Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

What a difference a week makes. Last week, at about the 2.25 mark, I was wondering if I was going to be able to manage the last few minutes to get home, and hoping for red lights so I had an excuse to stop. This week at the equivalent mark I was looking for other places to go. The cooler conditions had something to do with this, as did the 4kg of fluid that I didn't have this time last week.

Started out for the first half with Bruce on the small tracks (and a few non-tracks) around Yarra Bend as far as the Gipps Street bridge. All quite pleasant at a fairly comfortable pace. We then ran into Dion on his way home - spent about 10 minutes with him going back to Clifton Hill, then struck out on my own back up to the Burke Road bridge and back to the car through Darebin Parklands. That bit was a bit longer than planned on but the way I was feeling I didn't really care - it was tempting to stretch it out further and go for something like 2.50 or even 3 hours, but this was supposed to be an easy week, after all.

With the pleasant conditions there were plenty of people out running and doing various other things, and not the sort of people who were seen running in the vicinity at 10.30 p.m. a few days back. (Three characters, described by the Age and the ABC as 'intellectually impaired sexual offenders' and by the Herald-Sun as 'DEPRAVED SEX FIENDS', did a runner from the local mental health institution before being picked up the next day). I did encounter a woman stridently objecting to people riding across the pipeline bridge (they're not supposed to but everybody does). She probably calls 13WATER if she sees somebody with a hose at 5.58 a.m. too. I resisted the temptation to point out that her dog was illegally off-leash.

Next week will be tough - plan to ramp the training up a bit again and the conditions will be difficult for at least some of the week, and possibly most of it.

C • You should not have resisted t... 1

Felt reasonably good, probably because it's the first time for a while that I've had the chance to run in temperatures under 20 (and possibly the last for a while the way things are looking). The last 10 minutes were particularly nice. Pace slower than I thought I was going, even after factoring in time lost at a railway crossing.

Woke up with a bit of a sore left shoulder today. No surprise after yesterday's swim and almost certainly nothing to worry about. Should be easier next time.

After a couple of false starts (courtesy of missing goggles last Friday and a flat tyre on the bike on the way to the pool on Monday), I finally got back into the pool today for the first time in a couple of years. I found this quite useful for recovery in 2003-04 - my technique is too poor for it to qualify as any sort of serious aerobic training.

There was no soreness at all in the elbow so obviously getting some extra bits taken out along with the metal in October did the trick. A few other arm/shoulder muscles showed signs of long-term unemployment but nothing to worry about too much.

C • Swim 2

I'm looking at going up to Falls Creek over the long weekend, assuming it's not on fire - will be in touch with the Victorians by e-mail but if any of the ACT/NSW people are interested in coming down, drop me an e-mail by next Tuesday or so.

C • Falls 1

30 degrees at 6 a.m. is ridiculous even by recent standards (second warmest January night on record in Melbourne). Today was largely about survival (and rebuilding confidence at performing in the heat), and the route was determined largely by the location of known taps - started up around the Yarra to the Finns reserve footbridge (with a little bit of exploring looking for new routes on the far side of Odyssey House), then up through Ruffeys Lake park, then back along the path that parallels the Eastern Freeway.

Felt good for about 10 minutes after every drinks stop. Otherwise it wasn't especially comfortable, but it certainly wasn't as bad as several of last week's efforts and I'm happy to get something like this on the board in the conditions. Hadn't planned to go quite as far as 2.01 (had been thinking more 1.50-1.55) but now it's in the book I'm not complaining.

C • Mr Media 2

A steady run from Clifton Hill up around Northcote and the Merri Creek, a little shorter than I've been doing Wednesday mornings of late. Still reasonably cool, which won't be the case this evening. Not really looking forward to that and looking forward to next week even less - if the models are right we could be looking at several successive days in the high 30s/low 40s. They're not always terribly reliable 6-8 days out and I'm hoping that this is one time they're not reliable.

C • Swedish Newspapers 5

It was 37 degrees for the start of this, probably the highest temperature I've run in 10 years. Was hoping I might not have to try too hard but was greeted by the best field of the season - Bruce, Adam, Warren and Simon Goddard were all there. (Studley Park tends to bring people out of the woodwork, partly because they live nearby and partly because it's a nice area).

Not being particularly confident of my ability to last the distance in the heat after last week's experiences, I decided to start conservatively and come through the field later on if I still had something left at that stage. As it turned out I also took a different route early (with some nice opportunities for terrain running) and hit halfway behind Bruce, Warren and Adam. The plan worked, more or less - both Adam and Warren fell away dramatically in the last quarter. I think I was catching Bruce a little at the end too, but he was too far in front (a bit over a minute) to be in range. Felt considerably better at the end than I did on any of the last four runs of last week.

C • Melb city 7

Again good to get back to some semblance of normality, although the real test will come over the next couple of days. A little on the slow side (9.24 fastest loop) but I wasn't really in the mood to attack the course in a big way today.

Sounds like there's a rival bid for the title of 'Antipodean orienteer with the highest media profile' this week:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3921153a10,00....

Sounds from the media coverage as if Kate got out of it essentially OK, but it must have been a seriously scary experience. It's not unheard of for orienteers to encounter the evidence of past murders (the Belanglo case being the most obvious), but to encounter one more or less in progress is something else again.

C • Makes the feralness of the Can... 1

Was meant to be the first of the MFR runs for the year but Nicola was the only other one who turned up. A pleasant enough jaunt around the hills of Eaglemont once early stiffness worked its way out of the system, on a very pleasant night. Gratified to discover that I am still capable of running up hills, despite the evidence to the contrary over the last few days. Ate a bit too close to starting out which was a little uncomfortable at the end.