Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Felt pretty reasonable in the warm-up and not bad during the race either, but didn't really have the speed. Did have one of the best head-to-head battles I've been in for a long time, and unexpectedly managed to edge away in the last 50 metres after we'd traded places six times in the last kilometre.

Km splits: 3.33, 3.39 (uphill), 3.31, 3.27.

This will be my last of these for the season - which means it will be the last time for a while I double up with two races in a day.

Getting to/from the Tan. Nothing too untoward.

Street-O at Wattle Park, first event of the Wednesday Summer Series. This was never going to be easy doubling up after lunchtime, and was looking even less easy when I started feeling rather out of sorts in the late afternoon. Decided to run anyway after feeling reasonable in the warm-up, but it was always a struggle. Initially the extent of my ambitions was to avoid being 'lapped' by Adam (who'd got an extra control early on). I thought I was in reasonable shape to at least manage that, but lost 200 metres at a misplaced control (one of two on the night). That then gave me a new challenge as the person who had been 100 metres behind me, and drifting back slowly, was now 100 metres in front. I had my best spell of the night at that stage and overtook him at the second-last control - but then died in a big way on the last hill into the finish and almost got caught.

It became apparent afterwards that it wasn't just because of a lunchtime race that I felt bad - by the time I got home I barely felt like eating anything and only just lasted long enough for the Chaser. Not sure what it is but hopefully not too serious.

C • What is a spiked control 6

A pretty nondescript effort, not particularly strong on the hills and not flowing particularly well on the rest of it, despite the nice conditions. Relaxed week-and-a-bit will come to a reasonably emphatic end tomorrow. Took a slightly irregular route through Rosanna, mainly to have another look at potential banner-hanging spots for November 24.

First leg of the occasional Monday night triathlon (was otherwise engaged in the morning on the campaign trail). Slightly different crowd to what you get in the morning but mostly harmless. Someone obviously didn't think the locals were harmless because the police drug bus was set up just across the road (it is Fitzroy, after all). Swim was fine once I'd sorted out some goggles trouble in the first couple of laps.

MFR Monday night from Warren and Tash's. A good crowd for Clare's farewell - she's off to try her luck in the film industry in the States (although San Francisco for now, not Hollywood). Not sure whether to hope she's providing fodder for one of Yelena's magazine articles in a few years' time or not (on the one hand it would indicate she was famous, on the other hand one normally appears in those sorts of magazines because one is in rehab/breaking up with one's partner/undergoing extravagant cosmetic surgery).

The run was at a reasonably standard intensity - sometimes runs led by Warren get a bit more intense than the usual Monday night, but not tonight - but nice to do it in the light. Felt reasonable without being spectacular, but didn't feel any after-effects of a big lunch at work.

Spent most of this run going around Montmorency checking things out for a street-O I'm setting in a couple of weeks time. It's quite a hilly suburb and going up and down cul-de-sacs, not something you'd do on a normal run, added to the hilliness.

Definitely didn't feel as good as yesterday, although the tougher course and the warm conditions (mid-20s and windy) may account for some of that. A stiff northerly wind also added to the challenge at times, although not as much for me as it did for the eleven-year-old leg-spinner I saw attempting to keep the ball on the pitch with a fierce crosswind to deal with. Final loop through Greensborough and Yallambie OK but not more; would have found the 2.30 that I'll be aiming for in a couple of weeks' time hard going.

C • GG 1

A nice run - definitely much improved from a couple of weeks ago, although not pushing it too hard. Some particularly good sections along Darebin Creek in the middle; took on some hills in Eaglemont towards the end and handled those pretty well too.

Doing this a bit earlier than usual for a Saturday because of a session at the Heidelberg shops distributing political propaganda. (It may say something about how things are going that the reception I got would scarcely have been more positive had my sign said 'Free Beer' instead of 'Jenny Macklin Labor for Jagajaga'). Only worry was when someone parked (illegally) alongside in a van which had a label in the windscreen 'This Vehicle Is Currently Attending A Class 1 Gas Leak'. I might have been more concerned had I not suspected that its owner was taking advantage of his weekday occupation to get an easy parking spot on the weekend.

Again on the slow side, as it was last week, although started to loosen up a bit in the shoulders later on. Found another route to Richmond (faster but more precarious) after last week's frustration.

You wouldn't have thought that there would be a shortage of news in the middle of an election campaign, but obviously there is, because the screens in the bottom of our building which provide a news feed brought us the earth-shattering information that Ben Cousins has missed his plane connection in Sydney. I wonder if anyone's told him yet that his rehab centre has been evacuated because of fire?

