On Australia Day, a group of us went Canyoning at Macquaries Pass National Park. It’s a fun canyon which is close to Wollongong; and what I especially like about it is that you park a car at both the start and end of the canyon. So there isn’t the need to walk back up to the start, which is typical in the Blue Mountains.

Below is a short video which I have quickly put together showing the abseils and jumps on the canyon route. Further down on this page is more information about the canyon.

Canyon Information

Typical Duration: ~4hrs.
Ropes are required and wetsuits are highly recommended.

The canyon is at Macquaries Pass (refer to Google Map below). Two cars are required, one at each end of the canyon.

Best to meet at the carpark at the bottom of the pass. If you are driving from Albion Park (from the bottom) that is the car park on the left of the road. Leave a car there, along with towels and dry change of clothes, and jump into the other car and drive up the pass.

Not too far up the pass, you will want to turn off to the left onto Clover Hill Road. You will have to park your car right after the turn off as there is a gate which prevents you from driving down further. It is about a 2km walk past the gate to the first abseil point. The walk does seem to take a while so don’t worry (just yet) that you might have overshot the turn off. Along the walk there will be a fork in the path, take the path to the left. Keep walking until you come to a large clearing. There you will see a small defined path to the right which will take you to the first waterfall abseil (which is the first abseil in the youtube video).

From there it is pretty easy, just keep following the water until the last slide at the end where there is a path that takes you back to the car (it’ll be quite obvious when you get to the end).

In total there are 4 abseils, 1 jump and 2 slides.

On the weekend of 3rd/4th March 2012, the Annual MS 24hr Mega Swim in Wollongong took place. It rained for the most part of the event, but that did not stop the 18 teams from completing their 24hr swim.

Photos for the event are available at: http://edwinkwan.com/events/2012-ms-24hr-mega-swim-in-wollongong/

On Feb 4th 2012, Team Misdirected took part in their first Adventure Race, the Kathmandu Adventure Race at Cams Wharf.

For those of you who haven’t done an adventure race, its a navigational exercise where teams of two make their way to different checkpoints in a certain order. You are given a map an hour before the race and another sheet of paper with a brief description of where the checkpoint will be (e.g: south east of track bend). The race consist of mountain biking, trail running and kayaking, though I have been told that there have been snorkeling and diving to collect checkpoints in some of the races.

This particular race consisted of 5 main legs. It was Coasteering (refer to picture at top of people jumping into the water), mountain biking, run, back on the mountain bike and finishing off with a Kayak.

Being the first adventure race, Samantha and I from Team Misdirected did not know what to expect. We decided that our goal for this first race was to just be able to complete the race. Luckily we were doing this with our friends who were probably doing their millionth adventure race and hence got quite a few tips before the race. There was Brendan and Kate (Team VO2Vitality 1), Anita and Lis (Team VO2Vitality 2), Alex and Jo, Kerrie and Andrew & Ryan and his brother.

Below is the map and course description we received on the day of the race. (click on image to view the larger images)

The start of the race went well and all the participants pretty much stayed together as a group. I would say that this was the case for the entire coasteering leg. This is also my favourite leg, with the beautiful coast and jumping into the ocean. (you can see the jump in the video below). We did good time on this leg. The second leg was the Bike leg, this was particularly difficult as the area had a lot of rain in the week leading to the race making the ground quite muddy. There was also a fair bit of uphill, but the most challenging bit I found in the bike leg was trying to look at the map and where you are going as you’re cycling. There were a few teams which had clipboards mounted to their handlebars which would have made that task easier. The next leg after that was a run leg which went relatively well for us. This was followed by another bike leg then a Kayak before a short bike ride to the finish line.

Below’s a short video of the race.

It was a good first adventure race and we had a lot of fun. Special thanks to Brendan Tuck from VO2 Vitality and Samantha for getting me to do an adventure race. Who knows, maybe there might be another adventure race for me.

This week we take a look at the TRX suspension trainer and how it can be used to build Strength, Flexibility and Balance.

