Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Sunday Metro event at Plenty River - bush orienteering without much in the way of travel distance. Not taking things too seriously (hence the long run yesterday) and not much of a field, at the front end at least. As noted last year, this is one of the more continental European-style areas we have in Australia and interesting for that, even though the fine navigation is usually straightforward. (7-8, with the options of a double river crossing or a longer way around the top, was definitely the sort of leg one might encounter in somewhere like the Czech Republic or lowland Switzerland).

As expected, didn't have a lot of sharpness early on, but built into things reasonably well during the first half. Didn't do anything wrong navigationally in what was a solid effort. Very slippery underfoot in places after yesterday's rain - there isn't a lot of grass on the forest floor on many of the slopes and a couple of centimetres of wet clay isn't always easy to get a grip on.

Longest run for several weeks, it being the first weekend for a while when I haven't had anything significant on. A run largely based on the Yarra from my place, initially up to Finns Reserve and then back south around the bottom of Ivanhoe. Had James Allston for company for much of it. He decided 90-100 minutes was enough for him, so I did another short loop to finish off.

Only a moderate run, although didn't really fade away in the later stages which is one positive sign. Certainly still not feeling as if I'm building to anything like a peak.

Substantial rain was (accurately) forecast to begin between 10 and 11, which meant it was going to be touch and go whether we finished before it started. Went past a few cricket matches in the later stages, knowing from the increasingly dark shelf clouds to the west that these were heading for certain draws. It started to unload on my final loop, although the really heavy stuff (14mm in 30 minutes, most of it in 10) didn't happen until shortly after I finished.

Morning session at Richmond. A bit faster than some recent ones, aided by the incentive of running slightly late. Felt tight in much of the body before getting in but good once in the water, which is part of the objective of this session.

Enjoyed a story in our press clippings today. The story itself was reasonably familiar - one from one of the regional Queensland papers about local businesses complaining about tourists being scared away through the authorities closing coastal campsites out of allegedly exaggerated fears of flooding arising from Cyclone Hamish. The story was accompanied by a picture of the campsites concerned (or rather the small amount of the 'subject to flooding' sign that was visible above the waterline).

Had another go at the 20x400 session (again on a 2.5 minute cycle). Didn't go in with a lot of confidence after the last couple of weeks but it ended up being quite similar to two weeks ago. Took a while to get going but suddenly hit a rhythm on the 10th rep and held it for most of the rest of the session. As with last time, doing 81s and 82s for most of the second half, and as with last time just started to tire a little from about the 18th onwards, tighening up and dropping pace a little bit on the last one. No sign of groin tightness from yesterday. Probably not quite as good as last time but definitely an improvement on most of my recent sessions.

It rained a little at times but not enough to make the track slippery; didn't really unload until the later stages of my ride to work.

Warm up/down from the intervals session. Left in no doubt warming down that I'd put a lot of effort into the intervals session - but then it's meant to be hard.

A reasonably mundane run, starting from home which has been a bit unusual for my runs lately, then up through Macleod and returning through Viewbank. Once again taking a long time to get going but better in the second half. Hints of left groin tightness at times; will have to see how it responds to going faster tonight.

In elections, both major parties often have difficulties finding candidates for the other side's safe seats (and the minor parties even more so). This sometimes leads to people with rather oddball views getting selected (most infamously Pauline Hanson, who was originally a Liberal candidate), or to desperate searches for people who will put their names on a ballot paper. I almost ran for Doncaster in 2002 in such circumstances (would have done had I not been sidelined with compartment syndrome surgery at the time); the person who did ultimately lost by 200 votes despite zero campaigning. In Labor's case, the candidates for the further-flung country seats often come from a long way away, but it's unusual to find someone as candid as Mark Platt, a Brisbane uni student who's the candidate for Hinchinbrook. He admitted to the ABC that he had no real connection to the electorate, but had driven through it once on the way to Cairns.

Street-O at Canterbury. Needed to win this one to keep my series hopes alive but got off to a bad start when I planned a route choice up a non-existent lane on the first leg, and never got back into it from there. Some good course-setting split the field from the middle onwards; when we regathered at about two-thirds distance Adam was about 150 metres ahead of me, a gap which held but which I couldn't make any impression on. Also saw Matt Schepisi at the third-last and thought I might have been in for a sprint finish, but he was a control ahead thanks to a superior route choice (and superior speed) and beat us comfortably.

Had the unfamiliar experience of a wet race, I think for the first time since the WOC week in the Czech Republic last year. Even a bit of thunder at the start.

This was again an alarmingly slow race, although I didn't feel too bad on the whole.

Groin tightness was quite sharp in the first 500 metres, but disappeared after that and didn't resurface after the run.

10x1 min (approx) hill reps, jog downhill recovery. Felt very sluggish on the first couple then gradually improved to become almost respectable from the 7th rep onwards.

Warm up/down for the hills session.

A pleasantly smooth recovery run on a very plesant autumn morning (the first sub-10 minimum of the season is something I always see as a harbinger of autumn), on what was once my traditional short-run course through Eaglemont. A bit better on hills than of late.

Perhaps I was in a good mood because I'd taken advantage of the holiday to finalise the OA books, and got them to balance. You'll be pleased to hear that OA is in the black this year (to the tune of $9370).

Fitzroy on a sunny afternoon is a delightful place for a swim (only drawback of the conditions was that sun glare stopped me from reading the clock and therefore keeping track of how slowly I was going). A holiday afternoon there is also a fine place to see Melbourne in its full multicultural glory, complete with a group of (at a guess) Sudanese boys getting an introduction into Australian water culture - you know, the ones that supposedly aren't assimilating because white bogans beat them up (don't you miss Kevin Andrews as Immigration Minister?).

Had a bit of right shoulder soreness but otherwise quite a nice recovery session.