Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

A run around the controls at the Australian Schools Relays early in the morning, in the name of keeping the SI units awake until the first competitors arrived (others had already gone out before me, but too early). Nice forest to be out in but felt pretty ordinary - glad I wasn't racing today (and hope it was because it was too early). Good news was no real problems from yesterday's hamstring twinge. On the other hand, Sunday's bruise is even more spectacular today than it was yesterday.

As might be expected for an urban-fringe forest, I saw quite a bit of evidence of illegal dumping and various other environmental sins en route (as well as a suspected humpy up against one of the map's few cliffs).

And I think I've worked out why the hole in the ozone layer reaches its maximum annual extent in early October - it's all the hairspray used by the Schools relay teams.

Easy track run at Browns Reef after the end of the Australian Schools; I prefer not to do all my recovery runs in terrain in a race week and hence didn't venture into the bush except for a bit of a shortcut at the end. Quite smooth. A bit of left hamstring tightness later on.

This was one of my more challenging commentary sessions, thanks partly to the assembly area configuration (it would have been useful to have eyes in the back of my head and my right ear) and partly because there wasn't a start list of any kind until 20 minutes after the start, and the one I did get wasn't in any useful order and didn't have running numbers. I don't recognise as many Schools people by sight as I once did and suspect I made quite a few identification mistakes, although we got the key moments right.

Swim at Collingwood, a slightly oddball venue chosen because of its proximity to the station (I'd had to drop some gear off at Warren and Tash's en route and didn't have room for the bike as well, although this was not such a bad thing because it was raining). A reasonably smooth effort which got a few cobwebs out.

American geographical ignorance (an occasional series): former Telstra executive Phil Burgess, in the middle of a rant about the government's telecommunication plans, was heard to say that there was already one Hugo Chavez in the Southern Hemisphere and no need for another one. Unless he is on a visit to somewhere further south than Venezuela, there are no Hugo Chavez's in the Southern Hemisphere; the southernmost point of Venezuela is at about latitude 2 degrees north.

This certainly wasn't the day I would have chosen for a fast run around the Tan, but it was going to be my only opportunity to post a time as a make-up for the Corporate Cup round I missed last week. From past experience of solo runs I knew I'd do well to get under 14, but it was soon apparent that even that modest goal was well out of reach. The second half was a bit better but still well beow par, not surprising coming off yesterday (the track conditions weren't great either).

The good news was that my quad, which was still a little sore this morning, came up fine on the run - just a very slight twinge pushing off hard. Looks like nothing to worry about.

Km splits 3.50, 3.56 (uphill), 3.44, 3.41.

Going to/from the Tan. Still a lot of Grand Final function remnants on Southbank, and Yarra River muck on the path near Swan Street bridge.

Event: Victorian Long Champs (SILVA NOL)
 

A bit reversed from yesterday - a run which felt like it was a good one, very good at times, but got a worse placing than I thought it was going to. I thought it was a top-six run but it only got 10th, thanks to the rest of the field refusing to crumble the way they usually do in long, physical races. It's a good sign for Australian orienteering even if it was bad for my result.

The course was hilly with a lot of small route choice but not much in the way of epic route choice - there was no 'how on earth do I do this' leg - and quite technically easy. This made it in essence a long hilly running race. It felt solid from the beginning, and better later on, with a fair bit of strength up the hills, even later on (including the big climb into 19 at the end).

The knee is just about right but I did myself another injury in the closing stages - ran into a fence wire and appear to have strained something in my quad from the suddenness of the stop. It hurt enough to suggest that it might have been a problem had it happened 20 minutes from home rather than two.

It was another moist day (although rainfall totals were small) and we cut up the access road pretty badly. Most of it was thanks to some ill-timed roadworks but I still expect we'll attract some local ire (even if we helped the local CFA raise a couple of grand).

Event: Australian Middle Champs (SILVA NOL)
 

Australian Middle Distance Championships at Chewton. Finished 8th, a pleasing result and better than what I thought my run was going to achieve when I finished. Having the best of the conditions helped but others made errors, and I certainly didn't expect to be as close to the lead as four minutes.

