Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Went up for the Bendigo Saturday event at Kangaroo Gully as there's nothing on tomorrow. An enjoyable course on an enjoyable area and had a pretty good run; I'm probably being a bit harsh on myself on the 'spiked controls' stat as neither miss was more than a few seconds. Running pretty hard too. Roch gave me a GPS watch beforehand to use - I suspect (although I haven't asked him) that he wants to show something from it at the Victorian junior camp in a couple of weeks, so I had an added incentive not to do anything that might make them laugh at me.

It's unusual for me to go three months without an extended stint on the Calder Highway. There's quite a bit more freeway than there was the last time I did it (but it's probably still a slower trip because it's fiddly to get on and off, plus the 80 zone at the Melbourne end has expanded a few kilometres for no obvious reason).

C • 80k zone 1

Never really felt like it this morning for no good reason.

A good, honest morning's work, out through Watsonia and Montmorency and coming back through Westerfolds and along the Yarra. Threatened to turn into something better than that at times in the middle but never quite did. A bit slower than it felt, although darkness may have contributed to that - with a 6.00 start almost half of this is at night now (especially when there's fog about as there was this morning). Didn't really tire at any stage. A few niggles surfaced at times (right Achilles, left hip) but were gone by the end; my calves were also a bit tighter than usual.

An unusual sight in the big city was a wombat - on the footbridge out of Westerfolds on the Yarra Trail. It scurried away pretty quickly when it noticed me; I don't know if wombats are aggressive if cornered or not (and didn't particularly want to put it to the test).

Noticed the 'upset' win of Dmitri Tsetskov in the Euro Champs long distance. I first came across him when he dominated the APOC carnival in Kazakhstan in 2004 (some would argue that with the opposition being Ecmo, Glenn, myself and a few Kazakhs there wasn't an awful lot to dominate) and was a little surprised that we hadn't seen more of him since then - although Russian orienteering selection politics can be as inscrutable as real Russian politics.

A nice run once warmed up, and a bit faster than I often go in this session, especially later on. Flowing well in the second half. Got to see some of Melbourne's more expensive real estate in the process; also got to keep pace with the Scotch eight for a while along the river (which means they're either not very good or weren't trying very hard; a top-notch eight will go under 3 mins/km at race pace, which makes the effort of the Australian supporter who ran along half the Olympic course in 2000 trailing a large flag behind him impressive indeed). In the second half had a stretch along the path which hangs under the Monash Freeway, which sounds like a very unpromising place to run but is a magical surface to be on - very springy.

A long-running saga at work finally came to a close today. Back in 2000 I found a suspect rainfall report at Falls Creek from 1971 (it was in the database as 340-odd in one day but should have been over three), and looking in the files found a memo from April 1976 requesting the report's correction. At that time the author of the 1976 memo still worked for us (she retired last year) so I took great delight in writing back to her a note which started 'Dear Carol, Thank you for your memo of 28 April 1976...'. Unfortunately, the database people stuffed up the correction, something I only discovered yesterday. It's been fixed now. I wonder if 32 years is a record for the longest time which it has taken a Public Service memo to be acted upon, but it probably isn't. At the time of the original request, I was just about to start kindergarten, and the person who actually did the correction in the database hadn't been born yet.

First appearance at Wednesday night street-O for a while, at Smiths Dell (Hawthorn). Decided to have a crack, not something I always do on Wednesday nights in winter. Felt pretty good most of the way with quite a bit of power at times on the hills; tired a little later but always pushing strongly. Thought it might have been a bit faster; the darkness (and hesitating coming into controls) was probably a factor. Still couldn't match Bryan, who was a couple of minutes clear.

The assembly area has a magnificent view of the Melbourne CBD at night, although it was minus one feature from last time I was here - on that occasion there was an advertising blimp hovering over the city that looked just like a flying saucer.

Unluckiest crooks of the day go to the two characters who decided to burgle a house in Melton. Unfortunately, the house they picked to break into was being raided by the police at the time for something else (you'd think they would have noticed). The constabulary got the marijuana they were looking for (and presumably did a better job of keeping track of it than Japanese customs did), and a couple of extras into the bargain.

