Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

No, I still can't seem to be able to do evening runs after a day sitting at work (maybe I'll have to try standing up next Wednesday afternoon and see how that works). This is frustrating.

This one wasn't a bad one to cut short - 36 degrees and a long one (would have been close to an hour).

One positive from today: it's now been demonstrated that there are limits on what you can do and still get elected as a Republican in Alabama.

C • limits 6

C • chair 1

Didn't feel great on the warm-up and still a bit light-headed when I started running hard, but the actual performance level was reasonable, perhaps downright good on the last few (think I might have had a season's fastest time for the last couple).

Whether or not my rep times were a season's best, the number of illegally unrestrained dogs certainly was (13). At least none of them caused any trouble.

Warm-up and down. Fewer traffic breaks than is sometimes the case.

One of those post-travel mornings where I woke up before the alarm, for a certain value of "woke up", but then remained 50% awake for an extended period. Possibly unhelpful in this respect was a flight where I was in the close company of someone whose weight was well into triple figures, followed by a taxi ride which was more indirect than it needed to be (the Bell Street exit was closed for works, but my suggestion that the driver might actually want to follow the signposted detour, and not try his own alternative on a route which also turned out to be closed, fell on deaf ears).

Headed down into Yarra Bend and back up the creek. Not very energetic (and that applied to the rest of the day too), but at least got through it without any significant injury issues.

Headed home at lunchtime to wait for an electrician (and review some papers whilst doing so), the circuit that runs my lights having failed during the storm the weekend before last. (The problem turned out to be a faulty circuit-breaker and the fact that it went during the storm was probably coincidental).

He didn't end up coming until around 5, which left my planned post-visit swim a little later than I'd planned on, but that was no drama. It was one of those nice summer evenings Melbourne sometimes turns on - a cool southerly breeze but lots of sunshine after morning cloud - but it was clearly too cool for most because the outdoor pool was fairly empty of people (perhaps the fact that it was close to dinnertime cleared most of the kids out). Felt reasonable on the swim but slower than I expected. A little soreness on the inside of my right knee towards the end.

Five of California's 20 most damaging fires in history have occurred this year. The October fire in the Napa valley and surrounds are, by some margin, the most damaging bushfires in world history in terms of property loss (something like US$9 billion at last count). I'm not sure whether or not that includes something like half of northern California's (legal) marijuana crop going up in (presumably sweet-smelling) smoke. (A fair proportion of the proceeds of previous harvests also reportedly went up in smoke, this still being largely a cash-based business).

Run along the rail trail from Opua towards Karekare - dead flat apart from two steep pinches (one in each direction) to get around a closed tunnel. The first of these knocked my quads around a bit and I didn't really settle properly until after a brief stop at the turnaround. Much better after that, but the steep bit caused a different problem second time around - a shower 10 minutes beforehand had turned the surface into the sort of yellow clay that (a) makes everything very slippery and (b) cakes on your shoes. Achilles starting to play up from around 75 minutes onwards, but still felt sufficiently OK to do a short out-and-back at the other end to take it up to 90; I'd perhaps hoped for a bit more had everything gone well, but this was a step in the right direction.

Spent the rest of the day making my way down the coast (as much as the road network and the topography allows) - some stunning bays off the coast road from Russell. These roads are slow, but I'd rather be driving 60 because the road winds a lot than because I'm stuck behind 20 other cars and a milk truck.

Eventually everything converges on the one spot, namely the main drag of Warkworth, and the traffic was consequently ugly. (It wasn't too great on the Auckland motorway either, and I ended up swinging west via the Upper Harbour Highway before making use of the tunnel, which is open now).

Naming note: according to what I read whilst there, Paihia (a somewhat unlovely town in a lovely area) got its name from one of the early settlers who knew the Maori word for good was "pai" and asked a chief "pai here?". Perhaps this is the equivalent of the numerous places in Australia which are reputed to be named for whatever the local Aboriginal language was for "I don't know" or "I don't understand you".

