Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Just in case I had any lingering ideas of doing 3 hours today, was feeling a little out of sorts when I got up.

This was a Fairfield-based run, started out with 30 minutes on my own then with a group which eventually dwindled to Bruce and Hanny. Ordinary start, at its best through the middle third, then a bit of a battle later on - definitely glad I was doing two hours rather than three (and still really weak up hills, even the modest ones on offer on this run). A slightly faster pace than usual on the small tracks, which were even dustier than two weeks ago. Cooler than it has been, but very humid - after a week of impersonating Marble Bar Melbourne is now impersonating Brisbane.

An earlier start than I'd like on a Saturday, but that's unavoidable in the conditions we currently have. Still a bit too late to get the best of the Yarra flats cool air pockets, which in these conditions usually disappear somewhere around 7.30 or 8.

I got through this but it wasn't the most comfortable of runs - never as desperate as the last 20 minutes of Thursday, but still battling with anything more than a steady jog on flat ground - obviously still somewhat out of balance. An easier Sunday than normal is probably in order.

Also seem to have timed everything very well last night, as I failed to experience a single power outage at work, in transit or at home (instead of getting the train I drove to the pool in Richmond and got the tram from there; the trams seem to be coping better than the trains are). By reports of what happened in Docklands had I left a little later I may have had the dubious pleasure of spending a Friday night in a lift (at least I would have got my latest paper review done because I would have had nothing else to do). Keeping power at home was less of a surprise because we don't seem to go out here when there's general load-shedding, which almost certainly has something to do with living one block away from a major hospital.

With 2 degrees of warming of mean temperatures (and assuming no change in variability) the expected frequency of a 45-degree temperature in Melbourne will increase by somewhere between 5 and 20 times. The powers that be might want to think about this when they start to plan design specifications for critical infrastructure.

C • Market solutions 5

Felt very lethargic indeed when I got up (although the muscle soreness from yesterday was gone). Better once I started swimming, but still a very slow session. A couple of minor bouts of foot cramps indicate that I still have some imbalances to resolve.

Plan from here is an easy session tomorrow morning and see how it goes from there. We won't be seeing 45 again in this event (and the possibility of something near 40 for next Wednesday seems to have receded), but it will still be pretty warm. I think I'll defer Sunday's planned very long one a week unless tomorrow is a lot better than I expect it to be.

A prize for stupidity goes to the characters who decided to stage a sit-in on the roof of the Belconnen Remand Centre in Canberra (allegedly a protest against the lack of air-conditioning). Last I heard the police were sensibly waiting for them to decide it was too hot and come down.

The most extraordinary of many extraordinary numbers from this event is the 40.4 at Launceston, 3.1 above the previous record in 70 years of data (even a 35 at Launceston is about a one-in-10-year event). I suspect this is close to the largest margin that a record has been broken by in a long-term data set in Australia.

I also wish the Delburn Institute of Sport the best of luck. From the forecast I've just seen for the next few hours they may need it.

C • Launceston 1

Another day of the heatwave and another adventure, this one taking me into rather scary territory.

The plan was to head out well before sunrise (ended up being 5.40) and spend as much time near the river as possible, starting from Clifton Hill. Conditions didn't feel too horrendous - about 32 on higher ground, probably mid-20s in cool air pockets near the river. It was a reasonably routine run for the first hour, but deteriorated rapidly from about 75 minutes onwards. Found a two-contour hill very tough going just before getting water at Bellbird Dell, and when there was no improvement decided to pull the pin at the Studley Park bridge and walk the last 3km - not something I do often.

The real fun started when I got back to the car, unloaded the bike, started to put my bike shorts on - and promptly collapsed with the worst leg cramps I've ever had in my life, which left me quite literally rolling in the gutter and unable to get up for the best part of 5 minutes (generating a gratifying large number of offers of help from passers-by). Settled down enough after that to be able to ride into work, very slowly. The cramps were also in my quads which is a very unusual location (at least for me).

