Training Log Archive: jennycas

Last swim of the year. Rather grumpy and not only because there were numerous unappealing middle aged men in 'my' lane. Also I didn't sleep well because of thinking about packing for NZ. Don't really feel like I have earned this holiday, both in terms of fitness and time at work since my last trips.

I talked Zara & Andrew K into coming to the SARRC trail run which started 7am at Scott Creek CP. Pretty much followed the outer rim of the park for a 12km loop then there was the option of an extra 4.5km up hill to the west. AK left us in his dust up the first big hill but Zara stuck to me at chatting pace and it was quite pleasant, being a cool morning and my legs not too fatigued. Ankle tape caused a few blisters and by 12 km back at the cars I thought about stopping but after a drink we went up the hill and then anticlockwise around that loop until we met the frontrunners, then headed back.

Had lovely breakfast afterwards swapping Christmas holiday stories with Zara and John but I am completely stuffed now because when George got home at 3am (he left Sydney yesterday morning) he went straight to sleep, but I didn't!

Yeah, finally did some proper O training. Of course, I know the course from 2004 like the back of my hand, this now being at least the 5th time I've been to some of the control sites, but this is one of my favourite forests and I'm still surprised at how we managed to get 3 distinct loops out of 1 sq km of pine trees. Had anti-inflammatories for dinner last night so knee was pretty good this morning, and the invisible cows had grazed anything which might entangle my feet, so it was a fairly smooth run. Loops: 21, 23, 25, but I think they got longer rather than me getting slower, although unco-ness did increase towards the end.

Followed by 8 hours of cleaning my grandfather's house with my parents, to get it ready for sale.

Legs were too hammered to run today so I rode instead. This was tough - into the easterly gully breeze and I hadn't pumped my tyres. Adductors really felt it!

Event: 2012 Christmas 5 Days
 

Dunno about this going to work business. I was deeply unproductive today, mainly because getting in at 10pm last night when Qantas doesn't give you dinner, only a 'muesli cookie', hadn't left me with much energy. I thought about not running but then I thought how it's a pleasant day here, unlike how it is in Perth, so maybe I should do a run on behalf of someone who lives in Perth. And in the end I went to Belair, even though nobody else was going to be there, because once having driven somewhere I was more likely to actually go for a run. It worked, although the first 20 min were incredibly sluggish and all the way up past the waterfalls I kept thinking "was this really necessary?" and even looking at my feet didn't stop me from tweaking an ankle. Went up to the tap at the top of the park and came back on the tracks alongside Saddle Hill Rd then the creek. Saw a beautiful full moon rising over Brown Hill as I drove back down. And rewarded myself with takeaway Thai, for which the dog begged (he likes chilli).

Here's what I won't be doing on the June long weekend: http://www.manlysoftsand.com/
42km up and down the same beach, urgh!

At Freshwater, north of Manly. The coastline is spectacular there (as it is anywhere in Sydney) with steep headlands interspersed by beaches, so I didn't exactly expect the course to be flat. Summer series has gone upmarket now and uses SI so you don't have to carry a pencil, although the controls are still flowerpots. And the weird thing is that you get the map when you register, so for a 45-minute score, there are people who spend nearly as long as this studying the map and planning their route in advance.

Not sure that pre-planning would have helped me as I didn't know my expected pace. Turned out I actually felt a lot better running than I'd anticipated, and was able to go sort of faster than I've done lately, which was nice. Although when it came to soft sand on the beaches I was almost running on the spot! Anyway, headed south up and over a hill, down past a lagoon to the north end of Manly Beach, north past some ocean baths, up and over a headland, down to the next beach, past some ocean baths, up and over a headland, by which time I was about level with the start and had about 15 min left but not having checked how far I got in the first 15 min couldn't really anticipate my remaining potential distance. So at about this time I actually started looking at what points the controls were worth. Foolishly got an extra 10 points on the beach when I should have turned inland, as I then didn't have time for 30 points in a school which I had to run straight past anyway (access was a bit complicated with gates locked for the holidays, and I never even thought about how if I had got that control I would still have been much less than 3 min late) and sprinted home with 11 seconds to spare.

410 points is pretty average, would have been happier with 430, could possibly have got around the northern controls quicker as that end of the map was less steep - but also less scenic. Was interested to hear people saying that running north up the beach was much more efficient than running south into the southerly!