In six days in New Zealand, I did not see a single sheep. (It's all cows up north these days).

C • You should have gone to... 2

A run which definitely didn't live up to its surroundings - felt weak and sluggish throughout. Headed down to the river in Whangarei and then on a track on the east side of the river (NZ reminder: track along rivers cannot be assumed to be flat) - nice twisting in amongst the kauri. Back through the suburbs and hoped the gentle downhill might get me going again, but it didn't. Suspect I wasn't getting full value from my GPS in the kauri section.

Perhaps fortunately, I didn't need to be too energetic through the rest of the day, some of which was devoted to a cruise in the Bay of Islands - definitely not a letdown when it came to the scenery. The weather was kind to us, too, with a few morning showers clearing out.

C • Hills in Whangarei 3

A recovery run of sorts, although still some hills to deal with - nothing too drastic. Headed out west towards Grey Lynn, mainly in the name of a lack of main roads to cross after the first bit. Didn't feel especially energetic, but do seem to be feeling slightly stronger uphill than on the last couple of days.

For the last couple of days I've been surrounded by people who are as much into finding obscure sources of information about historical climate as I am. At the moment we're particularly interested in the Southern Ocean - a real data void before the satellite era - and trying to track down as much ship data as we can. One unexpected source that someone has begun exploring is evidence that whaling has done something for scientific research (although not via the Japanese) - in the first half of the 20th century, whalers had to lodge a form for each catch with the marine authorities in Wellington (and perhaps other ports), and those forms contained information on the position, weather conditions, and ice if there was any.

The workshop finished this afternoon and I've now headed up to the Bay of Islands for the weekend (getting as far as Whangarei tonight), before flying back Sunday night. This meant braving Auckland's traffic, although I'm glad I was heading north - west or south would probably have been horrific. (There was a train strike today, but that shouldn't have affected northern traffic because there are no trains that go in that direction).

Most ambitious yet in terms of terrain, starting out by heading up Mt. Eden (predictably spectacular views, and predictably large numbers of people using it for morning exercise). Pleased that my injuries didn't cause any issues either up or down, although my fitness for the climb was definitely lacking (no doubt a consequence of not having done any proper hills for weeks). Quads a bit iffy for a while after coming off the mountain but ran that off (a good sign for Two Bays, where I'll have a hill half as big again to deal with early on). Bit of a plod on the last section, coming back initially through Remuera (a suburb with a reputation as Auckland's poshest, though I think these days it's a bit like the North Shore in Sydney - solidly upper-middle class but the really serious money is closer to the water), then past the Domain. Had initially had thoughts of 90, but thought it best not to push both climb and distance boundaries in the same run; will have the chance for more on Sunday. Pulled up OK.

Again plenty of traffic interruptions; it seems fairly unavoidable here in the inner suburbs. One also has to keep one's wits about one because of some of the driving, such as people (illegally) failing to give way when turning into a side street, possibly because they're distracted by talking (illegally) on their mobile phone.

Wouldn't normally back up like this, but the logistics of a swim tomorrow were going to be difficult, whereas the combination of a 90-minute break between workshop finish and workshop dinner, and a pool a couple of minutes away, was a tempting one.

The Auckland Tepid Baths doesn't sound like the most inspiring of names, but it's Auckland's original indoor pool - more than 100 years old - and has the character which comes with that. It was closed for a couple of years around 2010 after being found to be structurally unsafe - presumably translating as "if there's an earthquake the roof might fall on you". (If a volcano erupts in the harbour, not a totally impossible scenario at some point in the next few centuries, it's not going to matter much how good the engineering is).

Was a bit worried about the swim when in the first couple of laps my hamstring felt like it was threatening to cramp - memories of the Mildura session in June - but settled down after that. Not the most energetic of swims but enough to loosen me up a bit.

C • 90-minute break 9