Training for the Wanganui 3 Bridges Marathon

Have I mentioned that I have a marathon coming up?!

In two weeks I'll run my 4th marathon in Wanganui.  I've been building my cardio fitness through weekly swims at Moana pool, Monday night rides with the Cycle World ladies, and looooong runs around Dunedin.

Otago Harbour in background

A few weeks ago, my 18-mile route took me to the south end of Dunedin, past Tomahawk Lagoon, and up a wee track to the Soldiers' Monument.

These sheep were unfazed by my presence.

This past weekend I did a 20-mile out-and-back to Port Chalmers.  I saw great views of the peninsula!

Four-hour solo runs aren't too shabby on roads like this: 

 
No more long runs until race day!  So, maybe next week I'll go for a long day walk or overnight tramping trip to Port Craig hut.  I enjoy the time away from thesis work and there's still a lot of New Zealand to see before I leave!

Lake Tekapo, New Zealand

I was treated to a weekend away in Lake Tekapo.  Let me tell you, it was awesome!

The Church of the Good Shepard on the left

We stayed at the oh-so-lovely Peppers Bluewater Resort, which had a luxurious bathroom (I love having a cold beer in a warm bubble bath!) and a deeeelicious breakfast buffet.

The weather wasn't too fab, so I don't have any pictures from our walk to the Mt. John Observatory. But, I can assure you that the views from the nearby Astro Cafe are well worth the 1 1/2 hour walk.  (Seriously, click the link to see a video of the 360* view from the cafe!)

We took a morning dip in the Tekapo Springs hot pools - it was soooo relaxing to sit back and enjoy the view of the mountains.  I bet it would be really fantastic to go at nighttime to sit in the hot pools and enjoy the starry sky.  

It wouldn't be a complete weekend without some hiking.  So, we explored the Richmond Trail.  

On the way to the trail head, we bumped into some sheep crossing the road (this sight never gets old):

We drove to the end of Lake Tekapo to have lunch before beginning the hike.  Here's a view from our picnic spot: 

Once we finished, we headed off for a hike.  We had good views of Lake Tekapo and the mountains. 

Lots of tussock... and more mountains...

After 45 minutes the trail headed steeply towards a stream.  So, we took this as a sign to head to the car and make our way back to Dunedin. 

Karitane, New Zealand

On a beautiful sunny day I joined my flatmates for a drive up to Karitane.  

The girls went exploring the peninsula and the beach while the boys went surfing.

We found a neat land bridge and snails that had a really cool iridescent shells...

 and these rocky pillar things:

Quite a weird and interesting shape!

These rocks below are evidence of volcanic activity from a long, long time ago - you can vaguely see the basalt columns that are similar to the Organ Pipes on Mt. Cargill.

It's not too far from the city center, maybe a 30 minute drive? It'd be a nice place for a little picnic. 

There's still so much to explore around Dunedin, I hope I can see it all in the next year!

Aurora Australis - the southern lights seen from Dunedin, New Zealand

Last night, conditions were ripe for viewing the aurora australis from the southern parts of New Zealand. So, Will and I drove out to the Otago Peninsula to escape Dunedin's light pollution and see the light show.

From Sandfly Bay, I could make out a light blue/gray glow on the horizon.  It turns out that Will's camera could capture a much different picture than what I was seeing - the results are amazing!

Here's a brief video of the aurora australis:

Video credit: Will Styles

We watched the sky for a bit over an hour.  Here is one of my favorite shots that Will took when we first arrived:

Photo credit: Will Styles 

Another spectator taking photos was a bit grumpy about the clouds, but it turns out that the clouds made the photos more interesting!

Photo credit: Will Styles 

Perhaps next time we'll see a bit more sky.  I imagine seeing the Milky Way and the aurora would be spectacular!