TRX Suspension Training gives participants an edge over conventional strength training because every Suspension Training exercise builds functional strength, improves flexibility, balance and core stability all at once as is required on sporting fields and everyday life. The training movements are distinguished from traditional gym exercises in that either the user’s hands or feet are supported by a single anchor point while the opposite end of the body is in contact with the ground. Using the TRX, the desired percentage of body weight is loaded onto the targeted body zone and animated as an exercise movement.

The TRX Suspension Trainer was develpoed in the USA by Navy SEALS on operations and is now used as a effective training tool for a anyone regardless of age, gender or fitness level up to elite athlete’s.

The benefits of Suspension Training are not just applicable to athletes, they are relevant for everyone who seeks a method to safely and rapidly improve their fitness. Senior wellness programs have turned to TRX as a solution because it enables seniors to move freely without fear of falling. Physical therapists are using the TRX to rehabilitate patients.

The newest addition to the TRX family is the TRX Rip Trainer. The TRX Rip Trainer develops explosive power and rotational movements. By using the TRX Rip Trainer, individuals can strengthen the muscles around the spinal cord, making them more stable and less likely to be easily injured.

Brendan Tuck

Certificate IV Personal Trainer

http://vo2vitality.com

Brendan is a TRX instructor and Group instructor with VO2 Vitality. He is a Level 1 Strength and Conditioning Coach, a Level 2 Kettlebell Instructor and a Punchfit Kickboxing Instructor. He also has 6 years of Kyokushin Karate and 3 years of kickboxing with both State & National Titles wins.

Free diving is a great sport and easily available to the region. It is a great form of exercise and helps improve your lung capacity, making it an excellent low impact exercise for runners. Some of the best free diving sites can be found around here. Over the weekend, free diver Michaela Werner was featured in the Mercury and talks about her free diving experience. You can read more about it by clicking on the images below to view their larger size

More pictures of Michaela Free diving can be found at Edwin Kwan Photography

Edwin Kwan

Edwin Kwan is the PADI Dive Instructor with United Divers and also has a keen interest in underwater photography. He is also the webmaster for the this website. He has a certificate III in fitness and has done numerous half marathons including a marathon and triathlon. He also has a keen interest in Photography and is a webmaster for Little Handy Tips

Anita from VO2 Vitality before the ride

Last Saturday, VO2 Vitality and Spearman Cycles organised a mountain bike ride day up at Appin XC Ring Track.

It was a great opportunity for those who haven’t mountain biked before to give it a go; and there were people from all experience levels that day.
We met at the gates to the ring track at 8am that Saturday Morning. There Ryan, Cameron and Jessica from Spearman Cycles helped pair us with demo bikes and adjusted the bike and seats according to suit us. Once everyone was geared up, we were off!

Amy, Anita and Brendan from VO2 Vitality

Being a first time mountain biker, it took a while to get used to riding in the trails. Having only ridden on road bikes prior to that day, I was used to slowing down and trying to avoid rocks and other obstacles. With mountain biking, its completely different, there’s rocks everywhere and slowing down doesn’t help as there are times when you need the momentum in order to get past the rocks.

We were also taught how to accelerate and lift our front wheel followed by our rear wheel in order to ‘climb’ up the rocks and also how to shift our body weight to the back and level our pedals while doing down hill. Despite that, I was still able to have a massive stack and flip the bike because I had my weight body towards the front while doing down hill.

It was so much fun and we even did two river crossing along the track! Thanks to Brendan from VO2 Vitality and Ryan, Cameron and Jessican from Spearman Cycles for organising this!

Group Photo After the Ride

If you are interested in trying out mountain bike riding, check out Spearman Cycles to see when their next demo day is. And if you’re looking at increasing your mountain biking fitness, contact Brendan from VO2 Vitality about their TRX suspension training!

Change over of swimmers from Anita Graham to Lis White

Last weekend was the inaugural MS 24hr Mega Swim at URAC. It was a hugely successful event and they exceeded their targeted fundraising goals, raising almost $40,000.
There were around 17 teams, each team can have no more than 15 members and there has to be someone from the team swimming for the entire 24hr duration.

Anita is such a great organiser, there were so many teams participating in the event and she also got quite a few sponsors for the events. There was URAC who hosted the event at their pool, the Figtree Lions Club which provided a 24hr BBQ service (I tried out their bacon and egg sandwich on Sunday morning and it was delicious).

