Tour de France - what an event!

Great outline of the Tour de France 2010 route. We wanted to imbed the video in the blog, but it is just too awesome... so check out the link. Very exciting stuff!

These are serious athletes!

Enjoy, Mountain Katts.

Wall of Fame - Going Loco For Lombok

Together we raised $2824 to support the education of children in Gergerung, Lombok. They will now be able to have many of the basics necessary to be able to undertake their primary school education. We will take the money to Lombok in September/October this year, unless we find another secure method earlier.

Thanks once again to:

Jayne Russell

Loretta Garvey

Clare and Steve Peacock

Sheryl Cardozo and Adi Diner

Melissa Crouch

Luke and Leli Arnold

Romek and Sue Gonn

Josh Kay, Lior Kay and Talia Maayan

Geoff and Helen Kliger

Hanna Kopel

Toby and Nat Ovadia

Jessica Garvey

Cecily Maller and Dom Jurcec

Simone Albert and Nick De Vos

Kelly McDermott

Samantha Croy

Mr and Mrs Smith ;) (you know who you are)

Ruth Kingsley, Ryan and Daniel Bass

Winfred Chester

Yotti Kingsley

Alana Tassie

Gillian Fletcher

Rayna Gevurtz and Gersh Zylberman

Helen Pausacker

Hayley Gonn

Jacob Slucki

Dora and Michael Kingsley

Aaron Zelman and Sara Kowal

Ricci and Ori Presser

Desiree Handley and Ben Potter

Julian and Rosie Black

Jake Moller

Kathryn Taylor, Chris and Hayley Foong

Jay Pizaro and Patcharapol

Brynna Rafferty-Brown and Rowan Gould

Savitri Taylor

Gina Flash

Antje Missbach

Matthew and Clare Harding

Ku and Kristian Brown

George Darroch

Anita and Denton Bass

Annie Pohlman

Thanks also to the team sponsor: Smart Records System. This support covered expenses that were incurred in relation to equipment and accommodation for this adventure. A final thanks goes to our support crew for the adventure Dora Kingsley, Michelle Kornberg and Loretta Garvey who gave up their time to help us.

Thanks once again, Mountain Katts.

New direction... More to follow soon.

Before moving onto anything new we wanted to say a BIG THANKS to all of our supporters and donors for giving, caring and cheering... We raised just under $3000, which is a massive outcome. The money will be distributed to the school children in Lombok before the start of the next school semester this August - hopefully pictures from the school will be forthcoming soon too. The Wall of Fame is a fantastic list of people and also once more a big thanks to Loretta, Mishi and Dora for being a wonderful support crew on the day.


We have decided to establish with you, our friends, an Adventure Club... Keeping the challenges and adventures coming. Traversing the globe and engaging with nature. Stay tuned for a more detailed blog posting about this soon!


But back to the writing bunkers for the Mountain Katts.


Cheers, M+J.

Mission accomplished and issuing our own challenge

YAY!

YAY!!

YAY!!!

We did it.

MP preparing.

After three months of planning, sweating, refining technique and motivating ourselves last Saturday we undertook our challenge.  This was our challenge, not organised by someone else, but our own!  


We had a plan of how our day was to go and we surprisingly beat it by about 30min.  What we didn't know was just how hard it would push us outside our comfort zone.  14 hours and 49 minutes after leaving Apex Park in Wangaratta we made it to Bright.  Completing our 84k challenge.  It was a long, draining and VERY wet day (for the most part)... But one of the most rewarding experiences of our lives.  And luckily, although wet, we bet the really cold and rainy weather that really set in on the Sunday. This would have made the 84k's even harder.


The day started with us waking on Saturday morning at 3.45am to prepare and do our stretches... And have our last relaxed bit of food before the run.  Then at 4.50am we walked down to the start of the course and by 5.10am we were running... And the rest is history.  We ran the first 40k to Bowman and then walked the second 44k (we ran at 10k per hour and then walked at 6k per hour).  The run started auspiciously with JK taking a fall in the first 5k's earning him a grazed knees, hands and ego...

Getting ready... JK annoys MP!

At the starting line all lighted-up.

