Training Log Archive: jennycas

Some months ago Tracy gave me the map from the Jan 20th event but it was pouring rain on the day I had hoped to run the sprint course. Today was perfect weather, but the university was teeming with prospective students because it was open day, also with police - because of prospective demonstrations? So I was slowed down somewhat by pedestrians, but managed not to take any out. Almost got taken out by more than one balloon, though!

To/from the uni while Geoff was hanging out in Gleebooks, before we headed out to Penrith. The whole point of the weekend was of course to see his dad who is now out of intensive care and devoid of any attached tubes, so that's a start.

Could not make myself go fast to save myself. Very stiff through the mid-and-tail sections. Towards the end legs were turning over a little faster but tailbone still painful. Don't even notice this when I'm walking, but it wasn't happy running last night either.
1 side (51), 2 sides (2:16), 3 sides (3:10), 2 sides (2:10), 1 side (51), 1 side (1:11)

Trotted across to the park, staggered home. At least I felt better-oxygenated afterwards. And the weather should be nice in Sydney this weekend.

Redwoods, up & over the hill, back along the creek with F&T and Zara/Callum.

Plan was for a long run since it's getting light significantly earlier now but sadly I had no energy whatsoever from the outset. So it turned into a pleasant springtime plod up to the bottom of Gloucester and down through the quarries. Not sure that I'm going to manage adequate nationals-quality training, somehow.

Had fully intended to go to North Adelaide but got a better offer and so had dinner with Katebump.

Down through the forest to Frank Smith Park and back with F&T, B&S, Troy. We found an unexpectedly squelchy patch along the way. Good to hear about the success of the Arrows' relays at St Peter's College. (Sounds like there were quite a few mispunches though.)

Spent the morning on Twigham, which is possibly my favourite of the 3 O-maps in the vicinity. While parents taped off the old silver mine shafts (apparently 300 feet deep, and Andy has been down them) Zara & I each did a loop down into the valleys and back up to the escarpment. There are some really subtle contours at 1:50 000, which I think people will struggle with at night. We now have a sense of achievement because only 2 controls (on roads, so not going out until the last minute) are left to put out!

Got back from Burra with enough daylight left to do a loop in the park. The smell of wattle was everywhere from the blossoming prickly acacias. I felt better than I had on any run in the last week (which isn't saying much as I only ran twice) but tweaked my tail getting through the fence and it was uncomfortable on the way home. Generally I don't notice it when sitting, standing and even running, it's just a bit achy, and when jarred, then downright uncomfortable.

C • Run 5

Spent the day putting out rogaine controls with parents & Zara. We each did a loop on Ulooloo in the morning then Z ran across Merridee and was to meet me at Bri Glen Springs while I drove around, putting out a few of the controls which are along the road which intersects the map. I figured I'd be faster in the car than she would be on foot and so had agreed to backtrack from the springs until I found her, which took a little longer than either of us had anticipated. But this didn't matter because it was a beautiful afternoon in God's Country. There are trickles and pools of water at more than one spring along the main creek, lots and lots of roos (and feral goats*) and absolutely magnificent views.

*I'm a little worried because none of us is particularly statuesque and so the controls have all been hung comparatively close to the ground, and might be considered low-hanging fruit by a hungry/bored goat!

Fern, Greg, Simon, John, Zara & I squelched our way up to the redwoods and back. Creek was flowing as much as I've ever seen it and I went back past the railway dam to see it overflowing; that track was too wet for the others. Still a bit stiff & sore in my tailbone section but it should be fine for rogaine control-hanging this weekend. Arrows relay map-bagging party after at F&T's. A bit sad that I won't be able to help with relays for once!

It's one thing for me to laugh at the dog skating on the mossy concrete while we are playing soccer in the back yard, but was entirely another matter when my feet slid out from under me and I landed on my backside with a teeth-clicking thump :(

So that put paid to the idea of a run along the Torrens after a meeting in the city this afternoon. As it turned out, rain was pissing down well before 5pm, and I walked up and down King William St for over half an hour looking for the W91 (Winston Ave bus) bus stop, eventually made it all the way over to the market and still no sign of such a bus so I rang George who informed me that it now goes Currie/Morphett Sts! Since when? But I also didn't realise that it now goes all the way down Morphett St and then Greenhill Rd (never heard of a bus doing that) and so when I waited for it in Sturt St, where it always used to go, it never came there either, so after getting fairly wet I gave up and caught a Goodwood Rd bus, once one finally came which wasn't an express to beyond Repat. And they wonder why people don't catch public transport in Adelaide...