A bit of a scientific experiment here. I was doing this session quite a bit earlier in the morning than usual because I had to be at work in time for an 8.30 meeting, and at that time of year this meant starting the run in the dark. I've always suspected I'm a bit slower in the dark but this run provided me with some hard data. On this route I'm usually 20-30 seconds faster on the warmup (about 2km, downhill) than the warmdown (uphill), but today the difference was only 6 seconds, suggesting I'm about 10 seconds/km slower at night. This explains some, but not all, of my tendency to start midweek long runs (which start in the dark for much of the year) at around 5 min/km and finish up at 4.5 or faster.

The run itself wasn't great; it felt a bit below full speed and was. Lifted the pace on the second loop as the light improved but still only 9.27.

C • when are you doing the sham... 1

A nice session at Fitzroy - suitably relaxing and loosening-up (and a bit warmer than the last few mornings would have been at the same venue).

F1 races are much more fun when they're contested in the rain (especially at Monaco).

Playing host to Monday night this time - headed up as far as Macleod. As usual when it's out my way it was a smallish (and mature) crowd, but still a nice group to run with. Didn't feel so good on the run (a bit of a surprise as I felt terrific on the bike coming home), with a hint of left ankle soreness at times. Much discussion of Eurovision, as well as discussing with Bruce the awfulness of our respective team's efforts on Saturday night (I'm definitely starting to think priority picks).

C • Priority Picks 1

State Series at Plenty River. There should have been a WOC trial here - it's the most continental area I've run on in Australia, and no-one's run on it for more than 20 years. (It got declared a conservation area but Parks are happy to have us back now, perhaps because we're a good deal more constructive than some of the other things that happen in the area, especially at night - as it was we arrived to see a parked van of the 'if it's rocking don't bother knocking' variety', whose occupants were probably quite surprised to see us). The map was a bit dicey in places, but then dicey maps are not exactly unheard of in continental Europe either.

My run was pretty scrappy, especially later on - I wasn't alone in this but Reuben showed all of us up. Nothing bigger than 30 seconds on a control but wasn't attacking with much confidence and a couple of poor routes. Did lose a bit of time looking for a missing SI unit at 11 (the flag was still there). Its absence may have had something to do with the presence nearby of a midden of the traditional Bogan tribe*.

There were something like 220 participants today - the biggest State Series turnout (leaving out events with major interstate participation) for more than 10 years. This should tell us something; we wouldn't want to be running on areas like this every weekend, but there's definitely a place for them in the program.

The VOA AGM was held after the event - a good way of getting a quorum, something which was always a struggle at AGMs (once in the ACT we resorted to counting Belinda Lawford when she hadn't actually been born yet). I was considered sufficiently venerable to get a life membership - hope this doesn't mean I'm washed up. (Won a water pack as a 'door prize' too, as did Mason - at face value one might expect Mason's Dad to get more use out of it, although Mason may have other ideas).

(* - a pile of VB cans in various stages of oxidation)

C • Mason 2

C • Travelling time 13

A nice morning for running, and a bit later in the morning than I often run, by virtue of having a rare uncommitted weekend day in Melbourne (an inside temperature of 9 degrees wasn't a huge incentive to get out of bed, either). I've had quite a few terrific long runs in or near winter on days like this, but today never lived up to the promise; a workmanlike effort which never really burst to life. Handled the hilly stretch from the river up through Lower Plenty reasonably well, though.

Being out a bit later than usual on a weekend morning is a chance to see various bits of urban life, from Auskick on the Montmorency oval to the Macleod scouts on their way to a camp - they must do things differently on scout camps these days because one of the boxes being loaded into a vehicle was labelled 'Karaoke Machine'. (The most notable feature of my not-especially-distinguished scouting career was an early good route choice decision on a camp in the Brindabellas - we split into two groups, one going along a creek, one climbing 300 metres to a ridge and then along it. I went with the ridge option and we beat the others to the campsite by about 2 hours - they spent all afternoon bashing through scrub).

