Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Oops: at last weekend's Victorian Premier Cricket match between St. Kilda and Footscray, the players were wondering why the bowlers were having trouble hitting a consistent length and the quick singles were harder to get than usual. It wasn't until after close of play that it was discovered that the pitch was marked as 22 metres instead of 22 yards. (The four batsmen who were run out have a certain cause for grievance).

First attempt at a run, on a route which started a theme for the day - looking at watercourses with lots of water in them (Darebin Creek in this case). Felt reasonable to start with but enough minor discomfort on the run, and tightness after it, to reinforce that I'm still not quite right and won't be able to launch myself straight back in. Definitely an improvement on a week ago though. Missed all the showers.

Once I realised a few days back that I wasn't going to be doing much serious running this weekend, with no other commitments I decided it was a good opportunity to see the Murray and related rivers in a once-in-a-couple-of-decades state. There was a bit of a change of plan when I found out this morning that my tentative target for tonight, Moulamein, was under an SES prepare-to-evacuate warning (they're worried about the town levee withstanding the flood peak). Route ended up as Maldon-Bridgewater-Durham Ox-Boort-Kerang (crisscrossed the Loddon, which is on its way down, quite a bit on this stretch)-Barham-Moulamein-Maude-Hay. In many cases the secondary rivers look more impressive than the main ones, probably because towns like Barham and Moulamein are built in places where the rivers are at their most confined. However, the highlight was late in the day, crossing the Murrumbidgee plain at Maude; the river must be about 5km wide at that point at the moment.

By the way, places which floodwaters are retreating from smell somewhat unpleasant.

C • Hay, Hell and Booligal 8

At Ivanhoe this time - which is often a more social place for it and was again this time (this time the discussion was recalcitrant dogs and their more recalcitrant owners). Was in a bit of a rush but ended up finishing just at the right time, because I ended up just making the train I was looking for.

The calf is continuing to improve in exercises, and I think I'm ready to give it a go running. Will have a try tomorrow.

Ivanhoe Boulevard, then out on the Koonung Trail as far as the bridge over the freeway. The Koonung part of the ride is one I've liked for a while if using for training - 10km without any road crossings and just enough of an uphill gradient (on the way out) to add a notch to the degree of difficulty. Quite a nice ride, on a crisp sunny morning with a hint of frost in sheltered areas (so much for last Friday being the last of these).

I seem to be making reasonable progress with the calf; at rest it feels like there's nothing untoward at all but its movement in exercises is still slightly limited, so I'll give it until at least the weekend.

Dad was in town last night which is often an excuse to expand one's exploration of the Station Street restaurant scene. Last night was my first visit to the Greek place, which had a certain air of authenticity by virtue of the signs 'No Smashing of Plates' and 'No Dancing on Tables' (although you can buy plates to smash if you really want to).

First occasion from these premises of an activity carried out during injury layoffs - the elongated training ride to work, using the Yarra Boulevard early on and then the Main Yarra Trail thereafter. Getting to the start of the Boulevard was a slightly fraught matter and may have involved some route choices of questionable legality, but once on there it worked out OK (and I didn't have encounters with any of the infamous tacks). Felt reasonable and a nice morning to be out.

Apparently someone has started a crowdfunding page to help erstwhile Senator Bob Day pay off his debts. I can think of more deserving causes (his company's customers, for a start).

At Fitzroy, a bit earlier than usual after an early airport drop-off. Had a good look at some interesting clouds, which didn't precipitate quite as vigorously as I thought they might have been going to. Session itself was fairly straightforward. Didn't seem to be a lot of people around - perhaps scared off by the forecast.

Felt predictably stiff this morning - one day when I wasn't too upset about the warm waters of the Northcote indoor pool (usually a bit stifling for comfort). Swim functioned reasonably well, although it didn't seem to do as much to loosen me up afterwards as I'd hoped it might.

Spotted someone walking through the carpark wearing Speedos and little else - not really a sight one expects to see in the suburbs in a coolish October.

The calf has improved considerably (at least walking) in the last 36 hours. Saw the physio tonight and her assessment was much the same as mine, but she doesn't want me to start running until I can get a similar range of movement on both sides. Hopefully that's not too many days away.

Settled down enough overnight for us to go out for a loop into the area west of the assembly - in contrast to the east, a lot of this is pine forest. A lot of the pine forest is not very nice to go through (blackberries being a common feature), so the track network was well used (and more reliably mapped than in the eucalypt).

Didn't quite get our strategy right for this one. There was a strip of high-scoring controls in the eucalypt west of the pines, but we spent too much time picking up other stuff on the way and didn't leave ourselves enough time to have a crack at those, instead having to settle for some 40s in the pines on the way south. Most memorable control of the day was our second-last, 67 - when there's a 60-pointer just over 1km from the hash house one suspects that there's something a bit feral about it, and in this case it was a 300-metre bash down the creek through the pines where you had the option of either wading or battling blackberries. We waded. (Water was not in short supply on this rogaine, given what the last few months have been like).

The pleasant surprise today was that the calf pulled up OK, and even managed a few jogging sections without flaring up afterwards. Hopefully this means I just tried to come back on it a day or two too early (but I'll be interested to see what the physio thinks when I see her tomorrow). Usually even a low-grade muscle strain (assuming that's what it is) would see footballers miss a week so I was probably trying to be a bit ambitious.

It was a bit disappointing the way this ended up (and it always feels worse when it's a team you've let down and not just yourself), but at least I've learned some useful things for the next time I try a proper 24 (and now that this is unfinished business, I do plan for there to be a next time at some point, although I'm not sure when). Two things I've definitely learned: (a) my light would not have been good enough for night navigation (something which as it turned out wasn't really put to the test) and (b) Jenny swears by English muffins with cheese but I have a lot of difficulty digesting these while moving, so I'll need to find something else as fuel for the long haul.

C • eating on the run? 2