A pleasant longish run on a nice running morning (the rain started after I finished). Only jarring note was the first significant dog encounter I can remember in Melbourne a few minutes from the end, although the only damage was a minor scratch. The owner was reasonably apologetic.

Some discussion on the radio beforehand led me to believe that today was the last day for Year 12s, but I didn't see any sign of pranks at any of the schools I went past, which suggests that either (a) I had the date wrong, (b) it was too early for any action or (c) Year 12s are far too respectable these days to get up to any mischief on their last day. My money's on (a).

I now have an explanation of sorts for my abysmal form of a couple of weeks ago (including Oceania weekend) - I got results back from a blood test I'd had then for other reasons which showed that I'd had a virus of some kind at the time, even though I wasn't showing any symptoms (other than bad running). In a sense it's good to know that it wasn't just that I misjudged my training.

C • (d) 6

A stroll through old haunts in Eaglemont. Seemed to take a long time, and wasn't particularly strong up the hills (something which wasn't tested yesterday). Another nice morning for it.

The talk is that the Liberals have given up on Jagajaga to concentrate their efforts on holding Kooyong and Menzies. There's a bit of evidence for this in as much as none of the houses that usually have Liberal signs have sprouted them yet. Ours seem to be out in more force than usual (although that may just mean that no-one has had enough time to steal them yet).

Event: Crocodile Trophy
 

Ran from near work out to the west, out along the Maribyrnong (past Flemington, being prepared for big days ahead, as well as the Merv Hughes Oval) as far out as the footbridge at the Essendon golf course. Very creaky at the start but nice after the first 10 minutes - some excellent sections through the middle and later stages, probably the best I've felt running for a month or so. Pity I couldn't manage it on Sunday (although the conditions were a good deal less favourable then).

Mystery of the day: when the small print (or the audio equivalent) in an ad says 'fees and charges apply', exactly what is the difference between a 'fee' and a 'charge'?

C • fees and charges 3

Felt OK but very slow. Definitely the warmest morning I've had at Fitzroy in a while (turned out it was as warm as it got all day). Got a bit of a stitch at one stage which is not something I normally associate with swimming.

On Saturday afternoon we had a brief VOA special general meeting (mostly to cut the quorum for future special meetings). There were two amendments being put up and Ian Dodd (as chair) therefore asked 'all those in favour of the second amendment'. I can think of at least one Second Amendment which I'm definitely not in favour of, but this one was harmless.

MFR Monday night from Dion's, which meant we got to admire his Vietnam photos (and in my case take notes for a few weeks' time). Expected this to be a really slow and short blob but it was a little faster and longer than I thought it would be (although still not hard by any stretch of the imagination). Tried to explain the intricacies of the Senate voting system en route - not sure how successful I was.

C • Senate Votes 16

Event: Victorian Long Distance Championships
 

The result was a case of deja vu - second once again to Bruce - but a very different sort of race. This was always going to be an epic - the forecast was low 30s and it turned out to be underdone. (I'll have to wait for the final numbers tomorrow, but the rounded maximum at Castlemaine as of 3 p.m. was 34, and their October record is 34.5). As mentioned earlier, I had an organiser's super-early start (9.00) and therefore got the best of the conditions, although this is a relative term (high 20s instead of low 30s). I think it was still to my advantage, despite having to wake up half the controls and open all the drink cup packets.

I was pretty conservative physically in this race - we knew from the start that it would be survival of the fittest. Slow and steady through the reasonably technical first section, then I opened up a bit after the spectator control and had my best stretch of the course on the long legs of 17-18-19. Lost it a bit at the end - lost 30 seconds in the circle at 20 and 15 at 21, but more significantly lost a minute or so when I hit a dead end trying to climb out of a gully crossing between 20 and 21. I think this must have affected me psychologically because I hit the wall shortly thereafter and really struggled for the last kilometre. I'd pulled back to within 15 seconds of Bruce at 19 after being 2 minutes down at 12, but the gap blew out to nearly 3 minutes at the end. Jim and David Brownridge were the only other finishers. Surviving this won't do us any harm next Easter, when the conditions have a reasonable chance of being similar (or worse).

Unlike some of the juniors, I wasn't tempted by the dam at the finish - it was the sort of dam which normally gets mentioned in news reports which start "police divers searched the murky waters...". (Not that dams on Wattle Gully are likely to be used for such purposes - would-be disposers of bodies or murder weapons have plenty of alternative options).