I went out with an organiser's early start, not as lonely an experience as it usually is because this was an MFR event and five M21Es were in that category. I was a little wobbly at the start, but nothing bigger than 15 seconds, and was settling in reasonably well by mid-course, although seeming to lack a bit of power up hills (perhaps a legacy of the knee, which otherwise stood up OK). It was a little surprising to be (almost) caught by Bruce at 12. I caught Simon Goddard at much the same time and we were a group of three, more or less, for the rest of the course. The other two got a bit of a jump on me into 22 when they got a better gap in the gorse than I did and I couldn't get back on them, which disappointed me at the time - but a bit less when we found out afterwards that our splits on that sector ranked 1, 3 and 5. Bruce ended up 3rd, an excellent result for him.

Doing the commentary without being able to see anything was a bit of a challenge to say the least, but I hope we managed to keep people interested.

Getting close to being right; would have gone out today had I not had a big race tomorrow. Hopefully I'll run as well tomorrow as I did in March after a few days off.

Most pointless sporting tribunal proceedings of the year go to Cycling Australia for their hearing a couple of days ago in which Chris Jongewaard was suspended for six months. As most of you will know, he isn't likely to be competing anywhere in the next six months regardless of the tribunal's decision - he's in jail for at least the next nine.

Can anyone explain to me how anybody thought it might have been a good idea for Brendan Fevola to record a Footy Show Street Talk at the post-Brownlow festivities?

C • Good for ratings 3

A bit better today - walking normally now and the only real soreness is going up stairs or getting up from a chair (not something I did a lot in the course of a very long, but productive, day at work). Still decided not to chance it on the Tan at this stage.

It could have been worse - I could have been attempting to run today in Sydney, Brisbane or anywhere in between.

C • i saw people out running...... 2

Knee much the same this morning as it was yesterday. On last night's evidence this means I can run on it if I need to, but at this stage of the season there's nothing really to be gained by doing so.

C • You can massage it though! 2

Wasn't quite sure what to expect - first day with a new injury is about discovering what your limits are. No real dramas in the pool, although not an especially fast session. Also OK on the ride into work - it seems to be one of those injuries that is harder to walk on than to do anything else with. This makes me think it probably isn't terribly serious, but I would have preferred it to happen some other week.

Epic Fail of the day goes to the call centre of a certain well-known telecommunications company that one of my work colleagues had the misfortune of having to deal with today. At the first attempt they wouldn't deal with her because they said her date of birth was wrong. Half-a-dozen calls later it transpired that her date of birth in the system was 01/01/1901. You might have thought that the call centre people might have noticed that that didn't look terribly credible (or alternatively that they had the world's oldest mobile phone user) but apparently not.

MFR Monday night from Warren and Tash's. Started with the intention of seeing how it felt and pulling the pin quickly if the knee gave trouble, but it didn't - felt a bit odd at times but no pain, which is a good sign. Once I was reasonably confident it was going to hold up OK, this turned into a pretty routine Monday night. The rain held off until after the run (and then unloaded in earnest, although not - yet - to anything like the extent seen in SA or parts of western and northern Victoria).

C • I'm older.. 1

Queensland Long Championships at the north end of Cascades. This is one of the two or three most difficult areas in Australia (I'd only rate the area north of the mountain at Kooyoora as harder) and it got the better of me today. In addition to the rock detail, its greatest demand is that there isn't often a lot of definition in the contours and using them as your main navigation tool can be fraught with peril.

After hitting the scary 1 and 2 well, I made a major mess of 3, coming in underneath it from what I thought was a decent attack point on bare rock, and losing 3-4 minutes. When you make a mistake of that size early, there isn't a lot to do but keep plugging away and hope your opposition also has trouble. Much of the rest of the run wasn't too bad, although I often lacked confidence in my direction in the flatter bits, and made a complete hash of my exit direction from 9, although I kept the losses to a minute by turning it into a track route choice that wouldn't otherwise have been an option. At my best through much of the last third, catching Kurt in the process, but made an annoying 1-minuter on the second-last. Finished 5 minutes behind Lorenzo; it was reasonably close apart from that control.

