Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Australian Relays, 2nd leg in M45 (with Dion and Warwick). Expected a ferociously steep course and got one - right from the start with a full frontal assault on the escarpment. Walked up that (but so did everyone else), but then dropped a minute at the control, then another 2-3 minutes on 2. That pretty much sank this run as a going concern; the rest wasn't actually too bad, although slow except in the downhill section from 2-5, but the result was pretty disappointing. Brett caught me at 6 but then dropped back again (with some help from me having a short split).

We ended up 6th. Had I got down to 45 it would have only got us one more place, but would have been a result I was reasonably happy with. Bruce did 35 for the Australian team, which won comfortably. At least I managed to string three days of running together for the first time since July; baby steps...

Took the back roads back to the Schools venue at Borambola (I was speaking at the opening ceremony), seeing road signs which didn't look like they'd changed in 50 years, doubling the Nangus general store's daily takings (I bought an ice cream), and doing a section on the Old Hume Highway and wondering how many decades ago this winding dirt road through the hills, barely two lanes wide, was the actual Hume Highway (my guess would be pre-WW2). Also found myself for a while behind a ute bearing the best business name I've seen for a while, Licensed To Kill (pest controllers).

Weird orienteering dreams department: on Saturday night I had a dream which involved picking up a Kangaroo Crossing map with no contours or rock (only vegetation, tracks and watercourses). Hopefully the real one on Saturday is complete.

And there are enough orienteers to have a presence even in a town the size of Wagga: I started the day encountering an MFR carload at a coffee shop, and finished it by encountering Lanita, Asha and Tara (all of whom can be well pleased with their top-10 W21E results yesterday) in a gelato shop.

Australian Long Championships, Split Rock. My main objective for this week is simply to get around all five championship races so that part of the mission was accomplished. Back was threatening to tighten on any climb so I wasn't attempting to run many of them, but managed to keep plugging away on the flat and downhills, and most importantly made no significant errors - especially satisfied to nail the downhill diagonal 11. Probably close to the upper end of what I'm currently capable of, but still rather frustrating when you know that if you were fitter you could be doing this 20% faster. Probably not going to do much about that in the next week (a technical middle next weekend might be my best chance in that respect).

Ended up just missing the top 10 in 11th (and would have missed it by a bit more had Jon and Matt Stocks not led each other astray). Only had one top-ten split which says something for the consistency (and lack of pace) of this run. Carsten and Bruce 52, Craig 53, Andy 55.

Oceania Sprint Championships, just below halfway in M45. This was probably around the result I expected but still revealing as to how far off the pace I was. The first part in the buildings was pretty technical and my splits weren't too bad, but struggled more once up on the hill - mostly through not registering properly that just because it was in the bush didn't mean the scale was 1:10000 (and thus overshooting the short 11 in a fairly significant way, dropping a minute or so). Back not too bad, although threatening to cause trouble up a couple of the hills; fitness definitely well short of requirements.

At Northcote in between lots of paper-reading on what was supposed to be a public holiday Friday. Session seemed to go pretty smoothly even if the wind was knocking me around a bit.

Something we see a bit less than we did a couple of years ago is media coverage of business groups complaining about how many gazillions this particular holiday is going to cost the economy. Obviously they don't count the income of all of the establishments on Station Street which were going gangbusters.

At this stage, just getting something on the board which would have been routine not so long ago is a plus. This run was fairly sluggish and lethargic, but apart from brief hip twinges there were no injury difficulties. Also took on something vaguely resembling a hill out of Darebin Parklands without my body freaking out, although that might have been just because I was fired up after an encounter with a boisterous dog and its unconcerned owner.

First time for a while I've done the gentle descent down the path through the west side of Ivanhoe, too, seeing in the process that half of the very long-lived Carl Kirkwood For Preston sticker has finally disappeared from a power pole next to the path (if I recall correctly, the last election in which he was a candidate was in 1992). His political passion was cemeteries; I guess someone has to care about them (and, if you're a backbencher and aren't going to be a minister, finding a specialist niche which is your own isn't the worst of ideas).

