Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

WMOC Sprint Final. Improved a little on yesterday, although not as much as I might have hoped for, and scraped into the top ten.

I definitely felt better than yesterday and got into the mood by the time I hit the start boxes (although surely I wasn't the only person who was doing laps of the -3 minute box out of nervous energy?). Before today most of us were expecting a fairly straightforward sprint between big buildings, but had heard on the grapevine from the early starters that it was quite technical, and so it proved - first some complex sections in garden beds, then at the end another tricky section involving multiple levels in the Showgrounds arena. It was mainly about speed of execution although there were a few decent route choice legs too; excellent use of what I thought might have been an unpromising area.

I made one annoying mistake, a 10-seconder on the third-last through not reading my description properly, plus a couple of hesitations (one where a marquee blocked my planned line). Probably ninth was the absolute best I could have done. Looking at the splits, I unsurprisingly lost a fair bit of ground on the longer 'transport' legs between sectors.

Nick Barrable won from Carsten - no surprise there. Bruce was a slightly more unexpected bronze medallist (on a day when MFR, were it an independent country, would stand fourth in the medal table). I didn't really expect to be competitive in this but still think a medal in the long might be within reach with a good run next weekend.

The start was next to a cafe which was pumping out not-very-good 80s music. Those who've done road trips with me will know that I'm definitely a child of the 80s, but this was rubbish and I was worried it was going to be stuck in my head all race. It wasn't. (On the subject of misguided choices of music, it was difficult to argue with the people I got the train home with that having Australian Idol people playing at the opening ceremony didn't quite fit the demographic).

Event: 2009 World Masters Orienteering Championships
 

WMOC Sprint Qualification. My objective today was simple - to get through. I'm feeling better than I was yesterday but still some way from 100%.

There was no possibility of transport dramas for me today - the place I'd booked on Wotif turned out to be 200 metres in a straight line from the finish (although more like 1k by the route we used to go to the start). I was mistaken, though, if I thought that that meant all would go smoothly - I opened my bag to discover that my long-serving SI stick had lost its head after nine years of loyal service. (Funeral arrangements will be advised in due course). This was replaced impressively quickly and I made it to the start on schedule (although caused some trouble for start officials damnedlies and M.J. by engaging them in conversation when they were apparently under instructions not to).

The run was about doing the necessary. I didn't miss anything and think I got the critical route choices right; didn't feel as bad as I thought I might have, but was definitely below par (and was weak enough on the few hills to indicate that anything longer would have been a problem). Matt Scott had almost caught me a minute at 9, but made a mistake there and ended up catching me at 16. From there he was running faster but making more mistakes and we finished together.

I wasn't feeling entirely secure when I finished - 9th on the board, with 14 to qualify, and I knew that Matt and Grant had also got me. I've had enough qualification near-misses at senior level not to take anything for granted there, but as it turned out they were the last two to get me.

Nick Barrable was a clear winner today and will be hard to beat tomorrow. I'm not surprised by his time but thought Carsten and Grant might have been closer. As for me, with another 24 hours behind me (and a proper meal for the first time since Thursday), I'll hope to be in better shape for tomorrow. A place is out of the question (the long distance next Saturday will be the opportunity for that), but if I can pick off a few of the group in the minute ahead of me today and finish somewhere around 7-9 I'll be pleased.

C • and starts tomorrow 2

C • silent starts 6

Things didn't end up too smoothly on Thursday Island - I'm blaming it on having eaten Australia's northernmost dodgy chook. Seem to be through the worst of it now but glad I don't have a race today. Last night I couldn't do so much as look at food ads on the television without feeling nauseous.

Originally I was thinking of trying to squeeze in a swim at Cairns (where I am now) in my three hours between flights, but that is definitely off the agenda now.

Something which I'm a bit puzzled about is the spectacular price of real estate on Thursday Island - rents here are at Port Hedland levels without the mining/oil/gas money to pay for it. Seems to be a supply/demand issue (most of the long-term locals have public housing so the private market is small and very tight). It flows through into hotel prices too - $185 a night for something that would have cost half that in a normal town. Unfortunately our expenses system treats it as a normal town so I end up stuck with more than half the bill myself (but as it would have cost me vastly more to get here of my own volition I'm not complaining too much).

