Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

A not-very-consequential local event, which is as well because it was a very ordinary run. Didn't expect to have a lot of energy after yesterday and didn't, but more concerned at how tentatively I was running on the steep slippery slopes, of which this area had plenty - burnt ground, clay and drizzle are a treacherous mix. Will need to be better at going across steep slopes in Austria. Didn't stay for the final results, but Torgeir Watne caught me 2 minutes and would have beaten me by more had he not overrun 10. Missed about 1 min on one control in a vague gully, otherwise technically OK but that wasn't really the challenge today. No excuse for not being warmed up by the first control - 100 metres climb in the first 400!

Almost certainly the longest I'll do in this training cycle. Wouldn't normally do something seriously long on a Saturday, but a couple of times a year when we have an event on Sunday which (a) isn't too long and (b) is totally unimportant, I'll do the long Saturday/event Sunday combination in the aim of being in better shape to handle it when I have to do a similar combination on Aus Champs weekend. As for the run itself - steady start, then really in the zone for the middle hour, before having to grind it out for most of the last 40 minutes. Maybe (at the risk of making expat Australians homesick) I got distracted by the smell of the sausage sizzle outside the local Bunnings...

Longest midweek run I've done for a while - doing a fair bit this week to take advantage of not having any serious races. For something different, started from work (it being a lot easier to commute in at 6.15 than 8.30) and headed south along the bay - all the usual suspects either engaging in whatever the exercise fad du jour is (at the moment it seems to be running around holding a weight above your head) or just wanting to be seen. Not a bad run, took a while to really get going but flowing pretty well through the middle, a few rough patches in the last half-hour but finished off pretty strongly.

C • The shoelace man 3

Wasn't expecting a lot the way I felt on starting but ended up being a nice one, with a few steep climbs in the middle to keep me honest (not in short supply in Lower Templestowe). Clear cold mornings after rain are usually nice to run on and this was no exception.

Promising start but got out of a rhythm with traffic (occupational hazard of lunchtime runs in the central city) and a bit of a grind in the second half.

Not bad, certainly better than last week - down to 9.13 for my fastest loop (sub-9.10 is good, sub-9 is excellent, 9.35 like I was doing last week is very ordinary). Half of Melbourne must have been watching the Tasmanian mine rescue on TV because the traffic crossing the main road was virtually non-existent. Achilles best it's been for a couple of weeks - hopefully just about through it now.

Fairly straightforward recovery run, got a better run than normal across the 2 main roads which is nice. Forgot to set the alarm last night so was up at 7 instead of 5.45 as planned - made everything a bit of a rush. Achilles improving a bit.