Thanks to Dora Kingsley, Michelle Kornberg and Loretta Garvey who were our support crews for the run.   Dora and Michelle were support crew 1 and let's say they were a little geographically challenged (with 5 check-points to meet us at they made it to 1 no actually 2 on time) they may have got lost from time to time but we appreciated their efforts...  Then Loretta, our country-lady come medical academic saviour took over... and guided us home for the last few legs of the day.


This challenge pushed us to our physical and emotional limits.   For JK, at the end of the 40k run he was totally salt depleted, but with a little Gatorade and some salty biscuits, colour returned to his face. But then his feet started to feel bruised as he walked into Myrtleford and for a while he felt like he was going to pack it in at the 53k mark and withdraw injured.  At his lowest, he felt like a failure... but MP's encouragement got him focused again!  The problems were not all JK.  As we left Myrtleford, it was MP's tough patch, still 30km to go... But with a little encouragement the endurance bunny was focused again! 


However, the two of us faced some other very challenging moments with bouts of heavy rain.  One just before Myrtleford, and the second, during the last 8km stretch from Eurobin to Porepunkah (1.5hrs) it rained heavily non-stop.  In the last shower, we slogged through a really unpleasant soaking, that water-logged JK's shoes and created wetness in some unpleasant places that exacerbated JK's chaffing....


There were some other problems we had to deal with... In the second leg of our run, we had to avoid a herd of sheep being moved by a farmer (only jumping out of the way with split seconds before being mauled by the stampeding NZ favourites).  


Also, we didn't follow some simple rules of undertaking such an endurance challenge.  A simple example was not to try any food that you are not used to or have not used before or after a training session previously.  For instance, we decided to have a protein bar in our first and second break... which, had a rather poo-inducing affect for both of us (MP a little worse than JK... lucky we ran with toilet paper in our packs).


We could recount the tough points, but it was a truly wonderful opportunity for us.  There were many beautiful points.  Such, as watching the kangaroos jumping ahead of us at dawn... And watching the alpine majesty as we ran towards Eurobin from Myrtleford.  Not to mention the amazing bird life, (although we were suspicious that the kookaburras were laughing at us for all the wrong reasons).  Beyond this, we ran and walked together without an argument or blow-up... not even 1! (this is because we invented an imaginary friend 'Anton' to accompany us and he bore the brunt of any misdirected anger).


The last two days we have been recovering.  Our bodies were pushed, but we did not get any blisters or terrible chaffing (despite the comment before).  Although we were a bit stiff and sore the following day... and maybe we walked like a couple of 80 year olds and had Loretta acting as our carer (luckily she's a trained nurse so adapted to the role perfectly) MP was also eyeing off one of those walkers older people use to get around and was contemplating tripping over a little old lady to get her hands on one!


But we are now both feeling pretty damn fine.  A little walking (about 4k's) and some warm baths made us both feel great!  Alright, we are a little sore still.


Thanks to Jared McClelland whose conditioning and training really prepared us for this challenge physically, but also he helped us work together as a team! We also wanted to thank Jake Moller and Chris Hogan for all their help with our training.


And a big thanks also for all of you for following our progress, contributing donations and being so supportive for us!


Now we have a challenge for you!  We want to raise a few hundred dollars more to get to $3000.  We have perspired and pushed ourselves... Now we are asking for those who haven't donated to please think about giving and to everyone who has generously given please forward this blog onto friends, families and colleagues.  Lets get to $3000.  This doesn't sound like a lot for us here, but we can make a real difference to children in Lombok's educational future!!! 


We are closing donations this FRIDAY, 16 April 2010, @ 5pm! A final posting will be put up on Saturday with the final tally.  So DONATE and tell your fiends!


Enjoy the photographs of us sweating (LOTS) and needing to call on our mental toughness (this was no one-hour workout in the comfort of a gym!).


Thanks for all of your support, Mountain Katts.

Getting sustenance at an early break.

Changing shoes in Myrtleford after the first of two drenching rains.

And changing my shirt (this photograph is for Toby and Josh...)

Heading into the Eurobin rest stop (about 70k's in).

