Training Archive: blairtrewinIn the 7 days ending 2007-03-18:
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| M | T | W | H | F | S | S | ||||||||
Sunday Mar 18 | ||
| Run race ((orienteering)) 1:19:08 [4]**** 12.4 km (6:23 / km) +500m 5:19 / km | |
| spiked:27/30c | ||
| Long race at Buckenderra. First part of the course was really middle distance style (18 controls in the first 30 minutes), then opened out into some longer legs. Didn't feel good at the start but quickly settled down and felt better the longer the run went on; particularly pleased with my strength on some of the later climbs (having struggled on hills a bit in the last three or four weeks). Felt as if I had quite a bit left in me at the finish, a good sign for real long-distance races, and didn't miss much either - three 15-seconders in a 30-control long race in reasonably technical country.
That was the good news. The bad news was the result - Matt completely blew me (and everyone else) away. Without anyone else at the front end of the field (Grant pulled out early) it's hard to know how much of the 13-minute gap was me being slow and how much was him being very fast. He went through me at 13; I didn't attempt to stay with him (not that I would have been able to for long anyway), figuring that I had a better chance of beating someone as fast as that but inexperienced in Australian granite by letting him go and hoping he made a mistake. He didn't. I find it hard to believe that a full-strength field would have produced a much better time. My other head-to-head on the day was with Geoff Lawford; I caught him 2 minutes at 11 and he stayed more or less in range until I pulled away at 23, before dropping back in the last 20 minutes. It was disappointing how thin the field was - I know a few of the ACT elites had good excuses for being elsewhere, but surely Buckenderra was worth the trip for somebody? Hopefully Wagga next week will have a few more takers. Other reports from the trip: Potential 2009 areas: Lima South is too physically tough for a mass-participation event, and setting a relay at Reef Hills would be limited by the likelihood that there would be fewer features on the map than controls on a typical relay course, but the riverside area at Benalla looks like it has potential for a sprint area. Only major worry is that I suspect a critical footbridge would go under in even a modest flood. Route choice: Went back via Bombala-Delegate-Bonang-Orbost. Didn't expect it to be fast and it wasn't - it's a few km shorter than the Cann River and now only has about 20km gravel, but is relentlessly winding almost all the way from the Victorian border to Orbost. Nice country but probably 15-20 minutes slower than Cann River. Closer to Melbourne, saw quite a bit of typical Grand Prix-evening driving. | ||
| C • 2009 10 | ||
| C • 2009 1 | ||
Saturday Mar 17 | ||
| Run race ((orienteering)) 33:47 [4]**** 4.9 km (6:54 / km) +190m 5:46 / km | |
| spiked:16/19c | ||
| ACT Middle Distance Champs at Buckenderra. A middle distance on the most heavily forested part of the map. A pretty reasonable run technically - almost lost it on 3 drifting in a vague area, but picked it up quickly enough to get out of it with only 30 seconds or so lost. Apart from that only a couple of 15-seconders in the circle. Some of the controls were a bit too visible for their own good.
More competitive on running speed in the more physical terrain than I have been in the open country back in Victoria, and ended up getting 2nd thanks to Grant bombing the second-last (which will do my ranking score no harm whatsoever). 2.5 mins behind Matt Crane. | ||
Friday Mar 16 | ||
| Swimming 30:00 [2]1 km (30:00 / km) | |
| Swim at Richmond. Loosened up nicely as it went on. Richmond's an indoor pool, so sheltered from the foreign moist substance that was attempting to fall from the sky outside.
I'll be up at Buckenderra over the weekend, up against what looks a disappointingly small field. Where are all the ACT people? Also plan to check out a couple of possible 2009 areas on the way up. | ||
Thursday Mar 15 | ||
| Run 2:01:00 [3]26 km (4:39 / km) | |
| A fairly mediocre long run. Felt slow, particularly on the hills (and, given that the run was out to Greensborough and Montmorency, there were a reasonable number of them). A bit of left hip soreness for the first time in a while, especially early on.
