Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Started early in the hope of missing the heat, with the intention of heading northeast. Inside the first 10 minutes it was clear that my back didn't want to play ball on hills today so I instead switched plans for something flatter, turning north and northwest rather than northeast from Ivanhoe. It was still a struggle most of the way and there were numerous times that I thought I might be calling it a day early (and the back's reaction on the few brief upward bumps made it pretty clear that missing the climb out of Rosanna was a good move), but at least I got this on the board, and the pace was actually half-reasonable later on, perhaps because of a bit of a tailwind. Longest this year, which doesn't feel the greatest of benchmarks this far into the year; a somewhat more obscure benchmark is that it's the first time since 2020 that I've done a run from/to home that has got far enough from home to enter 2020/2021-vintage out-of-bounds areas (by about 50 metres).

Real estate boards have gone up on the house on the corner and one two houses along. Somewhat strangely, even though they're being sold by the same agent the auctions are at the same time. (In fairness, there probably isn't much overlap between the markets - the corner house will almost certainly be demolished for either a rebuild or a multi-unit development, the other one is a villa unit at the rear of a block that will probably be bought by an investor). I won't get to see either auction as I'll be in Woodend helping out at a course-setting workshop (which also means I'll miss the CWA goodies for sale that I mentioned earlier in the week).

A story in today's Age said that a survey of football fans found that 45% had heard a supporter racially abusing a player (sadly plausible, although I can't remember hearing it happen myself) and 25% had heard a supporter racially abusing an umpire. They must have long memories because non-white AFL umpires are conspicuous by their absence (the only non-white field umpire I can remember is Glenn James in the 1980s).

C • Racial abuse 4

26 was today's number. I had thought this might either give me the chance to challenge Clare's lead in Cairnlea streets visited or do some sprint training on the VU St. Albans map, but both are mostly on 25. Instead I started not too far on the far side of the E.J. Whitten Bridge (am I the only person who thinks it somewhat ironic that the principal purpose of a bridge named after Ted Whitten is to make it easier to avoid going to Footscray?) and did a loop in the eastern part of St. Albans.

This is fairly standard western suburbs suburbia, a mix of 1970s in the west and 1990s in the east (the latter, in classic 90s style, has lots of cul-de-sacs connected by small parks which means you register lots of streets completed even when you aren't really trying). I've always thought of it, perhaps because of the affiliations of the more prominent local soccer teams, as a place of the Maltese and those of the former Yugoslavia, but in fact these days a substantial slice of its population (and, on the evidence of the signs I saw, almost all of its real estate agents) are of Vietnamese origin. I suspect that it's hard rubbish season here which meant it looked a bit scrappy (notwithstanding a sign which said rubbish dumpers risked a month in the slammer, which I think is unlikely unless the dumping is as egregious as this), but the proportion of waves to people in front yards which were reciprocated was at the upper end of the historical average so I'll classify it as friendly territory.

(There's an interesting thread going on the subject of Strava heat maps as an indicator of segregation in American cities; I had a look at the Melbourne equivalent and while the west is a bit lighter on than the east, in general it tracks not too badly with population density, with certainly none of the stark divides that you see in the U.S.).

The terrain was pretty flat, notwithstanding the existence of an establishment called St. Albans Heights Primary School (elevation 62m, compared to 59m for St. Albans Meadows Primary School, which I also passed). My run was similarly flat, and I don't think I can really blame this on being out earlier than usual on a Saturday (partly to avoid the heat, partly to get back for Thea's first birthday gathering), but at least it was consistent and nothing hurt too much.

Run into Collingwood (mostly) from near the pool (the session I'd hoped to do last Friday). Decent for a Friday run, which hopefully means what the new physio is doing is effective. Took me into parts of Collingwood which were the subject of what used to be called "slum clearance" (reading "Power Without Glory" gives you a bit of a picture), now a mix of high-rise and low-rise public housing. (Also finished off everything within a 4km circle from home that's west of Hoddle Street; still plenty left in Kew and Abbotsford, and a small pocket in Heidelberg).

Tash saw me but I didn't see her.

Onwards to the pool, still busy as extended summer winds down (the first round of leaves are starting to fill the gutters). Not the smoothest of sessions and often threatened to cramp without actually doing so, but a bit more relaxed by the end.

