Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

I'd planned to stay with Amber in Charlottesville tonight so was happy to go along with her plan to go along to a local event in the Richmond area. This was definitely grass-roots, old-school - probably similar in scale to the smaller Bendigo Saturday events, but with features I haven't experienced for a while like punching on the map.

The map was a bit intimidating at first glance - partly because it was 100% green, and partly because of the note that it was based on a 1975 map with minor updates in 2013-14 (the local club is quite new, apparently). With that absorbed, I knew not to expect much in the way of fine detail in the features (particularly the contours) and that vegetation would have a certain element of pot luck to it, but the control features were consistent with the standard of the map so there were no great issues on that score. Light green was also a realistic assessment of most of the forest (at least at this time of year), although there were patches which were more open than that, and some which was thicker (there was a particularly nasty bit of green on the approach into 10). Encountered a few brambly vines which created a certain amount of body art (short sleeves weren't a great idea here). Was generally enjoying myself, though, and running reasonably well (and knee was OK with its first outing in terrain, though pulled up a bit sore later in the day, perhaps through the driving.

Charlottesville seems a nice enough town at first glance (dominated by the university). Not such a joyous time in these parts at the moment, though, as the body of a local student who disappeared some weeks ago was found yesterday (for Melbourne people, the case seems remarkably reminiscent of the Jill Meagher case, both in the facts of the crime and the public response to it). It's poignant, to say the least, to see "Help find…" flyers/posters/bridge paintings everywhere when you know what the ending of the story is.

C • Where's blairtrewin 2

C • Heal soon! 2

Not sure if I'll end up rating this as my best run of 2014 as the intensity level was reasonably low (and there are still plenty of scenic places I expect to run between now and the end of the year), but it was certainly one of the most enjoyable, on the trails of the Bent Creek Forest reserve south of Asheville with two of the NCDC people (one all the way, one for some of it) - mostly on walking track which gradually climbed around the side of a hill in the autumn forest. The others thought the trail was a bit rough underfoot in places but nothing that would cause an orienteer any problem. Ideal conditions for it too, and no issues with the knee at all (it can still be a little sore when sitting for long periods but is no longer a problem either running or walking). Not totally convinced that the distance is correct.

Hit the road after that, spending much of the day on the Blue Ridge Parkway - a road essentially designed for scenic purposes (originally a Depression-era project, although it took until 1987 to complete the last section) which follows the ranges through North Carolina and western Virginia. It's a very nice place to be and you can easily get blase about the large number of spectacular views. It's not a fast way to get anywhere, though, particularly as the crowds were predictably out in force - it being probably the peak weekend for autumn colours in the area - and things were slowed further by a crash (car v motorbike; hopefully the rider lived to tell the tale) and roadworks at the northern end, then I underestimated how long it would take to get out to the Interstate after leaving the Parkway (in the process, declining the opportunity to hang around for tonights' Hillbilly Show in Sparta, North Carolina). Didn't make it to Roanoke until about 8.15 (with the help of a 15-minute mistake in the control circle).

I'm hoping it cools down a bit in certain parts of South America in the next few weeks; over the last three days it's reached the mid-40s at numerous locations in northern Argentina and Paraguay (falling only 0.2 short of the latter's national border), and has been only slightly cooler in adjacent areas of Brazil. (It may come as a surprise to people - it did to me when I first read it - that it has never reached 45 degrees in Brazil).

Another step up with an evening run from where I'm staying on the southern fringe of Asheville. Quite hilly, although not the long, snaking hillside streets that are typical of some other parts of town I've been in in the past (the last time I was here in January 2008, after a lot of hard work to get up high enough to do, there was a wonderful 20 minutes of gentle downhill, making the first tracks in the snow). Felt a bit sluggish as is often the case after a layoff, but knee was fine once warmed up (in fact it feels better running than it does doing most other things).

Today was the second (and last) psuedo-work day of the trip, although it was much a social visit as a science one - I've known many people here for a long time, and there were others I've dealt with extensively remotely but hadn't previously met in person. Asheville is as nice a place as I remember it from last time - definitely one of my favourite places in the US and somewhere where I could imagine myself spending some time if the occasion arose (and I suspect they'd be trying to snap me up pretty quickly if I ever came 'on the market'). Didn't trawl the local bookshops this time, knowing that any purchases would have to be carried around for the next two months.

Election sign watch: it seems that one candidate's main qualification for election to the school board is that they have four kids. (It doesn't seem that the local school board elections are an evolution-versus-creationism battleground, as happens in some other parts of the country).

First testing out of the knee, on a walking track at the New River Gorge lookout which was reasonably rough in places (not convinced the Garmin was giving me full value in the denser forest). Happy with the way the knee felt - a bit awkward and swollen but no pain and nothing structurally unusual (in fact it was more comfortable to run on than to do anything else). The gorge itself is impressive, as is the bridge across it - one of the longest and highest single-arch bridges in the world. Got drenched in the final minute, on a day with very frequent showers - I think this must be a new personal best for the greatest number of times I've turned windscreen wipers on and off on a single day.

