Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Hopefully the last of these, at Benalla on the way to Falls Creek. The main mission today was to find out how much of the tracking from the Sprint Championships was still there three months late. The answer - none that I could see, which was a pleasant surprise. Underlines that regular use of a path/shortcut will make much more impact than one-off use (even if that one-off use is heavy) because the vegetation never gets a chance to recover.

Unsurprisingly I was pretty sore at the beginning but improved considerably later as all the bruised bits opened up (driving is still less than comfortable, though).

C • Tracking 1

Netx move was a session at the Benalla pool. Somewhat to my annoyance, only the indoor pool was open (they only have lifeguards for the outdoor pool in the late afternoon, which one could understand during a normal week but seems a bit strange during holidays), and 1.5m is only barely enough depth for this session. Still managed OK even if I was going round and round in circles.

Lateral thinking test: why is there a picture of Bruce Arthur on the wall at the Benalla Aquatic Centre? (and it has nothing to do with the Sprint Championships).

The biggest test of the day remained - driving up the mountain to Falls Creek with a sore gear-changing hand (although it had improved overnight). Fortunately you can do a lot in third.

C • Mystery 3

The original plan today was for a longish ride but that was scrapped. I probably could have coped with a road ride but it wouldn't have been the most pleasant of experiences. The hand has swollen somewhat but still seems to have a full range of movement, which is encouraging; from past history of severe bruising I expect the discomfort to peak at about 24 hours and then ease from 48 onwards, so I'm not too perturbed by current progress (or lack thereof) - might be if there is no improvement by Friday. (I suspect my injury is similar to Michele's at the Schools this year, and she ran the next day - if you're reading, how long did it take for the soreness to settle down?).

Anyway, plan B was a pool running session at Fitzroy on the way to the cricket. Probably did me good to work various bruised and battered bits through the water. A bit more of a crowd than usual in anticipation of a hot day - almost as much of a crowd as there was at the MCG (a surprise given the potential, although not reality, for a classic finish). I found myself near a bunch of enthusiastic Pakistan supporters; at one stage the residents of Bay 13 came around to pay a "visit" before being moved on by security. (I wasn't close enough to hear what was being said, but knowing what the occupants of Bay 13 are like I would be surprised if there were no breaches of the ICC anti-racism code, probably in the form of references to illegal immigration and/or terrorism).

(Personally I think it adds a lot to a sporting occasion if there are large numbers of supporters present for both sides - something that happens a lot at AFL matches in Melbourne, but not at the cricket except sometimes when Sri Lanka or India are playing. The example par excellence which comes to mind internationally is the Rafter-Ivanisevic Wimbledon final of 2001; there might be potential for something similar next year at the Australia-Pakistan series in England, part of which might just fit nicely into my Europe 2010 schedule).

I'm on the road to Falls Creek tomorrow so now's the time to review the year - one which was mostly spent in Australia (unlike 2008) but involved many different bits of Australia. It was a rather frustrating finish to the year and I'm a bit apprehensive as to how things might unfold in the early months of 2010, but there was still much to enjoy this year.

Best run: probably Binna Burra in early August for the scenery and the company, although a few other honourable mentions on the trip, notably Laurieton (August) and Eyre (June).

Best race: the WMOC long final, with the middle day at Easter close behind. The symmetry of the Easter result (beating Craig by 1 second after he'd beaten me by 2 seconds the last time we met at Easter) was a nice touch too (although Craig may disagree).

Worst race: Victorian State Series at Kooyoora. Definitely not a venue to take on as an afterthought after a long shift working on the start.

Pain is temporary, glory is permanent: running the last two-thirds of the NT Long Champs on an inner sole after my right shoe fell apart. The WMOC long final gets a guernsey here, too.

C • Cricket Supporters 1

Another step up (hopefully the final one before starting to run properly), 1 min off/6 on, at Fishermans Bend before spending much of the day at work. The bad news was that I felt horribly sluggish, especially in the first half, the good news was that there was no sign of anything untoward in the hot spot. I think I'll take that combination, although it should be noted that there was nothing even remotely resembling a climb on this route. Rather humid.

There was a sign advertising the Melbourne headquarters of Storm Financial. I assume it is there for the same reason that the sign on the One.Tel building in North Sydney stayed there for about three years after that company's demise - no-one can agree whose responsibility it is to pay to take it down.

In yesterday's entry about my 1998 altercation with the horse in Swanston Street I was thinking of mentioning that it had been a decade since my last significant crash, but decided not to as I thought that would be tempting fate. Evidently just thinking about it was sufficiently tempting fate.

