It's freezing at the foot of Africa and I'm finding it particularly difficult to get motivated enough to get into the gym to shake off much un-needed kilograms! I have therefore decided to embrace my voluptuous curves for the worst of winter and delay the shock of exercise for a time in the near future when it would be more seemly to strip off the outer layers of clothing and build up a sweat. I'm using lifting Chaeli several times a day as the description of my 'regular exercise programme'! I call it power lifting ...
Our elder daughter, Erin, heading towards writing her final Matric exams is more of an edventure as I learn to open my fingers even further - knowing that my beautiful first-born child is heading helter skelter into adulthood. Now that is scary: coming to the realisation that your child is fast becoming independent and making decisions without you and forging ahead in a life that she is shaping for herself. It all seems so sudden. Where did all those years of growing up go?
And as sad as I feel when I reflect on the various stages of Erin's life I can't help celebrating the emergence of an assertive, strong, beautiful young woman who has taught me so much over the past 18 years as a child and will be teaching me so much more as she spreads her wings into an unknown but exciting future.
What an adventure for all of us ...
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The Madness Escalates ...
Yup - not only have I committed to doing the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour EVERY year I have also signed up to do the Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge in Jozi on 20 November 2011. Insanity! We want to grow our Chaeli Rider contingent in Gauteng (especially for all the peeps who don't get to Cape Town for the Argus Cycle Tour but do the hot-and-hilly 94.7 on the Highveld). So come along all you cycling fanatics in Johannesburg - we'd love to have you cycling in Chaeli colours!
Maybe I should SERIOUSLY consider losing some of my body (as I already seem to have lost my mind) and also train a little more to make these cycling experiences enjoyable and not just challenging. Maybe in my next memo to myself ...
Here I'm 3km into the 2011 Argus Tour on Eastern Boulevard - clearly still having fun ...
Maybe I should SERIOUSLY consider losing some of my body (as I already seem to have lost my mind) and also train a little more to make these cycling experiences enjoyable and not just challenging. Maybe in my next memo to myself ...
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Oh So Nearly ...
I know the question lurking uppermost in your mind this week is: “Did Mad Mom Zelda survive the onslaught of the 2011 Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour?”
Here are a few things I learnt from my time out on the road on Sunday:
1. Two bananas does not a breakfast make
2. Goo is not a viable replacement for real food – a peanut butter sandwich would probably be better (maybe even a banana?)
3. Factor 20 sun block does not protect my lily white skin (especially the 2 inches visible between the bottom of my long gym broeks and my secret socks)
4. The lighter your bike, the easier you wheel it when walking uphill
5. The Flying Custard (and my own voluptuous form) get heavier with every km
And now to cut to the chase: I started like a rocket, with the weather being perfect and feeling strong. I was still smiling at Ladies Mile bridge as I roared beneath our banner that welcomed the Chaeli Riders and did enthusiastic air pumping to Chaeli and the rest of my family shouting encouragement from atop the bridge. I made it to Lakeside in record time (for me!) and the smiles of the Terry family and a most welcome Energade. And here started my first (of many) designated walk – Boyes Drive. All went well for the next forever kilometres, stopping to drink, sucking on Goo sachets and living in the moment – focusing on one push of the hand cycle at a time. Even the baboons heading into Scarborough did not deter me and I raced towards Chappies full of the joys of another magical day in Africa. Then the loooooong energy-sapping walk up Chappies, with an invigorating swoop down into Hout Bay. It was wonderful to see Bruce Wright dance across the road in Hout Bay Village (complete with Jade on his hip) and I heeded his warning that I needed to make it to the next set of robots (just over the next hill - which seemed a long way off) in 5 minutes. He even offered to help push my worthy steed (which I was dragging along again, walking as fast as I could). Power walking with a multitude of huffs and puffs followed as I stomped towards the crest of the hill, hopped aboard the Flying Custard and ended up being the 2nd last person to make the cut off time at the bottom of Suikerbossie. I was exhausted but elated!