The rest of the day was spent travelling to Asheville - four states ticked off for the day, though none of them new. (I'm acquiring quite a map collection as a result - most states have a "welcome center" just after you cross the border, and many of them give out free road maps of the state). Lots of hilly country and autumn colours, and several impressive bits of civil engineering.

This trip is proving to be something of an elections tour, with signs everywhere for midterm elections in the US; there are also local government elections in Ontario (although it's a pity from the entertainment point of view that ill-health has deprived Toronto's election of its most colourful candidate), and I'll be arriving just in time for the final round of Brazil's presidential election. There was abundant evidence in West Virginia, and to a lesser extent in the other states, that I don't have a lot of ideological fellow-travellers in these parts - after all, it's a state where a Democratic candidate for Congress once had a campaign commercial in which he pulled out a gun and opened fire on a copy of proposed legislation to set up an emissions trading scheme.

Some continued improvement today - was at could-run-on-it-if-I-had-to level, but since I didn't (except to get across a street at Niagara Falls) I didn't. Was a bit sore at the end after a long day on the road.

Today's route started at Niagara Falls (actually, at the next town down the road from it in the mistaken belief that Niagara Falls accommodation would be overpriced - it probably is on a summer weekend but definitely not on a Tuesday night in October), then continued on past Buffalo, on (relative) back roads through western Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh, then south into West Virginia.

I prefer travelling on the back roads if I can; even though I didn't have much time to linger, you get at least a bit of the sense of the place. I didn't previously know that northwest Pennsylvania was the scene of the country's first oil boom in the 1860s and 1870s; these days the local fossil fuel activity involves fracking the district with some enthusiasm. (Fracking was to lead to a longer day than planned - workers for it had filled every available room for miles around in the place I'd originally planned to stop, and I ended up going 100 kilometres further down the road). There's also a lot of forest in the region, which has regrown after being logged more or less into oblivion in the late 19th century. On the New York side of the border there's also some Indian land, which inevitably in these parts means there's a casino. (I've long thought there's a certain irony to the fact that, two or three centuries after the whites dispossessed the Indians with beads and trinkets, the dispossession is being reciprocated with slot machines and roulette wheels, although I'm told most of the money actually ends up in Asia).

I only passed through Pittsburgh (on a slightly non-optimal route choice because my map wasn't quite up to the job). It looks more attractive than I remember it, which probably has at least something to do with the fact that my previous experience of it was the area around the bus station (rarely a flattering introduction to any US city) at 11pm on a -15C night in December 1989. The local geography reminded me a bit of some German cities (lots of buildings crowded on the floor of a steep-sided river valley) so it was perhaps fitting that I found an outer suburb called Heidelberg.

West Virginia is, by my reckoning, the 30th state I've visited properly (plus three others where I've only gone through airports, Arizona, Texas and Kentucky). For the record, the 17 I still have to tick off are VT, IN, IA, WI, MN, ND, SD, NE, KS, OK, AR, MO, OR, ID, MT, WY, and UT.

C • My knowledge of the USA 15

Knee a bit improved today - I was able to walk reasonably freely on it for a kilometre or so to and from lunch - but still a couple of days from being runnable, I think. (By the way, a link to a reasonably graphic picture of said injury has been posted in the NAOC photos thread).

The plan today was to spend the morning at Environment Canada's climate branch in Toronto (partly giving a seminar, partly catching up with various long-standing contacts). As it turned out I spent most of the day there, partly because there were lots of interesting things to talk about, and partly because they'd just had some "issues" of their own in the climate-politics intersection and appreciated having a sympathetic external person to talk to about it. Spending most of the day there meant I had the dubious pleasure of experiencing two lots of Toronto peak-hour traffic in a day (Highway 401 through Toronto is the busiest road in North America, and reputed to be possibly the busiest in the world), although Toronto commuters who don't make use of the city's (very good) public transport get to do that five times a week.

The original plan was to cross the border tonight, but given my late exit from Toronto I've ended up staying in the Niagara Falls area, and will cross in the morning after looking at the falls (which I have previously been to in 2006).

No question of going out today. The last time I bruised my knee heavily, on day 1 of O-ringen in 2011, I did somehow manage to get myself around the next day but even under those circumstances I think I'd have struggled to start today. Quite a good spectator day, especially the sprint relay - it's good to see the US-Canada relay rivalry being played out in a forum where it's the main feature, and not an afterthought resolved in the middle of the medal presentations like it sometimes is at WOC.

Driving was manageable (I had about 300km to do this afternoon, finishing up at Peterborough, about 120km northeast of Toronto). The knee has improved a bit walking and standing (after a pretty rough night), but still doesn't like getting up after a prolonged period of sitting, as I found out at assorted fuel and photo stops. (It didn't really enjoy the 45-minute traffic jam at some roadworks either, but neither did anything or anyone else). From past experience I'd hope that it will settle down in the next 2-3 days.