Decided to have a go at the MTBO summer series at Ballarat (Canadian Forest) - something not too extreme but a bit of a change from the (recent) training routine. Wasn't pushing it too hard with the aim being to get the 20 controls (score event) inside the 75 minutes, something which looked eminently achievable. Riding itself was reasonable - fun to get on some smaller tracks, although my technical skills are pretty well non-existent (and my downhill daring equally non-existent) so others were outriding me fairly comprehensively on those sections (and I was getting off the bike a bit more than they were - although partly that's because I'm on medical orders not to stand up in the saddle, which limits my hill-climbing capabilities a bit).

About 80% of the way through I was coming downhill on single-track (not too steep) into 44, went sideways to miss a rut and went straight into a protruding bit of vegetation (looked like a grass-tree base), leading to a significant crash. It wasn't especially high-speed (maybe 15-20 km/h) but I landed hard and felt quite shaken up. The most significant damage appeared to be to my left hand, so holding the handlebars was a challenge for the rest of it, and I was also feeling a little dazed, but managed to get through the last 10 minutes and made it home.

The hand is badly bruised (I think - I'm reasonably confident nothing is broken because I can bend and straighten it OK - it just hurts to do so - and it hurts less when I move it). It did mean that my route choice home was determined by minimising the number of gear changes (normally I'd go Bell Street rather than the Ring Road). I was actually impressed with the number of bits of body I managed to damage in the one fall (also the other hand, both knees, chest area and chin - although I think the last of these was inflicted by the helmet strap/buckle, perhaps an indication that this could have been worse). Hopefully nothing too serious. I haven't done MTBO for four years, and it might take me that long to forget tonight.

C • Gravity should be a swear word, I've often thought! 3

Suspected broken bone in left hand from MTBO crash.

Event: National Altitude Trainning Camp
 

A fairly mundane session at Fitzroy before a day at the MCG. A little later in the morning than I'm usually there but still too early to encounter any of that portion of pool-visiting society that Tooms keeps talking about.

Had a case of history almost repeating itself later in the day on the bike when a horse and cart in Swanston Street pulled out from the kerb without looking, but I was sufficiently on the ball (and had sufficient room) to pull up behind. My most significant bike crash was in almost the same location and for the same reason (the sort of incident which I suspect was more common in 1898 than 1998).

Once again from near home to the Banyule Flats, but took to the single-track along the river this time. The blackberries have overgrown it a little since I was last here but I expect the mountain bikers will keep it passable (whether Parks think the blackberries or the mountain bikers are a greater pest is unknown). Felt much as I did last time.

The future of this area is rather uncertain as it's a potential route for a freeway linking the Ring Road to the Eastern. As someone rather unkindly pointed out in a letter to the Age recently, the local MPs promise that it would not happen while he was in office looks like being kept because he has been "dumped by the party machine" - although that is a rather unkind description of a ballot, in effect decided by one vote, which was as close to a fair and democratic preselection as you'll find in any of the political parties. He may well be wondering if his career would still be continuing had the ballot not taken place while I was stuck in Darwin. (The answer: no).

The Koonung-Doncaster loop. Didn't feel as if I had a lot of strength on the hills and felt rather sluggish generally, but still ended up only a few seconds slower than last time for a similar effort. I do seem to be going a few percent faster for the same effort than a few weeks back so the time I'm spending on the bike is clearly having some impact, although not much compared to a lot of you. (I'd be intrigued to know how much of this can be traced back to equipment and how much to the rider).

I did seem to find just about every red light in the district - the time doesn't include these, but it was still an annoyance as I was on a reasonably tight timetable if I wanted to get the train that would get to the MCG in time for the start of the cricket. This mission was accomplished.

C • red light district? 1

Very much a recovery session, on the Sorrento-Rye loop, mostly flat except for a short climb through Sorrento. Not as busy as I expected; it wasn't until the afternoon that the crowds started pouring in (by which stage I was on the way back to Melbourne). Didn't feel especially energetic, not a surprise after yesterday's effort, but a reasonably pleasant session nonetheless.

Christmas morning, another step up (stage 5 of 6), 1 min off/5 on, from near my place (didn't think I was quite ready for the Hawdon Street hill yet) along the Banyule Flats. This included the first hills of any description (i.e. a two-contour rise from the flats) since I've started jogging again. No soreness on the flat and not even really any on the "hill" either, but didn't feel quite right and I can't say I have a lot of confidence about what might happen with a resumption of more meaningful training next week. Also felt pretty sluggish but that's to be expected at this stage of a comeback. In any case all of this was a minor appetiser to the big session of the day.

