Training Log Archive: TheInvisibleLog

Australian Relay Champs in interesting gully terrain on the edge of the Murray Trench near Swan Reach. It was quite interesting terrain. Was given last leg after Roch and Ted. Was handed first position at the changeover, so knew number one priority was 'no mistakes'. Maybe I was a little conservative as a result, and was a little concerned I had lost four and a half minutes on Roch and Teds times at the spectator control. Went a little harder on the second loop and kept the time loss to a more respectable minute. As it turned out, there were three or four faster third leg runners, but the ones that counted weren't amongst them, so although the placings for 2nd, 3rd and 4th changed in the course of the last leg, the margin between first and second stayed pretty much on six minutes. So the no-mistakes strategy was the right one.
And I have to note... ten spikes out of ten controls. Three events with no errors. Its the first time I have been to a carnival and not stood in front of the results board calculating what might have been if only... That's a good result for the weekend. The downside is the unavoidable conclusion that the only avenue for improvement is weight loss and more dedicated approach to training. Entered a pact with Julie Sunley about 10kg weight loss objectives. (Well, 8 for me). Starts tomorrow.

C • Murray trench 2

Australian Long Championships in paddock granite near Nooriootpa. Three or four paddock legs with relatively simple navigation. Two controls with true hard navigation. The rest were relatively easy for a Championships. But then, it wasn't a middle event so the emphasis should be on route choice and endurance, so I think this event qualified. One paddock run through high clover/rye pasture was very tough. The trick was to find an elephant track or wear yourself out with high leg lifts. Being last starter in the age group, I had a good chance with the elephants. As last starter, I set myself the task of catching a few in front. The only face I knew of for sure was Bert Elson, starting 2 minutes in front. It took till half-way round the course to catch him and quite a while to shake him. I think the two harder controls down a scrubby hillside helped with getting away. Spiked all controls and got back just under the hour. Initial results had me 5th out of 8, so I wasn't expecting much. Quite surprised to end up just dropping two spots to seventh. That was my equal best placing at a national event. Helped by the absence of Chris Norwood (OS) and Paul Paque (injured). The latter two would have brought me back to 8th which is my estimation of my normal best hope. Still, only 3 seconds off a a best ever place sounds good. Those three seconds. Comeuppance time for Ian. One leg required a creek crossing. The spot I 'chose' turned out to have a swim or a rough rock bridge as alternatives. The latter had Ian Dodd clambering slowly across. I had to wait. Then he took ages climbing the short steep slope on the other side and then tangled himself in the fence at the top. I gave up waiting and pulled myself up the cliff on the right using the fence wire. He cost me much more than the 3 seconds to fifth. ;-}
And another perfect spike record. Two consecutive days!

Australian Sprint Champs in Gawler. Why enter a sprint champs? Well, last year I didn't enter, and then noticed that this decision has a major impact upon non-elite rankings calculations. To recap the system that I successfully proposed a few years ago... Seven races count- Easter Day1, Day 2, Day 3, Aus Long, Aus Middle, Aus Sprint Champs and any State Championship held as part of a national carnival. Calculate times as a % of winner. Best three count. Turns out that the limited capacity for error in a sprint event meant there was a smaller spread between winner and loser times compared to the other real events. This meant that anyone seeking a top ten ranking had to run the sprint. The decision not to run last year dropped me down to fifteenth from probably tenth. So I decided to give it a go this year, not expecting much in terms of results but expecting a good % of winnner's time. The navigation was pretty simple and managed to complete the course without an error. My time of 16.59 elicited a 'you weren't trying... I was a minute faster on a longer course' from Ian Dodd. No, I was trying, but I can't run all that fast. Still, managed 8th which was a surprise. And Ian's comeuppance was coming the following day. ;-}

Moe running Welsford tracks. Still many more to do.

From tracks

Welsford tracks. Lots of em too.