Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Seemed to be a bit more improved this morning, so decided it was time to take the plunge. Didn't feel as bad as I expected to (not a high bar to clear), but glad I wasn't going any further. Essentially did a circuit of Yuexiu Park, which is quite hilly (in contrast to my last outing here).

Headed to Hong Kong this afternoon, which went pretty smoothly as far as the station in Hong Kong. My hotel is in the middle of three MTR stations, but in my usual state of bloody-mindedness I thought that getting a taxi was an indication of surrender. By the time I'd walked 10 minutes uphill with my gear in the humidity I was ready to dissolve in a ball of sweat. (As for how much I actually saved by doing so, I suspect it was well under A$10).

Still not 100% but on the way up, so felt confident enough to do a session of some kind, if not to venture into the humidity to do it. Original plan was to do a session on the stationary bike in the hotel gym in the morning, but what I thought was the hotel gym wasn't open then (in fact what I was looking at was a separate gym and the hotel one was elsewhere), so went in the afternoon instead (having gone for a walk in the park as my morning plan B instead). A bit tedious as stationary bike sessions are, but at least I didn't fall to pieces and it was good to get something passing for exercise.

The hotel pool (next to the gym) had a sign which listed the conditions which meant you were prohibited from using the pool. It's probably a relief that psychopaths are excluded. So are those with venereal diseases, although I'm not quite sure why; carrying out activities in the pool which could lead to the spread of venereal diseases would presumably be in breach of other rules.

The meeting wrapped up today; whilst still wondering what I've let myself in for, I've emerged from this week with a much better idea of what I'm supposed to be doing and when I'm supposed to do it. (Since I'm a bit of a glutton for punishment, one of the bits of the report I'll be responsible for is the one which deals with how much global temperatures have risen and how close we're getting to the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 C above pre-industrial - no pressure....).

C • Chinese pools 1

Still no better today (in fact probably a bit worse, although that may have owed something to my thinking at dinner last night that I was more recovered than I actually was). Not bad enough to affect my participation in the meetings, but I suspect dehydration would catch up with me in a big way if I attempted to run in these conditions.

One benefit of holding an international meeting during the World Cup is that it provides an instant conversation-starter with a fair number of the people present, as demonstrated this morning when I was standing next to people from Colombia and Senegal (who play tonight). There were a few miserable-looking Germans this morning.

Last night's dinner was nice at the time, not quite so good at 3.30 this morning. Certainly not the worst stomach upset I've had but enough to make me think that going out possibly dehydrated in Guangzhou's current conditions probably wasn't a good idea. Had hoped to do something in the gym after the end of sessions today if I felt OK (which I did), but the meeting ran too late for that to be an option.

Looks like Oslo is going to be almost as hot, but somewhat less humid.

And can any readers who are more into shopping than I am (not an especially high bar to clear) enlighten us as to what one would do with 567 handbags?

C • 567 handbags 4

Various bits of me felt awkward before the start so I wasn't surprised when it didn't work out (the steps coming out of the metro station which is the only practical way to get to the park across the main road east of here were enough to set me off). Hopefully better tomorrow, in a week when I'm really only in maintenance mode. No less humid today (probably no less humid here until sometime in September).

Continuing a gradual acclimatisation process (if you can ever properly acclimatise to these conditions, although I guess people who live here must manage it). What in other circumstances would be an easy recovery run was pretty hard work here, and I suspect I wouldn't have coped with much longer. Found a decent place to run, though, based around the park to the west of here and then finishing up around the block taking in a bit more of the residential area; the big plus of such a route is no road crossings other than one big underpass.

As I expected, I was not alone in the park (I doubt if there is any such thing as being alone in a public place in this part of China); lots of walkers and a few runners, but also some well-used public table tennis tables and badminton courts, and numerous practitioners of tai chi.

Got down to business today. It's going to be an interesting ride, although there will undoubtedly be times in the next three years where I'll be wondering why I put my hand up for this.

