Killing the Dragon...

I wrote the following blog about 3 weeks ago but was unsure as to whether or not I wanted to post it. Since then I’ve learnt that one of my nearest and dearest may be quite ill and it’s made me think about things a little more seriously and so I have decided to share the post. 

I had a really positive response to my last blog and for that I would like to say a big thank you. It has been a massive year. Full of ups and downs, ins and outs and for the most part, super positive. We have learnt, grown, made some fantastic new friends and had some downright rad experiences. Looking forward to 2015, I am really excited to see where our path leads us next. New adventures, different places, stronger bodies and minds and my health will be my number one focus this year. 

I have decided that 2015 will be the year I get off my meds and reverse the two autoimmune diseases. If I am going to spend my time on this earth as a dirtbag climber, and believe me I intend to, I can not be restricted by illness and medications. I know that Hashimotos can be reversed and I am just praying that I have not done too much damage to my fingers already to reverse the Raynauds also. It is going to take a lot of work and regular monitoring but I am confident I can make improvements. 

It has always worried me that during our adventures there will not always be a chemist around to fill my script nor a doctor to give it to me so I need to start getting serious about recovery. Ultimately I would love to go to Thailand and do a 28 day fast accompanied with cleansing, yoga and massage. That however would require about $5000 that I currently do not have so I would like to have a crack at getting well here at home first. Unless of course anyone has a spare $5K they want to donate ;) 

My main goal is just to get my fingers in the best condition they can be. Every climber knows and understands the importance of this. We are currently working a training program to increase finger strength which has been awesome and the results so far are insane. All of this is pointless however if I lose the feeling in my fingers mid climb and I can’t even bear down. 

These past few weeks have reaffirmed the absolute importance of staying healthy. Without our health, everything else lacks substance. You can have all the money in the world but if you don’t have the body to hold up to any of your dream adventures, what’s the point? In the same breath, people work 50, 60, 70+ hours a week to go on one great holiday or put away for their retirement fund; but if at the end of the day you don’t even have the energy to enjoy it, again, was it really worth the stress? I urge everyone to make 2015 the year of living for you. It is not selfish to put yourself first and look after number one when it ultimately means that you can then be a healthier, stronger minded, more focused and committed person. It is win win, because the more you look after yourself, the more you can offer others. Do the things you want to do, that make you happy and get you excited. Be productive and proactive. Revel in the good, learn from the bad. You get one body and one crack at this crazy thing called life so use it or lose it. It’s your choice, choose you. 

Ramble On

I can not even try to put into words how much we are loving life right now. This last week has been amazing! Fontainebleau just keeps getting better. Every passing day we meet new people, climb new areas and are left feeling totally stoked with life. Rich is starting to crush his projects. It’s amazing how much strength a person can build in just 2 weeks of solid climbing. I have topped out on 2 more techy slabs which I have been super stoked on, today’s being a proper highball too. Just loving being able to eat, climb, sleep - repeat!

One of my slabs

Rich crushing!

Just about every morning, an older gentleman comes jogging past our van as we are eating breakfast. One day he stopped for a quick chat and seemed to be pretty impressed with our set up and our plans in general. The next day he stopped again, this time explaining that he had been climbing here since he was 16, training for Alpine climbing but now enjoys running the circuits of the forest. He went on to tell us about all the epic climbing throughout France, different rocks and gave us some awesome Alpine areas to check out. 

On his next stop by, he showed us on the map where he runs everyday and suggested we should try one of the circuits as you get to 1000m in elevation overall and therefore it gives you a completely different view of Font as you are above the forest. The circuits are anywhere from 15km to about 26kms and can take from 2 to 6 hours. Now when I say gentleman, I mean that he must be pushing 70 if not older. Being that he runs everyday, we knew he must have been crazy fit but for some reason still went into the whole thing quite confident that it would be a pleasant day walking and jogging through the forest. A great way to spend our rest day. I even suggested we do it as morning cardio before breakfast. Thankfully Rich said that was a silly idea as four and half hours later we arrived back at the van completely wrecked. Quite possibly the most tired I have been in my entire life. 

This was no skip through the forest. It was all out carnage. We ran as much of the circuit as we could, stopping only for the wilderness style parkour and to momentarily pause in order to not vomit. It was running over and under boulders, crawling through caves, scrambling up sandy peaks and then all of a sudden pelting downhill through a sea of purple flowers. We found and ate wild apples, mmmmm so crunchy! Saw these crazy bright green lizards that looked like they should have been in a rain forest. It was the one of the most amazingly random and satisfying things we have done. Patrick was not kidding when he said it was breathtaking! 