Christmas Day for us often involves going from one aunt's place at Albert Park to another's at Blairgowrie on the Mornington Peninsula. Riding between the two has long been on my to-do list, since my uncle used to do it occasionally in the 1980s and early 1990s, but it's something I've only considered when my running has been limited or non-existent. My first attempt, in the reverse direction, was in 2001. On that occasion the body did the job but the machinery didn't - puncture number 1 was fixed but I'd run out of equipment to do anything with puncture number 2, and had to call for a pick-up 10km from the end.

I don't really like leaving unfinished challenges so had this on my list for this year. The timing wasn't quite optimal - a bit too close to Christmas dinner, but if I was going to make it before dark I couldn't leave it much later. The conditions were also less than optimal, with a fresh southerly making for fairly heavy going for the first hour along Beach Road. This proved to be the hardest section; after Mordialloc the road is more sheltered, and the winds became lighter still after turning inland after Frankston (which made the one significant climb of the trip easier to take). The winding section around Mount Martha was a bit exposed but after that, turning west and then north-west, the wind shifted from hostile to neutral to friendly. For the last 15km I was starting to get a bit saddle-sore and the mind was on automatic pilot, focusing on the road and not much else (it turned out Jim Oystein was running the last 10km and I'd passed him, but I hadn't noticed).

Given my previously noted struggles with longer rides I was pleased with how this one went. It helped that I'd been building myself up to it mentally for several days, and took on more fluid and food than I have on earlier rides. The limited number of hills probably helped, too. I might have been tempted to push on to 100km had others not been waiting for me. As it was this was my longest more-or-less continuous ride (I did do 110km on Cup Day some years ago, but that was broken up with stops for, among other things, morning tea, lunch, watching the Cup, and two visits to the TAB - and it's always a good Cup Day when you have cause to visit the TAB twice). Gradually picked up speed as it went on (21km in the first hour, 22 in the second, 23 in the third, 24 in the last), although the wind had a bit to do with that.

The traffic was generally modest - the coast road was built for more traffic than it now carries so is generally a good run - and I only experienced one bit of gratuitous road rage, shortly after passing the 'Caution: Bogans Next 10km' sign*. Inebriated pedestrians were occasionally in evidence, especially at the start and end; one at Rye was wandering across the street with a carrot sticking out of his shorts in a suggestive location.

(* - it actually said 'Welcome to the City of Frankston').

Pool running at Fitzroy, swapping from Friday for reasonably obvious reasons. Definitely a morning where you wanted to be in the water rather than out of it (31 at 6 a.m., although it had dropped to 26 briefly earlier; Swan Hill set a Victorian record for December with a low of 30.1), and there were a few more people in the water than one might normally expect in the run-up to a holiday. A steady if unspectacular session.

Had my nearest miss last night for a while, realising just in time that the big 4WD was not going to stop at the entrance of the William Street roundabout. One needs to be on the ball when on the roads at 10 or 10.30 as I have been the last couple of nights. Also saw a couple of other examples of questionable driving (including someone who subscribes to the popular Mexican theory that using headlights drains your battery), and a lot of people out in front yards and on median strips on a hot summer night. I was expecting the negotiation of the street past Queen Victoria Market to be challenging this morning, but it wasn't too bad with only one double-parked object.

C • roundabout 1

Went east this time for the long Wednesday commute, hoping that the lighter traffic of the pre-Christmas week might make it an easier proposition - as noted previously there are no really good north-south options to get from Koonung Creek to Gardiners Creek. This time I tried a route based on Middleborough and Highbury Roads, which featured the good (a two-kilometre downhill and broad left lane on Highbury Road), the bad (turning off into what I thought was a side-street short cut but was actually a dead end) and the ugly (realising as soon as I hit Warrigal Road that going a kilometre down it as planned was for Darwin Awards candidates only and that I should get back into side streets as soon as possible).

Took a while to get going and faded a bit at the end, although part of that was a bit of back soreness from carrying a heavier load than I will be on Friday (lack of sleep probably didn't help). A somewhat faster pace than usual in the last two-thirds (25km in the final hour) which might partly explain that.

Various portable electronic signs advised of diversions around the impending Springvale Road roadworks; the signs were more informative than the one I saw yesterday which had the simple message 'MODEM FAILED'.

