Training Log Archive: GraceE

Molonglo Gorge to Blue Tiles picnic area, around some fire trails in Kowen Forest (~30mins), then back along the side of the gorge. Nice run :)

Today we drove out to Tidbinbilla. We parked at 'Mountain Creek' and ran (separately) up and along the fire trail to Camels Hump. I stopped my watch and scrambled up to the top for some good views. I was back on the track after 20mins and headed back down the trail. Then I ran the 'Cascades trail' and the 'Lyrebird trail'. I personally wouldn't call it a cascade like it wasn't Liffey Falls or anything, but still a peaceful 10mins all the same. Bit disappointed not to see a lyrebird but I saw a wallaby at the end so can't complain. Overcast today but still quite warm.

Twilight #1 at The Pinnacle.
The terrain was super fast so had to run hard the whole way and was a bit dizzy at the end. Small area but well mapped and I had a clean run. I used to live near the Pinnacle in 2007 and it was where I did all my short bush runs from home. Never went off the path though so it was fun to see some new bits :)

Morning run up Mt Tennent in Namadgi NP with Matt. Cracking day - sunny and hot! :) Up in 62mins - bit steeper than what I remembered! Just like last time, I trotted down the way we'd come up while Matt did a slightly longer loop before joining the main path back down. Lovely bush and a great run to do.

From the Campbell Offices, up to the saddle via the telecom track, over Hacket Hill, down along and back up to the saddle, over the top of Ainslie and then down directish to the car. Ran on a few new paths (that I didn't run on in 2007) which was cool.

I saw the Queen again today. That's twice in 3 days. I didn't see any royals the whole time I was in Britain!

To Red Hill, around and back. Lovely day and saw heaps of kangaroos :)

I saw the Queen today.

To Red Hill, around and along most of the SE part of the ridge, and back to Darling St. Beautifully sunny and warm! :D

C • Not bad going for an Aussie... 2

Around the western loop of Lake BG from Darling St. Lovely and sunny but a really strong headwind for the first half - the hat had to be carried!
Now sitting back with a Boag's Draught while Craig fires up the barbie - surf and turf tonight (kangaroo for Craig). Ahhh.... :)

Jerrabomberra wetlands loop from Darling St. I can't run off-road because I only have road shoes (only one pair of runners made the trip to Aus!). Good pace when I wasn't stopping to look at baby rabbits.

To Telopea Park and then around the lake (two bridges).

Oceania Relays, Gaerloch (Badja).
I ran 1st leg in a composite team with Tamsin and Laurina. Really fun course and a nice map scale (1:10000). c5 was a tricky one - diagonally down a slope and I took it carefully, maybe too carefully. Other than that I ran hard with good map contact and didn't have any issues. Fun! :)

I had a great weekend, mostly because I got to catch up with so many people, most of whom I hadn't seen for nearly four years! It is really so nice to be back :)

Australian Long Champs, Marginata (Badja).
Fun course in some classic Aussie terrain. I got off to a good start but faffed a little on the way to c5, my chosen route to the left taking me in sight of c6. Good through c6-9. On the long leg to c10 I took the right (as opposed to left) option down the fence line, which turned out to be a minute slower than going straight. I'm now so used to "avoiding the shit" that I forget that in Australia you always just go straight. Matt and I both made this mistake on this leg. I dropped 30secs at c13 where I caught Kathryn running around in the circle and thought I'd join in. Jo caught Kathryn and me in the open stuff at c18 and then I really really started to feel tired. I hung on to the others for the last bit but we all missed c21, me being the slowest to realise and relocate. Can't believe it was only just over an hour, I was so tired! Finished 3rd behind Jo and Lizzie.

Event: Oceania Sprint, Aust Long & Oceania Relays
 

Oceania Sprint Champs, Wombat Hill (Badja).
A super fun bush sprint, with most of the course in a tiny section of bush. Lots of granite boulders, some bare rock, clearings and some light green to make it a bit more tricky.
I set off safely to the first and focused on good map contact and flow from there. Was happy to hit c3 cleanly and then flowed through the next lot of short controls well. Was heaps of fun and really pleased to take the win :)

Bridge to bridge from J&C's place in Barton.

This is an old story now but I'm going to mention it anyway because I was proud of myself for acting on my instincts.
On Monday Matt and I were packing the last few things into our bags and getting rid of the remaining furniture. We also had a cleaner in for a few hours. During the morning some removal men came to take away our sofa and during their time in our flat I noticed my wallet was no longer near my coffee where I thought I left it. I madly ran around checking other places where I may have put it but couldn't see it and I was about 98% sure I had left it by my coffee. So I pretty much had to accuse the two removal men of taking it. It was quite awkward and I didn't really know what to do next. They obviously didn't own up to it. One or both of them said that I could search them if I wanted to. This was as good as a confession to me and it also told me that the wallet wasn't on them. So I thought they could have hidden it in their removal van when they had been down the first time to load the sofa. I walked down the stairs and out into the carpark, climbed into their removal van and hurriedly started looking for the wallet. I heard them come out the door but I kept madly searching, in between a stack of cushions and then in between each layer of a big pile of blankets. Then I found it, at arms reach hidden in the pile of blankets. I was mad but mostly just relieved because my wallet had all my Aussie bankcards as well as my British bankcards and it would had been a really bad time to lose them.
The moral of the story is to trust your memory and to act on your instincts, even if you might be wrong :)

C • welcome back 2

Arrived in Sydney. Caught the bus to Canberra at 8.30am. Picked up by Jasmine and Craig who we will be staying with for the next week or 4.

Still flying...

We finished packing, travelled to Heathrow and caught our flight to Australia at 10pm.

Blaise, Kings Weston Hill, Shirehampton GC and Coombe Dingle.

Event: Oceania Long & Middle Distance Champs
 

Ashton Court Parkrun 5km.
Oops, over 20 minutes! I think 20 is doable but I did the hill way too slow - out in 11.26, back in 9.04. My legs just felt like lumps of wood starting out, no spring at all! (lack of warm-up didn't help).
Nice morning for it and I certainly deserved my lemon tart for morning tea :)

Running a bit late for the 9am start so only about 3mins w/u. I dug out my fav old runners as a final farewell - they won't be making the journey back to Aus but they were great shoes (Asics Kayano 12).