Early Yarra Boulevard session. Felt rather lethargic, particularly in the earlier stages - hills were hard going, and as usual got blown away by some of the more regular cyclists; suspect running today wouldn't have worked out that well. Probably a bit better later on. At least getting onto the Boulevard is an easier process now (and will be easier still once they finish working on the old bridge).

Got going at a second attempt after not working out in the morning. A bit iffy at times, but certainly improved on this time last week - good to see that I can get out at lunchtime again (and a good break from a day of binge-paper-reading, sandwiched somewhere in between bias correction schemes for lower stratospheric temperatures and methods for estimating exactly when individual ships in the early 20th century switched from using wooden to canvas buckets for sea surface temperature measurements).

There are no hills on this route (other than a few bumps over bridges). I'll need to relearn how to run hills soon, after seeing that the Australian Relays have 7.4% climb.

Back to the Monday morning pilates session (at least for this week). Somewhat higher resistance for some of the exercises, but seemed to handle it OK (and core stability seems to be a bit better in the parts where that mattered).

Then moved on to the pool for the first double of this type for a while - a chilly, windy morning when it was definitely better to be in the water than out of it. Gradually wound myself up as the session went on, and managed to avoid any cramps this time round.

First time for a while my last week's training time has had a 6 in front of it (even if part of it is through doing last week's normal Monday on Tuesday).

Victorian Long Championships at Chinamans Flat, Linton. The first time I came here was one of the top five runs of my career (the 1995 WOC long trial), but 24 years later I arrived just hoping to get around the course.

Spent 90 minutes running the pre-start before my run; I wasn't sure whether standing for that period of time would be a plus or minus, but liveliness felt in the warm-up suggested the former. This lasted as long as the first substantial hill which my back disagreed with (and there were was a small wobble on #1, too), but it was OK on flat and downhills, and it ended up turning into a decent run on the level and downhill bits (I walked all significant hills, partly in the name of minimising the chance of blowing up). A couple of long legs but didn't see much in the way of significantly non-straight options on either; the first took me past the bushfire memorial, and towards where firewood was being chainsawed enthusiastically (no idea whether it was legal or not) next to #5. (I was half-expecting the control to be missing, but it was undisturbed, presumably on a we'll-ignore-you-if-you-ignore-us basis - logic also applied, so I'm told, to encounters with IRA training activities in 1980s Northern Irish events). Felt pretty good on the control-picking section through the last 10 minutes.

There was only one other M45 starter so I picked up a comfortable win; Ed Steenbergen was a bit under a minute slower in M50 on the same course. (Ed was 3.5 minutes ahead of me at 8 but lost time on several of the more technical controls late in the course). Based on his M21 kilometre rate I expect Bruce would have been in the low 50s. Still, I haven't managed to get through anything like this since June, so I'll take it as a positive going into next week.

Thought we'd picked up some local produce at the presentations, but Snickers bars are not amongst the products that Mars makes in Ballarat.

A new coffee shop (which I haven't yet put to the test) has appeared on the freeway near the eastern exit of Ballarat (next to the decrepit-but-still-functioning Leigh Creek roadhouse). Am I the only person whose geographical sensibilities are offended by the fact that a business calling itself 143 Degrees East is actually much closer to 144 than it is to 143? (It's actually at 143.957; 143 degrees is just east of Ararat).

C • Truncation 2

Since I haven't managed to complete three days of running in a row since my illness, I decided not to try to tempt fate by making the Victorian Long Championships the third (I'll have no choice next week) and went out for a ride instead - a bit later than I might have done otherwise after sleeping in following a 4am teleconference, and didn't check the radar before going out (of which more later).

Headed out to the top end of La Trobe Uni via Ivanhoe and Macleod. A fair bit of climbing in the first 5km (much of which used to be part of my standard commute home); I'm not sure whether it's opportunism or just coincidence that the bike shop near the top of the climb out of Darebin Creek was prominently advertising e-bikes. (Another ad I spotted was from an Ivanhoe manchester shop - unlike its Fairfield counterpart, not closing down for the last four years - which offered instruction in how to fold fitted sheets; I'm glad I'm not the only person who has trouble with this). Part of returning to once-familiar territory is seeing what's changed and what hasn't; the empty building site near where Lower and Upper Heidelberg Roads join is still just as empty as it's been for the last decade, although it has new signs saying it's (not) being developed by a certain SBG Group (I would speculate that these letters might well stand for Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou).

