Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Sort of managed to string six days together but didn't do what I'd hoped to - the back held up pretty well but I was just tired. That will hopefully resolve itself with some more work. Perhaps I was a bit ambitious taking on the Koonya track (with numerous steep climbs up dunes, though reasonably firm underfoot) at the start. Had its OK patches after that but never felt especially energetic.

Back was pretty sore for a while after yesterday evening's run and I thought it might be difficult to come up again this morning. Not the most energetic run I've ever had, but the back turned out to be better than on any of the previous three days (must be something to be said for heading out in the morning).

Filled in a few more spaces on the Blairgowrie map (including the last remaining street on the ocean side of Melbourne Road between here and Canterbery Jetty). One place I won't be in a rush to come back to is the house which was displaying a United Australia Party poster (although perhaps I'd trade seeing a few posters for not having to see any more of their TV ads).

The afternoon was devoted to my much-delayed "50th" (actually ended up being closer to my 51st) - a good session with a range of friends. Nicer weather for it than it would have been in July, too.

C • UAP 16

This was - different. The morning was a false start (which I sort of expected, going out first thing to get back for a conference talk), but I really wasn't sure if the afternoon plan B would work out. Cut back on the degree of difficulty and, instead of the relatively hilly route I'd planned, used the 'keep in back pocket for marginal day' one - clearing a block of the industrial area in Preston, between Northland and Bell Street. Started out thinking I'd settle for anything much over 30 minutes but with the hope of reaching the hour; never felt particularly comfortable, but did manage to keep plugging away and was at its best (or least worst) in the last 15 minutes. Suspect this is the first time I've gone past the hour in an evening run for a long time.

Now to see if I can come up tomorrow morning...

It was cool but sunny and windy - I obviously still need to learn which parks have taps after six years in the area because I drew blanks at the two I went past for that purpose. (I've remembered to pack my water-carrying pack for this weekend; Sunday will be warm).

Having another go at trying to put together six days in a week. This was once again coming off a long day of conferencing (albeit not quite as long as yesterday) and felt only marginally better than yesterday, but because there were no hills of any consequence I was able to manage to keep plodding along. Started to make progress on a largely new area (the strip of North Carlton between Lygon and Nicholson), and cleared the last annoying outstanding node in Fitzroy North by going to the tram stop at the top end of Smith Street.

The conferencing itself upheld Murphy's Law - my power went out a couple of minutes before I was due to present (not for long, but long enough to make my internet reboot, a process which takes several minutes). Fortunately for this one we recorded backup videos. (Also noticed, appropriately for a conference that he's also at, that on the camera angle I'm using, directly above my head on the wall is a photo of Andy and myself on the 1998 Australian Long Championships podium).

Into the water after the short(ish) running session. Took a long time for my back to feel as if it was vaguely normal but it eventually got there; hopefully this will do me some good for tomorrow. Generally a decent session once it got going. Lower legs threatening to cramp a few times but never quite did so.

Street-O at Heyington Heights. In the midst of a run which was a metaphorical car crash - a product of a very long day sitting down in front of online conferences - the most memorable feature of the night was seeing an actual one (thanks to someone who took the corner near Heyington station too fast and ended up "beached as, bro" on top of a concrete bollard; the existence of the bollards suggests that isn't the first time someone has done that). Perhaps it was appropriate given that my route to the event took me past the scene of the Tim! The Stop Sign! incident.

I did get the route reasonably right, I think; the key decision point on this map is whether you need to go to Toorak, and once it was clear that the answer on B was "yes", once you're over there you might as well get most of them. (Posh suburbs are usually nice places to run, but it helps if you're having a day when you can actually run up hills).

As always, the Scotch event is a chance to see how the other 0.1% lives. The grass on the ovals was the most manicured I've seen anywhere in a long time, and that's speaking as someone who did a press conference on the MCG a few days before Boxing Day.

Wasn't sure beforehand if I would be up for this - back was a bit stiff this morning, though not as bad as yesterday - but things were OK once I was running, just enough tightness on the last couple to discourage me from trying to push the number of reps out further. Fairly typical pace for recent times (59-61 down, 63-64 up).

The route has acquired a new feature - a collection of shopping trolleys. I expect this is a common occurrence on the other side of All Nations Park but it took some effort to get them this far.

Warm-up and down. One advantage of being slightly later into summer is that it doesn't warm up as early, so it was still pleasant for this session. (The lower humidity helps, too).

Monday morning Pilates. Seemed to be fairly hard work this morning compared to usual, though got through everything.

Onwards to the pool. Not quite as slow as last week but still not exactly a stellar session. Back quite sore at times (notably pushing off on the turns) - I don't normally notice it in the water so maybe it's as well that I wasn't attempting to run today. (Hopefully it will settle down for tomorrow).

Acronym of the day: the Chequamegon Heterogeneous Ecosystem Energy-balance Study Enabled by a High-density Extensive Array of Detectors. Those who know their American football will not be surprised to learn that the paper's lead author is from the University of Wisconsin.