Seven summits, two poles and two X chromosomes

Cecilie Skog of Norway has become the first woman to conquer the “seven
summits” of the seven continents and the two poles, her team has said,
after she successfully skied to the North Pole.

Defying temperatures that fell as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius, Ms
Skog, 31, and two partners reached the North Pole after a journey of 48
days and 22 hours, expedition spokesman Bjoern Sekkesaeter told AFP.

Ms Skog so became, in just seven years, the only woman in the world to
reach both the North and South poles and the highest peaks of the seven
continents: Mount Everest (Asia), Aconcagua (South America), Mount
McKinley (North America), Kilimanjaro (Africa), Elbrus (Europe), Vinson
(Antarctica) and Carstensz Pyramid (Oceania).

“Her life will not become boring… She still has all kinds of projects
up her sleeve even though they may not all involve breaking records,”
Mr Sekkesaeter said.

Ms Skog and her partners left Canada on March 6 and reached the North
Pole unassisted, each pulling a sled weighing 120 kilograms, more than
twice Ms Skog’s own weight.

The expedition began inauspiciously with a tent fire on the first day,
though it was rapidly extinguished, and several falls into icy water,
Mr Sekkesaeter said.

Norwegian woman conquers seven summits, two poles. 26/04/2006. ABC News Online

Fitness…

Walking with Attitude
This looks like a great motivational tool if you are walking your way to fitness.

Sailing Presentation

We had the end of year wrapup tonight at the Darwin Sailing Club. Stephen didn’t go but I took the kids and Hanna went up for Dad’s logbook. From our bunch there was Karen, Liz myself and Tonya. Got some good photos of the kids and the sunset of course.

The final part of my “learn to sail” goal for this year:

Learn to Sail

First light

The first two weeks of Iyengar’s Primary Course is the following:

Tadasana – Mountain pose

aka how to stand correctly. I can tell that this is doing good things for my posture. Especially the shoulders as I have a terrible habit of standing roundshouldered.

Vrksasana – Tree pose

Good for the leg muscles and balance

Utthita Trikonasana – Extended Triangle pose

Tones up legs, removes leg and hip stiffness, relieves back and neck sprains, strengthne the ankles and develops the chest.

This one is a challenge. My ability to side flex is reduced out of years of non-use. There is no way I could  touch the ground at this point of time without greatly injuring myself. But I have gained at least 6 inches this week alone.
Utthita Parsvakonasana

Ankles, knees and thighs. Also good for peristalsis.

Yes, this does mean that you fart LOL. There is a reason why they don’t want you doing this stuff immediately after dinner.
Virabhadrasana I and II

Good for deep breathing, stiffness in the shoulders and back. Good for ankles and knees.Leg muscle toning as well as calf and thigh.

Parsvottanasana – Side/Flank pose

Legs, hips, wrists. Good for shoulders and abdominal organs.

Well, I’m nowhere near putting my chin on my knee [ha ha] but I sure can feel everything stretch.

Salamba Sarvangasana I – Shoulder stand

A whole body asana. Good for the endocrine system especially the thyroid. also good for the pelvic organs.

I believe them. I really look forward to this pose as it does good things. all that blood going to the head wakes me up too and I feel much more alert afterwards.

Halasana – Plough pose

Another whole body asana and great for backache. Good for high blood pressure too.

I could barely touch my toes to the ground the first time I attempted this. Now I can only 6 days later and I even managed to straighten my knees! Made enough progress that I can contemplate focussing on the hand positions properly over the next week.

Savasana – Corpse position

A relaxation pose.

After the acrobatics of the shoulderstand and plough, this is a really sensible way of completing the cycle. 15 minutes sounds like a long time but it makes sense. And it is a great way fo doing some mindful meditation with focussing on the breath and just relaxing. Harder than you think in this modern world. Done wonders for my sleep.