Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Down at Blairgowrie. Somewhat restricted in my options as I don't yet feel up to running on sand dunes, or on the tracks and streets that go up and down steep sand dunes (doing a run on these was what brought this injury to a head back on Cup Day). This meant spending a fair bit of this run next to the two main roads in the area, not something I would do by choice.

I was pretty tight early, but in the main part of the Achilles rather than the "hot spot"; took probably the first half of the run to really loosen up but feeling reasonably good by the end. The positive aspect of this run was that it was my longest I've done yet in the comeback, and I didn't feel like I was struggling through the last 10 or 15 minutes like I have on some of my "longer" runs recently. This is actually starting to feel like meaningful training again.

Providing the injury continues to hold up OK, my plan from here is to extend the long runs by 10 minutes or so a week, with the aim of getting up to around 2 hours by the weekend before the first NOL. Will also start doing a little bit of faster stuff through the Summer Series. At this stage my first attempt in the terrain is planned for the Bendigo weekend in three weeks' time. I'll be in Canberra for a conference most of this week.

Odd sight of the day was the Big Poo in Rye, paraded by the Clean Ocean Foundation (presumably to draw attention to the continued existence of the Gunnamatta sewer outfall).

The plan for today was to go to the tennis, leave about 5, get the train to Frankston and then ride down to Blairgowrie to join my parents who were down with my aunt for the weekend. This plan disappeared when I returned to the bike racks to find the remnants of a lock and no bike. I have to say it was a pretty brazen theft, next to a main road and in an area with a lot of pedestrian traffic. Won't hold my breath over the prospects of the police having any success in finding it; that said, it may not be such a bad thing in the long run as I'll probably get a replacement a bit more suited to the sort of riding that I'm actually doing, especially if doing a significant amount of my training on the bike turns out to be a long-term thing (something I don't yet know).

A testament to modern technology was that I had an offer of a loan bike within three hours of posting a pertinent update to my Facebook status.

Also on the bright side, I travelled the entire length of the Frankston line and failed to see a single crime being committed.

Would have been a gorgeous evening to be riding down the coast, too....

Not being on the roads did at least keep me clear of the Peninsula's drunken drivers, of whom there have been three spectacular examples in the last couple of weeks. The three, all of whom blew well north of 0.2, respectively (a) crashed into a house at Tootgarook (b) took a detour through the Rosebud foreshore campground whilst attempting to evade the police and (c) drove for a couple of kilometres down the wrong side of Point Nepean Road without noticing that they'd sideswiped someone on the way.

C • bugger 1

It will be a while yet before I start getting back into the early-morning midweek long runs for which I'm (in)famous, but today at least more or less matched the starting time (thanks to wanting to be at work by 8.30), and did mark the milestone of the first hour-plus run of the comeback. (I made the mistake, with a 5.20 alarm, of staying up last night to watch the end of the tennis - Casey will want to play a lot better than that if she wants to get more than four games off Venus - and paid for it a bit this afternoon).

As a run, this one (a circuit north up as far as Springthorpe) was nothing to get excited about, with general sluggishness, probably in part due to the warmth of the morning (why does 25 degrees feel hotter at 6.30 a.m. than it does at 7 p.m.?). After the first couple of minutes, though, the Achilles was much as it was yesterday, which is another piece of good news.

The commute home was pretty hard going: still 37 degrees when I headed out the door (originally the change was expected late afternoon but at the moment it looks like it's going to struggle to get here before midnight). Realised I didn't have a lot left by the top of the Ivanhoe hill and took it pretty easy for the last bit. I suspect I'll sleep well tonight.

I've worked 19 days straight; it will be nice to have a weekend off, more or less.

C • warm weather 4

C • 19 days 1

Pool running session, at Ivanhoe for logistical reasons (Mum's in town and had the car, and the flotation belt takes up too much space in my bag for me to be able to go there on the way riding to work, so I had to go home afterwards). There isn't as much space as there is at Fitzroy but the company is good, and the session wasn't too bad either.

My expectations of this run were low, mainly because I'd committed to running at lunchtime having forgotten that the fortnightly work morning tea was on. I left the run as late as I could and still be in something approximating to lunchtime, but still felt as if I had too much food in me beforehand.

I needn't have been apprehensive because the run immediately felt good and continued that way. It was definitely the best the Achilles has felt since the comeback, too, with only the faintest of twinges on the hills (although it was still a reverse Tan - I haven't felt confident enough to take on Anderson Street yet). Very pleased with this session, especially after an indifferent night last night.

This was a big day of exercise with two bike commutes as well, and I was very tired by the time I walked in the door (at 9.45, but as I finished my part of a major project today, hopefully this will be the last of these late nights for a while).

Early in the run I saw a woman with a gun on her hip and various other ominous-looking objects on her belt. I hope she was a plain-clothes cop (as it was 100 metres from the police HQ the chances are pretty good).

First Wednesday street-O of the comeback and my first since the opening week of the season (I haven't exactly got value from my season ticket so far). Got all my navigational difficulties out of the way between Hartwell station and the start, getting what seemed to be a significantly better route than anyone else (300 to 700 metres shorter than others I talked to). Had I been at full pace this probably would have been enough to give me the win, but I'm still going at a slow pace so quite a few had enough extra speed to cover the extra distance. (Schwepps made hard work of it, passing me four times during the course of the night - once because he started late, once because he'd got a control I hadn't, and twice - on the same leg - because of mistakes).

This was the hilliest I've done yet (one reason why I've previously steered clear of Wednesdays, although Camberwell is no Quambee), and the hills were definitely a struggle - although I seem to have come up OK afterwards.

Hopefully none of tonight's control sites will become as notorious as one of last Thursday's, which was on the tree that a speeding car forcibly rearranged itself against in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Started from near work and headed down Beach Road as far as Brighton before returning along the bike path. Found it hard to get myself going this morning, and had to do some pretty hard work into the wind coming back (one of the consequences of my route, chosen because of the direction of traffic flow, was that the tailwind section was done inland). A worthwhile session but not the most enjoyable of the month.

Summer took the day off today. We usually get one or two decent cold outbreaks each summer and each year it catches everyone by surprise when there's a bit of snow in the high country in summer (although getting some in Jindabyne and Berridale was unusual). I thought I might get the chance to find out what pool running in the rain was like, but the showers held off until I started riding to work (which may not have been the most ideal of timing).

This was a good solid session; felt as if I was working harder than in other recent sessions of this type. Had the lane to myself too, which probably had something to do with the aforementioned conditions.

C • Snow 8

C • Climate Sceptic heading this way 2

MFR Monday night from Bruce's, based around the Yarra Bend golf course. The pace was nothing too startling but the terrain was rougher than anything I've been on for months, and I was starting to feel it a bit in the second half; not really any pain but definitely lacking strength in the area. As I've said a few times before, though, the real test will be how it feels in the morning (and so far it's been feeling OK in the mornings).

A consequence of being caught by rain on the bike in both directions today was that I had just about run out of dry clothes by the time the run was over.