Last night was also the annual quiz night for the local ALP (thanks to Miss Jones for giving me the idea for the scalene triangle question). I had some fun coming up with incorrect answers for the multiple-choice bits. A sample: "In their hoons policy released on 22 November, what did the Howard Government promise to do if re-elected?"

(a) crush the cars of repeat serious traffic offenders
(b) give courts the power to order street racers to drive nothing except Volvos for the next 3 years
(c) provide funding to local communities to install portable rubber speed humps.

The correct answer's (c), but I suspect (b) would be a more effective deterrent.

I'm discovering the drawback of being home on a weekend (or an early evening) - telemarketers. Usually I'm not home when they're at work. Must get round to putting myself on the do-not-call registry.

C • Or 1

At Richmond. Started very slowly but got into it more as the session went on. Probably a good morning to be inside rather than outside (as at Fitzroy): 2.7 may be tame by Canberra standards but it's Melbourne's coldest May night since 1981 (in fact we haven't been below 2 in any month since 2002).

Remembered the gloves for the bike this morning. I thought I might get away without them yesterday and lived to regret it.

A strange sort of run. Legs felt comfortable the whole way but also felt as if I was on the point of falling asleep at times, especially in the middle. (I didn't sleep that well last night even by usual Thursday morning standards - I may be a morning person but that doesn't mean I look forward to the 5.15 Thursday alarm). Still had plenty left in the later stages and felt as if I could have gone on quite a bit further, but it was already a long run for midweek (because this weekend will be on the short side).

While the route was all familiar ground, it wasn't in this configuration - starting at Clifton Hill, up through Northcote (to drop something off at Nicola's) and Darebin Parklands, crossing the Yarra at Burke Road, south to East Camberwell and then back. I picked my 'turn west' point with the aim of a 2.15 loop and wasn't far wrong - finished on 2.15.02. Nice running conditions (at least for someone with Canberra blood), clear with temperatures just above freezing (not so nice on the bike afterwards, though - should have worn gloves). There was ground frost in the lower-lying areas and even a bit of ice on a couple of the Yarra footbridges - hope the cyclists were careful this morning. It was a lot colder in Tassie (-8 at Fingal, -7 at Ross, -6 at Grove).

Spotted a number plate 'DEES93'. This may or may not be a reference to when they next expect to win a premiership, or their average losing margin so far this season.

I also confirm that I will not be appealing against my non-selection in the WOC team. Hopefully no-one else does either - going through that process once in a year is more than enough for everyone.

C • Peeling 2

Didn't really feel like it this morning and was rather on the weak side, especially on the hills (such as they were). Improved considerably later on so perhaps I was just sleepy (although the long gentle downhill through Rosanna Parklands is always good for the spirit).

Lunchtime around the Tan, which isn't much wider than it was last time (but at least the narrowness is in a different spot). A fairly routine run for the most part. Met Simon heading in the opposite direction early on which interrupted things for a bit.

Didn't really feel as if I wanted to be doing this at the start, but ended up being a reasonable session - 9.18 a respectable time after a hard week. Starting to gather quite a bit of confidence after the last couple of weeks, especially for the long races - hopefully I can carry this into the European campaign.

One of the things about coming back from a trip away is seeing what's changed in your absence on the way to work. In this case, the Shell station at Fairfield is now a big hole, and the truck with 'S.Muratore' on the side that parks illegally in a dangerous location in a no-standing zone outside the Queen Victoria Markets every Tuesday morning is still there. I'm not about to start an argument with them - Muratore is a name which gets mentioned in despatches in any discussion of the (allegedly substantial) Mafia influence in the Melbourne fruit and vegetable industry (one of them was murdered a few years back).

Not sure if we should put this in the 'kids, don't try this at home' category, but on my recent empirical evidence, optimal pre-race preparation consists of:

(a) doing three long races back-to-back the weekend before your event of interest
(b) fly halfway around the world to arrive at the event venue less than 24 hours before your start time
(c) make sure you get no sleep on the flight by arranging to be in the same row as a restless baby

With those ingredients it appears that I've got my best world ranking event score for two years. Perhaps I should try this more often?

