of fun and I would do the trip again in an instant.

Ive put a link to some of the photos below so you can see how much fun it looks!

Tully Rafting Weekend

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So… it has been 11 months since I first started this big big journey of mine. It was not an easy first morning for me. But 11 months later I still feel sometimes like im struggling but I could never think I could do the things I do now.

In the last 11 months I have lost 85kg, managed to Run 10km non stop, Trekked 96km through some of the harshest country on earth and do it all with a smile (at times). I enjoy running now, I enjoy hiking. Things I never thought I would ever say. I really do enjoy going for a run, its a good way to switch off, concentrate on my breathing listen to my cadence (which if you have any military cadence let me know cause i need some new stuff).

It has been an amazing journey, I do not regret any decisions I have made over this time. I have made some new friends, met heaps of new people, inspired others and found a whole heap of self confidence in myself. I still feel wierd looking at myself in the mirror or in photos as its just not me.

But now reality has to set in. Now that I’ve accomplished so much and have changed my entire life I need to settle in for the next big challenge. I need to settle into a normal life routine now. So goodbye car park at work and your $450 a month pricetag. Goodbye twice a day work outs, goodbye thinking about diet diet diet. I am still going to the gym once a day but now I am working to make muscle, have fun and stay fit. I am really enjoying the program I am doing at the gym at the moment (pity it finishes next week). But its awesome none the less. I have a whole new wardrobe and life feels good.

Everyone asks me what the next goal is. I guess there isnt really a goal as such. I wanna get out over the next year or so and do the things I never thought I could really do. First on that list is white water rafting. Ive always wanted to do it, just never did. Now I can and I fly out friday! Can’t wait. There a heap of things I want to do on my next trip around the world which I will put up the list. While not a “bucket list” of sorts its more a Trip Wish list.

But now I really need to get some sleep. I have to be up at 430am!

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Some times it feels like I am never at home. Was in Melbourne over the weekend on Famil with Tourism Vic and had a fantastic time. It was so good to be travelling again, checking out hotels, doing a bit of plane spotting in the terminal etc. Loved it!

Next month I am on the road again as well, I am off to Cairns to go white water rafting with my sister. This is a time where i can do the things I never thought I would do. I guess these are gonna be my little challenges for a while. So to start wth will be White Water Rafting, then learning to ride a bike, learning to kayak, probably Abseiling/Rock Climbing (when i get some arm strength) all those adventure activities I never thought I would be able to do.

Still trying to tick some stuff off my bucket list but unfortunately it will be a while till it starts getting ticked off. I dont think i will ever add a bungy jump etc to the list cause im not that crazy. My leave got approved for my next big trip so sometime in the next week that trip will start to develop and will keep everyone up to date as it goes along.

I have also had a few weeks of maintaining weight (apart from losing 1.5kg while I was away which im not to happy about) but its been good. I swear i feel like im constantly eating. All the time! But thats the way i need to be going, graze graze graze!

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Well its been a month now since I set foot in Kokoda. I had updated last week but it seems something happened and the post never went online :/ Pity really. Been a few big weeks since I got back. I was all good for the first few days, then I started getting some really bad stomach pains and other symptons. I was having random fevers at night. But I stuck it out a day or two. Managed to get myself to the doctors the friday after we got back and the doctor told me in his words “I think you have malaria” I freaked out. But turns out I didn’t thank god. But he tells me this after 3 blood tests in 4 days. Damn him. Turns out I bought back some random stomach thing from PNG. O wells… got me out of work for a week!

In other news, A Current Affair has taken on a story about me. They were given a bit of a heads up about all my weight loss from my nutritionist. One the wednesday after I got back they approached me asking if I would be a part of it and if I would do it. I said yes. There has been a hell of a lot of filming for it (over 3 seperate days) but It was definately worth it. I enjoyed every minute of it. Although the big one on one interview was nerve racking I made it through ok. I am constantly getting asked how much I am getting paid for it, but the answer is nothing. I am not in it for the money. I am in it to pass on some inspiration to other people. I was given a push to help me get out there and do something about it all, and I am hoping that my story will be the push for other people. Just hope that no one recognises me to much when I go out.

