Nordic Walking – For any fitness level

Nordic walking is a great low impact all over body workout. It allows you to use your arms to take weight out of your lower body. In effect this strengthens your upper body whilst relieving a bit of tension from knees.

Nordic walking is conducted at Fairfield park which has a great mix of terrain, inclines and stairs. We show you the various ways to approach these environments to make the most out of your poles to assist you in each situation.

An account from a long time See Change Nordic Walker:  Judy Stanton

Nordic walking with Judy and Jen

“What are you doing?” asks one passer by
“Where’s the snow?” asks another.

Little do they know how much fun we are having and what a good workout “walking with sticks” is giving us.

Every Friday morning Jen and I set off with our imaginative and ever patient Trainer, Maree, to explore the wonderland along the banks of the Yarra. We walk along a myriad of different paths through Fairfield Park, so we can workout up hill down dale and across grassy lands. First it was for forty minutes, then an hour now an hour and a half – we’re addicted – because it gives us such a good work out in the fresh air! Jen and Maree have amazing navigational skills and an intimate knowledge of the territory, ensuring that we can always venture further and be inspired by the countryside and our skills to walk competently.

Poles make up hills a “possibility”

When I started I was apprehensive about how I would manage – what with the extra weight I was carrying, the knee problems, poor fitness and overall lack of coordination-but this style of exercise looked interesting and promised to take “some of the weight off my knees” if I could learn to propel myself with skill, using the sticks. I briefed Maree at length-age, physical limitations etc etc. Then I had to learn to be coordinated and not “trip over my sticks”-round and round the oval we went – with chants to memorize the routine and “engage the core” – miraculously after about three sessions I was powering along – much less presure on my knees and an amazing zing of coordination and power and overall exercise.

An absolutely fabulous way to exercise.

Discovering the many tracks of Fairfield Park

Be absorbed by nature

Nothing like facing a challenging challenge with a group of team mates to get you going!

We are putting a team together for the MCG Stadium Stomp on Sunday June 26th.  We have chosen to do the 7300 stairs category with an 8:15am start.

In the leadup to the challenge, we will be running a number of FREE Sunday training sessions which will involve lots of stairs both locally and in the city.  A great way to meet other See Changers and get your fitness levels up with a fabulous goal in mind.  I will send out a training schedule to those who will be joining us.

To join our team, select the 8:15am timeslot, register yourself, choose the team name See Change PT.  The team password is peach01 (That is peach zero one).  Make your $70 payment and you are in the team.

Team Name: See Change PT
Team Password: peach01
Course: Full Course 7300 stairs
Wave time: 8:15am
Registration link: Click here to register

This year our costume will be simple and not too embarrassing.  Wear black with red shorts or undies over the top.  We will provide red See Change super hero capes.

We look forward to having YOU on our team.

Maree and the See Change team.

Spring cleaning your house but can’t be bothered organising your own garage sale. Join ours and help raise funds to support Lexi-Gem. https://www.facebook.com/lovinglexigem

Have your own stall, drop off unwanted things, bake some goodies or donate something for the silent auction OR JUST COME AND BUY STUFF!! To stay in the loop about what is on offer, join our facebook event.

Stall holders can donate any percentage of their sales to Lexi-Gem. Contact Maree or Jess to organise stall / donations.

Garage sale items (lots of baby clothes, furniture and toys with lots more to come)
Silent auction
Sausage sizzle
Baked stall

Saturday 7th Nov
9am – 1pm

at See Change PT studio
445 Heidelberg Rd,
Fairfield

  Now that the dust (mud) has settled, we can look back and remember the good times of the Muddy Hell obstacle race.  We have compared bruises and reflected on the highs and lows of what was one of the coldest days of our lives.

On Saturday 4th July, a team of 9 See Changers set out dressed as Flamingos.  We have found the brighter we dress, the easier it is to spot each other on these obstacle races.

On reflection there were certain obstacles that were a highlight – the Tower of Tyres was one!  Climbing inside a tower of 20 tyres, climbing over a cargo net and down a tower of tyres on the other side.  This was physically and mentally challenging.  Tom, who is not a fan of heights, managed to calmly convince Rose that climbing out of the tower was “not so bad”.  His words and encouragement and Rose’s belief in herself are the moments that keep me coming back to do these events.

There are certainly times where you have a “moment” in these courses.  Michelle’s “moment” came just after she had to back track and find her shoe that had been sucked off in the mud.  Again a friendly team mate, Sarah, shouted some kind words that inspired Michelle to put her shoe back on, throw the sand bag over her shoulder and continue running over slippery mud mountains.

Special mention in this Muddy Hell event goes to Emma who was the only one to have her tutu in tact at the end.

Also Rose who had the most amazing bruises on her knees.  The skull shaped bruise on her right knee is very tough!

