Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Back out into something resembling a proper forest again, at Woodlands (just within my zone). I definitely wasn't the only one here, although I was the only one taking to the bush.

Hamstring again fine, back tight to start with but improved later on. Hitting sites well for the most part once I got into which things on the map could be relied on and which ones couldn't (was using a map 10 years old or so). My strength is not yet up to running consistently uphill through waist-high Patersons Curse, which was to be found on parts of the open area (particularly the southern side); a bit slower than I was in May but I think the vegetation mostly explains that. Nice to be out, and to see kangaroos in some abundance. Longest full week since 2016, although the amount of training time will come down from here as running (hopefully) becomes a larger proportion of the mix.

And one thing's changed in the four months since I've been to this side of town: the Coburg level crossing is no more. The Preston one will join it in a couple of years.

C • Salvation Jane 1

Today's mission was to do as close an approximation as I reasonably could of a 5km circle around home - it might have been more fitting to do it while it was still a legal requirement (not totally convinced that isn't coming back tomorrow), but I'm not fast enough to do it in two hours, which was the limit before this week. A perfect circle (with the trip to and from the edge) is 41.4km, but I suspected beforehand it would be closer to 50.

It rained heavily overnight and through the morning, and I held off as long as I reasonably could before taking the plunge into the back end of the rainband. The rain stopped after 20 minutes or so, but for the next hour the roads were wet and I was holding a bit back in the more slippery areas, especially as the southern part of the circle is probably the most trafficked. Dried out after that, starting with a small deviation outside the zone (with the amount of overnight rain I thought the dirt parts of the Yarra Trail would be unrideable on a road bike, possibly even flooded, so went the Bulleen Road option instead). The Heidelberg hill was OK, and then it was a case of getting the rest done in relatively flat terrain; headwinds at times in this stretch, but I knew that meant a tailwind in the last 5km.

Happy with the way I lasted the distance, especially as I thought the timing might mean I was a bit down on food. I think it's the longest session of any kind I've done since 2016. It's also the first time in a while that my last-7-days total has topped 9 hours (the last full week where it happened, excluding rogaines, was in 2015).

There were a few houses decorated for tonight's game, although none in Richmond itself, where the only evidence of local loyalties I saw was someone in a tiger suit walking out of the street market.

Extending my distance a bit further, and headed north in the name of clearing the rest of east Thornbury east of Station Street - mission accomplished, although I was a bit further from home than I'd planned on when the allotted 30 minutes ran out. Fairly similar to Wednesday - felt like it was hard work, but no pain in anywhere that matters, so I'll take this as a positive.

Late afternoon session in the pool, hoping to get in before the arrival of any serious rain (still waiting for that). Started out all right but felt as if I was drifting a bit, and the time reflected that.

As flagged a few days ago, headed out north in pursuit of the Reservoir version of Ralph Street, although as it turned out I found something else out there which was more worth photographing and posting, a campaign sign for one Alice Maddineni who's spruiking her local credentials with the slogan "Living next door to Alice". Once through there, out east to La Trobe and then back south. A reasonable ride and slightly longer than I'd planned on.

Looks like today was the day for Book Week festivities at Fairfield (and Ivanhoe). Halloween decorations are also gradually starting to appear.

Took a long-overdue day off from work today (apart from anything else, I've clocked up about two days' worth of night meetings just in the last fortnight), and set out on an attempt at the first proper run. Not feeling at my freshest after one of the aforementioned meetings (a 2-2.45am affair after which I slept predictably abysmally, before surfacing just before 8 in pursuit of a Friday swimming timeslot), and the first proper run back is always hard work, but the most important mission was accomplished, namely no hamstring trouble (if anything there was more tightness in the quads).

There were quite a few people running in slightly unusual contexts this morning when I headed for coffee: in rapid succession I spotted an athletic-looking black girl (wearing a primary schools championships T-shirt) of late primary/early secondary age heading for school, someone running and clutching a couple of ballot paper envelopes (presumably their route was taking them past a postbox), and two separate people pushing strollers in the direction of the nearest childcare centre.

C • Pushers 9

I was using the day to do as much exploring as was permitted, meaning some novelties (packing a bag with a water bottle! food! sunscreen!). The first proper destination was Wattle Park but on the way I did a session on the Koonung Trail, an old favourite from Heidelberg days (it's 10km with no road crossings, and going east mostly gentle uphill with a couple of short steep ramps). Built into this pretty well, and not as crowded as some paths can be at the moment.

The Wattle Park stop was to see Dad (getting a car serviced nearby) for the first time in months. After that I headed off in pursuit of wilder places, in the form of the Yarra upstream of Warrandyte - wilder than I expected. The river is flowing strongly at the moment and this seems a good spot to look at the next time it floods (which, depending on the track of this weekend's low, might be as soon as Saturday). The return trip also reintroduced me to traffic jams - mostly because I made the mistake of going past Wonga Park Primary at pick-up time - but you can't have everything.

(Speaking of schools, from the outside, Donvale Christian College looks like it might have sprint potential, with the combination of what look to be some fairly intricate buildings and quite steep slopes).

Did something I haven't been able to do for the best part of three months and kept going straight rather than turning left at the Southern Road intersection, heading out onto the La Trobe loop. A bit sleepy early on (I'd gone out earlier than I often have of late to get back in time to catch what turned out to be a somewhat underwhelming Bureau appearance at Senate Estimates), settled after that though not as fast as I've sometimes been in the later stages of this. Also a bit interrupted at times, thanks in part to builders making up for lost time (who have perhaps got used to the idea that driving a bobcat back and forth across a main road in the middle of peak hour is a perfectly reasonable thing to do).

There were a few things to make for a positive mood though: the change of scene (even enough forest for a proper forest smell going past the La Trobe sanctuary), seeing golfers get ready for their first hits, a sunny morning, and the discovery that the Oriel Road magpie appears to have called it quits for the season (I'm not yet brave enough to put the Fulham Road one to the test).

C • On guard! 3

Not at my most energetic this morning but continuing to make progress, with generally no injury issues (just the slightest of niggles in a section on cobbles). Again headed west and cleared a few more streets on the Northcote side.

It seems to be Book Week this week (otherwise occasionally known as Competitive Parenting on Social Media week). Judging by the costumes on display in the western and eastern halves of the run respectively, I am assuming that Westgarth Primary was having associated festivities today, and Fairfield Primary wasn't.

C • I approve of this activity 2

Late afternoon swim, getting a bit better each time, and had just got a big piece of work done so I was in a generally decent mood. The allowed numbers in a pool have increased (and Northcote has also opened the kids' pool for swimming, although it would be a stretch to do laps in something so shallow), but I haven't yet put to the test whether there are still spots available for booking as late as 8.02am.