A few spots turned into heavy rain about 20 minutes in, and from there it was hard going, with slippery pavement and often squally headwinds until turning south. At least it woke me up, which was something which needed to be done. Not especially cold, and definitely not the heaviest rain I've been out in on a bike (that would be the 17mm in 5 minutes last December), but unpleasant enough. More comfortable in the final third, with the rain easing (and tantalising blue sky just out to the west) and a tail wind, and I was just starting to think I was just about home when abruptly jolted by an Australian September scourge. (Looking at a crowdsourced map of attacks - it's 2019, of course there's one - I'm by no means the first one to have encountered this particular bird). The encounter was significant enough to draw blood, and given how wet it was my face was well decorated by the time I pulled in.

(Speaking of magpies, the stereotypes were alive and well in Northland later in the day - spotted someone in a Collingwood shirt carrying a slab of Jim Beam and with a visibly incomplete set of teeth. He's probably somewhat displeased now).

C • Swooping 9

Not sure where that came from, but this was what I would have classified a year or two back as a normal run - it's an indication of how hard the last few months have been that it seems a triumph. Still, I'm happy to have it on the board, with no sign of injury apart from a slight hint of hip soreness at times, and significantly less slow than most recent runs. I'd attribute it to the warm morning (21 at 7am), but if that was the reason then I should have had some good runs in Guangzhou. Makes me a bit more positive about the near future (while the afternoon marching activities made me a bit more positive about the more distant future).

You learn something new every day: the Industrial Workers of the World (whom I knew chiefly from Year 9 history for getting banned in Australia during the First World War) still exist. They had a banner at today's march.

I thought they way I felt in the pool last night wasn't encouraging, and so it proved. At this rate I'll be happy just to get to the start line for a reasonable proportion of the races in the next fortnight.

I'll probably be tired for reasons other than exercise in the next couple of days: an OA Board meeting and three work teleconferences in the space of two nights (the last of them at 4am Saturday). At least this gives me some work hours in lieu which may or may not be put to good use during the early afternoon hours of tomorrow.

Artificial intelligence not always so intelligent: one of my colleagues has been doing a search on ultrasounds, and has subsequently been deluged with the sort of ads you'd expect to be directed at a mid-30s woman who's searched on ultrasounds. (This particular ultrasound is on her wrist).

Switched from a morning run to an evening session in the pool, but felt a bit stiff even then, particularly later on, which is a bit of a concern.

Tropical Storm Imelda was threatening the coast of Texas today. I suspect there were many headline-writers out there who were trying to work out how to work in a shoe reference.

Useless information of the day: as of late 2016, there were 406 roundabouts in Canberra (and over 3,800 in Melbourne). Canberra's notoriety is probably because more of them are on main roads.

C • How did the ABS get the roundabouts to fill out the Census? 5

Back to pilates after a break through the combination of absences and centre renovations (took me a while to work out where everything was). Took a while to loosen up, but not too bad on the whole. As usual, I come out hoping that it will do me some good.

Normally I'd follow pilates with a swim (or alternatively do one in the evening), but having been in the water yesterday I wanted to try a run. Doing it immediately after pilates didn't work out, so instead I decided to give a lunchtime run a go - first time I've done this in months. Started out OK, back seized up on the small rise to the Yarra bridge, but knowing that the rest was flat I decided to press on. Gradually improved, although didn't really settle down properly until a traffic stop 25 minutes in, by which time I was almost ready to finish. Nice to get this one on the board, unconvincing as it was - and maybe some Killer Physio work in the evening will help with forthcoming days. At the moment, I'd be more than satisfied just to get through the five major events of the Oceania carnival.

Money in sport (an occasional series). In last night's Premier League game, Norwich City's starting 11 cost 6 million pounds, Manchester City's starting 11 cost 406 million pounds. Norwich won :-).