Again 1 min off/4 on around the Polly Woodside - mostly shadeless concrete which wasn't necessarily the most pleasant place to be on a 35-degree lunchtime (which turned into the second successive 39-degree Wednesday afternoon; at least this injury has saved me from a couple of uncomfortable Summer Series runs). Pretty stiff early on but loosened up by the second repetition; still felt sufficiently abnormal, if not painful, on the bridge to worry me, but OK on the flat. Handled the heat OK but probably wouldn't have wanted to be out much longer.

There seemed to be a lot of helicopter traffic today; not sure why.

From home to work via the Yarra Flats and Yarra Boulevard. Didn't feel especially strong on the hills but kept a respectable pace going.

The malt smell from the Abbotsford brewery was particularly strong this morning. In times gone by that smell would have been absent at this time of year because one of the great 1980s Australian industrial relations traditions was the pre-Christmas beer strike; others who often made their presence (or absence) felt at this time of year were the posties (who are having a re-run this year) and the aircraft refuellers.

It is the longest day of the year and I'm currently putting in one of my longest days of the year, wondering what's so special about 9.30 a.m. that 80% of the dodgy observations I found for Darwin were made then.

Pool running session to start the week, a bit earlier in the morning than I've been managing recently. (My start time recently has been governed by the arrival time of the morning paper, which has been creeping later and later but got back to a reasonably respectable 6.30 this morning). This meant more sunglare, but apart from that it was quite a nice session.

School holidays have started and traffic going into the city was fairly minimal, but not so minimal as to prevent one element of it having a deep and meaningful conversation with a William Street power pole.

Australia's headline-writers obviously aren't as well-educated as I thought they might have been, because I have yet to see any of them take the opportunity to use the headline "Something Rotten In The State of Denmark" after the disappointing outcome in Copenhagen.

C • a rotten deal 1

At lunchtime from work, taking the next step up - 1 min off/4 min on. The Polly Woodside provides quite a nice 4-minute loop for this, which I'll be hoping not to have to use on too many more occasions. The foot has improved considerably since Saturday (in any case it was more of an issue walking than running), and doesn't seem to have pulled up sore afterwards either, but the main injury still doesn't feel quite right and I don't feel that I'm making huge progress.

Use of AP for work-related purposes department: I'm currently in the process of updating the Australian long-term high-quality temperature data set (which is what has been keeping me occupied to sometimes-outlandish hours), and in particular scouring it for suspect observations. One which was flagged by one of my original checks was a maximum of 34.8 at Wagga on 24 March 2007. A look at the hourly observations showed hot conditions overnight, steady rain starting in the early morning, temperature dropping to 20 at 9 a.m. (which is the cutoff for maximum temperature - anything earlier goes into the previous day) and then continuing to fall through the day. I thought that sounded familiar, so I checked my log and it was familiar - 2007 NSW Sprint Champs day at Charles Sturt Uni. This enabled me to confirm that the 34.8 was definitely wrong.

(Another use of my training records for this purpose - my hard-copy diaries this time - was to resolve an inconsistency between a maximum of 13 and a highest hourly value of 17 for Canberra on 16 November 1988, a run I remembered well for being long, cold and very wet - it was in the middle of the HSC and one of the few occasions I ran home from school. On that occasion it was the hourly value that was wrong).

A final note on the interplay between training and weather is to note that the beach where I did the intervals session in between the fishermen and the 4WDs on 23 June is pretty well right in the firing line for Cyclone Laurence. I don't expect too much of the beach to be there tomorrow morning. Sand dunes give the caravan park (where I believe there are a few holdouts) some protection but if they get breached it could flood in a hurry; hoping for the best.

A shorter but more ambitious route than last week: Wattle Glen-Kangaroo Ground-Warrandyte-Donvale-Eastern Freeway path. Almost continuously hilly until hitting the path at 38k; most of it manageable, but the climb out of Warrandyte on Harris Gully Road was brutal (will be interested to look at a contour map but wouldn't expect much change out of 15%).

Reasonably strong through the first two-thirds but again hit a bit of a flat spot around 45k (I took a banana with me this time so there goes that theory). I think it might just be a case of muscular endurance in muscles that aren't used to this level of work on the hillier rides. I hope it's a function of hilliness rather than distance, as the (by my riding standards) epic I have tentative plans for (watch this space) will only be starting to hit its most significant hills at 45k.

