Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Out at Mount Alexander with Bruce, in the name of getting my orienteering back into some sort of gear (both from the navigation and terrain running point of view). This was based on the Easter course - for me, starting at 4, continuing to 15 (including the loops), then 15-22-1 and on to 4.

It was a bit of a shock to the system initially - rather stiff and tight, and lots of the less attractive features of Australian summer orienteering, such as grass seeds (and assorted other bits of vegetation which come with you for a ride) and spider webs. (It turned out these were worse in the first and last 200 metres than anywhere else on the course). As in 2013, couldn't run a lot of the epic climb 5-6-7. Settled down after that; never flowing especially well (more so technically than physically), though pace was fairly similar to 2013 which I was happy with given that I wasn't racing. Surprised to catch up to Bruce (who started a couple of minutes ahead of me) at 15 but he'd had a few photo stops. Fine navigation seemed OK, although with no flags out it's hard to be absolutely sure.

Hottest day I've experienced for a while; mid-high 20s during the run, and eventually topped out at 34. Handled this better than I thought I might given the cool/cold conditions I've experienced for most of the last month.

Felt a few tight and sore spots today - Achilles not quite right, and didn't seem to be flowing as smoothly as at times the last couple of days, but still a decent run. For no obvious reason my training pace seems to have come down 10-15 seconds/km since coming home with no discernable change of effort; maybe the Patagonian training camp has had some effect. (I am a couple of kilos down on where I was before leaving, so obviously didn't indulge too much in the empanadas and dulce de leche, and the pack-carrying probably wouldn't have done my strength any harm, either).

Headed out as far as the Finns Reserve bridge, taking in Appleblossom Ct, Viewbank on the way. Next one is about as far out as it gets.

First time at Fitzroy Pool for a while, with the usual company still there. Quite a nice session despite an interrupted night (an 11.30pm teleconference is not ideal when you're trying to get yourself back on sync after a long trip).

Last weekend was a big weekend for celebrating successful campaigns in this area - there were posters outside for last Saturday's street party to celebrate the (presumed) stopping of the East-West Link, and banners inside the pool (including what looked like a few of the original demo banners) for last Sunday's 20th anniversary celebration of the Save Fitzroy pool campaign (a reminder that I've now been in Melbourne for more than 20 years).

The ride in gave the chance to assess progress (or sometimes the absence thereof) on various bits of construction or deconstruction. Will need to put a bit more air in the tyres before I venture out again. Not as crazy around the Queen Vic Markets as I would have expected for the last Friday morning before Christmas. The signs outside Etihad Stadium said that international darts is coming soon to the stadium; I'm shattered that it clashes with the Oceania events in Tasmania.

Lunchtime on the Tan - not something I'd usually do on a Friday, but then I don't usually have a Tuesday rest day. Some tightness in the groin area early on (possibly due to working some muscles on the bike when I hadn't been on a bike for three months), but that loosened quickly and it settled into a nice run. I seem to be in a bit of a good patch at the moment; hopefully I can keep it going for a while.

It's good to be reminded of the qualities of the local talent in some parts of our wide brown land - something I saw today in my catching-up (though it's a couple of months old):

"A disqualified driver who allegedly drank five beers while on a high-speed police pursuit with an unrestrained six-year-old child in the back seat, told police he consumed the beers during the chase to “calm me down and stop me doing something stupid”.

(The driver was from Dubbo but his appearance was in the Orange Local Court, so I'm guessing the pursuit was between the two).

I'm sure South America has lots of talentless local talent of its own, but I didn't get to see any of it reported in the papers. (In any case, in a country like Brazil which has on average a murder every 10 minutes, hapless petty criminals probably aren't going to get much of a run on the news).

Started promisingly and became much more promising as it went on, culminating in an in-the-zone second half where I was floating for most of it. Not really the occasion when you'd expect to have a very good run, but it's not the first time I've had a very good run a day or two after doing a long-haul trip. Perhaps not quite as inspiring a setting as El Calafate, but was turning in similar numbers in the second half on a section which was flat rather than downhill. This is now the third very good long run second half I've had in the last five weeks, which is highly encouraging. Just tired a little in the last 10-15 minutes.