6 a.m. is full darkness now - there wasn't even a hint of light for the first half-hour. With 33 degrees forecast that isn't a bad thing - there were even some quite cold air pockets in the deeper valleys (saw my breath for the first time this year). Took the radio out with me for the Australia-Scotland World Cup game. When Scotland were 5/42 inside the first 5 minutes of the run I thought I'd be lucky if the game lasted as far as Watsonia, but it ended up just about going the distance. I'll be doing this again a few more times in the next six weeks, hopefully with some more competitive fixtures. | ||
| Note | |
| For those who thought it was a little warm at street-O last night, Melbourne actually reached its maximum for the day (27.0) at 7.30, as the winds went NE temporarily and pushed out the seabreeze. | ||
Wednesday Mar 14 | ||
| Run 1:01:00 [3]13 km (4:42 / km) | |
| I thought it was a Corporate Cup day and had spent the morning getting myself psyched up for it, so it was a bit of a surprise to jog down to the Tan and find - nothing. Later found out that the three-week break that I thought was after Round 2 was actually after Round 1 (Troy - hope you didn't go down?).
With another race tonight I wasn't too upset not to have a lunchtime one (and definitely wasn't committed enough to do a time trial instead) - the doubling up will be next week instead but the evening stakes will be lower then. Instead I turned it into a steady hour run, the sort I'd normally do on a Summer Series morning. Gradually built into it after an uncertain start, and some very good stretches in the second half around the back of the MCG. Only disappointment was that, after a succession of hot Wednesdays, there wasn't the chance to post a good time the day we finally got a nice one. | ||
| C • 3 week break 3 | ||
| Run race 38:00 [4]9.3 km (4:05 / km) +150m 3:47 / km | |
| Street-O at Heyington. My chances of getting the win I needed nose-dived once Bruce and Warren turned up. Went a different way to most of the others from the start and was on my own by the fourth control, which usually means you have either a very good or very bad route choice. Heyington, with several major obstacles with limited crossing points, is prone to route-choice disasters but I didn't think I'd done anything too badly wrong (as it turned out I was doing exactly what the others were, except in reverse - the usual Tony Bird strategy). Felt OK but not really fast, but after passing the others halfway thought that 37 might be enough - which meant that getting to the last control, 300 to go, in 35 was a good sign. I then set forth on the last leg, down the same path on which I'd had a ding-dong sprint with Alex Randall circa 1999 - and discovered that there was now an uncrossable fence in the way. That turned 300 into 700, not that I would have got Bruce anyway (and it would have been an injustice if I had because he lost time at the railway crossing). Finished just behind Adam, meaning he won the overall title with a bit to spare. Maybe next year... | ||
Tuesday Mar 13 | ||
| Run intervals ((fartlek)) 38:00 [4]9 km (4:13 / km) | |
| Felt like the first day of autumn - even genuinely cool on the river flats. Enjoying it while it lasts. It must have come as a bit of a shock to the body, though, because I struggled with lower back tightness through the first half. Much improved later on and ended up with a respectable, if unspectacular, 9.12 loop. | ||
Monday Mar 12 | ||
| Swimming 30:00 [2]1 km (30:00 / km) | |
| As usual, a loosening-up session without any great incident. Surprised how much a bit of cloud turns people away - I thought the place would be packed at 1.30 on a public holiday afternoon. | ||
| C • Swimmers 1 | ||
| Run 40:00 [2]8 km (5:00 / km) | |
| Reasonably standard Monday night run at fairly standard Monday night pace, doing somewhat convoluted loops in the Princes Park area with a gender imbalance as large as that of last week. Started earlier than usual because of the public holiday - the good light will be a thing of the past before too much longer. | ||
| C • Public holiday? 3 | ||
| Note | |
| Liberal MP in Age Class Scandal
State Liberal MP for Ferntree Gully, Nick Wakeling, faced calls for his resignation today after it was revealed that he was entered for State Series 1 under an incorrect age class. Mr Wakeling, 35, was listed in the results on Course 5 as an M60. "This strikes at the heart of Mr. Wakeling's credibility", an ALP spokesman said. Brushing aside explanations that an error by registration officials was to blame, the spokesman went on to accuse Mr Wakeling of seeking to evade responsibility for his action. "If he can't get his age group right at the State Series, how can he possibly be trusted to manage the State's economy?". Brian Burke and Tony Mokbel were not believed to be present at the event (although some of the route choices employed between 4 and 5 on the M21A course were as inventive as Tony Mokbel's one between his home and the Supreme Court). | ||
| C • Funny as... 5 | ||