Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Had my pick of venues today anywhere between the place I stayed (about 80km SE of Tallahassee) and Miami. I was thinking of Ocala National Forest but was deterred when I read advice that if entering the forest during hunting season (which it is) it was essential to wear bright orange, so instead picked one of the rail trails listed on the Florida map, south-east from Cross City. It wasn't terribly exciting - for most of its length the old railway line ran parallel to the highway - but it was traffic-free. Never a stellar run but kept churning out the kilometres steadily, and only tired at all in the last 15 minutes.

It was quite humid for the run, which went on to turn into torrential downpours on and off for a couple of hours in the Orlando area - there would have been a lot of very wet and miserable small kids at Disney World today. There's a drought there too but I'm not sure if it's yet at the stage where people grit their teeth and say 'it's good for the catchments' like they would in an equivalent situation at home.

First run on American soil. As regular readers will know, I quite often use my runs for other purposes and this one was to investigate the recovery (or lack thereof) from Hurricane Katrina on the Mississippi Gulf Coast (which was the place which actually took the direct hit). Did a loop through Biloxi, starting out along the beach before cutting in to the bay at the back of the town and coming through the centre.

At first coming along the coast it looks like a lot of the damage has been repaired - until you realise that there are about a quarter the number of buildings that there should be for prime waterfront real estate (at least prime in the absence of storm surges). It's a slightly odd mix of gleaming new buildings, buildings under repair, slabs and overgrown vacant blocks. (A lot of the gleaming new buildings are casinos. Gambling was formerly only legal here on boats, but almost all the casinos sank during Katrina - or, in at least one case, ended up a couple of kilometres inland - and obviously the laws have been changed. The effects of casinos haven't changed - one of them had a pawn shop operating in a hut in the car park). An indication of how bad it was here was a sign showing the waterline, up to top-of-door level on a house at least 1.5 kilometres from the shoreline.

It wasn't the most cheery setting for a run (or the best run I've ever had) but that wasn't the point.

It was surprising just how much forest there was on the way east - I'd been driving at least 500km before seeing any evidence of any sort of agriculture. With the long, flat roads lined by pine forests and the odd lake you could be forgiven for thinking you were heading for Tampere rather than Tallahassee (at least at this time of year; I don't think you'd confuse the two in summer).

When I was originally looking at rearranging this week (because of being in Canberra Wednesday night, and leaving it too early Tursday for a long run then to be a realistic proposition), I was thinking of going long today, but was deterred when it became apparent that it would probably be hot - not that I was anticipating 33 degrees at 7.30 a.m.

This was a bit of a token effort - one of those days when you're good for 20 minutes but fade quickly after that. In addition to the heat, a strong headwind on several of the sprints made it hard work. Fastest loop 9.32.

I head to the US later today - looking forward to the science. Also looking forward to some of the running (especially in Asheville and in Georgia), although I suspect New Orleans and Miami may not be quite such an ideal environment.

A remarkably smooth trip to the US. Arrival in New Orleans was on time just about to the minute, the immigration queue in LA was about a quarter the usual length (and the officials were actually friendly), and I'm feeling remarkably unjetlagged for 8.45 p.m.

Getting a government official visa was a pain in the backside (you need one if you're travelling on an official passport), but it has upsides - it meant I didn't have to go through the fingerprint process.

C • Bendigo 5

A flying visit to Canberra to give a talk at the National Mathematics Summer School last night (they usually invite one or two of their old boys/girls to talk about their scientific career). They seemed to particularly enjoy the story of my encounter with 'Today Tonight' a couple of years ago (the one where they managed the trifecta of getting my name, title and institution wrong and edited the word 'not' out of one of my sentences).

Went swimming at Belconnen - pretty early which meant there were a lot of lap swimmers out. Mundane for the most part but built up a nice rhythm in the last couple of laps when there wasn't traffic in the way.

Aranda has long been a gathering place for orienteers - there was a time when you could have assembled a respectable National League team from within a 1km radius of the intersection of Bindubi and Bandjalong. It might produce a few more in time because anyone who can successfully navigate from the northbound Gungahlin Drive into the suburb has already demonstrated some relevant skills. Also spotted a few signs on bus stops 'save the 41', which in its earlier incarnation as the 433 was a regular haunt of mine in school days (to the extent that I gave it as my address in the year 12 handbook).

One of the better long midweek runs I've done in recent times, a solid effort throughout and flowing quite well for much of the middle section. Not bad at finish although not as strong as I would have liked on some of the hills. Pleasantly cool, although very humid (with the secondary impact of a top streaming red in strategic places by the end from chafed nipples).

According to reports yesterday a crowd of anti-republic protestors in Kathmandu were chanting 'Long live the constitutional monarchy'. I trust it sounds better in Nepali.

C • The trouble is 1

A fairly mundane run after a very ordinary night's sleep. Once again back a problem overnight but no problem once awake. A bit weak on the later hills (there were no early hills).

A rather expensive day today - visiting the dentist and getting my car serviced on the same day.

Street-O at Skeleton Creek - went tonight rather than tomorrow because I won't make tomorrow (with a bit of further reshuffling to come). A dead flat area at Hoppers Crossing, but the street pattern (and some nice setting by James Fell) made it quite interesting. Made to work harder than I expected, but responded quite strongly with one of my best street-O efforts this year. Broke away from a bunch of 3 about 1/3 of the way through, but one of the others hung in there and was probably still only 60 metres down with two controls to go. He clearly thought this was unbridgable (he obviously doesn't know about my sprint) and took another route home, which wasn't a good move. I got a stitch myself in the last 800 metres and might have struggled to defend a close finish.

Not a bad session at Fitzroy, a bit earlier in the morning than I normally go (and consequently more people around than there usually are). Back was again uncomfortable overnight and again fine once I'd started moving. Not sure what the problem is but whatever it is I'm not sure that 20 hours on a plane will be exactly helpful, so hopefully it's gone by Friday.

Saw a report today that 700 people at an 'alternative lifestyle music festival' in a forest near Tenterfield had been stranded by floods and that the SES was organising a drop of 'essential supplies' to them. I wonder what constitutes 'essential supplies' to a group of 700 marooned hippies? (and is marijuana still the substance of choice for such people, or have they moved on to other vices?).

Supposedly the MFR Monday night, starting at St. Kilda and going down the beach to the north end of Brighton. (I say 'supposedly' because, as is normal at this time of year - there wasn't much of a turn-up - just Suse and her partner Owen). Did a surprisingly solid session with Owen, working hard into the wind on the way out before coming home quite quickly. Felt reasonably good after yesterday's efforts.