Training Log Archive: jennycas

Terrain laps of Blackwood Forest. On the second one I rolled my ankle, and was really annoyed, because at that point I'd spent less time running than I'd spent taping my ankles beforehand. Other than that, the sheer inability to move my carcass uphill was also frustrating.

To the far end of Long Gully and back again before it got too hot. Saw the emus - pity they weren't around when we wanted to show them to Sabine & Rolf.

Attack of the Killer Masseuse
We'll see whether this makes any difference.

Calves were trying to cramp in the water despite dogwalking and foamrollering beforehand. Not sure whether I am looking forward to the agony of massage tomorrow or not.

Nice little course around Karinya reserve at Eden Hills, plus Blackwood High - starting with the bush controls which I was a little inaccurate going to despite purported use of my compass. Caught up to Zara in the school and kept her honest :)

We headed to Zara's first to meet her and an excited Callum, then up the park boundary fenceline and back down Long Gully where it was a bit cooler, then towards Nic's place and back to Z's where Bear cheerfully licked the sweat off my legs. My legs just wouldn't lift from the hip going uphill and by the end I could feel my heel which is always troublesome when I first get up in the mornings and which is disconcertingly still painful now.

Got to Morialta pretty late and realised how buggered I was as soon as I started running, but staggered up to Deep View anyway. Came across all the others going in the opposite direction as I contoured around towards the centre track, then I went down into and up out from the top of 1st falls for a change.

Down Turners Ave past the forest and up the creek to the oval with FTP, TCA and a couple of prams, at nice chatting pace.

Apparently I can't orienteer any more either. Which is a shame, because I really love orienteering. But it's getting somewhat shameful to come last all the time. Apart from the fact that last night's horrible dinner made my stomach truly horrible in the night and it still wasn't sure of itself at 8am, a major part of today's problem was that I simply couldn't get across the fast-flowing concrete channel on the way to the first control. While everyone else, fresh from the mass start, jumped it with greater or lesser degrees of elegance, I went about 300m to the right hoping that it would turn into an earth-walled channel which I could wade, but since it didn't I had to go the same distance back left to the track crossing, which route I wished I'd noticed in the first place.

Yeah, so I ended up doing my first pivot loop while most people were doing their second. And on my second I ended up doing a massive parallel error by being south of the track instead of north, being unable to make the hillside fit because there were no diggings, and eventually working it out when I was about 500m south of where I wanted to be. All of which was a bit demoralising but I persevered, stopping every so often to remove spiderwebs from my face and wrap them around a bush. Struggled up the hills at the south end of the course but at least the last section was downhill. I wasn't too clean on some of the 'hidden' pits towards the end either. So even without the 2 massive time losses I probably still would have been last. This doesn't really bother me except that I keep feeling as though I am going to be exposed as a fraud and told never to enter elites again. Also I'd actually like to somehow manage to become fit enough to at least scrape into the A final come WMOC; currently that's not a given.

Anyway, a good course and race format and weekend of orienteering and Arrows' group trip with mandatory Beechworth Bakery stop before the drive home. It was 41 degrees when we passed through Nhill and a box of 8 iceblocks didn't last long (between 8 of us).

C • sounds like... 2

C • Degrees of elegance 7