Bushball 2014: videos & photos of Otago University Tramping Club in Mt. Aspiring National Park

It's an annual tradition: pack up 40+ university students on a Friday night, transport them to Mt. Aspiring National Park (with a pit stop at a small town pub), then party all Saturday long.  The Otago University Tramping Club promised to turn an average 2-hour walk to Mt. Aspiring Hut into a day long adventure followed by a 3-course meal and dancing. Lots of dancing.

They came through on their promise.

Here's a little video to show what a bunch of c-c-c-cold trampers looks like the morning after a night under the stars in frigid temperatures:

After we warmed up with coffee/tea and porridge we set off towards the hut.

Someone from home commented on NZers clothing preference: dressed for winter on top and summer on bottom.

After several games of tug-of-war and a potato sack race we stopped to lunch on the river.

Mt. Aspiring Hut was home for the night.

After our pleasant walk, we started getting dinner ready: corn chowder, chili, BBQ chicken, cheesy mashed potatoes, and apple crumble. Trampers don't mess around when it comes to food!

My favorite part of the evening was the band. They were perfect for the hoe down theme!

Most of the group moved pretty slowly the next morning. (I think the keg had something to do with it.)

We got the group rejuvenated with a kiwi-style fry up: bacon, eggs, toast, hash browns, and fried mushrooms. Yum!

Eventually, it was time to walk back to the car park and shuttle everyone to the bus.

It took a while for us all to regroup, but I can't complain because it was a pretty nice spot to relax:

Above all, the highlight of the weekend for me was when I got back to Dunedin and shared a picture I took with family and friends.  See, we were given a list of things to photograph on Saturday's walk to the hut and one item on the list was a 'pretty rock'.  Here's what I took a picture of:

I don't know what the future holds, but I know who will be by my side.   : )

Catlins River Walk

Spending hours walking in the wilderness is my idea of fun.  So, when I was asked what I'd like to do for my birthday, I excitedly said, "Let's do the Catlins river walk!"

The night before our walk, Will and I inspected the map of the Catlins River & Wisp Loop tracks. It looked possible to see both tracks, so we were going to go for it.  The next day, we were up at 5am to get ready and head up north, over two hours away. 

It was dark when we left Invercargill, but the sun came up when we were just a few kilometers from the start. (I was hoping to start in the dark and make it to Rocky Knoll to see the sunrise.) 

The first hour was an uneventful, slightly uphill walk on a well formed path.  We detoured up a short steep path to catch the view from Rocky Knoll and have a little picnic. 

The sign below was handy for telling us what the heck we were looking at: 

Rocky Knoll's elevation is 500m

We walked to The Wisp, which looked like a picnic area flanked by a farm on one side and a tiny river on the other (it can be used for camping, but at the time I wasn't impressed enough to make plans to come back and stay the night).  From there we made our way back to the car by following the track along the river.  This section varied from unimpressive to Oh! That's pretty neat! I really liked how lush the forest was as we got closer to the car.

We crossed the river a few times by walking one at a time over swing bridges like this:

I don't know why, but it's really fun to walk across swing bridges - maybe it's the challenge of keeping my balance when the bridge bounces? Or, maybe it's the thrill from feeling like something will snap and I'll end up on the water if I don't hurry across. Who knows.

At one point, I did feel like it would be fun to round up some mates and hike along the river to the campground.  I seemed like it wouldn't be too challenging to get to the campground and the walk was pleasant... but, then we came upon some steep sections that wore me out!  I knew some of my friends definitely would not appreciate a few hills like that.

We reached the car after seven hours of walking.  I was pretty tuckered out, but happy that we did the walk.  

For future hikers: This walk can be done in winter, but you need to keep a pretty steady pace.  The sun was high enough by 8:45am for us to walk without torches (flashlights) and we made it to the car with just about 45 minutes to spare before the sun went down.  Do consider bringing mates who are keen to camp because I think it would be fun in the summer with a big group. 

For future sightseers: Start from the Tawanui Campground car park and walk to Franks Stream and up to an hour past that.  I think this was the best part of the whole walk because the scenery was best.