A sign soliciting funds to build an indoor sports stadium at Diamond Creek said 'we're almost there!'. Evidently 'almost' has a different definition in Diamond Creek as they're $250K, en route to $1M. The local school also had a sign wishing everyone a merry Christmas, which reminds me that I haven't seen a seasonal staple this year: a news story about some inner city school/child care centre which has allegedly "banned Christmas" out of political correctness. Usually any connection between such stories and reality is tenuous at best.

C • When Christmas was banned 1

C • Amy's Ride 2

Usual Saturday loop. Felt stronger on the hills than I have previously, which showed up in the time; was particularly pleased with how I worked the final hill back to my place. They must make a better class of dog owner in the eastern suburbs because the on-leash compliance rate was 100%.

Going past Doncaster Shoppingtown there was already a kilometre-long queue of cars waiting to get into the car park at 8.45 in the morning. That certainly made me glad that my plans for Christmas shopping (most of it to be done today) didn't involve any big suburban malls.

I had more tastes of the season last night. At the moment I'm working something bordering on Liggo hours (even in the most intense, five-hours-sleep-a-night-if-lucky, phases of Year 12 I didn't work Friday nights), and was making my way home at 9.30 last night. Just about every establishment en route had a party of some kind going, and some of it was inevitably reflected on the street; my scoreboard for the night was two pedestrians wandering aimlessly down the middle of the road, and one driver who was too tired or drunk to notice that the light was green and had been for the last 30 seconds.

Was in two minds over whether to do this given my foot soreness of recent days, but it was OK while running (still not especially confident I'd handle anything rougher, though). In Preston (en route to the markets), sharing the oval with the well-performing members of the local dog obedience club. 3 mins on/1 min off, as with Thursday.

The wonders of Facebook: a (non-orienteering) acquaintance is getting married today at Jervis Bay and one of the guests posted photos of the proud couple. I immediately recognised the spot as being one end of the intervals set described at http://www.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_1491/p.... Very nice spot for a wedding photo (and the weather looks like it was better today than it was on 11 August too).

Pool running at Fitzroy. The same regular was there to pass the time of day with as we went past each other. In this game there's a fairly good chance other people doing it will also have injury stories to tell (although I'm considering keeping a session of this as a recovery session once this injury is behind me), and so it proved - in her case a broken collarbone falling off a motorbike. Sun glare something of an issue this morning.

Foot feels a bit better today than it did yesterday, but still a bit of a concern.

Sets of 1 min walk/3 min run, based around my parking spot outside the Arden Street oval; it's hard to believe that top-level football was ever played out of here. At least North Melbourne are no longer operating out of portable tin sheds - their new building is finished (which also happens to house the State Fencing Centre). Heavy clouds gathering but the rain didn't arrive until some hours later.

The Achilles is responding OK to this, but some soreness is appearing further down the foot; not really noticeable on the run but definitely was afterwards. I'm not sure what to make of this; it may well be a temporary response to resuming (some sort) of running, but it also feels a little like the early stages of my 2000 stress fracture. Hard to imagine that I could get a stress fracture in four days of jogging, though.

Followed the "run" up by riding to work via the usual circuitous route (i.e. through Essendon). Felt pretty smooth although noticed foot soreness a bit later on. Windy at times but only occasionally a nuisance.

To work via the northern loop again, although made my way south via the Merri Creek path to Brunswick, mainly because I had something to drop off at Clara's place. A hot day was promised (and materialised) but it wasn't too bad riding, although it had risen to 30 by the time I made it to work. Felt fairly reasonable although a little tired at the end.

The last time I came down the Merri Creek path it was blocked near Bell Street because of works associated with rebuilding Melbourne's sewer system, but it's clear now. Some of the path isn't in great condition and the dog-walkers don't take any more notice of on-leash zone signs than they did when I was running in these parts.

Saw a real estate sign, "Stunning Factory", not usually a set of words you'll see together.

One interesting feature of this morning was that the traffic was unusually heavy in the suburbs near train lines, but not elsewhere. My theory is that a lot of regular train passengers lacked confidence in the railway system's ability to handle a 39-degree day (with some reason based on historic experience, although there don't seem to have been any major meltdowns) and drove instead. A bicycle is more reliable on a hot day than either, but that doesn't make going home in 38 degrees into a headwind any easier. (I don't log "regular" commutes, but I was tempted today).

C • Thanks! 1

2 min jog/1 min walk, from home, same up-and-down route as Sunday. Good news is the tightness is gone, bad news is that I noticed the hotspot a little bit - nothing major, but then there were days before I stopped where I noticed nothing major either. Suggests a slow rehab process is no bad thing.