Obstacle courses are a great way to amaze yourself at your own abilities. I would thoroughly recommend giving one a try. The See Change team is a great group of people. We range in fitness levels with a variety of phobias that are faced, challenged and overcome on the day.

Our next course will be in November, make sure you let us know you are interested!  You know you want to!

Your chance to enter an Obstacle Course with us.

Would you like to put your hard earned fitness to the test and work towards a challenge this winter? 

Crazy costume yet to be decided, but we are taking recruits for Muddy Hell Obstacle Course July 4th (Mornington Peninsula).  Declan and Maree are taking on the Muddy Hell Obstacle Race this July 4th and would love to get a team together. If you haven’t done one yet, now is your chance!

Runners will get the opportunity to face the most brutal and challenging winter obstacle course event Melbourne has seen so far. You will witness the unveiling of stage two of Peninsula Obstacle Racing Course, Melbourne’s very own world class obstacle racing training facility.

Join the See Change Team and enjoy a bit of fitness and a few laughs with friends – we really don’t take it too seriously!

Contact Jess for details on how to sign up!  jessica@seechangept.com

Community News: Join the Run Melbourne Fun run to support Missing Persons charity.

One of our new community members, Leigh Mathews is taking part in The Age Run Melbourne to support her dear friend Loren. Loren’s brother went missing in 2011 and she has been working to find him, and help other families in the same situation since.

We would love for you to get involved! Please take a moment to read about the great work Loren is doing, or if you’d like to take on the challenge sign up to the team! Trainers Jess and Maree will be taking part in the 5K.

Sunday July 26th.  5km / 10km / Half Marathon / 3km for kids

Details on how to sign up are at the end of this article.

“Run Melbourne is a poignant tradition for MPAN.

In 2011, brother and sister Dan and Loren O’Keeffe registered to run and raise money for Lifeline; a service helping him through his battle with depression and anxiety. Dan went missing two days before the event. His disappearance spurred a campaign imploring the Australian public to help the family to learn if Dan was okay. With unprecedented public support, consistent traditional media and a captivated social media audience, Dan Come Home became the biggest campaign of its kind in the world (www.facebook.com/dancomehome).

In 2012, family and friends marked the anniversary of Dan’s disappearance by running in Run Melbourne, and raised $10,000 for Lifeline.

The Dan Come Home campaign continued to grow, and a viral social media post led to a confirmed sighting in Queensland. Dan had lost a significant amount of weight, and was very unwell. The time is took for the information to reach the family proved too long, and Dan had moved on and still remains missing.

Families with missing loved ones began contacting Loren seeking advice, which prompted her to found Missing Persons Advocacy Network (MPAN) – a registered charity that provides practical support to the families of the 100 Australians reported missing every day.

In 2013, MPAN ran its inaugural fundraiser – Run Melbourne – and the $18,000 raised built the foundation project: Missing Persons Guide (www.missingpersonsguide.com). The world-first resource has been accessed by over 10,000 people from 117 countries to resounding appreciation from the broadest range of users.

Last year, an even bigger team of committed Australians joined in what is now truly an MPAN tradition, and helped this charity maintain its momentum as it continues to harness people power and embrace innovation in a space that had been long neglected and shrouded in taboo.

In 2015, we’re hoping to reach a target of $25,000 so that we can expand the 100 A DAY (www.mpan.com.au/100-A-DAY) and Help Find Me (www.helpfindme.com.au) campaigns, launch a webseries, update the Guide, and continue giving hope to thousands of Australians missing a loved one.

Be awesome, and support a charity that is consistently producing ground-breaking work on a shoestring.”

More info on Run Melbourne here:
http://www.runmelbourne.com.au/event-info/event-information/about-event/

Poached Ginger Chicken with Spicy vegetables

Serves 2
A very quick and easy dinner to whip up after work.

Ingredients:
2 cups Chicken stock
1 tbspn Fresh Ginger thinly sliced
1 Chicken breast
1 ½ tbspn Red Curry paste
½ Red Capsicum thinly sliced
Approx. 10 Green beans, trimmed and sliced.
1 bunch Broccolini trimmed and into 5cm lengths
150g low fat Coconut milk
½ tspn Brown sugar

Method:

• Combine stock and ginger in a medium saucepan and bring to boil.  Add chicken breasts and reduce heat to simmer for 10-12 minutes until meat is cooked through.  Remove chicken and set aside to cool.  Shred using 2 forks.
• Heat oil in wok or large frypan on high heat.  Add curry paste and stir fry for 1 minute or until fragrant.  Add capsicum and beans.  Stir fry for 1 minute.  Add broccolini and stir fry for 1 minute or until vegetables are tender.
• Add coconut milk and sugar and simmer for 1 minute.  Divide vegetables between 2 bowls.  Top with shredded chicken and spoon over sauce from pan.
• Can be served by itself or on Cous cous or Quinoa.