The World Masters Games are on a larger scale than we're used to and the accreditation queue was an indicator of that. I thought the 50 minutes that it took me was bad enough, until hearing the stories of those who had been there for three or four hours earlier in the day. By the time I got there they'd given up on putting photos on accreditation passes which removed the major roadblock - but surely it should have occurred to somebody somewhere to check how long it look to process each person, divide that into the number of participants and staff the process accordingly?

Thursday Island is not a big place and the running options are about as limited as they were in Kalumburu. I did a lap of the island, about 7.5k, then went up and back down the central hill and finished off with an extra couple of ks. At the end of it I'd seen pretty much everything there is to see on the island (having walked up to the old fort, which is where the old weather station was, yesterday afternoon).

The conditions were not as formidable as I'd feared - 27 degrees, dewpoint 21 - but still didn't feel brilliant, and faded quickly in the last 15 minutes once the sun got stronger and I was sheltered from the southeast breeze. I would have struggled to go much further (but then if I was going much further I'd have carried water).

This is a much larger community than the other remote communities I've been to (about 3,500) and feels more like a normal town. Also less of an indigenous population than I expected - probably 50% or so (although it's more like 95% on the outer islands). Seemed to be a reasonable amount of interest in my talk; the big local issue is sea levels because some of the northern islands are extremely low-lying and go under even on a 'normal' spring tide. Another 20cm of sea level rise would make a big difference to them.

A tsunami watch was issued this morning just as we were about to get under way. I suggested that if people saw me running uphill they should try to keep up :-). (On this subject, I heard on the grapevine that we are considering changing our information line from 1300 TSUNAMI, because nobody can spell it).

This is a quick visit; I'm heading back to Sydney tomorrow, leaving early in the morning.

A run from an airport motel in Sydney before flying north. I didn't expect this to exactly be an ideal running environment but it was better than I thought - quite a few parks and even a small pocket of bush (which turn up in Sydney in unexpected places). The more secluded parks just off the end of the runway look like locations for the terroristically-inclined to engage in missile-launching (although the dismal failure of the one serious attempt to do this, in Kenya a few years ago, suggests it doesn't work that well). Also encountered the enormous premises of the Brighton-Le-Sands Amateur Fisherman's Association (pokies! pokies! pokies!) and an unexpected area of market gardens in inner suburban Sydney (I assume it is too flood-prone for anything else). Went almost out to Botany Bay but didn't think it was worth crossing a main road twice for the sake of two minutes on the beach.

Felt pretty good once I got going - certainly better than yesterday. Flowing well in the second half. Ideal running conditions too in a cool dry southwesterly; not sure how I'll cope with a temperature 15 degrees higher (and a dewpoint 20 degrees higher) this time tomorrow.

Ran from work after dropping my car in for a service (the unexpected trip north has meant compressing four days of planned activities into one and a half). One of my usualish runs from work, along Fishermans Bend and the Port Melbourne foreshore before returning along the tram line, only to find the path blocked by building works (a common hazard around here).

This wasn't a great run. Legs felt OK but body was sluggish. Hopefully not an indicator that I'm getting a cold, although it sort of felt like that.

A chilly morning with a fresh, chilly wind - ideal acclimatisation for the Torres Strait. I head to Sydney this afternoon and then north tomorrow.

Headed to Ivanhoe while waiting to pick the ASC funding acquittal up from the auditors. A fairly smooth session and kept my mind more active than it usually is chasing the black line.

Justice Done and Seen To Be Done Department: to the northern suburbs bogan who decided to engage in Melbourne's fastest-growing sport, racially abusing Indians. He made the mistake of taking on a group of Indians on their way home from a wrestling tournament, and came out rather the worse for wear from the encounter.

MFR Monday night from Simon's place in Carlton, as far as the zoo. A surprisingly good run for the day after an Australian Championships weekend - hardly felt stiff at all. Knee wasn't great at the start but fine once running; it probably doesn't help that my bike seat post slipped to its lowest position before my ride there (will need to tighten that before my next ride).

I thought doing this eight hours after a calf needlework session would be difficult, but it was fine (four hours after would be a different story).

Unusually for an MFR Monday night, pasta was on the menu - I guess it could be safely assumed that Suse wasn't coming this week.