One Month To Go

Well it's less then a month to go and we are well under way with plans and training. Now that the race is drawing nearer, the sponsorship and support has really upped the motiavtion to push forward with our preparations. Last weekend's training was tough and although it sounds cliche, the reason we're doing this really hit home and helped us keep going in a positive way. We are all lucky enough to be healthy and strong and remembered to appreciate that, even though we were cream crackered and had aches and pains! (V and I are both suffereing a wee bit with a knee injury and I've tendonitis in my foot too!)



As it's now the easter holidays, the three muskateers are off on adventures leaving me (without teacher holidays this year) to man the fort. Ellie is off snowboarding, Kat is exploring the wilds of London and Vicky is waterfall jumping in Costa Rica! They are all continuing to exercise but rather than the humdrum of the gym, or the gales of Arran, they're doing it in a much more fun way! (Can you tell that I'm slightly jealous!) I'm still keeping up exercise, (sports injury clinic on Tuesday due to tendonitis) by biking and gymming it. Still, it's good to be getting out into the chilly spring sun here and it's really not been too bad at all!


The charity night at Oran Mor (see the top right of the blog or www.justgiving.com/littlemisses for ticket details) is coming along well. There is a real variety of performers- it's set to be an unusual and fantastic night! We are hoping that we are supported by as many of our friends and family as possible to raise money through ticket sales for Maggies.


We still have a wee slot if anyone knows of a fab band who would play and support the event on the 26th.

Training

V suggested that we should log some of the adventures we've had so far just to give you an idea of what we've been doing. Ellie has maintained her cycling in the Pentlands and Miss Kat has been spinning her wee butt off. So these are only a taster of some of the things we have been doing, especially the ones I've been involved in as I have the photos etc...

Jan 10: Our first proper adventure together. All four of us to Mugdock and beyond. The day we knew how much we don't know!

We had our first training session on Saturday which was a laugh! It was just the four of us and between us we faffed tons but got our heads in mountan bike mode. We started in Milngavie and headed out along the west highland way towards Drumgoyne distillary (where Vicky hoped that we would stop for a pint!) It was damp, windy and grey but we all remembered how the weather is never actually as bad as it looks once you are out... Kat just bought her first helmet which she was exctatic about as it was her first piece of kit. She had trailed Glasgow for a shop to hire her bike. Vicky had borrowed a friends bike which was like a seventeen hand horse and she could just touch her toes down. Ellie and I spent an hour trying to get three bikes onto a two bike carrier to meet a waiting and expectant Vicky and Kat at Milngavie station. We then spent another hour trying to figure out how to work a bike pump on the wee strange nipple type valve on v's bike, bent the pin, could't close it and headed off with Vicky on half pumped up tyres that we then twice tried to remedy as the journey progressed... (this gave me lovely stiff muscles the next day after not having used my arm muscles over the christmas period!)

After heading into Mugdock park, we saw that there were diversion signs- which we obligingly followed... only to discover that they were old- half of the signs had been taken down but enough were up to lead you completely in the wrong direction before realising that you had come to an unknown place and unsure of the next port of call. I got my map out, but having normally relied on other folks to read them found myself having to wake my brain up and problem solve/ guess our way toward the distillary.

The stiles also took a bit of getting used to as the park have lovely stone dyke stiles which are in the shape of spirals- perfect to deter christmas fitness girlies on their first ride out... we manged but just... Vicky got stuck in the middle of one much to the stubborn girls unamusement!! (By this stage the hikers had gotten to know us well as we had leap frogged one another throughout the whole trip as we stopped to- figure out how to pump up tyres,figure out how to put a chain back on, read the map, drink lucozade, blether, read a map again, catch our breath, blether again, stop to decide what to do etc etc...)

