Training Log Archive: jennycas

Nice. Less stiff afterwards.

It rained all night, and probably on Jim putting out controls, but had stopped by the time we were warming up. Still felt like 100% humidity and I came back and exchanged tights for O pants before starting because I was too hot already. 2-loop race, mass start, and out of the blocks everyone was heading up the hill way in front of me. By the end of the first (1.7km) loop I was resigned to being on my own and when I saw the length of the second loop there was a quiet sigh as I ran up the hill on my own again.

Turned out not to be that bad, even though I did something dumb leaving the 3rd control and ended up approaching 4 from across the creek below, rathrer than down the spur above, which meant I saw Bridget and Vanessa heading out of it in the direction I was approaching from. Pushed it up the next couple of hills (ankle does ups better than downs) and passed Bridget somewhere after 6 on the long leg to 7 where I could still see V's Aust top in the distance and then got excited when I could see Tracy even further in the distance. I was a bit high on my approach into 7, then overcorrected and although I ticked off the gullies I ended up slightly too far right and because I could hear traffic on the road I panicked and thought I must have overshot it - which I had but only by 100m.

No sign of any other girls now, down into the creek and along to 9 which was a depression among pitted ground, I thought I saw the twin mineshafts which would mean I'd overshot it and so I turned back, Bridget came along and did the same thing, I went on further but then I saw the cliffs in the creek which would mean I'd overshot it and so I turned back, but it was just that the creek had washed out deeper in the recent rains, so I went on again, found it shortly after. (The lesson there was to come along the opposite side of the creek where there was only one erosion gully, to use as an attack point.)

After 11 I didn't see anyone else I knew to be on my course, had to make myself keep running, especially up hills, through wet bushes and through 48 million spider webs all of which clung to me and my glasses, which I had to wipe on my Arrows top at least 4 times. On the longish leg to 14 I thought I ended up a bit low but this actually meant less up and down and a good attack point at the end of the leg. Was getting a bit wobbly on rocky ground by then but in general ankle held up really well and I am happy with the shoes and with having remembered how to race. Could have probably been 2-3 min cleaner on navigation all up and would like to run 2-3 min faster (still, I was 8 min behind Kathryn in the last long race I did which was Vic champs, and 8 min behind today - although I doubt she was running her hardest - so I was fairly well satisfied).

Saved my warmdown for going geocaching at Kooyoora while the others went rock scrambling around Melville Caves. Having found the cache at the top lookout I then thought I'd almost have time for another which turned out to be 1km away in a straight line, but I had to follow the walking track down through the rocks then south on the walking track from the bottom picnic area. So I kind of had to run, and displaced a few more spiders in the process. Only one came along for the ride :)

This was the middle distance course which John set for us back in March and he got as far as putting out the tapes then but it was so wet that we bailed on it and went to the Pancake Kitchen instead. Today, once we had found a driveable way across the creek to get to the start from Slaty Creek campground (nobody wanted to warm up/down 1.5km each way), we enjoyed a good fun technical challenge. I took off first figuring that my ankle and I would be slow on all the descents into any erosion gullies, and so it proved; I bum-slid stuff I'd normally jump, and didn't enjoy the mullock heaps, but only real error was that I wombled around a bit in the Pit of Despair between 7 and 8 which was a leg that didn't have a "run around the erosions" option. When I did run around, I felt that I was running hard enough to justify ice cream in Daylesford afterwards (still not sure about ginger ice cream, but it went down okay accompanied by ginger beer).

BendiGo ToDay sprint. I decided not to warm up and was surprised by being able to maintain the pace I started off at. Figured out within 3 sec that the track options were the only options (although it took longer to realise that what were drawn as big and little tracks were often the same width on the ground), then got out on to the golf course where it was more open, and realised I was chasing down Clare Hawthorne. A couple of controls later, Clare was chasing me instead, and we both nearly overshot 10 on the thicket, then I slowed down slightly on a couple of controls with a bit of bush bashing, but was fairly happy with my run - although I'd like to ask Bridget where she found that minute she took out of me. (I guess it only needed her being an average of 4 sec/control faster.)

Extract of report from Geoff's Workcover occupational therapist/caseworker: "Mr Jurd should continue to ensure that he accesses and egresses the truck in the correct manner."

