Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

There were moments today when I was reminded that there are few places in the world where I would rather be than running free on a crisp day through the more open bits of the southern end of Namadgi. Unfortunately, those moments were interspersed with more injury problems, which eventually put a premature end to this race.

Took a conservative route to 1. Bryan passed me going into 1, not a huge surprise given the length of the leg. He passed me again leaving 2, and again leaving 3, and again leaving 4. By that stage it was already obvious this was going to be a bad day for the back; the main thing it stops one doing is lifting one's legs properly in rough or steep terrain, a real problem on an area like this with lots of fallen timber in the bush. I'd more or less decided to call it a day at 6 (close to the finish) unless it improved. It did improve, for a while, and the stretch through 8 was reasonably enjoyable, even if it was a bit of a shock when the drinks at 8 were part-frozen (it had probably been about -8 overnight). It became more of a struggle from there, though, and by the rugged section from 10-14 walking and jogging was the best I could do. Knowing that the Nuggets almost certainly wouldn't need me, I came in from the first pivot control, skipping the butterfly loops. The way it felt at the finish (and on the drive home) suggested that this decision was not made a moment too soon.

It looks like this problem isn't going to go away quickly of its own accord and all I can do is try to gradually strengthen it. There's not a lot of major races to come before September, and maybe with four solid months behind me I'll be able to do something better then, but it's fairly discouraging at the moment.

Event: ACT Champs Carnival (NOL Round 3)
 

WOC sprint trial. A disappointingly slow run, out early in order to do commentary later (but the controls were already awake so I can't blame that). A few bush controls early I didn't really expect, and hesitant and wobbly on both 1 and 2, then settled into decent navigation mode with only a bit of time lost on the slightly strangely mapped 8. Never found much of a gear, though. Only beat a handful of stragglers.

Perhaps part of my rattledness on 1 was caused by seeing dead rabbits on the ground - are CSIRO secretly testing the successor to calicivirus? - and a tent just up the gully.

Second stage of a big day was the middle distance at Orroral. Didn't find it easy to get myself going in the warmup and didn't find a lot of pace on the run either, particularly on occasional short sharp hills (there was only one big one). Also took a while to get into the map - the rock really blended in with the low regrowth which covered much of the forested area - and paid for it with a 2-minuter at 3, unsure what was green and what wasn't in a vague gully. Technically decent after that with my time losses coming through poor lines in the green at 20 and, to a lesser extent, exiting 14, but still felt pretty slow and the results showed it. Just scraped into the points this time.

Pool running session in a new venue - the outdoor pool at Northcote. (The indoor pool is not deep enough, plus it was at a ridiculously warm 32.5 degrees according to the sign). A fairly nondescript session in which headwinds and tailwinds were relevant. On the road to Canberra this afternoon.

In recent weeks something I've been following is what appears to be an attempt (having come in late on this, I haven't quite worked out the exact details) by Murray Strain to run in every street of Edinburgh, in alphabetical order. This seemed like an interesting idea but to do it in Melbourne would take more than a lifetime. A few days back I had an alternative idea - do it in the City of Banyule, whose area is probably not so different to that of Edinburgh (for those not up with the latest in Victorian local government area boundaries, it's bounded by the Yarra to the south, Darebin Creek to the west, and extends as far as Bundoora, Greensborough and Montmorency on its north and northeast sides).

I almost didn't reach first base - Aanensen Court, Montmorency - thanks to a particularly inattentive piece of driving. After a reasonable start on a crisp morning - certainly a much more awake one than yesterday, despite being half an hour earlier - I hit a pedestrian crossing on a side street at the Watsonia shops, which a car was approaching. Some very rapid acceleration was called for at the moment that I realised that the car wasn't going to stop (or even slow down); I don't know exactly what the margin of non-collision was but am pretty sure it was measurable in centimetres rather than metres. Difficult to resist a bit of a spray after that effort (which drew the response cyclists have come to know and love, "sorry I didn't see you"), although I did restrain myself from any naughty words on the grounds that young children were present. Not seeing me must have required some particular cluelessness as the light was decent, the lines of sight were good, and someone else had crossed the crossing (in the other direction) a few seconds before me.

Once I'd cleared myself of a desire to see the driving licence of Ms. Clueless flung into deep space/the crater of an active volcano, the run settled down, slower than last week (but hillier too, particularly at the Montmorency end) but not fading out to anywhere near the same extent. Back a little tight on the steepest climbs. A bit longer than I'd planned on before the run started, which meant a bit more along main roads coming back than I would normally have liked (the closure of a useful section of path also contributed to that). Had a random encounter towards the end with my old PhD supervisor (among other things).

In the light of events, you won't be surprised that this was the song running through my head for most of the second half.

Progress on the alphabet challenge will be slow - the first four are scattered at opposite corners of the municipality and it's going to be hard to get more than one in a single run. It isn't until I get to Aberdeen and a trio of Acacias in the Bundoora/Macleod/Greensborough belt, at positions 5-8, that there are options to kill a few birds with one stone.

I slept well last night. Very well. So well that I still felt as if I was sound asleep at 7.30. This was a problem as I had started running at 6.55. As you might expect, this didn't make for an especially good run. At least no body parts hurt (much).

This was followed by one of those morning commutes where everyone seemed on edge, with intermittent horn-blowing and general tetchiness.

The swim that I was planning to do yesterday evening and didn't. Seemed to pass quite quickly, and is getting to the stage where it feels quite warm when you get into the pool (which is another way of saying it's getting colder out of it).

From here my route to work takes me very close to the site of the Swanston Street wall collapse, which was the subject of a big union-led march today. The vehemence with which this march was campaigned against by the Herald-Sun and various State ministers suggests to me that Grocon probably have something serious to hide - not that I suspect the State Government will be trying very hard to unhide it if so.

10x1 minute on the south side of the Yarra. Pretty lively at the start but, perhaps as a consequence, didn't pick up in speed during the set to the extent that I usually do. Drifting out of it a little by the end. Creaky bits OK today, although a bit of groin tightness warming down.

I'm impressed by the various journalists making reference to the "bold personality" of Tom Waterhouse - thus alluding to a horse closely associated with some of his ancestors. Back in Year 10 I won something called the Waterhouse Medallion for Excellence in Science (named, I believe, for someone who was not actually a colourful racing identity but was related to some; one of the Fine Cotton co-conspirators, if "conspiracy" isn't too grand a name for such an incompetently-executed plot, was a parent at the school). It would have been fitting if it had been awarded for my prowess in probability and statistics, but it was actually mostly for chemistry.

C • Would have been ... 2

Warm-up and down.

A fairly lacklustre morning effort. Rather creaky in the first half but better in the second. Knee seems better for the run after coming up stiff yesterday afternoon (a jarring jumping off some rocks didn't help - I think I startled Asha a bit with the sound I made on landing).

The plan was to swim this evening (rather than swim in the morning and run at lunchtime as I've been doing on Mondays lately), as there were no fewer than three different work functions this morning, each involving food, but it turned out I'd left my swimmers at home (whereupon I spent most of the time that I was planning to spend in Fitzroy Pool in a traffic jam instead). Will try again tomorrow.