Eventually, it started doing the good old Scottish thing and the heavens opened. We had been out for a couple of hours and had realised all of the things we need to think about for the next trip. One important factor might have been a waterproof for Kat!! I definately don't want to repeat that kind of faff in front of anyone we know but as a wee practice run, we all realised what we needed for next time, got our legs and bodies warmed up, our saddle seats are developing and our enthusiasm growing... Vicky now wants to do some sort of course to figure out how to service your bike as this whole not being able to pump up the tyres will not do... and the last thing we want to do is ask a boy! :)All in all, we had a brilliant trip, even though we didn't go very far!

Feb 1: Me and Ellie to Glentress in the snow.

Amazing day. My legs were also an amazing colour of purple/red by the end of the day too where I regretted wearing shorts!

February 7: Ellie and Me to Cambu cyclin in the snow again.

This involved rhodedendron bush whacking, lost at the top of a moonscape view over the quarry and realising that being lost with snow on the ground as the sun sets might be pretty but is not pretty clever.

February 14: Ellie and Me walking in the Pentlands in the snow.

Ellie having to be my Mummy and stop me from playng on the frozen lake, beautiful lanscapes and me realising that I had absolutely completely and utterly no idea where I was... so it was lucky that nothing happened to Ellie or we would probably still be there. But, in all seriousness did make us think about the importance of knowing where you are atall times... for your safety but also so that you could look after your friends should the need arise!

February 22: Cycle 35miles Arran (Through the passes)

Me and Ryan cycled over the string road, down to the Ross pass, up and over and then up through lamlash. We actually considered buying cushions to tie to our ridiculously delicate and soft bums!

March 7: Me and V at climbing wall. Both realisng that our arm strength is that of a babies and thought we might need to do something about that!

March 8: Me, Kat and V cycled to Croy

(intention was to cycle to Falkirk but I jist couldnae dae it!)

Minus 12 windchill, wet feet, cycling through rutted tracks full of water whilst being snowed on... oh yeah and occassionally interspersed with hail!

Kat and Vicky were tough as...

(although Kat needed to try my pastic bags in shoes trick to try to ward off the cold)

I... was a frozen wuss. BAD shoes (not so tough mind!)

Brakes broke... feet broke... will power broke...

When the sun did come out, it was such a contrast that it lifted you heart every time it made an appearance for a brief few seconds. That was the day that some jobsworth crazy duck like conductor lady wasn't going to let us on the train, even with our frost bite, as 'the regulations state that there is a maximum number of bikes of exactly 2 on trains'!!!!! We were the big misses that day though and stood our ground and won... of course!

Thursday 12: V and me- Climb. Arms with the strength of a small child now.

Saturday 14 March: V and Me cycle in Arran. 35miles (in gales)

Amazing! Over the Ross pass first, then string road back. V is chef extrordinnaire (spelling?:0) and makes the best food in the world... ever! She made us a pack lunch fit for a small army. It might have meant with all that exercise that we still managed to consume enough calories to allow us to circle the island 15 times! V's bike broke but we fixed it yeah!

Thursday 19 March: Me and V climb. Getting stronger (kind of!)

Saturday 21 March: Cycle to Falkirk.35 miles (easy distance in the sun!... realised we could have come back again easy!)

Glorious, amazing, brilliant, sunshine, smiling faces, no frozen feet, no wet ground, tasty chef V picnic again (Salmon grilled in lemon and pepper with pasta, creme fresh, pesto and peppers- wowow!) AN ICE CREAM in the sun at the falkirk wheel. Such an incredible contrast from earlier in the month. Could have cycled back we still had that much energy!

Sunday 29 March: Me and V Arran 58miles (in gale force winds)

This was a big day for V and I as this was what we had been wanting to do each time we'd been to Arran before but because it's more exposed, we couldn't do it. But this day, we went for it anyway. Gorgeous flat beautiful coastal roads initially and a wee pass to take you over to Lochranza (the vid is of us at the top of the pass and just a bout to head down the hill towards the castle).

It started off a really gorgeous day and actually we didn't realise there were gales predicted for the afternoon.

As the day progressed, it got steadily windier and I had beattles with my mind on the long exposed stretch round the other side of the island. It actually felt like some invisible giant was standing in front of my bike with a hand on the handle bars laughing as I tried to pedal forward in vain! My imagination doesn't help at all (vicky was dreaming of Costa Rica and switched off to it where as I focus on how hard it is!... not a good trait!)