Wasn't feeling entirely myself physically at the start but slogged away OK on a course that was unrelenting. Also jarred the knee I've been having trouble with midweek halfway and was quite worried about this, but it settled quickly and gave no further problems.

This weekend was a bit of a disappointment. It now makes it three seconds from state championships in as many weeks; I'll be happy if I can continue the sequence for another fortnight, but somehow suspect that is unlikely.

Saw a snake at one point (which was heading rapidly in another direction). This is only the third I've seen in 31 years of competition (and the first outside the Canberra region), but the second in two years. I will not interpret this as a climate change signal.

C • Comparisons 2

Got off the plane to discover that my right knee had stiffened up. Seems to be unrelated to the trouble from last week as it's on the right side of the knee, not at the front. Presumably I strained something in my slide on the way into 10.

Event: Qld Champs
 

Queensland Middle Champs at Dalmoak. Not a run I'll be proud to look back on, with one major error and several smaller ones, and I deservedly missed the placings, finishing behind Lorenzo, Mark Gregson and Kurt.

My major error was on 6. In a flattish part of the map I made the cardinal error of not being sure what was up and what was down (reading a crossing of a flat ridgeline as a continuation of a gentle climb), got very confused on the far side once I realised what I'd done, and ended up well to the south and dropping 3-4 minutes. It's only partial mitigation that the critical slope line was hard to see because it was next to the leg's red line. Also 30-seconders on 1, 11 and 14.

The unusual feature of this map (next door to, but no overlap with, the APOC Relay one from 2000 that I didn't get to run on because of injury) was that it straddled the NSW-Queensland border. I think this is the first time I have actually crossed a state border during an event, although I've run on one map (Tralee, ACT) that crosses a border and several that have a border as their boundary. I've crossed Australian state borders several times in training, as well as accidentally crossing the German-Czech border on the 1991 JWOC training camp (only a 2-minute mistake, too), and the Ontario-Quebec border on a 1989 run from Ottawa otherwise notable for being the coldest run I've ever done (minus 31).

The organisers today didn't have to worry about one problem we had at the 1992 Australian Relays, which was in a section of Kowen Forest that was in NSW but could only be accessed through the ACT. Apparently it is, or was, illegal to transport nightsoil across a state border (I would have thought that this was in breach of the constitutional guarantee of free trade between the states) and we couldn't find anyone who would hire us portaloos to use in that location. In the end we set them up on the ACT side of the border a couple of hundred metres from the assembly area.

Travelling to Brisbane first thing and then spending a day archive-trawling (one of the things which has encouraged me to do the trips of this weekend and last is that the project I'm working on at the moment is one where I was going to have to do trips to Adelaide and Brisbane at some stage).

Finds of the day:

(a) a July 1977 note responding to a query on the lack of recent 3am and 6am observations at Thargomindah by saying that the (by-then-former) observer thought it was too cold to get out of bed.

(b) the site photos at Tewantin from the late 1980s which showed a ute just about reversed into the thermometer screen and an incinerator next door. My list of 103 long-term stations is hence now down to 102.

Easing back on the Thursday distance now as we lead into the serious racing season. Unlike last week, this one actually felt like a reasonably enjoyable run, although still a little on the slow side as I traversed the riverbanks and back streets of Kew and Clifton Hill. Started to feel a bit lively at the very end.

The knee was better than yesterday, with only minor twinges on a couple of the hills, and the doctor (who I was seeing on a regular appointment anyway) doesn't think it's anything to worry about.

Felt about six drops of rain on this run, in three separate sets of two drops each, but some more substantial rain arrived during the afternoon.

Sights of the big city: someone crossing the street at Federation Square in a bright blue suit and light green shoes. On the way home there was once again ample evidence of the water-soluble brains of Melbourne's road users.

The letters page of today's Financial Review was full of spleen-venting by outraged Telstra shareholders, demanding compensation for the expropriation of their property by virtue of the share price fall after Tuesday's announcement, and muttering class actions and constitutional challenges. Presumably these letters were sent before the Telstra share price spent Wednesday regaining virtually all the ground it lost on Tuesday.