Knees felt okay to my surprise so I thought I'd do a bit of a warmdown while waiting for Tracy to arrive, and went to some of the controls I'd left out earlier because they would be a steep climb from the beach. This time I actually sought out the steps and went both up and down them and legs didn't complain (so, now I have 5 days to train properly for NZ?).

After significant quantities of presents were opened by small (and large) people at Geoff's sister's where we are staying, and before lunch with Geoff's parents. Usual Red Hands Cave - Campfire Creek loop which I haven't done for over a year and which I was rather slower on today although the wet rocks and undergrowth accounted for some of this as I was very cautious where I put my feet. It wasn't raining when I went out, although it had done so all night. Just when I got to the top of the hill by the 'cave' the thunder started again and so I hurried as much as I could. Had nearly made it to the top of the climb up from the causeway when a big thunderclap caused the bottom to drop out of the sky. Is there a scientific explanation for this; how thunder makes it rain harder?

Rained all day also and when we thought we would like to find somewhere for coffee on the way home, there was absolutely nothing open in Penrith except Mc Donalds (not even the purveyors of fried chicken or an opposing burger chain) so that's where we had coffee, just like the locals.

Not a good knee day - too much sitting in car (and kayak) meant it had been getting more horrible over the last couple of days and so the only thing I made my knees do was walk up & down 500 steps at Jenolan Caves. Having never been there before, I didn't realise the caves are in such a deep valley, and winding roads on a hot day meant I didn't feel brilliant driving to/from. It was interesting to see where the Six Foot Track finishes, though - and having seen the surrounding topography, I am in awe of rather than inspired by the people who run it.

At a mystery location on the Cudgegong River. This hardly counts as exertion since there was a big strong bloke up the front of the kayak doing all the work and laughing at me for my confusion between steering with the paddles (opposite side from the direction you want to go) and steering with the pedals for the rudder (same side - me under my breath: "left is left, right is right"). I had intended to go for a run from this location, having enticed George here with the promise of interesting rock formations, but it turned out that a kayak hire company had just set up again and the owners are camping there all summer (there had been a kayak busines previously but it closed some years ago) so this was too good an opportunity to pass up.

We meandered around all the bends down to the weir then back the other way and into the reed-beds of this waterway's upper reaches. It really is a lovely spot! After lunch we hiked to the weir (who knew that the river was dammed in the 1920s to supply water to a cement works?) and admired the view from on top of some of the geological formations. After this I was hot & sweaty so swam in the dark murky waters which the tortoises don't seem to mind. The only thing which would have made this day even better was camping there rather than driving 2 hours each way. Now, can anyone who has read the clues carefully, tell me where it is that we actually went today...?

C • Guess 5

We made it to Ouyen last night - first leg of the Christmas drive to Syd-er-nee.While perusing the motel's guide to the town and looking at the restaurants' various misspellings (bain marree and snitzel being the usual ones I look for and I found) I noted from the map that it probably wouldn't take even half an hour to run around the town. It didn't, so I went along the ridgeline with the transmitter towers and found the hospital (some people look for weather stations, I look for hospitals) and then down the main street but thought better of having a vanilla slice for breakfast even though they are prizewinning.

Lunch in Hay, torrential thunderstorm at West Wyalong, accidental detour via Forbes & Orange but it gave me a chance to tell George all about the 5-days pre-JWOC 2007, when the Arrows had so much fun in the house with the bouncy carpet and Simon burnt the cake! A bit of confusion when we got to our B&B in Bathurst because the owner thought the people who had arrived at 4pm were us, and gave them our room, but it all got sorted in the end :)

Very sad that the emergency department at Repat Hospital has closed forever from today. I went to say goodbye to the doctors at lunchtime and it was already all in darkness. There are big signs on the gate saying NO EMERGENCY SERVICE. Does this mean we will only be getting Flinders transfers from now on? In other news, the implementation of EPAS (Electronic Patient Administration System) at Repat has been delayed by a couple of months, to nobody's surprise.

