Run 2:15:00 [3] 27.0 km (5:00 / km)
A close match for the classic Peninsula run, heading essentially along the bay side to Portsea, over to London Bridge, then back along the beach and tracks - only exception was saving the Koonya section of the track for tomorrow. Not brilliant for most of the way but kept plugging away and didn't really tire.
I would have hoped not to have been up before 6 during holidays (unless it was to escape a 40-degree day, something which has been refreshingly absent so far this summer), but the timetable of wedding-related activities, in particular a 9.15 hairdresser's appointment, meant the only option was early. (In a miracle of modern times, I found something at a hairdresser's worth reading).
So ends training for 2008, falling 9 hours short of my total for 2007, which isn't bad given the amount of time I've spent on the road this year, especially in the first half; December has been my biggest month since 2001. In domestic competition the year was a bit of a disappointment, especially blowing a big opportunity in Queensland, but WMOC was definitely a major highlight.
Competed in 8 countries this year, and trained in another 4.
Best race of the year: definitely the WMOC sprint final, not just because of its result, but because I managed to achieve an intensity on the day which I haven't managed for years. At home the pick of the bunch was probably the long WOC trial in Tasmania (especially because it came the day after returning from one of my abundant overseas trips). It's tempting to nominate the middle third of the Canberra Marathon, but nominating the middle third of a marathon is rather missing the point.
Best training run of the year: with the amount of travelling this year it's almost inevitable that it's one which happened elsewhere. I'm finding it hard to separate two in apparently unpromising settings: Seoul in February and Leeton in October.
Hopefully 2009 will be a less harrowing year off the field than 2008 was at times; being responsible for setting off a chain of events that saw us to the brink of the courts, and has probably resulted in the loss of three promising orienteers to the sport, is something that I will be dwelling on (especially in the middle of bad runs) for a long time yet.