And I noticed on TV last night that ads for 4WDs on Chinese TV feature landscapes (and roads of questionable quality) which I presume are in Tibet or somewhere near Tibet. I would also speculate that there's about as much chance of the average 4WD sold in Guangzhou ever going anywhere near Tibet as there is of the average 4WD on the roads of Toorak ever going anywhere near the Kimberley or Cape York.

C • chance? 2

Running in one of the regional events, about 60km north of Guangzhou, in an area which was mostly lychee forest (it's harvest season - I seem to be making a habit of being at local fruit harvest festivals) with a bit of village stuff thrown in. Interesting area for the experience, although not viable as a World Cup middle area - too technically simple, and too small.

Not sure if I was seeing a representative sample, but control flow didn't seem to be amongst the stronger points of the local competitors. I at least got that bit right, but struggled with the running side of things on another very humid day (this will become a familiar statement by the end of the week). Wouldn't have wanted to be much further, and wasn't up to sprinting up the dam wall to the last control, either.

There was a TV broadcast today (good to see this in good shape as preparation for the World Cup) - spent 10 minutes or so being interviewed, in front of an audience which probably got a decimal point in the Chinese ratings (which probably still meant it had more viewers than the State of Origin). They also seemed to issue everyone with watch-style GPS trackers, which means they must be cheap - will need to make some enquiries about this.

Now back in Guangzhou for the next step - the IPCC meeting. Did some scouting of the neighbourhood in the late afternoon; amongst the discoveries made is that the Decathlon outlet across the road sells running socks for 24.90 for three pairs, which means it costs considerably less to throw your dirty socks out and buy new ones than it does to get the hotel to wash them (15 per pair). I'm doing neither, having applied the stomp-shampoo-on-them-in-the-shower method to my washing, which leaves the bathroom looking like what my grandmother would have described as a Chinese laundry.

C • New Zealand laundry 3

One of the other Australians here, when I mentioned the World Cup-related things I was doing this weekend before the meeting, said that my schedule made her tired just thinking about it. I responded that hers did the same to me, and mine is more predictable. (She has a nine-month-old daughter).

An easy one while I acclimatise to the humidity of a tropical wet season (about 28/25 this morning). A bit of a concrete jungle where I was staying in Kowloon but not too much traffic (motorised or pedestrian) and didn't have too many road-crossing interruptions until the end. Through Kings Park at the far end (my second successive Kings Park run, 6000km or so apart), with a few hills and steps, although nothing compared with what Hong Kong can offer in other places. Not super-energetic, but OK in the injury department.

Got the train to Guangzhou afterwards to link up with the World Cup organisers and look at a possible middle distance area - one of those days which doesn't feel too hot at first glance but leaves you drenched in sweat as soon as you walk up a hill. Finished 30 seconds after it started raining. Have ended up tonight in a town 70km north of Guangzhou and having dinner with the district governor (amongst other notables).

Perth to Hong Kong today. Left far too early to do anything before leaving (note to self: reset alarm from 4.30 before tomorrow), and Hong Kong at 6pm in June after a long flight wasn't the best of environments to try something either. Will have a go tomorrow morning when it's a bit less hectic.

Usually being paged in an airport lounge is good news, and so it proved today (upgraded to premium economy). The later stages of the flight were meteorologically interesting - lots of towering cumulonimbi - but perhaps not so good for nervous fliers.

A day in Perth which finished a lot better than it started. This was at the start and it wasn't a good session - struggled with various things and when my hamstring started to play up I decided to head home, rather than do a full circuit of Kings Park (from East Perth) - the physio did say yesterday that she was a bit concerned about the neural tension on that side. Was happy to see this one over.

The night at the football, on the other hand....

All Nations intervals, a bit earlier than usual (i.e. it was barely light at the start). Had felt pretty sleepy, and occasionally sore, warming up but seemed OK while I was running; not on the level of the last time I did this session though, and was going lactic a bit earlier than I did last time on the later reps. Still not a bad session (and no sign of hamstring trouble).

