Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

A long, steady run with Bruce, starting off up Darebin Creek and coming back down Merri, cutting across between the two through Reservoir - I've flown over Edwardes Lake many times (it's on the normal flight path landing into Melbourne from the east or north-east) but this is the first time I've actually been there. (Memo to potential time-triallists - there appears to be a decent cinder track at Edwardes Lake that doesn't have any lanes blocked off).

This was definitely an easier pace than two weeks ago, although I think that measuring off a map short-changed us a little given how much the paths along the creeks weave around. Didn't really tire at any stage, and definitely felt better at the end than in the last 5 minutes last week (although the lack of hills might have had a bit to do with that).

63 minutes into the run it was time to welcome the rainfall New Year (the standard time for rainfall observations is 9 a.m., so anything that falls after that goes into next year's total). Right on cue it started raining at about 9.01. There wasn't a lot (just enough to get us off the mark for 2007) but it kept the conditions for the second half relatively pleasant. It's quite steamy now.

This was (in time) my longest run of the summer to date, and a decent way to end a solid year - the first since 1999 in which I haven't had a multi-week layoff due to injury (the only time loss was a couple of weeks after having the metal taken out of my elbow in October). Not surprisingly it was also my biggest training year since 1999.

Best race of the year: it's tempting to name the Australian Long Championships (which was definitely the best result), but I was actually happier with the first day of Easter - the fastest I've run for ages and didn't put a foot wrong technically.

Most enjoyable run of the year: quite a few contenders here, but I think my favourite was one in early April while I was down working at the Gippsland Field Days - from Neerim South to the Latrobe River headwaters and back, two hours on forest tracks through rolling hills on a gorgeous morning. Must be something about the area - I had a terrific long run in the same region (but in the opposite direction) at the same time last year.

A pretty solid effort, particularly given it was coming off a long run yesterday. Got to explore some new tracks around the back of Viewbank. A bit of lower back stiffness early on but that loosened up pretty quickly.

C • 2009 7

A steady run, a bit of a grind but never really got tired, and held a reasonable pace throughout. Not too many signs of life in suburban Melbourne at 8-9 in the morning during the Christmas-New Year week. Probably the last day of reasonably cool conditions before an extended hot spell.

C • drought 3

Re-acquainting myself with the track along the back of the Mornington Peninsula down from Sorrento - a nice mixture of gravel, bare earth and sand (some of it pretty soft), and plenty of short sharp hills over the dunes. Felt a bit flat in the middle but otherwise a pretty reasonable run.

Went the other way along the back beach this time, towards Rye. For something a bit different, threw in two lots of 10x20 second surges, 20 second recovery (experimenting with some ideas that Cassie passed on from a sports science person she's had some dealings with in Norway). Seemed OK, particularly the second set. A bit tired at the end.

10x1 minute reps along the top of the cliffs at the Blairgowrie back beach, 1 min jog recovery. Quite a good spot for it with a mix of gravel, rock and soft sand. Warm-up was dire but pretty good once I actually got into the reps, getting significantly faster as it went on.

Christmas Day is quite often a big training day for me - it's in the middle of a base period, and it's a less logistically challenging day most years than Boxing Day (with its combination of the cricket and my grandmother's birthday). I've had a few epics on December 25 over the years, not least last year in Norway, 2.10 on a picture-postcard day on snow-covered forest roads with Jim Oystein Nybraten (or, from another angle, surviving -45 windchill in Winnipeg in 1989).

This year Christmas falls on a Monday so the big one was done yesterday, and not surprisingly it didn't leave me with an awful lot for what was a pretty mediocre run today.

It was a bit early (and a bit cold) for a common feature of Australian Christmas runs, namely seeing new bikes, cricket bats et al. being put to their first use, but I did hear the sounds of excitable small children from inside various premises as I went past.

With a little imagination today could pass for a European or North American Christmas - it's 8 degrees outside and snowing down to about 800 metres. The only giveaway is that it will still be light at 8 p.m....