Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

I'd earmarked this weekend for something long, wanting to get at least one proper long run in before Kooyoora (after the aborted attempt to do so two weeks ago). The signs earlier this week weren't always totally encouraging but I decided to give it a go anyway (knowing that my planned route was one that could easily be cut off into about a 16k if things went pear-shaped).

Things didn't go pear-shaped; most of the way this was a reasonably solid run, with a few niggles from time to time but not anything that seemed like any great drama (and no serious leg muscle tightness of the sort experienced during the week). Moderately undulating for most of the way without too many really serious hills. In the later stages, though, I was definitely hanging on, especially in the last 10 minutes. I'll probably need to find another hour in two weeks' time, although in that race I'll presumably have eaten something, unlike today (the absence of gels today being a consequence of the fact that the ultra-long sponsors use couriers who don't seem to offer any real alternative to delivering to an address where someone is present during business hours - how do other people solve this problem? At least only $40 has gone down the tube in this process and not hundreds). Pretty tired through the rest of the day.

I did this a bit later in the morning than would be the case during the summer, which meant plenty of people out and about, and quite a bit of traffic in places (Rosanna Road was as clogged as it is on a weekday morning, although at that point - 1k from home - this was a good thing because it meant I could cross between the stopped cars). I also spotted some blatant law-breaking, in the form of a couple of girls of about 12 engaging in some healthy outdoor activity on roller blades - it was revealed in this morning's paper that, in what won't go down as a triumph of legislative drafting, in the process of putting through well-intentioned laws to stop people leaving toddlers in hot cars, the Victorian government has managed to make it technically illegal to leave anyone under 16 unsupervised at any time.

One of the standout features of today's run, though, was the greatest progress yet in a single run in the collection of streets: no fewer than seven. The scorecard reads Amiet St, Greensborough; Aminya Cres, Yallambie; Aminya Pl, Briar Hill; Anaba Ct and Anama St, at the top and bottom of Greensborough respectively; Ananda Ct, Watsonia; and Anderson St, on the Banyule side of Heidelberg (which, like its better-known namesake, has a hill).

I'm setting the Victorian Relays on the north end of Crocodile Reservoir - not really the terrain one would choose for relays (not much detail), picked after our first choice fell through. Still, there's a fair bit of potential for route choice and hopefully that's been realised (on the two longer courses, anyway). If there are any complaints on the day I won't be that easy to find - by the time the event happens I'll be on the other side of the world (not sure exactly where on the day, but West Virginia is a reasonable working estimate).

Decided to kill a couple of birds with one stone and went for a run which took in the more distant controls; haven't been in terrain for three weeks so thought this would do me some good. Didn't sparkle on hills but got up all of them (and there are a few here). No injury issues on the run, although I was to do a bit more damage to my heel later in the day in the process of celebrating the goal which put Essendon in front (not the first time I've done myself an injury in such circumstances).

Feeling somewhat better today - sufficient to go out at lunchtime, at any rate. Didn't feel all that lively (despite the nice weather), and a little bit of tightness in the left calf but not as bad as earlier in the week. Lots of pedestrian traffic around, including a lot of kids for a school day (was it a student-free day for a lot of schools?); almost enough for pedestrian traffic jams in some of those places where footpaths are constrained by building work.

One landmark of the commute, the Stokers pancake restaurant near Darebin station, closed a few weeks ago (I was surprised to read this in the paper - I thought it had been closed for years, having never seen anyone go in or out of it) and has already become impressively derelict with considerable assistance from the local vandals. (It's apparently soon to be demolished and turned into apartments).

It hasn't been the most uplifting of weeks - it's rather disturbing to realise that people as deluded as Maurice Newman have the ear of the most senior levels of this government. At least other developments perhaps make it more likely that we only have to put up with this lot for another two years.

Calves had improved but heel hadn't (if anything it was worse), so decided to go out on the bike instead - an out-and-back to St. Kilda before the process of being once again separated from a large amount of money by a car repair workshop. Fishermens Bend has its advantages for a training ride (not many traffic lights) and its disadvantages (big trucks, some of whom operate on the basis that the largest vehicle has right of way whatever the road rules say). Reasonable ride without being anything too exciting; a little bit of wind but nothing compared to what my southern-dwelling collegues sometimes have to deal with.

I'm assuming this is now the theme song of the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption?

