Training Log Archive: jennycas

The sun gets up much earlier on Mt Lofty than it does at home (because there Mt Lofty is in the way) and the view to the east was magnificent, with wisps of fog overlaying the Onkaparinga Valley. The first 20 minutes of the run was downhill all the way via Crafers into Piccadilly Valley and then Sprigg Rd starts going gently up and then Gore Rd goes steeply up, to the saddle between Mts Lofty and Bonython. I found a fire trail which skirted the east side of the summit so dodn't go right to the top.

Enormous and varied buffet breakfast is probably the highlight of Mt Lofty House which is otherwise looking a bit shabby (and we were by no means the least upmarket of the clientele at breakfast) but I couldn't quite do justice to it because of needing to be back in time for work. Still, a nice 'mini-break', as the Poms say.

Attack of the Killer Physio
Kath's away but I got a really thorough ITB massage (rather than Kath's usual stretching) from the physio who I saw instead. It's such an intimate experience, having an elbow stuck into your bottom. Also she loosened up my calves, the tight spot in one of which is apparently threatening to become a tear. I blame last week's stair run for that.

A bit of a shame that Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens closes so early. I decided not to squeeze illegally under the gate (wonder if the notice proclaiming that the gardens are used for police dog training after hours is actually true?) and so ran along the Heysen trail towards the summit instead. Still lots of people hiking their way to the top at that hour and I felt very daggy and frumpy (and full of pizza) compared to them.

George & I got a last minute accommodation deal for Mt Lofty House and so, as is our custom at this time of year, we checked in after work, procured pizza in Crafers, and went to the summit to admire the view.

Legs weren't any fresher this morning and going up Randell's was a real struggle (although pretty much the same time as 2 weeks ago) especially since my hamstring has been twinging the last couple of days for no good reason. From the BP at Belair it's downhill pretty much all the way to Coromandel Valley and was quicker than expected although I did detour into Blackwood Forest (bumped into Frank Tomas out running - also on Christmas morning I swear I saw James Lithgow running up towards Belair as I was driving up) and down through Frank Smith Park.

From Lauren's we (Zara/Callum, John, Simon, Vanessa, Lauren) went down to Sturt River where it crosses Coromandel Parade then into Sturt Gorge recreation park following the MTB singletracks along the north rim of the gorge, which twist & turn around so much that it took us 50 min to reach the flood control dam! We admired the view from the dam wall while Zara & Lauren & John pointed out the best place to swim across when you are running late at the tail end of the minigaine...

Back up Magpie Gully with the 7 creek-crossings although the creek is dry currently, then from Coromandel Pde John & I headed back down Winns Rd which was more than enough for me (had been lagging behind from the start, but legs now really feeling the hard ground) while the others ran around Hawthorndene because V wanted a 2 hour run. George kindly came to pick me up and stayed for extended brunch at L's, which we all enjoyed :)

A bit later than I intended because I somehow spent 2 hours on the phone to Susanne. Legs were pretty tired despite having done nothing more strenuous than sorting out boxes of semi-random crap at home most of the day.

Event: Christmas 5 days
 

Yesterday I was just so completely stuffed (and empty - perhaps trifle wasn't enough for dinner?) that any form of exercise just seemed all too hard and so I wasted an otherwise nice summer's morning waiting for the on call phone to ring (at least this Christmas it didn't just keep going to voicemail).

Feeling better today, and my neck/jaw didn't hurt as much in the water as when it tightens up overnight.

Traditional Christmas morning run with F&T, Zara/Callum, Lauren, John, Simon, Robin. I was pretty stuffed, especially when we went up the stairs at Long Gully, but it was nice out. One by one the group dwindled as people had to get to their respective breakfast functions, but John & Lauren & I extended our run to go down through Echo Tunnel.

Spent the entire day with my parents thereafter including taking grandfather to visit my cousins and dinner when Geoff came back from Sydney. Don't think I'll get up early for a long run tomorrow; might leave that until Sat.

Oh, and I requested of/received from my husband a set of Grammar Grumble mugs: http://www.theliterarygiftcompany.com/grammar-grum...