I didn't really feel in the mood for training this morning and it showed; the swim felt like it was going on forever.

I've remarked before that the displays outside our lifts at work giving 'news' are sometimes less than current. The same must apply to the ads as there was one for ESPN: 'who will win the UEFA Cup?'. Personally, I think that Zenit St Petersburg are going to win, 2-0, with both goals coming in the second half, the second in injury time. Does anyone know what odds I can get on this?

MFR Monday night session from Torgeir's new premises, a few hundred metres further east in Hawthorn than the last two. Fairly easy and relaxed most of the way, with much more energy than this morning.

Got off to a good start in this race before I even got there, by getting a reasonably normal amount of sleep at a reasonably normal time (having almost dropped off several times at the restaurant table while waiting for dinner).

This was expected to be a major endurance test; in 1996 a course 600 metres longer at Mount Pearson for the Australian Champs had been won in 110. (I had a mediocre run that day, in a year when I was at least an outside possibility to win, then took out my frustrations on the Melbourne Marathon course two weeks later). We thought it might be a bit faster this year because of some burning but that anyone who produced a time in double figures would have done well.

As it turned out I ran a really solid classic race - probably my best race this year. Started steadily on the first loop and caught Lee Andrewartha at 5, before my most significant time loss - I went unnecessarily around the track to 7 and lost about 30 seconds to him there, but was through him again by 11. Three legs of tough climbing followed which went pretty well - feeling reasonably strong on the big hills (although I've noticed my splits through there were nothing special). Missed 16 a little, 20 seconds or so, and then finished the rest of the course really well. It was mostly downhill which helped (and the course was a good deal kinder than it could have been), but there were still a few hills and some technical challenges; I lost essentially no time to the leaders after 16. Still had a fair bit in the legs at the end.

So ends a pretty tough 10 days - four long-distance races (and a middle distance) and two flights halfway around the world. If nothing else it shows that there's nothing wrong with my endurance, even if speed is lacking.

Event: Sun Coast Classic & WOC Selection Trials
 

This was always going to be a pretty daunting challenge - attempting to do a National League race directly after travelling halfway around the world (and to add a few points to the degree of difficulty a screaming baby stopped me from getting any meaningful sleep between Singapore and Melbourne).

I didn't get off to a good start when I lost 90 seconds on number 2, a boulder which was supposed to be in green but wasn't really (you'd think I'd have had enough practice on dodgy features in green in Belgium). This meant Jim caught me - I showed him into the control beautifully. Under normal circumstances I'd expect to at least be able to hold onto Jim, but I didn't have much energy today; nevertheless I caught him again a couple of times when he made mistakes. Didn't do anything major wrong after 2, just a couple of 15-seconders.

The circumstances in which I ran this race were always going to give me a bit of a free pass as far as this race will be viewed by the outside world, but it's still disappointing to produce such a mediocre performance in a WRE; we don't get enough opportunities to waste them like I did today. 24th would also have to be one of my worst non-sprint NOL results, although 7 minutes down was not disastrously far back.

Felt a bit flat this morning (and not just because of the terrain - I doubt there is a single contour in the province). Started out through some nice parts of the old town, then into some of the grittier northern suburbs (including the discovery of the local red-light district, housed in a series of boats moored on the canal north of town).

Achilles tightness noticeable, especially in the first half. I had this problem last time in Europe too and suspect it may be a reaction to orienteering on soft ground.

My Dutch is limited to say the least, but it wasn't hard to work out what the 'TROEPEN UIT AFGHANISTAN' poster meant.

As for the missing-in-action buses, Melburnians may be interested to know that they are run by none other than our much-loved Connex.

C • Red light district 1

The fourth long one in five days; partly because the logistics were easier for one today than they will be tomorrow, partly because I wanted to give myself a bit more time between the midweek long run and Saturday's race.

Headed out to the east of Utrecht along one of the long-distance cycling routes, on a pleasant morning through pleasant country. Mundane but reasonably comfortable through most of the first half, becoming excellent at times in the second half as I settled into a nice rhythm. Didn't tire at all.