We have decided that the first 1/4 of the circuit will be our daily cardio. After a 4 hour boulder session today, we fueled up on coffee and date loaf (this amazing brick of blended dates we have found at the super market for 2 euro a kilo - winning!) and headed out. We were setting a mean pace but after crushing 4 of the peaks then I came sliding off a rock and thought for sure I heard my ankle snap. After much sobbing, covered in dirt and sand, I brushed off and tried to weight it. Seemed ok so we continued on, albeit at a much slower pace. It seems ok now, a little bruised but think it should be fine. A nip of whiskey and off to bed!  

We are both feeling pretty great at the moment. The ridiculous amount of weight we both stacked on in Wales (thank you curry and cider) is starting to fall off and we are really enjoying being as healthy as we can be. The food you can get from the super markets here is amazing! Walking into the health food section for me was like a fat kid walking into Wonka Land! You can get every type of organic nut milk possible. All our favourite berries in fresh, dried or liquid form. Different sorts of seeded crackers, dehydrated bananas - you name it! And it’s all relatively cheap. Our breakfast is currently - pea protein, oats, bee pollen, flaxseeds, fresh dates, a mixed fruit and nut muesli and either rice, coconut or hazelnut milk. How do you not go out and crush with an uber food combo like that fueling you. Add to that seriously great coffee and I am one super happy girl! Yep, this is the life we were born to live, so darn happy we chose to live it! 

There is a quote by Will Gadd that sums up how we have been feeling this week:

“We all try to be busy instead of being alive, busy instead of getting out and breathing.

Busy sending useless texts instead of walking in the woods with our kids or introducing them to life’s joys. We move information instead of simply moving. I understand the ease, the convenience of it all, it’s tempting. But I’m way more proud of every single day I’ve spent outside, with my lungs burning, chest heaving, sucking for oxygen in life than I am of the times I drank too much, slept in, squandered time sending useless but somehow important emails, or whatever.”

http://vimeo.com/62101215

Still full of energy in our run

Fresh wild apples :)

Needing a refuel... date loaf!

Part of the track

My legs at the half way mark..

Rich's dirt socks at the end!!!

Run to the Hills

Leaving South Wales, we were full of emotion. Sad to be leaving La, she had been so patient and generous during our time there and it is always hard to say goodbye to family. Relieved to finally have the van finished yet anxious to see how well it will actually hold up. But most of all, just super excited to be on our way. 

The drive to North Wales was really pretty. We went via Hereford so that we could stop at Banana Fingers, a totally rad climbing store, where we picked up new boulder pads, a new rope and some clothing that you just can’t get in Australia. Totally stoked, we continued our journey to North Wales. We were headed for Plas y Brenin, a mountain training school near Snowden where green summer mountains roll as far as the eye can see and streams and rivers flow out of little valleys in the woodland. A truly picturesque place and one the most beautiful places I’ve been. 

The training centre was insane. I don’t actually know what I was expecting but it exceeded everything! It was mind blowing. Smack bang in the middle of the mountains on a gorgeous lake with bar that over looked it all! I couldn’t believe how amazing it was and how lucky we were to be able to train there. We signed up, then walked into town and bought a new pair of trail shoes each in an outlet mountain gear store just down the road. How convenient. We wanted  to try them out straight away so went for a hike in the hills behind the centre which was a great way to explore the surroundings a little before the course started the following day. We finished off the day with a cider in the bar that night and were feeling pretty chuffed. 

Next day we met our group and instructor Dino. He was a boss. Hill walker, mountain leader, rock climber, ice climber... the works. We were so stoked to have someone taking the course that had so much experience. For the entire 3 days, Rich picked his brain, borrowed all the local climbing guides and got as much info as he possibly could. Our group was very diverse in age, sex, occupation, experience and agenda but pretty cool all round. Having never even looked at a map, let alone navigated a hill walk, I felt quite out of my league but let everyone know from the get go and they were all very helpful and understanding of my continuous questions. Day two was my favourite day of the course. We navigated through thick woodlands and then out onto an expanse of hills. I never understood why so many air fresheners were scented ‘Pine Fresh’ until then. Standing deep in the middle of a pine woodland and taking a massive breath in was just amazing! The moss looked so thick at times that it seemed you could have peeled it back and lay down to use it as a blanket. I was sure that I would see a little forest faery at any moment. 

By the end of the course I felt pretty comfortable with what we had learnt and I am very keen to staring consolidating everything. We have to log 40 days before we can sit the assessment and move onto mountain leader. I’m super excited to move forward and so is Rich. We were extremely impressed with the training centre, its course, the instructors and all the facilities. They offer a four month intensive training package where you train to be an instructor in everything they offer which includes climbing, mountain leading, mountain biking, kayaking; pretty much everything outdoors as well becoming an International Mountain Leader. If it wasn’t £10K we would both do it in a heartbeat but unfortunately that is totally out of our budget.

Now though, our journey continues to France to get spanked in Fontainebleau. So excited to be back on the rock and ready to build some serious strength.