Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Had hoped for something big today but my back wasn't in the mood to cooperate. My first attempt in the morning was a non-starter and I eventually went out in the afternoon hoping to get something on the board, at least. That was done, not especially convincingly - coloured a couple of lines on the map and that was about it. Perhaps improved a little in the last few minutes.

Decided Beechworth was a nice spot for a run. Not having expected to be here, I hadn't brought any maps (and some of the good ones are embargoed anyway), so did some exploring of the town instead. Started with a lap of the lake (a bit of mud and stairwork on the far side, which slowed things down a bit), then looking at a few other corners of the town I haven't previously been to - normally when I've been here the priority has been the forests. Not feeling brilliant early on, but really got going from about the 25-minute mark.

Beechworth was less busy than I expected for a weekend in school holidays.

Made my way back via some back-road wanderings between Beechworth and Benalla. Not quite the trip I'd planned on (I think we'll end up calling this plan H), and not always as relaxing as I'd hoped, but still saw a number of interesting places I hadn't previously been to.

C • Lunatic ayslum 1

As flagged earlier this was a long day on the road: Forster to Wodonga is not exactly a short trip even by the shortest route, and having to avoid Sydney doesn't make it any shorter (the route was Forster-Hexham-Denman-Rylstone-Bathurst-Cowra-Cootamundra-Gundagai). Ended up a 13.5 hour day all up.

Broke this up with a session in the pool at Bathurst: (a) because I knew it had a proper indoor pool (b) because Bathurst is a big enough place that not being recognised isn't going to mean you get treated as a leper. It also proved to be well-timed, coming at a stage of the day when I was starting to flag; after the first 10 minutes or so it was going nicely in the water, and the session had a revitalising effect on me for the rest of the day too.

One major part of this route I hadn't done before, round the northwest side of Wollemi between Denman and Rylstone, was suitably scenic, especially if you like sandstone (and who here doesn't?), even if I got a bit more of a chance to look at the scenery by virtue of being behind a couple of very slow-moving horse floats on the windy bits. Rylstone's main street has also gone a bit more upmarket since I was last here (I assume Kandos's hasn't but didn't go in).

C • circuitous route 7

Fairly predictably, I didn't sleep terribly well last night and wasn't in the mood (or really in the right physical state) for a run first thing, so instead decided to do one when I was on the road. This took me back to the scene of an enjoyable orienteering experience, Boambee at Coffs Harbour, but I didn't have a map so just went for a run up and down the beach, almost to its end. This is a very good beach for running - not much slope to it and the sand is the right level of firmness - and it ended up a decent run, though harder work coming back into the wind. A few bits were starting to be a little sore towards the end.

Today wasn't much of an improvement on yesterday in the friendly-locals department, although at least in Forster (my endpoint for the day) they've worked out that Victoria is not the place they need to be worried about. It's an easier trip than it would have been a decade, or even a couple of years, ago now that the freeway is more or less complete (a few places where I ventured onto the old highway made me wonder 'was this really the main highway so recently?'). New infrastructure does mean the opportunity to name things after worthy locals, so Macksville gets the Phillip Hughes Bridge and Kempsey the Slim Dusty Interchange (not the first NSW road Slim's had something to do with).

A reasonably quiet day in Evans Head - a pleasant enough place (and Chinaman's Beach is definitely a quality spot) but I think I'd get bored if I was here for more than a couple of days. This was interrupted by a run, where I headed out to a beachside path on the north side of town to do a set. Not too bad, but was starting to fade a bit by the last couple so decided that taking it out from 8 to 10 reps could wait another week. Quite humid.

Warm-up and down.

Evans Head lost a few brownie points in my estimation when I got refused entry to the bowling club (one of the few eating places open in the evenings) for being a Victorian (having seen a separate Victorians-not-welcome sign at another business earlier in the day). I thought before the trip that this might happen at least once but it doesn't make it any less pleasant when it does happen, especially when Victoria is no longer the place to be worried about. I think part of what's going on is that people are on edge and in a small town with an older population, people are quick to throw up the locals-only signs, metaphorically speaking. I suspect that Evans Head is not the only place where this will be happening, and that - plus the risk of having trouble getting back into Victoria, although regional NSW is OK for now - is making me think seriously about cutting the trip short and heading home on Friday.

C • Tourism 1

C • Discrimination and border clousers 10

The place I was staying in Glen Innes offered breakfast, so I thought I'd go out beforehand so as not to feel too constrained when it came to the eating. Thus headed out before breakfast on a route which was steadily (if modestly) uphill for the first 1.5k - something I mention because there are few times in the last three years that I would have been confident that my body would handle that. My confidence is building, though, and this proved to be the sort of run which was a routine run a few years ago - so it's good to be back to that. No frost, but a chilly easterly wind.

Today was perhaps the most adventurous route of the trip, the old (back) road from Glen Innes to Grafton, which drops into the major river valleys and then edges along them. It's actually had a bit of work done on it at the Glen Innes end (bushfire recovery money?) so there's now only 60km of dirt rather than 80, but it's still not a route for those in a hurry. Lots of scenery, though, along with plenty of evidence of climate extremes (fire in the forests - recovering reasonably well - and flood in the rivers).

Dropped into Yamba, which has become a lot more suburban since I was last there (i.e. it's got a shopping mall and a Maccas), via some back roads and a river ferry from Grafton, finding out in the process that (a) it is most definitely hard rubbish week in the Clarence Valley Council and (b) there's a bridge which bears, presumably from a long time ago, the last name of Grafton's most infamous citizen. Ended up in Evans Head where I'll be the next couple of nights (partly on Bridget's recommendation).

Saw a couple of billboards for over-50s housing developments. 16 days to go :-).

C • Lazarus :( 1

Narrabri is big enough to have an indoor pool that's open all year. I didn't expect it to be deep enough for deep-water running and it wasn't, but it was good for a swim on a day when they certainly weren't in danger of breaching their capacity limits. The swim felt pretty good although times similar to recent weeks. No real sign of stiffness after yesterday, which is a good sign.

Followed this by going up Mount Kaputar, which had views as impressive as you'd expect for a 1500-metre summit overlooking 200-metre plains (which I expected). What I didn't expect was how much impact the snowfall (35-40cm according to the rangers) had had - there were trees down everywhere, and still some remnant snowdrifts in places. I'm quite surprised the road was cleared.

Unlike the last couple of days, much of the rest of the day was on previously covered ground, but not covered for a long time (namely the somewhat ill-fated 1993 trip to Stanthorpe with Rob Walter, whose features included food poisoning and a headlight-destroying collision with a flock of galahs). The Bingara road's been sealed since 1993 but the budget doesn't seem to have extended to bridges, with water over the road in numerous places even though it hasn't rained for a few days (I suspect snowmelt off the Kaputar plateau probably had a bit to do with this). My parents had given me a tip about an old-school Greek milk bar/cafe in Bingara but sadly it's closed down. Swung south from Inverell through Tingha and Ben Lomond hoping to find rocks and only partially succeeding (and the forest where I went for a run with Rob on the 1993 trip is rather jungly these days after a February 2019 fire), but still a nice trip, if only for a truly spectacular rainbow entering Tingha. Ended up at Glen Innes.