Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

The Hay Plains are reputed to be the flattest place in the world. As so often with such claims, this depends on how you define it, but it's definitely flat in all directions from town. I chose the Booligal road, mainly on the basis that as a north-south road it wouldn't have sunglare for myself or for drivers who I wanted to see me, and wouldn't have a lot of traffic (I was right there).

The plains may be hillless but they are not windless. For the first half this was not such a bad thing, with what seemed to be a southwest wind giving a certain amount of assistance, and I was rolling along nicely, averaging around 28 km/h which is at the fast end for me.

Turning around I realised instantly that I'd had more of a tailwind than I had previously suspected, and now I was going to have to work back into it for the second half. From the training point of view this was a good thing, but it was a hard slog. It might have paled into insignificance compared with what the Around the Bay people had to cope with two weeks ago, but I was still struggling to maintain 20 km/h into it (in the end it took 15 minutes longer for the inward than outward journey). Thought it might get a bit easier as I got closer to town, with a few more trees and buildings to break the wind up, but by then it had shifted to be a direct headwind so that didn't help much.

Also had my first magpie encounter of the spring, near the edge of the 80 zone on the fringes of town. It paid me only passing interest on the way out but rather more serious interest on the way home (perhaps because I was moving more slowly).

Had a bit of a look around town before heading south, mainly the war museum (Hay had a large POW/internee camp). One story of interest was the only successful escape from the camp, an Italian who made his way 150km down the Murrumbidgee to Balranald and then by train to Melbourne, where he found work before being recaptured a few months later. Many years later he came back out to try to re-enact his trek, but 1974 was not the best of years for such an exercise and he only made it a third of the way, defeated by the sort of floods and swamps that I've come to look at. Only sour note of the morning was the rudeness encountered at the local supermarket (from someone who couldn't cope with the idea of being given $5.35 to pay a bill for $3.35), but I was uplifted again by the two locals in the queue behind me who apologised on the way out on their town's behalf, suggesting that her grumpiness was well-known to the community. (I'd speculate that she keeps her job by virtue of being the owner's wife).

I didn't meander as much on the way south as I had going north, but still saw plenty of water in places it usually isn't in the vicinity of Deniliquin (which also features a ute on a pole) and the Barmah Forest. Also ended up going back through Kyabram which, I think, was the largest town in Victoria I hadn't previously been to.

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.