Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Felt good but even slower than usual. Discovered an occupational hazard of outdoor pools in the early morning at this time of year - sun glare.

Slow even by the standards of MFR Monday nights, and didn't feel all that brilliant. Rather warm which is something we'll need to get used to this week (I think the 38s forecast for the weekend are a little overdone, but only a little).

We spent much of the time on the small tracks on the east side of the Yarra at Studley Park. Got to see some of the local wildlife in the form of a tiger snake - first snake I've seen in years. (I've only ever seen one in competition). Jasmine survived despite being in the perilous number 3 position - the general rule is reputed to be that number 1 wakes up the snake, number 2 treads on it and number 3 gets bitten, although it's not exactly common, given that only two people have been bitten in the entire history of Australian orienteering (neither significantly injured) and the average annual number of snakebite deaths in Australia is roughly 1.

C • Who 12

Had planned to go bush but couldn't find any other takers, so instead did two loops of the Yarra Bend terrain loop with Bruce, not at a particularly fast pace. Picked up a couple of stray dogs on the way and a couple of stray people (Warren and Liggo, who both stayed with us for sections). A steady run but lacked power on the steepest hills, and a bit of muscle tiredness later on - even though this is a lot shorter than anything I've done on a Sunday since November, the demands of terrain are somewhat different and take a bit of getting used to. Very humid - both of us were soaked at the end.

Sluggish start but then set about the hills of Eaglemont and did quite nicely, handling most of the climbs well and finishing off with the long climb up Brown Street.

Retired the old shoes today - picked them up for 50 euros in a 50% off everything sale in Austria when WMOC was on and got just about as much wear out of them as any pair I've had. In the end it was the top that fell apart rather than the bottom.

Always seem to be slow at Richmond for some reason. Never really got going today.

Never felt especially comfortable on this run but kept plugging away and finished solidly. Went down to Hallett Cove and return. The coastline turns to cliffs south of Seacliff, but from a distance it looks like it's level on the top. It isn't - the coastal path is beautiful, but it goes up and down a lot of side gullies with plenty of steps, continually descending to sea level and climbing back to 40-50 metres - hard work. Came back higher up and on more level ground.

This was the day of the big milestone - the 100,000km mark came up in mid-run, in the inspiring surrounds of a path next to the dry drain which is what the Torrens turns into near the coast. Went out with Andy again, fairly comfortable pace but felt a bit iffy in the stomach (probably conference over-eating syndrome as usual).

C • 100,000k 17

An afetrnoon run with 2 sets of 20 seconds on/20 seconds off embedded in it. Squeezed this in between the end of conference sessions and the dinner and felt a bit ordinary, particularly in the stomach (over-indulgence on the afternoon teas again). Went up to Henley Beach and back; there was a stiff southerly wind which made coming back hard work, but my time coming back was similar, suggesting that the warm-up was as slow as it felt.

The beach was readily available for washing the sweat off before the dinner. It was, however, slightly disconcerting, just before going in, to spot the monument to someone eaten by a shark there a couple of years ago. No hazards this time apart from the jet-skiers who were safely far offshore.

Fartlek session with Andy - the Mona session which is the first time I've done it (2x90, 4x60, 4x30, 4x15 with jog recovery in between). Felt quite good but Andy has more speed than me because he was 5 metres in front of me on every sprint regardless of how long it was. Went south along the coast towards Brighton and a couple of reps were on the sand, which was a challenge.