Not sure whether I am delighted or horrified to see the word egress actually used in a sentence. This reminds me of the story about Barnum's Circus, which was getting rather crowded, so Barnum made a sign: "To the Egress" and all the people who went that way expecting to see a new and exotic animal found that they had, in fact, just left by the exit!

Oh yeah, and apparently Geoff is back to driving trucks again. Wonder when he was planning on telling me this?

C • Egress 6

Thought about doing fartlek 'cos I have done nothing fast lately, but decided it was better to allow plenty of time for stretching before 8am hospice meeting. Post-physio damage not as bad as it sometimes is. Ankle only twinged when stepping on gumnuts (and grass, and any other uneven surface).

Attack of the Killer Physio

Kath: "Congratulations, I didn't think you had any ligaments left to tear in your ankle, but you've managed to find one!"
Me: "Neither did I, but I was sadly mistaken..."

She listened to my self-diagnosis today and attacked the region of my groin that I'd only trust a physio I've known for 13 years to get their thumbs stuck into. I now know what a psoas muscle is, it's the bit that goes OW!

C • What is it with the psoas muscle this week? 3

The others ran off up the creek and I waited for Zara, then rode to the redwoods alongside her & Lauren, picked blackberries, and rode around a bit more on the way back. Ankle is even puffier after physio than it was before. Doesn't stop me from looking forward to a road trip though.

So, Adrian set us a couple of sort of sprinty courses in Belair. Rare for me to say I wasn't looking forward to orienteering - I think I had been watching too much earthquake footage, and my ankle was bothersome even during the warmup, and then at the first control I stood for what seemed like about 2 minutes (but probably wasn't) looking for a cliff which was rather like a chameleon, blending into the landscape. 1.6km seemed a very long way tonight.

This was a bit better - less contours and therefore less slippery grass, but I treated it as a bearing exercise mainly. Am thinking of maybe not running between now and the weekend. Ankle puffed up significantly just after yesterday's run.

I parked at the Uppills' and ran to/from the park. The Uppills drove.

When I was riding yesterday I thought about how I hadn't run this way for a while, and was getting kind of overdue for a long run, and since this doesn't have hills it could almost count as a recovery. So I set forth under cover of darkness on a cool cloudy morning, perfect for a long run up the valley. Legs didn't feel too bad (although me, myself and I were all pretty tired) until at the 70 min mark neuroma kicked in and then at about 80 min hamstrings were really fatigued - which may be a product of these shoes; I feel like I am runing quite flat-footedly in them. Anyway, there is some water trickling after Friday's rains, and water across the ford at Tilleys Hill Road probably because of permanent springs near there, and I hope they never dam my valley, because it's beautiful. The little firetailed (red-browed) finches were out flitting around in the acacia paradoxa. I forgot to mention yesterday that there was a cloud of about 2 dozen hovering in one spot and as I rode nearer the cloud broke up and flitted off in all directions.

I seem to recall telling people at the course planning workshop yesterday that a control is just a means to end a leg, or something like that (not my personal opinion, I was quoting from the guidelines).

Today's controls were more than just that. Simon enlarged Pewsey Vale to 1:5000 and inserted 25 leg-enders into his 2.4km course, meaning that we were looking for a tape every 100m on average. A goodly crew participated in this exercise (Robin, Adrian, Simon, Bridget, Fern, Tyson, Lauren, John, Luke & me), and 40% of us got misplaced, simultaneously, in a clearing on a hillside about 300m SW of where we needed to be. And this was a leg where I had ignored my bearing and said to myself "I'll just see where I pop out into the clearing when I cross the spur!" The penalty for this laziness was a good 5 min :(

What I noticed was that I often went around a clump of brush and rock while Adrian bashed directly over it, but he would still come in to the control before me. I was being a bit tentative and protective of my ankle in the new shoes, but they were pretty good (while I would still prefer spikes if the granite was wet, these were more comfortable).

I found the second course easier physically and kept to my bearing better; can't say I lost much time. Was hungry when I started, so was pleased to maintain concentration, and pretty stuffed at the end. Not as stuffed as Robin, though, who lay down on the ground when she finished and didn't want to get up again - she had first put out one set of tapes and then run both courses!

Birdwood Bakery afterwards was a good way to finish off a great morning (I also enjoyed the drive to/from, I like those rolling golden Barossa hills north of Mt Crawford) and we sorted out our plans for next weekend's Bendigo road trip.

Was feeling flat (yet again) late afternoon so ate some chocolate but that was too sweet so I thought a ride might fix both the sads and the sugariness. It seemed to.