The alphabetical sequence is resumed: Apex Way, Montmorency (a short link between two streets which has only one building on it). I had a second target too but had slightly misremembered its location, so that will have to wait for the weekend. Once Montmorency was out of the way I headed down to Westerfolds Park for the first time in a while, then back more or less along the river.

I'd started with 1.45 as the plan, but was happy to stretch it out a bit. It wasn't until late in the piece that I remembered that I'd started my (normal) watch after 6 minutes (after getting a battery warning on the Garmin I decided to save it for the mostly off-road second half), so it was going to be 2 hours or close to it after all. Was pretty happy with that.

Plan tonight was Eastern Summer Series at Tunstall Junction but it didn't quite work out that way - perhaps not surprisingly, after not seeing any action for the best part of three months, the car wouldn't start (though the RACV person later in the evening said the battery was at the end of its life and would have failed soon regardless), and I was already cutting it fairly fine on time so didn't have time for a plan B.

In truth I didn't really feel up for a fast run tonight so wasn't desperately upset by the outcome. Felt better once I was actually running, but still pretty slow. Spent part of the run exploring the Banyule riverside singletrack (often too muddy to be pleasant in winter); it's got a big tree across it now which the MTBers haven't yet moved (or put a new track around). Had a much-needed massage this morning and am already sensing the benefits.

Didn't feel as if I achieved an awful lot at work today, other than sifting through the first 1300 of 3000-odd e-mails. Quite a number of the 3000-odd e-mails pertained to a run of bike thefts from the parking area at work, and suggestions of varying degrees of practicality for doing something about it. I notice that the main action so far has been the appearance of a plethora of signs (though not yet one saying "Beware Of The Leopard"); there's even one with the phone number of the National Security Hotline. I wouldn't have thought that the Bureau bike sheds were a particularly strong candidate for a terrorist attack, but then I guess before this week you wouldn't have said that a chocolate shop was either.

C • Battery 3

Reasonably straightforward flight home, with the assistance of an upgrade (thanks again to Dad's mountain of points, and a route that doesn't get a lot of business traffic at this time of year). The main thing I was interested in was whether we'd get as far south as Antarctica; the answer was not quite, but close enough to see sea ice (similar story to last year's Johannesburg trip). Half-hour delays both in and out of Sydney (the connection would have been a bit tight for comfort had I had the former but not the latter), and eventually got home about 11.

One of the things I was doing on the plane was reformatting late 1990s/early 2000s NOL results so they're ready for the new website. Noticed some other interesting results in that process too, such as lazydave smashing Jules by 7 minutes in M14 in the 1999 NSW Championships.

C • Easter result? 1

C • Welcome Home 1

C • Smashed him! 1

Santiago was the last leg of the journey, and this was the last run. I was staying near the main metropolitan park (not by coincidence), which contains a high hill with several communications towers and a big statue of the Virgin Mary. My original thoughts were to go around the base, given the hard day yesterday, but that wasn't really an option so this one was another long climb (though not as steep as yesterday's). Not terribly sparkling - hadn't slept that well (whether subconsciously absorbing the goings-on at home or not, I'm not sure) - but happy with the way I came up in the muscular sense with no signs of the sore quads which I thought might have been the result of yesterday. Nice cool morning; even yesterday's mid-20s is the warmest I've experienced since Mendoza, which makes me think readjusting once home could be interesting.

Plenty of cyclists taking on the hill, as you'd expect. Santiago's cyclists are not exactly lacking in hill-climbing opportunities - while the bulk of the city is flat apart from isolated hills (old volcanic plugs?), big mountains rise just out of town and I don't think you'd have to go too far away to find road climbs of 2000m vertical or more (Santiago is at 600m and the ski resorts nearby are mostly in the mid- to upper 2000s, with the pass to Mendoza a bit over 3000).

Wandering around the central city (lots of Christmas shopping crowds) in the late afternoon/evening yesterday was pleasant enough without suggesting that I'd made a mistake in making Valparaiso my higher priority of the weekend.

It took until my last night in South America before the first time that I was on the end of an attempt at petty scamming, in the form of a restaurant that calculated a 10% service charge as an amount which actually worked out to 28%. They probably should have tried to pull that one on someone a bit less numerate.

And here the trip ends; I'm about to get on the plane home. If things go to plan my next run will be Eastern Summer Series at Tunstall Junction.

C • Last 'task' 2

C • Stray Dogs 2