The last week has been good though, I am back at work and enjoying it. Each day is a new day in my life and each day brings with it new suprises and challenges. Have managed to keep pushing myself each and every day. The weight bottomed out after the week off sick at 88.7kg. But I was back up to 89kg and now comes the new journey of maintaining that weight (or around that weight). Who knows what the future will bring!

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So it has been a few weeks since I last updated about Kokoda and how everything has been going. Its been tough work and with a weekend off to Melbourne for my birthday, I really felt like I had taken a month off. Days just kinda drag out at the moment with it feeling like a month each. But i persavere. The training has been getting harder and harder, faster and faster. The nights on the hills around the Gym have been getting harder with last tuesday night spent fully in the pelting driving rain. It was cold and it was sure wet, but i am sure that is how things are going to be once I get to PNG.

However Sunday was a whole new experience. I spent 4 hours on Sunday morning on Mt Cootha. Not quite sure what the tracks where called but they were difficult and they were long, very very long in fact. in the 4 hours I covered 17.5km. That is the longest I am pretty sure I have ever walked in a morning. Now that seems pretty slow to some people but you have to remember, going up and down hills is slow going. And 17.5km in 4 hours is really good going. Being that Kokoda is only 96km I am sure we wont be covering that much ground in one morning or whatever (but if we do sweeeeeeet). One thing I did realise out of it. I have no padding on my shoulders any more. No more fat to provide that lovely soft barricade against my bones. O well.

As for goals, well when I got back from Melbourne I had actually weighed in. It came in at 97.7kg and i Freaked out. That was like 4kg in less than a week. I was not sure what was going on. I didnt know if it was some crazy fluid loss or it had been a real weight loss. But i stuck it out for a week, kept my head in check like i was taught and just gave it a week to see how the weight went this week. 97.3kg. Im under the 100kg.

Goal #2 COMPLETE!!!!

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So I know I promised one post ever day, I have been way to busy.

But I thought I would post up about a trip I just did over the weekend. Most of you know that I love planes. I have always wanted to fly a plane (and I should still be able to do this), but one thing I have also wanted to do is fly a flight sim. Not one of those pansy ass no movement flight sims. I can get that any time on my own pc by plugging in my joystick and throttle quadrant and firing up FSX. No what i wanted was to fly a proper commerical grade flight sim.

A few years ago I saw a post on one of the plane spotting websites I go to advertising a package in Melbourne with the Hilton Melbourne Airport in conjunction with Ansett Aviation Training for a 1 night stay at the Hilton and an hour in a real flight sim. Back then though they had a choice of a 767-200 or a 737-300. However the 767 sim is gone and its only the 737 sim. I had to think about this for a few days because it’s a really old sim, so wont be that fantastic graphics wise, but then the rest of me thinks, why am I judging this. It’s a chance of a life time. With credit card in hand, I booked it.

Saturday rolls around and I am as giddy as a little school girl. After getting dropped off at the Sim Centre by the Hilton I was in awe. While watching all the real pilots filing in and out of the sims I was jealous. To be able to do this on a regular basis. Then the Captain who was taking me for my session came in and took me up to the old girl. Almost as old as I am the 737-300 sim is 1980s vintage so it shows. This thing is MASSIVE! But its so authentic. It looks like a real cockpit. Feels like a real cockpit inside as well. It is so crazy sitting in there.

Then the flights start. First time around, no movement, just to get me used to the controls etc. It was amazing. The takeoff was smooth and good the cruise was fine. Then the landing. This has to be the most difficult time for the pilots as there is so much to think about and do. I didn’t exactly land all that well. Half on the runway, half off…. WOOPS!

then the movement came on. It felt so different. You can feel it respond to all your movements. You can feel the gear retract (not that there is any). You can hear movements etc It is so surreal. After about an hour and 15 mins it was all over. I was so wanting to just keep going.

It is something I will cherish forever. Now to see if i can do it again sometime!

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So been pretty busy lately so you will be getting one blog post every night for the next few days.

The big one each year as my site goes offline for 24-48 hours is pretty much looking at what has happened to me over the last 12 months since I am now a year older.

This time last year, it was coming up to my massively epic trip to North America. Things were counting down quickly and I was struggling to get a new credit card ready to go, deal with birthday stuff, hit up the ekka, and then get last minute trips and planning done with Weddings and stuff happening in the precluding weeks.