Doing this in the early morning meant I hadn't yet seen the day's major outbreaks of stupid, whether it was Maurice Newman once again indulging his climatic fantasies in the pages of the Australian (not on the front page - that was devoted to trying to make the case that the Essendon scandal was all Labor's fault), or some less than stellar budget salesmanship on the part of the Treasurer (as it happens, I broadly support the particular policy he was trying to sell, subject to its regressive impacts being compensated by other means, but that didn't mean I didn't enjoy his putting his foot in it). It is indeed true that on average high-income households spend more on petrol than low-income households do, but I suspect the relationship would be a lot weaker if old-age pensioners (who generally don't have much income and don't drive much) were taken out of the averages.

C • You had a good airing on AB... 1

C • more theme songs 4

Tightness had moved down my leg to the calf today - I think the main driver for this is still not walking properly because of the heel (which was even less comfortable this morning than it was yesterday). The original plan for lunchtime was intervals; decided to go out and see if it loosened up. It didn't really loosen up, and while it was at a level that could have been pushed through if it mattered, I decided it would be better to play it safe - running with altered form on an injury can be an invitation to further trouble. Hopefully sorts itself out fairly soon but have some plans B for the next couple of days.

Some googling revealed that the most common solutions to cracked heels involve skin moisturiser (this may or may not be through search engine optimisation by people who are in the business of selling it). Might have to try this one at the risk of forfeiting some blokedom points.

Spotted on the way into work this morning: a poster for an upcoming national tour by a band. Either they like flying or their knowledge of Australian geography isn't very good because they have gigs on successive nights in Adelaide, Melbourne, Karratha and Fremantle.

And an occasional series on the misfortunes of petty offenders: from our local paper this week following a prang in Mernda:

"Police booked an 18-year-old Macleod man for driving without a licence, issued a defect notice for the car which he did not own, and asked him to arrange for someone to pick him up from the scene. Sen-Constable Coulson said the man's sister came to pick him up, however police found she was driving on a suspended licence. He said a short time later two men came to pick the siblings up. Sen-Constable Coulson said police discovered one of the men was the registered owner of the non-roadworthy car the 18-year-old man had initially crashed. He said the other man who had driven the pair was driving on a suspended licence and his car was unregistered and not roadworthy".

C • Blokedom 7

C • Domino theory strikes. 1

Didn't sleep that well thanks to a trivial-seeming-but-annoying problem - some cracked/split skin on my heel which was painful enough to wake me up when I rolled onto the wrong spot. (I've had this on the soles of my feet before, but not there). This was a non-issue as soon as warmed up, but the run was then lacking energy throughout, and much in the way of strength on such hills as there were.

It was then an eventful ride in; I pulled up suddenly at an intersection to let an ambulance pass, thus potentially creating more need for said ambulance as it triggered a pile-up of about eight bikes behind me. No serious damage to bikes or bodies as far as I know.

There may yet be more significant injury issues to worry about than the cracked skin; while I didn't notice anything on the run, I've pulled up afterwards with dull soreness in the left leg below the knee, which doesn't feel too painful in itself but has the sense of being a precursor of something more substantial. Will see what it's like in the morning before making a decision on how (if at all) to amend training plans.

Taking the plunge on a somewhat chilly morning (which became watery on the ride in to work). Not as slow as some of my recent swims (though still not that fast), possibly a result of having cause to make a certain number of overtaking manouevres (yes, there were people at Fitzroy this morning who are even slower than I am).

Lunchtime around the Tan (stopping briefly to talk with Bruce). Felt quite reasonable coming off a long run, and hopefully the most recent injury issues are behind me (for now). One sharp but short-lived shower.

Spent quite a bit of time thinking about Essendon, partly about what's going on in the court case and partly about scenarios for them to make the finals. In the former case, as I understand it, what's going on is that the AFL effectively has the power (through its ability to suspend/deregister people) to compel witnesses to give evidence, whereas ASADA didn't have the power at the time (it does now) to compel people to self-incriminate, and Essendon are arguing that ASADA shouldn't be able to use evidence obtained via the AFL that they couldn't legally get themselves. This sounds like a technicality but it's the sort of thing that the legal system takes seriously and it wouldn't surprise me if Essendon win the case (whereupon ASADA will presumably open another investigation, this time under the new law). Needless to say all of this sheds exactly no light on who took what, whether it was banned, and the ethics of whatever happened whether it involved any banned substances or not.

I was much happier thinking about finals scenarios - which boil down to almost certain if they win their last three, highly probable if they win two as long as the West Coast game is one of the two, possible to unlikely for anything else.