C • I thought you’d like that result! 1

Flew in about 8.45 - slept 3-4 hours on the flight despite having a middle seat (almost everyone seems to check in using an app which appears to only be available in China, so those checking in at the airport get stuck with the dregs). Took to the pool for a post-work swim after a not-spectacularly-productive day; took a long time indeed to get going but was finally feeling reasonable by the last couple of laps.

Almost ready today, but not quite. Got the chance to have a closer look at the path around the lake though - OK for shake-out-the-cobweb runs for World Cup teams who will be staying here. Spent some more of the day in the middle area, plunging myself into some of its crappier areas so the rest of you don't have to, and doing one reasonably inelegant arse-plant on a damp mossy pavement (shoe choice will be one of the more important things to test out at the model event). Saw most of what I wanted to see, though, and it was good to have the TV producer here this weekend so he, I and the setters/mappers could work through what was wanted and make decisions on the spot.

There was a group which had just finished a run at the lake when I went out. One of them perhaps still has a bit to learn about optimal performance as his post-run recovery method involved a cigarette.

Flew home tonight. The passage through Guangzhou airport was smoother than it sometimes is (this is an airport where you definitely want to allow at least 2 hours, and 2.5 is better), but there aren't a lot of eating options once through security.

C • Middle terrain 2

Still not good today, although to be honest I'm not too upset to have a reason not to be running on this visit - the conditions are draining and being out in the field (sprint relay today) is hard work in itself, albeit slightly cooler today after an early-morning thunderstorm. A few locals were venturing into the murky waters of the lake next to where we're staying but I think you'd have to be a local to know what nasties might (or might not) be lurking therein (at least there are no crocodiles).

We were working through an auto-translation of the draft Bulletin 3 and were somewhat amused by a reference to the "media shooting area". I know the virtues of a free press aren't universally recognised in this part of the world, but I think this is a reference to photography.

Still pretty tight after the flight, and I think I needed a day to get used to the humidity anyway - it was enough of an effort walking around all the sprint controls today (in the afternoon it reached 35-36 degrees with dewpoints around 27 - even Darwin in the build-up doesn't normally manage that). Forecast for tomorrow is a bit kinder.

It's the mid-autumn festival here (given the aforementioned weather conditions, I'm wondering where the "mid-autumn" comes from). As one might expect for a festival in China, this is being accompanied with the enthusiastic use of pyrotechnics - quickly learned not to be too perturbed when something went bang in the vicinity.

One for the "you know you're an orienteer when": you see an article in the Cathay magazine about the great lost city of southern India (once the world's second-largest city after Beijing, but abandoned after being conquered in the 16th century), and the first thing that captures your attention is all the granite boulders on the hills behind the ruins.

C • You know when you are an orienteer when... 2

Actually managed to get a run in - a few hip twinges at times but back was fine today. This was what's becoming a semi-regular thing for me before earlyish flights, a loop through Airport West on the way to the airport (for those playing at home, the suburb's name refers to Essendon Airport, not Tullamarine), although a bit different to last time because it was light enough to discover a parkland strip I hadn't seen previously. Not exactly a lightning-fast run, but good to at least get one in the book.

First leg of the flight was fine (and the seat next to me was empty, which always helps), and there don't seem to be any issues tonight at Hong Kong airport - about to head on to Guangzhou.

Got a start, at least, but that was all; the first (small) hill was enough to set me off. Getting closer though (and felt better during the day).

Switched a planned morning swim from tomorrow to this evening, with a post-work session at Fitzroy (felt in any case that I needed a cleansing immersion in water after exposure to Craig Kelly's Facebook page). Not too bad a session; drifted out of it a bit in the later stages, but certainly nothing like last time I tried. One foot cramp at the end. Had a bit of a sore shoulder to start with after a tetanus shot yesterday, but that was no problem once under way.

There was a piece in the latest RACV newsletter with Steve Moneghetti naming his six favourite runs in Victoria. Some were expected (Lake Wendouree), some were familiar territory (Two Bays), and one took me by surprise a bit.