Then my big trip. 2 months, in the USA & Canada with a quick stop (23 hours & 5 hours) in Narita. What can i say. One of the big parts of my life was that trip. I had a fantastic time and met some amazing people who I still speak to EVERY day (you guys know who you are). Saw so many new things, so many new experiences, so many new airports and airlines and planes, so many phootos (i think it worked out about 8000 photos all up).

Then I came back from that trip, I was lost, I didn’t know what I was going to do, do i stay at work, do I travel, do I look for a new job, confusion abounded. Then the owner of the company I work for made an offer I couldnt refuse. He would pay for my training if i could lose down to 100kg and if i could do all that, he would send me to Kokoda (if i was ready).

Well now look at me. I am a changed person. I look different, feal different, Have run 10km, can box (although if andy reads this he will probably tell me I still suck), I can run, I can walk long distances, I can hike to! I have met some awesome new people through this as well, and they just keep suprising me each day with the way they help to support me!

I have done a bit of traveling domestically in the last 12 months. Cairns x 2, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Norfolk Island (work), Numerous trips to the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast. Lots of points earned and burned and loving every minute of it all!

Now to see what this next year will bring!

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ok well ive been so busy the last few weeks I havent really had a chance to update everyone. But Kokoda is a go. I have had my medical clearance, my trainers are keeping me going and they believe I can do it, the only hurdle left now is for me to believe I can do it.

This is a big big thing for me. This will be the ultimate conclusion to everything I have done. Don’t get me wrong, I am sure there are going to be other experiences in my life that will be mindblowing. But to come so far and now have a real chance at actually doing this. Will be fantastic! It will be this crazy experience where I can just soak in the atmosphere and take the challenge and run with it. Surely I will be able to do anything by the time I get back from this.

Training for Kokoda is not easy though. I have 3 sessions a week specific to Kokoda. Tuesday nights is hiking around the gym area in Bowen Hills & Teneriffe (Dunkenfeld & Down Sts if you know them) and then Friday morning (530am mind you…ewwwww) is a gym session with lots of cardio and leg work. And then Sundays is the big session. Hiking at Mt Cootha. Not just one journey up the hill. at the moment it is 3 hours worth and the sessions will increase a LOT apparently. But if i can keep the falling over to a minimum, I will be very happy (two stacks at Mt Cootha so far).

In other news, My warddrobe has been emptied and some new clothes purchased. It has been crazy just buying clothes at normal stores. I can’t believe that i never thought i would do that. The one thing is though, I still find it hard to shop on my own. Places like target etc don’t phase me as I have shopped in their before. But other stores, I can’t do it on my own. That may sound really stupid but I get to overwhelmed and if I don’t know I just have to run out.

To give you an example yesterday I went to this Jeans store down the road from me which had 2 pairs of Levi’s for $40 which is a total bargain. Figured i could get rid of the old jeans that are way way way to big for me (and i only bought them in april so havent had much wear either). But i didn’t have any clue what size i was meant to be and so I go in and since its a factory outlet their was no real staff around, and after just looking and thinking to myself “what size am i” i just ran out of the store. I am so chicken. But after talking to Kat this morning at training she told me to just suck it up, put on the first pair and if they fit, they fit.

So i grabbed the biggest size (38) and I just put them on, and they fit. It felt wierd trying on a pair of jeans. I was like ummm but soon enough the fear went away and I managed to shop on my own. It’s not as bad if I have someone else with me though as I can usually just look at them for guidance/help/support.

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The weekend is finally over. I can sit back and just think about what has happened over the last few days.

I will give a brief run down of how my day went yesterday:

6am – Phone alarm goes off, get up, grab a juice, get changed.
6:20am – Voicemail from Trainer, “You better be awake”
6:21am – Ring back, yes im awake, are you?
6:30am – Tracey Parks Car on other side of Nerang River bridge and our warm up walk begins
6:45am – Arrive at the Race Precinct, Run into Meg, Scare Meg & Vinnie with how different I look
7:00am – Wander round the race precinct
7:20am – Hear the gun go off for First Wave as Andy & Tracey have a coffee
7:30am – Find a Spot in the line up
7:31am – What the hell am i doing this for again?
7:35am – Lots of people around, am i gonna get trampled wtf!
7:40am – Everyone else has their ipods in, stuff this no need to hide it
7:44am – WHY THE HELL AM I DOING THIS!
7:45am – BANG!
7:46am – WHY DID I SIGN UP FOR THIS!
7:55am – Ummm was that the leaders running past… what the hell i just left!
8:00am – In a Rhythm so far, Cadence is helping well