And here ends the Melbourne part of the story for now, because I'm about to embark on a proper big trip - starting with an IPCC meeting in Guangzhou next week (with a stop en route in Perth to catch tomorrow night's game), then onto WMOC, O-ringen and WOC, and finishing up with North American Championships in Canada. Will be away until late August all up. First leg is to Perth tonight.

C • Eagles vs Essendon 7

Warm-up and down. Pretty sleepy and slow going there (in part a consequence of staying up later than I should have last night for the endof Colombia-Japan), better coming back.

Tonight's historical results discovery is that Prong ran (unofficially) in the 1996 Australian Relays as a W35. (Writing that made me realise that Prong is now an M35; we're all getting older).

C • Relays 1

Headed out on a frosty morning - not a common occurrence in Melbourne (as demonstrated by the person who was attempting to clear their windscreen with their wipers, something which any Canberran would recognise as a rookie error). Started out reasonably well, and along the river should have been a good environment for it, but didn't really live up to its initial promise - felt a bit flat in the second half. No injury issues though, which is always good news.

Shattered that this clashes with the Australian Long Championships:

"The biggest WWE live event ever in Australia, Super Show-Down is coming to Melbourne Saturday October 6 at the iconic MCG.

Fans attending WWE Super Show-Down will be able to see The Undertaker™ take on Triple H™ for the first time since WrestleMania 28, plus all their favorite Superstars including John Cena, Ronda Rousey, Shane McMahon, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Nia Jax, AJ Styles, Charlotte Flair, Daniel Bryan, The Miz, Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss, Big Show, Bray Wyatt, Australian tag team Billie Kay and Peyton Royce of The IIconics and many more."

C • Poor planning 2

Standard morning session - the last one for a while. Seemed to be getting easier today although I always wonder if that's an indication that I'm not doing some of the exercises quite properly.

Hit the road after that to do a series of talks in Ballarat (pretty tiring doing essentially the same talk three times in one day; I think they appreciated the bit where I was talking about things you can do in climate models which you can't do in the real world and mentioned Andy Hogg's demolition of New Zealand).

One drawback of travelling on a weekday close to the end of the financial year - roadworks everywhere. There were six separate lots between Rockbank and Ballarat.

After the talks, headed for the Federation University pool (thanks Roch for the tip). Once I'd navigated my way to the front door without the aid of an ISSOM map, worked out how to get in, and which lanes were about to be taken over by the swim squad, this worked out fine; the session was reasonably mundane but nothing went wrong.

Still not feeling 100%, but it doesn't seem to be impeding me so I thought I might as well go out and do something, even if it wasn't super-long. Definitely some of the more challenging conditions I've run in for a while (in the moisture department, anyway), with light rain interrupted at 15-minute intervals by short but intense downpours - definitely not a day for getting across Darebin Creek other than at bridges. Since the footbridge I would normally use on this loop is currently out of action, this meant coming back across the Bell Street bridge and then a stretch through the Thornbury industrial area (it was perhaps appropriate, given that my next engagement was a Jukola party, that one of the factories belonged to a company which I presume, by its name, is Finnish). Becoming a bit more sore in the last 10 minutes.

C • Shoulda come to Emerald - i... 5

Having a rare weekend in Melbourne (tonight will be the only Saturday night in my own house between early May and early September). Feeling somewhat better today and decided that I'd give it a go, and it more or less worked out although still not quite 100%. The new trail along Darebin Creek is a nice place to run; felt pretty good through there. May try something a bit more ambitious tomorrow.

The new pedestrian bridges near Grange Road, and a new bike path along the railway line (which I hadn't previously known about) look close to ready and should be done by the time I get back in late August. I don't think the Chandler bridge (which has apparently had some industrial strife) will be, which will stretch the advertised completion date of "mid-2018" - August could probably reasonably be claimed as mid-year, September is pushing it, October definitely not.

Still not much improvement, which is annoying.