Tightened up again significantly last night; not quite as bad in the morning as I thought it might have been, but still not really in the shape to run on. A bit annoyed about this as I don't expect where I'll be in the later part of this week to have especially running-friendly conditions - Guangzhou morning dewpoints at this time of year are normally in the mid-20s. (World Cup aspirants will be pleased to know that the humidity usually drops away substantially from about the first week of October onwards, although last year it took until the 26th before the end of the last period of 20+ dewpoints).

Bit of a session swap to support logistics later in the week. Felt pretty stiff after the long drive but loosened up OK once in the water. Almost had the Northcote outdoor pool to myself this morning, which may or may not have had something to do with the icy showers about, though they only paid a brief visit while I was in the water (one out to the west looked like it might have had some hail in it).

Poorly targeted advertising is a standard thing on social media, but now other formats have got in on the act: a screen in a Fairfield supermarket was advertising a child-care centre in Tarneit. (For those unfamiliar with the finer points of Melbourne's geography and transport, let's just say that if you actually attempted to take a child from Fairfield to Tarneit during peak hour, he/she would be just about old enough to start school by the time you got there).

Event: SA Long Distance Championships - Crooked Straight, Renmark
 

Couldn't manage it two days in a row, which is frustrating, not just because of the half-wasted trip but because this is an interesting area (which is why I was here in the first place). Didn't feel good in the warm-up but sometimes I can run it out; wasn't happening today, and by the climb out of 3 I could hardly walk up hills either. I'd already missed a bit on 1, going to the control on the spur to the right instead (although I think my concentration was suffering).

It seems rather odd that the back was worse after a night's sleep than it was after five hours in the car, but I've long since given up trying to expect predictability from this issue. Still, I got one decent run in on a terrain type I haven't been on before (and spent the SA part of the weekend in some good company, and saw some interesting - if somewhat climatically alarming - things on the journey), so it wasn't a completely lost weekend.

Hard work to Mildura in patchy blowing dust which reduced the visibility down to 200-300m at times (the car certainly shows that it's been in a duststorm), fairly comfortable after that, although I did discover on stopping at a Charlton pub for dinner that Charlton's football team was eliminated yesterday and Mad Monday is already under way. (So far, it was taking the form of a player very loudly voicing their approval - presumably because he had money attached to it - of the performance of something running in a race that the TAB was taking bets on).

SA Championships warm-up event at Paringa Paddocks, mostly forested river flats with an extensive track network, though we went into town for a couple of legs early. Pleasantly surprised by this after five hours in the car in the morning; felt fairly tight for the first 10 minutes but then loosened up pretty well (going into terrain helped, I think). Some fairly convoluted routes around billabongs; didn't have too much trouble with navigation apart from dropping 30 seconds or so on #14 (which I'm not convinced was in quite the right spot). Longest run of any kind I've done for a couple of months. Within 50% of Simon (who did 38), a bit of a benchmark for me these days, though the youngsters are getting faster (40 for Dante and Angus, 44 for Toby).

Deviated a little on my route here, partly to visit the Hattah Lakes and tick off another national park, partly to see just how droughty the wheat-growing areas on the Werrimull road are (answer: very). The former took me around the east side of Lake Tyrrell rather than the west, in the process giving me the opportunity to verify Invis's report of Chinkapook's backwater status. (At least it still exists: Annuello, which has a decent long-term rainfall data set if I recall correctly, has a derelict hall, a non-derelict Country Fire Authority shed, a silo and that's it).

Dropped in at Sea Lake for coffee; it was clearly a big day in town because numerous shopfronts were decked out in yellow and black streamers and signs "Go Tigers" (and I don't think they were referring to Richmond). Apparently three local teams were in finals, although the thirds will have faced tough opposition - Manangatang's thirds must be a very strong team judging by the number of players on current AFL lists who supposedly couldn't get a game for them. (Manangatang is also a common suggested destination for umpires who have made decisions with which the home supporters disagree).

Managed to get a run in this morning, but this was a struggle - hips were better than they have been but back never really loosened up, and this one was definitely "minimum viable session" territory. Probably not the best of signs ahead of SA Championships weekend (especially as it was again sore in the car on the way to tonight's stop, which was Wycheproof).

