Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Melbourne Bush O at Brimbank. If I was treating this as a proper competition rather than training I wouldn't have done the run that I did yesterday, but I was still a bit disappointed with the way I felt for this - definitely finding it hard work physically, although a bit better later on. A fairly straightforward course on the whole - part of me was disappointed we didn't go round the northeast side of the map this time and part of me wasn't (it's the most technically challenging part but also the roughest). James did 33, I probably would have been happy with a sub-50. Good turnout of newcomers and relative newcomers, which is the main objective here (there was a decent turnout to the kids' activities at Darebin on Saturday afternoon, too).

It was definitely no surprise that yesterday's events led to a lot of premature jumping to conclusions and brought plenty of racists and bigots out of the closet (along with a number of those, mostly Americans, who thought that more guns would have been helpful rather than harmful, who received the derision they deserved), but I didn't expect someone to use it as a pretext for objecting to bike lanes (allegedly they obstruct emergency vehicles although this seems to have come as news to the operators of said vehicles). I also suspect that Channel 7's naming someone who turned out to be the wrong someone is going to provide even more work for their already very overworked lawyers.

Back to visiting random bits of Melbourne. This time the number 61 came up, which is what I think of as Eastern Summer Series heartland, centred on Box Hill South and Blackburn South, and I spent significant bits of time on maps I've run on in the last 18 months (but also went a bit further south into areas south of the Burwood Highway that aren't on maps as far as I know because the area between major roads is too narrow). Felt a bit uncertain in the warm-up but settled pretty well after the first 10 minutes and happy with how I handled the long steady climb through Bennettswood, among other things. Back started to feel tighter in the last 15 minutes without really interfering with my capacity to run; might have been challenging to take the distance out much further but that wasn't my plan (going a bit longer than usual for a Saturday today because of a relatively short orienteering event tomorrow).

I started near various sports fields, which were busy (which made it a bit of a challenge to find a parking spot). I'll count myself as a good-luck charm for the Box Hill United women because when I started my warm-up near their ground they were 1-0 down and when I finished it they were 2-1 up. (Searching online afterwards for a final score I came across a schedule which said the under-13s were playing, in which case either there was a fixture change or 12-year-old footballers are a lot bigger and more mature-looking than 12-year-old orienteers are).

During the run itself I didn't go past too many playing fields but instead saw numerous examples of another popular Melbourne Saturday sport. (I did wonder, on seeing a sign outside 1245 Riversdale Road, how many potential purchasers immediately ruled it out on the basis of being on a noisy main road without realising that by the time you get into the 1200s Riversdale Road is a quiet residential street). Also saw a few signs for an artists' trail, although I guess I should have worked out that the late 19th/early20th century Heidelberg crowd also made it here by virtue of the fact that one of the local schools is called Roberts McCubbin Primary.

Morning session at Northcote on a drizzly morning, a change to the usual routine in the name of logistics later in the day (specifically, going to the football in the evening). Felt a bit stiff and tired when I got in but that eased through the session, which seemed to pass pretty quickly. Probably could have done without the smell of fumes from the ride-on mower, and the water jets at the far end were strong enough that it almost felt like a spa. Not many people in the water, but the car park was still reasonably busy so I assume the rest were in the gym.

Definitely had a good night at the football even if badly outnumbered in my section of the ground. The Bulldogs supporters didn't seem to be too pleased with the umpiring. The last train to Footscray must have been at 10 - at least I assume that's why they were all walking out halfway through the last quarter?

Lunchtime session from work up into the area around North Melbourne station (which is actually in West Melbourne - there was a proposal to rename it and call the new Arden station 'North Melbourne' but that was deemed too confusing). Felt a bit light-headed before I started but OK once I was running, though back a bit iffy at times. Finished off the area between Spencer Street and the railway - West Melbourne as a whole is uncompleteable, as noted previously, because a lot of it's the docks. (There are still a few reminders of the proximity to the docks, like the premises of the Maritime Union of Australia, which I've been to occasionally for Labor gatherings, and in general it's probably the least posh area in immediate proximity to the CBD, although the apartment-builders are starting to move in around the station).

Longer one this morning, first one I've managed since Easter. I wasn't sure if I was going to manage it in the first few minutes, but gradually built into it and was reasonably solid over the Kew ridge. Had a bit of a bad patch (with some left hip tightness) around 8-9k, got a second wind later on but still pretty slow, good to get this on the board though.

I didn't perceive it as raining, but it must have done at some point because I was pretty damp (including shoes) at the end. Almost came to grief on some wet leaves in a gutter at one point but managed to keep my footing (my shoes are coming towards the end of their natural life, though).

Drew a few new lines on the map on the south side of the river in Abbotsford, some of it past the brewery (which often produces somewhat malty smells in the vicinity but wasn't today). Might be able to clear this area with one more pass.

Now that the Summer Series is over I've reverted to winter mode for Wednesdays, which often means going somewhere and filling in a few gaps on an edge of the area that I've covered (should manage a bit more of that this year as I won't be away anywhere near as much as I was in the equivalent months last year). Used one of my occasional bases for this, Malahang Reserve in West Heidelberg, and headed across to cover some ground on the east side of the ridge in Heidelberg and Rosanna - which meant a lot of ups and downs (particularly given a route which was embracing rather than avoiding them). Pretty hard work at times but not handling things too badly, faded away a bit on the flattish return leg though. Should probably be able to finish off the remaining area west of the railway line and south of Lower Plenty Road next time (whenever that is).

I was wondering why there was so much traffic in one of the back streets of Heidelberg Heights that I went down, until I realised that that's where the local mosque is and Eid festivities were in full swing.

One of the projects I'm currently working on involves rainfall quality control and I was reading numerous papers today to get a handle on what else was being done. Norway seems to be doing some interesting things and I noted with particular interest that the author list for the paper which describes them includes a couple of familiar names.

All Nations intervals. Still a little bit of awareness of the hamstring but much improved on recent days, and it didn't interfere with the run (nor did it flare up when going faster). Didn't feel as if I was flowing especially well on the uphill reps but still faster than I've done this for a while (62/58 by the end), especially given the damp ground.

Managed to thread my way in between most of the heavier showers, at the back end of a system which brought 36mm (about ten times what most models forecast). A deluge unloaded just after I got home.

Warm-up and down. Seemed fairly quiet outside - maybe the weather made everyone stay in bed longer?

The walk before the warm-up proper was to a different place to usual, because for the first time in at least a couple of years, some mail intended for 1/10 Hall Street ended up at my place instead (Hall and Rushall are three blocks apart).

Headline of the day: 'Solar eclipse failed to deliver end times, dooming us to the election'.

C • Rushall 1

9 April 2024 wasn't any warmer in the highlands of southeast NSW than 9 April 2023 (day 2 of Easter) was. If anything the lowest snow level was lower and I'm reasonably sure last year's Easter area would have got some (which didn't quite happen last year), although the cold air moved through quicker this time and judging by the Cooma and Bombala observations it had warmed up somewhat by afternoon.

Monday morning Pilates, once again light out the window (for now). Must have been more efficient than usual because I actually got through the full set (a rarity). Back not an issue for this.

Onwards to the pool, a steady session but a fairly slow one. Got a bit of a hint of some residual hamstring issues running to catch the green light at the pedestrian crossing; hopefully it will have settled further tomorrow.

It being the first weekday of non-daylight saving, it was the first dark ride home for a while. Tried to pick my timeslot to get between the showers behind the front but was only partly successful (at least I didn't find myself under the small cell that dropped 7.8mm in a short time at the city gauge). Quite invigorating afterwards though.