Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

First proper long run of the summer and probably my best run for a couple of months. Quickly hit a good rhythm inside the first 15 minutes and held it for much of the way. A somewhat oddball route - because of some fairly complex arrangements with visiting family, started my run at home and ended up at my grandmother's place in Essendon, going through Latrobe Uni, Edwardes Lake park, then long stretches along the upper parts of Merri and Moonee Ponds creeks and the bike path that runs parallel to the Ring Road.

Only really started to fade in the last 15 minutes - handled the climb through Strathmore (the steepest of the run) well but tired a bit after that. It was a reasonably warm morning and I didn't get to drink, courtesy of the northern suburbs' many diligent vandals who ensured that the taps en route were non-functional. Didn't seem to affect me much on the run but I certainly did plenty of fluid replacement in the hours following.

I'm not sure if the planners of the City of Moreland think it's never going to rain properly again in Melbourne, but if I were an owner of one of the new houses alongside Moonee Ponds Creek at Gowanbrae (which I wouldn't be because I'd never buy something in such a location), I wouldn't be putting any expensive carpets on the ground floor.

A solid run on a warm morning, with some good stretches in the middle after a slow start, and feeling quite strong on some of the later hills.

A bit of excitement in the later stages in Bulleen as it gradually became apparent that the area was crawling with police, then two people appeared carrying a blanket which seemed to have a small body inside. It turned out it was a dog which had been mauled to death by two other dogs and the police were looking for the offending dogs (and hopefully the offending owner(s)). I decided that a neighbourhood with two dangerous dogs reported wandering probably wasn't a good one to be running in and headed elsewhere as quickly as possible. Given it's the Victorian police we're talking about, one might also have cause to be concerned about crossfire (as it was I almost got cleaned up by a police car which appeared from behind a fence driving across a park).

In the pool for the first time in a couple of weeks. Had a bit of a sore arm courtesy of an injection yesterday (one of the joys of going to a developing country), but it was one of those things which didn't impede me, it just hurt, and so could be dealt with with a certain amount of application.

The standard of driving this morning was even lower than usual. Scoreboard: three cars failing to give way when turning right, and one moving into my lane without indicating.

First go this summer at the Thursday morning long run after Wednesday night street-O combination. The midweek long runs will be a bit more important than usual this summer because I'll be spending almost half of summer's weekends in the air.

It was a bit of a grind most of the way, although better in the last 20 minutes. Found a stepping-stones crossing of Merri Creek I didn't previously know about, which goes to show that I don't know that corner of town quite as well as I thought I did.

A long section of the run was along a path which is a dog-on-leash zone throughout, so I decided to do a count to see how well this was being observed. Off-leash dogs beat on-leash dogs 6-4. Of course your chances of seeing anyone from the council there at 7.30 in the morning are approximately nil.

Started slowly but settled into it quite well, with some good stretches around the Yarra in the second half. Quite strong up the hills.

Street-O at Mulluana. Definitely an improvement on last week - it helps not being sick and not having raced at lunchtime. Was on my own for most of it, although Rachel Johnson sort of hung on for a while. Felt pretty good on occasions, especially through the middle, although not quite as much power as I would have liked on the (small) hills towards the end. I wasn't expecting a lot of competition, as Bryan and Adam were both talking themselves down in a big way (understandably, given that they were coming off the Four Peaks, even if it was the 3.9 Peaks this year thanks to Sunday's weather). Bryan must have found something because he was only 10 seconds behind me at the end, having gone in the opposite direction.

Nice to have a win, although I think I'll miss too many Wednesday nights this year to be in contention for any overall honours.

I'm organising tomorrow night at Montmorency. There are a few bits of the course that are designed to sort the men from the boys on A, but if the field is a usual Thursday night one there may not be much sorting out to be done, which is a pity.

C • lucky 4

First bit of speedwork in this phase of training, although 'speed' is probably a misnomer on this occasion - didn't have any zip at all, perhaps not surprising at this stage. Fastest loop 9.29. Brilliantly sunny morning (and rather later than usual because of the public holiday).

Driving atrocity of the day: I spotted somebody who was talking on one mobile phone with one hand and texting on a second phone with the other, all whilst driving (or attempting thereof).

Being Cup Monday (the easiest commute of the year) there wasn't much of a crowd for Monday night - just Torgeir and myself. Headed from the Abbotsford Convent up through Yarra Bend to the pipe bridge, then back on the east side, mostly on the single track - always a lot of fun. Started out very sluggish, and rather stiff (maybe through not swimming this morning?), but settled into reasonable shape after the first 10 minutes.