Lis White after completing her lap

Brendan Tuck from VO2 Vitality was there to provide TRX training for everyone to try out. Elisabeth White from Lis White Yoga ran pool side yoga sessions and Grant Jacobs and Ben from Recovery Works provided 24hr massage to soothe the sore muscles for the tired swimmers. Also there were dietatians from Port Kembla hospital there to provide freshly cut fruits for everyone. There was plenty of activities going on throughout the 24hrs.

The event raised close to $40,000 and the MS Trashers team, won the event (based on an distance covered and funds raised)! It was such a great effort by everyone involved and they all looked so tried after. Just looking at them swim made me tried too. More photos of the event are up on my website and available at http://edwinkwan.com/2011-ms-24hr-mega-swim-in-wollongong/

MS Trashers (The winning team)

Do you normally feel sore after a training run or running event? And does that muscle soreness linger around for days preventing you from getting back into running?

Well Grant from RecoveryWork recently did the New York Marathon. He hasn’t been training for distances greater than 30km (18.6miles) prior to the race, but using his recovery technique, he was able to get back on his feet quickly and experienced no muscle soreness following the marathon.

Below is a video outlining the recovery technique he used. It consist of active recovery doing full squats, simple mobility exercises, static stretches and cold water immersion. Watch the video to learn more.

Try this effective recovery technique to train harder and stay injury free today!

Watch Video on YouTube

Your body’s natural reaction after such an effort is to do NOTHING – just collapse and recover! For me, doing an active recovery instead has proven to be the most successful method of recovering quickly and bouncing back to your best.

After my first marathon I took a week to even start walking normally. Using this really basic recovery protocol, I can now return to recreational running in just 2 days after finishing!

The key is to start active recovery within an hour of finishing. Now I know this sounds difficult for a lot of people, but starting out with something as simple as supported body squats – ¼ squats, ½ squats and then a full squat…..progressing to unsupported bodyweight squats – again ¼, ½ and full helps me bounce back quicker.

2 Hours after finishing I am able to do 2 sets of 10 full bodyweight squats.

I follow these up with a simple mobility exercise around my hips. This is to try and loosen up my lower back and hips and move more freely.

I do static stretching for my lower body and legs as a bare minimum…and if I’m really lucky and there’s water nearby I can jump in and do a cold water immersion session. This helps to keep inflammation from overuse to a minimum.

I’ve found this protocol very useful after running, but also after soccer, tennis or a hard personal training session of boxing and running intervals.

However you choose to recover, make sure its an active recovery and make sure you refuel your body properly.

Do you have a recovery method which works very well for you? Why not share it with everyone by writing it in the comments.

Grant is an accredited and internationally experienced Strength & Conditioning coach and Sports Massage Therapist and is a graduate of the University of Wollongong.

We all know that some of the best runners in the world are Kenyans. At the recent Gold Coast Marathon (July 2010), the top four runners in the marathon event were Kenyans. The Sydney Marathon, which is held in September each year, was won last year by Julius Seurei, a Kenyan. And at the New York Marathon last year, the second spot was taken by, you guessed it, a runner from Kenya. In fact, Kenya has the most number of world class runners per capital!

Experts have attributed the superior endurance running capability of Kenyans to be due to their diet, the intense training, the altitude which they train in and also the their special genes.

Dr. Owen Anderson, from Gloucester Catholic Cross Country, visited the Kenyan cross country camps on the slopes of Mt. Kenya to interview dozens of elite Kenyan athletes. They provided him with 20 “running commandments” which outline their running success.

The 20 rules of Kenyan running are outlined below and are divided into two categories, principles which you should follow in your own training, as well as a couple of factors which are very difficult for you to control.

1. Avoid distractions.

Compared to Australian youngsters, Kenyan children have fewer toys, watch less television, and hardly go on facebook, so there is a much-smaller chance that a Kenyan young person will become sedentary. Because Kenyan youngsters are so active, they build up a tremendous base of aerobic development, strength, coordination, and speed between the ages of five and 16 and are more than ready for intense endurance competition while still in high school.