Big Hut, Middlemarch

About an hour from Dunedin, sitting at the top of the Rock and Pillar Range, is a little gem: Big Hut. 

The hut is up at the top here, somewhere

It's a place I was keen to visit because 1) I'd heard about the interesting landscape surrounding the hut, 2) it could be reached on foot in just a few hours, and 3) I could convince a few friends to come along by saying things like, It's only a short drive from Dunedin!... The views will be great!... It's just a little walk up the hill to get to the hut! 

Thankfully, on the day of our adventure, the sun was out the whole time.  Just after leaving the car park we all warmed up enough to be comfortable in just a t-shirt and shorts.  By the time we reached the hut, it was a whole other story.  We were freezing!

Correction: it's a steep little walk up a large hill to get to the hut

Down below the hut, the landscape is mostly farmland dotted with sheep.  Up around the hut, the land is dotted with large rock formations.

I just love how diverse the scenery is here!  This area around Middlemarch looks nothing like Dunedin, or Queenstown, or Wellington...

It took just under three hours to reach the hut.  Mostly, we were slowed down by steep sections like this:

This is similar to the terrain at the Northburn Station 50k I ran a few months ago

Here's a wee bit of the hike that I filmed during one rest stop:

If we were interested in staying at the hut overnight we could have slept in a large bunkroom.  The hut doesn't have any source of heat (well, there's some solar powered contraption that sort of kept the kitchen area at an "I'm freezing, but I don't think I'll get frostbite" temperature) so we would have had to play LOTS of table tennis to stay warm (can you believe someone managed to get a ping pong table up there?!).

It was c-c-c-cold at the hut!

We stayed in the hut long enough for a quick lunch and then headed back to the car.

All in all, it was a lovely day walk.  I think I'll plan to go back to run the track for marathon training.  As for my friends, I imagine they'd go back again...in summer!

Small wander on Smails Beach

There are so many nooks and crannies to explore in Dunedin and around the Otago Peninsula.  

Most recently, Will and I went for a walk around Smails Beach because a) it's close to town, b) it's a two-for-one spot (we could check out Tomahawk Beach on the way) and c) it's a place I hadn't heard anyone mention before - it would be a little adventure!

There were hardly any other people around even though it's just a short drive from the the city centre and the popular St. Clair and St. Kilda beaches.

No seals, sea lions, or penguins, though...just the ocean and a few gulls. 

It's so relaxing to be at the beach on a nice day!

Although this beach wasn't particularly exciting while we were there, it seems that there's potential we'll be back again at night time.  I have my fingers crossed that we'll get an aurora show like this one that occurred earlier this month:

Credit - Paul Le Comte

Two places you must visit: Sandfly Bay and Queenstown

One of my favorite people in Salem, MA came for a visit a little while back.  It was soooo good to see Meg and share the experience of living in New Zealand with her!  She was only in the country for seven days, so I didn't have much time to show her around.

One of her requirements was to see penguins, so we went looking for them at Sandfly Bay.  

It was a rather steep sandy walk down to the beach.  We saw a few 'guins and a few seals, too.  We also noticed that storm clouds were gathering and decided not to stay too long.  I MUST return to this beach again.  It was really pretty!

We did some other touristy things in Dunners like checking out the views from Signal Hill and Mt. Cargill, and sipping hot chocolates at the new Cadbury World Cafe.  We also took a wee side trip down to the Catlins to wander the Cathedral Caves and Nugget Point.

During her stay, we traveled with two New Zealand friends to Queenstown, expecting to find ourselves in some sort of shenanigans.  Despite our best efforts we kept things relatively tame (at least that's what I tell my mom). 

I introduced Meg to tramping by taking her up a steep 2-hour track to the lift for the luge ride.  It wasn't easy, but we were met with glorious views.

Not a bad place to go for a ride, huh?!