Suikerbossie is a very, very, very long hill. Having done my daring dash through the village I think I squeezed out the very last bit of energy I had remaining. My mind fogged up (I didn’t even think of popping one last Goo) and I tried to push and pull the FC from every angle (even ended up pushing from behind the seat and tried to get it uphill that way). I was literally drooling with effort and after what felt like forever I looked up to find at least another 800m before the bend in the road (and I knew there was yet more uphill to come) and that’s when the uncontrollable shaking and nausea started. I knew I probably had another 45 min/1hr left on the road and I’m afraid my resilience ran out. The bad news is that I did not get to finish the Argus Cycle Tour this year. The good news is that I completed 92km (10km more than last year) in 9 hrs and 10 min (the same time as last year) – so I see this as progress! I’m aiming to make it 3rd time lucky in 2012 …
A HUGE thank you to the many friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances who reached deep to support this marathon venture. Thank you for pledging support of my current insanity before I even took to the road and thank you for making a tangible difference by making sure that your pledge reached The Chaeli Campaign coffers. Our children who participate in the various programmes will benefit greatly from your generosity - please accept my humble thanks for making such a huge difference in their lives.
Me (on yet another designated walk) up Smitswinkel Bay ...
Here are a few things I learnt from my time out on the road on Sunday:
1. Two bananas does not a breakfast make
2. Goo is not a viable replacement for real food – a peanut butter sandwich would probably be better (maybe even a banana?)
3. Factor 20 sun block does not protect my lily white skin (especially the 2 inches visible between the bottom of my long gym broeks and my secret socks)
4. The lighter your bike, the easier you wheel it when walking uphill
5. The Flying Custard (and my own voluptuous form) get heavier with every km
And now to cut to the chase: I started like a rocket, with the weather being perfect and feeling strong. I was still smiling at Ladies Mile bridge as I roared beneath our banner that welcomed the Chaeli Riders and did enthusiastic air pumping to Chaeli and the rest of my family shouting encouragement from atop the bridge. I made it to Lakeside in record time (for me!) and the smiles of the Terry family and a most welcome Energade. And here started my first (of many) designated walk – Boyes Drive. All went well for the next forever kilometres, stopping to drink, sucking on Goo sachets and living in the moment – focusing on one push of the hand cycle at a time. Even the baboons heading into Scarborough did not deter me and I raced towards Chappies full of the joys of another magical day in Africa. Then the loooooong energy-sapping walk up Chappies, with an invigorating swoop down into Hout Bay. It was wonderful to see Bruce Wright dance across the road in Hout Bay Village (complete with Jade on his hip) and I heeded his warning that I needed to make it to the next set of robots (just over the next hill - which seemed a long way off) in 5 minutes. He even offered to help push my worthy steed (which I was dragging along again, walking as fast as I could). Power walking with a multitude of huffs and puffs followed as I stomped towards the crest of the hill, hopped aboard the Flying Custard and ended up being the 2nd last person to make the cut off time at the bottom of Suikerbossie. I was exhausted but elated!
Suikerbossie is a very, very, very long hill. Having done my daring dash through the village I think I squeezed out the very last bit of energy I had remaining. My mind fogged up (I didn’t even think of popping one last Goo) and I tried to push and pull the FC from every angle (even ended up pushing from behind the seat and tried to get it uphill that way). I was literally drooling with effort and after what felt like forever I looked up to find at least another 800m before the bend in the road (and I knew there was yet more uphill to come) and that’s when the uncontrollable shaking and nausea started. I knew I probably had another 45 min/1hr left on the road and I’m afraid my resilience ran out. The bad news is that I did not get to finish the Argus Cycle Tour this year. The good news is that I completed 92km (10km more than last year) in 9 hrs and 10 min (the same time as last year) – so I see this as progress! I’m aiming to make it 3rd time lucky in 2012 …
A HUGE thank you to the many friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances who reached deep to support this marathon venture. Thank you for pledging support of my current insanity before I even took to the road and thank you for making a tangible difference by making sure that your pledge reached The Chaeli Campaign coffers. Our children who participate in the various programmes will benefit greatly from your generosity - please accept my humble thanks for making such a huge difference in their lives.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Off Again On Again
Three months of dithering ... two months of deliberating the various aches and pains of my overweight, ageing body ... one month of extreme guilt at not wanting to do what I have said I will do ... and now the moment has come for a final decision: Yes, I AM doing the 2011 Pick n Pay Argus Cycle Tour on the Flying Custard next Sunday!