I've hired a bike to get myself to and from the meeting venue (about 4km out of town), and it came in useful today - the buses are on strike.

Just saw the world ranking scores for Sunday. My 843 points improves my score by the princely sum of 1 point (replacing an 842 from last year's Oceania sprint). Hopefully I'll be able to make more headway on Saturday.

An easy morning run through Utrecht. Very sluggish early and Achilles quite tight, loosened up later on but never especially comfortable - not a surprise after three hard days. First two-thirds were through the suburbs, then into the central city, which is not at its best in the early morning after a long weekend (presumably the garbos hadn't shown up yet).

I'm impressed that the hotel I'm staying at has parking for bikes but not for cars.

A much better run today, especially on the technical front, in an area a bit more to my liking - rolling gentle hills rather than the flat-or-vertical terrain of the first two days (although there were still quite a few scary legs through thick vegetation with no other detail). Again made a mistake early, but got out of it with a minute lost this time, and didn't really miss anything else until a silly 30-seconder misreading the maze of tracks at the second-last (the third day in a row that I've done something silly on control 27).

The big surprise was how well I came up physically - I was expecting to struggle but was running at least as well as the last two days, particularly in the second half of the course. Had enough in reserve to handle some climbing and felled stuff at the end. I may not be happy with my results here, but one major positive to take out of it is how well my body coped with the longest sequence of races that's been thrown at it for a long time (in fact I don't think I've ever had a combination like 95/109/81 - in the days of three-equal-days Easters in the early 1990s my times were typically in the 70s). Didn't stay to see my final result, but suspect that I'll have climbed a place or two from my overnight 14th.

Finally saw a cloud on the trip back to Holland, the first I've seen in four days in Europe. The weather was magnificent for those enjoying a long weekend, perhaps a little warm for orienteering (mid 20s), although not for me today because I had an 8.22 start.

Also finally missed a connection on the way back when it didn't matter (apart from spending 45 minutes in the building site which currently masquerades as Liege station). I'm now in Utrecht until Thursday night.

C • 27 controls 1

My goals for this race were over almost before it started when I blew 5 minutes on the first control, a dodgy vegetation boundary. I missed 4 a little as well and it was in danger of turning into a total disaster, but from there it was much better as I got into the map (by the last quarter I could even recognise charcoal burning grounds without controls on them). Worked hard through some steep stuff in the middle and then had a second wind around the spectator control. I was around Jeroen Hoeckx for much of the way - I thought I might have caught him but he'd caught me (the running numbers were in reverse order). Lost it again on 27 and 28 with one-minuters on both.

The one positive today was that I didn't drop my bundle and ran the race quite strongly, but I am still losing far too much time in the circle - I haven't come to terms with the vegetation mapping enough to use it effectively for relocation (and in many areas there is little else). There have been seven mistakes this weekend bigger than my worst of the Australian season to date. Ended up 16th in a field which I'd rate as being of similar strength as an Australian NOL field (but with more stragglers); again a decent run would have seen me seventh or eighth.

I feel better tonight than I would after a normal Easter Sunday, which may be because I had no meetings to go to and could therefore join my Spanish roommates in a siesta. There was a bit of background noise from what appeared to be the Belgian Car Doof Doof Championships in the local shopping centre car park.

C • Steep stuff 2

Event: 3 Days of Belgium 2008
 

First day of the Belgian 3 Days, in fairly typical flattish continental terrain - vague with lots of vegetation changes. Also a bit of depression detail (probably war relics).

Too many mistakes today, about 8 minutes in total. The worst was on 6, a short leg in the depressions and green. I took off without a proper plan and paid for it to the tune of 3.5 minutes. Also lost time in vague low-vis country at 20. All in all useful for getting used to the demands of this terrain before tomorrow. Placed 15th - without mistakes it would have been about 7th or 8th.

Running OK if not brilliant. Quite a warm day for this time of year (mid 20s), and also had one of those multi-split-second connection journeys without which no trip to Europe is complete, finishing in a sprint 200 metres dozn the road with full pack to make the last bus to the event.