I loved the luge - zipping around the corners and trying to pass the slow pokes.  Why haven't I done it before?!  Well, it's rather pricey ($20 for two rides that last about 2 minutes), but it's just soooo fun.  My recommendation is to keep an eye out for luge deals on GrabOne or BookMe.

I've now had five visitors from the U.S.  Everyone loves New Zealand - the scenery, the nice people, the "cute" cultural quirks (like the road signs that politely ask people to give way).  I've noticed that people enjoy themselves more when they are prepared for al the walking we do.  Yes, there are plenty of activities that don't involve physical exertion (train rides and cruises come to mind), but I think being out there and walking around is a better way to experience New Zealand.  So, all future visitors: bring your walking shoes and consider building up your walking fitness a little before you arrive. :)

Lights! Camera! ACTION!

I never thought I'd be responsible for coordinating the creation of 12 videos...from the conception of the scripts to recruiting a video producer and actresses to feeding everyone (food and lines) on film day.  Wow, such a cool experience!

The videos will be used in the weight gain prevention intervention that I've been developing and will test for my Ph.D. thesis.  They'll serve a few purposes: introduce participants to an eating-related problem and some solutions, and (hopefully) substitute as "support".

In the literature and in focus groups, we see that women like to know that they're not alone in their struggles and they want a way to give/receive support.  Since the website won't have a chat room or forum (they'd require a moderator to be sure there's no one posting anything inappropriate) we thought videos of three friends might be a good idea.

Truth be told, at first I was less than enthusiastic about the videos.  In the back of my mind I was thinking about what a P.I.T.A. the logistics would be.  I would tell myself, in those early days of development, "Well, yeah, we're developing content for an ideal intervention, but... including videos for real sounds too difficult...we don't have the funding for them anyway."  Basically, I thought someone somewhere would come up with a good reason why we couldn't go forward with videos.

Silly, silly me.  The video scripts pre-tested well in focus groups, so it looked like we really did have to include them in the intervention.

At that point, there was a lot to do to make the videos a reality:

- Finalize scripts
- Find $$$ to pay for video production
- Recruit three actresses (one of them Māori) between the ages of 40-50 and have a body mass index greater than 27 (overweight)
- Find someone to film the videos
- Find someone to edit the videos

A lot of work went into finalizing scripts... Olivia, a student working on her master's degree, and I started writing them last...August? Then our supervisor gave feedback and we revised them.  Then we'd test them in focus groups and revise them based on feedback.  Then we'd send them to the supervisor and revise based on her comments.  Then we'd test them in another focus group, revise, resend to supervisor and revise again. THEN we sent the scripts to two researchers - one in the field of intuitive eating research and the other in the field of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and weight loss.  They reviewed the scripts and gave feedback.  By that time Olivia had finished her degree and so I was on my own.  I revised the scripts based on the expert opinions and resent the latest and greatest versions to my supervisor.  She revised them and then I either accepted her changes or made my own.  THEN I tested the scripts with Māori women.  Guess what happened next?  I used their feedback to revise the scripts and they were reviewed by my supervisor. Again.

Our scripts on emotional eating were extremely tricky for me to write.  Originally, the script focused on three women discussing how they can meet their emotional needs without using food.  So, if a character said, "I feel lonely, so I'm going to eat this piece of cheesecake to feel better" her friends would say, "If you feel lonely then you might like to try talking to a friend instead."  Or, if one said, "I feel lethargic so I'll eat a sandwich to give me energy" then the others would suggest going for a walk.  Turns out this isn't consistent with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.  Oops.

That meant I had to revise an entire script for a video (that should only take 2-3 minutes) to make concepts like "experiential avoidance" and "values-guided actions" really easy to understand for a lay audience.  We already knew from focus groups that our scripts needed to sound more colloquial, so developing and finalizing the script was no small task - just ask my supervisor!  