I dont really have any times to put now as i really don’t know what times i passed certain things but i will use km marks instead

1km – Looking good
2km – Rhythm set lets kick this shit
3km – Umm was that a black bib going the other direction… what the hell (black big is my wave)
4km – laughing at girls in capes running along side
5km – TURN POINT! thank god… now to go back over this bridge
6km – Wow… still seeing people running the other way, 4km to go, just a run from the gym to the powerhouse and back
7km – Theres the end of the line running past now, fighting with andy about how far 3km to go would be back at the gym (its the boats btw :P)
8km – Digging Deep now, focus on breathing, 15 mins to go
9km – HOLY CRAP I AM REALLY DOING THIS
9.5km – End coming in sight
9.7km – Tracey yelling me on
9.8km – Meg & Vinnie, Then Ross, Suz & Brendan
9.9km – Mum & Dad and Marcia & Richie
9.95km – the end shute, Dig Deep, hammer it home, dont run into the ladies
10km – Hear the words “get your arms up for the photo”, so raise my arms and hope that i get a good photo
10.1km – Feel a tap on my back and its Andy wishing me well, try not to vomit or fall over, stumble towards the cool off area, grab a water and an orange. Drink down a sports drink (bad idea i think this is what stuffed up my stomach later on), and try to recover, congratulations from a few other people. Walk towards the exit and grab my medal and tshirt….

What a feeling it was to come out of the exit of the recovery area, to my friends, beaming smiles, hugs, cheers and photos…. what an experience. I will definatley try to do it next year if I am around, but I am gonna help out Yena and help her with the 5k at Bridge to Brisbane (although i will see what others are doing with the Bridge to Brisbane, i may walk it instead).

I would really like to thank everyone who gave up their morning to come and support me. Marcia & Richie, thx for the sign and for suprising me on the start line! To meg & vinnie, guys thanks so much for coming down and staying for the race, it was great to see you both again. Ross, Suzanne & Brendan, you guys are always there for me and for coming down and putting up with me all weekend, I thank you! Jeremy & Yena, thanks for trying to make it there in time for me to cross the line, but i know you guys will always be good friends. (ps thx for the shirt, i love it). To Tracey, thx for the lift and for being there to take photos for me. To Adrian, dude, thank you for running with me, in bad shoes and not your running clothes. But most of all, a big thank you to Andy. Thank you for being there every step of this journey so far mate, your the best trainer ive ever had 😀

As for what else happened over the weekend other than the race. It was good times with friends and family. Friday was pretty relaxed, wandered around Robina and did some shopping (mainly food for the BBQ). Found 2 new awesome hoodies at Footlocker for University of Texas & Duke so that was cool. Then just relaxed and chilled out at Q1 on Friday night. After the race on Saturday i went back to the Apartment, and just tried to recover for a bit, Ate some breakfast and felt really sick. Then people started arriving for the BBQ and i slowly started to get food ready to go. We all moved down to the pool area and had an awesome feast.

Sat night after a good afternoon of just really doing nothing but having fun I felt fantastic. Went out for dinner in Surfers Paradise and had some Teppanyaki Kangaroo (yeah yeah i know, not very authentic), played some Uno and just had some fun with my friends.

This morning after waking up late and missing the Half Marathon and Marathon Starts (i did watch the Marathon runners go through Surfers though) i cooked breakfast and had a pancake for the first time in 8 months. Then after checking out and dropping some stuff off to the parents, Suzanne, Brendan & I went shopping at Harbour Town. What a haul I had today. You can see the photos of the haul in the picasa link but I am really happy to have clothes that fit now!

Anyway Masterchef is about to start and I need to have some dinner!

GC Marathon 2010

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So apparently I had my affirmations wrong so lets try this again:

* I have put in the efflort and I am reaping the rewards
* I have achieved what I have set my mind to
* I have put in the hard work and i have seen the results
* I have thought positively and i have had positive outcomes

I am still gonna leave the ones below to help enspire everyone else.