The slowest I've ever plodded up to Karka, I think. Then Simon/Robin headed back and from the playground Fern, Tyson, Andrew & I took the creek track below the tunnel and when Fern slipped on a patch of gravel she dislocated her knee so I ran back for the car (thankfully only about 5 min; I have no sprinting ability) and the guys carried her the 300m out to the road. Her knee had popped back into place by then but still seemed horribly painful :(

This counts as long because it just cracked over the 90 min but if I hadn't been so slow it wouldn't have. Actually quite a nice morning because of cloud cover, although it couldn't have been called cool. Legs were oh so weary and I had a couple of stretching stops before getting into Shepherds Hill. Was intending to do the Flinders Uni loop but really not sure whether I had it in me, then for some reason when I got to Eden Hills station I turned uphill to the east from there and followed various fire trails and singletracks around the eastern perimeter of the gullies in Watiparinga reserve until I got to the bottom of Gloucester. Enjoyed this because I knew that I had enough time to not need to hurry, then for good measure went down the steps to the quarry off Mead St, took the tunnel x over MTB track back to the top of Hillrise, and finished off through the cemetery. Knees did NOT like coming down Hillrise, and on some of the steeper/rougher uphills I struggled also, but there is a certain gradient where I feel okay both going up and down, so I should find more of these.

I often think that the hour spent riding up the creek is the best part of the day. This feeling was spoiled a little by a couple of traffic lights which failed to notice my existence for an extra cycle, and unexpectedly weary adductors, but still held true because I love my valley :) New banner over the entrance to the caravan park: Love It, Don't Dam It! So it doesn't look like the threat has gone away...

Attack of the Killer Physio
Headache had obviously been due to shoulder tightness, because it was better afterwards.

Was a bit warm when I got to Morialta and legs had definite physio hangover so when someone suggested "we could just go to the bottom of First Falls" that sounded fine to me. Return route included detour via Giant's Cave. Route home included 3 hours at a rather frustrating OSA council meeting (starting to wonder if OA board meetings wouldn't be worse? *washes mouth out with Pears' finest*).

Pleasant route through Hawthorndene and the pine forest & orchard with Fern, Tyson, Simon. Hopefully the summer weather in NZ will be about like this :) Still had no ability on the hills - it's not as though I need hill strength for NZ, right? (note sarcasm)

C • Probably not that much 2

To Mylor the short but rough way, back via Aldgate Valley rd and Aldgate, with F&T, B&S, Andrew, Lauren, Zara/Callum. Very tired still, only one dizzy spell, also only one gear. Difficult to believe that I have actually been attempting to train for NZ - as I'm just getting slower. Found a second wind at about an hour, strangely enough. And it was really nice weather and scenery.

A lot of Christmas present wrapping. A nice visit to Grandfather where we took him to Mt Barker Farmers' market. Also a couple of dizzy spells which I think are due to sheer tiredness (still haven't caught up from a 6am flight last Sat) and maybe salt/water imbalance after O last night.

C • Rest 3

Hmm, so shall we place bets on how long it will take for the 6 Foot Track entries to fill up tomorrow? I'm starting at: 8 minutes!

Goggles too tight and gave me a headache. Does that mean my head has swelled since last week?

Hawthorndene has more hills than Hackney. But that didn't really bother me - more concerning was my baseline lack of speed, although it improved marginally as I eventually warmed up. Headed south towards the pine forest first, and left out the 5 northernmost controls, the tradeoff being a steep climb complete with redundancy to get to the rail crossing by the Belair Hotel. Stopped to talk to Troy & Andrea so that's not included in the time.

A bit surprised by the time because I have never been this fast before but I did push hard (except when knee twinged) and was lucky with the lights.

Redwoods run - with Fern, Tyson, Zara/Callum, Lauren, Karl. Then up the singletrack (last of the forget-me-nots), past the dam, down Queen Jubilee Drive. I lagged behind a bit but it was still a pleasant run for the uphill part. As soon as we turned downhill my knee started to hurt, but it wasn't much worse at the bottom. Nice night for a run, anyway. And afterwards I went and finished off the last of my Christmas shopping! Niece & nephew get the battery powered Super Soakers while their father and uncle get the manual-pump ones, to make the battleground a level playing field :)

Still very low in energy and fatigued legs, although I didn't have to walk today, unlike Monday. Decided that the hills in the park would be too much effort, so turned back at Ayliffes Rd, therefore having done the boring suburbs without the reward of getting into Shepherds Hill. But I did find a new-season's windfall apricot, which was delicious. (Our apricot tree has ceased to fruit entirely, due to old age, possums, and possibly the alkalinity of the laundry water?)