Last year I had 8 weeks of training rides (3 a week). This year has been chokablock with all kinds of things that I've fabricated to keep me from dropping my ample bottom into the low-slung seat of my hand cycle. I think that I have had 10 rides in total. "But," I tell myself, "you are fitter than last year." Yeah, right!
The major difference is that last year I was blissfully ignorant of what awaited me on the Argus Trail, and I talked myself through 9 hours and 10 minutes of extreme effort to make it to the top of Chapman's Peak, where the organisers (thankfully) put a stop to my folly as they needed to open the roads to traffic.
This year I don't have the protective cover of ignorance. I know what's coming my way. And more than anything else - Wynberg Hill TERRIFIES me! No other hill has that hold over me and I'm afraid it's hubris that is my worst enemy. For any other hill I have a plan. Lurking in my little black bag attached to the Flying Custard's frame is a rope that I use for all my designated walks (Boyes Drive being the 1st) but there is NO WAY that I will walk the Flying Custard up Wynberg Hill in full view of wall-to-wall supporters chanting encourgament to cyclists flying past on their worthy steeds.
It's going to be a grind and I have commissioned my nephews, Jadon & Matthew, to be on duty to push me up that hill. Yup, the sad reality is that I refuse to walk, but being pushed is not beneath my dignity. Any other volunteers who might wish to push before they see a fountain erupt from the top of my head would be welcomed with whoops and gasps of delight ...
Soooooo ... 9 days to go and the adrenaline has started pumping, the nightmares are invading my slumber and I'm doing positive visualisation of the glow of achievement that will wash over me as I cover the last 27 (downhill) kilometres of the course. The 27km I did not get to ride last year. Of course Chaeli reckons I should start at Chappies and only do the last 27km - complete the Cycle Tour over 2 years. She makes a compelling argument ...
Last year I had 8 weeks of training rides (3 a week). This year has been chokablock with all kinds of things that I've fabricated to keep me from dropping my ample bottom into the low-slung seat of my hand cycle. I think that I have had 10 rides in total. "But," I tell myself, "you are fitter than last year." Yeah, right!
The major difference is that last year I was blissfully ignorant of what awaited me on the Argus Trail, and I talked myself through 9 hours and 10 minutes of extreme effort to make it to the top of Chapman's Peak, where the organisers (thankfully) put a stop to my folly as they needed to open the roads to traffic.
This year I don't have the protective cover of ignorance. I know what's coming my way. And more than anything else - Wynberg Hill TERRIFIES me! No other hill has that hold over me and I'm afraid it's hubris that is my worst enemy. For any other hill I have a plan. Lurking in my little black bag attached to the Flying Custard's frame is a rope that I use for all my designated walks (Boyes Drive being the 1st) but there is NO WAY that I will walk the Flying Custard up Wynberg Hill in full view of wall-to-wall supporters chanting encourgament to cyclists flying past on their worthy steeds.
It's going to be a grind and I have commissioned my nephews, Jadon & Matthew, to be on duty to push me up that hill. Yup, the sad reality is that I refuse to walk, but being pushed is not beneath my dignity. Any other volunteers who might wish to push before they see a fountain erupt from the top of my head would be welcomed with whoops and gasps of delight ...
Soooooo ... 9 days to go and the adrenaline has started pumping, the nightmares are invading my slumber and I'm doing positive visualisation of the glow of achievement that will wash over me as I cover the last 27 (downhill) kilometres of the course. The 27km I did not get to ride last year. Of course Chaeli reckons I should start at Chappies and only do the last 27km - complete the Cycle Tour over 2 years. She makes a compelling argument ...
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