First foray into street-O for some months as I ease back on the volume and keep up the intensity. This felt very smooth for much of the night, once I'd settled in and made up my mind which way I was going. Had enough confidence to go for it in the second half, but either others were going better or got a better route because I ended up a bit off the pace.

The knee was fine at the start and gradually became more noticeable during the run, which is a bit of a concern, but even at its worst it was only nuisance-level discomfort and certainly not enough to stop me from running. It's more of a problem pushing off hard (like taking off from traffic lights on a bike).

Quite a warm night; it felt OK while we were running but all of us had a fair sweat up when we finished.

Hearing radio discussion this morning of the late and unlamented Brimbank Council made me think "well, somebody must have voted for them". Certainly no-one was owning up to having done so today. Name recognition counts for a lot in local politics which makes it hard to dislodge an incumbent unless they've done something really scandalous (and if the 2005 elections in our part of the world are anything to go by, laying into another motorist who's upset you, with a baseball bat, in front of said motorist's small children doesn't constitute "something really scandalous", although the person concerned was finally defeated last year).

A crisp morning. Didn't really loosen up properly and couldn't quite find the pace I was looking for (fastest loop 9.37) although felt reasonably strong on the climbs. At the moment my endurance is better than my speed.

It wasn't noticeable on the run, but my knee decided to throw a wobbly, of all places, while I was bending down to change into my non-work shoes to ride home. Also a twinge or two early in the ride. It's settled down now but will need watching when I next run on it tomorrow. Also a bit of right shin soreness which I'm reasonably confident is bruising.

The Heidelberg precinct is sporting a lot of new signs showing walking routes and times, presumably in aid of the goal of encouraging more people to walk in the area. Unfortunately the sign to Heidelberg Primary is pointing the wrong way. Heidelberg oval also now sports Australia's smallest disabled parking space, which is barely wide enough to park a wheelchair, let alone a vehicle.

Road atrocity of the day this time featured another bike: on the way home I was behind someone who was riding with no hands and talking on a mobile phone all the way from Clifton Hill shops to Station Street. The Darwin Awards were invented for people like this.

And I've learned something from my Adelaide travels: just because a bus stop displays a timetable for route 210 doesn't mean that route 210 actually goes past that stop.

C • buses 1

Spent some of the way working in Adelaide then flew back in the afternoon. This meant I found a new place to swim - Coburg (chosen because it was on the way between the airport and the Monday night run venue). The lap lanes were a bit crowded because all but two were being taken up by swimming lessons (no surprise at 5.45 p.m), but things worked OK. Loosened up well and one of my better sessions for a while.

You don't go into this game for pretty legs (or arms, or faces); I counted 12 different scratches this morning and found another couple this evening.

The relevant SA minister was reported on the ABC this morning as saying that it was 'unlikely' that the government's target of having fewer than 90 road deaths this year would be met. I agree with his assessment; they're currently on 88.

Monday night from Clara's in East Brunswick. Not an overly demanding run, but floating along reasonably nicely - none of the stiffness that I had getting up this morning (or getting out of the car last night). Maybe it was the prospect of the Germanic delights waiting for us back at base.

SA Long Championships near Burra at Australia's best-named map, Paradise No Shooting. (When the area was first mapped for Easter 1990, the instructions to the mappers were to call the map 'whatever's on the gate'). The placings were entirely predictable - Simon 1, me 2, John Nieuwenhoven 3 - but things didn't happen quite as they were expected to.

I started two minutes ahead of Simon, and with Riordan Dose, running M20. It turned out their first six controls were common with us and Riordan was keen to give me a run for my money, matching it with me through that section and leading me into 5 when I came into it a little high. He went off his own way from 6, where Simon went through me - situation as expected so far. Simon then pulled away from me when I got a poor line across the rocky slope to 8 and I thought that was the last I'd see of him. Battled at times through the middle section, with a lot of erosion gully crossings (although got out of the questionable 12 with only 15 seconds or so lost), but kept going on a steady pace through the long later legs. I got a very big surprise coming into 22 - Simon (who I was half-expecting to see on the 18-19/21-22 crossover) was coming out of it. The most obvious explanation seemed unlikely - Simon doesn't make big mistakes on areas like this - and it was apparent after another couple of legs that the gap, if anything, was closing a little. I didn't catch him but did do enough to pick up a rare finish split win, and cut the margin to three minutes in a race where I thought I'd do well to keep it in single figures.

