Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

A longer course getting into the more complex and heavily vegetated parts of Cantara. Nowhere near as good a run as yesterday, never capturing quite the level of mental intensity (which probably had something to do with its being a less significant race). Missed 90 seconds at 4, the first difficult control, having failed to register that it was very close to one of yesterday's controls (and been confused by a depression when the "knoll" I thought I was looking for had its tag-line buried under the red line). Held it together through most of the course after that until the last bit, but then blew a minute on 19 and two on 20, turning what would have been a reasonably narrow loss to Simon into a substantial one (52 to 58).

It's definitely a fun area to run on if you approach it in a certain state of mind. The vegetation is probably too much of a lottery now for the less open areas to be used for a championship, but it's a definite challenge trying to stay in contact when you're continually being pushed off line. Pleased to have come. Also a novelty to get home from an interstate O trip before dark (more or less).

Oddity of the trip 1: the pint-sized school bus shelter on the road west of Frances (on the SA-Vic border). It looked just tall enough for a five-year-old - perhaps it hadn't occurred to its builder that the five-year-old would be six next year.

Oddity of the trip 2: Sophie Arthur (not quite two) obviously hasn't yet quite worked out that not every mid-thirties man wearing an MFR top and running towards her is Daddy.

Oddity of the trip 3: seeing a minibus-load of men (probably a football team on their way back from some serious drinking) relieving themselves en masse by the side of the highway between Horsham and Stawell.

Event: SA Sprint Champs
 

SA Sprint Champs at Cantara. Perhaps my best run in Australia this year - a high level of mental intensity from the start, flowing nicely and running strongly. It helped that I had Jim to chase through the middle of the course (something other than the terrain and the quality of the run that today had in common with the middle part of the WMOC sprint final). Only one very slight miss, and that was only a few seconds. 47 seconds is definitely as close as I've been to Simon for a long time.

Back in Melbourne briefly and did a monring session at Richmond. Good loosener, but faded away after a promising start.

Out early this morning and got what will probably be my last taste of frost for 2008. Started out around the east side of Bendigo (complete with some kangaroos around the La Trobe student residences), then up through Ironbark and Golden Square before finishing through Diamond Hill. A little longer than planned because I'd forgotten how far south the mine extended.

A fairly lacklustre run for the most part, without a lot of hill strength, although better than the equivalent effort last week. Picked up a bit in the last quarter.

Finished up at the Elmore Field Days today, which was a reasonably intense days, featuring some long conversations, some of them very interesting (the former Nationals MP for Swan Hill, now heavily involved in the northern Victorian irrigation project which includes the north-south pipeline, something that has placed him very much at odds with his former colleagues) and some of them very uninteresting (someone of reasonably advanced years who expounded his theories of the universe to us for 45 minutes non-stop). There's no rest for the wicked - I'm off to Cantara tomorrow night.

C • Wicked? 1

Early morning terrain run on Diamond Hill, sort of running controls from the 1990 Vic Champs course (or at least such parts of the course as haven't disappeared into the mine). Not a bad run, although a bit tentative in the rougher and thicker stuff - a bad habit I get into in non-flat-out runs in terrain.

I've been to Bendigo many times but have almost never done a run here that hasn't involved terrain - my only extended stay here in the past was for WMOC 2002 and the preparations for it, and at that stage I was injured.

Headed out into the bush nonetheless, the first half on the tracks (some of them reasonably rough) of One Tree Hill, the second half back through the suburbs (with a couple of dead-ends). Flowing nicely at times on the level, but still not a lot of strength when climbing.

Noticed from the latest IOF Council minutes that Poland had raised "an issue" relating to JWOC banquets. Would any of our younger readers care to enlighten us as to whether any scandal was involved?

C • ooooo scandal 5

A terrific session at Lake Weeroona with Evan and a couple of his mates. After a fair bit of warming up, did 4x1k with about 500 jog recovery. I thought I was going to be seriously outclassed in this company when warm-up talk was about one of the others doing 8.36 for 3k the other day. I was seriously outclassed, but at least had Evan sort of within range to chase, and pulled out four very smooth intervals, significantly faster than I've managed in a session of this type at any stage this year (or, for that matter, ever in the couple of years I've done it). Perfect conditions for running helped. Thought being on my feet for most of the day at Elmore might have been a minus but it wasn't. One of the nicest sessions I've done for a while and had a real buzz after it - good to have some evidence I can run fast (at least for me) again. Km splits 3.31, 3.30, 3.29, 3.28.

I could be forgiven for being slightly apprehensive waiting for the others to arrive given that the meeting place was close to the Owen Dowling Memorial conveniences. The aforementioned Reverend Dowling was the Anglican Bishop of Canberra (and chairman of our school board) who was arrested at the aforementioned lavatories for soliciting in 1992 - not the most brilliant of career moves for a bishop, especially one who had some influential enemies (he was the leader of the campaign for the ordination of women, something fiercely opposed by the more conservative elements of the church). If I remember rightly he soon retired with as much dignity as was possible in the circumstances, and I think died a couple of years ago.

Warm-up and down for the intervals session.

A rather slow plod around the streets of Eaglemont - didn't feel as if I had the zip to do anything faster even if I'd wanted to, which I didn't. Up in Bendigo now for the next few days (telling the farmers where it hasn't been raining).

C • Where in bendigo? 3

Discovered a new pool - Bendigo's - on the way back after setting up at Elmore. Seems a reasonably nice pool (and the best change rooms I've seen in my travels), even if it was a day when the conditions were best described as "nice once you're in". Not surprisingly I didn't have a lot of company.

Very lethargic at the start and had some goggle problems early, but got into a nice rhythm in the second half.

Noticed that Prime TV in Bendigo still has the segment on at 7.30 telling all the boys and girls that it's time for bed, just like Capital in Canberra used to (does it still?).

C • yep :) 3

C • Not the open air pool? 2