Definitely a highlight :)

Since I had left home at 5am to drop Geoff (and an entire suitcase full of presents) at the airport I then drove to Seacliff and ran the Marion Coastal Trail, AKA the Hallett Cove Stair Run. Absolutely beautiful morning for this and the sun was just shining over the ocean when I got to Hallett Cove (43 min). Had thought of running the Cove Rd back but took the outward trip pretty easy and so when I asked my knees if it would be ok for them to do another 700 stairs they said "okay" and actually I was a couple of minutes faster on the return trip. Kind of wished I had someone to share it with, but given that some of the stairs are getting slightly rickety, am glad I wasn't running with the entire SARRC mob!

Ran up via Randell's reserve to Troy & Andrea's at the 'near' end of Hawthorndene, then with F&T and Simon we trotted down into and up out of Belair's maze of streets for half an hour, then on the return journey from the bottom of Gloucester I went around to Mead St steps and down Lynton Connector to make it over 2 hours. Really hungry by the end and legs didn't like the hard pavement. But even dirt tracks are hard currently.

To Carey Gully this morning. Steve & Ruhi joined us :) Slower than a month ago, although I think I was trying harder then. Very flat today, especially after working yesterday, and my shoulder/jaw still hurts. Lovely drizzly morning in the hills though.

Before work Christmas breakfast :)
Neck had improved a bit since physio stuck needles in it yesterday but I am becoming conscious how much I tighten my shoulders and clench my jaw even when sleeping.

C • The Big Cockroach comes to Adelaide 3

It was cooler outside the house than inside this morning (am storing the bananas on the bathroom floor!) and I felt definitely less worse than yesterday (although shoulders are eagerly awaiting a physio date) so trotted across to Mortlock Park, did 6 run-throughs across the grass (51-53 sec, which is sort of okay) and headed home. The time-pressure is now off giftwrapping in order to get things posted (bought the last items after a meeting in the city yesterday) because Geoff's going to make a flying visit to Sydney next week.

Brutal introduction to summer. The boys weren't keen on much beyond the bottom of First Falls, and this sounded ok to me (permanent headache since the introduction of EPAS - I guess it's from stiff neck due to so much sitting at computer. It's going to be horrible when this is implemented throughout the entire hospital; Go Live date is now almost certain to be Mar 22nd) but I suggested detouring up past Giant's Cave and in the end the only other taker was AK and then we went up the zigzag singletrack to Pretty Corner, which was just a plain silly idea and I had to walk the last bit in order to not spontaneously combust. When I got back I stuck my head under the tap but it didn't help much and I drank a bottle of Gatorade sitting in OSA council meeting afterwards but still have the headache.

There were a few variations from F&T's tonight. For some reason I decided to go up Olave Hill Rd; strangely enough I was on my own with this bright idea, but I'm definitely getting some hill strength back. 'Twas warm in the sun to start with but Morialta will be more so tomorrow! Came down the inside singletrack on the park boundary rather than hammering knees straight down Suffolk.

A big group this morning from John N's at Surrey Downs: B&S, F&T, Lauren, Andrew K, Liv, Riordan. We went down into Cobbler Creek which is a fairly scenic 'gorge', under the Grove Way, and back up the other side, on quite a few MTB singletracks, then down past the dam on the old Woodlake O map. Pretty casual/social today, with lots of stops and I couldn't be bothered going back for anyone. John had kindly put water out in a couple of places - and then cooked us all a massive breakfast when we got back (which fortified me for a day of Christmas shopping while George was still home sick in bed). Good times with the Arro-gang.

So, up to Randells to Belair, along Sheoak, lap of the park via waterfalls & redwoods, back down Gloucester. 80 min to the tap at the top of the park, 1hr 58 when I came out the front gate. Stretched & drank at the BP @ Belair Triangle on the way up and at Adventure Playground coming back along Long Gully. Didn't need to eat anything on the run but had consumed 2 banana sandwiches and half a cup of coffee immediately before starting. Legs actually felt pretty good, apart from knees of course. Afterwards I took them to the beach for a recovery wad(dl)e; it was a lot cooler today than when I was last at the beach after March NOLs.

I remembered this as being a fairly small (and flat) map where a 15-control scatter would take less than half an hour, but I didn't expect it to be all over in about 20 minutes! Had hardly warmed up by then (mind you, the way my legs felt, they weren't going to); this was a course where compulsory controls could have worked quite nicely. Or setting them closer to the edges of the map. Anyway, my parents again enjoyed coming along for the outing.

Got to Belair early with the intention of doing some extra distance but only managed 20 minutes of alternately jogging and stretching very tight knees. Eventually I became less stiff but by then realised how knackered I was, so trotted back from the train line with F&T while the others went up the hill.

