Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

A long run in Launceston, starting a bit later than usual post-wedding (surprisingly, I didn't feel too many after-effects of the wedding - the audience may be sniggering at this point, but late nights don't work wonders for training the next morning even if there is no hangover to contend with). Started out near the casino and did a loop out to the back side of Trevallyn Dam, then back to Cataract Gorge and up that - didn't get as far as I'd planned because I was running out of time (having told my parents I'd meet them in town at 1). It was a nice route with some serious hills, especially down, but I had the feeling (particularly in the first half) that there were more interesting options out there had I known the area better.

The first 70 minutes were pretty good, but it was quite a warm day and I started to suffer a bit from that in the later stages; quads also felt the steep downhills a bit. Wouldn't have fancied going out to my usual Sunday 2.30-plus, but there have been plenty of other weeks where I've finished two-hour runs midweek thinking I would really struggle to do another 10 minutes, then handling 2.30 on the weekend with ease, so some of that may have been above the shoulders.

A pleasant run around the shores of Hawley Beach and Port Sorell with Dion and Kathryn, as we prepared for the wedding later on today. Nice conditions (certainly a lot nicer than they would have been in Melbourne, or even Launceston) and feeling pretty good on the whole. No hills but otherwise a nice place to run.

C • Forecast 3

Had a few hours to spare in Launceston. I thought I was booked on the same flight as my parents, but looked at my itinerary a few days ago and discovered that my booking was only for the return flight. Not being sure whether it was my mistake or Jetstar's (and having checked that my credit card had only been charged for one leg), I found myself having to rebook at short notice (and high cost) and had to take what I could get. (It turned out it was Jetstar's fault and they did have a booking for me on the original flight; by rights I should really be able to get back the difference between what I paid and what I would have paid had the original booking worked properly, but as it is well-known that 'customer service' does not feature in the Jetstar lexicon I'm not sure that I can be bothered wasting a stamp).

Anyway, with a few hours to kill in Launceston I decided to use some of it to go for a swim. I went to where I thought the main pool was and discovered a building site (probably instalment number 1439845 in the Bass pork-barrel catalogue). Plan B was the open-air pool at Cataract Gorge. It's pretty bare-bones - no heating, no fence, no lifeguards - but served the purpose pretty well (and you can't ask for a much nicer setting). It does get chlorinated - I know this because I was stuck behind a truckload of pool chemicals doing 5 km/h (and stalling twice) on the way up the hill going there.

I thought it would be freezing but it wasn't too bad after the first lap or so. The swim itself was fine and helped my recovery as they usually do. The time is a guess.

Event: Xmas 5 Days 2007
 

The principal goal today was the back beach track, which in its full length runs from near Sorrento to near Rye (plus a section on the beach from London Bridge to Sorrento). Set out along the bay side of the peninsula through Sorrento and Portsea to London Bridge, then along the back to behind Blairgowrie before returning. The track is sandy in places and has a lot of short climbs and descents always a solid workout and with some excellent views in places, although parts of it are becoming rather overgrown which surprises me a bit as I thought this was a key walking track to be maintained.

The run didn't really live up to its surroundings, especially in the first half, but kept plugging away and the last quarter was probably the best part.

I'll be in Tasmania for the next few days, so updates may be irregular.

Down at Blairgowrie for a couple of days - a nice part of the world to run. The end of the Peninsula is full of small sand dunes, most of them built on now, but it means endless short, sharp climbs, especially in those areas where the street pattern ignores the topography. This time round I headed for the back part of Rye, where such hills are not in short supply and unusually failed to get lost trying to come back through the back streets as I usually do in that area. The run itself was mediocre as I adjusted to the many small hills.

Decided to put an otherwise mundane afternoon session to good use by running the Bushrangers Bay track near Cape Schanck, one I've never previously been on, on the way home from seeing some friends at Shoreham. A bit apprehensive after a big lunch but settled down well, and a very nice second half on the climb back to the main road even if the views were a bit disappointing (had to do some bushbashing for the best coastal scenery).

I couldn't remember having done speedwork on Christmas morning before. Some thinking through the calendar explained why - it's been a Tuesday session for me for as long as I can remember, and since I started training seriously the only two times Christmas Day has fallen on a Tuesday have been 2001 (when I was injured) and 1990 (when I was coming into a 5-days that I was taking reasonably seriously). In 2001 my alternative was planned to be riding the 90km from Blairgowrie to Albert Park, but I got two punctures and had to bail out 10km short. Quite often in recent years I've gone long on Christmas Day, although it also features one of the shortest runs I've ever recorded (apart from 800m track races) - the 5 minutes in 2002 which was my first run back after surgery for compartment syndrome.

The session itself started pretty slowly, but got going a bit more in the second half. Fastest loop 9.21. A bit of back tightness early in the second loop but that disappeared as quickly as it arrived. Got the usual Christmas bonus of not having to stop at any road crossings, but all the local kids must have slept in because I didn't see or hear any evidence of them (other than a baby watching his father trim some bushes in the front garden).

Doing this in the morning rather than the more usual afternoon, but I suspect I would have been stiff whenever I did it, after yesterday's big effort. Loosened up a bit later on but fairly heavy going even then. Plenty of evidence of flood debris (and a few patches of mud) along Merri Creek.

Traffic today was at Cup Monday levels, although as is often the case, the drivers who weren't on the road were the sensible ones.

Should have been a nice session at Fitzroy in the late afternoon sun, but plagued by problems with goggles - had to empty them on just about every lap for the first half. I think I'll need to get some new ones sooner rather than later. Just when that got sorted out, I then got a foot cramp - something that used to plague me swimming but hadn't appeared much (if at all) this year.

Today was the last day of work for the year. Assuming that no-one finds me in the next week, my tally for the year is 207 media interviews. The most memorable of these (if not necessarily the most enjoyable) were sparring with Alan Jones early in the year, doing an interview with an Adelaide radio station whilst naked just out of the shower, and the Al-Jazeera interview a couple of weeks back which got aborted because someone blew up a Lebanese general. Did a couple of interviews today, although the Christmas Day news is normally so predictable that you could run last year's bulletin for most of it and no-one would notice. If you feel like bingo, try ticking off the following on tomorrow night's news:

- the Queen's message
- the road toll
- Santa at the Children's Hospital (or whatever the equivalent in your state is)
- a charity somewhere serving Christmas dinner to the homeless
- a bushfire/flood/cyclone somewhere in Australia (bonus points if the bushfire and flood are in the same state)
- Northern Hemisphere travel chaos caused by a blizzard in the US/fog at Heathrow
- the cricket
- the Sydney to Hobart yacht race

Normally the only thing that changes from year to year is the location of the crashes and the name of the opposing team in the cricket.

C • Naked models 3