Arrival day in Holland. No running - Friday is a scheduled rest day anyway. Spent a bit of time doing as the Dutch do and riding a bike, not very fast (it was a not very good rental bike, but you don't need anything more on Dutch paths). Slept a fair bit on the plane and generally in good shape on day one.

Yesterday had two good runs but today was ordinary - almost felt as if I was jet-lagged except that I haven't actually got on the plane yet. (This emphasised that much of what feels like jet lag is actually lack of sleep - something that I definitely have been experiencing in the last few nights). Felt rather sluggish most of the time and almost sleepy at times, doing the rounds of the streets of Ivanhoe and Heidelberg. Calf tighter than it has been for some time.

I'm about to leave for my latest trip - mainly a work trip to Holland but I'll be making a side trip to Belgium on the weekend for the Belgian 3-Day (it's a long weekend). It may be one of the physically tougher multi-days I've done for a while as it's the first one I've done since 1992 without a middle-distance day (the three days are 13, 14 and 11 km), although the climb is only about 2% so it may be pretty fast. It looks like a large elite field but I don't recognise many of the names other than the leading Belgians.

I've managed to avoid Holland on all my previous European travels in recent memory; my only time there was as a young child when we were living for a year in London. On that occasion, I must have been listening to my parents discussing one of Amsterdam's more notorious industries because I proudly announced to my (presumably embarrassed) grandmother that I'd seen a sex shop.

Insides still not quite right, but it doesn't seem to be affecting my running at all (other than resulting in additional contributions to greenhouse gas emissions). A nice session based on the Yarra at Studley Park; a little muddy and slippery in places after evening rain which added to the fun.

A landmark at the start of the Eastern Freeway for a long time was an old clothing factory with a big sign 'Buy Australian - If We Don't Who Will?'. Obviously no-one did because it's in the process of being demolished and turned into apartments.

C • That sign was there where I... 1

One of the nicest lunchtime sessions I can remember for a long time - hit a good rhythm early and kept it most of the way. A pity there wasn't a race today (especially as the Tan is in a slightly better state than it has been for the last few weeks).

Had to squeeze this one in between a couple of Queensland TV interviews - our Queensland person made some rather misinterpreted comments and then fled the state. I made some follow-up comments and will now flee the country.

A bit of a stomach upset this morning and therefore a little apprehensive about this run, but it wasn't too bad. Felt quite lively, certainly more so than on recent attempts to run fast, but still slower than I'd like to be (9.23).

Morning session at Northcote. Felt slow after another night with less sleep than I'd like (got home pretty late last night), but wasn't as slow as it felt.

I was a bit surprised to see a job ad in the education section of today's 'Age' for a teaching position in Wangaratta, headed 'CHAPLAIN/RAVE MUSIC'. On closer inspection the RAVE goes with Chaplain, not Music (I think it stands for Religious and Values Education or something to that effect). Some would suggest that if they were really looking for someone with expertise in rave music then chemistry might be a more appropriate second string to the bow.

Regular MFR Monday night session from Nicola's place; as is often the case for these sessions, it started very slowly but then picked up a bit in pace as it went on. Felt very comfortable and smooth for a lot of it. We failed to find Dion's car (stolen last week), despite diverting through some of the more industrial bits of Northcote, a reasonably common dumping ground for such objects. I wouldn't have thought his car was an obvious target for thieves, but after the incident some years ago when the Goddard's old Tarago was stolen (presumably by a very large group of joyriders) I guess anything's possible.

On mentioning that I was heading for Belgium shortly I was advised by the others to stay out of basements (this being prompted by a discussion of recent goings-on in Austria). I didn't realise that the exploits of Marc Dutroux were so well-remembered in this country (I was in Europe at the time that happened so heard much more about it). I have no plans to visit any basements in Belgium (unless someone puts a control in one, and as there are no sprint events I suspect that is unlikely).

Expected this one to be a bit seedy after a late night last night, but it turned out to be a much better run than I thought it would be, albeit somewhat more interrupted than my long runs usually are - I almost recorded this as two separate runs (didn't stiffen up too much in the breaks). Faded away a little in the last 15 minutes.

