Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

SA Long Championships at Wilpena Spurs. Expected that the result of this would be Simon, then daylight, then Bruce, then daylight, then me (Toph wasn't running). As it turned out Bruce's misadventures on the long leg meant that it was Simon, then lots and lots of daylight, then Bruce and myself.

This was a tougher course than anything I've run before at Wilpena with probably two-thirds of the course in the steeper country. While I've still got a cough it was apparent early on that today was going better than the last few runs, and so it continued - still not especially strong but I actually felt like running today (and for a bonus none of my intermittent injury issues surfaced during this run). Went through Greg Morcom (who I wouldn't have been totally confident of beating in yesterday's form) at 2, which he'd missed a bit, and then set off on the 2.7k long leg, taking a right route (essentially through 10 and 11), not entirely confident of where I was at a couple of points in mid-leg, but hitting the control cleanly.

From there it was a steady, fairly unspectacular run. I knew Simon had come through me on the long leg because the controls had been woken up, but kept expecting Bruce (6 minutes) to come through as well and it didn't happen. Kept plugging away without fading to any great extent, with only one minor wobble when I almost got on the wrong ridge leaving 8, until an annoying 30-seconder on the third-last. The last kilometre suggested that it was well that the course wasn't a lot longer.

Didn't quite achieve a 25% behind Simon target, but getting within striking distance of it. Definitely knew I'd been for a run for the rest of the afternoon; tomorrow may be interesting.

First day of the Flinders weekend, and not one I'll want to remember for too long. This has been a very frustrating cold - not too bad in terms of actual cold symptoms but has knocked my running for six. Felt a bit better today than Thursday, but not a lot better.

My navigation was also ordinary today in sometimes vague terrain, including a major error on 9 which cost me 3 minutes or so (and I was probably lucky to get out of it as lightly as that). Also drifted more than I would have liked on some other legs, including 1, 4 and 11. Probably still wouldn't have got much under 40 with a clean run, though, on a day when Simon, Bruce and Toph were in the low 30s. Hoping for better tomorrow, but only on the technical side am I vaguely optimistic about being able to achieve that.

A reasonably relaxed session in the Monash pool before a workshop there this morning - not an ideal location as the deep end is only short. Pleasant enough but still had the feeling my body wouldn't have appreciated anything much harder (feel a bit better in general today than yesterday, though).

Now on the road to South Australia (my parents are also going, which is why I'm writing this from somewhere near Bridgewater, rather than being behind the wheel).

I'm not always very good at looking after myself and can be too stubborn for my own good, refusing to concede that there are times when I might need to slow down a bit. Tonight was the point at which it caught up with me - after feeling as if I was picking up a bit on Tuesday I've been on a downward swing first, and this run was awful. Probably should have called it off at an early stage - but what was that I was saying about stubbornness?

At least I won't be pushing myself on the work front for a while - today was my last day in the office for a couple of weeks (although I'm going to a workshop at Monash tomorrow morning before heading for SA). Will need to pick up a bit in the next three days to be in reasonable shape for Sunday's race.

C • Says it all 1

Original thoughts for today a few days back, knowing that I would be starting the day in Moss Vale and had no commitments in Canberra until lunchtime, were to do a long run somewhere in the Southern Highlands - possibly around Fitzroy Falls or Bundanoon. As it turned out I didn't exactly feel in long run shape (if anything taking a bit of a turn for the worse from yesterday - doing an evening talk and teleconference back to back may have had something to do with that), so settled for something more modest once arrived in Canberra - initially around Aranda Hill and the lower Black Mountain slopes, then around the outside of Aranda and Cook.

Felt ordinary throughout, and quite weak at times but not so bad in the last 10 minutes. Not as slow as I thought I'd be though.

There was a control hanging 50 metres away out the back gate; presumably the Wednesday lunchtime event was here.

10x1 minute session in Barton Park, just underneath the end of the Sydney Airport flight path if there's a westerly blowing (which there wasn't today). Not especially strong and had a bit of trouble finishing off some of the reps, but a lot better than I feared it might be given my weakness on the first uphill bump getting here.

Still in the croaky-but-improving mode; the croakiness was tested tonight, as I was giving an hour-long talk (very well received) in Moss Vale at 7, and then followed up with an international teleconference at 10. Definitely a long day.

Warm-up and down from the intervals.

The Wingecaribee council chambers (where my talk was) has a sign out the front proclaiming it to be a "Coal Seam Gas and Longwall Mining Free Shire". I assume what they actually mean is that they've proclaimed themselves free of the extraction of coal seam gas, not the gas itself. Not the sort of thing you'd normally expect to see in a conservative semi-rural shire but, as noted previously, the coal-seam gas debate has made for some interesting political bedfellows.

C • My parents live in Moss Val... 5

I'm staying at Wolli Creek, mainly in the name of tomorrow's logistics (I wanted somewhere close to where the M5 crossed a train line). The immediate surrounds aren't exactly inspiring - mostly off-airport car parks, plus a row of dilapidated houses across the street, at least a couple of which I suspect are brothels - but once you get to the other side of the railway line, within a kilometre of so, it's a pocket of reasonably pleasant Sydney suburbia, including a couple of the pockets in the bottom of sandstone valleys which Sydney specialises in (as well as a couple of sharp hills coming out of said valleys). Started slowly and struggled a bit with the sharp hills - as expected at this stage of a cold, I'm feeling a bit more clogged up but also a bit stronger - but reasonable towards the end. Lovely morning with a piercing morning sun you just don't get in Melbourne at this time of year.

Plenty of discoveries today, although as many were about the absurdities of old-time bureaucracy as about things of interest to the science I was doing. I don't know about you, but I don't think the seven years of correspondence between 1971 and 1978 over whether the Bureau should stump up for the cost of connecting a telephone to the observer's house in Bombala was exactly a cost-effective use of taxpayer-funded staff time.

Away from the files, the undoubted discovery of the day was the new outdoor pool in Prince Alfred Park, only 5 minutes' walk away from our Sydney office. I only found out about it when I looked the pool I knew about on the web to see what time it closed (with a post-work visit in mind). Better still, it's free until November.

There's something nice about swimming under a warm sun (especially in what is theoretically winter). The sun was actually a bit of a hassle early on because it was at the wrong angle for glare on the odd-numbered laps, but that improved later on. Also a few more issues with foot cramps than has been usual of late, but still hard not to enjoy this.

And Melbourne people might like to bag Myki, but it's light years ahead of the ticketing system for Sydney public transport. It took me 15 minutes of digging around the transport info website, and a certain amount of guesswork, to determine what sort of ticket I needed to get the bus to Maroubra (where I was catching up with a friend for dinner).

C • Last swim for 3 weeks? 3