Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Event: Victorian Long Championships
 

Victorian Long Champs, 4th. A race that promised a lot but didn't ultimately deliver that much. Much stronger on the hills than yesterday (and there were some big ones - no easy way to the top of Mount Beckworth). Simon and Warren caught me at 11 (I'd earlier gone through Warren without seeing him, so he was 2 down and Simon was 2 up). I then thought I'd blown it when I (and Warren) ran underneath 12 and lost 1.5 minutes - I wasn't expecting Simon to give me a second chance, but he did and we were together again by 16.

My plan was to try to break him on the second 'king of the mountain' leg into 20 (100+m climb), knowing that the only thing I might have on him was endurance. We went different ways and I did get a bit of time out of him on the climb (and broke away from Warren), but lost it by being slightly wide of the control. That was game over unless something unexpected happened, and as it turned out, he got a better line than me downhill through some heavy rock into 22, got a break of 20-30 seconds, and I never got it back. The last 2k was a bit of a struggle with blisters, although that part of the course was physically kind.

Duels like this are fun. I can't say I like losing them, but I picked a very good young orienteer to lose to. I was a little surprised that Adrian and Jim were faster than either of us.

C • Surprised 5

Event: Victorian Middle Championships
 

Victorian Middle Champs, 5th. Technically good with only minor 10-second hesitations, and was lucky enough to trip over the bingo second control which others lost a fair bit of time on, but lacked much in the way of good running rhythm, and will want to be stronger on the hills tomorrow than I was today. Annoying to be on the back of a close bunch, although I certainly couldn't have done Simon's time.

Back in Melbourne. Felt smooth, started well and never really got tired, although didn't reach any real heights either. Rather taken aback to see how brown all the grass has got in the space of a few days away.

Just for Runo: the hot chocolate report from my travels of the last week:

Ararat - brilliant - one the best I've had anywhere
Cairns - not very good, especially at the price

Was planning to go with Troy this morning but had to head out a bit earlier than he was ready for. It turned out I found the track he was talking about (the Red Arrow) by accident - quite a sharp climb in the middle. I'm learning that Cairns runs are either flat or vertical. Came back along a mangrove-lined creek where you didn't need any warning signs to tell you that it was crocodile country.

Quite a decent run after all that. Noticeably more humid than in recent days but still quite tolerable.

C • Red Arrow 1

10 x 1 minute reps on the Cairns waterfront, 1 min jog in between. Felt pretty ordinary warming up but much better once I actually started sprinting - plenty of zip and didn't go lactic this time.

A pretty nondescript effort, this time in the other direction from Kuranda. Took ages to get going and not as scenic as yesterday (when you set out not knowing where you're going, you win some and you lose some).

Drove past Walsh's Pyramid on the way back to Cairns - do people really run up this? It looked a pretty daunting prospect to walk, never mind run.

C • Robbie and troysee did !!! 3