Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

A rare south-of-the-river run and a rare day at the office, both of which were prompted by getting my car serviced. No real issues in the injury department (going south into Port Melbourne and along the coast for a bit), but didn't feel terribly energetic, which probably owed something to having been in a meeting since 5am. Quite a few traffic stops but that was probably more plus than minus today (and got to see what's been built in the last few months, and what hasn't).

Also looks like Fairfield is in the clear as a zone of pestilence, at least for now.

C • That's good to know, we are... 1

Made a couple of attempts today. The morning wasn't close, the afternoon I was almost right but not quite. Hopefully OK to do something tomorrow (if not too sleepy after the combination of OA Board meeting finishing at 10.30 tonight and IPCC meeting starting at 5 tomorrow morning).

A novelty: my first swim since March. (The Northcote pool actually opened a couple of weeks ago but didn't tell anyone). A lunchtime session was even more of a novelty - you have to book one-hour slots and the early ones go quickly, but at lunchtime there were plenty of spots. I was wondering whether I'd have forgotten how to swim in the interim, but it turned out to be a reasonably standard session, and fits nicely in the available time. Will probably look to bring this session in once a week (assuming the place doesn't close down again, which may or may not be a good assumption).

Could have chosen their words a bit better department: the sympathetic Facebook commenter who called on Conor McKenna to "stay positive". (I'd wondered from the start whether this was a case - there have been a few - of someone turning up a positive test weeks after returning from overseas).

Back to the early Monday morning Pilates session, even if there's no office to go to (and won't be for a while). A new instructor this time - standing in for the regular who's on holidays for a couple of weeks - and she's from the country which means that rain (or its absence) is always a reliable source of conversation. Not a bad session on the whole.

The resurrection of the MFR Monday night run is a few weeks old now but this was the first one I've been able to get to. There were two (running-related) challenges for me here - a third day in a row, and a late afternoon session after sitting, which meant my back didn't feel great before I started.

The Yarra Bend meeting spot involved venturing a couple of hundred metres outside the Leper Zone (why there's a small sliver of the City of Yarra between the river and Heidelberg Road is a bit of a mystery to me), though as far as I know all of the actual cases are north of Bell Street so I'm not unduly concerned. Supposedly there was going to be a fast group and a slow group but it was immediately apparent that the slow group had a membership of one, which meant I socially distanced myself off the back of the pack quite quickly. Was pretty borderline and I stopped a couple of times to do some mobility stretches, but eventually got myself going, sort of, so I'll consider this a plus.

Got home to hear that both the Wiggles and Nickelback had sold out the arena that Donald Trump didn't.

Spent the longest night of the year not sleeping very much of it (note to self: don't read internet comment threads with the potential to make you angry before going to bed) but felt OK in the morning. Reasonable morning's work and first time past the hour for a few weeks, heading out west towards Merri Creek and then back across Ruckers Hill (this bit featured a small group apparently trying to find the warehouse conversion that was on Grand Designs a couple of weeks ago, although there's no indication from the street of what lies within). Settled down reasonably after the first few minutes and handled the gradual climb better than I sometimes have been, although quads were a bit sore at one stage late (a traffic stop seemed to settle them down).

C • Annoying things to read on the internet to disturb you in bed 12

C • Northcote Vinegar Factory 1

Training at Glenluce. Warren had resurrected a 1980 5-days course and invited people to challenge the times that Oyvin Thon and Jorgen Martensson (along with Warren himself) had done - something Aston achieved, which was particularly impressive because Glenluce has greened up a fair bit, especially in the gullies, and is in my reckoning at least 30 seconds/km slower than it was at the time of WMOC 2002 (I can't speak for 1980).

I wasn't up for 11.6km - was aiming for 45 minutes - and decided that half the course would be enough for me (conveniently it came back close to the start point). Navigating OK and a bit more fluent in the terrain than I was at Creswick, but still couldn't run much up any of the hills (although interestingly small hills were a bit easier in the terrain than on tracks). Could also read the map fine, so it must have been a lousy map bag last time and not my eyesight. Was good to get into the forest on what was a rather depressing afternoon in the outside world.

First time on the Boulevard for a couple of weeks. Felt pretty reasonable, including on the hills, but pace drifted out of it a bit in the second half. Certainly no issues with excessively chilled fingers (or other body parts) this morning.

Some fencing I saw at the far end suggests that there's been a slip on the steep slope overlooking the Yarra there. The path across that slope was one of my favourite bits of track in inner Melbourne (at least when something that far away is within range for me) so hopefully it's still there.

One of the better name memes I've seen for a while: your ABC rural reporter name is the name of your youngest sibling along with the name of your nearest arterial road (Cassie Grange sort of works, I guess). I wonder what Kate Doyle or Jess Davis end up with?

C • Victoria Heidelberg 7