Out and back along the Koonung Creek path - not a commute for once as I had the ASC summit at the MCG rather than work (at least in the morning). The path is fun, the roads getting there and back were not fun - I'm normally doing them on a weekend when they're fine, but at 7.30 or 8.30 on a weekday they're the major truck route between the Hume and the Eastern. Working fairly hard on the outward trip, and cruising enjoyably on the long downhills coming back.

The ASC summit on the Crawford review was interesting, although I was hoping for more concrete indications from the ASC as to what they thought was likely to happen (to be fair, they've probably got about as much idea as the rest of us). The day was more about identifying from sports what the controversial issues were (no real surprises here) and where the gaps in the report were. It's also apparent that everyone wants more money, but I'm not convinced that more money is going to be forthcoming. Surprisingly little vigorous argument, but that may be because the real heavyweights were missing - John Coates wasn't there, and the likes of the AFL, NRL, rugby union, cricket and soccer either weren't there or were represented by low-level people.

The award for being in the right place at the right time goes to the Victorian Environment Minister, Gavin Jennings. You may have noticed press reports that he was missing from Copenhagen because his doctor had said he couldn't fly. I found out the reason why today - he had a heart attack in his office on Friday. Fortuitously, at the time there was a meeting going on in the next office between the Health Minister and the AMA, whose members were able to do the necessary.

Also noticed that for once the courts threw the book at someone who ran down a cyclist (13 years, the heaviest sentence I can remember for culpable driving), although the combination of speeding while drunk and on drugs and in the process of going to buy more drugs was never going to attract much judicial sympathy.

C • sentence 3

Pool running session at Fitzroy, reasonably smooth. Had the same company as last time, exchanging pleasantaries each time we passed each other. Didn't seem to tighten up afterwards like I did last time, but then I haven't run yet.

Seven parking spots in front of the pool are being converted to bike parking. As it is not a shopping strip I presume it will not attract the response we had in Heidelberg where, in a display of the myopia for which Australian small business is famous, local traders went to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to try to stop four parking spots being turned into a bus stop.

C • The waving loonie in Fitzroy 1

1 min walk, 2 min run. My instructions are to do this on flat ground which makes it a bit of a challenge from home - as those of you who have been there will know, flat ground is in short supply in the immediate vicinity. Found a flat stretch just long enough for 2 minutes and went up and down it the requisite number of times.

A bit tight again but nowhere near as bad as Friday. Also a hint of right Achilles soreness early on but that quickly disappeared. Encouraged by the way the central injury is holding up (so far).

Not included in my log was walking against warming yesterday afternoon. This had a decent turnout (not quite as decent as the organisers claimed, but there's nothing unusual about that for a demo - the shooters are particularly good at telling porkies on this subject). Some of the drivers waiting to cross the throng were somewhat less than impressed; I did think it was nicely symbolic that at Flinders Lane stuck vehicle number 1 was a Porsche and stuck vehicle number 2 was a Range Rover (it would have been more symbolic still had stuck vehicle number 3 been a Hummer).

While on matters environmental, there has been a rare coincidence between a government decision and a branch resolution lately with the State Government's decision not to pursue the export of brown coal, following a recent resolution by the Ivanhoe Branch calling on them not to do so. Any thoughts that this might have been influence rather than coincidence is dispelled by the fact that I haven't actually got around to sending the resolution to the responsible minister yet.

The longest ride I've done so far in this sequence, doing the loop Heidelberg-Hurstbridge-Arthurs Creek-Yan Yean and home. No really big hills but a reasonable number of smaller ones, most notably climbing out of Arthurs Creek. Some really nice country towards the far end of the loop, although it would have been nicer going in the reverse direction. (Quite a lot of other cyclists were doing this, although going in the reverse direction would have meant doing the narrow and busy section south of Diamond Creek uphill rather than downhill, and I think I'd rather be doing such a section at 40 than 15). I thought this route might take me into the fire area but it didn't, quite; the Arthurs Creek CFA (who must have seen an awful lot on that day ten months ago) were busy training.

Riding well through the first 30k, then hit a bit of a bad patch, especially around 45k, which suggests that my muscular endurance isn't up to taking on any really big climbs yet. Got a bit of a second wind later on but still pretty tired at the end. Nice to get a session like this under my belt though.

