Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Sprint in Pukekura Park - a botanical gardens-like set up with lots of weaving tracks creating route choice, though not much fine navigation. (I know this park chiefly for its postage-stamp cricket ground, which featured a 320-apiece 1992 World Cup match between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in an era when 220 was a decent score). Never felt comfortable running, but only had to walk the two big stair climbs, and only one minor wobble technically. A little closer to Matt and Magnus than yesterday, although Bruce, running 40s today, shifted the bar three minutes higher when it came to actually winning.

We weren't the only public event centred at the racecourse today: there was also an American classic cars meet. Wasn't too hard to work out which vehicles were headed for which event (the bright yellow Corvette was a particular giveaway).

Thought I'd struggle to put five races together in 48 hours, and so it proved. Didn't have much energy and looseness in the warm-up, and after a rather adventurous start to the first leg (part of which was done on my backside), my back largely refused to function. Kept going for a few controls in the hope that I might be able to loosen it up, but eventually decided that it would be better to try again another day.

For a Melburnian, there's something slightly incongruous about the existence of the Fitzroy Surf Lifesaving Club.

First sprint. Got round reasonably smoothly, which I'll settle for - never really felt as if I could stretch out but didn't throw a wobbly when we hit a sharp climb on the way to 2 (on a 1:3000 map with 5m contours things are a lot steeper than they look). Didn't seem to have any undue route choice problem. Fairly small field (quite a few of the guns have gone up to 50s, including Carsten and Jon) and came 3rd in it, although a fair way behind.

Some might have been disconcerted by starting in a graveyard, but for the Australian the more disconcerting bit was probably starting next to a small stream which was actually running. (Looking at the graves in the pre-start was an illustration of the hazards of New Zealand's rivers - one section was a military cemetery from the 1860s Maori wars and the British lost more soldiers to drowning than they did to their opponents).

Thought I might struggle to come up twice in a day and so it proved - back arced up and I had to walk most of the steeper hills, although improved in the last third (perhaps because by then there weren't too many steeper hills). Started in the graveyard section and was fairly clean through there, but struck trouble at 14 looking for a gap between buildings which didn't exist (I'll blame the map more for this one, with some ambiguous mapping of a multi-level area). Better in the later stages. A bit further down than in the morning, which wasn't a surprise.

Knockout sprints take a lot to set up, but it was definitely good to have a race which gave people experience of the format (and in a field deep enough for the early rounds to be meaningful, which wouldn't have happened with Australia or NZ on their own).

Event: THE LONELY MOUNTAIN SPRINTS
 

Swim at Coburg on the way to the airport (coming in just behind the crowd who were waiting for the doors to open on the stroke of 6). Felt very stiff and unawake in the early laps (I wonder why?), but getting better in the second half.

The flight to Wellington went smoothly. The drive out of Wellington wasn't quite so smooth on a Friday afternoon (although at least it should be the last time I experience this particular jam - the new motorway, which I'm pretty sure was being talked about when my parents were living here in 1993-94, is due for completion this year - and those who came from Auckland said that was worse). Nice once clear of the crowds though, with some stellar views of Taranaki in the evening (to say nothing of the ice cream stop - it isn't a proper NZ ice cream unless acquired at a small-town dairy), and Thomas Garbellini, who I'd picked up at Levin, was good road trip company.

Back still troublesome this morning, which meant I didn't get caught by the last part of the rainband. By then it was clean rain, but there was plenty of evidence around of the dirty rain which had fallen earlier. Swimming wouldn't have been a usable substitute because the pools were closed due to the mud, too.

I suspected tonight wasn't going to work too well when, after an hour standing up at a seminar this morning, I struggled to bend down to pick my papers up off the desk. I was right.

There was quite a bit of interesting weather around this evening, but at least it wasn't raining iguanas.

Not a sparkling run, but an advance - it's the first time for a while that I've actually managed to get through a "normal" morning run from home on something like the standard time gap after getting up. Steady once settled down, spending some of the time going along the strongly flowing Darebin Creek (yesterday was Melbourne's wettest since 2011). Quads OK, although the small rises were still a challenge; street-O tomorrow will test them, and New Zealand will probably test them more. Physio seemed happy with progress tonight.

Typo of the week: 7 News Brisbane tweeted yesterday that "A Sunshine Coast road remains shit today after a large sinkhole...".

Not for the first time of late, not terribly awake in the morning (not sure if having very vivid dreams is a sign of sleeping deeply or not). This was good for getting me going, though, and got pointed to a couple of apparently subtle adjustments which made a big difference to the parts of my body that were working most.

Swapping sessions from later in the week to help logistics then, and pleasantly surprised that this was still in decent weather (I'd expected rain from early in the morning, but it didn't end up coming to inner Melbourne until mid-afternoon, although it did so in some style once it got here). Working OK but feeling as if it would have been a battle to come up from yesterday - which may make the weekend a test.

Prior to a day which involved seeing lots of pictures of damaged cars, I saw one myself on the ride in - a truck turning right sideswiped a car stopped in the next lane alongside it. The truck didn't stop (and I didn't have the presence of mind to take its number).