Training Log Archive: GM

Quick ride after work before beer o'clock at the Bolt Bar. Out to the corks, then over the Wide Brown Land before coming back beside the lake and Glenloch, and the bike path home.

Loop out through Black Mt and Aranda Bushlands - saw nobody which always feels eerie in the middle of a city

XC at Black Mt Peninsular. I was running late so started about 3 mins after everyone else. I struggled with not having warmed up and not having anyone to run with. The only good thing was passing the back markers. Then towards the end of my second lap the leaders passed me.

Ride to Black Mt Peninsular for XC

Slow ride home with MaryMac for XC. We were overtaken by a 'super commuter' heading up from Glenloch on one of those fancy skinny wheeled bikes, but Acejase did pause for a moment to have a quick chat before he was off.

C • electric bike 2

Gossan loop. First bit with MaryMac and we joked that heading to Gossan meant we wouldn't run into Rob Jessop. When MaryMac turned back I upped the pace and completed my loop then headed back over the red footbridge. Just as I came to the ovals I crossed path with .... Rob Jessop who was finishing his run. So we did the last bit together.

Bike ride with MaryMac. First to Dickson and breakfast at Sfoglia, then into Civic and around Central and West basins then home. Great day for a ride - not too hot or crowded. Lots of people out enjoying themselves.

Parked at the end of Wangara St in Aranda - mainly because I am a bit bored running across Aranda to get to the bush. Down to the underpass into Black Mt then followed fire trails for a while, then up the spur near Pushbike hill to Circumscision then around to the lower car park. Up over the top of Black Mt then down to the northern end, and back through the middle - stopped to have a chat to a kangaroo that was just standing on the side of the firetrail as I ran past. Finally back to the car. Felt a bit tired towards the end but that's ok.

Parkrun at Ginninderra

run down to Lake G with MaryMac for Parkrun, and jogged back with BA

Early run before going to architect in Fyshwick to re-sign the building contract. Headed out across Aranda ovals and around the back of Aranda. Finished back through the middle and the ovals.

Home from work, then a quick change of clothes and bike and rode to ANU to meet MaryMac then rode back home with her.

Run with MaryMac. We headed off along the bike path towards the Cook saddle and bumped into Rob Jessop. He had just finished a hard ride so he turned around and tagged along with us and chatted as we ran down past the KP, which was full of Ks, then turned around and retraced our steps. MaryMac said it was much better than she expected - Rob was a good distraction.

Quick run up through Macquarie then back through Aranda.

Run from Macquarie to botanic gardens via Cook saddle, Aranda bushlands, lots of fire trails on the western side of Black Mt, then through the bush for a while to Pushbike Hill fire trail. Up to the lower car park on Black Mt then down past the water reservoirs and the lower part of the AJMT. Lots of pink tapes which I later found out was for the Triple Tri which would have passed through here a lot earlier. Nice to get back to running some hills.

Run down to Lake G with MaryMac, and walk/jog back home after Parkrun.

Parkrun at Ginninderra with MaryMac. Chatted with Frogga before start and he was talking up Acejase to beat him as he was sick. Acejase tried to bag me for wearing the same shirt as my wife, but it back fired a bit when I said it was our shirts from last weeks Urban adventure race and that I was proud of my partner and more than happy to be wearing matching shirts. My legs are still heavy and slow so I just settled into a steady plod. Saw Frogga about 10m in front of Acejase as they passed back under the bridge at about the 1.3km mark. I had a wave from MaryMac in the same place. Passed a few people near the 2km point, and then tried to keep an even pace to the end. Not a great time but good to run. A little bit of drizzle but not too bad. MaryMac looked fast at at the finish but she claims my '3 second per kg per km' rule of thumb isn't working for her even though the kg are dropping. Maybe she needs to harden up. We had a nice chat to young Ciaran at the finish about his plans for uni next year. Swiss Miss was leading Liz and managed to avoid the big puddles after the heavy rain. Still a nice way to get going on a Saturday. Saw in the results that Frogga held off Acejase so maybe he wasn't that sick or just doesn't like to lose.

Quick runaround Black Mt green trail after work before meeting MaryMac at ANU for beer o'clock at University House. Saw Prosseri there having a beer too.