C • Food 4

Forgot to mention anything in yesterday's log about Thursday night's Zatopek races - a couple of excellent 10k races. It's already well known what happened in front so I won't discuss that at length here. Hanny ran 34.25, a decent run without being spectacular. I imagine she'll be wanting to take a minute off this - you don't run 2.32 marathons off a mid-34s 10k (unless your name is Lauren Shelley) - but a top-10 result in a national championship is still not to be sneezed at. Kathryn broke 35 for the first time, doing 34.50 after a long battle with the aforementioned Lauren. She's come a long way in a short time; is it really only a bit over six months ago that her aim was a sub-37? (and that I was thinking that trying to stay with her was a potential strategy in pursuit of a 37 of my own).

The usual Saturday loop. Didn't feel especially smooth but faster than previous outings here. The various bits of storm debris on the bike path at Box Hill North have been cleaned up since I was last here. Christmas shopping traffic already starting to make its presence felt in the vicinity of the Doncaster mall.

From the current Canberra forecast (at http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDN10035.shtml, but will be replaced by 11.30):

"A weak cold front has moved the ACT overnight, bringing isolated light showers and gusty westerly winds".

Doesn't sound like a terribly weak front to me. Can any of our Canberra readers advise as to where the ACT has been moved to?

C • So, no tsunami warnings 1

C • well i suppose 1

C • Moving sentiments 1

Pool running at Fitzroy - definitely nice to be out in the open air on a sunny morning, and Fitzroy has a decently long deep end too. Working a bit harder than in previous sessions, which may have had flow-on effects later in the day.

Once again 2 minutes on, 2 minutes off, heading out in the early evening from work along the river again. Lots of Christmas parties in evidence (I'd come myself from one at lunchtime, although not an especially indulgent one), which may make for an interesting evening on the roads when I finally hit them at 10 or thereabouts. Hopefully the much-advertised police blitz scares drunks away from their cars.

The main feature of this session was that both groins were extremely tight, probably a reaction to the pool running session as nothing like it happened on Wednesday. Loosened up a little later on but never comfortable. No sign of trouble in the Achilles but that may have been because I had other parts of my body to worry about.

C • Ladies? 1

To work via the northern route. Felt a bit flat, possibly because of lack of sleep (although last night was better). Got a pretty good run with the traffic. I'd done an interview before starting which didn't go quite so well - I'd been led to believe that it was with ABC Radio National about Australia but it was actually with Radio Australia about the Pacific, so I was rather under-prepared. Hope I managed to bluff successfully.

I'm also feeling a bit left out because I haven't received any threats yet.

Inspiration for the title of this session comes courtesy of Bridget. You'll be seeing it a bit in the next two or three weeks because my comeback is not going to be as rapid as I thought it might have been, which is frustrating, although I understand the merits of a conservative approach at this point in time. In its current form it's 2 minutes on, 2 minutes off, which is just like an intervals session except that you're doing your 400s at 120-second pace.

Headed out at lunchtime after a rather full-on morning even by my recent standards, up before 5, did my first interview from the waiting room of the Olympic Park Sports Medicine Centre at 5.50, later made a visit to the ABC studio, and fitted a trip to the dentist in amongst all of that too. Part of the object of the exercise was to try to stave off early-afternoon sleepiness, a mission which was more or less accomplished as it wasn't until I left that I hit the wall. Normally this would be a recipe for a dismal run but it was good to be out there again, even if it was doing intermittent jogs up and down the pavement outside the new convention centre and Jeff's Shed. A little bit of a twinge on the (slight) climb over the bridge but otherwise stable.

Saw Bruce coming back from his run. Also saw a certain amount of street theatre associated with something called the Parliament of the World's Religions which is currently happening at Jeff's Shed. (While on the subject of religion, it didn't go unnoticed that the nine Fred Nile candidates combined were narrowly beaten in Bradfield by the Australian Sex Party - which I suspect might fulfill a future role diverting 1-2% of couldn't-give-a-stuff Senate votes to the Greens via preferences).

On my current timetable it doesn't look like I'll make the 5-days, but with a bit of luck might be starting again properly in time for the new year at Falls.

The recession must be easing because property investment spruikers are starting to appear on radio ads again.

C • :D 1

C • You are my media world! 1

Another pool running session, the longest yet. Was originally planning to go to Fitzroy which has a long deep end, but thought this morning's conditions wouldn't be a lot of fun in an outdoor pool so went to Ivanhoe instead. Had the same company as I did last Friday (a recovering footballer as I suspected). Not unpleasant but didn't feel as if I was working that hard, which may or may not indicate something.