Simon was clearly a bit out of sorts in the second half which makes it a bit hard to know how much to read into this result - being three minutes behind him, if fit, in three weeks' time would mean an excellent chance of a third place. I'll be surprised if that happens, but it builds on last week as an indication that my current form is decent. (Simon won the first 10 splits, then I won 11 of the remaining 16).

The start triangle was pretty close to the start which removed the temptation for a historical re-enactment. This area was previously used for day 3 of Easter 1990. Entering the last day, Ant Burnett led me by 15 seconds in M20 but I started two minutes after him. The start was remote from the pre-start and he decided to keep me guessing by swapping over his running top at the start. (As it turned out, I never saw him but caught enough of the two minutes to come out in front).

Morning run from home before heading for the airport. A warm morning but not enough to be a problem, thanks to the cloud cover (and I'm hoping that I've built some heat tolerance during my tropical exploits, and not lost the lot in the last four weeks).

This run didn't feel brilliant most of the way, although it was better than Thursday; indulged too much in the edibles that everyone brought to the quiz night I went to last night. Had a few good patches, and felt faster than it actually was.

The quiz night also included various auctions. It was in Essendon so it was to be expected that the signed Essendon jumper would fetch more than the signed Carlton one. I was tempted to put in a bid of minus $10 for the signed Brendan Fevola poster (dildo not included).

Fitzroy pool was a bit busier than usual this morning; perhaps everyone was excited by the 23-degree forecast, although it certainly wasn't 23 at 7.45 in the morning. Moving fairly smoothly once in the water.

Over to SA for the SA Champs this weekend - a small field but Simon will be a good benchmark.

C • 23 degs 4

A pretty poor run; never felt properly awake and struggled from first step almost to last (just about the only time when I felt remotely myself was on the final climb up Hawdon Street). At least it didn't get any worse at the end which I guess is a positive. Ran the length of the Plenty River (or as close as you can) from upper Greensborough to near the Yarra, which will be nice on a better day.

Had some groin twinges in the second half for the first time in several months. Will wait for further developments before deciding what (if anything) to make of this. 48 hours' rest should help.

Most of you will have heard of the murder a week or so back of a 'colourful Sydney identity', and the associated allegations of allegedly corrupt links with bits of the NSW Government. Some wag in the Sydney Morning Herald today was unkind enough to suggest that the hit couldn't possibly have been organised by the NSW Government, because it actually happened as intended (although as relevant parts of the contract are, so to speak, commercial in confidence, we don't know whether it was done on time and on budget). I presume the police's line of investigation is to follow up all known enemies of Mr. McGurk, which might take a while because his list of enemies appears to encompass at least half the population of NSW (along with sundry characters elsewhere, up to and including the Sultan of Brunei).

Morning session from home along the river as far as Finns bridge, coming back the (moderately) hilly way through Bulleen. Feeling better before the start this morning and that continued into the run.

There's been a fair bit of drizzle over the last 36 hours and that turned the single-track next to the Yarra into a skating rink - fun but a bit precarious.

It may come as news to those of you who frequent the place, but apparently the summit of Mount Ainslie is a centre of witchcraft, and Danny Nalliah and his Catch The Fire Ministries have plans to do something about it. To quote:

"As I have been prayerfully seeking the Lord, the Spirit of God has been revealing to me that the whole nation is under a curse because the witchcraft covens from Mount Ainsley in Canberra are cursing the Federal Parliament, which is the heartbeat of Australia where decisions are being made that effect the whole nation."

"On Saturday 17th October 2009 we are calling on all Christians to mount an offensive spiritual warfare attack on the demonic strongholds over the nation. Christians from all over the nation will gather on top of Mount Ainsley in Canberra from 2pm to 5pm. We are calling a special afternoon of United Spiritual Warfare Prayer, Repentance, and Prophetic Worship"

Naturally, given Canberra's status as amongst the most heathen cities in the Western world (this is the place the Mormons gave up on after failing to convert a single person in 18 months of trying), plans are already afoot for a reception committee (see this and more in a hilarious comments thread at www.the-riotact.com). I'd be tempted to put in an appearance myself but I expect to be otherwise engaged that day in the WMOC final; I'm sure Shep and others can do the honours on our behalf.