The other thing was that as well as not being able to pedal forwards, the invisible giant was also blowing as hard as he could in both my ears... we couldn't hear a thing for the wind whistling in our brains!

It got to the stage that you pedalled up hill (sheltered from the wind) and then you would have to cycle down hill as the wind hit you full force again. You'll see the photo of me being wee again and filling my jacket with the wind. If only it had been going the other way!

Moaning aside, it was another new experience and V and I both realised once again the power the weather has over the experience that you have. It gave us a bigger sense of achievement when we eventually made it back over to Brodick in the rain. I had to be picked up at central station though as my knee was in protest by the time I got back!

The start of an adventure

Just recently Vicky (29), Kat (28), Ellie (31) and myself (Linda, 30) decided to get together to get fit and start a new adventure. We have just recently made a pact that we will all get fit -through an adventure race in mountain biking and walking... and raise money for a charity close to each one of our hearts. Each one of us know people very close to us who have been affected by cancer and think Maggie's centres provide an amazing service. We are all teachers and have therefore called ourselves 'The little Misses'. The challenge is Monster Bike and Hike for 'Maggie's' cancer charity in May. This involves a 30mile mountain bike run and then a 22 mile walk straight on top to raise money for these cancer support centres. We are all desperate to get fit, get outside again, do something worthwhile and meaningful to all of us, have a giggle and an adventure.

We are all kind of outdoorsy and each one of us have our own strengths (none of which are mountain biking!). I have done a wee bit of mountain biking on the odd occassion over the past years but need to build on cardio and strength but I haved dabbled in almost every outdoor sport in the past and become an expert in being a generalist but not an expert in anything ...if you know what I mean!

Vicky is my best friend from Uni, who has will power of steel and strength but wants to stop smoking and wants a fitness focus. She's like Zena Princess warrier- gorgeous, strong willed and tough. She's competitive as hell and whether she's knackered or not will just keep going! Ellie and kat are friends I met last year when we all went to Uganda to work with Head teachers in schools in Masindi district to help with school development. It was an incredible experience where we worked in a designated school with the head teacher and also tracked chimps, trekked to Murchison falls, drank the local gin from pouches 'waragi' and got on like a house on fire. We were all keen to make an impact and help provide sustainable ideas and support to continue to improve the education system out there. Kat is the blond, quiet, pretty one with grit and determination behind her quiet demenour. Kat dabbles in running and was a member of 'military training' last year where she did press ups in Glasgow parks in the middle of winter, face down in puddles... but still managed to maintain a stylish edge and pretty hair- bizarre!

Ellie is the leader of the pack- she swims (which she doesn't even really consider as excercise!), goes to the gym fairly regularly and is Miss motivator. She has dedication, will power, direction and get up and go!

This is a big challenge for all of us but with your support, we are all confident that we can conquer the challenge! Please help by sponsoring us. We appreciate any donation that you can manage.

Thanks on behalf of all of us
Linda

Why are we doing this?...an example

During a break from the gales last week, Vicky and I talked about the challenge. No matter what, as we (I) moan about the wind or whatever daft thing it is, we are incredibly lucky! It's a privilidge to be having fun, new experiences and doing this challenge in the name of raising money for Maggie's. It really hit home that actually, it's not about just having fun... it's supposed to be hard and a challenge... it's supposed to make us think...it's supposed to help our friends and families who need support in tough times.

I thought about a good friend of mine who was sick with cancer last year and now fortunately has recovered. She was incredible throughout it all- although she (and her family) went through unbelievably tough times, she genuinly stayed positive and strong. She amazed me. In fact, she often cycled to hospital to get her chemo...now that's will power! She is a real inspiration and has said how Maggie's helped her through it all. If we can raise money for people like Annie, an amazing wife, mother and friend, to get through what was undoubtedly the biggest challenge of her life, we'll have achieved a great thing between us all!