Mandy Crawford

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Support me as I stay active for 27 days to support those living with Parkinson's!

Each October I like to participate in the 27ForParkinson’s challenge to support my brother and his family by raising awareness for those effected by Parkinson’s. Admittedly I never understood why it was ‘27’ for Parkinson’s (I just do it for a good cause)🤷‍♀️. So I googled it…. 

‘27forParkinson’s drew on the statistical data of 27,000 Victorian’s suffering from Parkinson’s. The goal was for participants to walk 27 times in 27 days in October in a show of solidarity and support for the Parkinson’s community.’

So that’s exactly what I’m going to do! 

Statistics have changed though, with over 57,000 people in Victoria and 219,000 Nationally living with Parkinson's. 

My brother has now been living with this condition for 7 years, and earlier this year made the scary decision to undergo deep brain stimulation. During this time Parkinson’s Victoria have been a wonderful support to him and his family 

So if you would like to get behind this great cause, please follow me on my journey, join me for a walk or join Team Wizza to help raise funds. Your support means a lot, so please jump on board 😊

If you would like to make a donation to support my challenge please click the link.

My Achievements

Updated Photo

Updated Story

First Donation

Raised 27

Halfway to Target

Achieved Goal

My Updates

Day 10- Cardio

Tuesday 10th Oct
It’s been tricky getting out the house this week with sickies at home, so today I did 20 minutes of skipping. Ewan joined me for a few jumps and then left to cheer me on. Pippa the dog thought it looked to easy and decided to drop her ball at my feet between jumps 😬

Day 9- Beautiful evening walk with the dog

Monday 9th Oct
I love an evening walk with the sun shining through the trees, up here in the hills. Tonight I went to one of my favourite streets in Kallista, with beautiful rolling hills and little lambs playing in the paddocks. On our return we even had a huge Kangaroo on the path in front of us.

Day 8- Pony rides and hoof trimming

Sunday 8th Oct
Today we made the most of the sunshine, saddled up the pony and took Ewan out for a ride. I also trimmed her hooves. This may be a simple job for a farrier, but for me it is quite the workout.

Day 7 - A walk with the dog

Saturday 7th Oct
Enjoyed a morning walk with the dog today. Both Pippa and I enjoyed a jog/walk through Kallista, with a sticky beak at the market and school fete being set up.

Day 6- Gardening

Friday 6th Oct
Today I had the challenge of finding some form of exercise to do from home. Unfortunately I had one of my boys home sick with Gastro and I wanted to be available if needed. So I decided turn our weed patch back into a vegetable garden again. I have always found gardening therapeutic and quite enjoyed pulling weeds as my boys (the not sick ones) played close by. I managed to clean out two garden beds, planting tomatoes in one and mixed lettuces in the other 🍅 🥬. I later squeezed in a short walk and chuck of the ball with the dog.  

Trampoline fun

Thursday 5th Oct

Day 5 - Jumping/face planting on/off the trampoline

Thursday 5th Oct
I thought I would join in on the giggles my boys were having whilst jumping on the trampoline in the rain. The inground tramp is the best after heavy rain because all the water underneath splashes up on you as you jump! A bit of fun and a great way to fit in my exercise I thought 😬. Well I got wet- ✅ fit in my exercise ✅ joined in on the giggles ✅ then slipped off and face planted the ground ✅ 🤪 gave the boys some more giggles ✅ . Let’s say I’m a little sore after todays work out, just not in the tired good work out kind of way. I have attached the video below for everyone’s amusement. It was filmed in time laps luckily, although slow motion would have really captured the moment. Enjoy 😊 

Day 4 Challenge- Breathwork

Wednesday 4th Oct
Day 4 of 27 and I’m feeling a little flat today. Besides my daily walk to see the pony, I wasn’t up for much. As part of the staying active for 27 days challenge we are able to do something of our choice or take on a challenge given to us by fight Parkinson’s. So I logged on to see what todays challenge is and it’s breathwork. It was the perfect challenge and great way to give your body a break when needed. I actually enjoyed it, so I have copy and pasted it incase anyone else could benefit from it. 

BREATHWORK

Set aside 4 minutes of your day to do the following:

  • Breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds.
  • Hold for 7 seconds.
  • Exhale through your mouth for 8 seconds.
  • Repeat this process 12 times.

PE with the Preps and a rainy evening stroll

Tuesday 3rd Oct
Well lucky for me I got the joy of joining the Prep/1 class in PE at work today. It was pouring with rain all day and we got to use a great indoor space at School in the dry. We started off with backwards crab crawls, tuck jumps, stretching our bodies, and on one of the kids requests bobs and statues, followed by some ball and racquet games to work on our tennis skills. Usually I would just help supervise and assist the children when necessary, but today I got right into it and had fun 😊. 
Later in the evening I went for an evening stroll with the boys to check on our pony, which was lovely and refreshing in the rain. 

Hill Sprints and skipping rope

Monday 2nd Oct
Day 2 of keeping active for 27ForParkinsons. My youngest son Ewan is always keen to join me when it comes to being active. Today he challenged me to 10 hill sprints in our backyard, with his competitive side coming out as he raced me to the top. We also got out the trusty old skipping rope and with much frustration we skipped doubles to 100. It did require lots of stopping and starting and getting cranky with each other for stepping on the rope or not jumping at the right time, but we got there. 

Thank you to my Sponsors

$56.97

Helen Boucher

Well done Mandy...so proud of all you set out to achieve.

$50

Creative Souls Studio Pakenham

Such a great cause. You're doing a great job.

$28.49

Hilke Hermens

$27

Mandy Crawford

$21.10

Karyn Rayner

$10

Emily Jukes

Keep up the great work 🎉❤️