Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

First go at trying things out running, on a short and flat route out to Darebin Parklands, seeing the evidence of the overnight storms. No pain but didn't feel quite right, so will need to take things carefully in building back into things.

I knew there would be some ugly days watching Essendon this year; today was definitely one, although at least it was close because the opposition were almost as bad. The stretch from late in the first quarter to late in the third (during which neither side scored a goal) was surely the worst hour of football I've seen. Not sure whether the lowlight of the third quarter was Carlton putting four successive shots for goal out of bounds on the full, Matthew Leuenberger having two air swings in rapid succession (one by hand, one by foot), or the passage of play which featured six clangers (three from each side) in the space of about 15 seconds.

First time for a couple of years that I've ridden for training (as opposed to commuting). First step was to find a route - the Yarra Boulevard is nearby but until such time as the tack-dropper is caught I'm reluctant to go that way, so had to think of a suitable route without too many traffic interruptions - settled for the Yarra and Koonung Trails out to Bulleen Road, across the river, up to Macleod and La Trobe. Felt pretty good and certainly faster than I go in commuting. Didn't take on what's known in Melbourne cycling circles as the Col de Burgundy, but it's a short sharp climb through Macleod regardless.

I've said in the past that peak-hour traffic behaves more predictably than traffic at other times, and I think you get more drivers of the get-off-the-f***ing-road-you-f***ing-c**t variety on weekends too (I encountered one on the Banksia Street bridge for whom three empty lanes apparently weren't enough).

Proceeded from the ride to a session of walking the streets stuffing letterboxes in the name of democracy, my patch this time being up the very northern end of the electorate in Keon Park. (I'd ventured into one part of the area a couple of times in the past because Jamie had a tutoring job there when he was living with me, but the western section was new to me). Nice afternoon to be out; very warm for the time of year. The Greens vote in Batman drops from the 20s and 30s south of Bell Street to single digits north of it, and the density of 'No Junk Mail' signs drops away to a similar extent. A lot of political letterboxers ignore these because legally political advertising is not junk mail, but I take the view that voters are unlikely to be impressed by this technicality and you have a much better chance of losing a vote than winning one by doing so. (Incidentally, one thing you'll see a lot less of this year, unless you're in a real battleground seat, is direct mail - with the increase in mail charges it now costs $60,000 to do a mailout to an electorate, or $90,000 if you want it delivered in under a week, and most seat campaigns don't have that sort of money to spare).

Saw a sign on the way to Keon Park 'Bring Back Our Buses Baillieu'. I would suggest this campaign has probably been overtaken by events. (It's a while since I've seen a 'Don't Bugger The Bay Bracks' sticker, and even longer since the last sighting of an 'Export Fraser Not Uranium' one).

Hamstring felt like it was fatiguing a bit towards the end of both the ride and the walk but was otherwise OK, so I'll test it out a bit more tomorrow.

Pushed it a bit more today. Hamstring continues to improve and felt at only minor nuisance levels walking today (including when getting up from sitting down). Thinking I might start trying to run again on Sunday if it continues to improve - no real rush at this stage.

Decided to try how things went in the pool this morning. Seemed to work reasonably well - in fact the hamstring probably felt better afterwards than before (nor did it tighten up after sitting down to the extent that it had in the previous couple of days).

Had my busiest media day for a long time today (mostly because the people who would normally pick things up in the Sydney and Brisbane offices were both doing things out bush). Surprisingly, none of it had anything (directly) to do with Melbourne having its warmest-ever night so far into autumn.

C • Mr Trewis' insight of the day 6

Just in case you thought all orienteers were lefties...

C • Lefties 7

Decided to try a cycle commute today and see how it went. Felt OK while riding but still a bit sore during the day, especially after sitting for extended periods. Highlight of the ride in was being overtaken by an aggressively driven Maserati with P-plates (I didn't think P-platers were allowed to drive things like Maseratis), only to pass it back 300 metres down the road as it reached the back of a traffic jam.

Most interesting news of the day was the state Budget - particularly the news of impending public transport infrastructure projects of which one likely result is the demolition of my old place to make way for a hyperspace bypass rail tunnel entrance. I probably picked a good time to get out (perhaps I should consider it karma for my former neighbour).

Felt a bit better today, in as much as I could walk with a reasonable degree of comfort (without feeling that it was anywhere particularly close to being runnable). At least this saved me the problem of working out when to fit a run in.

Had a very early start this morning with a 6.45 flight back to Melbourne. Got a bit of a shock on looking at the Financial Review in the lounge and reading of the passing of someone I went to school with (the fact that I was reading about it in the Financial Review gives you some idea of his career trajectory); I'd lost touch with him after last seeing him at Easter 2003, by which time he was already a meaningful player in the WA business world. (The bit which did surprise me in the article was to learn that someone who I remember back in the day as not having any obvious interest in sport was on the board of the West Coast Eagles).

As is sometimes the way given the personnel involved, our return trip to Adelaide diverted somewhat, and took us through the ghost town of Johnburgh, home of a plaque which recognised the foresight of its pioneers upon the centenary of its founding in 1976. Perhaps 'lack of' should have been added before 'foresight', because Johnburgh is one of numerous grain-growing settlements of that vintage on the wrong side of Goyder's Line which had more or less ceased to be within a few decades - most of those which had managed to limp on that far were finished off by the 1895-1903 Federation Drought.

I hadn't entered the Rawnsley event - the plan was to enter on the day if I felt up to it after yesterday. Certainly didn't consider doing it as things worked out; walking is not especially comfortable today (especially uphill) and I've certainly set myself back somewhat, not quite sure how much.

It doesn't feel quite as bad as the October 2013 injury (which ended up claiming the best part of a month), but I'd still be surprised if I'm back in business much inside a week, and with no significant races for three weeks (Vic Middle in mid-May is the next one) there's no particular reason to try to rush the return.