Training Archive: blairtrewinIn the 7 days ending 2007-10-21:
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| M | T | W | H | F | S | S | ||||||||
Sunday Oct 21 | ||
| Event: Victorian Long Distance Championships | ||
| Run race ((orienteering)) 1:38:02 [4]*** 14 km (7:00 / km) +580m 5:48 / km | |
| spiked:21/24c | ||
| The result was a case of deja vu - second once again to Bruce - but a very different sort of race. This was always going to be an epic - the forecast was low 30s and it turned out to be underdone. (I'll have to wait for the final numbers tomorrow, but the rounded maximum at Castlemaine as of 3 p.m. was 34, and their October record is 34.5). As mentioned earlier, I had an organiser's super-early start (9.00) and therefore got the best of the conditions, although this is a relative term (high 20s instead of low 30s). I think it was still to my advantage, despite having to wake up half the controls and open all the drink cup packets.
I was pretty conservative physically in this race - we knew from the start that it would be survival of the fittest. Slow and steady through the reasonably technical first section, then I opened up a bit after the spectator control and had my best stretch of the course on the long legs of 17-18-19. Lost it a bit at the end - lost 30 seconds in the circle at 20 and 15 at 21, but more significantly lost a minute or so when I hit a dead end trying to climb out of a gully crossing between 20 and 21. I think this must have affected me psychologically because I hit the wall shortly thereafter and really struggled for the last kilometre. I'd pulled back to within 15 seconds of Bruce at 19 after being 2 minutes down at 12, but the gap blew out to nearly 3 minutes at the end. Jim and David Brownridge were the only other finishers. Surviving this won't do us any harm next Easter, when the conditions have a reasonable chance of being similar (or worse). Unlike some of the juniors, I wasn't tempted by the dam at the finish - it was the sort of dam which normally gets mentioned in news reports which start "police divers searched the murky waters...". (Not that dams on Wattle Gully are likely to be used for such purposes - would-be disposers of bodies or murder weapons have plenty of alternative options). This is effectively the end of the season - just the Victorian Sprint Championships to go (never a high priority in my competition year). It's been a slightly frustrating year, because I think my overall level of orienteering is probably close to the best it's been since 2001, but I haven't performed in either of the two major races I was aiming for (Australian and Oceania Long Champs) - Australian because I made a mistake, Oceania because my running was totally out of sorts on the day. Time to think about next year - although at 36 one gets more conscious that time is starting to run out. I'll have a couple of easy weeks now, then look to build back into base training by mid-November. It will be a bit of an oddball summer because I'll be on the road so much, with three overseas trips in as many months (Vietnam in December, US in January, Korea in February). With a bit of luck this year's 40-degree Sundays might happen on weekends when I'm on the other side of the planet. | ||
| Note | |
| Numbers now in for Castlemaine. The maximum was 34.3, the second-highest on record for October (after 34.5 on 12 October last year). | ||
Saturday Oct 20 | ||
| Event: Victorian Middle Distance Championships | ||
| Run race ((orienteering)) 36:30 [4]**** 5.1 km (7:09 / km) +215m 5:55 / km | |
| spiked:16/18c | ||
| Victorian Middle Distance Champs at Deadmans Flat, 2nd, 1.30 behind Bruce. Reasonably happy with this run - only a couple of 15-second wobbles which isn't bad for such a technical area (although the course was a little easier than I was expecting). Also a decent run physically by the standards of the last week (i.e. it wasn't a disaster). A warm day, but nothing compared with what lay in store. | ||
Friday Oct 19 | ||
| Swimming 30:00 [2] 1 km (30:00 / km) | |
| Swimming at Richmond. Not in a brilliant mood after having to wait three full cycles of the traffic lights outside Ikea because the road sensors can't detect bikes (and they wonder why some cyclists go through red lights?), but the swim itself was fine, loosened up nicely.
Looks like a hot one for Sunday (especially) - potentially as high as mid 30s although near 30 is more likely. Normally a super-early officials' start is a disadvantage but it should work in my favour this time, assuming that I can actually run the distance at a respectable pace (not something you'd want to rely on based on my form of the last couple of weeks). | ||
| C • Swim?? or run? 2 | ||
Thursday Oct 18 | ||
| Run 1:32:00 [3] 20 km (4:36 / km) | |
| A pretty uninspiring effort on the whole. Worked hard into the wind for a lot of the first half and was therefore expecting to get reward for effort in the second half, but it didn't really happen except perhaps for the last 10 minutes. Might have been better off choosing somewhere less sheltered than the Merri Creek valley to finish, but the advantage of the Merri Creek valley is no road crossings - a definite plus at 7.30 or 8 on a weekday morning.
Made my first eastern-states sighting of the expression "Northbridge identity" in this morning's Age. It didn't cause any trouble on my run, but my left Achilles was a bit sore after cooling down. | ||
Wednesday Oct 17 | ||
| Run race 13:26 [5] 3.83 km (3:30 / km) vdot: 56.8 | |
| Tan 13.26. Not as dire as I was expecting given how much I've struggled over the last couple of weeks - only a few seconds slower than I was doing in August and September. Started slowly but ran the hill pretty strongly, passing a bunch and then coming back at someone who'd overtaken me. Bruce paced me for the last km which was appreciated. Excellent conditions, not for the first time this season.
Km splits: 3.33, 3.38 (uphill), 3.30, 3.26 | ||
| Run 30:00 [2] 6.5 km (4:37 / km) | |
| Going to/from the Tan, not especially quickly.
An enormous Hummer billboard has appeared on the route riding home. Must be about time for BUGA-UP to come out of hibernation. | ||
Tuesday Oct 16 | ||
| Run intervals ((fartlek)) 38:00 [4] 9 km (4:13 / km) | |
| Continuing to struggle a bit. Felt rather weak, less so on the second half, fastest loop 9.22. A bit of Achilles soreness at times. Also a few spots of rain, although not enough to trouble the scorers. Will want to pick up some sharpness before the weekend.
Riding in today was hard work - a stiff headwind all the way. It doesn't happen often from my direction so I can sympathise with those of my colleagues who ride in from the south-east and cop it quite often (and sometimes get a seabreeze headwind in the afternoon for good measure). | ||
Monday Oct 15 | ||
| Swimming 30:00 [2] 1 km (30:00 / km) | |
| Nothing quite like an outdoor pool on a warm, sunny morning. If it was February the place would have been packed but we're still at the time of year when most people aren't mentally attuned to going into the water. Quite a nice session, too (although coming off an easier weekend than usual). | ||
| Run 41:00 [2] 8 km (5:08 / km) | |
| MFR Monday night from my place, with the usual (very) small crowd making the trek out to the remote outer suburbs. For most of the way it was just Nicola and myself. Nicola kept saying she wasn't feeling too good but managed to keep going. I just wasn't feeling too good. A warm night - still upper 20s at 7.30. Not too long until we start seeing upper 20s at 6 a.m.
First sighting of an election poster - a little surprisingly, for the Greens. Might reflect the non-marginality of any of the seats on my usual travels. | ||
| C • Stobie poles in Adelaide 7 | ||