Enjoying our break in Eurobin.

THE END... or just the beginning?

The home straight!

Hi friends, family and supporters,

This will be our last blog before our 84k challenge on Saturday.  We are very excited about it and all the final preparations are being put into place...  But our fundraising target is still a few hundred dollars away!  But lets not just reach the target, but go straight past it!  

As most of you are probably aware, we are fundraising for the students of Gergerung, Lombok.  These are children who will be aided to go to their local government school.  We know these kids and care that they have the chance to get educated.  The world gets better with every educated head.  And Lombok has one of the lowest-levels of literacy and corresponding rates of poverty, therefore, with each $60 that we raise we bring one child closer to breaking a cycle of poverty.  We are passionate about these people and giving them opportunities - to do this we need your help.

Donations from the run will go towards uniforms packs and other essentials for families to support their children's education.

A uniform pack includes:

- one hat and a tie (to wear with normal uniform)
- one pair of shoes
- 2 x normal uniform set
- 1 x Friday uniform
- 1 x Scouts uniform
- 3 x pair of socks
- a school bag
- set of pencils, ruler etc.

Annisa, a non-government group we know well, will be distributing the packs, so we can verify that the money will be used wisely! Just so you know where your money will be going a pack costs about $60 (Rp 510,000). That price also allows for a little wriggle room in terms of exchange rates.

TO DONATE: Click on the icon "Donate" in the "Donations" box on the side of this blog.  To follow the fundraising efforts see the thermometer in the "Fundraising" box (and on the "Wall of Fame" box).  Or if you are having trouble donating this way, just email:

j.kingsleyATunimelb.edu.au OR maria.plattAThotmail.com.

While we have the chance we want to thank all those personally who have donated.  Your support of this worthy cause is sincerely appreciated and you deserve to be on a "Wall of Fame". Terima Kasih (Thanks).  Also we would like to thank those who attended the film night and shared their time with us.  More thanks will come in the post-run blog...  But for now that is enough.

We are excited to challenge ourselves physically and emotionally as individuals... And are so happy to be able to do this as a couple - a team - sharing our love in a strange way.  

We will remember your support while running and we think it will come in as useful fuel while we are on the trail.  So if you have any final well-wishes and feedback, please put it in the comments section of the blog... Every kind word will go a long way!

A blog entry will be posted with our memories and happy snaps after the run.  There should be some wild looking Mountain Katts... But to follow the fundraising efforts keep logging onto our blog over the next few days.

Keep posted team.  Our adventures are about to start and will not end with an 84k challenge!  Let the sweating begin... 5am Saturday morning.

Salam, Mountain Katts.

The Mountain Katts are powered along by the support of Smart Records System taking care of all your filing and document management needs.

Alpine reconnaissance mission

Hi friends, family and supporters,


People we have spoken with have said that we should provide a little more information about the actual trail... So this blog is about what we found.


Well the first major issue is that the whole trail is paved (in many places it is just compacted gravel, like the tan, but in many other parts it is asphalt paving or the like).  This is good in that it shows the trail is well maintained and easy to follow, but the negative to this is that it is harder on our legs than trail running, which is just cleared earth.  When your running long distances this can make a major difference.  But we will do things, such as run on the soft edges that are still cleared and gravel, but not paved, where possible.


The trail we are running is undulating with a gradual incline as Wangaratta is on the flat lands while Bright is in alpine country.  There is one killer hill to Taylors Gap.  This stage is about a five kilometers slow climb which ends in a sharp incline.  It is not just physically difficult, but mentally challenging.  The incline and its ongoing nature makes you have to keep mentally on top of things and not give up.

We enjoyed the ride and are looking forward to the run, because you can get a real sense of the differences in nature between the flat lands and the alpine area.  You get to see things, but also smell the vineyards, hops which grow along the trail and bush land... It allowed us to really feel the land around us and what people were doing with it (for instance, at vineyards).  When you drive through such amazing areas you can see things, but you often can't savor what it offers nor smell the world...


Overall, the trail is going to be a serious challenge.  But we are both looking forward to it.  And we know we can do it!  Our support crews are ready and final arrangements are being made.  This week we are tapering down our training, although we will be doing a conditioning session today and then two runs this week to keep things flowing.


