Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Queensland Long Championships at the north end of Cascades. This is one of the two or three most difficult areas in Australia (I'd only rate the area north of the mountain at Kooyoora as harder) and it got the better of me today. In addition to the rock detail, its greatest demand is that there isn't often a lot of definition in the contours and using them as your main navigation tool can be fraught with peril.

After hitting the scary 1 and 2 well, I made a major mess of 3, coming in underneath it from what I thought was a decent attack point on bare rock, and losing 3-4 minutes. When you make a mistake of that size early, there isn't a lot to do but keep plugging away and hope your opposition also has trouble. Much of the rest of the run wasn't too bad, although I often lacked confidence in my direction in the flatter bits, and made a complete hash of my exit direction from 9, although I kept the losses to a minute by turning it into a track route choice that wouldn't otherwise have been an option. At my best through much of the last third, catching Kurt in the process, but made an annoying 1-minuter on the second-last. Finished 5 minutes behind Lorenzo; it was reasonably close apart from that control.

Wasn't feeling entirely myself physically at the start but slogged away OK on a course that was unrelenting. Also jarred the knee I've been having trouble with midweek halfway and was quite worried about this, but it settled quickly and gave no further problems.

This weekend was a bit of a disappointment. It now makes it three seconds from state championships in as many weeks; I'll be happy if I can continue the sequence for another fortnight, but somehow suspect that is unlikely.

Saw a snake at one point (which was heading rapidly in another direction). This is only the third I've seen in 31 years of competition (and the first outside the Canberra region), but the second in two years. I will not interpret this as a climate change signal.

C • Comparisons 2

Got off the plane to discover that my right knee had stiffened up. Seems to be unrelated to the trouble from last week as it's on the right side of the knee, not at the front. Presumably I strained something in my slide on the way into 10.

Event: Qld Champs
 

Queensland Middle Champs at Dalmoak. Not a run I'll be proud to look back on, with one major error and several smaller ones, and I deservedly missed the placings, finishing behind Lorenzo, Mark Gregson and Kurt.

My major error was on 6. In a flattish part of the map I made the cardinal error of not being sure what was up and what was down (reading a crossing of a flat ridgeline as a continuation of a gentle climb), got very confused on the far side once I realised what I'd done, and ended up well to the south and dropping 3-4 minutes. It's only partial mitigation that the critical slope line was hard to see because it was next to the leg's red line. Also 30-seconders on 1, 11 and 14.

The unusual feature of this map (next door to, but no overlap with, the APOC Relay one from 2000 that I didn't get to run on because of injury) was that it straddled the NSW-Queensland border. I think this is the first time I have actually crossed a state border during an event, although I've run on one map (Tralee, ACT) that crosses a border and several that have a border as their boundary. I've crossed Australian state borders several times in training, as well as accidentally crossing the German-Czech border on the 1991 JWOC training camp (only a 2-minute mistake, too), and the Ontario-Quebec border on a 1989 run from Ottawa otherwise notable for being the coldest run I've ever done (minus 31).

The organisers today didn't have to worry about one problem we had at the 1992 Australian Relays, which was in a section of Kowen Forest that was in NSW but could only be accessed through the ACT. Apparently it is, or was, illegal to transport nightsoil across a state border (I would have thought that this was in breach of the constitutional guarantee of free trade between the states) and we couldn't find anyone who would hire us portaloos to use in that location. In the end we set them up on the ACT side of the border a couple of hundred metres from the assembly area.

Travelling to Brisbane first thing and then spending a day archive-trawling (one of the things which has encouraged me to do the trips of this weekend and last is that the project I'm working on at the moment is one where I was going to have to do trips to Adelaide and Brisbane at some stage).

Finds of the day:

(a) a July 1977 note responding to a query on the lack of recent 3am and 6am observations at Thargomindah by saying that the (by-then-former) observer thought it was too cold to get out of bed.

(b) the site photos at Tewantin from the late 1980s which showed a ute just about reversed into the thermometer screen and an incinerator next door. My list of 103 long-term stations is hence now down to 102.

