Training Log Archive: jennycas

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).