One final things - our friend Sheryl sent an article about an American couple living life to the full (and they are no youngsters)... They are an inspiration of life, love and adventure.  We hope to never stop adventuring.  


ALSO - get those final donations in... We are not there yet!  But we can reach our goal together.


Speak to you soon, Mountain Katts.

Weekend warriors go alpine

Hi friends and family,


We have just come back from a weekend adventure where we rode on bikes from Wangaratta to Bright.  It was about 85km each way (if you include riding from the bike store) meaning we completed a 170km round trip.  We were scouting out our fundraising run challenge of 84k.


It was a wonderful opportunity to see where we would be running, but more importantly, it was one more opportunity for Maria and I to make our lives adventurous.  We go to gym so that we can do these sorts of things... Several years ago, we would never have even contemplated such a trip.  


And on Saturday night we had an early anniversary dinner.  On April 10, after the run we will not be able to enjoy such a special dinner.  So we went to 'Simone's of Bright' - it was a really special meal!  Fantastic atmosphere and excellent food.  Even more special after a day on our steal horses.


This is the last fortnight before our challenge on April 10/11.   PLEASE DONATE the kids of Gergerung and their education will benefit directly from it... We are close to the target, but not there yet.  


Have a wonderful passover and easter everyone!  Remember to keep smiling.


Salam, Mountain Katts.

Trail running... Love the Adventure... Watch the Video

Hi friends,
This is an excellent video about trail running. 
Enjoy, Mountain Katts.

Magnificent southern Lombok

FUNDRAISING RUN IS LOOMING LARGE... April 10/11.


We thought it time to show off a little more of Lombok's natural beauty!  The following photographs are from southern Lombok around Kuta (NOT Kuta, Bali).


What an amazing world to explore... Hopefully we will explore it together!  Fitness is about application and exploration of ourselves in the beautiful world around us.  For us this 84km challenge represents another fantastic adventure.


On this line of thought JK found an interesting blog posting from a great fitness blog, Nerd Fitness.  It is about one man's personal fitness and body transformation.  It is worth a read.


Our training is going well, although our bodies got a little fatigued at the end of last week (we have been pushing ourselves VERY hard).  Having said this with a little tinkering of our training program we will get there no problemo!  We will give more details in a future postings of our training program...  This weekend will be fun with the Mountain Katts riding the rail trail that we will be running on Saturday and then riding back on Sunday after staying the night in Bright.  So we will be doing a little 168k riding exercise program over the weekend. 


We are preparing for a challenge that we would have not considered completing just a few short years ago...Now the idea of a life full of pushing our physical and intellectual boundaries make these photographs even more special.   


Please donate... We are so close to our fundraising target, but not there yet! 


Also, where are your comments and feedback???  We are feeling lonely here... Don't make me invoke Lleyton Hewitt again.


Salam, Mountain Katts - Going Loco For Lombok.
(The Mountain Katts are powered along by the support of Smart Records System taking care of all your filing and document management needs.)

Climbing to our dreams

It is fantastic to change your life through fitness.  People say you look better and you definitely feel better... Although, JK is now having trouble with shaving (he has not had to worry about a chiseled jaw for a long time... he he he).


Here's an example of one our latest adventures when we tried out some rock climbing last week


Our run is fast approaching - 10 April 2010.  We are working hard and hope that if you have not  yet given that you will soon make a donation...


Cheers, Mountain Katts.

The Mountain Katts are powered along by the support of Smart Records System taking care of all your filing and document management needs.

Great Alice Fun...

Fun was had by all last night @ the Mountain Katts Fundraising Film Night.  Thanks to all those who attended. A big thanks also goes to those who bought tickets but couldn't attend. We appreciate your support.  These efforts have raised over $260! Great work team.  We are closing in on our target (which we are  hoping to exceed!!!).


We thought we would put a few happy snaps up... 


Enjoy, M+J

The Mountain Katts are powered along by the support of Smart Records System (http://www.smartrecordsgroup.com.au/) taking care of all your filing and document management needs.

