Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

A later start than usual (having started the day by going to vote for Labor state conference delegates) on a cool morning. I'd made a couple of false starts in the last couple of months on this route, but today I knew within the first 10 minutes that I was on and could reasonably target 90 minutes or more, heading out initially through Heidelberg before coming back across Rosanna and West Heidelberg. Pretty smooth through the first hour, including most of the hills except for the steepest one (coming out of Rosanna) which was harder going. Tired somewhat beyond the hour but it was good tired rather than bad tired, and once it became apparent that even a direct route home would give me a time in the mid-90s I decided it was worth staying out the bit extra to set a new (recent) benchmark - haven't been longer since early 2018. Very encouraged by this (and in general it's been a decent few days when I thought it might be a difficult few days, given my schedule).

Not especially energetic for the rest of the day, although events at Docklands between 5.30 and 6pm were enough to give me a second wind.

Another post-midnight finish (IOF this time), so didn't fancy too early a start and did this in Woodend before getting to a course-planning workshop there I was helping at. Not too many times I've explored Woodend before (I think I did a Macedon Ranges series event there once in the mid-2000s - when I was OV President I tried to get to each of the park/street series at least once each year - but couldn't find my map). Did an initial loop to the north, which featured a potentially busy road with no verge but also a nice path along the creek. That was a bit shorter than I thought it would be so did some weaving around in the streets in the second half (adding Macedon Ranges to my list in the process) - Woodend is a smaller place than I thought it was. A fairly sluggish run although the later parts were a bit better. Somewhat odd weather - a chilly southeast wind and Woodend was right on the northern limit of the drizzle on the ranges, so sometimes had sunshine and windblown drizzle at the same time (and didn't really get wet).

Pleased to have been able to manage a reasonable set of sessions through a busy three days - hopefully tomorrow will be better coming off a proper sleep for the first time in a few days. Also pleased to see the turnout at the workshop :-).

Late start after a 1.20am finish last night. I went in with low expectations and for the first 15 minutes this run lived down to them, both in terms of energy levels and tightness, but improved considerably in the second half. Unusual to do a run of this length from home which meant venturing into corners of Alphington I haven't been into for a while (with a bit more progress on the paper mill redevelopment, although not yet at the stage of producing any new streets). Pretty slow.

A session at the end of the day. Was at a bit of a low point before doing this but the water woke me up, as I thought it might, and the session ended up as quite a reasonable run. Pool was pretty quiet; I guess people are out of summer mode now. (We're about to go past the average date of the last 30, with no sign of anything close to that in at least the next week).

Unlike the last two weeks, managed to back up from a Wednesday night to do something longer on Thursday. An earlier start than usual to be into the office in time for an online talk at 9.10, which meant that it was still properly dark when I started - thought this might be an issue heading south through Yarra Bend but there was enough ambient light for it not to be an issue (if anything the lights at the golf driving range were too bright and affected my night vision, although it was almost at the point by then of it not being needed). Did some back-and-forths through the section of Abbotsford west of the convent to clear a section there (wondering in the process why a street several kilometres from the ocean is called Marine Parade; is the City of Yarra - the subject of my day's milestone, reaching 300 streets there - planning in anticipation of 25 metres of sea level rise?) before heading back.

Going up the (few) hills was sometimes a bit iffy, but otherwise this was decent for the most part, starting to flow very well in the last 15 minutes. Felt a bit faster than it was; perhaps the early start had a bit to do with that?

Got to work and discovered I'd mixed the dates up and the talk was actually next week. At least this made sure I got back before a somewhat unusual morning thunderstorm. (The storm was to lead to one of my occasional uses of Attackpoint for work-related purposes, when a forecaster preparing for an interview asked me for examples of past notable morning thunderstorms in Melbourne and this enabled me to pinpoint a relevant date).

And, after several hundred years, the long arm of the law has finally caught up with Robin Hood, who was due to appear in a Nottingham court today. (Sherwood Forest would be a strong contender for the least interesting terrain I have ever orienteered in).

Penultimate Eastern Summer Series event at Ashwood North (if this was Sydney they'd have given the map a name which makes reference to the former biscuit factory redevelopment that makes for some of its more interesting bits, but we're a bit more boring here). The good news was that my hip was fine, the bad news was that my back was in its usual Wednesday evening shape, although there were some good patches of flow on some level and downhill parts, particularly in the middle. Again at the longer end of the scale (if not quite as long as the last two weeks); some tricky route decisions but haven't yet seen an obviously better option.

My back was quite tight afterwards but was improved after a dinner stop in Box Hill; perhaps the bowl of Sichuan pork soup, which tested the outer limits of my spiciness tolerance, acted as a muscle relaxant. (The restaurant I went to certainly met the authenticity test - I was the only white person in the place). The centre of Box Hill is increasingly becoming a facsimile of a pocket of modern urban China, with its gleaming high-rise towers; this isn't to everyone's taste, but if it isn't to your taste it's not as if alternative low-rise suburbs are exactly in short supply in eastern Melbourne (and I see increased urban density around major public transport hubs as a Good Thing).

A slightly earlier than usual start for a swim and felt a bit sleepy before I got in. That disappeared pretty quickly once in the water and I felt as if I was moving reasonably well, but the clock at least partially disagrees.

The hip was again a bit uncomfortable in the later part of the swim, and felt iffy enough that I decided to put off plans for a lunchtime run - will do something Friday instead.

Early morning Pilates. Found it hard work at times this morning for no obvious reason, and left hip was fatiguing relatively easily in some of the exercises, although no pain. Not getting any lighter at the start (that will come with the end of daylight saving in a couple of weeks).

My first outing for a while at an MFR evening run (which have recently restarted), from Andrew and Cian's place and doing a circuit of Albert Park Lake in about the time it will take the F1 cars to do 20 of them the weekend after next. In one way this was slightly frustrating for me in as much as I dropped 50 metres off the bunch at the start and never pulled it in (I'd hoped I might as my pace increased once warmed up, but the rest sped up at a similar pace), in another way it was positive because it's pretty rare for me these days to go 30 minutes without having to stop to settle my back down, particularly for an evening run. Got plenty of chances post-run to catch up on the socialising I'd missed during the run :-).