Before the course planning workshop which Robin, Adrian & I organised, and to which 15 people came, so it was a success. Seemed like everyone got some benefit out of it and I definitely enjoyed myself. (Nerd!)

C • Thanks 1

To try out a new pair of Asics 2160. They definitely felt bouncier and more responsive/flexible than the last couple of models in the 2100 series, which I have found too rigid. Next will be to try their cushioning out on rough trails and see how my shins hold up, but I am tentatively leaning towards agreeing with the R4YL reviewer who suggested that people may want to buy 2 pairs of these.

Winter Series! Well, it was wet enough...and all the creeks were flowing. I had taped my ankle and still managed to wrench it just by stepping in a patch of sogginess before the 2nd control. By the time I had got the ones in Blackwood High my control card was in sodden shreds so for the rest through Craigburn Farm (some of which was actually new to me, having been built since the previous edition of the map) I just touched the punch, gaining 5 sec on Andrew McComb each time according to him (he had a control card bag so his survived) although I often lost a couple of sec having to guess what the control would be attached to!

Okay, so it was actually 6:30, but AP doesn't do half-hours. Slightly odd to be swimming under lights (and to see all the arms flashing in and out of the water sort of like a production line because the pool is much busier an hour earlier). Sunrise is already 6:50 here and will eventually be as late as 7:30 before daylight saving goes back in 6 weeks' time. Yes, that's right, later than in mid-winter...

I escaped from an afternoon meeting in town early enough to first take my bike for a ride in search of blackberries, and I was successful :) Doesn't take long to pick a couple of litres!

As stated by everyone else already, we ran the usual loop but we ran it widdershins. "The usual loop" being the reverse of: Long Gully -> steps -> Jubilee Drive -> Lower Waterfall -> lake. (So, which way did we actually go?) And "we" being Fern, Tyson, Steve, Aidan, Bridget, Simon, John, Lauren (poor love - can't take a trick lately, having had her car broken into yesterday) plus me. Groin/hamstring was really good. Ankle was really bad despite taping (didn't help that I rolled it on a crack in the pavement earlier today). Ice and compression bandage when I got home (sigh).

Woke up with an emotional hangover from yesterday - but ingestion of a banana, walking of my favourite puppy, and a ride up the creek all aided in lifting the cloud by the time I needed to be functional. Was pretty stuffed though, at one point going so slowly that I actually checked to see whether I had a puncture (I didn't).

C • puncture 6

Met Fern at the car park on Ayliffes Rd (she had run down the hill) and we followed the creek up to the train line, the train line to the station, and then down the creek which has the waterfalls in winter. Dodgy ankle, which has been twinging more lately, really twinged on the greymetal gravel along the line but hamstring/groin is gradually on the improve, aided by rolling on the spiky peanut (and a situps moratorium).

Hmmm...the least frustrating part of this day was the Orienteering SA council meeting so that tells you what the rest of it was like. By far the most painful part was managing to argue with the boss in staff meeting, which may possibly have consequences, but a close second was being called by security at 7:20am when I was on my way to the pool (in my bathers) to say that someone had accessed the pharmacy department and now an alarm was going off (a staff member who didn't know about turning the alarm off - grr)...so I never did get my swim, and I never made it to running in the evening either because I had spent all afternoon at a meeting into which I had precisely 5 minutes' input, right at the end, and so I still had to see my patients on the ward after that, before going to council meeting. But I did see an excellent shooting star on the way home.

C • Did you make a wish? 2

Feom Fern & Tyson's, with them plus Simon & Troy, down to Eden Hills station, up over Shepherds Hill Rd, down to the rim of the gorge then up across the train line to the fire station. I envy people whose legs don't hurt on hills.

Shepherds Hill - Eden Hills - Bellevue Heights - Flinders Uni and home. I went to bed early last night but the dog decided that if he couldn't sleep, then neither could anyone else and so it was necessary to get up and yell at him three times in the night and so then I didn't surface until 8am, whereupon I read the Sunday tabloid over tea & toast & marmalade before setting out!

