Isobel Stout – No news is not good news

Apologies for the silence on my part lately. A month ago I wrote that I should expect more difficulties in my path, the mission is a tough one so why should anything else be any different? Since then I’ve been up and down to Dunedin five times for varying lengths of time to be with my Mum in hospital there and Dad at the family home until it was just Dad when Mum passed away on the 29th December.

Now I’m back in ChCh and trying to pick up the training again. I’ve done very little exercise at all, not even yoga could tempt me. So I started out this morning with my favourite training exercise, so much a favourite I don’t really count it as training at all, more like a treat.

Found my way to the Mt Pleasant Bluffs track that sidles along towards Mt Cavendish whilst hanging above Lyttelton. What an amazing route! So many runs of steps I just couldn’t inflict that many photos on you all! Small ones, giant ones, rocky ones, clay ones, scrubby ones, sheer ones… and all to myself. There was a strong southerly wind though and dopey here hadn’t taken a jacket so I grabbed the picnic mat from the back of the car and wore it like a poncho! You wouldn’t want to be on this track in an EQ that’s for sure. The scars of five years ago are still quite obvious. Speaking of which I’ve signed on for the Run to Remember next month, then Le Petit Race in March, and the Graperide Taster in April and somewhere in all that I’ll ride up Coronet Peak in March.

I’ve got $676 to go to reach $4000. I can do that.