Training Log Archive: PrueD

Run around Benalla lake and gardens.

Maxi 3 hour at Kimbolton (again - 2 weeks in a row, because it is a lovely area). I was a bit disorganised and started after everyone else was well out of sight. I subsequently only saw couple of teams and no-one for the second half. It was lovely being out in the bush, although I had significant trouble with 2 controls (one error a 15 minute noodle).
My excuse is that I have a lot on my mind at the moment, and was high on petrol all the way to Kimbolton, after it went all over me when the pump did not cut off when I was purchasing petrol this morning.

Street O at Springthorpe (McLeod area). I opted for the hilly scenic route, through the forest area, even though l could have collected more controls staying in the streets. As a result l hardly saw anyone for the whole course. Pleasant afternoon.

Hill run around Blackburn, venturing through parks and reserves l don't normally visit. Felt puffy and out of breath for much of it, and stopped a few times. Not really one of my better efforts - possibly the result of poor diet and lifestyle choices over the past few days. Yes, you do notice the difference.

Run around Blackburn lake and creeklands.

Run around Benalla lake and showgrounds. Beautiful day.

Orienteering at Kimbolton North course 2. Lovely area with water views at the assembly area and flowering wattles. I enjoyed my run and was pretty spot on until #7, when l decided to test the straight line option. It failed and , after wandering around a bit, had to go out to the track to relocate. Lesson learnt. Distance is a guess as my garmin turned off when l fell over.

Hill run (a la intervals) around Blackburn, along the creek and lake on reverse order to normal ( OK, so my normal run is slightly downhill). My knee doesn't like uphills, although seems to appreciate them afterwards! I'm guessing there will be hills at Bathurst. Windy day - l like running in the wind.

Slow jog around Blackburn creeklands. My knee and I didn't really feel like it and it was 3 k before I warmed up. However, it was a lovely morning with ideal running conditions, and the lemon scented gums and birdsong (including a kookaburra) made it all worthwhile.

Street O enduro at Loughnan Link (Mullum Mullum). I did my best to jog but it was very very hilly and l had walk a lot of the steep hills. My knee wasn't really happy at any point in time and so my jogging was slow. The rain held off until after the cakes.

C • Good thing 7

Even l could not think of a good enough excuse to avoid running today (even though my knee is still a bit sore). It was a glorious morning and l ran around Blackburn lake and creeklands.

I went to Kevin Maloney's farewell service yesterday. It was very well attended with almost all the retired Melbourne orienteers in attendance. It was a fitting farewell, with a wonderful eulogy and heartfelt poem from David Goddard. Kevin went to his final resting place (Healesville) in a recycled box completely covered with his old orienteering maps and related memorabilia.

C • Kevin's farewell 10

State series at Lockwood South course 4. I put in a fairly poor performance today by not being careful. I made 2 huge errors, which resulted in considerable extra distance. The first was to not take a bearing leaving #2 and ran a fair way before l realised, then tried to cut across, which was silly as l didn't really know where l was. I finally relocated off a track junction. The second mistake was to miss #10 and wander aimlessly for a while. I was close to giving up when l found it. Anyway, it was good practice for.......?? The lesson was that persistence pays as a large number of people in my course were MPs and DNFs and although my time was woefully long, the placing was respectable.

C • Good practice for... 4

Run around Blackburn lake and creeklands. It took a while to get going and I felt pretty puffy at the end. First run of the week as I felt quite wiped out after my week of skiing and could hardly lift my arms - indicative that I probably need to go to the gym. My knee was also pretty sore and appreciated the week's rest.