Went to the OV meeting tonight, and with the Chandler bridge closed my route home took me via lands once very familiar, but largely untrodden for the last three years. I discovered that the Heidelberg Woolworths (whose car park was the final destination of my mechanically-challenged Fiat, at least after it had been pushed, with Liggo's help, into said car park from the road outside) is now a hole in the ground, and that a new set of shops has appeared on the site of the old gas factory on Bell Street west of the creek. (There seem to be an awful lot of supermarket renovations/rebuilds going on at the moment; given what time of year it is I'd suspect a tax-related reason, but can't think of one).

C • tax? 3

Still a bit of lingering hamstring soreness - at a stage where I think I could run on it, but keen to get it right well before Masters. Didn't feel entirely optimal even in the water. Pretty chilly at the moment (although not as much so as it will be over the next few days), and not a lot of people in the pool.

Unsurprisingly, the works at the Clifton Hill athletics track that were supposed to be finished by the end of April are still going. Presumably the builders have blamed the delay on bad weather. (Melbourne's year-to-date rainfall is running about 35% below normal). The Fitzroy pool is also going to be close to some long-lived building work as a fence has appeared around the park across the road; some post-session googling revealed that this is to be an entry point for a water main rebuild and is going to be there for the next 18 months or so.

Hamstring flared up overnight, although had improved a bit by the evening, so should be able to give something a go tomorrow.

Tried a new venue with a group I occasionally go to pub trivia with, at Pascoe Vale. It was a bit disconcerting to discover that from this pub, it is possible to bet on horse races in Norway (although I would suggest that anyone actually doing so should probably seek professional help).

No prospect of getting anything done this morning with the early flight back to Melbourne, and wouldn't have been feeling terribly well-rested to do it anyway - I'm used to waking up on multiple occasions before the appointed time when I need to be up early for something, but last night was particularly bad; must have woken up at least a dozen times before the appointed hour of 5.10, the first of them not much after 1. (At least I didn't match my effort one morning in the mid-1990s of getting up for a long run, thinking my alarm had gone off, and getting as far as having something to eat, getting my gear on, and getting ready to step out the door, to look at my watch and see that it was 1.40; presumably by about the 90-minute mark I would have started to wonder why there was no traffic and why it wasn't getting light...).

Pilates session was pretty reasonable, and I was feeling a bit better in the afternoon too. Seem to be getting the hang of things, gradually.

Moved on from pilates to the Northcote pool. As previously noted this isn't the best of options on a weekday evening (swimming lessons take up the indoor lanes, and squads most of the outdoor ones), but it worked out OK. I didn't work out quite so well, with a somewhat tired and listless swim (I wonder why?).

Couldn't manage to come up three days in a row - back was troublesome early (but eventually settled down), but felt generally tired and sluggish, and the run reflected that. Held the navigation together for the most part, except for a familiarity-breeds-contempt moment - I'd helped put some water out yesterday and one of those water controls was the one I stuffed up (only by 30 seconds or so). Was chasing Joanna (for a certain definition of "chasing") for the last few controls; she's pretty fast (certainly faster than me) but we knew that already.

Normal service was resumed in the results today (Simon 32, Dante 39), apart from Angus having a massive blowout early (and hence being my scalp of the day). May not have drunk enough yesterday - let's just say that had I been called on to do a drug test, I would have still been there at 6pm.

Heading back to Adelaide demonstrated that Goyder's line is verifying well; the landscape turned from dustbowl to green in the space of a few kilometres south of Orroroo. North of there you'll sometimes see emus grazing on barren fields; I'm assuming that there are no plans to call in the army to deal with them, given how that worked out last time.

Helped collect some controls after the event. Memo to Victorian clubs - you really need some South Australian controls (not only are they lighter, the hinged design of the number plate means that they fit together much better - I think I could carry eight comfortably and ten at a pinch, whereas six is pretty much my upper limit in Victoria).

Perhaps some control stands should have been thrown in as part of the Patrick Ryder or Bryce Gibbs trades. (I imagine Port supporters are probably of the view that 100 control stands would have been roughly a fair exchange for Angus Monfries).

