Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Decided to try how things went in the pool this morning. Seemed to work reasonably well - in fact the hamstring probably felt better afterwards than before (nor did it tighten up after sitting down to the extent that it had in the previous couple of days).

Had my busiest media day for a long time today (mostly because the people who would normally pick things up in the Sydney and Brisbane offices were both doing things out bush). Surprisingly, none of it had anything (directly) to do with Melbourne having its warmest-ever night so far into autumn.

C • Mr Trewis' insight of the day 6

Just in case you thought all orienteers were lefties...

C • Lefties 7

Decided to try a cycle commute today and see how it went. Felt OK while riding but still a bit sore during the day, especially after sitting for extended periods. Highlight of the ride in was being overtaken by an aggressively driven Maserati with P-plates (I didn't think P-platers were allowed to drive things like Maseratis), only to pass it back 300 metres down the road as it reached the back of a traffic jam.

Most interesting news of the day was the state Budget - particularly the news of impending public transport infrastructure projects of which one likely result is the demolition of my old place to make way for a hyperspace bypass rail tunnel entrance. I probably picked a good time to get out (perhaps I should consider it karma for my former neighbour).

Felt a bit better today, in as much as I could walk with a reasonable degree of comfort (without feeling that it was anywhere particularly close to being runnable). At least this saved me the problem of working out when to fit a run in.

Had a very early start this morning with a 6.45 flight back to Melbourne. Got a bit of a shock on looking at the Financial Review in the lounge and reading of the passing of someone I went to school with (the fact that I was reading about it in the Financial Review gives you some idea of his career trajectory); I'd lost touch with him after last seeing him at Easter 2003, by which time he was already a meaningful player in the WA business world. (The bit which did surprise me in the article was to learn that someone who I remember back in the day as not having any obvious interest in sport was on the board of the West Coast Eagles).

As is sometimes the way given the personnel involved, our return trip to Adelaide diverted somewhat, and took us through the ghost town of Johnburgh, home of a plaque which recognised the foresight of its pioneers upon the centenary of its founding in 1976. Perhaps 'lack of' should have been added before 'foresight', because Johnburgh is one of numerous grain-growing settlements of that vintage on the wrong side of Goyder's Line which had more or less ceased to be within a few decades - most of those which had managed to limp on that far were finished off by the 1895-1903 Federation Drought.

I hadn't entered the Rawnsley event - the plan was to enter on the day if I felt up to it after yesterday. Certainly didn't consider doing it as things worked out; walking is not especially comfortable today (especially uphill) and I've certainly set myself back somewhat, not quite sure how much.

It doesn't feel quite as bad as the October 2013 injury (which ended up claiming the best part of a month), but I'd still be surprised if I'm back in business much inside a week, and with no significant races for three weeks (Vic Middle in mid-May is the next one) there's no particular reason to try to rush the return.

NOL ultra-long. I've been setting myself for this for a while - I really want to finish one of these before I retire from elite long-distances properly. It will have to wait for another year; carrying an injury into a race like this was always taking a bit of a risk, and in the end it got the better of me. The hamstring was becoming increasingly sore through the second loop, but as long as it was only soreness that was something I could live with. A few hundred metres from the end of that loop it took a significant turn for the worse and I felt significantly weakened pushing off on that side; had it been 3 or 4k to go I might have tried to push on through it (and probably lived to regret it), but 10k on one-and-a-half legs (at best) was too much to contemplate.

The pity of it was that this was the day; from the endurance point of view I was feeling fine, and I'm as confident as one could be that without injury I would have been able to make a decent fist of the final loop. (At that stage I wasn't too far behind tRicky, who ended up sixth). One error of consequence, a minute or so on #9 on the first loop where I couldn't quite make sense of the yellow and the knolls (I couldn't quite make sense of it the second time round either - it was a common control on the splits - but didn't lose much time at that attempt). In a few decent head-to-heads at times with the likes of tRicky, Simon Rouse (who made it all the way round only to be outed for going round the final butterfly the wrong way), and Jim before he dropped away.

Event: NOL Round 3 - With Wildfire Sports Ultra Long
 

NOL middle. I'd heard before the start that there was an issue with one control (I was the second-last starter) - given everything that had been done in the last five days to have an event at all, I couldn't get too upset about this. Got through that control without too much time lost, and in general had a decent run technically once I'd sorted out getting my lines in the terrain right (was a bit iffy on my direction on the first couple, in terrain where going as straight as you can is normally the best option). Enjoyed myself as much as usual in the Flinders, although my running felt a little below par, and the hamstring was a bit iffy at times later on. Did manage to get my first NOL point of the season (just).

Headed across to Adelaide first thing this morning (before working out of the Adelaide office for the day). Might have struggled to fit a run in amongst everything else, but hamstring still a little tight so gave it a rest.