This is effectively the end of the season - just the Victorian Sprint Championships to go (never a high priority in my competition year). It's been a slightly frustrating year, because I think my overall level of orienteering is probably close to the best it's been since 2001, but I haven't performed in either of the two major races I was aiming for (Australian and Oceania Long Champs) - Australian because I made a mistake, Oceania because my running was totally out of sorts on the day. Time to think about next year - although at 36 one gets more conscious that time is starting to run out.

I'll have a couple of easy weeks now, then look to build back into base training by mid-November. It will be a bit of an oddball summer because I'll be on the road so much, with three overseas trips in as many months (Vietnam in December, US in January, Korea in February). With a bit of luck this year's 40-degree Sundays might happen on weekends when I'm on the other side of the planet.

Numbers now in for Castlemaine. The maximum was 34.3, the second-highest on record for October (after 34.5 on 12 October last year).

Event: Victorian Middle Distance Championships
 

Victorian Middle Distance Champs at Deadmans Flat, 2nd, 1.30 behind Bruce. Reasonably happy with this run - only a couple of 15-second wobbles which isn't bad for such a technical area (although the course was a little easier than I was expecting). Also a decent run physically by the standards of the last week (i.e. it wasn't a disaster). A warm day, but nothing compared with what lay in store.

Swimming at Richmond. Not in a brilliant mood after having to wait three full cycles of the traffic lights outside Ikea because the road sensors can't detect bikes (and they wonder why some cyclists go through red lights?), but the swim itself was fine, loosened up nicely.

Looks like a hot one for Sunday (especially) - potentially as high as mid 30s although near 30 is more likely. Normally a super-early officials' start is a disadvantage but it should work in my favour this time, assuming that I can actually run the distance at a respectable pace (not something you'd want to rely on based on my form of the last couple of weeks).

C • Swim?? or run? 2

A pretty uninspiring effort on the whole. Worked hard into the wind for a lot of the first half and was therefore expecting to get reward for effort in the second half, but it didn't really happen except perhaps for the last 10 minutes. Might have been better off choosing somewhere less sheltered than the Merri Creek valley to finish, but the advantage of the Merri Creek valley is no road crossings - a definite plus at 7.30 or 8 on a weekday morning.

Made my first eastern-states sighting of the expression "Northbridge identity" in this morning's Age.

It didn't cause any trouble on my run, but my left Achilles was a bit sore after cooling down.

Tan 13.26. Not as dire as I was expecting given how much I've struggled over the last couple of weeks - only a few seconds slower than I was doing in August and September. Started slowly but ran the hill pretty strongly, passing a bunch and then coming back at someone who'd overtaken me. Bruce paced me for the last km which was appreciated. Excellent conditions, not for the first time this season.

Km splits: 3.33, 3.38 (uphill), 3.30, 3.26

Going to/from the Tan, not especially quickly.

An enormous Hummer billboard has appeared on the route riding home. Must be about time for BUGA-UP to come out of hibernation.

Continuing to struggle a bit. Felt rather weak, less so on the second half, fastest loop 9.22. A bit of Achilles soreness at times. Also a few spots of rain, although not enough to trouble the scorers. Will want to pick up some sharpness before the weekend.

Riding in today was hard work - a stiff headwind all the way. It doesn't happen often from my direction so I can sympathise with those of my colleagues who ride in from the south-east and cop it quite often (and sometimes get a seabreeze headwind in the afternoon for good measure).

Nothing quite like an outdoor pool on a warm, sunny morning. If it was February the place would have been packed but we're still at the time of year when most people aren't mentally attuned to going into the water. Quite a nice session, too (although coming off an easier weekend than usual).

MFR Monday night from my place, with the usual (very) small crowd making the trek out to the remote outer suburbs. For most of the way it was just Nicola and myself. Nicola kept saying she wasn't feeling too good but managed to keep going. I just wasn't feeling too good. A warm night - still upper 20s at 7.30. Not too long until we start seeing upper 20s at 6 a.m.

First sighting of an election poster - a little surprisingly, for the Greens. Might reflect the non-marginality of any of the seats on my usual travels.

C • Stobie poles in Adelaide 7

Not stellar but a steady run, definitely better than others this week (not that that's saying much). Through Viewbank initially then out as far as Templestowe; quite hilly and handled it OK. Was ready to stop close to the two-hour mark, though - wouldn't have found it easy to go out to the 2.30-2.45 range that Ill be looking for on Sundays in a few weeks time.

I'd forgotten just how extravagant the real estate was in parts of Templestowe, although I did manage to get almost the whole length of Church Road without seeing a BMW. Also noticed that the crane at the Doncaster shopping mall, in addition to the usual Eureka and union flags, was sporting a very large Geelong flag.

