Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Didn't get off to a great start when I lost a minute on 3, just not seeing a knoll (or to be more precise not realising it was significant enough to be mappable) when within 20 metres of it. Settled technically after that although didn't make a great job of one creek crossing. Ran the first half conservatively - probably too conservatively as I finished with quite a bit left in me. Pretty good technically after the early miss, with nothing bigger than 20 seconds or so on fine navigation, although going around the track on 20 was a bad move and cost me the best part of a minute. Sixth (and fourth Australian) looks good at first glance, but too far behind to be happy with this. Can safely make alternative plans for the second half of August.

Checking controls for the sprint race (for which I was controller). All present and correct. Barely qualifies as a session.

Never really got into this race technically - not comfortable at any stage with the way I was reading the mining. Very hesitant going into 2. Settled a bit through the easier middle section but did some silly things later on, particularly at 17 (first one after the spectator) where I went out at 45 degrees the wrong way on a short leg. Didn't lose more than 30 seconds at any control but still scrappy. Running was OK but not startling - certainly didn't seem to get much of an edge by not racing this morning.

Event: Aust. WOC Trials
 

Reasonably comfortable swim, unusually coming straight off a massage (rather than before); didn't seem to make a huge difference to how things felt, probably because the bits of the body which had been massaged don't do much work in the pool.

Spotted a historical artifact on the way in: a bumper sticker 'Vote yes for our republic'.

A run which was chiefly memorable for its weather. I started out expecting it to be mild and windy (which it was). About 20 minutes in there was a flash on the western horizon - initially only one, but by the time there were a few more over the next 15 minutes it was apparent there was a thunderstorm on the western horizon. It was still dark at this stage so I couldn't really get a handle on how far away it was. It gradually moved closer and eventually unloaded about 75 minutes into the run (about 7.10). The rain was nice to run in, but there was a rather nervous 10 minutes or so when the lightning was within 3km, especially at the point where I was stuck for a minute or so waiting to cross Plenty Road, with no cover and poles and overhead wires everywhere (studying extreme weather for a living gives you a healthy respect for the ways in which it kills people). Not quite as scary as being on the Bogong High Plains above the treeline with an armful of metal stands when collecting controls from the 1999 High-O, but I was still glad when the lightning activity moved out to the east.

The run itself was one of four quarters - a nondescript first 30 minutes (after a very ordinary night's sleep), a hard-working second section into a stiff northerly, an increasingly strong third section and a terrific last 40 minutes, flowing well and full of running (the impetus for this seems to have been picking up speed to sprint across the very exposed Ring Road overpass). Pleased with the form I'm running into if that's an indication (particularly following up from yesterday), although I'll want to take a bit less than an hour to warm up on the weekend.

Cracked the front page of the Herald-Sun this morning (which had '29.9%' in 1000-point font as its headline - no prizes for guessing what they were referring to). Everything said in the piece appears to be factual, which is more than can be said for Andrew Bolt's latest contribution (online only as far as I can tell) - it would be silly enough to claim that one cold April proved that global warming didn't exist, but it's even sillier because he used a graph off our website that hasn't been updated yet - the cool April happened last year.

C • So make sure someone sticks it up him 2

A reasonably hilly circuit of the back streets of Eaglemont (a course determined by the locations of those members of the Ivanhoe ALP who don't get their meeting notices by e-mail). Was worried when I woke up with a bit of a sore throat but felt OK on the run, particularly later on.

A good time when I wasn't really expecting one - best this season, although I'd still like to be near or under 13.10. Started slowly but hit a nice rhythm after about 800 metres. Quite windy but didn't seem to have much effect on the run. Was never quite able to get onto the back of the next pack 20 or so metres ahead (although I picked off the occasional runner who fell off its back) but it still made a good target to chase.

Km splits: 3.32, 3.38 (uphill), 3.28, 3.26.

Warm-up/down from the above.

Not too bad. A bit of back tightness again earlier on. Felt a bit faster than it actually was (9.12) - seemed to be attacking the uphill sprints quite strongly.

Having added things up, I think I've now spoken to just about every bit of the ABC in the last fortnight except the Chaser boys.

C • Peter Cundall? 2

A bit of an oddball morning. I was supposed to be doing an interview on ABC radio in Melbourne at 6.45, so got into work about 6 to do the preparatory work for it (a 5.10 alarm's just what you want on a Monday morning...). The phone stayed silent and I was wondering if they were going to stand me up altogether, but the interview finally happened around 7.15. Presumably somebody more important filled the 6.45 slot.

Once the interview was done I headed down to Albert Park for a swim before starting the normal working day. Back rather stiff early on but better in the second half (a major objective for these sessions is to loosen up various bits of the body after hard work in the days before, so mission accomplished).

MFR Monday night from Bruce's place. Made the mistake of not checking the radar before I started riding from work and got soaked for my trouble (there must be a lot of rubbish clogging drains because there was a remarkable amount of standing water for a 0.6mm shower).

It had more or less stopped raining by the time we ran, or a route which, unusually for a run in this area, didn't feature the Merri Creek (except to cross it). Took in the oval where the Plugger Toyota ad was filmed, and Nicola showed off Westgarth Primary's new kitchen garden at the end. The run itself? - pretty ordinary, with back again a little stiff, but I think just generally tired at the end of a very long day.