Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Again constrained in where I could go this morning. On another day I'd have looked seriously at the 4WD track which was a continuation of yesterday's, but it looked pretty rocky so I settled for going "along" the Stuart Highway for 8km to a side road and then up it. It wasn't quite as bad as it sounds because I was only actually on the highway for about 3km in each direction - the rest was on the old (WW2 vintage) road which was mostly pretty nice to run.

This was a very solid effort, especially from 40 minutes onwards. Actually had a few hills (a Darwin rarity) in the middle and handled them well, and didn't find warmth a significant factor - gradually getting more used to the conditions. Tired a little bit in the last 10 minutes but compared with two Sundays ago that was nothing.

There weren't many small rocks on this run, but on the few occasions when I did tread on one I knew about it for the next couple of minutes. Felt a bit lame compared to those who'd been out for 12 or 24 hours (with blisters to match), although I suspect that the 38km I covered over the weekend was probably more than what half the 12/24 hours teams managed.

I wasn't expecting to still be in Darwin at this stage so hadn't considered the NT Rogaining Champs. When Sus and Lachlan decided to go down I considered giving it a go as well, but decided doing it without proper shoes (after the disintegration of my O shoes last Sunday I only have runners and work shoes left) was asking for trouble, and went down for the ride and a couple of training runs.

The rogaine was in an area of pretty rugged sandstone hills at Hayes Creek, about 170km south of Darwin (we got a taste of Territory driving going there - our lift there was at an average speed of 140-150 km/h). I went out in the late afternoon on a track heading for the top of one of the ridges overlooking the finish area. It was quickly apparent that I'd made the right decision not competing; my foot, which is OK on even ground, was still a disaster area on any sort of small rock and I probably wouldn't have lasted 15 minutes in the terrain. Still made it to the top of the ridge OK and was happy with my strength on the climb there (unfortunately smoke haze, a regular companion in the Top End at this time of year, spoiled the view). Took my camera with me and did get a good setting-sun-on-cliff picture.

A longish early morning run, starting on the Nightcliff route and then going up the coast to Lee Point. This is a nice route with a mixture of coastal path, beach (although the beach options were limited by a very high tide) and then bush tracks (with lots of shade which would be a boon on a hotter day).

I was with Sus for most of this; her original plan was 12k but she ended up doing 20, not peeling off until relatively close to Lee Point. She seemed to think her pace would be a bit slow but it was actually pretty much my standard long run pace (factoring in a couple of stretches of soft sand). Probably the best I've felt on a run since I've been in the tropics (not that it was really a tropical morning). I hadn't planned to go quite this long but underestimated the distance back from Lee Point, and ended up coming back down the main drag (not quite so attractive). Had plenty left at the end, a marked contrast with Kalumburu where I was almost invariably counting the minutes from the 9-minutes-to-go sighting of the water tower.

Still waiting to hear from the insurers. I've gone back to work out of our Darwin office as of today, so at least I'm not wasting leave whilst sitting around waiting for things to happen.

C • Darwin 9

Couldn't go a full week without an equipment failure: mishap of the day is that the magnetic stripe on my credit/ATM card has failed (possibly an overuse injury :-). Hopefully a replacement will turn up soon.

Also had preliminary discussions with a car dealer today and they say they can get something organised within 2-3 days once I commit, so providing I get word from the insurers soon I'm reasonably optimistic about being out of here by this time next week.

C • Odysseus 1

I rearranged the week's program a bit, partly because of the Tiwi trip (which required me to leave home at 6.20) and partly to make space for a Friday morning long run at Katherine Gorge that isn't going to be happening, but decided to stick to the rearrangement, partly because I didn't want to be doing intervals off a long run.

An intervals session consisting of laps of the CDU rugby field (approx 340m from my GPS) on a 2-minute cycle. I'm not used to running fast because it was dismally slow early on, picking up a bit later, but 71 for 340m is still pretty sluggish (even allowing for right-angle corners). Did feel as if I was starting to get into a bit of rhythm by the last couple of reps.

News of the day is that Darwin stores are apparently running out of blankets and doonas because of the cold snap (it plunged to 15 on Monday and 18 for the last three nights). I haven't considered either of the above necessary yet, although I did leave the fan off last night.

Warm up/down from intervals. Found another similarity to Canberra - small shopping centres (most of which have seen better days) in the middle of suburbs.