2. Don’t run on concrete or asphalt.

Kenyans prefer to carry out their workouts on trails or dirt roads, which simultaneously increase their leg-muscle strength and save their legs from too much hard pounding. Dirt provides more cushioning but usually forces you to work harder to run at a specific speed. Trail and dirt road running produce greater leg-muscle power, with less total damage to muscles, tendons, and ligaments, compared with hard-road rambling.

3. Do more race-speed training.

A favorite workout of top Kenyan runners involves a two- to three-mile warm-up and then about 10K of running over very rolling terrain. During the 10K, Kenyans alternate back and forth between about two minutes of fast running (at 10-K pace or faster) and around one minute of easy, relaxed ambling.

4. Make sure that outstanding running performances are rewarded with substantial financial bonuses.

For Kenyans, the prize money they receive from winning competitions can allow them to retire for life. Needless to say, this kind of financial-reward system intensifies young Kenyans’ interest in running.

5. Have great role models.

In Kenya, their world class athletes are out on the street – where everyone can talk with them. With so many great runners providing encouragement to up-and-coming competitors, young Kenyan runners begin to believe that it is normal – and almost routine – for Kenyans to win major international competitions.

6. Eat cheap, simple, healthy foods.

The Kenyans’ high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet revolves around ugali (corn-meal porridge), delicious vegetable stews, beans and bean soup, greens, plantains, passion fruit, cabbage, and rice. All of these foods are filling and satisfying and contain rich lodes of vitamins and minerals. Contrary to popular belief, Kenyan-runners’ diets are quite adequate in protein, provided by complementary combinations of grain and vegetables as well as sprinklings of lean chicken, goat, milk, and an occasional egg. Overall, dietary fat, especially saturated fat, is as sparse as slow race performances.

7. Be part of an excellent running team.

The Kenyan cross-country teams are true teams – not just collections of people thrown together for a competition. They train together for several weeks prior to the world championships, and everyone completes the same workouts.

8. Train with a very accomplished runner.

At the Kenyan camp, young Kenyans worked out with world class athletes. Fledgling runners learned exactly what it took to win and found out that they could handle the workouts carried out by their illustrious peers. Young runners – at first unsure about their abilities – gradually developed an attitude of “I’ve got what it takes to win, too.”

9. Take regular, prolonged breaks from training.

European, American and Australian athletes tend to think, “If I don’t train strenuously all the time, someone may get ahead of me,” but the Kenyan maxim is, “I work so hard that my body periodically needs a great rest.” Five-time world-cross-country champion John Ngugi trained very, very lightly at various times during the training year, and Moses Kiptanui, former world-record holder in the 3000-meter steeplechase, 5K, and two-mile run, was known to take four- to eight-week breaks during which he carried out no running at all. Such recovery periods allow the muscle-rebuilding process – an essential part of any training program – to be optimized and completed fully and leave runners highly motivated and mentally fresh for subsequent, intense training.

10. Carry out some of your training at altitude.

Altitude training is great for you mentally. Altitude makes every workout feel tougher, so you can develop a higher mental tolerance for pain. As veteran Kenyan runner Ondoro Osoro said, “When I come down from altitude, competition at sea level feels no more difficult than sitting in a rocking chair.” The altitude training must be completely wisely, however. At altitude, the Kenyans like to practice running at the precise pace which will be needed to win an upcoming race at sea level. When the sea-level race takes place, the required pace seems fairly facile, because it has been practiced under much-more stressful conditions – at altitude. Don’t forget, too, that a three-week residency at altitude can boost the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity.

11. Take chances.

Kenyans occasionally go to extremes, including running unbelievably tough schedules (with a high frequency of fast intervals, hill repeats, and scalding fartlek sessions) for about three weeks at a time. These “crash cycles” of training seem to push fitness to extraordinary levels. Naturally, it is important to monitor oneself during these periods to make sure that the risks of overtraining and injury are kept low.

