Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Koonya Monrington Peninsula street-O, with a mix of the back beach tracks and the streets between it and Melbourne Road. It had the feel of a day when I might have settled into a nice flow on a flatter route, but in the end the ups and downs on the dunes (both on the tracks and on the streets that have been built over them) was more than my back was ready to handle today (quads also quite stiff afterwards). Did manage to find a bit at the end to get myself under the time limit, but didn't extend the run as I was originally hoping to do.

Probably just about optimised my route for the distance I was capable of doing today; I dropped four controls (all low- to mid-scoring) and Andrew Rowan needed another 2.4km to get them all (and be slightly late).

Earlier than I normally would go on a Saturday given the forecast; it was still early enough that the wind was cool rather than hot and it ended up quite a pleasant run. Started out on the back track towards Number Sixteen then back through the streets, picking up a couple on the north side of Melbourne Road. After a slow start in the soft sand bits, had some nice sections in the middle (particularly on the track amongst the moonah trees near Tasman Drive), but quads starting to feel it a bit towards the end and decided to stop at 45 minutes (still OK for the day after something longer); there are bigger fish to fry tomorrow.

Occurred to me going through the intersection of Andrea and Belinda that this may well have been another of those places (I've seen a few) where a developer or councillor named the streets after his daughters (in the 1960s it definitely would have been 'his'). The neighbouring Rodney and Nerissa may have come from that source too, although the latter sounds a bit out-there for that era.

And one of the signs you've been in a workplace for a while is when you start having colleagues who weren't born when you first started. I haven't reached that milestone yet (at least if you only count when I was officially a Bureau employee and not the four years before that when I was a PhD student partly based there), but it's getting closer - our latest recruit in climate was only a few months old when I joined.

C • DOB 3

Plan B did work - I woke up a bit stiff after a particularly vigorous session of Attack of the Killer Physio last night, but loosened up OK once going and had a reasonably solid session (if a bit slow). Headed out to Heidelberg to fill in a bit of space between Darebin and Burgundy, zig-zagging down with one very notable exception (the Stradbroke climb which I think is probably the steepest thing I've run up in years, though short). In this process I completed everything on the north side of a 4km circle, although there's still plenty to do on the south side in Abbotsford and Kew.

It was a bit chaotic at the Heidelberg end because it's the first day of an extended rail shutdown from there outwards. Also got a reminder that some Ivanhoe Girls Grammar parents aren't doing a great job of teaching their daughters that turning traffic is supposed to give way to pedestrians, and at the end had to dodge a Fairfield Primary student carrying a very large stuffed animal on his head.

My parents flew in late last night and I took them home this morning (then worked from Blairgowrie for the rest of the day and will be there over the weekend).

As with last week, I didn't come up soon enough from Wednesday night to manage a long run this morning (unlike last week, Friday is available as a plan B). Headed instead for the water for what turned into a reasonable session once I was going.

The second part of plan B was the lunchtime run. I decided to head for the central city this time, partly because it would have more shade on a warm day (although as it happened lunchtime was when a seabreeze pushed briefly into the city before retreating again later). I expected a few interruptions and got a few interruptions, although not too many, possibly facilitated by a few bits of jaywalking (one intersection where I didn't try that was the one outside police headquarters). Didn't feel too bad all things considered.

Part of the objective here was to draw some more lines on maps, and I did draw some more lines on maps (including Bourke Street Mall for the first time), but the GPS was being even more wacky than usual in the inner city - giving me almost a bonus kilometre in the end - which meant that a lot of those lines were a lot less straight than the ones I actually ran. One of the upshots of this was that I supposedly registered seven "streets" (mostly laneways parallel to Elizabeth Street, which I did run) which I didn't actually enter.

Dodging pedestrians is part of the deal with a lunchtime CBD run, but at one spot on Bourke Street there were more to dodge than usual - a shop was being auctioned and the crowd spilled onto the street. Both the premises being auctioned and the people in attendance were more respectable than the last time I saw a lunchtime CBD property auction. That one was in the early 2000s and involved a dodgy amusement arcade in Russell Street (at that time a notorious drug strip) around the corner from the old Bureau office; well represented in the crowd were those whose by-then-mostly-terminated lives were subsequently portrayed in Underbelly. As one of my colleagues said at the time "the bids weren't in millions, they were in kilos".

Pilates session, moved from Monday because of the long weekend. Felt surprisingly good doing this, despite Achilles tightness beforehand.

Summer Series at Mulgrave, a rare Wednesday excursion south of the Monash (combining business with pleasure, I took the opportunity on the way to check on a potential new observing site at Wantirna). Flatter than most Wednesday areas (although not quite as flat as the almost-contourless map suggested - was it a 20-metre interval?), and slightly less genteel than most Wednesday areas, at least at the point near #20 with the probably-harmless-but-slightly-discomfort-inducing bloke standing in the middle of the road with a crushed can in one hand and a beer bottle in the other.

I knew this would be a long one when it was 17 controls (B is normally 13 or 14) and the first few legs weren't particularly short. (Often the courses get a bit shorter at this end of the season as sunset gets earlier, but the last two have been the longest of the lot). Running probably slightly improved on last week, or perhaps I've just got a bit more systematic about settling my back down when it needs it. Route was OK, I think.

This part of town turns into a pumpkin early; the eating options after 7.30 appeared to be Maccas, Maccas or Maccas. (I went back to Fairfield instead).

Definitely needed a rest day from running (apart from anything else, both my Achilles have been a bit tight today). Wasn't super-energetic to start with in the water either, but ended up a reasonable session. Saw quite a few people pool running in the adjacent lane, not super-common here.

The "oops" award of the day goes to whoever was responsible for the NSW Liberal candidate biographies, which included the statement "Sophie Bruce knows our community and will be a strong voice for Prospect and ensure it is the best place to live, work and raise a family.". This would be an entirely unremarkable thing to put in a candidate biography except that Ms. Bruce is actually running for Blue Mountains. (They've fixed it now).

An informal event to finish the weekend, on Georges Heights and Middle Head (with its old fortifications) - I've been on the latter before, but not the former. (My previous outing on Middle Head was the day after the Six Foot Track, although I doubt I was going any faster today). Some interesting bits technically, some controls which were definitely there for the views (which were impressive, on a day which was drier than expected), and some transport legs. Body functioning a bit better than yesterday (though still not great - definitely in need of a rest day), and almost celebrated my first control miss yesterday by doing it again today (realised when I was a bit past it that I hadn't been to #18). Concentration was a bit patchy in a few other spots too.

30 minutes late getting back to Melbourne, but my bag got there at the same time as I did this time, so I think we'll call this a net gain. (And after picking up some things at the shops on the way home - not many eating places are open at 8.45 on a public holiday night - I was once again reminded that microwaveable ready meals are never anywhere near as good in reality as they look on the packaging).