Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Thought briefly that this NZ campaign might have ended even faster than the last one when I got a sharp twinge in my left quad a few minutes in - this disappeared as quickly as it arrived and caused no further problems.

Felt a bit out of sorts for most of this run - a bit like I had a stomach upset but without any of the rear-end consequences of stomach upsets. Only really started to settle down in the last 20 minutes. Still moving reasonably, although I didn't really test myself here, only brushing the lowest reaches of the Port Hills after an initial loop through Hagley Park and the suburbs west of it.

Spent most of the rest of the day on the Banks Peninsula before various evening airport pick-ups. Should have done some more coordination because Reuben and Vanessa were following in my footsteps 30 minutes behind, and Olly was in central Christchurch without transport.

Event: Oceania Orienteering Championships
 

Arrived in Christchurch to be greeted shortly afterwards by a major thunderstorm - well, major for this latitude anyway (15mm in 30 minutes, 2cm hail, great light show). Got an excellent view of it too because I was staying in the tallest building in Christchurch (4.5-star-for-$100 deal on wotif).

A solid if unexciting effort before work, starting from near work and going north as far as Pascoe Vale. Did discover what must be one of the steepest streets in Melbourne on the east side of Moonee Ponds Creek (going down). Quite cool for this time of year - will be warming up from here but I'll be otherwise engaged in NZ. Hopefully this time I'll return to Australia with the same number of bones I had on leaving.

Not much of a roll-up for the post-wedding run - just Louise Fairfax and myself. Went on a bit of a sightseeing tour taking in both the front and back beaches at a slow pace. Surprisingly awake after not getting to bed until 2 (and then having some unofficial fireworks to keep us all awake after that). Certainly won't be my most challenging run of 2009 but a pleasant enough start.

C • Top 1

A close match for the classic Peninsula run, heading essentially along the bay side to Portsea, over to London Bridge, then back along the beach and tracks - only exception was saving the Koonya section of the track for tomorrow. Not brilliant for most of the way but kept plugging away and didn't really tire.

I would have hoped not to have been up before 6 during holidays (unless it was to escape a 40-degree day, something which has been refreshingly absent so far this summer), but the timetable of wedding-related activities, in particular a 9.15 hairdresser's appointment, meant the only option was early. (In a miracle of modern times, I found something at a hairdresser's worth reading).

So ends training for 2008, falling 9 hours short of my total for 2007, which isn't bad given the amount of time I've spent on the road this year, especially in the first half; December has been my biggest month since 2001. In domestic competition the year was a bit of a disappointment, especially blowing a big opportunity in Queensland, but WMOC was definitely a major highlight.

Competed in 8 countries this year, and trained in another 4.

Best race of the year: definitely the WMOC sprint final, not just because of its result, but because I managed to achieve an intensity on the day which I haven't managed for years. At home the pick of the bunch was probably the long WOC trial in Tasmania (especially because it came the day after returning from one of my abundant overseas trips). It's tempting to nominate the middle third of the Canberra Marathon, but nominating the middle third of a marathon is rather missing the point.

Best training run of the year: with the amount of travelling this year it's almost inevitable that it's one which happened elsewhere. I'm finding it hard to separate two in apparently unpromising settings: Seoul in February and Leeton in October.

Hopefully 2009 will be a less harrowing year off the field than 2008 was at times; being responsible for setting off a chain of events that saw us to the brink of the courts, and has probably resulted in the loss of three promising orienteers to the sport, is something that I will be dwelling on (especially in the middle of bad runs) for a long time yet.

A reasonable run from where I'm staying in Blairgowrie. Started along the beach for the first 20 minutes towards Rye, then headed inland for bits of suburbia built on sand dunes (with occasional sharp climbs). A steady if unspectacular effort.

There was no shortage of signs advertising local liquor bans. This is something that needs to be checked out in advance of the wedding - it would be awfully embarrassing if one or more of the party got themselves arrested for illegally drinking in a public place (although perhaps not quite as embarrassing as for the person this time last year who got picked up for drink-driving outside the Rye police station, to which he had gone to retrieve some confiscated alcohol - I presume he didn't get his grog back).

While on the subject of liquor, Jim's buck's afternoon/evening was yesterday. He was making noises as we came home in the early hours of today about joining me for this morning's run but I was not particularly surprised by his absence.

C • NYDay run 3

Second session of the day, sandier (in places) and hillier than the morning but otherwise not a particularly hard session. Briefly threatened to rise above the mediocre in a section through the middle with a tail wind but soon resumed previous patterns.

Took to the (very windy) back beach track for a while, in preparation for sightseeing (and telling any Norwegians present Harold Holt stories) on Thursday. Main sight today was seeing one of the rockpool jumpers in action (there's a deep rockpool with a rock hanging over it, with plenty of jumping points ranging from about 3 to 12 metres in height). The pool is deep and large and I've never heard of an accident there, but I'm still a bit surprised that Parks haven't tried to stop the practice (or at least put up an intimidating sign or two). Maybe the walk in is too long for the lawyers.

Another pretty good run which would have felt better but for Julian blasting past me from five minutes behind (although I did catch him again a control later after he made a mistake). Functioning well technically with only one minor wobble, and also running quite smoothly. Came third this time, with Julian and Ben again ahead, but got Reuben this time.

C • rain in Melbourne 2