Training Log Archive: GraceE

Last day of AusAID :(

Lunchtime run from work - over Commonwealth bridge and up around the back of Parliament House, around the Parliamentary triangle and back over Com. bridge.

My back is still troubling me, but I now have some exercises to try out and hopefully with time these will help. This isn't a running-related injury, so running is actually a good thing to help my back loosen up, although I need to be careful I don't jar/aggravate it. The injury is from too much sitting down basically, with lots of crushed discs and stuff going on in my lower back.

Twilight #2 at Campbell Park. Nice warm evening for it, and a very pleasant course. I was taking it carefully so as not to aggravate anything, but this meant I read the map well and enjoyed being able to focus a bit more.

At a Farewell to AusAID function all evening.

Street-o at Forrest.

To street-o and back home.

Little potter on Isaacs Ridge, beautiful day for it. Took it really carefully - no surges! Went reasonably well.

Leg fixed, back totally fucked again :/

C • :( 5

Dear Diary,
Today my back wasn't any better but luckily we had a pretty cruisy day planned. We headed south and first up stopped at Tabourie Point for a lie on the sand (Matt swam). Next up we drove further south to Pretty Beach just past Kioloa. It was indeed very pretty and almost empty of people (helped by the $7 parking fee). In between feeling sorry for myself I would look up and watch the whales frolicking out at sea. My first ever whale sighting!! The weather was great too - 30 degrees or so. Later, we headed to Batemans Bay for fish & chips, then back to Canberra.

Dear Diary,
Today we set off on our planned weekend away, even though my back was extremely painful and waves of pain were flowing down through my butt and legs. I didn't want to stay in bed all weekend!
We drove to Wog Wog campground on the west side of the Budawang NP (stopping off at Queanbo AND Braidwood for coffees). We then went for a ~5hr out-and-back walk towards Corang Peak. It was very beautiful bush, but a very painful walk (though just as painful to sit down).
Then we drove to Mollymook where we were staying, later eating out at an Italian place in Ulladulla.

So on today's run I flared my back injury up again. It happened just as I was running up the last of the hills along the Red Hill ridge-line. I was surging up it as I felt my glutes needed some extra strengthening, not crazy sprinting but more like 3rd gear as opposed to the usual 1st. All of a sudden - clunk - something went in my back, I didn't even mis-tread or twist my landing. So then I had to hobble back to the car. And that was my reward for running when I really didn't feel like it. Moral of the story is to stay at home and be a lazy bum next time!

Matt showed me around Mugga and Callum Brae, starting and finishing at the Red Hill carpark. My first time through the tunnel under Hindmarsh!

Might stretch a bit instead - try and fix this sore leg of mine!

Just a short one on Red Hill with Matt.

Street-o #1 at Curtin. It felt quite long - there were no obvious 2 to miss out so I toured the full map. Sunny but really cold! And leg was still sore.

Good climb up Mt Tennent with Lachy and Lizzie from the visitor's centre. Lizzie went out the front and cleared the snakes for us. Made it to the top in 61:30. Another beautiful day and getting quite warm by the time we made our way down. Great company and really fun trip out.

Yes that's right, 8am. Up early to drop Matt off at the airport so thought I would keep the momentum going by running straight away. Parked at Isaacs and ran Farrer and Wanniassa ridges. Though cold initially, it was gloriously sunny and I had a lovely run. Left out Isaacs at the end as am watching the sore leg.

I thought my leg would magically be better today (after some stretching) but it was actually worse. I limped around a short loop anyway as it would have been against my principles to return home sweat-free. Well, I didn’t really work up a sweat but it was nice to be out in the fresh air (on Red Hill for a change).

Yay for Spring and day-light savings! Lovely sunny run on Red Hill - full loop anticlockwise. My back is still a little sore (2.5wks!) but was ok while running. My right leg, however, was really sore! No doubt some tightness has moved down there and is causing problems. Not the usual suspects (calf, hammy, itb), but some weird spots round the back of the knee.

Waiting for my back to get better.

And the sore back continues...

Australian Relay Champs on yesterday's map, "The Gib".
Running in a Tassie team with Sarah and Hanny. I set off on 1st leg and went left then over the hill on the long leg to c1. This was mostly good except I came at the control from above and had to scramble down through some steep and rocky terrain. While doing this scramble, I saw Lizzie below run through and punch the control. I should have contoured into the control at the end of the leg. Heading to c2 I thought I would go high and run bits of terrain I remembered from yesterday. This worked well early on but I didn't realise how much I needed to drop at the end, miss-counting the clumps of rock and stopping at a rock outcrop nearly 80m(!) too early. Lizzie ran past... she must have just dropped 45secs somewhere, but I just stood on my rock outcrop for another 45secs scratching my head before deciding to run on. Interestingly Lizzie and I took about the same time on that leg but both losing time at different places and never running together. With c3 I came at the feature from the wrong side and c4 I climbed into it an unnecessarily labourious way. I stayed high on the long leg back across the hill to c6, but dropping down the ridge at the end felt like a slow way into the control. The last part of the course was quite good, but again on c9 I wasted time getting to the flag from the wrong side of the feature. Handed over to Sarah three minutes behind Lizzie. Sarah ran a respectable time, especially for someone who didn't have a run on the map yesterday, and handed over to Hanny in 3rd place. Hanny ran a very quick time and narrowed the gap to the leading two teams, crossing the line in 3rd. It was the Tassie Senior Womens first relay placing since 2005! (I think). Tasmania did very well in the other relay categories which was great to see.
And... it was really fun to have some technical relay courses - they were well set and I enjoyed the challenge of the long first control.

A bit of warming up/down. Afterwards, I went out to collect some controls (65min) but a lot of that time was spent packing up drinks controls.

Event: Australian Middle Distance/Relay Championships
 

Australian Middle Distance Champs, Gibraltar Hill, just past Bungendore.
I was really pumped up for this race as well given that it is my favourite kind of terrain (detailed granite with fast running and good visibility in between), and the course was sure to be well-set and challenging.
I started well with good concentration and focused map-reading. I managed to keep this up all the way around the course, flowing smoothly through the controls and always seeming to come upon the flag from the right side of the feature. Nearing the end, I hesitated in to c16, thinking the control was right of me but it was actually left. However surprisingly I was just 10secs slower than the fastest split for this leg. On my way down the hill to c17 I nearly trod on a brown snake with its head right by my ankle and this caused me to dart down the hill without looking at the map, drifting wide to the left and having to climb a contour back to the control (18secs down on that leg). Then there were just a couple of paddock controls to finish with. Really pleased to do some good orienteering and retain one of the National titles I won last year :)

C • Huge congrats! 3

Loosener on Red Hill ridge. Nice evening.

OK, so the seven or so hours I spent behind the wheel two weekends ago (Tumut w/e) was apparently too much for my back to handle, and it tightened up last Sunday/Monday. I took it really carefully last week but it didn't get better, and now it's still the same. I guess the racing and standing around this weekend also didn't help.