Before OSA council meeting. Not too stiff but still pretty slow.

I daresay I could have gone for a stagger, but was perfectly content not to. Anyway, it was rather cold outside, as we all found out when the entire hospital's alarm system chose to malfunction and numerous departments figured they'd better obey the word "evacuate" (I was sure the alarm was spurious)...I don't think the patients were evacuated though!

Day drive up to Burra with Geoff to drink tea with landowners and confirm water drop sites and crops to be avoided on our rogaine next month. As the day wore on, climbing in and out of the ute became more painful (it's mainly my quads/ITB; seems that my knees are now strong enough that I no longer have to brace with my butt muscles on steep descents). Most strenuous exercise was walking about 1km to tag a control site, but we did a bit of 4WDing. After Andy Thomas had complained about people 4WDing illegally on his land we asked him if there was anywhere we weren't allowed to go and he said no. So we took him at his word...and for a little while we didn't worry about Geoff's dad.

Well, the daftest thing I did today was to gatecrash Fern & Zara's rogaine team - thanks girls (I didn't seem to be really needed for admin anyway) and the smartest thing I did was to wear my trail shoes.

The HH site was perched on a narrow windswept ridgeline, as all the ridges in Montacute Conservation Park, headwaters of Kangaroo Creek reservoir, seem to be. And there had been about an inch of rain overnight, but it had cleared by the time the event started, leaving creeks flowing and tracks slippery. We did a big loop to the SW, following down a narrow ridgeline with spectacular views, then UP from Valley Rd (where Lachlan's parents live; I can see why he & Zebedy couldn't get to school when the creek was flooded) and along the next ridgeline to the north, above Kangaroo Creek. The top 3 teams all did this loop but varied what they did next. Fern & I were flagging on the hills - I had neither trained nor carbo-loaded for this and she had only her runners, so very poor footing - and at 4 hours we were still some way short of where we had thought we might be, but stuck to the planned down and UP to Mt Misery trig then along the northern boundary. With an hour to go and no obviously efficient route back we were debating whether to get 46 or 35 and I was sure we could manage both, but apparently I didn't decide this in a very democratic fashion! We did it, though, and hurried back in, finishing with about 8 min to spare but no other controls we could have got unless we had 20+ min.

In the end we were 3rd on 1710, only 10 points behind Steve Sullivan & Bruce Greenhalgh who obviously didn't suffer from being without their mountain bikes. The winning team, in the 1800s (1860?) included David Talbot & Morgan Coull, both of whom will be doing XPD in the Flinders next month.

C • Shoes 4

Nice sunny morning (unlike the rest of the day) and I saw a white-faced heron along the creek. I definitely think that knee tightness is worsened by riding, and since I've finally got rid of the tendonopathy, am not in a hurry to exacerbate this again.

Just over to Mitcham & back. When I was in Melbourne I drove past the Melbourne Bicycle Centre and thought about going in and asking them to sell me a replacement for my broken pedal. But now that I have apparently passed the exam I can make good on my promise to buy myself an MTB.

Up QJD to the fire tower and down through Echo Tunnel with F&T & Greg. My stomach muscles hurt because I had spent the last half-hour of daylight bracing with them to pull weeds. Need to do some more core stuff.

Had hill reps in mind but it started pouring as I reached the park and after one ascent (3:13) I decided it was too slippery, and I was too slow, so did a sort of Three-Hills loop. Pleased that lately my knees haven't been hurting on steep descents.

Frustrated by the crack in my heel not improving as I'd like, and by lots of work-related minor issues. Will be very glad when the rogaine is over (Sept 14th, no longer election day) and I can focus on other things.

Ran up to Tyson's fairly efficiently apart from an accidental redundancy in Glenalta, then down to the pine forest and back with him & Troy. Felt reasonably strong on the hills which was good - but got hungry by the time George came to collect me, and was ready for a nap (5am start to fly back from Melbourne) by the time we got dinner at the Duck Inn.