C • SA controls 7

The long day, at Mannawarra. I'd been tossing up whether to do course 2 or 3 and went for the longer option - no other M35s (whose class it was), but the W21s and Dante (the lone M20) to keep me company. In light of yesterday's result some noise was being made about the 4 minutes I started behind Dante, but more realistically I was looking at Jenny (12 minutes) as a chase goal, should my hamstring (and other body parts) last the distance.

My body did last the distance. Mannawarra is not Australia's most physical area but it's still by some margin the longest course I've done for a while (since my attempt at the ultra-long here in 2016, I think). Not quite as clean as yesterday, the most significant error being at 4, where I lost contact at one point and got it back again (not always easy here) a couple of hundred metres later, but then made a one-minuter in the circle. Still a pleasing run on a number of fronts; whilst comparing kilometre rates is always a little fraught, I do seem to be in better shape than at Easter (being slightly ahead of Greg and Ruhi, whom I couldn't match at Easter).

Bridget did 86, Dante 87; almost made it two in two days (I was ahead with 2km to go - he saw me but I didn't see him - but he was too fast over the last bit).

Today came with some very un-Flinders weather; very low cloud (so low that we almost went into it on the higher parts of the map) and occasional drizzle.

First day of the Flinders weekend, at Rawnsley Park. Haven't always done well of late with early afternoon races but this one felt reasonably good; settled down well once a couple of controls into the course and felt quite steady throughout. Only navigational issue of sorts was being a little hesitant coming into 8. Hamstring was OK for most of the run, but a little sore during and after the long downhill into 10.

This run was at the good end of my 2018 form but I still didn't expect to be quite so high in the results, only a minute behind Angus and 30 seconds in front of Dante (Simon was setting). The latter result was the basis for a fair bit of sledging from Dante's fellow South Australians - not sure whether I should take this as a sign that I've fallen far enough for such a result to be embarrassing?

Headed to Adelaide for their QB events. As I did two weeks ago, I did a session on the way out to the airport, but this time took to the pool because I didn't want to set off the Sexyland alarm again because, although my hamstring has improved significantly, I didn't want to push it before a race weekend. The pool in question was Coburg; didn't feel like the most energetic of sessions, but got through it OK. (As with a lot of pools, there was a crowd waiting to get in at 6.00, but it had cleared by the time I got to the door at 6.02).

No-one was left in much doubt as to which Victorian team is playing in Adelaide tonight, from the amount of yellow and black on the plane and the bus from the airport (and the ringtone of someone's phone on said bus). I had a bit of a bus misadventure in the evening when I discovered that the lack of an 'express until stop 24/39/48' sign on the front of a bus doesn't mean it isn't an express, but at least I only had to walk back a kilometre or so.

Hamstring did indeed feel sore this morning - at a probably-could-run-on-this-if-I-had-to level, but with a race weekend coming up in South Australia I thought it better not to take the risk. (Pity to waste a 5-something wake-up, although I did at least manage to catch up with a backlog of OA correspondence during the time that I wasn't running).

All Nations intervals. Didn't see this coming - suddenly clicked on the 7th rep and then turned out the fastest set I've done in my three years here (culminating in a 60 up/56 down combination), after a modest start. It might have proved to be a short-lived high, though - felt a bit tight in the hamstring and groin area on the run, and more so later in the day, although it does feel like something which will warm up. Will await developments.

Warm up and down. Got a better run with the road crossings than usual, because of heavier than usual traffic - Station Street was at a standstill (thanks to a crash on Grange Road) and I could therefore get across the queue easily.

Had my first trip to Origin tonight. In common with most of the crowd, I didn't come home especially happy with the result.

At Northcote. Started earlier than usual (although also woke up earlier than usual; still a bit of jet lag, so to speak), which meant I was beginning in the dark, and an impressive cloud of steam. It's also a busy time for squads, which meant there were a few lap swimmers in a lane they weren't supposed to be in, but that caused no trouble. Decent session, but tight enough to suggest that running might have been a challenge.