Short easy run after work

C • Orienteering 3

Summer series at The Pinnacle. Second O event for the year, so now have set two and run two. I enjoyed the course and the weather was very kind. All the rain in the week meant the grass seeds weren't a problem and I only had a few to get out when I got home. I slipped a bit to the left going from 1 to 2 but didn't lose too much time. I was careful on the short leg to 5 as this is a crappy bit of bush and the boulder is never easy to find. Had a bit of leap frogging with Zac Needham for the second half - he would zoom past with his young, fit legs and massive strides, and I would sneak past with my cunning and old legs. Everything else was fine. I was just a bit slow. Nice to chat to a few people after.

Ride to O and back. Ride home was downhill and a lot quicker. Nice that the event was so close which was what prompted me to go in the first place.

Ride with BB from Duffy around LBG and back. Stopped for a coffee and fruit toast at Kingston foreshore. Glorious day and better not being at work. Nice way to catch up.

Recovery run from our Airbnb accommodation in Marrickville down to Cooks River then along the bike path and parklands beside the river. I was surprised how nice it was. First couple of minutes were hard ironing out the kinks especially from the paddling but the felt ok

Event: Paddy Pallin Urban
 

Paddy Pallin Urban adventure race in Sydney with MaryMac - best teammate ever. We were competing against nearly 200 teams of two in the racing category, including Heather and Robert who were back to seek revenge after their shellacking last year.

The format this year was more like a rogaine with a six hour time limit and the checkpoints having different points value. On go there is a mad sprint to grab the clue sheet for the 19 control points, then finding a quiet spot to decipher the cryptic clues as to where the check points are. We also had to be aware that some CPs are only open for a more limited time. We sat down with H&R to solve the clues, mark up our map, then after 25 minutes we were off. We had one CP which we weren't able to solve but thought we might get a chance later on - we didn't.

The start/finish was at Prince Alfred park next to Central Railway. We decided to head to Sydney Uni first to find the new Law Library and our first CP. H&R also went the same way so we were running with them and we arrived at almost the same time. We had to do a short obstacle course with MaryMac not enjoying the climb over the large A-frame wall and being sledged by Heather, but some pre-planning meant we were away first and left them behind.

The next CP was at the end of Glebe Point so we ran the couple of kms but checked the bus timetables along the way in case the next bus was going to be quicker. It wasn't and H&R who decided to take the bus lost time when the bus was late. The next challenge was kayaking on the bay and this was fun but hard as the distance was fairly long especially for a couple of novice paddlers. The official commented that we were quick so that was a plus and still no sign of the kids so we had a good lead.

A run back up the hill into Glebe then down to the park near the fish markets for the next CP - erecting a tent with a team of four but everyone blindfolded except one person who had to direct. We weren't given the full instructions so were chided by the only grumpy person we met all day for allowing the sighted person in our team to touch the tent but with the full instructions we finished it properly. Even using tent pegs which apparently we didn't have to do so it all evened out.

A short run to Ultimo and a basketball challenge. I had to score a basket from behind the three point line, and MaryMac from the free throw line. I was close and had a nice swish after about 5 attempts but MaryMac's shoulder was giving her trouble. She resorted to under-arming the ball and was successful. As we left we crossed paths with Clare and Catherine Murphy.

Into the CBD and the Paddy Pallin store in Kent street to search for five items, and add up the prices for a total. We had a lot of trouble finding one of the items until a man held up a jacket and said out loud "Marmot men's jacket $109.95" - apparently he was just a regular customer. We also used the ticket price on the items first till we realised they had race special prices, so this was a fairly long CP.

Down to the old swing bridge at Darling Harbour looking for someone wandering around looking sheepish. In the end we had to run all the way across, then cross the road to find some guy with a huge sheep head - the Ramator - crossed paths with the kids going the other way so they had caught back a bit of time on us.

A detour via the bottom end of Martin Place to check on a CP but no luck so continued to Wynyard park to find some some clues ie. people in some Marmot gear, and collect two answers then have our photo taken with a toy marmot while holding Marmot sign - talk about product placement.

Some running including illegal traffic light crossing, again, and we were in the Rocks for the first of two CPs. The first we had to solve a wooden puzzle which took me 10 seconds and we were out, then down to the Argyle Cut and a community hall for a relaxing CP. We had to listen to a series of short excerpts from movie songs and write down the movie they were from. The challenge was to write ten and it took us about 14 songs to have ten which were all correct - thanks to MaryMac for 'Frozen' which she attributed to working with people with small children.