Movie Night - Don't Miss Out

Please purchase tickets for our fundraising film night.  


Get back to me by COB today (j.kingsleyATunimelb.edu.au).


Alice in Wonderland in 3D @ the Elsternwick Classic on Sunday 14 March @ 6.30pm.


There is still a lot of room on the thermometer to fill!  And it will be a fun night...

The Mountain Katts are powered along by the support of  Smart Records System  taking care of all your filing and document management needs.

Fear of failure, or the challenge of success

“Fail and prepare to succeed”

Dave MacLeod, 9 out of 10 climbers make the same mistakes (2010).

Our 84km fundraising for Lombok’s school kids is looming large on April 10.  And as we prepare for this run a constant fear emerging from both of us – the fear of failure.  But what is failure?  And how can we overcome it?

The reality is that both of these questions are redundant, but this doesn’t mean that you do not feel it.  We will complete the 84km… maybe it will be in one day or maybe it will take us two days.  But, the reality is that this is an experiment.  We are trying something new and testing our boundaries.  So failure would be better defined as learning and without pushing ourselves to the edge we will never know what we can accomplish.

“Who dares wins” ("Qui audet adipiscitur") – without the challenge you do not have success.  People to often cling to what they know and do not challenge themselves… This was us about 5 years ago.  Doing all that was safe and expected.  But we decided to change, to open ourselves to seeing new things and challenging ourselves.  We have calculated the risks and then acted.  We did this was with our careers, in our writing and on this challenge.  And we have grown as individuals and as a couple…

The only way that we will fail is if we don’t work together as a team.  We learned this on a run a few weeks ago.  For the first 8k’s (of 22k’s) we had a non-stop arguing session and then settled into a questionable ‘peace’.  When you are under physical strain for a lengthy period this just doesn’t help, and consequently, we had a terrible run!  It was slow and painful (not just emotionally, but our attitude affected our running style and led to us hurting ourselves).  This lack of cohesion was a serious lesson… Together united (literally).

These running lessons are actually life lessons.  Challenging ourselves brings so many revelations.

Remember to purchase your film tickets by contacting MP (mariaplattAThotmail.com) or JK (j.kingsleyATunimelb.edu.au)… There are plenty of tickets still available, but time is running out!

AND please donate!

Cheers, M+J.

The Mountain Katts are powered along by the support of Smart Records System (http://www.smartrecordsgroup.com.au/) taking care of all your filing and document management needs.

Perspiration

Our own little visiting Mountain Cat (a neighbour’s cat who keeps us company while we write)

This is just a quick blog.  We wanted to show you some recent training photographs from our latest session with Jared on Thursday night.

We have talked lots throughout this blog about what becoming fit and challenging ourselves physically meant for us.  In many ways we have been attempting to capture our experience and share it with you.  On a similar vein JK found an incredibly interesting essay by Henry Rollins about parallel issues – have a read: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/03/16/iron-and-the-soul/

As we are sweating and pushing ourselves we need your help to purchase uniforms for kids in Gergerung, Lombok.

So PLEASE purchase tickets to our fundraising film night – Alice in Wonderland in 3D @ the Elsternwick Classic on Sunday 13 March @ 6.30pm – and donate… There is still a lot of room on the thermometer to fill! 

If you want tickets for the film night contact:

JK (j.kingsleyATunimelb.edu.au) or MP (mariaplattAThotmail.com) - just replace AT with @

Can you imagine the tickets are only $20 (a bargain!).  Remember purchase tickets before the night...contact one of us about pre-purchasing.

Onto another big issues – DONATIONS.  Many of you are secretly asking; how do I make a donation?  Good question.  Simply click onto ‘donate’ icon on the side of the page and the instructions are clear from there.

Salam, Mountain Katts (aka Maz and Jem).

The Mountain Katts are powered along by the support of Smart Records System (http://www.smartrecordsgroup.com.au/) taking care of all your filing and document management needs.

Some recent training photographs with Jared at Schwart'z Crossfit Gym (more coming soon - Toby + Josh don't get too excited!).  We are wearing our running packs and training wearing what we will on the run.