Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Ran the Eaglemont Flats course first thing in the morning (I had to leave too early to run in the actual event) - no controls out but blue tapes at some of the locations (probably all of them but it was a few controls before I started looking). Not terribly fast after yesterday but felt OK. The usual mixture here of track/path runs and tricky controls in lowish-vis bush near the river, on a very convoluted course (which did mean it didn't go into the suburbs like it sometimes can here). Overshot 19 a bit, not realising just how small mapped knolls can be here, and a bit hesitant early on because the light wasn't really good enough for detailed map reading for the first 5-10 minutes. Should be a fun event for the punters (of which there will hopefully be plenty).

Now at the airport waiting to go to Guangzhou - a bit of a flying visit for a meeting (back on Thursday night). Don't think it will be the most pleasant of running environments, although at least it's said to be the least polluted big city in China (I suspect this is not saying very much), and I'm staying not too far from a couple of promisingly-sized parks. It can also be very humid at this time of year, and despite the warm autumn we've had, dewpoints in the 20s (perhaps well into the 20s) will still be a shock to the system.

A Saturday long run because I'll be spending most of tomorrow on a plane. Nothing especially special, and felt a bit tired at various stages in the second half, but hamstring held up OK. Longest I've done in a month, exploring various bits of the old home ground after heading north as far as La Trobe Uni. Handled the Eaglemont hill OK at around 17-18k.

Looking at the latest forecast, I don't think I'm quite going to make it to the end of May before turning any heating on, but it won't be too far away.

At Fitzroy (possibly my last session there for a while given forthcoming travels). A little earlier than usual which meant a little less overlap with the rest of the normal crowd than usual. Was going along smoothly enough until getting a cramp about 10 minutes from the end, but that disappeared quickly enough.

Lunchtime run, letting off a bit of steam after a slightly frustrating morning (thanks to system failures which some of you may have noticed). Didn't feel too spectacular but the fastest I've done this circuit for a while (with some help from the traffic), which was a bit of a surprise. Came up with my last few questions for the quiz night tonight.

Wouldn't say this was great, but definitely an improvement on yesterday, if not at a level where I would have wanted to take it much further for now.

It's hard rubbish season in the City of Darebin, but the piles are gradually diminishing as the week goes on. (Banyule didn't have these).

And participants in the Tasmanian NOL events should be thankful that forecasts 10 days out are not very reliable - today's European model run had a 980-hectopascal low centred just off St. Helens on Saturday 28 May, with 50 to 100 millimetres of rain.

C • What about 2 days out? 6

It's very important to be able to tell the difference between the different flavours of racists and bigots who will be competing for last place on our Senate ballot papers, so the quiz question of the day is - which party's logo is a map of Australia with the word 'FULL' on it? Is it the Australia First Party, Australians Against Further Immigration, the Australian Liberty Alliance, the Australia - Love It Or Leave Party, or One Nation?

C • Answer 5

Headed out from a new starting point - Merri Park near Northcote High - in the name of evening logistics, but it was quickly apparent that my back was having an off day. Seems not too bad now so hopefully I'll be able to resume tomorrow, at least to some extent.

Turned out I'd mixed up the days for said evening engagement (a campaign session). Wasn't too upset about this - today probably wouldn't have been the best of days to be hitting the phones on behalf of David Feeney.

Back to All Nations intervals for the first time since before the last NOL round, and without the same consequences as last time (i.e the hamstring was OK). Not terribly fast but got better as it went on.

Warm-up and down. Strangely, more traffic on the way there than the way back.

In the warm bath at Northcote - somewhat crowded because the squads had moved inside (must have been shocked by actually having a morning with near-normal May temperatures) leaving only two 25m lanes for everyone else. This meant I had people blasting past me at regular intervals, who must have dragged me along a bit early, but slowed down to a fairly usual pace in the second half.

C • The boiler is now fixed 2

MFR Monday night from Bruce and Anne's - an exercise in Johnson Park which involved going back and forth around the edge of the park and remembering the sum of the control numbers. Good for training concentration, which is definitely a useful thing to do as an orienteer (something I learned early on - used to take study notes out with me on training runs in my later years of school, and eventually reached the point where I could concentrate more intensely on the run than I could sitting at a desk). Not exactly a long workout, but felt nice enough once loosened up. Reasonable turnout including a fair few of the next generation.

Hard work on the ride there, with some fairly stiff winds (more cross than head but still heavy going).

The jobs were being allocated later on for this Sunday's Eaglemont event, which I'll miss by virtue of being on the slow boat fast plane to China (I may try to get out at sunrise to run the course before going to the airport). The forecast is good so hopefully we'll crack 200 participants.