Apart from being really out of breath (I've been eating such random foodstuffs lately that sources of iron haven't featured enough) I felt all right; it was a cool breezy morning with more bounce in my step than I've had for some weeks. The stairs through the uni started to cause hamstring fatigue, and I would have stopped for a drink at the horse paddocks except that there was an equestrian event going on there (and I am NOT a horsey person, but there were some beautiful specimens on display) and then when I crossed Ayliffes Rd I was on 61:30 so I really put the effort in and made it home from there in just over 11 min. Extended my stride off a kerb to play chicken with a car and was reminded sharply that hamstring and groin twinges are inextricably connected, which is both good and bad. At least I have some idea of how this may be fixable. Oh, and it turned out I ran 2 min faster than ever before for this loop - go figure!

I was still feeling good in the evening (must have been that I finally got some serotonin from eating my first banana for a week) so went for a ride. Little bike, I've missed you...or at least, the feeling of going "wheee" past the caravan park - where the smell of incense must surely have emanated from the Wicked Campers van. When I came home I made myself a superlative gin & tonic to drink as an accompaniment to curry for dinner :)

Some days you're 103% stuffed and this was one of them. My brief window of energy was used up on dogwalking before I went to work and even though work was only a half-day, I wasn't really functional in the afternoon and despite a nap, didn't make it to John's 30th. (I kind of knew last night that I was tired when, driving home down Payneham Rd, I suddenly had a brief moment of "Where the hell am I - what road am I on?" but then going straight to bed when I got home was thwarted by being called at 11pm to supply some antibiotics.)

My back has been so stiff and aching in the night lately that I expected this to be unpleasant but apart from a sore neck I felt okay. And it started raining on the pool, and now it's still raining on my garden, and on the dog who I also managed to walk this morning - and I still made it to work in time for an 8am meeting in hospice which turned out to be really productive, so I feel pretty good right now and I wish it was possible to capture that feeling!

Conveniently, a 1:7500 map means a fairly short scatter course (although John had to go disproportionately further along the river to get his 2 extra controls) and apart from running the wrong way out of the start I didn't really have any trouble with this. I did have trouble with cramping in my groin halfway round which briefly caused me to walk (must be the way I've been sitting at work; new office chair can't come soon enough) but once that eased off I was quite fast at the end.

Paid a social call on Kay afterwards and she fed me dinner :)

Oh, this was bad. Really bad. Either I was passing through a patch of slow-time on each ascent or there is something seriously problematic with my weak and feeble legs. And groin, which is tender on both sides and definitely connected to the hamstring(s). I reckon I've mentioned this a month ago but am still no closer to solving it.
3:16
3:10
3:14
3:18
3:27 (could have walked faster up the steepest bit)
Sigh...

warmup 22:08 across to the park
warmdown 21:03 to home
downhill recoveries 10:54
See, none of this felt particularly bad, apart from being fairly tired, so why do I have nine-tenths-of-bugger-all ability to push off on hills?

Basic diplomacy 101 (revisited)

It's possibly not a good idea, when giving lectures on pain management, to state one's negative opinion about a particular drug company which is aggressive, to say the least, in its marketing of analgesic products, when part of that marketing strategy includes sponsoring the workshop at which you're lecturing...

I should have remembered this from last year!

C • At least 7

Didn't notice my hamstring till afterwards and was even able to push off from the wall without twinges. A beautiful morning for it but I am really struggling with waking up on any mornings this week.

Colonel Light Gardens loop on a balmy evening after writing lectures for tomorrow (blecchh) and before the pizza delivery arrived :) Halfway through I felt okay so decided to stride out a bit whereupon my core muscles protested but I somehow knocked 20 sec off my previous best time, which was a surprise since it was dark by then. Lying on the spiky peanut in bed last night must have done something beneficial to my legs! (Imagine an ITB roller crossed with a hedgehog. I can't use it while stretching on the lounge room floor because the dog assumes it's a chew toy for him.)

Lesson in dress sense no.1: What remains of a "kangaroos and contours" t-shirt should not be worn in public, not even for dogwalking, because you may then encounter the medical specialist you work with, on his way to the hospital. (Does anyone remember which year these were originally sold as a JWOC fundraiser - Kay?)

John set 3 short courses on Wadmore Park and we started at 20-sec intervals. Robin, Adrian & I turned up wearing O-pants because we know what the prickly acacia is like around there! This didn't stop my brand-new running shirt from getting trashed, and neither did having yesterday off prevent my hamstring from being trashed, but I ran hard and it was fun.

