Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Sri Chinmoy 10k at Williamstown. Probably wasn't the optimal day for a good time anyway - late night last night and a minor stomach upset - but any chance of a decent time was blown away by the strengthening northerly wind, which was a straight headwind for most of the last 3k. Started poorly - back stiff for first few hundred metres - then settled down OK from 1-5k, but that was it. Dropped my bundle a bit once I realised I had no prospect of getting a decent time (I was hoping for a sub-37 and would have settled for a mid-37), and a stitch in the last km. Even on a calm day I don't think I would have gone much under 38 today. First half/second half 18.46/19.59, but I don't think I was exactly alone in having a large positive split here.

A surprisingly listless run, given the lovely conditions (cool sunny morning), a proper night's sleep for the first time in ages, and the easy day yesterday. Better in the second half but never really that comfortable.

Gentle session at Casuarina pool. Nice setting but sunglare was annoying. Back in Melbourne tonight.

A swap of my usual Wednesday and Thursday sessions. Not surprisingly, felt pretty tired after yesterday's epic, although picked up in the middle out around East Point (where the event was a couple of years ago).

Went out at lunchtime, about as good as could be expected in the heat. Went to Casuarina Beach, which was the venue of a crocodile sighting on Tuesday (needless to say this ended up on the front page of the local paper). Ended up turning around at the nudist part of the beach, but didn't see any nudists or any crocodiles or any nudists being eaten by crocodiles (now that really would be a story for the NT News). Did see someone playing the bagpipes in the car park, as well as the premises of the local surf club, which seemed a bit incongruous in a place where (a) there isn't any surf and (b) you can't go into the water for eight months a year (and are taking your chances in the other four) because of box jellyfish.

I expected this to be a struggle given the tropical location, but the conditions were as nice as one can expect in this part of the world (21 degrees, dewpoint 11) and I took full advantage in one of my best training runs this year. It was obvious within the first 15 minutes that it was going to be good, and it was, flowing nicely - didn't really feel like much of an effort at all until the last 30 minutes. Going along Nightcliff beach at sunrise around halfway was a particular highlight (even if being there at sunrise meant starting the run at 5.40 and getting up at 5).

I think this is the longest midweek run I've done for about 10 years.

Arrived in Darwin and immediately set up for a run to take advantage of the one decent time window I had for it all day. The plan was to do the (Wingstedt?) session mentioned on AP a few days back (4x4 min, 3 min jog in between), but I ended up only doing 3 reps - adjusting to the heat was a bit much plus I was running out of time. Felt surprisingly good for the first 25 minutes, but faded quite quickly after that.

Fairly relaxed session at MSAC after a very late return last night (nearly midnight).

Those who've known me for a while will know that I have had some run-ins in the past with various Cloncurry local government identities, so I was interested to see the following in Saturday's 'Australian':

"Keith Douglas is onto Peter Beattie and his real agenda. The Cloncurry councillor has accused the Premier of running a dictatorship and a fascist state, and he suggested the next step would be gas chambers brought to Cloncurry to wipe out the locals"

In case you're wondering, the issue in dispute is local council amalgamations.

Back to the old home ground tonight - Luise was hosting, and she's currently living with my aunt and uncle in Albert Park, where I lived myself from 1994 to 1998. A surprisingly nice run after the weekend (and the limited sleep last night), flowing nicely as we went out along the waterfront and came back through Albert Park along the lake (spectacular night view of the city from there). We were joined for a few hundred metres in Fitzroy Street by a tall African man who decided to run alongside us (in thongs).

I'm off to Darwin for work for the rest of the week - updates may be a little sporadic. Security agencies should be on high alert as my two previous visits to Darwin (September 2001 and July 2005) have both coincided with major terrorist attacks - which if nothing else proved that it is possible for the 'Northern Territory News' to go an entire week without any front-page crocodile stories.

C • yes but if I remember right th... 1