Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Jim had been out skiing early and reported that it was very icy (a legacy of freezing drizzle yesterday afternoon and evening) on the ski tracks and that there was 'blood on the tracks', but also said it would probably be OK to run, and it was, at least on the higher ground. Once I got to a low enough elevation for ice to become part of the mix, I decided I didn't really need to do this and turned around to stay at higher elevations, which meant some rather convoluted routes in the last few minutes to get to the 40 minutes I wanted. The longer climbs were a grind but almost no trace of hamstring issues.

Good to catch up with the family, and I think I'm gradually connecting with Max and Esten (not so easy when you only see them once a year and English is their second language - which means I can't really appreciate how they interact with each other). Went downhill pretty quickly in the afternoon, though; I was feeling a bit of a throat tickle on Friday night so I don't think I can blame this on something brought home from childcare. Hopefully a reasonable amount of sleeping tonight and/or the plane will help.

Got into Oslo a bit after midnight; we were 20 minutes late to Copenhagen but the outgoing flight was also late (there were enough connecting passengers that I think they would have held it in any case), and the flights were at near-adjacent gates so I didn't have to run the length of the airport this time.

I stayed at an airport hotel rather than trying to make my way to Baerums Verk at that hour (which I presume would have required spending the GDP of a small African country on a taxi), and did a session on a stationary bike in the hotel gym. Stationary bikes are exceedingly boring (possibly even more boring than swimming), so Norwegian Saturday morning children's TV was a useful distraction, including Katten Med Hatten (which was definitely around in book form, at least, when I was that age) and Brännmann Sam. Not super-energetic (possibly through not eating first), but not too bad.

Moved on from there, although not before having to call for assistance because I got to the toy shop and realised that I didn't have a clue what the item on the boys' birthday wishlist looked like.

A milestone - first proper run (well, in as much as something as short as this can be considered a proper run, but at least it was continuous). Had a rather interrupted sleep thanks to the curse of the distant timezone - the middle-of-the-night phone call (one at 1am and one at 4.30am, both from telemarketers, which is bizarre as I wouldn't average one telemarketing call a month on my mobile at home). That didn't seem to get in the way of the run, which went roughly as I expected it to - feeling slight twinges at times but nothing to get in the way too much, and better in the last 10 minutes.

A bit longer than I planned as I went out to the riverside run at Bout-du-Monde, but I'm not totally upset about that. Also spotted something I'll probably see a bit more of next weekend, a plaque commemorating the 1974 Portuguese revolution. (Geneva has a substantial population of Portuguese origin, most of whom have been here since the 1960s/1970s or are descendants of those, and I imagine a fair proportion of the original migrants were fleeing the Salazar dictatorship).

Heading to Oslo for the weekend. I've learned my lesson from last time and am only taking hand luggage (there's a 30-minute connection in Copenhagen), but the incoming flight is showing on time and there are no weather issues of consequence in any of Geneva, Copenhagen or Oslo so I'm reasonably confident that I'll make it (late) tonight as scheduled.

C • Telemarketers 2

Back in the pool this morning after a couple of false starts getting out of the houses (and realising that I'd left things behind). Ended up as a decent session. There's plenty of people in the pool but the lanes are wide enough that they mostly don't get in each other's way, which helps. Another nice day - my Geneva rain-repelling properties are evidently working as well as they have on all my other trips.

A 4 on/1 off session this morning, on a clear morning with temperatures around zero - nice day to be out (at least if you've grown up with Canberra winters). Quite a promising day - only the faintest of twinges, and also felt reasonably good on the running parts, in marked contrast to the last couple of days I've been out. Possibly getting my sleep patterns into a normal enough pattern that I slept until my alarm helped - after drifting off several times while watching the football last night (although I was probably no less awake during that period than most of Barcelona's team).

Staying in a new place means some new routes. Although some of today took me into familiar territory from 2011-12, there were bits I hadn't been into before, featuring a plaque for the former Jonction velodrome and its hosting of the 1906 World Championships. I had thought this was a very drawn-out affair (albeit not so drawn out for its time - the 1900 and 1904 Olympics both spanned several months) because the plaque said it ran from 29 July to 25 August, but it seems 5 August was the correct finishing date.

Speaking of sport in Geneva, Switzerland may have a reputation for stability but it doesn't seem to extend to football: Servette, the main local team, has had 22 changes of coach this century, and 40 in the last 30 years. (They've also been bankrupt twice, and currently play in the second division).

The pool near WMO is closed for maintenance, but that isn't such a bad thing - the other major pool in Geneva (Vernets) is about 15 minutes' walk away from where I'm staying and is a better pool and somewhat less crowded. Was made to feel a bit inadequate by some of the others there, but ended up as a fairly decent session.

Today's leftover referendum poster was one which didn't need much translation, referring to "pillage de la caisse federale". The voters, however, decided that they didn't mind seeing the federal coffers pillaged if the money was going to be spent on roads.

Another session of similar format to yesterday, but along the lakefront this time. Still pretty gloomy when I headed out - sunrise is a bit later than I thought it would be (although we're at the stage of the year when the days start getting longer quite rapidly). Felt better than yesterday but a bit more soreness than yesterday (and a bit more afterwards).

Saw some leftover posters from Switzerland's most recent date with democracy on the weekend, trying to work out what the issues being voted on were (not much doubt what the Socialists thought of a corporate tax reform measure that they described as a "hold-up fiscale"). One of the proposals on the ballot was to make it easier for (hold the excitement) third-generation Swiss residents to get citizenship. The Swiss People's Party, not noted for subtlety in political advertising, had a poster featuring a woman in a niqab, but for once in a Western country in recent years, the voters declined an invitation to vote against Muslims (never mind that virtually none of the beneficiaries will be Muslims) and approved the proposal.

C • but for once 1