I revised the script, she revised the script and then we re-sent it to the ACT/weight loss expert... and then waited... and then revised again based on his feedback... At that point I asked a few focus group participants from a few months ago to comment on the script... We were making revisions right up to the night before filming!  Such an involved process, huh?

The end result is that the actresses were happy with the scripts - which made it easier on them during filming.  YAY!

There's so much else to say - the $40,000 estimate for the videos (!!!) ... an actress pulling out a week before filming... sussing out paperwork (the last thing I want is someone coming to me in two months to say I can't use the videos!)... To sum things up, the learning curve on this little project was steep.  But, the result will be really great.  I know so because I've had input on the scripts from, like, 45 people (no joke) and the feedback has generally been positive.  Women are really excited that we're developing something so different from what they're used to - they'll LOVE the program when the website is up and running!

In just a few weeks I'll have videos to send to the web developer. Aaaaaah, yeeeeeaaaaaah!!!!  But, there's no time to relax, yet.  I have someone recording the audio activities, but I have to edit them.  I also need to finalize the written activities... and there's some work to do on another section where women choose to receive motivational messages via text and/or email.  This last part is taking a wee bit of time because I'd like messages to be in English and te reo Māori.  That means I need help from Māori women to translate the messages correctly and ask if there are any motivating messages from Māori culture that can be translated to English.

I wish I could say this website development is the only thing I have to worry about for my thesis, but no... we're about to send out questionnaires to over 1,000 New Zealand women to collect data on their lifestyle, eating habits and wellbeing (it's the 5-year follow-up survey).  My job will be analyzing and interpreting the intuitive eating and weight outcome data.

Be jealous. :)

Northburn Station 50k Mountain Race

Weeks have passed since my first ever ultra marathon - a 50k mountain race held at Northburn Station in Cromwell.  To sum things up: I came. I ran. I took 10 hours to reach the finish line. Wooo!

During the pre-race meeting we were warned about spaniard, an angry cow, and hypothermia/hyperthermia/hyponatremia/hypotension.  We were also given instructions for what to do when an urge to use the bathroom strikes - find a large rock to duck behind.  Yeah... No facilities for 30 miles.  That was going to be interesting.

We started running the first loop around the vineyard in the dark. I did a fair job of not tripping and I climbed the first of five or so locked gates pretty well.

It took four hours of walking/running to get to the top of the big climb.  At points, it was so steep that people used the fence to brace themselves!

Some people thought I was nuts for thinking 50k in the mountains sounded like fun.  I treated it like a day of fast tramping - I took in the sights and had lots of snack breaks. :)  The views up there were great!

I didn't expect the temps to reach 80 degrees... running 30 miles with no tree cover was quite challenging.  I stayed hydrated with water, Powerade and my secret weapon - Coca Cola.  I kept the food side of things simple - muesli bars, pretzels and my other secret weapon - crystalized ginger.

There was come pretty strange landscape that felt like running on mounds of desiccated moss. The rest of the route undulated.... just when you thought you weren't going to run uphill again, you were running uphill again.

This woman, in the pic below, and I played leapfrog for 49 kilometers.  She blazed past me in the last kilometer!

I was feeling really good when I hit the marathon mark (26 miles/42 k), but then the wheels started falling off a little.

I was having trouble spotting markers on the course (I can't see red on brown/green very well - thank you colorblindness genes) and I couldn't fix the hot spots on the bottoms of my feet (I lost one half of my favorite pair of socks to run in and did not discover this fact until the day before the race).  A really friendly spectator walked with me for the last kilometer. When she suggested I run the last few hundred yards to the finish line, I just looked at her pathetically and said I couldn't be bothered.  Ha!

I vowed to never do another race like this again, since I didn't balance thesis, job, and training very well (binge training by doing four hour runs on the weekends isn't ideal!).  But... now I'm thinking the Dunedin marathon (in September) would be a nice tune up race for some more ultras next year. We'll just have to wait and see!