Training Log Archive: PrueD

Orienteering club relays at Eppalock. It must have been an easy course because I could run the whole way and didn't have any navigational issues, apart from some not quite direct routes (a side affect of me deciding to be cautious after the disaster of last weekend) - however I was slow compared to my competition. On the bright side - my knee is finally coming good and is not giving me any issues in the bush. It was a lovely bush, a nice warm day and nice to see the O people. I could quite happily have stayed there.

Street O in very hilly Eltham. I walked up the hills and ran down and on the flats. I felt better at the end.

Street O at Burwood/Camberwell. I was tired and just walked. A colleague from work was in his garden with his children watching the passers by, when he spotted me and yelled encouragement - it was quite a surprise.

SS event at Little Forest. l started late and then got lost on the way to 1. I then got slower and slower, as it was a bit hot and my navigation terrible, until l was just walking. Around control 6 l regained enthusiasm and started running again but it was too late and l ran out of time and DNFd. I think l should probably concede defeat and do shorter courses for a while. On this occasion l also blame Billy.

C • Billy 2

Run around Ruffey Lake park including running up all the hills without stopping with Peter, who is visiting. Then off to see Billy Idol, where l was (am) the only person without tattoos.

Street O at Ringwood. It was one of those annoying novelty events where you have to carry a pen. I was unenthusiastic at the start and planned to walk, however after about a km l felt better and ran the remainder. Of course we all only went for the annual presentation dinner prepared by the local scouts - for the apple and rhubarb crumble, to be specific. Only this time l had the apricot crumble, which was excellent.

Metrogaine along Gardiners Creek, with Anne Robinson. We decided to go anti-clockwise from the start at Melbourne Girls College, taking advantage of the local knowledge of the Toorak area, gained from the O event held there recently . We cut our course a bit short at the southern end, but that allowed us to travel north up the other side of the creek and get some northerly controls, to come in with 10 minutes to spare. Overall a pretty good effort, with only slightly sore feet as a result.

C • coincidence 1

Street O training run at Greythorn, the home of grand designs and beautiful parks. I even heard an unidentifiable bush bird (maybe a currawong) call in one of the parks. Re the grand designs, two people I passed commented to the effect 'money doesn't always go with good taste'. One particularly grand house resembled an old town hall.

Street O on a very hilly and quite interesting Bulleen map. Unfortunately l couldn't run a step as my knee was a bit out and hurt. This seems to be a routine issue on Wednesday evenings, whereas l always feel good on weekend mornings. I also picked a really poor route.

Run with Peter around Benalla lake and then further downstream alongside the river. We had to walk for a kilometer or so ( not counted) through really long grass, then across the river over a pipe and back the other side. It would make a great trail if it was formed (or even mowed).

Took Peter across from Benalla to Bendigo and back for the newcomers event. He got around the newcomers course while l did the score event. Traveled around with a full airforce of dive bombing march flies. I tried to dispatch them by aiming for as many spider webs as possible, but the airforce remained and my head ended up swaddled in webs. Went OK until control 79 when l got lost and the airforce and l walked up and down for ages before we gave up and relocated to a road. Finished with 500 bites. Got back to Benalla and slept for 2 hours.

C • Ouch 6

Street O in Canterbury.l had a headache for most of the day but it went when l started running

The world's slowest 10 k around the Wangaratta bike tracks. I was really hot but at least ny knee didn't hurt.