Riding home, La Trobe Street eastbound was at a standstill at 6.15 on a Friday evening. Nature is healing (although I must say I don't miss the drunk pedestrians wandering into the bike lane on Friday evening, who I guess will make their presence felt again sooner or later).

The next in the current sequence of taking advantage of positioning myself for a sequence of Thursday physio appointments to cover ground in Brunswick and Coburg that isn't within range from home. I was hoping to get up as far as Bell Street, thinking (probably correctly) that that would be a 75-80 minute loop, but it was apparent early that this was not the day to be committing myself to something big. I did take in some of an old favourite, the path on the western side of Merri Creek north of Normanby (though it feels a bit less bushy now that the dirt track has been replaced by gravel), and did eventually wake up gradually from about 30 minutes onwards, for a respectable final third.

The 'you learn something new every day' moment, thanks to seeing a poster for an event they're staging, was discovering that there is an Alphington branch of the Country Women's Association (mis-spelt 'County' on the poster; it must have been a bad area for spelling because a nearby sign warned of 'steep decents' on the bike path). The CWA has moved on a bit from pumpkin scones in recent years, one example being their campaign a few years back to stop country women (along with the rest of us) from being exposed to the grossly misogynist slogans on Wicked campers. (The event itself looks like a good opportunity to stock up on some home-made edibles).

As some of you will know, the Sydney Summer Series staged a special event last night as part of World Pride. I feared the worst when I saw that it had a long Facebook comments thread (given the cesspit of homophobia that some corners of social media can turn into), but in fact the reaction appears to have entirely positive, as it should be.

Normally Wednesdays are an evening session for me in summer but I had a meeting tonight, so instead took the opportunity to clear out the remaining bits of West Heidelberg, with an excursion into a pocket of eastern Preston north of Northland added into the mix, through suburban streets and past a couple of schools (had I seen any playground fights at East Preston Islamic College they probably would have involved the school board, who have been in the news of late; they're already onto principal number three of the year). A good steady session once I'd settled in; certainly felt better than most recent Wednesday evenings did. Also my first wet-weather run for a while, although most of the drizzle was before or afterwards.

West Heidelberg is completed suburb number 17. Not sure what the next one will be; the three currently over 50% are Docklands (effectively uncompleteable as part of it is the working part of the port), North Carlton (where most of the remaining "streets" are the cemetery) and Preston (a big suburb which I wouldn't expect to finish this year). Suspect it might end up being one of the Collingwood/Fitzroy/Abbotsford trio, unless the opportunity arises to clear out a micro-suburb in one go like it did with Kooyong. (This leaves aside Blairgowrie, which I should finish in one or two more goes).

All Nations intervals. A bit on the slow side (didn't have any sub-60 reps) and perhaps not as awake as I'd like to have been with an earlyish start, but did feel reasonably smooth - had a sense that if this had been a longer run I would have settled into quite a nice rhythm by the time I was 30 minutes in (which is encouraging for the times I'll be doing that later in the week). Dog regulation compliance rates were dismal even by the usual standards of this venue.

Warm-up and down. A piece appeared in the news yesterday about how Tuesday was the worst day of the week for traffic in post-pandemic Melbourne; maybe this scared people off driving because there wasn't much of it around (although 7.15ish is often a bit of a lull in peak hour, after the tradies but before most of the office workers).

I haven't quite managed to match up to my 2022 volumes in January or February (with the combination of travel, a race week and a few injury issues), but not too far behind it.

Unsurprising news of the day was that Portsea is the postcode with the highest average superannuation account balance in Australia. Sorrento and Flinders also made the top six (Blairgowrie didn't make the list I saw but I suspect is still well above average). Also featuring in the upper reaches of the list were such places as Toorak, Brighton (the Victorian one), Point Piper, Vaucluse and Peppermint Grove.

Monday morning Pilates. As usual, gradually woke up during the session. Right knee a bit stiff early but I don't think it's anything to be concerned about. Not too many weeks away from when it will be properly dark when we start - with the cloud, first light wasn't until after 6.30 today.

Moving on to the pool (busy despite the cool morning). Didn't feel super-energetic but got into a reasonable rhythm by halfway, and ended up being my least slow session for a few weeks.

I also seem to have managed the ride to and from work without my hip flaring up this time.