12. Warm up thoroughly at the beginnings of workouts, and spend lots of time stretching after workouts are over.

Even the very best Kenyan runners begin most workouts by completing a couple of miles at a leisurely, eight- to nine-minute per mile pace. Kenyans settle into fast training speeds only when their muscles are warm and blood vessels leading into their hearts and leg muscles are full-bore open. Kenyans do not do much stretching before they run, so the initially easy ambles also unkink tight muscles. A diverse array of stretches and calisthenics are carried out for 15 to 30 minutes after almost every workout and help prevent muscles from “locking up” in between training sessions. The post-workout stretching also “opens up” leg muscles to incoming carbohydrate, so that more glycogen can be stored between workouts.

13. Get your local schools involved in fitness.

In Kenyan high schools, 10 to 12 weeks are sometimes devoted exclusively to physical education. Phys-ed programs teach young people appropriate exercise techniques and help to create and maintain a large, highly fit “pool” of young individuals, from which nationally and internationally successful athletes can emerge.

14. Don’t keep a log book or follow an absolutely rigid training schedule.

Instead, monitor yourself closely and keep your training “in synch” with how you are feeling. If you keep a log of your running, it’s easy to add up your mileage for the week, and there is a great temptation to run at least that many miles during the following week – even if you are feeling pretty worn-out. There is also a temptation to complete a scheduled workout even though you feel like hell – because it is written down in the log. Attempting to lock step to the dictates of a written training program and working hard on days when you are really tired are guaranteed ways to maximize the risk of overtraining. The Kenyans don’t count miles and prefer to carry out solid amounts of training on days when they feel good and minimal quantities on days when they are fatigued. This can actually involve more discipline than simply following the commands written down in a training schedule, and it is a more effective way to build a training schedule which optimally balances hard work and recovery.

15. Develop a good financial-support system, so that you can concentrate fully on your running.

In Kenya, talented young runners usually join the police or armed forces, where they can train with other topnotch harriers and don’t have to worry about putting bread (or in the Kenyan case – ugali) on the table.

16. Don’t worry too much.

When troubles arise, the Kenyan runners often invoke the motto, “Hakuna noma,” which simply means, “There’s no problem.” Bad things happen to runners all the time, including missed workouts, slower-than-expected races, illnesses, and injuries, just to name a few. The Kenyans simply acknowledge these disappointments and then look forward to better workouts and races in the future. The focus is on gradual progress toward a better future – not on beating oneself up over disappointing events.

17. Train on hills nearly constantly.

Top Kenyan runners carry out almost all of their workouts on very hilly terrain. Hill running transforms your leg muscles from thin strips of sinew into powerful dynamos which can use oxygen at incredibly high rates, when needed, and which can provide incredible, stabilizing support for the body during movement. At the same time, hill training improves running economy, so that you do not need as much oxygen as usual – even when you are cruising along at tough intensities. As a result of their hill training, the Kenyans have huge aerobic capacities but require only puny percentages of those dynamic oxygen reservoirs to keep up with the runners with whom they compete.

The Final Three Commandments You Can’t Follow Now… It’s Too Late

18. Choose ancestors who were pastoral people with a fondness for the “bride-price” system of marriage.

Although there are at least 35 different tribal groups within Kenya, the majority of Kenya’s internationally successful runners have come from a single tribe called the Kalenjins. That’s a bit strange, since Kalenjins make up only about 4 percent or so of the entire population. Historically, Kalenjins lived a nomadic life tending roaming herds of cattle, and a young Kalenjin male was considered suitable for marriage only if he possessed an adequate number of beeves (this was the “bride price”). Since livestock didn’t exactly grow on trees, enterprising young men would raid wandering herds at night (often those belonging to a different tribe) in an attempt to purloin enough hooves to impress the family of the potential bride. This involved running the cattle away from the main herd as quickly and for as great a distance as possible – before the theft was discovered. Thus, a direct link was established between outstanding endurance-running performances and fatherhood, an effect magnified by the tendency of Kenyan males to marry several times.