Returned home to saturation TV footage of the 1k mark of a certain well-known ACT cross-country course.

I suppose I can now lay claim to a 1/100000 (or thereabouts) share of a Nobel Peace Prize...

A bit of a nothing run but not as weak as I was earlier in the week. Started out on the Banyule flats before heading up into Viewbank and Macleod, passing the home base of a former colleague whose contribution to the aforementioned Nobel-winning effort was considerably greater than mine, and then across a hilltop park where the grass is already bleached brown in mid-October. Ended up passing through Rosanna Golf Links Primary, a place I expect to be renewing acquaintances with on a Saturday not too many weeks hence. Will have to think of somewhere else to hang the inevitable Kevin07 bunting because most of the front fence is gone. Nice finish down through the Rosanna Parklands.

At Richmond. Pretty slow but loosened OK after the first couple of laps. Timed this one well - if I hadn't been inside getting wet, I would have been outside getting just as wet (and a lot colder) courtesy of the heaviest rain we've seen in Melbourne in months - (wait for it) 3mm in 30 minutes. The bike cage at work was noticeably unpopulated today.

Still a long way from being stellar but definitely improved on recent days, especially in the second half when it was feeling almost pleasant at times. Late in the piece took in one of my favourite kilometres in Melbourne, the twisting single track on the Yarra bank across the river from the Abbotsford brewery (this can make for some interesting smells if the wind is right). A distinctly warm morning.

A fairly slow-paced run getting as far north as Latrobe University. Quite a nice area to run but the run itself didn't match the surroundings - again feeling rather weak. Hopefully this is just a brief stage I'm going through and doesn't mean I'm about to get sick in a significant way.

Saw a sign in Springthorpe 'Dogs and Cats Permitted On Leash'. Has anyone ever seen a cat on a leash before? (has anyone ever seen anyone walking a cat, for that matter?)

C • Cats on a leash 12

Was tossing up whether or not to do speedwork today. Felt very ordinary, particularly up hills - again lacking energy - but faster than it felt, 9.17 on a day which seemed more like a 9.30 or a 9.40.

Loosening-up session at Richmond. Didn't feel too bad despite limited sleep, after getting back at 11.30 last night. Came up with a blister on the sole of my foot after Saturday's race (strangely there wasn't noticeable soreness on the day but it blew up overnight) but that doesn't seem to be causing too much trouble - and at the end of the day blisters are only pain.

Not too pleased that the price of chocolate milk has jumped 12% in my absence. I'd be less unimpressed if I thought there was actually any chance of the farmers seeing any meaningful proportion of the increase.

C • Cocoa Farmers 15

Fairly easy Monday night run from Torgeir's, although not as slow as they sometimes are because Torgeir and Bruce were the only ones there. A bit of Achilles tightness without any real soreness. Foot blister fine.

Having mentioned a Daily Telegraph headline yesterday, I recalled another one when the Marion Jones story broke over the weekend. You may remember that during the Sydney Olympics C.J. Hunter (Marion's partner at the time) was done for drugs; the Tele ran a photo of them under the headline 'Clean And Jerk'. Turns out 'Jerk and Jerk' would have been more accurate.

C • Nah - they were almost right 2

Oceania Relays. Ran first leg for a Victorian team with Evan Barr and Chris Naunton. First leg in open gully-spur is not exactly my usual operating environment, but started out reasonably. Drifted a little wide on 3 and was then 50-100 metres behind Andy Hogg (on the same split) for a while - none of the internal problems of yesterday but still lacking zip. Came badly unstuck on the long 8th leg, making a parallel error at the end of the leg, going through one saddle too far north and thus the gully system 300 metres to the north (same mistake as Reuben). I was lucky to get out of it as lightly as I did - the lead pack came across the gully on their way to 9 just as I was starting to try to work out what was going on, alerting me to the fact there was a problem and therefore saving several potential minutes trying to convince myself I was in the right place - but still dropped 2-3 minutes. Faded badly after that but I suspect some of that may have been above the shoulders. Evan and Toph also struggled and we were way off the pace.

In terms of performances relative to what I think I should be capable of, I think this is probably the worst race week I've put together for a long time, well below par physically and significant errors in two of the major races. The Victorian Championships will be a chance for some redemption but this week was definitely an opportunity missed.