(I hate to break the news to Danny and his followers, but the red stains are very probably from split wine, not ritual sacrifices).

I also note, in other Canberra news, the all-in brawl that erupted at the St. Edmunds-Marist rugby match last week. Naturally you'd never see Grammar boys getting involved in anything like that (but then you'd never see them getting involved in anything like scoring tries against either of the aforementioned schools either).

C • Perhaps 4

The Tan. Took a whole second off my time from last time, with an almost identical set of splits. Didn't feel as good as last time and had less to chase in the second half, although I did have the incentive of a work colleague who's been closing in on me, and this week was still ahead of me at 2k - I thought I needed to open up 20-30 metres on him before the final sprint but it turned out he didn't have one either.

Km times: 3.33, 3.42, 3.34, 3.31.

Still feel as if 13.30 is doable if things go right on the day, but 13.20 might be harder.

Going to/from the Tan.

Stomach was a bit unsettled this morning so was a little apprehensive about heading out, but turned out to be fine once I was going, just a little weak. On the slow side (9.41) - although puddle-dodging probably accounts for a little of that. Can't be too upset all things considered.

It started pouring just as I was getting ready to leave home: I chickened out and got the train.

Morning session at Hawthorn, which hasn't had any work done on it in my absence (which is part of its charm). A pleasant session but one which seemed to go forever.

The 'Oops' award of the day goes to one Daniel Cousin, an English footballer. He really should have checked that his transfer had actually gone through before telling the media how great his new club was and tipping a bucket on his old club (and in particular his coach). As it turned out his transfer hadn't gone through and I suspect he might be spending a fair bit of time on Hull City's bench in the coming months.

Monday night from the rapidly-expanding Suse's. A fairly small crowd tonight, and with two walkers and two others only doing a short run I was on my own for a fair bit of it. Felt pretty stiff this morning - had yesterday's race extended further I'm guessing my quads would have started to go around 25k like they did last time in a marathon - but those were OK after the first kilometre. Still didn't feel great on the run but had some strength when it was needed.

Burnley Half-Marathon. 12 seconds faster than last year; at my age going forward is to be welcomed, whatever the margin.

I mentioned last week that one of my objectives in doing this race was to get my pacing sorted out after not quite getting it right last weekend, and that objective was definitely achieved - very consistent all the way. Had a couple of slightly dicey patches in the middle with hints of a stitch, but that disappeared, and feeling strong up a (very small) hill around 13k gave me confidence that I still had a reasonable amount left in the tank. Started to feel as if I was struggling in the 20th kilometre, which suggests good planning, but finished off well with the help of a bit of competition.

I was a few metres behind Rachel Johnson after 2k and thought that she might be a worthwhile target (as Kathryn was last year), but she pulled away a fair way in the next kilometre - which was my fastest of the race, so she must have been moving at the time - and I never got close to her again. She ran just over 80 which is an excellent result and suggests she's got a 10k close to 36 in her, which I think is at least a minute faster than her usual territory. For a couple of years now she's been close enough at Summer Series to beat me occasionally when I have a slightly off day or take a slightly suboptimal route choice; if today is any indication, I'll have my work cut out to beat her this year even on good days. As far as actual contests on the road were concerned, I spent a long section of the middle 30 metres off a pack and picking people off as they fell off it, then went straight through them around 14k and gained places steadily after that.

Other orienteering performances I know of: 74.50 for Bryan (nine seconds below my PB, set at this venue in 1997), 76-something for Evan (including a 10k PB in transit, although I think Evan is capable of something well under 35.20), just under 90 for Jim, and about 103 for Jess, which I think she'll be happy with. Saw Sophie at the start but not thereafter, and Bruce apparently pulled out somewhere along the way from about a minute ahead of me.