19. Exercise a lot when you are a child.

Little kids in Kenya really do carry out a lot of aerobic training, but they call it “running to school.” As I jogged on the trails and roads near Mt. Kenya, little folks padded past me, cruising easily at six-minute per mile tempo in bare feet on uneven ground, with heavy school bags draped over their shoulders. The average Kenyan youngster covers eight to 20 kilometers per day just ambulating back and forth between home and school (more Ks are often covered while doing chores around a rural home), and this sole-to-ground mode of transport increases the strength and flexibility of leg, ankle, and foot muscles. Later, when a young Kenyan begins to train seriously for competition, the support system – the feet and legs – can handle the stresses of training with relative ease.

20. Grow up at an altitude of 5500 to 7000 feet.

Maturing at such elevations gives you slightly thicker blood, a stronger heart, more blood vessels per muscle cell, and slightly smaller muscle fibers which can be more easily and quickly penetrated by incoming oxygen molecules.

Read the full article by Dr. Owen Anderson at Gloucester Catholic Cross Country

Wollongong runner Michelle M. recently completed the 2009 Comrades Marathon in South Africa. Read her story here.

Why do runners run? Why do they enter a half marathon, a marathon, and who in their right mind would enter an ULTRAmarathon? Why would anyone want to run 89.17km on a road? Surely there are easier ways to get from one city to the next – bicycle, bus, car? Yet every year thousands of athletes from around the world line the streets of South Africa to compete in the 89.17km Comrades marathon, known as “the ultimate human race”.

When I was young, my family would religiously watch the event on tv – all 12 hours of it. We’d eat, drink and laugh at the stupid people who thought that running this distance was fun! And every year I would think to myself, one day when I am big, I will run and complete that race.

When I did “become big”, I sat and wondered again why people would run. Then I heard about the ton of chocolate eaten on the route, along with 5.4 tons of bananas, 448 pockets of oranges and numerous other goodies (bottomless coke, cream soda and powerade). Maybe this was their inspiration (If I run 8km, I can have a chocolate bar, if I run 89.17km, can I eat as much as I like?) Nothing was able to prepare me for what I was about to endure.

Months of training behind me (and countless slabs of chocolate to make up for the burnt kilojoules), I stand at the start, amongst 12 900 other runners who have decided the free chocolate and coke is a good way to spend the day. The first 60km breeze by and we all laugh, joke, run and walk along. The entire route is lined with spectators who scream my name and cheer me on. In this race, everyone gets their name printed on their race number, not just the “elite” athletes. The sea of supporters continue along the road and I am embarrassed to walk in front of them for they have such belief that I am a hero. If only they knew, I was just here for the food and a possible chance to be on national television. By the time I plod past, some of them have even lost their voices from all their shouting, yet they continue to encourage as best they can with crazy statements like “you are looking so good” and “not much further to go now”.

This race begins at 60km with 29km to go. I dig deep and recall the tunes played every year at the start – firstly the South African national anthem, followed by the theme song to Chariots of Fire. I hum along in my head as my feet pound the pavement and try to ignore the shooting pain increasing in my knees and quads with every step. I wonder whether chocolate will take away the pain, whether it will make me feel better? Instead I make conversation with those around me and we recall happier moments of sport – I develop friendships in those few minutes which will last a lifetime.

The challenge increases with each stride (more like a shuffle at this point of the day), but with only a few kms left to endure. I see a man stumbling along the road leaning to one side and another who is vomiting in the gutter – clearly they did not eat enough chocolate to get them through this long day. I take my time, 12 hours from the start before the cut off gun shatters the stadium, the longer I run, the more I can feast!

10 hours, 45 minutes have elapsed before I enter the stadium. And I know now I did not do this for the chocolate, or the biscuits , or the coke. Tears fill my eyes as I cross the finish line, surrounded by runners who are now my friends, crowds who have pulled me through this day. I have completed the ultimate human race.

I started running because I love chocolate. I ran 10km, then 21km. As my desire for chocolate grew, I needed to add more kms, hence the upgrade to ultramarathons. Now I can eat as much chocolate as I want. But I realise after this race that I dont only run to savour the next Lindt ball or box of honeycomb Tim Tams. I run to learn about myself, to reveal who I truly am inside and to challenge myself to be a stronger person. So here’s a challenge for you – enter a race, maybe even the 2010 Comrades marathon in South Africa. Work hard at it, but dont forget to enjoy the chocolate along the way.

~Mich