Two Longer Weekend Walks

On Friday I had a YAG Laser Capsulotomy on my left eye. Four years ago I had a cataract removed but the operation was not overly successful. In recent years I had blurred and hazy vision. My optician David Bridgman referred me to David Peart, an Ophthamologist from Marinoto Clinic. He proposed to do the YAG on my eye at Dunedin Public Hospital.

The problem is that the capsular bag that holds my lens produced cloudy cells.

Firstly I had a drop put on my eye to dilate the pupil. 20 minutes later David used a laser to create an opening in the centre of the cloudy capsule. The procedure took 3 minutes.The improvement in my vision has been remarkable.

As I knew I had the surgery coming up. I elected not to do the 15 km King of the Mountain event. Instead on Saturday I walked from Vauxhall Yacht Club to home which was a 11km walk taking exactly 2 hours.

Today (Sunday) Craig and I were taken to Waitati by Denise and we walked back to St Leonards via Mount Cargill. The 17km walk took 3 hours and 20 minutes. It took longer than I thought. When I finished I felt a bit jaded but no muscular aches or blisters. I think the walk yesterday and the steady upward climb took its toll.

Assuming I do a 5 km walk tomorrow I would have covered for the first 3 months of 2008, 692 kms over 73 days. I have missed 18 days so far this year.

Easter Walks

I drove to Craig's place and he then drove us both to the start of Big Stone Road just out of Brighton on the Taieri Beach side. This is a forestry road which climbs steadily. We walked for an hour and the came back covering an estimated 11 kms.

On Easter Monday I left home at 6:06am and did the Logan Park / Gardens / North Road / Mt Cargill Road / Upper Junction Road / Roseneath / Home circuit. I got home at 9:53am having completed 22 kms.

A bit tired but no aches or blisters.

Karetai Challenge

I have just completed the Karetai Challenge, which was the second part of the Southern Coastal Series. The first part was the Papotowai Challenge.

We left outside the Shiel Hill Tavern and walked up to the Centre Road turn-off which was 3.2km. I mangaged this, in just over 28 mins. Lots of people passed me down this road including Craig. He took off as we headed towards the Tautuku Fishing Club. This was 7km away from the start.

I was pleased with my stamina going up the Karetai Hill. Only one person passed me and I was able to pass around 10 people including Craig. The Karetai Road Hill climb was 4.3km.

The last part of 5.2km was virtually downhill. I came in at 2:18:40 which was just under 4 mins slower than Papatowai but one kilometre longer.

Had a shower at school and came back for the prize giving. I won socks for the Karetai Challenge section and a Speights towel at the Southern Coastal Series section. We were given a certificate if we competed in both events.

Fairfield - Saddle Hill - Waldronville - Fairfield

Seven club members met on the footpath opposite the site of the former Fairfield Tavern. We went in two cars to Saddle Hill. From here we walked to the top of Saddle Hill and then down hill to Waldronville. We walked along Brighton Road to Green Island. We continued pass Sunnyvale to where we parked our cars in Fairfield.

The walk took 2 hrs and 3 mins - 12 kms by my calculation.

Jan and Ruth took the drivers of their cars to pick them up from where we started the walk.

8 days until the Karetai Walk.

Papatowai Challenge

Today was the day of the 15.5km Papatowai Challenge. It rained overnight and the weather forecast was not very encouraging. I met Jan Stevens and Ruth Harley in Strathallan Street at the NZ Post Centre at 9am. 5 minutes later we picked up Craig and headed south. It took an hour and 20 minutes to reach Owaka where we stopped at the 4 Square supermarket for a hot drink. Next was a toilet stop and then off to Papatowai getting there before 11.30am. We registered and waited until the 12 noon start.

There were 195 walkers and the weather was overcast with no serious rain. I was pleased with my walk from the start and along the bush track. Next was the beach which was much firmer than I thought. I was passed by a number of walkers. Once I got onto the track through the sand dunes and onto the 4WD track, I felt good. We then walked up a gravel road until we reached the summit. I wanted to get under the average time of 2:15 and realised I was behind the pace. I stepped it up and finished in 2:14:59 which was satisfying considering the terrain we walked over. Jan and Ruth finished in just over the two hours. Craig found the terrain tough but did well to finish in 2:19:59.

I was soaking by the time I finished with sweat and the light rain. The good news is that I had no blisters.

We hung around for the prize giving and spot prizes. It was raining heavily so we decided to miss the spot prizes and leave just before 4pm. I finally got home at just over 6pm.

Some statistics

195 walkers - 42nd home

360 walkers and runners - 78th home

Next event - Karetai Challenge - Sunday 16th March at 9am