Training Log Archive: Clara

Orienteering training in Royal Park.

Good fun. Was navigating ok. Glad it was a bit cooler.

Very slow job around the 'burbs. Strava isn't being very cooperative in uploading the correct times for some reason.

Vic Sprint Champs.

I don't think I've quite regained my o-mojo after Eureka. Started well, but then kind of lost the flow and picked a few bad route choices. Enjoyed the course and area though (except for making 2 different mistakes on the last leg).

C • Mojo 1

Sprint into Spring - La Trobe, Bundoora

Good fun race, although I seemed to be a bit off the pace. Legs wouldn't go any faster, and neither would my brain!

Very slow jog around (most of the first) sprint training. Was a good memory exercise and I don't think it mattered that I was going slowly!

Tuesday trivia run club with Reuben (although neither of us went to trivia...). Hot.

Had some weird knee twinges in my right let today - blaming stairs :(

Eureka!

Smashed it! First orienteer :) Happy with the time, but I think my race tactics left a bit to be desired! Totally overcooked the start and was already struggling from about 20. Just soldiered on. Legs definitely felt like the limiting factor, although lungs weren't happy at all at the top.

Lots of people to get around, including one full kit firey who had both his arms out.

C • Nice!! 4

Sprint into Spring - Royal Park

The map definitely exceeded my expectations for the area!

Found 1 ok, but completely switched off to 2 and Richard caught me by 1 min. More or less stuck with him, and got back in front in the playground. Happy not to be further down the list!

Sprint training.

Jogged around the first exercise, then did the 2nd one out of order, and made it a few 100m into the third before calling it a day.

Harding > creek > lake > Pentridge > home.

Picked up a few strava segments. Legs a bit tight to start but loosened up.

Stairs! 5 x 18. Smashed it :)

2'31
2'32
2'31
2'37
2'31

Looking good for Sunday (assuming I recover from tonight...) :)

Post stairs jogski round the park. Hot. Legs pretty dead.

Creek > Ring Road > Upfield Path. Lovely evening for a ride and the legs felt good. Toe felt bad though, and didn't enjoy toe clips.

I need to work on my criteria for logging biking - rode home > Richmond > home this morning, but not counting it because it was in a dress. Then realised that I rode to orienteering in a dress yesterday. Although to be fair, today's dress was a bit fancier.

More binge training :)

Rode from home to orienteering, via Collingwood, which is not on the way no matter how you look at it.

Pretty warm out. Thought it might have been cooler along the Darebin Creek path, but was fairly sunny.

Had a bit of a panic before I got to the Ring Road that I hadn't actually checked where the event was, so was pretty happy to see an O sign on Plenty Rd :)

Sprint into Spring - Bundoora RMIT

Put my feet into shoes for the first time since Tuesday about 10 mins before I started, and they were actually a lot less painful than anticipated! Winning! And feeling better about Eureka next week too.

Legs didn't have a whole lot of zip in them! Also wasn't really reading ahead or those other orienteering things very well. Slogged around though.

Decided it was too hot for any more training afterwards.

Bright 4 Peaks, Buffalo.

Set off in a better position than last year, although possibly rated myself a bit high as a few people ducked past me on the singletrack. It seemed to be easier to pass anyway this year. Managed to go steady on the gradual climb after the first road crossing, mixing up the running and walking. Found the rocks after Mackeys harder going than usual, but still passed a few people tiptoeing along. Saw Belinda gaining on me through the switchbacks.

Thought I wasn't going to be anywhere my PB, but then the track turned for home sooner than I expected, and was able to smash out the last bit. Love the finish (apart from the steps right at the end!).

Beat stair climbing champion Alice McNamara today, which bodes well for Eureka in 2 weeks (although she beat me all the other days... :) )

Back into Bright for a celebratory 3/4 creamy cauliflower.

C • Speed demon! 5

Pretty stoked to do 4 x PBs (and claim 2 x virtual CB1 scalps). My previous bests were in 2014 when I was the fittest I've been. Now I'm considering taking up mountain running (but the kind where you only run up, because I lose too much time on the descents). I was pushing, and found running against my Garmin and virtual CB1 very motivating.

Nice to finally run the full course of each of the mountains too!

Lovely weekend away with good people and good races :)

Bright 4 Peaks, Hotham.

After a wee break near the start, found the first 6km easier than I remembered (it was a struggle last year). Passed lots of people on the wall (I don't think anyone passed me at all after the creek crossing, although my memory is a little hazy). Spent about 10' eating a race biscuit - I need to make them smaller or enter the world of gels (although I am opposed to people who take gels and drop the tops on the ground - picked up about 10 over the weekend...grrrr).

Stopped to put on warm clothes before leaving the trees and was super happy I did - enjoyed the run to the finish more than last year when I had icy hands. Such a nice run to the end :)

According to Strava (once Jayne set up my account for me and downloaded my tracks) I smashed the final steep bit :) 7/67 (and 10/66 for the Bon Accord vertical k). Got me 3rd in the green jersey competition for the day :)

Another PB, although not directly comparable as the last one finished further away (but I'm claiming it because I don't think I would take 3 mins to cross the road).

Back to the creamy cauliflower.

C • Gel tops 1

Bright 4 Peaks, Feathertop.

First time racing up Bungalow to the top. Absolutely stellar day for it :) Settled in to it and just cruised up at my own pace. Stomach wasn't super happy, but not too bad. Went past someone I dubbed 'the polish guy' (because he was carrying poles) - he was a bit chatty and without me even mentioning it he said he has a Polish passport. He pushed me harder than I probably would have gone otherwise, and I paid in the last 1.5km or so to the hut. Hard to keep on going, given I've always stopped at the hut before, but it was nice to get out above the treeline. There was a huge number of people camped at the hut. Didn't realise quite how big the rise is before the summit, which was a bit of a struggle, but passed a few people because that's what I do on the uphill.

So nice to see the view from Feathertop for the first time :)

And back down. As usual, it just went on and on and on. Got some nice pics from the top though :)

Took so long my watch ran out of battery.

Penang vegetable curry pie, which was good but a little spicy for my wimpy tastebuds.

Bright 4 Peaks - Mystic Hill.

Drew blood within about 50m of the start line - overtaking people through what looked like a normal friendly tree but turned out to be well defended with thorns. Thought I might be in for a long, tough day when I got stomach cramps after 10 mins, but they went away after a large gas expulsion. Also banged my knee and hand at one stage, but not too badly.

Theme for the day was overtaking people on the uphill and being overtaken on the downhill. Almost ran off the course at one stage when I tried to overtake off the track, and found what looked like trail markings on another track while the track I was meant to be on curved off in the distance. Even though I'm better at descending than I used to be, there were some people absolutely flying past me on the steep downhill - something to practise. Running back through the logging made for a change - while I missed the trees, it was kind of cool to see the track below and see a view of the valley. The last stretch on the fire trail seemed to drag on forever (especially given I thought the race was only 9km, not 11).

Got a 3'30 PB, but couldn't crack virtual CB1 from 2013. Happy :) And I think the best weather I've run Mystic in. My leg was doing some nasty goopy bleeding afterwards, but wasn't sore.

Creamy cauliflower pie afterwards.

Running club easy run. Probably went a bit long for me, but at least it was nice and slow with lots of stops :)