Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

The price of a Saturday long run is that whatever you do on Sunday feels like a bit more of a struggle. Often if I've run long on Saturday it's because there's a not-very-important-but-should-put-in-an-appearance local orienteering event on the Sunday, but this was a bit different. Definitely struggled to get moving in the first 10 minutes, but functioning reasonably well in the second half. Buttock soreness still there.

One negative of being based in central Darwin is that there aren't really that many options for running routes - most of them involve heading north in some form or other. Hopefully I won't be around for long enough to get too bored.

There are a few things around here named after Cyclone Tracy (there's a subdivision called Tracy Village), but a variation on the theme was provided by a landscaping firm called Category 4, possibly named in honour of the "landscaping" (perhaps better described as de-landscaping) that occurred the last time that Darwin experienced Category 4 conditions.

Spent some of the rest of the day undertaking a genuine Territory Cultural Experience - the Beer Can Regatta at Mindil Beach. I wasn't hugely surprised to discover that racing beer-can boats is a contact sport (especially at turns). No vessels sank this year but some of them lost a few of their cans judging by the number seen floating afterwards.

Original plan was for a long run on Sunday but Susanne and Lachlan were going out on Saturday so I was happy enough to join them. Getting a long run out of the way on Saturday morning is a bit like having your football team win on Friday night (not something I was able to experience this week) - it's nice to know that something has been accomplished on the weekend while there's still a lot of it to go.

A pretty nice morning for it (by Darwin standards). Started out through Parap, then up towards Fannie Bay to the East Point reserve, which we did some pretty thorough exploration of. Returned closer to the water with a section down to Cullen Bay. The others decided 1.55 was enough but I thought I'd do an extra loop around town to take it out beyond 2 hours.

Took to the terrain a bit in the East Point sector, including a section across bare rock shelves on the coast that I don't think I would have coped with last week. (The foot still isn't 100% but is gradually improving). One of the bits of bush is apparently normally marked with tapes by the local Hash House Harriers, one of whom was in the news during the week after the naughty DVDs he brought back from an Asian trip were naughtier than he thought - or at least that's what he told the judge (and the judge must have believed him because otherwise a $2500 fine seems remarkably lenient for importation of child pornography).

Didn't feel that brilliant on most of the run, with Achilles tightness early and some soreness in my right buttock for much of the way.

I thought I might have been in the NT News today but they actually had an international news story on their front page today (although Jakarta almost qualifies as local news in these parts).

I woke to much discussion on the radio of the freezing conditions outside. The locals were scrambling for their beanies, doonas and anything else they could find to keep warm.

It was 18 degrees outside (although it did drop to 6 at Humpty Doo, about 40km inland).

In the circumstances I wasn't particularly surprised to see that there weren't a lot of morning swimmers around at Casuarina - in fact there were precisely none. I found it quite pleasant but then I'm used to Fitzroy in mid-winter.

Also found the reason why the carpark outside our office always seems to have a few disreputable-looking characters around; the premises of Casuarina Community Corrections is next door.

No news on the car. Of course. It does mean I'll get to witness an iconic Darwin event - the beer can regatta on Sunday.

C • 18 degrees!!!? 1

Taking the long midweek run back up to a more normal distance. Spent the first 30 minutes meandering around the suburbs waiting for it to get light, then headed for the bush tracks to Lee Point and back before a final loop around Rapid Creek. There's been another surge of (relatively) dry air and the conditions were quite comfortable.

This wasn't one of my more enjoyable runs, feeling rather below par throughout. Hopefully this is just because I didn't sleep very well last night or was just having a bad day, and is not a sign that I'm getting sick. Pleased to be able to grind out the distance though.

Last night's tsunami warning generated a bit of excitement. The timing wasn't bad - if you wanted to minimise the number of people who were in or on the water on the east coast, it would be hard to match 9.30 on a mid-winter's night with State of Origin on. I did raise a smile at the following quote from a 'NZ Herald' article (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id...):

"Tash from Invercargill said it was the most exciting thing to happen in the city in quite a while".

From my experience of Invercargill, this is not necessarily saying very much. (Given that the earthquake was at 9.20 p.m. local time, I'm surprised anyone was on the streets to witness it; we didn't see too many signs of life after 7.30).

This is likely to be my last run in this part of Darwin. (I had hoped that it would be my last run in Darwin full stop, but that is looking less likely). I'm following SusC and Lachlan to their next temporary abode near the centre of town. They've bought a house but won't be moving in until later in the year; this has meant a lot of form-filling to obtain the not-easily-pronouncable FHOG. It would be a lot easier to pronounce if they'd called it the First Residence Owner's Grant; the NT Government is obviously much more on the ball in this respect as they have recently established a Sexual Health Advisory Group.