As mentioned earlier I'm up in Canberra for a 20-year school reunion, and much of this run brought together 50% of the group who came 1-2-3-4 in the 1988 ACT Schools Championships - Luke Grattan (a name many Canberra people, and others with an interest in triathlons, will recognise) was the 1, I was the 3. (Both of us managed what I suspect is the rare distinction of placing better in a state championship than we did in our own school's race). I started this run by running across to Luke's place in Kaleen, then did an out-and-back through Bruce Ridge, the lower parts of Black Mountain and the bottom of Aranda Hill. Stellar morning. Luke claimed to be feeling ordinary but didn't seem to be showing much evidence of it (except that both of us had to make unscheduled pitstops en route). Met Ecmo on Black Mountain and he joined us for a bit too.

I'd forgotten just how many decent long-distance runners our year produced - we probably had a dozen who by Year 12 were capable of doing something in the 35-38 range for 10k. Perhaps the only surprise (as this group had a reasonable amount of brain power between them too) is that we only produced one orienteer. Another oddity is that someone who I don't recall as being much of an endurance athlete at school has become a hard-core adventure racer (Anthony Michell, whose team were 8th in the recent mountains-to-ocean race in Victoria).

It will have been an expensive night for the ACT Rugby Union Club (to which we adjourned after the dinner was over). There was free beer between kick-off at 1.00 a.m. and the first Brumbies points, but the Brumbies failed to trouble the scorers until the second half.

A terrific weekend which was well worth coming up for (I think I've exhausted the weekend's social calendar now). This time next week I'll be enjoying the Belgian sunshine.

ACT Cross-Country at North Lyneham, a nicely undulating course with one slightly sharper pitch towards the end of each lap. Got dropped a bit at the start but settled quite well, if lacking a bit of zip. Thought I was holding it together reasonably well, but the stopwatch doesn't lie - 26 seconds slower for the second lap than the first. (Obviously others struggled more because I gained more places than I lost on the second lap). Had a good tussle most of the way with Jackie Fairweather, who had the same excuse for current slowness as me (in fact more of an excuse because she went on to do the 50k that day, running a world age-group record in the process), but she was a little too strong for me in the last 800 metres.

Distance was billed as 6.2 but someone's GPS said 6.36, which seems more consistent with the times most people were doing. Shannon was happy because that got her under 4 mins/km.

Still feeling a bit congested, which is a concern almost two weeks after initial illness.

Regular Friday session at Richmond. Slow early on but picked up quite a bit in the second half. Actually running a little early for once.

Back up in Canberra this weekend (fifth time in eight weekends, plus one in Dubbo) - this time for a school reunion. No orienteering events of any significance on but plan to do the cross-country at North Lyneham tomorrow.

Probably the first run since the marathon which hasn't been a chore, and downright enjoyable in the second half as it started to flow nicely. Started from Clifton Hill, initially south (past the clock that wasn't reading 11 degrees) and east as far as Tooronga and the Battlestar Galactica, before returning north through Hawthorn, Kew and the Yarra Bend parklands. Even starting to feel OK on the hills later on. The only sour note was the driver who gave me a four-letter spray for having the temerity to cross the road with a green light when he wanted to turn into it.

I've got a school reunion coming up this weekend and was reminded of some of what used to go on there when going past Trinity Grammar and seeing someone getting a dressing-down for a uniform violation of some kind.

News on the sheds next to our offices that I've mentioned a couple of times in these pages (the ones that were supposed to be ready for occupation by the end of last year) is that the State Government's announced a redevelopment scheme for them which is now due for completion by the end of the next year. Although the news report didn't say so, I assume the fact that the State Government's taken it over means that the previous developer has gone belly-up. Unusually for a failed central Melbourne building development, the Government of Nauru does not appear to have any involvement. (More recently the Nauruans have turned to alternative money-making schemes, like laundering money for the Russian mafia and laundering asylum-seekers for us). A marquee was erected for the announcement, either because the building itself is too dangerous in its current state or because its entrances are too low for Justin Madden, the responsible minister, to walk through.