I suspected the problem was salt rather than water as the usual signs of dehydration seemed to be absent (weighed myself before and after last night and didn't seem to be anything untoward, and the colour of my urine was normal). This is an issue I've been aware of after Evan's misadventure a few years back, but I thought I would have got enough salt in my food last night to replenish what was lost in yesterday's race. Obviously I was wrong. In a good piece of timing, I was having my usual fortnightly session of dry-needling at lunchtime and had this diagnosis confirmed (and I suspect it's not too often that a doctor tells someone to eat lots of chips...).

I've learned something in the last 24 hours about my outer limits - enough to know that running a long-distance race in 40 degrees is probably beyond them. Not sure what, if anything, I should read into being unable to cope with conditions that I may never face again in my lifetime (then again, I might face them again this time next week...).

The question is where to from here. Tomorrow is a scheduled swimming day anyway, but I think I will have to seriously reconsider my plans of 3 hours-plus on Sunday - it will be cooler then, but still low-mid 20s in the morning (and probably quite humid). Will play it by ear for the time being.

C • Ever thought 12

I thought yesterday I might have gone past the sign which read 'No tolerable training conditions next 110km', but it got cooler than anticipated last night and was calm enough for cool air pockets to develop in the valleys. I put these to good use in a run which started along the Yarra, before coming back through hillier country in Lower Plenty and Viewbank. I think it's the first time for a year or more that I've been out into Lower Plenty - some nice hills, but better suited to a weekend run because the roads are narrow and not comfortable to be on when there is traffic.

A steady run which felt better climbing than most recent runs have.

I don't think I'll be so lucky with the conditions tomorrow (and of course there's still tonight to contend with).

This was a day that no-one who experienced it will forget in a hurry. It reached 43.4 in Melbourne, the hottest street-O day on record (the only hotter day in the last 40 years was in 2003, and was a Saturday) - although this particular record is unlikely to survive another 24 hours. It was still 42.0 at start time out at Doncaster Heights, the highest temperature I have ever run in. (My previous records were +40 and -31; I think I prefer the -31). About 60 people were crazy enough to join me; sensibly the courses were shortened (with the usual B becoming A).

I wobbled a bit out of the start - having to pick 14 controls out of 20 to get is more challenging than 17 or 18 or 19 - but settled down OK and was reasonably good for the first 20 minutes or thereabouts. My experience from the previous handful of high-30s events was that I was usually good for 20-25 minutes and then went downhill very quickly, and so it proved tonight. I had to drop to jogging pace for the last third, and really struggled on the later hills; had the course been a control or two longer I would have given serious thought to pulling the pin. I often win in oddball conditions; tonight I beat the usual suspects (although Bryan wasn't there), but Tony Bird put in one of his rare-these-days A course appearances and handled the day better than I did.

Tonight didn't exactly fill me with confidence that I'll be able to handle it if it's this hot in SA in March, although I doubt anyone else will either. The next challenge is to try to do a long run tomorrow morning - with a 29-degree minimum forecast (although I think it might be a bit cooler than that) there is an incentive to get up very early.

Looking on the positive side, the expected frequency of such a high temperature on a Wednesday night is approximately one in 200 years.

Heard on the news that there's a fire at Delburn, but from the CFA webpage it looks like it's on the other side of the highway from Kathryn and Rob's place (and will move further away with the prevailing winds). I imagine Kathryn's having a long night pointing hoses at it though....

C • Street O 12

A fartlek session on the usual circuit, on the last morning with civilised conditions for a long time (even-numbered people were putting their designated watering day to good use). Rather slow (9.40) and still feeling a bit weak on the hills - noticed that I'm carrying a couple of kilos more than usual which may partially explain this.

A run on the running legs of the DuO at Macedon after a session helping out. Nice to get into a bit of terrain at a reasonable pace, although much of this course was on tracks (essentially MTBO-standard navigation, although with two minor time losses not seeing controls when cutting across to tracks). Felt nicely loose at the start but still lacking in real hill strength. Bruce beat me by a couple of minutes so his health must be improving.

Enjoying the civilised conditions while I still can.

A fairly casual session at Ivanhoe, which was a bit less crowded than I would have expected on a sunny public holiday afternoon (perhaps everybody flocked to outdoor pools instead). Reasonable on the whole although had eaten a bit close to the start of the session, I think.