Easing back on the Thursday distance now as we lead into the serious racing season. Unlike last week, this one actually felt like a reasonably enjoyable run, although still a little on the slow side as I traversed the riverbanks and back streets of Kew and Clifton Hill. Started to feel a bit lively at the very end.

The knee was better than yesterday, with only minor twinges on a couple of the hills, and the doctor (who I was seeing on a regular appointment anyway) doesn't think it's anything to worry about.

Felt about six drops of rain on this run, in three separate sets of two drops each, but some more substantial rain arrived during the afternoon.

Sights of the big city: someone crossing the street at Federation Square in a bright blue suit and light green shoes. On the way home there was once again ample evidence of the water-soluble brains of Melbourne's road users.

The letters page of today's Financial Review was full of spleen-venting by outraged Telstra shareholders, demanding compensation for the expropriation of their property by virtue of the share price fall after Tuesday's announcement, and muttering class actions and constitutional challenges. Presumably these letters were sent before the Telstra share price spent Wednesday regaining virtually all the ground it lost on Tuesday.

First foray into street-O for some months as I ease back on the volume and keep up the intensity. This felt very smooth for much of the night, once I'd settled in and made up my mind which way I was going. Had enough confidence to go for it in the second half, but either others were going better or got a better route because I ended up a bit off the pace.

The knee was fine at the start and gradually became more noticeable during the run, which is a bit of a concern, but even at its worst it was only nuisance-level discomfort and certainly not enough to stop me from running. It's more of a problem pushing off hard (like taking off from traffic lights on a bike).

Quite a warm night; it felt OK while we were running but all of us had a fair sweat up when we finished.

Hearing radio discussion this morning of the late and unlamented Brimbank Council made me think "well, somebody must have voted for them". Certainly no-one was owning up to having done so today. Name recognition counts for a lot in local politics which makes it hard to dislodge an incumbent unless they've done something really scandalous (and if the 2005 elections in our part of the world are anything to go by, laying into another motorist who's upset you, with a baseball bat, in front of said motorist's small children doesn't constitute "something really scandalous", although the person concerned was finally defeated last year).

A crisp morning. Didn't really loosen up properly and couldn't quite find the pace I was looking for (fastest loop 9.37) although felt reasonably strong on the climbs. At the moment my endurance is better than my speed.

It wasn't noticeable on the run, but my knee decided to throw a wobbly, of all places, while I was bending down to change into my non-work shoes to ride home. Also a twinge or two early in the ride. It's settled down now but will need watching when I next run on it tomorrow. Also a bit of right shin soreness which I'm reasonably confident is bruising.

The Heidelberg precinct is sporting a lot of new signs showing walking routes and times, presumably in aid of the goal of encouraging more people to walk in the area. Unfortunately the sign to Heidelberg Primary is pointing the wrong way. Heidelberg oval also now sports Australia's smallest disabled parking space, which is barely wide enough to park a wheelchair, let alone a vehicle.

Road atrocity of the day this time featured another bike: on the way home I was behind someone who was riding with no hands and talking on a mobile phone all the way from Clifton Hill shops to Station Street. The Darwin Awards were invented for people like this.

And I've learned something from my Adelaide travels: just because a bus stop displays a timetable for route 210 doesn't mean that route 210 actually goes past that stop.

C • buses 1

Spent some of the way working in Adelaide then flew back in the afternoon. This meant I found a new place to swim - Coburg (chosen because it was on the way between the airport and the Monday night run venue). The lap lanes were a bit crowded because all but two were being taken up by swimming lessons (no surprise at 5.45 p.m), but things worked OK. Loosened up well and one of my better sessions for a while.

You don't go into this game for pretty legs (or arms, or faces); I counted 12 different scratches this morning and found another couple this evening.

The relevant SA minister was reported on the ABC this morning as saying that it was 'unlikely' that the government's target of having fewer than 90 road deaths this year would be met. I agree with his assessment; they're currently on 88.

Monday night from Clara's in East Brunswick. Not an overly demanding run, but floating along reasonably nicely - none of the stiffness that I had getting up this morning (or getting out of the car last night). Maybe it was the prospect of the Germanic delights waiting for us back at base.