A run through the Rocks and Circular Quay to the Sydney Museum in Phillip St where we waited at a bus stop for the arrival of the Karaoke Bus. After a quiet 10 minute wait the bus arrived and it was horrible - so grotty and far too loud. MaryMac spent the short trip down to Hyde Park with her fingers in her ears, but still sang along with the song which neither of us knew - not a big fan of karaoke.

A short run back to Martin Placeand we found the check point which was being run by the Cancer Coucil. The challenge was to select an item of $5 or more and sell it to the public OR buy it ourselves. We forked out the $5 for a daffodil key ring and headed for the train station, and jumped onto a train a moment before it departed. We originally had planned to go to Edgecliff station but made a quick plan change and went through to Bondi Junction.
The next 5 minutes was the only time in the race we were 'lost' as it took that long to get out of the station - we kept running into no exits in the bus station and the lift we jumped in went down to where we had been before ascending to the exit level.

We ran to Centenial Park and found the CP, which was probably the one that most teams left out because it was the furthest away from the start and fairly isolated. We had to make a paper airplane and fly it at least 10 metres. Made it quickly and the distance on the first try. Then back up the hill to Bondi Junction, stopping at a shop to buy a soft drink which we shared - the cold drink and the sugar helped. Another well timed train and back to Edgecliff station.

We ran down to the water at Double Bay for the next challenge - filling a long narrow PVC pipe with water to float a pin pong ball out the top. The challenge was that the pipe had holes drilled in it so MaryMac was trying to plug as many with her fingers as I poured the water in. I had to wade into the water to fill the bucket so my shoes and socks were soaked, but MaryMac was wet all down her front as well as the water was splashed around. After the fourth bucket full of water we were successful

Our route left the park and headed up some steep steps and roads and over the ridge of Darling Point before a steep descent to Rushcutters Bay where we had to eat an ice block dangling from a string, but the challenge was to do it without using our hands. Some small nibbles and a couple of big bites had it gone quickly but it was so cold it was almost painful. We decided to give the CP near Kings Cross a miss because it involved buying a grocery item to donate to Rough Edges but we hadn't seen a shop and didn't think we had time to hunt for one. Then just near White City tennis courts we went past a tiny little convenience store so we made a quick change of plan and we purchased a couple of items - soup and tuna - and headed for Darlinghurst. We found out later that H&R had passed the same shop and bought their grocery items there too.

The next CP was in Moore Park near the SCG and it was closing early so we had our skates on to get there in time. And we made it with about 15 minutes to spare. We had to do a circuit training session - but luckily we had 5 hours of warming up so were good to go. The circuit was: carrying weight bags around a short loop; wiggling waves in a heavy rope; doing push-ups; then Icky shuffles; jumping; skipping; and medicine ball tossing to cool down and we were done.

Then followeda run through Surrey Hills to Redfern Oval for our last CP - a spin of the chocolate wheel and eat whatever came up - either a raw egg, liquorice, a wheel-bix, a snail, or some chocolate. We both had chocolate, although maybe they were just being nice after I said I would throw up if it was snail after last year. The final stretch back to the finish was hampered by some of the slowest lights in Sydney, but we ran in with 11 minutes to spare.

We missed two CPs and scored 390 out of a possible 420. We finished in 6th place overall and 3rd in the mixed category. Not bad for a couple of oldies. MaryMac was amazing the whole day and we had fun. Heather and Robert beat us in by about 10 minutes but were 20 points behind so finished in 14th overall and 6th in the mixed so Heather was claiming a podium finish. They really stepped it up from last year, but still not quite good enough. Maybe we should retire before they are?

The rain held off till near the end of the presentations, and the overcast day meant it wasn't too hot. We caught the train back to Marrickville and bought and ate some delicious cheese triangles from the Greek bakery - our first food since breakfast - followed by a shower and a rest. Then backinto the city and to the Rocks for tea. This was with the four of us, plus Robert's friend Jane who had also been in a team, at the Löwenbräu Keller. We had litre glasses of German beer and lashings of German sausages, pork belly, sauerkraut, potatoes, rye bread, red cabbage, and a beer jus. I think we were all worthy.

C • Dude 4

A quick run around The Pinnacle before heading to Sydney. Nice having a day off and being able to run when I wanted to - although it was very humid after all the rain.