Sunday Feb 4 |
 | Run 3:00:00 [3] 40.3 km (4:28 / km) | |
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| It's something of a tradition of mine to do my longest run of the year on the first Sunday in February, marking the end of the major base-training phase. It lapsed for a few years because I was either injured or ill on the relevant day, but has made a comeback in the last couple of years.
A major incentive to get out of bed very early was provided by the forecast 40 degrees (ended up getting to 41.something). Headed out the door at 6.15, for a loop which ended up being Glenelg-Flinders Uni-Blackwood-Belair, then down onto the flats and back to Glenelg. A very solid run for the most part, particularly on the big climb up through Flinders. Faded away somewhat after 2.30 - not at all surprising as it was over 30 degrees by then - and definitely on automatic pilot for the last 20 minutes or so. Still a very good run to get under my belt, particularly on a difficult day.
One thing I discovered is that Adelaide doesn't have anywhere near as many public taps or bubblers as Melbourne does (now I know why Simon Uppill got into the habit of running with a water bottle) - only went past one in the first 20-odd km. In the later stages I decided my best chance of finding water was at the local schools and detoured via a couple.
Quite a decent pace too, a bit faster than most of my recent long runs. All in all one to be pleased with. |
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| C • Cracker effort Blair! 5 |
Friday Feb 2 |
| Run 1:01:00 [3] 13 km (4:42 / km) | |
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| A strange sort of run. Had the feeling most of the way of running into a strong wind (on a day that was actually calm) - wasn't stiff and didn't feel weak, but just wasn't going all that strongly. Fiddling with my usual order of things because I'll be on a train all day tomorrow.
Off to Adelaide for a few days for a conference - updates may be a bit sporadic depending on how good my net access is there. |
| Swimming 29:00 [2] 1 km (29:00 / km) | |
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| Fitzroy Pool. Definitely more crowded than I'm used to - evening rather than morning and the tail end of a 34-degree day. |
Thursday Feb 1 |
| Run 2:11:00 [3] 29 km (4:31 / km) | |
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| Another pretty good run in what's turning into a good spell - an out-and-back (essentially) which took me to the north side of the Yarra at Eltham (first time I've been there, probably because it's hard to fit into a loop). Reasonably hilly for the first two-thirds then a flat finish back along the river. Tired a bit at end, but the distance seemed almost routine at times. A cool morning helped - it certainly won't be this easy in Adelaide on Sunday with the temperature likely to reach the high 30s. Shoulder bruising from yesterday's fall a minor nuisance on the steeper downhills. |
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| C • details 3 |
Wednesday Jan 31 |
| Run ((terrain)) 1:08:00 [3] 11 km (6:11 / km) | |
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| Took advantage of being at a workshop in Macedon for a couple of days to get out into some terrain for the first time in a few weeks. Took me a bit of time to get my 'terrain legs' back but pretty good once it settled down (despite a face-plant from a slippery log that left me with an annoying bruise), and handled the last climb well. The steeper parts of Macedon have opened up a lot in the last few years as the bushfire regrowth has thinned out - a lot of the stuff that was medium or dark green on the 1992 map (which was what I was using) is now white or at worst light green. |
| Run 43:00 [3] 9 km (4:47 / km) | |
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| Squeezing a run in in a narrow window between the end of sessions and dinner. Didn't stretch properly and felt pretty awful on the first bit (which was also steeply uphill), but settled down nicely thereafter, exploring some back roads on the east side of Macedon where I haven't been before. There's some very extravagant real estate in that part of the world (some of which is for sale if you've got a spare $5 million or so).
Clocked up two 500k months in a row for the first time since 1999. However, the Falls Creek and Macedon trips have meant the car won the race to 100,000. My legs are currently on 99,895 - barring mishaps I should hit the six figures in Adelaide next week, probably on Wednesday. |
Tuesday Jan 30 |
| Run intervals ((fartlek)) 37:00 [4] 9 km (4:07 / km) | |
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| Continuing spell of good recent form with my best fartlek session for some months (best loop 9.03). Really attacked the uphill sprints, probably much to the bemusement of the locals on the even side of the street. (Tuesday is a designated watering day for even-numbered houses so a lot of people are out in their front yards with the hose when I do this run). |
Monday Jan 29 |
| Swimming 30:00 [2] 1 km (30:00 / km) | |
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| A reasonably mundane session at Fitzroy. For some reason the squad lanes were on the other side of the pool to usual today. |
| Run 44:00 [2] 9 km (4:53 / km) | |
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| Monday night from Rob and Anna's place. As usual on this run spent quite a bit of it discussing water policy with Anna (as well as her battles with the British immigration authorities, who sound as anal as ours). Early stages were a bit nondescript but lovely by the middle, almost floating along at times; obviously the weekend didn't take as much out of me as I'd thought. |
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| C • Water 1 |