Onwards to pilates. Different timeslot to usual and therefore a different instructor; not such a bad thing to be exposed to a slightly different set of ideas. Probably working a bit harder than previous weeks.

I've sometimes commented on stories I encounter in historical newspapers. Then as now, a certain part of the newspaper market was obsessed with crime, then as now they were not lacking in source material (although the identity of the ethnic group which is the scapegoat du jour changes from year to year), and a lot of the crimes in question are still to be found today, although some are taken more seriously now (it's hard to imagine that you'd get away with a 50-pound fine - probably a few thousand in today's money - these days for importing opium into Australia). Some offences of the early 20th century, though, I thought had become more or less extinct, at least until today's news of a Queensland woman being charged for being drunk in charge of a horse....

The wheels came off in a big way today. Started off all right (in fact I was in front at #2), but then unwisely tried to crash a section of native bush on the way to 3 and couldn't work out what was what in the green. Ended up bailing out to the track and dropped 4 minutes or so. Worse was to come on 6, which should have been one of the easier controls (first leg back into the open forest), but I drifted a bit, crossed a track (presumably covered by pine needles) without noticing it, and found myself on the way to a massive parallel error looking in the wrong block of forest. Eventually bailed out to the track to the northeast to confirm what I'd started to suspect (i.e. that I was about 600 metres from where I thought I was), and to add insult to injury blew a minute in the circle coming back in. Probably 13 minutes dropped there, my worst mistake in close to a decade.

Having started out with a 10-minute break on third there was still potentially an overall result to salvage. Unsurprisingly I struggled for confidence and dropped another 1.30 on the low-visibility 10, bumbled around through the 14-16 section but managed to hit the actual controls OK, and was slow enough running to the last control that Winsplits thinks it was a mistake. Think I managed to hang onto second, but haven't seen a set of overall results to confirm. Carsten did 52; over this weekend I've generally been about 10% behind him (apart from today), which I'll be pleased to replicate in Denmark (although he's coming off an injury). My wayward compass work today is something I'll want to get sorted out before Europe, though.

Although we missed the worst of the rain (drove through some downpours coming home), it was still wet most of the way, with occasional thunder, and very dark - hard to read the map in some of the denser forest.

As I sometimes do on planes, I was working on some old results on the way back, specifically the 1996 Australian Relays. This featured an interesting showdown on leg 2 of M/W12 - Julian Dent versus Hanny Allston.

Day 2 of the 3-day, on Hedley Dunes (WMOC final from last year). Expected today to be reasonably physical (tomorrow should be faster), and in the first few controls thought I might not be up to it; back was a bit on the edge and walked up the steeper dunes, of which there were a reasonable number in the first half. Got through without any mistakes, though (the one which Winsplits thinks I made at 4 was a route choice), and was in amongst the people 2 and 6 minutes ahead of me. Dropped a minute or so on 14, in a low-visibility flat area - a bit annoyed about this one - and then a bit of a slog along the coastal strip, which seems to have more junk around than it did last year (possibly the result of an April storm). Still, a reasonably steady run. 5 minutes down on Carsten, but the juniors but the times into more perspective with several going well into the 40s.

Perhaps today was more of a triumph for my weather forecasting than my orienteering, with the steady morning rain clearing out around 10 for a mostly dry race (although the vegetation was still wet of course). The eastern side of the island got it a lot worse than we did (reports are that eastern suburbs of Auckland got 70mm in 6 hours; I'd guess we got about 20). Tomorrow's forecast is for the rain to resume around lunchtime, hopefully in time for us to get our runs in before departing.

The double middle distance has become almost a thing of the past in my experience (the last one I can remember internationally was at WOC 2008 in the Czech Republic, a not-very-good idea which resulted in the last women starters finishing in semi-darkness), but they still exist in NZ, and this was one.