Not sure why I didn't get around to doing this last week. I think because there were some rather wintry mornings!

I know why I didn't get around to doing this last week. It's because it hurts my knees :( And they've been behaving so nicely lately, too.

C • knees 1

Well, I managed to catch the group at Deep View tonight, but I pushed myself fairly hard to do so and legs were a little fatigued thereafter. Still reckon I'm running better than I have for a while. Pleasant evening for the 3-falls loop; everything smelled damp. Don't think there'll be water in the falls for much longer...

Really needed a nice run around Hawthorndene after a day of EPAS training (sigh). This was followed by an Arrows meeting interspersed with consumption of pizza and which degenerated periodically into hilarity, particularly when the 'Downfall of Orienteering' Hitler video was viewed. Oh, and don't anybody mention the penguins...

I was thinking of a fairly direct run along the trainline from Bridgewater to the lake in Woorabinda reserve but somehow a couple of hills were snuck in there by the boys. Unsurprisingly, my legs were pretty damn tired today, but they didn't hurt as such, and since most of us were varying degrees of knackered today I even ended up looping back a little at times. The downhill from Stirling into Aldgate was nice, the last bit back to Bridgewater a slog as always.

Legs know the drill: up through Shepherds Hill and Eden Hills to Blackwood, up & down to Belair, along Sheoak to Pony Ridge and back down Brownhill Creek. Got this done before the cloud lifted. It wasn't too bad; very slow up hills and I stopped to drink and stretch at 50, 70, 115 min (which stops would all be included in the timing of a paid run, but my knees needed them) but got to the bottom of Pony Ridge in 90 and finished fairly solidly from there, although I did ice my knees afterwards and had a fairly lazy day.

Funniest moment was somewhere in Belair where a middle-aged, well-groomed couple were putting her Louis Vuitton bags (possibly knock-offs, but I am not an expert) into the back of their car, supervised by the smallest and cutest of Border Collie pups - which promptly toddled out into the road to greet me, widdled next to my shoes in excitement, and then sat down in the puddle to the horror of the lady, who as she came and picked it up held the wee beastie as far away as possible from her smart jacket!

The map is seriously only 1km square, but Andrew M (course planner and mapper) had determined that the northeasternmost and southeasternmost controls were compulsory if scattering for either 15 or 17 controls - and these were each right at the top of a hill! This made the decision about which 5 for me to leave out rather interesting as I was having to run within 150m of some of them anyway. Suspect that I didn't make the best choices, but the inefficiency of which ones I did or didn't drop was far less than the imposition of going to the compulsory controls. A great idea, although I'd suggest that runners doing 15 controls probably only needed to have one as compulsory. Of course, there's always the AK version of scatter O in which you just get all 20!

To the redwoods, feeling not too bad and hearing all about Lauren's upcoming job in Port Lincoln - exciting - and then on the return trip I was in a hurry because of needing to be at a meeting in Hindmarsh by 8pm. I didn't know it was possible to get back from the redwoods in under 20 min. This makes up for not running yesterday!

Twice today I put on my running gear, headed out the door, listened to my knees and went back again. They told me that they would take a while to stop whinging and I should save them for the weekend if I want to do a proper long run.

I got to Morialta about 6:10 and the others had left but I figured that the probability I might catch up to them at one of their regrouping stops was greater than zero. As it turned out, probability was 100% - I found the group at 3rd falls and we went up to the road, down to Pretty Corner and down the park-rim singletrack from there. Legs felt pretty much okay and it was raining by the end - nice.

C • Rain 1

Hawthorndene run with Bridgemon, Fyson and Trangia (one half of whom is now quite bumpy). It wasn't possible to avoid all the hills and one of them set Tyson's heart off. My hamstrings have been pretty tight today and my brain nearly exploding with trying to understand the new electronic casenotes/drug chart system in hospice.

From Blair's parents' place in Aranda, with him across to AIS to meet Craig then the 3 of us headed past Bruce Ridge down through ANU to the lake, sighting 3 balloons this morning. Along the lake and up tracks alongside Black Mountain back to Aranda. Spinach pie for dinner last night (seriously, who considers that a meal?) wasn't really enough and so for the last half hour I was struggling a bit, especially with socks and ankle tape chafing, until I remembered that I had some lollies in my back pocket. Made it to the conference by 8:30 :)