Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

NSW Middle at Gardiners Gap. This would have been epic even if it wasn't the first proper race back for most of us, plunging into the sandstone labyrinth (with post-bushfire regrowth and fallen timber adding to the mix).

I knew it was going to be a slow day when Steve came back with something over 10 min/km (a threshold I managed to break on exactly two legs, the finish being one of them). Went off line at 2 and dropped about 90 seconds. Otherwise my fine navigation wasn't working too badly, but I got a poor line at 9 (not helped by turning back from a mapped gap whose passability was ambitious) and dropped probably 3 minutes on that. Was running sort of OK through the first half but, as with last week, jarred the sore glute (which had been reasonable) with an awkward step on the way to 8 and was struggling with it most of the rest of the way. (It's come up very sore tonight, and if it's like this tomorrow it's doubtful I'll be able to run, but past experience is that it usually improves quickly - whether it's 18-hours-quickly remains to be seen).

There were two in the field fast enough to beat me with a half-decent run. Scott did, easily, but Matt Stocks came unstuck badly enough that I caught him 6 minutes at 16 (or more accurately, he recaught me after I'd gone through him). Ended up with my second Middle Distance second place of the year, but the multitude of other classes also running this course meant a few others claimed my scalp for the first time (I think), including Tracy, and Simon and Rebecca George. (In my first outing at this venue, in 1997, Cassie came within one second of beating me on km rates).

Encountered Aston, Caitlin and Ewan in a Goulburn bakery this morning. I was about to relate a story from the 1999 nationals there (the one which involved a carload of orienteers being pulled up by the police in possession of bags of white powder which were actually sports drink), and realised that none of my potential audience had been born yet.

Middle Course 2 - Splits

A pretty good day but the run was not its highlight, a morning session in Wangaratta which felt as flat at the terrain (at least my back was functioning and the glute had only mild soreness). Hopefully this isn't a portent of things to come on the weekend, also hopefully there will actually be two races to run in on the weekend (the forecast for Sunday is looking a little less dire tonight than it was in previous model runs).

Got the rest of the checking done at Kangaroo Crossing without too much drama (if with a few more grass seeds than yesterday), then headed northwards to my day's final destination of Goulburn via a somewhat wide route of Cudgewa, Tumbarumba and Tumut. The scenic highlight of this was a visit to Bluff Falls near Cudgewa (which also enabled me to tick off one of my remaining unvisited Victorian national parks, Burrowa-Pine Mountain). There was abundant evidence of what happened in this part of the world two summers ago, with burnt-out trees a feature for much of the way from west of Cudgewa to not far short of Tumut. Lots of green, though, even by the usual standards of a region which calls (or used to call) itself the green side of the Snowies. (Definitely no danger of fires today, with a bit of rain about).

Had a go at running this morning, but wasn't too surprised that it didn't work out with the combination of how I felt last night and a post-midnight meeting. Instead in the pool, which wasn't too sharp either but at least didn't fall to pieces.

And then it was time to hit the road - initially to NSW Championships (assuming they don't get flooded out, which is a distinct possibility for Sunday), then a week coming back through Sydney, Canberra and the Snowies. On the way I'm doing some long-overdue controlling work for next year's Victorian Long at Kangaroo Crossing (postponed from this year) - didn't get there until close to 3 so didn't get everything done today, but made some pretty good inroads into it. Definitely nice out there at the moment.

I have seen one new bit of ground on this trip - the western side of Thomastown (thanks to the closure of one of the Ring Road on-ramps).

Summer Series at Blackburn South. Back was definitely not playing ball tonight, which made it a struggle - the sort of night where last year I'd have given it away inside the first 10 minutes, but I know enough about managing this injury now to be able to get through with occasional breaks (like on most of the hills). Still not a particularly comfortable experience. Route was decent, on a map where it's easy to fall into traps - there are some spots where it's a long way around.

Thought we might have had some new bits of this map (a former industrial site is being redeveloped in the southwest corner), but it looks like we'll still have to wait another year or two.

Discovered a now-retired former work colleague has taken this up.

Change of scene today: I had some things to take out to the tip and so decided to go for a run vaguely nearby, covering some of the ground between Edwardes Lake and the Reservoir shops and adding a few more streets to my tally, including one with a good orienteering name. (I'm not sure if getting all of the City of Darebin is an ultimate target or not, given that there's not much more that is within range from home, but if it is this is another small piece of progress).

I thought I'd got off to a faster start than usual but that turned out to be my GPS doing strange things. (Some questionable data's perhaps appropriate in a part of Melbourne that supposedly has a 212-storey tower just across the creek). It did, however, turn into quite a decent run, noticeably quicker than most of the last couple of weeks, with glute at a nuisance level throughout but not getting any worse. Thought about taking it out past the hour to take advantage of a good day but decided not to - hopefully Thursday works out after that.

Monday morning Pilates, with what's becoming the usual bunch of characters (including a muscular construction worker). Generally went pretty well. Glute still a bit sore but improved on where it was late yesterday (and continued to do so during the day).

Onwards to Fitzroy, a little sparsely populated on a day which resembled a July day in most respects except that it doesn't get dark until 8.30 (although, unlike the Hobart suburbs, it didn't snow). Never really got going today and definitely at the slow end of what I do this in, only picking up a little at the end.

Good to be back, on the close to home and tricky Granite Hills Park. It was the chance to put some rusty techniques (both terrain running and navigation) to the test, as well as to catch up with lots of people I haven't seen for a while - one of those days where you see new bumps (one of which I knew about, one of which not) and teenagers who've grown 20 centimetres since you last saw them (I haven't checked the results to see if they've become 20% faster at the same time).

Early on it was across sodden slopes that reminded me a bit (at least in terms of the hardness of pushing through them) of sub-alpine Norway. Got into the rocks and contour detail later on. Didn't feel as if I was flowing navigationally but generally muddled through with just a few minor wobbles (including finding two wrong controls). Also didn't have any fluency in the terrain - noticeable particularly in the rougher stuff, and crossing steep slopes - but that will hopefully come with a bit of practice. A bit further back than I thought I might have been.

C • Now I’m wondering who the 2

Second run of the day. I thought I might struggle to come up a second time and so it proved; back was tight and I couldn't really run any hills of any size, which made for a pretty slow start given how uphill it was. Mostly memorable for dicing with Ricky, who I thought was going for Bryan Keely's record of passing me eight times in the same course, but in the end he settled for six. Again a little scrappy but no major time losses. Clare got a little ahead of me at 24, and although we were reasonably well matched through the rest I couldn't find the extra bit of speed (or extra good line) to run her down.

On a day with numerous squally showers (which we largely missed), it was looking very black indeed out to the west during the later part of the course (it unloaded on the way to the car park). Views are a feature of this area - one of the houses was for sale and mentioned the views of the CBD (strangely they didn't mention the equally prominent views of the several hectares' worth of electricity infrastructure at the South Morang Terminal Station).

The three leading men finished their second run before I even started it.

One plus of the two runs is that I've replenished my supply of split printouts and control description sheets, having had to, in recent weeks, fall upon expired fuel vouchers and unsuccessful Melbourne Cup betting tickets for my shopping lists.

The glute, which had hitherto been reasonable, complained very loudly when I trod awkwardly in a hole coming out of 8. Thought briefly it might be race-ending but it settled soon enough (a bit sore this evening, though).

Race 1 - C1 - Splits

Race 2 - C1 - Splits