Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

State Series 1 at Bunjil/Little Forest, an open gully-spur area which gets steep around the edges. Thought this was going to spend a lot of time around the edges with the advertised climb of 400m, and when I picked up the map the initial instinct was that they'd got the distance wrong - it seemed a very long course for 8.3km, but in fact it was an old-school course with one big loop and not too many deviations so it looked longer than it was. (It was advertised as a "middle distance" style event but that it was definitely not; instead it was probably a good proxy for an M45 long distance, which is not such a bad thing given I'll be running a few of those in the near future).

The good news is that I felt considerably better running than I have in the terrain at any other time this year; was able to manage longish hills of moderate steepness with some degree of confidence, whereas there have been other times in recent months when even two contours have been a battle. Lost it a bit technically at the end though, drifting a bit on 11 and more seriously on 13, dropping perhaps 2 minutes across those two controls. Ended up in a "sprint" finish with Jenny Bourne which I won (not by much).

The disappointment was that my result was a good deal poorer than I would have expected (more so in terms of position in the field than time behind Kerrin, who was the leader). Not quite sure what to make of this, although some of my route choices were conservative, especially 7 and 9 (and I know from comparing with Bruce that his low route was probably 30-60 seconds faster on 7 than my high one, once the difference in our running speeds was factored in). Nevertheless, this gives me something to build on, and perhaps the confidence to go out harder next time.

A new cafe has appeared at Gordon (hitherto a sleepy village). Wasn't overly enthused about what I tried but maybe I just chose badly.

Update now that the splits are out: lost probably a minute on the route choice at #7, but otherwise was just slow. Didn't place above 14th on any leg. It's perhaps significant that I placed badly on the legs with very steep downhill bits (#3, #6, #10).

More or less what I'd expect of a run the day after something long(ish), which meant it was nothing to get too excited about. Still reasonably pleased to be able to (sort of) back up.

Classing this one as a pretty good run despite the slow pace. Hillier than most runs I've done this year (although in a rolling-hills sense through Ivanhoe, North Balwyn and Kew - nothing seriously steep), and no significant issues in the injury department. Didn't really pick up pace until it got light, which didn't come until well after halfway. Slipped into a very nice mode in the last 10 minutes and, for the first time in a long time, really wanted to just keep going, but work was calling.

I was on a bit of a high when I finished this - and then logged on, and saw news of a crash on the Monaro, and a motionless GPS dot at Williamsdale...

Woke up with a stiff back, possibly in anticipation of receiving a public flogging in certain parts of the media over the next couple of days (although as it turns out, the Malcolm Roberts "data deconstruction" event at Parliament House last night seems to have sunk without trace) - or more realistically a result of sitting in a seat in a Melbourne Uni lecture theatre last night that my body seems to have violently disagreed with.

Given that I didn't attempt to take on a long run, and instead headed for the pool (it's a sign that daylight saving is approaching its end that I started this in the dark - which always feels a bit strange in an outdoor pool - although in fairness I started this a bit earlier than usual because I'd had a 5.30 alarm in anticipation of a long run). Not the most inspiring of sessions, but did gradually loosen up during the day.

#straya moment of the day - discovering that the suspiciously low Brisbane rainfall figure this morning was because flying ants had got into the gauge and jammed up the mechanism.

Initial thoughts for today were to do something hillier than has been typical of late, but it was apparent in the first kilometre or two that merely getting through an hour was probably the limit of my capabilities today - feeling weak and with some tightness as well (although further up the back than usual). Headed down around Yarra Bend and back up Merri Creek - I wasn't confident as to how things would go on even the small climbs on that route but they worked out more or less OK. Starting to pick up a bit in the final quarter.

With yesterday morning's tiredness as well, I wonder if illness is around the corner, although no other symptoms as yet. Will try rolling the dice again tomorrow.

Felt very sleepy this morning and ended up running a bit late, so decided to switch plans and embark on my latest attempt to find out whether I can run after working (although only half a day this time instead of a full day). The answer today was "sort of", which is a bit of an advance on last week's "no". Reasonable at jogging speed once warmed up; tried to do a few faster things on South Wharf (30-second lots again) but felt a bit tight to be confident doing that.

As you can imagine, it was a rather distracted day in the office, although we don't have a lot to do with the direct operational response to cyclones (other than, in my case, one brief interview to confirm that Hamilton Island's 263 km/h is indeed the strongest instrumentally measured gust on record in Queensland).

Got home about 10.15 last night and promptly hit the wall - must have been a bit dehydrated as well as I felt it necessary to drink on waking up in the middle of the night, not a common occurrence. Slept a little later than usual and didn't have great expectations for this, but it went OK. Didn't pull up too sore post-weekend either (although running tomorrow will be a greater test of this).

In the news on the way home was a report of a study done on drug use in Australia by testing wastewater. I doubt that anyone will be surprised to hear that cocaine use is highest in Sydney, ice (=crystal meth) use is highest in regional Victoria and alcohol use is highest in regional Queensland and the Northern Territory. More surprising was that the highest ecstasy values were found at an unnamed site in regional Tasmania; possibly things happen in the nightlife of St. Helens that I hadn't previously suspected.