Not being first into the forest, I didn't see any wildlife this time, and certainly none of the wild pigs which are not unknown in this part of the world. They are a potential hazard but the people who go to shoot them are probably a bigger hazard. Clueless journalists may be an even bigger hazard; in possibly the biggest national-security beat-up seen in recent years (and the competition is tough), a bush block out this way used by someone of Lebanese origin from Sydney for pig-shooting, in the hands of the Daily Telegraph, became a 'Terrorist Training Camp'.

Queanbeyan's bogan population was very thin on the ground when we stopped there on the way back, probably because they were inside watching Bathurst on TV (or possibly at Bathurst angrily denouncing the new limits on BYO alcohol - one slab per day per person).

C • One slab! 3

Oceania Long Champs, 11th. A disappointing race made more disappointing by the fact that a good place was there for the taking with a good run, with several of the big guns having bad days. Felt suspect in the stomach before and during the run, and was weak from first control to last. Not sure if it was something specific I ate last night, general conference overeating syndrome, or something else. Didn't help the cause of reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions either. Strangely I felt fine shortly after the finish and still do.

Technically it was a reasonable race, although started to lose it a bit towards the end. Most significant error was at 16 where I took a route choice around a hill, not a good move in itself, and then came in under the control - probably lost 30 seconds on the route choice and another 30 on the error.

Had Andy (who started 2 minutes ahead) in sight at 10 and we were together by 13; he broke away on 16 but we were together again by 23. Rob caught me at 22, sort of - he didn't realise I'd got the control and ran with me for 100 metres out of it, then got me again at 26. Reuben had also caught us by then. The four of us were together briefly but I couldn't hold on to Reuben and Rob and Andy couldn't hold on to me, although he almost got me back after small errors at 29 and 30. Very disappointed to lose 3 minutes to Reuben and Rob in the last 3k - normally that's where I'm gaining ground.

Saw a snake on the way into 17, only the second I've seen in competition in 29 years.

Oceania Sprint Champs at Radford College. A reasonably standard midfield result for me in a sprint race. Intense at times in the middle of the buildings, but didn't really lose any time, just one slightly suspect route choice. Just over 2 minutes down on the lead which is reasonable. Perhaps biggest negative was not being aggressive enough on the (numerous) stairs. Picked up pace a bit towards the end, prompted in part by the prospect of being overtaken by Lizzie Ingham on the spactator leg across the oval.

You know you're on someone else's home ground when there's a picture of them on the wall in the sports centre. I suspect it may not be too many years before I have similar home-ground advantage in an ACT sprint race. It was certainly one of the shorter trips I've had to a World Ranking race, although not as short as Eric's - he works about 1km away and ran the race during his lunch break.

The classic Sydney tourist run - down from Hyde Park to the Domain, around the shoreline, past the Opera House and up onto the Harbour Bridge (didn't see anyone from the Chaser). Took a short-cut back through the Botanic Gardens. A scenically interesting run but felt pretty ordinary, particularly up hills - possibly suffering from conference overeating syndrome.

Went east from where I'm staying near Hyde Park, with the first half being close to the south side of Sydney Harbour and the second half in the hills to the south. Quite steep in places with several sections of stair running, which made it fairly hard work; also a bit longer than I'd planned on. The forecast is for a hot day but it was still quite cool when I headed out.

Got to see some extravagant real estate, especially at the far end of the run in Point Piper and Bellevue Hill (also passed the Double Bay Public School, which I suspect struggles for customers). Expensive real estate may not make for good swimming conditions but usually makes for nice places to run, and this was probably about as good (and as traffic-free) as it gets in the inner suburbs of Sydney.

So far so good with the conference. It's in a more upmarket conference venue than I'm used to, the Hilton, and we're certainly not goingt to go hungry this week, although there seems to be a shortage of places to put your apple cores and mint wrappers. I know the Sydney Hilton has a somewhat unfortunate history with rubbish bins but that was a long time ago.

A slightly oddball session in the hotel pool (I'm in Sydney for a conference until Thursday). Not used to doing laps in a 10-metre pool. Emerged quite dizzy because of all the splashback from the sides of the pool, and a bit cooler than I'm used to (but good views from the rooftop).

Knee still a bit sore under pressure - it's quite heavily bruised from one of Sunday's numerous falls, but doesn't seem to be swollen at all.

C • tumble turns 1

C • swimming pool 4

Not one of my better days. A significant error on 7 - went down the wrong gully, convinced myself that a flat spur was the saddle I was looking for, and dropped 2.5 minutes. A bit scrappy for the rest of it too. Not running particularly strongly in the first half but better in the second half, although Andy caught me at the end. 16th in Oceania Middle Distance, at least 8 places lower than I would have been happy with.