Fairfield pipe bridge, bats, Studley Park boathouse suspension bridge, Dight's Falls, back up Merri Creek to Heidelberg Rd. Lovely afternoon for it. Stuck to singletracks as much as possible and knees were grateful. I don't think conference-sitting is good for them. But it's been a good weekend because I've been able to soak up information passively - rather than having to worry about all the things I need to do (that's for Monday).

There was cheese & wine on offer post-conference but I figured I could get that at Ross & Sue's :) and so went for a run to use up the remaining daylight of what appeared to have been a pretty nice Melbourne day if only I hadn't spent most of it indoors.
From Carlton Gardens up Nicholson St to the Capital City trail, across to Princes Park, back through the uni. Pushed the pace to fit this in before dark, and it was fun although knees protested against the pavement. Main route choice error was that you can't run through the most intensely-restauranted part of Lygon St. I do like Melbourne. There are so many more shops and cafes and corner stores than in Adelaide, even allowing for the larger population. And it just feels like an older city.

I'd say TGIF, but this only emphasises how many of the things I needed to get done at work this week I didn't manage to do. Felt better after going for a run rather than staying back to do some of these things, but reckon I'd need to run an ultramarathon in order to clear my head enough to sleep soundly. Mind you, after struggling to get back to sleep when Geoff got up at 3am, I then eventually slept through my alarm this morning! Had better not do that tomorrow.

Still didn't have much energy, so turned back at the train line. Work is really taking it out of me lately. Hope I actually remember that I need to fly to Melbourne on Sat morning! (for a conference)

Disastrous Moneghetti fartlek. My legs just wouldn't go fast (except when the cat came after me*), and the floats were more like sinks. When I finished a sudden lightheaded moment meant it was prudent to pre-emptively lie on the pavement rather than passing out from standing height.
*Something brown and furry came snarling at me out of an alleyway. I thought it was a dog intending to gnaw my ankles off, so jumped about 3 feet in the air, but it was actually a cat fluffed up to full defensive size and equally as startled as I was!

Plodded home. Maybe I need more iron? Or better quality sleep. I can't get rid of the feeling all the time lately that I have had an argument with someone, even though I haven't!

Didn't leave work in time to fit in a run before 2014 programme meeting - but anyway I have a painfully cracked heel from getting my feet wet once too often :(

Attack of the Killer Physio
I definitely notice that orienteering messes more with my knees than plain running does.

With F&T, B&S. We found some slippery bits. Afterwards I dropped in on Zara and got to see the World Rogaine Champs bedsheet.

Left home at 9am, got home at 6pm. This is why I don't go orienteering - it takes up ALL DAY (admittedly time included picking up/dropping off parents, and going to see grandfather after O, but still...)

Not rocket science, but pleasant enough. I enjoyed the squelchiness underfoot but wasn't moving too fast (legs tired from yesterday but also I'm out of practice in terrain), and sometimes switched off from map reading and was surprised to see a track. Some end-of-leg veering and some control circle lucky finds - it's hard not to make point features in a pine forest bingo-ish.

When it stopped raining I went out. Didn't even bother trying to keep my feet dry in Shepherds Hill; the first creek crossing was knee deep and flowing fast and I knew there were at least 2 more. The 4th one looked too hairy so rather than taking that singletrack I ended up scrambling up the hill straight above the train tunnel. It was foggy when I got to Gloucester and then began to pour so I took the steps down from Mead St very carefully, admiring some impromptu waterfalls I hadn't seen before below the quarry. The daylight lasted longer than I expected though, so I took quite a few MTB singletracks figuring that no bikes would be on them at this time of this day, and then explored the streets below the train line quite a bit to remind myself which streets branching off which spur actually cross over which gully.

Trotted over to Mortlock Park and did 3 laps of 1 side fast, 1 side slow, then home again in time to stick self under shower and get to Nth Adelaide for a 6:30pm dinner meeting. Legs still hammered from Tues - reckon I need new shoes but there's still an awful lot of winter left to get them muddy during.

C • Hi Jenny 3