The course was in 3k sections and my 3k splits were remarkably even: 11.35, 11.36, 11.38, 11.38, 11.41, 11.33, 11.38. The result suggests I'm in similar shape to last year although I certainly ran a better race tactically this year; was 19 seconds behind last year's pace at 10k but 31 seconds ahead for the last 11.

Update: just saw the results on the web and they've given me a bonus 3 seconds, so I'll take it :-)

C • Great 1

C • Bonus 3 secs 1

Back to a Saturday routine of sorts. A sleep in (or at least my version of it, which involves waking up at 6.59 and listening to the ABC 7am news before getting out of bed), and a not-excessively-early run around the Yarra Flats and Darebin Parklands on a nice morning. A nippy northwest wind; it's not too many weeks away before northwesterlies will be searing.

Felt better than on other sessions this week, which probably has a certain amount to do with some of the things described in the preceding paragraph. Just drifted a little during the middle but finished off well.

The person who spent a fair bit of an ALP function on Wednesday night haranguing me (I eventually left earlier than I was planning to, to get away from her) harangued the readers of the 'Age' through the letters pages today. She's from a group that opposes any development whatsoever on public lands (and in most other places too), and either don't know or don't care that the inevitable consequence of no development in Boroondara is more sprawl in Pakenham. (She was also fiercely opposed to the Darebin Creek bike path and footbridge, which I've mentioned before in these pages - it appears to have cleared its final legal hurdle at long last, and just needs some funding to build it now).

C • After a few decades 4

Had a needlework session in the morning (at 6.35 - my doctor is as much of a morning person as I am), so the swim was in the evening instead, under the lights at Fitzroy after another long day at work. Felt OK beforehand but seemed to be going through treacle as soon as I was in the water. Will appreciate an easier weekend.

I still keep a bit of an eye on matters Territory, and was rather amused to see a story during the week. The powers-that-be decided to dispose of some confiscated fireworks by putting them in the local incinerator (which doesn't sound like a brilliant idea to me). One of them went off, flew a distance and started a bushfire. Just to make matters worse, somebody closed a gate to stop the media from getting too close to the scene of the fiasco, but by doing so also stopped the fire brigade from getting there.

C • Clochmerle 2 1

Around Ivanhoe and Eaglemont for the first two-thirds on the political newsletter delivery run, then out for a final loop to Macleod. Grinding away for the first 90 minutes on a reasonably hilly course, not as bad as I'd feared given my overall tiredness but still not brilliant (and, after a few good days, renewed Achilles dodginess on the steeper hills). Got an encouragingly strong second wind beyond 90 minutes and felt comfortable at the end.

Changes that have occurred in my absence: the house in East Ivanhoe whose front yard used to be full of garden gnomes and Virgin Mary statues (presumably for sale) now has a clear lawn.

For some reason a van from Mr. Donut was parked outside my house. I resisted the temptation to suggest that they might generate more custom if they relocated outside the Heidelberg police station instead.

I'd hoped to catch up on at least a bit of sleep tonight, but it looks like I might be talking to the BBC at 11 so that might have to wait another day. Still holding up, but not with a lot to spare, I suspect.

C • Mr Donut 3

Morning session based around the Yarra from Clifton Hill, with a fair bit on the single track. Had trouble getting going despite the nice conditions, probably in part because of a very full-on day yesterday. Improved a bit in the last 15 minutes.

3x1k on the Tan. Still not fast enough (3.46-3.52), but definitely needed to get out there. Wasn't expecting a lot, being exhausted before I started (probably more mentally than physically), but it was better than I feared it would be. A nice day with plenty of people out on the track.

Getting to/from the Tan. More careful than usual on the road crossings because there's a jaywalking blitz on at present.

This is an intense week and it will surely catch up with me sooner or later. Today's run was squeezed in after a couple of early-morning ABC appearances - a set of 250s on the Tan starting from work. This was allegedly a speed session but was almost completely devoid of anything that any outside observer would recognise as speed - was never able to get my legs moving at all.

With a bit of luck, by Saturday I might have a day when I sleep at some time outside the hours of 11.30 to 5.30.

C • don't forget to taper 1