Today's event was on the map from the Oceania Long - sand dunes, but fairly big and often green and low visibility. It's a tough area and there weren't the track options there were at times at Oceania, so it was quite a challenge. Didn't feel as if I really nailed anything much (but most of it was 5-seconders worth of just not seeing controls), but managed to avoid disaster, with the major time losses being about a minute (perhaps a bit more) apiece at 5 and 8. At Oceania, after a hitherto decent run, I came horribly unstuck in the manuka section and thought after 8 (my first control in there) "here we go again", but it was OK after that (my splits in that section were still not as good as in the green early on, though).

Carsten did 29, Dennis Wakefield 33, Nick Harris was just ahead of me (not that I knew that until tonight - his start time must have been changed, probably as an organiser).

The format here was a reverse chasing start, which suggested plenty of pack potential (it means that if people replicated their morning runs, everyone would finish at the same time and the download queue would look like the Northwestern Motorway at 4.30ish yesterday afternoon). The M40s were pretty spread out in the morning after several big blowouts, but we were running the same course as the senior boys in the schools trial; their big field meant there would be plenty around me.

Felt like I was plodding for much of this, particularly on the long runs back and forth to 11-12 in the eastern part of the map, but must have been dragged along a bit by the general mayhem. The first few controls were on a tricky low-visibility section which went reasonably well, including the proud moment of the day when a pack of boys went through me at 3, then I hit 4 right on (my one split win of the day, as it turned out) and went back through all of them. It turned out I was actually in front at 6, but Carsten pulled away from me over the second half of the course as it opened out - about 45 seconds apiece on the two long legs. No time losses bigger than 10-15 seconds (at 2 and 8). Ended up about 2.40 behind him but in second place both in the afternoon and on combined time (just ahead of Nick) which I was pretty happy with.

We were pretty lucky with the weather; there's a big easterly storm but we were just too far south of it, and on the right side of the island to get some shelter, too. Kerikeri got 92mm in 10 hours; we would have got about 91.8 less than that.

Third leg of the trifecta - the 3-days in Woodhill. That starts tomorrow, but we flew in at lunchtime today. Jenny's suggestion was to do some sprint training at the University of Auckland, which sounded like a good idea to me (even if it did subsequently give us the dubious pleasures of Auckland's peak-hour traffic). Ran the course from the NZ Sprint Championships this year, at a fairly easy pace (at least that's my excuse for doing it 9 minutes slower than Cameron de L'Isle on the day), and managed not to flatten any students. Hard to read gaps on a home-printed version of the map, and managed to miss one.

Going to/from the map from our parking spot on the far side of the Domain. Wasn't feeling that great at the start but ended up OK, and handled the climb back better than I thought I would. Probably just a slightly mixed-up day schedule - flew into Melbourne at 10.30pm last night and out again at 7.45 this morning. (I stayed at the airport, but did take advantage of my car being parked there to swap some work clothes and papers for my orienteering shoes).

The annual Ivanhoe Labor quiz night happened this evening. For the first time in many years, I wasn't MC'ing, but my questions were there in my absence. For a sample, the "True or Fake News" round - without googling or Wikipediaing, which of the following statements are true and which are fake news?

1. 1980s Victorian Liberal MP Roger Shipton is the godfather of Van Halen singer David Lee Roth
2. England has lost more matches in the World Cup football finals than any other country
3. The sun still never sets on the British Empire
4. There is a street in Victoria called James Hird Drive
5. There were no bank robberies in Victoria in 2017
6. There were no fatal commercial passenger jet crashes anywhere in the world in 2017
7. Swaziland recently announced that it would change its name to iSwaziland as part of a deal with Apple to set up manufacturing in the country
8. Pamela Anderson got her first media coverage at birth by being one of the first babies born in Canada on the day of Canada’s centenary of Confederation
9. Donald Trump’s first encounter with the law came in 1963 when he was cautioned by New Jersey police for running an illegal bookmaking operation at high school
10. There are now more cows than sheep in New Zealand