Course A, 0.8km 5.39
Course B, 0.9km 6.03
Course C, 1.1km 6.37

The last course was faster & more open but this led to a 45-degree error where I crossed the first track at the wrong angle and then the second track I crossed was actually the wrong one and I took a while to work out which crossroads I then found. Variations on this error were made by others on this leg; I guess I lost about 30-40 sec.

warmup 16 min
warmdown 18 min including control collecting

Lesson in dress sense no 2: Don't wear pink undies under pinhole 'fancy pants'...especially not when there is an entire footy team training on the oval!

C • conclusion 3

Well, either this will have worked or it will have won't. I carbo-loaded anyway because we took John out for Nepalese for his 30th.

Met Fern, Tyson, Bridget, John at Lucky Hit on what was a perfect (almost-autumnal) morning for starting proper orienteering training. (My car had claimed that it was 5 degrees coming through the Onkaparinga Valley which I'm prepared to believe, but home and Birdwood were more like 13.) With 3 maps and one compass (mine) between us we took a little while to relocate each other at times, but the regrouping stops were beneficial because it meant being able to run harder when we did. Funniest moment was Fern & Bridget almost getting bowled over by a wallaby which shot out from under John's feet. A russet fox, and lots of kangaroos (none of them as big as the ol' man roo Steve & I saw yesterday) were also sighted. Towards the end my bad ankle started really twinging on the downhills. It's done this a bit on runs lately and I think that will probably be a limiting factor in my ability to race a few days in a row this season.

With Steve Cooper from Steve & Maya's at Stirling East down to Woodhouse, all the way UP Gully Rd to Carey Gully down into Mt George, back UP Old Mt Barker Rd. Much as I enjoy running with Steve, neither breakfast or Panadol beforehand could make this run feel good. I struggled on the hills in particular and on the last one he had to come back for me. Am noticing that my back and shoulders are pretty tight as well as my being generally a bit stuffed. Can anyone say rest day? But not tomorrow because we are terrain running at Lucky Hit which will be fun.

C • bike 2

Kidman Park was advertised as a 'new' street map but I remember orienteering there (near the sports institute) not so long ago...admittedly the most recent event I can definitely date was in 1996. Anyway, it's flat around there, which I was happy with, and I scatter-O-ed for 15 controls, the first few of which were obviously on the short course because they linked together beautifully and the remainder of which were mostly on the north side of the Torrens.

Not sure how hard I managed to run, but it definitely felt hard running. Only dumb thing I did was continuing 100m past a road junction which I had intended to turn down, then having to backtrack. I think I was in oxygen debt by then, despite going at such a pedestrian pace that Harry Waterhouse zoomed past like I was standing still. Guess he's not injured any more.

For once my brain was unfoggy enough that I was actually looking forward to a swim. My legs weren't so sure about this but I showed them who's boss! Am at a loss to know what to do about hamstrings though. A spot which feels like it's almost torn, on stretching, can't be located on any sort of poking and prodding. Maybe I just ignore it?

Along the creek to the redwoods. Fern, John, Lauren, Zara & Steve went up & over the hill from there. Tyson & I did not. I'm saving my legs for summer series.

I expected this to be hard work but it could have been worse. Distance about the same as 6 weeks ago. Having done a quick trawl back through the 'diary' to find that run, I'm noting that whinges about hamstring (the right is more troublesome) are a recurrent theme. Either I'm a whinger, or my ITBs have found new ways to torment me - because knees have been okay (touch MDF because that's what my desk is made of rather than actual wood).

Attack of the Killer Physio

Kath thinks all the hamstring pain is coming from my back. I'm not entirely convinced, since she found somewhere tight in my adductors which had me wanting to make a break for freedom, except that she had me firmly held by one leg.

The bush course first. I was okay on tracks but tentative off them since my ankle tape had come loose already (legs too greasy from physio assault disguised as massage). Got attacked by a tree while trying to avoid stepping in barbed wire so there was blood and sympathy. Wish I could wave a magic wand to make myself run fast again, but I guess the alternative is to put in some hard work.

The course around the school was next. Felt a bit smoother running this, having finally warmed up, but I should remember to take my glasses (rather than my compass which I've finally unearthed, it having been in hiding since the OA conference) and to read the control descriptions so that I don't get told off by Simon for having gone to the inside not outside corner of an impassable fence - whoops.

20 min warmup including runthroughs
20 min warmdown chatting with Lauren - it was nice to catch up.
Now to stretch lots and then some. My plan is to try not to do too much in the way of long runs and replace them with faster stuff. We'll see how long that lasts...