Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Great moments in sports governance: from Wisden 2016.

"Formerly known as Seeduwa Raddoluwa, the club were taken over in 2011 by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, whose chairman, Priyath Bandu Wickrama Munige, became their president and had played two first-class matches for them with the aim of qualifying to compete for office at Sri Lanka Cricket. He could have captured a wicket with his first delivery, on debut against Colombo in 2012-13, aged 39, but dropped a return catch offered by Nimesh Perera".

(I seem to recall that sometime in the 1990s, the Brisbane Bears organised for a 40-something to sit on the bench for Southport in the last game of the season in order to qualify his son for father-son selection under the rules that existed at the time?).

Organisational teams are fairly common in the subcontinent. The Pakistan Power and Water Development Authority are pretty useless at their core business of supplying electricity and water, but their cricket team's good...

It was Melbourne's fourth-hottest night on record. I wasn't sure how I'd respond to the conditions (nudging 30 at 6am), so decided to commit myself to an hour or so and then see how it felt after that. Didn't feel too bad running initially, but was clearly losing water faster than I could put it in, and weakening noticeably towards the end. Would have liked to have got another long run under my belt, but at least last Sunday is in the bag, and the conditions next weekend will be a lot kinder than this.

Hasn't been the most enjoyable of weekends, thanks mainly to being beaten up (metaphorically speaking) by a couple of climate change sceptics as a result of an article I wrote which was published on the Conversation on Friday. One of them is up to 35 comments (and counting), at least a few of which are possibly bordering on defamatory, but I've got better things to do with $100K than spend it on legal fees putting that to the test.

C • Are you doing two bays? 7

I've just posted some of the best long-term National League performers. As you'd probably known I also have a taste for the obscure, so here's a list of all the Australians who have won exactly one senior race each:

Men - Bryan Keely, Chris Naunton, Gareth Candy, Jock Davis, Michael Derlacki, Stephen Craig.

Women - Aislinn Prendergast, Alix Young, Belinda Allison, Bridget Anderson, Danielle Winslow, Ljubov Simson, Orla Murray, Sophie Barker, Susanne Casanova.

Bryan and Aislinn were perhaps the two who surprised me most on that list. (Jock and Ljubov's best years were mostly before the NOL started, and Steve spent most of his elite career in Sweden).

Cassie has the family bragging rights - she has three wins and I have two.

C • NOL 7

A warm morning. Did some exploration along the Darebin Creek on opposite sides to those which I usually go on (which involved a few fairly rough tracks and one scramble up an embankment). Nondescript start, but by the last 15 minutes I was moving as well as I have at any time since returning from injury - an encouraging sign for tomorrow, although the degree of difficulty will be considerably higher tomorrow both in conditions and in distance.

Out early with thoughts of doing anything from 60 to 90 minutes depending on how I felt. Back was pretty marginal for the first 20 minutes and I thought seriously about turning around, but with no hills on this route in the first 5.5k (down to the Gipps Street bridge) I decided to press on and see how it went. Was a bit apprehensive about the Walmer Street hill, but handled it OK - this must have done something for my confidence because the last 20 minutes felt pretty good (although still rather slow).

With an 8am media engagement (annual climate statement day) it would have been hard to find enough time for a long run even without last night's issues. Took to the pool instead, feeling through the first half as if trying to go for a run wouldn't have been an especially pleasant experience, but woke up eventually.

You learn something new every day: amongst the offences which led to Ned Kelly's first prison term was sending a cow's scrotum through the post. (Apparently he was trying to send a message to a neighbour with whom he was aggrieved).

C • Cows don't have scrota. 3

Another night of frustration - the back/hamstring/buttock issue (which the physio has pinpointed to the top of the hamstring) may be fine to run on in the mornings, but it didn't like trying to run on it after a day spent sitting at a desk (which may indicate I need to do less sitting). Can't say I was really in the mood to start with on a night when the humidity is back, although Mooroolbark seems like it would be a nice area to run on a good day.

The course was certainly one to keep you thinking - I was still trying to pick between several possible options at the point when I pulled out.

This is territory I don't venture into terribly often. Stopped in Croydon to get some milk on the way home and saw a sign on exiting the centre car park 'please come back soon'. I think it's something like 20 years since I was last there - whether it will be another 20 years before I'm back is an open question.

Least surprising news of the day: the limited edition Dave Warner Century Before Lunch commemorative bat is already on sale. Didn't check whether they cost more or less than an OLED TV.

From the south end of Northcote up Merri Creek, taking in lots of flood debris (including a big tree across the bike track - somehow I don't think a tree across a road would have stayed untouched for four days), then back through the suburbs.

Didn't feel that great before starting, after a late night getting home from Geelong last night, but worked out OK. Similar to Sunday, not sparkling but fairly steady, taking advantage of the least humid conditions since before Christmas. Again a bit of DOMS in the quads early on - part of me is saying that it's a positive indication of a good day's work on Sunday, another part of me is wondering what it's going to be like after the first big downhill in two weekends' time.

Different world department: was reading today about how after Dick Reynolds won his third Brownlow Medal in 1938, Essendon weren't sure that they would be able to keep him because he'd lost his (day) job and they hadn't been able to find him another one - in similar circumstances in more modern times you'd think that club sponsors would be queueing up to offer him a job (probably not one involving actual work). In that era, and for some time thereafter, the VFL had a strict maximum on player payments (one too low for being a professional to be a viable option), and it was relatively common for players to move interstate or to the country towards the end of their careers - one of my great-uncles, a premiership player at Essendon in the 1940s/50s, retired to take up a better-paying offer to coach in the Ballarat league.

Northcote on a drizzly morning - swimming in the outside pool (something I don't think I've done before here) with the indoor area being crowded. Felt OK for the most part but rather slow. The dreaded foot cramp made a brief appearance later on.

Made what's becoming an annual trip down to Geelong for Melbourne Victory's annual match there (the locals must think soccer's full of goals - last year it was 3-3 and this year it was 4-2). Original thoughts involved one of the local beaches but it wasn't really a beach day, so instead meandered around back roads, taking in the Brisbane Ranges - perhaps surprisingly my first trip there. This was one of the earlier orienteering areas in Victoria but hasn't been used since the 1980s because of access issues related to dieback; we'd heard on the grapevine that the authorities might be receptive to parts of it being used again, but I didn't see a lot that inspired me (much of the area close to the road was burnt out in about 2007 and has grown back thickly).

Ended up doing a run in Torquay along the coast to the east - mostly on a track which turned into a dirt road, out to Point Impossible. It turns out that Point Impossible is a nude beach but no nudity was on display - it was far too cool for Australian nudists (I doubt if German ones would be deterred). Original thoughts were to come back along the beach but the tide was up, so returned the way I came. Felt a bit sluggish and quads tight early, which reflects that this is the first post-long run run for a while.