Probably just as well that the early September NOL weekend in Stanthorpe was last year and not this year - there is currently a major fire on the northwest edge of town. Don't think it will affect any of the maps, but I don't know where local orienteers live (though I think Liz is further out than the fire is).

Felt awkward this morning (possibly it wasn't a good idea to try to write whilst sitting on my bed and watching cricket - the downstairs TV doesn't get Gem - last night), so took to the water instead. Took a long time to loosen up there, too, but eventually did so.

Pulled up a lot of impressive numbers today, perhaps the most impressive being Tenterfield 28% below its previous record low January-August rainfall (Stanthorpe at 24% wasn't too far behind). Tomorrow looks a nasty fire weather day in that part of the world; hope nothing of significance happens.

Having seen that I responded OK to intervals last week, I thought I'd give them another go post-physio session. Fairly similar to last week - a respectable pace (62-64) but started to fade away quite quickly on the 6th (I'd thought I might try to take it out to 8 if I felt OK). Still nice to get this under my belt; it should be easier next time.

Crunching lots of numbers for long-term rainfall deficits today. I often feel as if my job is documenting a slow-motion car crash, and today was more so than most; over some of the periods I was looking at, places like Warwick and Tenterfield were around 20% below their previous record lows.

All Nations dog count: 2 on-leash, 3 off-leash. 40% is an above-average compliance rate for here.

Warm-up and down. Felt tightness in both back and hip early but not enough to pull me up, and it settled down by the end of the warm-up. As with last week, not a lot of energy coming back.

It's the first time I've done this session for a while so it's given me a chance to see the impact of the developments of the last 18 months (the Grange Road level crossing removal and the new Chandler bridge). Now that Grange Road is much less of a bottleneck, Station Street is clearly getting less traffic trying to avoid it; in the past I would normally have expected the traffic to be banked back past my crossing point, but that certainly wasn't the case today.

Attempted to swim before a long-overdue physio session. It was soon evident that my muscles were badly out of practice for this, with the right shoulder particularly troublesome. Was also threatening to cramp in the legs, and eventually did so, which made me wonder whether something might be wrong beyond just being badly out of practice (and beyond being rather tired after a poor night's sleep).

Hopefully tonight's session will loosen me up for tomorrow.

Sights of the inner north: a cyclist stopped at the lights, swigging from a bottle of San Pellegrino.

C • At least he was stopped 3

Still pretty tight this morning, particularly in the hips - don't recover from long plane trips as well as I once did (at least in the muscular sense - sleep patterns seem to have recovered fine). Spent a big chunk of the day sorting and responding to e-mails, and the rest collecting info for state-of-the-drought media queries - including the pleasing news that rainfall measurements are still being collected at the Rowe family farm west of Mildura (a severe drought zone) but hadn't found their way into our system. They have now, which will be important to us in determining just how extreme the drought in that area is (the western boundary of green vegetation, 5-10km west of the Calder Highway, was very striking when I flew over on the way to Toulouse).

Last leg also went OK - slept about 5-6 hours (although in a timeslot from roughly 6am-noon Melbourne time, which may come back to bite me). My company was a couple of Belgian high school exchange students; helping then through the immigration form was a reminder that for non-native speakers (and probably plenty of native ones), even though they spoke decent English, the clarity of the wording on the form leaves a lot to be desired - exactly what is the difference between a "natural medicine" (which needs to be declared) and a normal one? (This wasn't their first encounter with the shortcomings of the Australian immigration bureaucracy; they were arriving six weeks later than planned because of delays in visa processing).

Got home about 6.15. My standard jet lag strategy is to be as active as possible until a reasonably normal sleep time, and I certainly managed it this event, this session being the first of a sequence which also included restocking my cupboards with food (managing to resist the temptation to inflict grievous bodily harm on a Coles self-checkout machine after it required staff intervention five times in as many minutes), restocking myself with food, emptying most of the contents of my bag into the washing machine, putting out the bins and calling Dad for Father's Day. The session felt a bit flat, but I'm not too surprised by that.

C • Self checkouts 23