Wish I had managed to get to Morialta last week when it was cooler. Even if I had been able to leave work on time, I only had enough energy for either running or chairing the Easter 2015 meeting, and I struggled with even that. Struggling to find a carnival coordinator, too :(

Short one before Wallaringa meeting. Wasn't quick though. Not sure if I even got up to fat-burning pace.

C • you burn more fat if you go... 9

Roch's pairs exercise. One map between the pair, first person navigates to a predefined 'square' then gives the map to other person who turns it over, works out where they are, navigates to a marked control and then on to the next 'square'. Good concept although control numbering was confusing and I prefer the version where the person with the map runs behind and verbally instructs the mapless person where to go. Anyway I was paired with Jenny Bourne and we tootled along at chatting pace except when I somehow thought we had gone SSE not SSW after crossing the track on a vague hillside and so proceeded to add a few extra contours and about 500m unnecessarily!

With a big group there's a lot of waiting around and so it was nearly midday before we started the next exercise. 3x 1-1.5km sections, mass start with splitting, regroup before each. My biggest problem was getting down into erosion gullies; knees didn't hurt but I don't quite trust them, and spikes would have been better than trail shoes (but can't be taken in carry-on luggage). Good fun though.

Stinking hot northerly but otherwise pleasant/sociable day in Melbourne (with George). Had intended to go for a run from Ross & Sue's once the cool change came through but by then it was cider o'clock.

Better than expected. But I do not understand how I can keep inhaling water even while breathing out. The chlorine makes me sneeze for the rest of the morning.

Jogged around the scatter which Sally had set quite trickily so that controls on opposite sides of the river were not so easily reached from each other. A couple of bad route choices and a couple of controls I overshot/couldn't see when I was standing on them. You know it's hot when if the description is a seat, you feel like sitting down at it! Would have expected to do about 30 with a clean run on a cooler day.

Trotted across to the adventure playground to stretch and then gave 12 x approx 100m a go, on soft grass trending uphill. Most were about 26 sec. It was still rather warm and I achieved lightheadedness pretty quickly!

Losts of stops in this but it added up to a decent amount: warmup to/from playground plus recoveries between intervals. Trainline-steps loop with Zara/Callum, Fern & Tyson, Lauren (who we broke - or rather, mountain biking earlier in the day had taken it out of her). Then ran Zara home across the golf course. That last hill nearly did me in.

Legs handled this okay, if slowly, but knees really stiffened up overnight. There is clearly a limit to the amount of time I can spend running on them, so it's probably a good thing that I can't be part of Fern's long run this weekend (we'll be in Melbourne...mmm coffee!).

Good for the soul - not that it needed soothing but it's always nice to get out in the 'countryside' and produce some endorphins. Got to the far end of the creek a couple min faster than I have been doing lately.

Had intended to go to Morialta but a late influx of patients put paid to that. Probably not a bad thing as knees had been tight.

Only had time for the shortest loop in the park so kept a steady pace, and was fairly happy with the time although it's hard to believe that I once (possibly only once?) did 44 for this loop. Knees a bit uncomfortable but at least they were okay on the weekend. Looking back at my log over the last 6 months the obvious conclusion to draw is that the Aust Champs rogaine wasn't good for them :(

Blair's broken, and Lachlan doesn't train :) so from the Trewins' place in Aranda where we were staying I set out by myself in the direction of Mt Painter which I hadn't known existed until I read about it on Craney's log a while back. Didn't take long to get to the top, and the 360-degree views over all of Canberra and the Brindabellas were amazing (yes, I know that word is overused). Impressive was the length of the shadow cast at that hour by the tower on Black Mountain. I did a lap of Aranda bushland on the way back and found a nasty hill.

Came home from OA conference feeling less pessimistic than I often do but a little daunted by the challenges ahead.

Look! There's blue on my log! This was the event set for OA conference participants, and it wasn't rocket science, but still quite enjoyable and did require concentration through the network of MTB tracks. I went cross-country where I could, and chugged along okay, although when Grant flashed by me it emphasised how much terrain fitness I have lost.