Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Still pretty tight after the flight, and I think I needed a day to get used to the humidity anyway - it was enough of an effort walking around all the sprint controls today (in the afternoon it reached 35-36 degrees with dewpoints around 27 - even Darwin in the build-up doesn't normally manage that). Forecast for tomorrow is a bit kinder.

It's the mid-autumn festival here (given the aforementioned weather conditions, I'm wondering where the "mid-autumn" comes from). As one might expect for a festival in China, this is being accompanied with the enthusiastic use of pyrotechnics - quickly learned not to be too perturbed when something went bang in the vicinity.

One for the "you know you're an orienteer when": you see an article in the Cathay magazine about the great lost city of southern India (once the world's second-largest city after Beijing, but abandoned after being conquered in the 16th century), and the first thing that captures your attention is all the granite boulders on the hills behind the ruins.

C • You know when you are an orienteer when... 2

Actually managed to get a run in - a few hip twinges at times but back was fine today. This was what's becoming a semi-regular thing for me before earlyish flights, a loop through Airport West on the way to the airport (for those playing at home, the suburb's name refers to Essendon Airport, not Tullamarine), although a bit different to last time because it was light enough to discover a parkland strip I hadn't seen previously. Not exactly a lightning-fast run, but good to at least get one in the book.

First leg of the flight was fine (and the seat next to me was empty, which always helps), and there don't seem to be any issues tonight at Hong Kong airport - about to head on to Guangzhou.

Got a start, at least, but that was all; the first (small) hill was enough to set me off. Getting closer though (and felt better during the day).

Switched a planned morning swim from tomorrow to this evening, with a post-work session at Fitzroy (felt in any case that I needed a cleansing immersion in water after exposure to Craig Kelly's Facebook page). Not too bad a session; drifted out of it a bit in the later stages, but certainly nothing like last time I tried. One foot cramp at the end. Had a bit of a sore shoulder to start with after a tetanus shot yesterday, but that was no problem once under way.

There was a piece in the latest RACV newsletter with Steve Moneghetti naming his six favourite runs in Victoria. Some were expected (Lake Wendouree), some were familiar territory (Two Bays), and one took me by surprise a bit.

Tightened up again significantly last night; not quite as bad in the morning as I thought it might have been, but still not really in the shape to run on. A bit annoyed about this as I don't expect where I'll be in the later part of this week to have especially running-friendly conditions - Guangzhou morning dewpoints at this time of year are normally in the mid-20s. (World Cup aspirants will be pleased to know that the humidity usually drops away substantially from about the first week of October onwards, although last year it took until the 26th before the end of the last period of 20+ dewpoints).

Bit of a session swap to support logistics later in the week. Felt pretty stiff after the long drive but loosened up OK once in the water. Almost had the Northcote outdoor pool to myself this morning, which may or may not have had something to do with the icy showers about, though they only paid a brief visit while I was in the water (one out to the west looked like it might have had some hail in it).

Poorly targeted advertising is a standard thing on social media, but now other formats have got in on the act: a screen in a Fairfield supermarket was advertising a child-care centre in Tarneit. (For those unfamiliar with the finer points of Melbourne's geography and transport, let's just say that if you actually attempted to take a child from Fairfield to Tarneit during peak hour, he/she would be just about old enough to start school by the time you got there).

Event: SA Long Distance Championships - Crooked Straight, Renmark
 

Couldn't manage it two days in a row, which is frustrating, not just because of the half-wasted trip but because this is an interesting area (which is why I was here in the first place). Didn't feel good in the warm-up but sometimes I can run it out; wasn't happening today, and by the climb out of 3 I could hardly walk up hills either. I'd already missed a bit on 1, going to the control on the spur to the right instead (although I think my concentration was suffering).

It seems rather odd that the back was worse after a night's sleep than it was after five hours in the car, but I've long since given up trying to expect predictability from this issue. Still, I got one decent run in on a terrain type I haven't been on before (and spent the SA part of the weekend in some good company, and saw some interesting - if somewhat climatically alarming - things on the journey), so it wasn't a completely lost weekend.

Hard work to Mildura in patchy blowing dust which reduced the visibility down to 200-300m at times (the car certainly shows that it's been in a duststorm), fairly comfortable after that, although I did discover on stopping at a Charlton pub for dinner that Charlton's football team was eliminated yesterday and Mad Monday is already under way. (So far, it was taking the form of a player very loudly voicing their approval - presumably because he had money attached to it - of the performance of something running in a race that the TAB was taking bets on).

SA Championships warm-up event at Paringa Paddocks, mostly forested river flats with an extensive track network, though we went into town for a couple of legs early. Pleasantly surprised by this after five hours in the car in the morning; felt fairly tight for the first 10 minutes but then loosened up pretty well (going into terrain helped, I think). Some fairly convoluted routes around billabongs; didn't have too much trouble with navigation apart from dropping 30 seconds or so on #14 (which I'm not convinced was in quite the right spot). Longest run of any kind I've done for a couple of months. Within 50% of Simon (who did 38), a bit of a benchmark for me these days, though the youngsters are getting faster (40 for Dante and Angus, 44 for Toby).

Deviated a little on my route here, partly to visit the Hattah Lakes and tick off another national park, partly to see just how droughty the wheat-growing areas on the Werrimull road are (answer: very). The former took me around the east side of Lake Tyrrell rather than the west, in the process giving me the opportunity to verify Invis's report of Chinkapook's backwater status. (At least it still exists: Annuello, which has a decent long-term rainfall data set if I recall correctly, has a derelict hall, a non-derelict Country Fire Authority shed, a silo and that's it).

Dropped in at Sea Lake for coffee; it was clearly a big day in town because numerous shopfronts were decked out in yellow and black streamers and signs "Go Tigers" (and I don't think they were referring to Richmond). Apparently three local teams were in finals, although the thirds will have faced tough opposition - Manangatang's thirds must be a very strong team judging by the number of players on current AFL lists who supposedly couldn't get a game for them. (Manangatang is also a common suggested destination for umpires who have made decisions with which the home supporters disagree).