C • Darwin residency requirements? 5

Around Nightcliff and the Dripstone cliffs with SusC. The tide was lower than it was last Friday, so beach running was not quite the same level of hard work (and it was possible to get around the base of the cliffs, which wasn't the case last week). Felt like I was working pretty hard in the first half but more relaxed later.

The southeasterly came in while we were out and the difference in humidity was noticeable; 22 degrees with a dewpoint of 19 feels quite different to 22/14.

Automatic sprinklers in public spaces were much in evidence today, something which feels alien to those of us from more drought-stricken lands. They're probably alien to Canberrans now too, but such was not the case when I was living there, when they made regular appearances, including at times when they weren't supposed to. One of these times was during a cricket match I was playing in, but as we were seven wickets down with 25 overs still remaining we weren't exactly making a great effort to work out how to turn them off.

C • darwin exile 2

Lunchtime run from the Darwin office - I must be getting more used to the tropics if I can consider lunchtime runs without being too daunted. Headed out towards Casuarina Beach (the nude section was well-populated, the non-nude section somewhat emptier) before coming back past the hospital. Reasonably comfortable; the lower humidity helped.

The very edge of suburbia doesn't seem the most obvious place for the hospital, although it is reasonably close to the airport (the locals also note that it provides the opportunity for the relatives of patients from remote indigenous communities to camp unobtrusively in the bush nearby).

It's taken a week and a half, but I've finally seen my first front-page croc story in the Northern Territory News. It involved someone who managed to mistake the boat ramp into the East Alligator River (which got its name for a reason) for the causeway across it, and drove their vehicle a long way down it before being forced to make a swim for it through "crocodile-infested waters". The headline - "Meals On Wheels".

Had planned to go to the CDU rugby field again, but that was being used by soccer players so went next door to the Australian Rules ground. I was initially a bit puzzled by the fact that the boundary was a metre inside the goalposts, and then remembered that in this part of the world it's cricket season. (In one sense this is a pity; I would have like to have seen some local football, particularly if the Tiwi Islands team were playing).

A fairly standard 10x1 minute session around the boundary. Never had a lot of motivation; this was really just about keeping the legs ticking over, but did speed up a bit towards the end.

I've got as far as a quote for a new car ($34K driveaway for a new Forester, which seems a pretty good deal). Still waiting for confirmation from the insurers (although I've got to the stage where I'm thinking that if they consider it repairable I might trade it in anyway).

Warm up/down. Still pretty sticky. There seemed to be a lot of big dogs on the streets I was going along; just as well for the high front fences (although I guess in Canberra they would be in back yards).

We'll find out tonight whether the Territory Day crackers have dragged out until Bastille Day. My suggestion is that anyone found letting off fireworks today should be required to sing the Marseillaise (the French version, not the one that starts "We are the boys from old Fitzroy") or face a fine.

Also noticed today that there is exactly one US state in which less than 20% of the population are classified as obese. Anyone care to guess which one?

C • I've seen this map recently... 9

C • bad luck with the car 1

Definitely a recovery run this morning; I don't think I've felt as stiff as I did in the first kilometre of this run for a very long time. Not obvious why as yesterday was by no means extreme, although the last three days have been reasonably heavy.

Went out with SusC again, who showed me some of the more obscure sights of Charles Darwin University (the best being the "quotable", a table covered with quotes), on the way out to the coast at Dripstone before coming back through the suburbs. Quite a humid morning (dewpoint 21, about as high as Melbourne gets on the most humid day of summer) and some cloud around - there are even a few showers on the radar as I write.

Heard from the insurers this morning: they want to confirm some details on the repair quote with the repairers but think it will most probably be a write-off. Would still like confirmation as soon as I can; if I get it by Wednesday I should be able to leave before the weekend, which should still see me able to get to most of the places I'd hoped to (Cooktown and Cape York being the exception). If I'm still here this weekend a few more things will have to go.

One place I won't be going is Borroloola (although I do plan to go to the 'Lost City' rock formations about 50km short of it before turning south). This was already part of my plans after hearing that the Borroloola-Burketown road was in a dodgy state, but has been further reinforced by the news of 30 new swine flu cases in the town yesterday - about 5% of the population. (I guess it would be in keeping with this trip if I ended up stuck in Borroloola for a week with swine flu).

An interesting night on the sporting front too. We don't have a TV where I'm staying so there was no temptation to stay up in front of the box, but I did have a radio by the bed for use on waking up in the middle of the night and caught the last few overs. Good to see Queanbeyan's most famous export finally triumphing on the world stage. I assume a few burnouts were done in Crawford Street in celebration.

C • Write of 3

Swim at Casuarina. Not quite as deserted as other days despite cloud (and even a few raindrops, rare for Darwin in July); I'm obviously not the only person who thought going across from the office at lunchtime was a good idea. The locals obviously aren't used to the crowds either because I had a head-on collision on the first lap with someone who was a bit further to the right than they should have been. Not a bad swim after that, and got quite a few thoughts together for something I was writing.