The World Meteorological Organisation's statement on the global climate for 2009 is coming out at 11 tonight (our time). I already have an impressively long list of bookings for the morning, starting out at 5.35 on 3AW and then moving onto AM and ABC2 at 8.30. I'm also on call until midnight tonight, which probably won't work wonders for my productivity tomorrow afternoon. (Unfortunately I won't be in a useless meeting between 2 and 3.30 tomorrow afternoon like I was today, so I won't be able to fall asleep in it without missing anything).

(I've already recorded the AM interview, and got asked a couple of times why Australia got mentioned so often in the statement. I didn't give what I suspect is the real reason - that we were more efficient in getting information to the WMO when they asked for it than anyone else was; all those late nights have achieved something).

C • hottest decade 1

A pretty solid morning's effort, once again taking in the Yarra Boulevard, at a slightly faster pace than previously. To some extent this was the ride I'd meant to do yesterday, although I overestimated the distance so ended up coming in somewhat under the 90-100 minutes I was planning on. If I hear what I want to hear on Wednesday there may not be too many more long rides to come...

Put in my first Monday night appearance for a while this evening, although only to eat (something I'm usually pretty good at).

Plan A was to go out for a ride for 1 1/2 hours or thereabouts in the morning. Things weren't quite going right in the morning - first my computer was horribly slow so I didn't get done what I wanted to get done, then I got out the door and realised I'd left my helmet inside, then I got back out and realised I'd left my phone inside (although the latter isn't exactly an essential item). Then I got a minute down the road and noticed that the tyre was a fair bit lower than it was yesterday. Not having any gear to fix a tyre and not wanting to find myself stranded a long way from anywhere, I turned around and started thinking of a plan B.

Plan B was available because Cassie had left a pool running belt behind in the cellar, so I headed down to CISAC after the conferencing was finished. Once again seemed to get the hang of it pretty well, and not too many people to get in the way (or for me to get in the way of) on a late Sunday afternoon.

A classic Canberra ride - around the lake from my parents' place in Aranda before the OA Conference started. A fairly reasonable session on a nice morning, with plenty of people out. Dad's bike is definitely easier to ride than his last one, but the lack of anything other than regular pedals is still noticeable uphill (and there's no way to get back to Aranda without a bit of a climb).

First try of pool running, at Ivanhoe. It took me a few minutes to get a feel for it but got going pretty nicely after that - clearly my system is hard-wired to generate endorphins when running but not when doing anything else. Still didn't feel like I was working that hard, a common affliction of alternate training methods for me, but a reasonably nice session. It wasn't even as boring as I was expecting it to be, although this is still something that I suspect would be more fun with company.

I also got a feel for some of the logistical issues involved. Not sure if it's the same for everyone but I found myself creeping forward very gradually, which meant a lot of turning around because the deep end at Ivanhoe isn't very big. You really need more than 1.5 metres depth to do this properly (Ivanhoe is 1.8 at the very end but 1.5 not too far from it), which will rule some pools out as a venue - but Fitzroy will be good. (I hope, though, not to be doing too many more of these sessions before getting the all-clear to resume proper running, on land).

C • across lanes 1

From home to work via the Yarra Boulevard. Working pretty hard through the hills of the Boulevard today. Had a bit of trouble with seat slipping down again later on.

I would have had a bit of an excuse for piking this morning but making excuses to avoid long sessions isn't really my style - and this was too good a morning to pass up in any case. Basically the northern ring road option again, with a few minor variations (mostly to drop something off at Kathy Liley's place in Watsonia). Felt pretty reasonably and didn't have the muscle soreness of some recent long rides.

Being on a bike at 11.30 in the evening, coming home last night, was a little bit nerve-wracking (although a Tuesday is better than a Friday). I did, however, manage to successfully traverse the CBD without witnessing a single bashing, stabbing or glassing.

There's a rumour that Andrew Bolt is working on a quickie book about the "Climategate" scandal. I hope he is - the chances of him being able to do so without saying something actionable about someone are fairly small (perhaps after the lawyers have finished with it there will be nothing left except the index and the cover).

C • Better hope it's paperback 1

A reasonably routine ride taking in the Yarra Boulevard, feeling reasonably strong when I needed to. A nice morning and plenty of bunches out and about.

I wasn't joking about today being a long day; it's 11.15 and I'm only just leaving work (and there wasn't even a lot of media).

C • Busy 6