Sunday Jul 22 |
 | Run 1:50:00 [3] 24 km (4:35 / km) | |
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| In Townsville. Did all the climbing in the first 20 minutes as I started off up Castle Hill - about a 300 metres climb but not too difficult as the road's a pretty constant 10% grade. Once that was done, did a section along the Strand, then out into suburbia for most of the rest of it - some of it was attractive and some of it wasn't. A decent run, with a bit of quad soreness after coming off Castle Hill, but that was gone quickly. Full of running in the last 20 minutes.
Spent most of the day on Magnetic Island (including quite a bit of walking, so the legs had plenty of work today). It's a very attractive island with a lot of beaches set in amongst rocky bays - a little bit like Wilsons Promontory in the tropics. (There's a lot of granite generally in the Townsville region, but whether any of it's in runnable and non-vertical forest is another question). |
Saturday Jul 21 |
| Run 1:01:00 [3] 13 km (4:42 / km) | |
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| Similar basic pattern for this one but with a few add-ons, including one steep one up to the bottom of the stairs at the end of the Whitsunday walking track. Had hoped to go around the hill at Cannonvale but the track marked on the map didn't exist, so went around town again to make up the distance. Another run which was reasonable without being stellar.
I was finishing along the main street of Airlie Beach at 9.09 when I spotted the first person walking down the street reading the new Harry Potter.
Cassie and Jim flew back to Brisbane today. I've now moved on to Townsville where I'll be for the next couple of nights. |
Friday Jul 20 |
| Run 38:00 [3] 8 km (4:45 / km) | |
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| Had to get out pretty early for this one before spending the rest of the day on a trip out to the reef. A fairly nondescript short run along the waterfront between Airlie Beach and Cannonvale. Airlie Beach itself is a bit of a tourist trap, but it's a great jumping-off point for a lot of trips (including being one of the better access points to the outer reef, where we headed).
The reef itself was definitely a sight to remember - and one of my major motivations for this trip was to see it while it's still there - although the sea was a little too rough for snorkelling to be comfortable. It was also rough enough for a lot of people to encounter difficulties on the trip home. I seem to have a reasonably cast-iron stomach and survived without undue difficulty. |
Thursday Jul 19 |
| Run 1:31:00 [3] 20 km (4:33 / km) | |
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| A out-and-back run from Springsure along the Tambo road (which obviously doesn't go anywhere for a long way because the only placename on the sign was 'Tambo 250'). A pleasant run on a nice morning in rolling countryside which was chiefly memorable for my longest uninterrupted dog chase for many years - one started following me 100 metres from the start and was still following me when the owner found us next to the Springsure 10km peg. It didn't cause me much hassle but I was worried about its potential interaction with the traffic (such as it was). I felt very good indeed for the first hour of the run, tailed off a bit later on but still pretty good.
A sign of the perils of night driving in these parts - I counted 13 roadkilled roos, several of them very recent. On to Airlie Beach today. |
Wednesday Jul 18 |
| Note | |
| (rest day) |
| An unscheduled rest day today, at least from running - although 25km of walking at Carnarvon Gorge probably makes up for it. I was meeting Cassie and Jim (and a couple of their friends, Roger and Karen) at the gorge in the morning. I'd originally thought I would run beforehand but they wanted to meet at 8 which made things a bit tight. I then planned to go out at the end of the day but we got in too late for that, thanks to a visit on the way to Springsure to the coal mine Roger works at - definitely an opportunity too good to pass up (especially as we got to go right into the open cut and see some very, very big machines).
The gorge walk was every bit as impressive as I expected it to be. |
Tuesday Jul 17 |
| Run 1:01:00 [3] 13.5 km (4:31 / km) | |
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| A morning run around Lightning Ridge, giving me a chance to have a good look around the opal fields. The town itself has more of an air of permanence than I'd expected in a speculative mining town - if it wasn't for every second business in the main street being engaged in buying or selling opals and the 'Claims for Sale' notes on the board at the local supermarket, one could be forgiven for mistaking it for a normal NSW country town (complete with impressively large pokie palace). The opal fields were more as I'd expected - lots of mounds (and probably lots of holes but I didn't look too closely). Finished off with a stretch out to the local airport and back. The airport, strangely, has an electric fence. I can't imagine terrorism is a huge problem in these parts (although hold-ups of opal shipments might be).
The run started well but faded away a bit later on, probably through not having eaten breakfast yet.
Spent the rest of the day on the road up to Carnarvon Gorge. |
Monday Jul 16 |
| Run 39:00 [3] 8.5 km (4:35 / km) | |
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| Starting the big road trip. I was in Coonabarabran and went for an easy recovery run in the morning, chiefly memorable because it was the coldest run I've done since Norway at Christmas 2005: -6 degrees. This shouldn't have come as a big surprise to me as one of my better-known papers is called 'A notable frost hollow at Coonabarabran, New South Wales'. (The findings in said paper also encouraged me to head for the hills where it was a bit warmer - since I'd forgotten to bring any gloves).
The run was pretty lacklustre but I expected that after a hard week of racing. Spent most of the rest of the day walking in the Warrumbungles before driving to Lightning Ridge. |