Afternoon swim at Casuarina. Just as deserted as it was on Monday. Felt a bit stronger than Monday but no faster.

For the record, the list of places where I've spent birthdays since 1988 is as follows (where two places are given it was a travel day from one place to another).

2009: Nguiu, Bathurst Island
2008: Santander (Spain) to Bordeaux (France)
2007: Dubbo
2006: Wiener Neustadt (Austria) to Joensuu (Finland)
2005: Darwin
2004: Tokyo (Japan) to Melbourne
2003: Melbourne
2002: Canmore (Canada)
2001: Vilnius (Lithuania)
2000: Warwick
1999: Melbourne
1998: Kajaani (Finland)
1997: Melbourne
1996: Baile Govora (Romania)
1995: Bendigo
1994: Melbourne
1993: Wellington (NZ)
1992: Canberra
1991: Berlin (Germany)
1990: Newcastle
1989: Kufstein (Austria)
1988: Jindabyne

Most of the pre-1988 ones would have been in Canberra as it was during school term (the ACT changed from three terms to four in 1988). 1989, 1991, 1996 and 2007 were at Junior World Championships (or equivalent), the first two as a competitor and the last two as an official.

Spent the day on a trip to the Tiwi Islands. I'd organised this before I knew I was going to get a much better look at another indigenous community than I was anticipating, but it was still interesting (although not cheap).

Returned to some bad news on the car: it has sustained serious engine damage to the point where it may not be worth repairing. (At least I've confirmed that it is covered by insurance, something I wasn't sure about). Next move is to wait for a firm quote from the repairers, send it to the insurers and see what they think. If the answer is that it's a write-off, either my journey will be coming to a sudden halt or I'll be finishing the trip in a different car to the one I started in. Either way I'll probably be in Darwin for a while yet, although hopefully not long enough to start thinking of 30-degree days as 'cold'.

C • Sorry to hear about the car... 8

From Sus and Lachlan's place as far as the Nightcliff shoreline, a place I've previously run (and enjoyed) at the far end of a long run from the city. Nice setting again but after a promising first 10 minutes, the run itself didn't quite live up to the potential.

It is fairly obvious as one gets into the suburbs in this part of Darwin that the planners here were the same ones that planned areas of Canberra of a similar vintage (Belconnen, Woden, Weston Creek), although it has a rather different look because of the lush tropical vegetation and all the front fences (most of them rather ugly cyclone wire ones).

News on the car is that there is no news yet, and won't be until tomorrow. This means I may struggle to get out of town on Thursday as planned, but we'll worry about that if and when it happens.

An evening session after spending a lot of the day clearing out emails (and the rest trawling through old files, and reading some interesting things about various colourful outback characters). Didn't feel great beforehand; sometimes evening sessions come good on such occasions but not this time.

I had a letter to post and was finding mailboxes hard to come by (another thing that suburban Darwin has with suburban Canberra), but when I did find one it was being cleared and I was able to drop the letter straight into the bag.

Glad for the front fences that I was making disparaging comments about this morning; there were some pretty boisterous dogs behind them.

One thing you certainly won't find in suburban Canberra was the crime du jour: the alleged theft of 30 crocodile hatchlings from premises on Darwin's fringe. I haven't seen a croc story on the front page of the NT News since arriving here but I suspect that won't last.

C • Colurful characters 1

An easy Monday run taking in much of the sprint course at Charles Darwin University that I didn't get to run on Friday night. Right foot still a bit sore but nothing to worry me too much; would probably be more of a problem with more pressure on the balls of the feet but I don't plan to do anything hilly or fast before Thursday.

I must be acclimatising because 19 degrees with 80% humidity felt very pleasant to run in.

Much of the rest of the day was spent arranging vehicle logistics; it took three hours at the docks before the tow truck finally turned up (which at least meant I almost finished the book I took with me). The car is now in the repair shop and I await further developments.

Dumb criminals (an occasional series): someone held up two supermarkets in Darwin over the weekend and made their escape in a ute. If you were trying to remain inconspicuous to the police, wouldn't you choose a number plate a bit less provocative than 'DUI4ME'?

First swim for a while, at the Casuarina pool. Stunned how deserted it was at 4 pm on a 31-degree school holiday afternoon. Perhaps 31-degree air and 24-degree water is too cold for the locals to handle?

The swim itself felt like it was going on forever, and the time suggests that it did.