Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Thought today might be a struggle but for the most part it was one of my better runs for a while. Started out towards Kane's Bridge, then up onto the hill and doing some of the cul-de-sacs going into some vastly expensive real estate (with some short sharp climbs to add to the longer one up onto the ridge). Started to have some glute soreness around 40 minutes in, and unsurprisingly, they didn't like the steep descent down Princess Street. That settled but then I got some right foot soreness, and having achieved the baseline goals for this run, decided that was enough (I'd hoped to get out to 70-80 minutes if things had kept going as they were in the first half). The foot is already settling down by late afternoon so hopefully it will be OK by the time I next plan to run on Tuesday (and in general I was reasonably happy with the way I came up for a fourth day in a row, something I haven't done often in the last three years).

It felt quite chilly this morning, which is perhaps an indication that I got some heat acclimatisation out of yesterday if nothing else. Judging by the forecast for this week I may lose it fairly quickly. With its timing, heat and/or high fire danger were potential issues for the NSW Championships; it's too soon to tell whether it will be hot in two weekends' time, but it certainly won't be this weekend (current forecasts suggest it will struggle to get far into double figures on either day), and this week's rain should put paid to any serious fire risk that might have existed.

The first outing of something I'd flagged a while back - drawing a random number from 1 to 100 and then going for a run on that map of the Melway. 37 was the first number to come out of the (virtual) hat so I was off to Mooroolbark - home of Melbourne's answer to the Magic Roundabout. It turned out said roundabout was not the area's major local traffic obstacle - the main level crossing is closed whilst in the process of being removed. It is, however, possible to cross on foot, so I parked on the south side and walked across to start and finish on the north, using a 2005 Mooroolbark Heights street-O map as my guide.

This was the hilliest run I have done for a long time and the most humid run I have done for a long time, and it turned out that trying to do both at once was biting off a bit more than I could chew. I had sort of anticipated this and planned a route which didn't seem to go too far off the side of the main ridge once on top of it, but you can hide quite a bit in 10-metre contours. Walked a couple of the steepest pinches but was still definitely struggling in the later stages, even with a flatter last 10 minutes, and wasn't about to stretch it out beyond 40.

The positive here is that some left hamstring soreness (the opposite side to usual) that I'd noticed overnight disappeared and was a non-issue on the run (as were other injuries, although I'm a bit stiff now).

Took advantage of already being out east to follow the urban exploration with some non-urban exploration, initially on the back side of the Dandenongs and then up to Toolangi and Kinglake - good to get out into the lush forests out that way. One might have thought hearing planes overhead walking at Toolangi might spoil the serenity but in fact it was a welcome sign of normality (I've certainly looked at this bit of ground from above many times), one of several hints of normality which included East Ringwood taking on Upper Ferntree Gully in the cricket, and a side track near Toolangi being closed for a car rally.

Was wondering whether I'd stumbled on a themed set of streets when I spotted an Old Kent Road, but there are no other relevant names nearby (maybe they're all several kilometres away like they are in London).

Headed across to East Brunswick to finish off the rest of the block around CERES that I started on a few weeks ago (with a bit extra on top). A bit slow at times but on the whole was reasonably happy with how I came up after yesterday. Not too many hills to test things out today (tomorrow will be different on that score). Saw Dion (on his way to check out a site) just before I started running.

Crossed my namesake street at one point. According to the sign, David Blair was an 1860s MP who campaigned for better working conditions for miners, so it sounds like he was on the side of the forces of light. Another sign said that Moreland was named for the farm which existed here, which in turn was named after the settler's grandfather's plantation in Jamaica. (If it was circa-1800 Jamaica, there's probably a fair chance that slavery was involved - I wonder if anyone's told the council?).

Must have done this a bit too early - the Mayer Park coffee van hadn't started up yet (or maybe that was just a lockdown thing?).

And the Northcote pool buildings are no more.

A significant mission completed today: the last remaining bit of the area 'south of Bell'. This involved a few residual streets around the old Panch hospital site. Reasonable as a run, a little slow but going reasonably steadily after the first 15 minutes or so, and largely untroubled on the injury front. Seem to have got myself more or less back onto Melbourne's time zone too. Nice clear morning after heavy rain yesterday afternoon and overnight - I thought we'd had the rare distinction of having our local gauge as the wettest place in the state (55mm), but a late report from St. Arnaud meant we had to settle for wettest in Melbourne.

The traffic has got noticeably heavier this week (I think schools are largely responsible for this as most workplaces haven't returned) - Station Street is in that awkward in-between space where the traffic is heavy enough to be difficult to cross but not so heavy that it's stopped and you can go between the cars. Waiting for traffic in another place, the High/Plenty/Dundas intersection, I noticed a sign outlining what used to be there - the newish multi-storey apartments seem to attract occasional ire in local Facebook groups, but would the residents really prefer the site's pre-2006 incarnation as a bacon factory? (You get the odd spot in this part of town where a former, sometimes not very former, factory existed in the middle of residential areas - I guess they date from before the era of zoning).

C • Traffic 1

Knew after yesterday's debacle that trying to run this morning probably wasn't going to end well (although I slept better in the evening than I had the previous day). Settled for a session in the water instead, which went well enough even if lacking a bit in energy (not altogether surprising).

The rest of the day was spent in alternate waves of wakefulness and exhaustion, more or less what I'd expect of a day just back from overseas (which is not surprising). Hopefully a more normal night tonight will sort that out (it usually does).

For those familiar with the Victorian ALP, today's description of the late George Seitz as a "notorious branch stacker" was a revelation definitely on the "Pope is Catholic" scale. My previous branch, which took some pleasure in taking the mickey out of scandals happening elsewhere, pondered having a contest to see how many people they could fit into Jenny Macklin's electorate office, in homage to the 497 people who joined the party at a meeting supposedly held in George's. (The only stack I've ever actually seen was the ACTION bus drivers in Canberra trying to stack a branch to try to get rid of a Transport Minister they were upset with - someone obviously didn't tell them that in a proportional system getting rid of the lead candidate on a factional ticket is all but impossible). Although it doesn't get talked about as much, there's rumoured to be at least as much stacking in Victoria going on in the Liberals (except there the stackees are fundamentalist Christians).

The plan was to shift my body clock forward, do the 2-5am meeting, then go out to Blackburn at first light in the cool with my body thinking it was 11. The reality was barely sleeping at all before the meeting, spend most of the time during it grappling with IT problems (first at my end, then at theirs), salvaging a couple of hours of sleep afterwards and hoping to get out before it was too hot. I didn't expect much in such circumstances; was reasonable for 15 minutes or so but that was all I had. For the rest of it it was plodding away on the level and downhill, walking anything that resembled a hill, and making a couple of careless mistakes which suggests my concentration wasn't quite there either.

I've always liked this area - it was my first Eastern Summer Series outing back in 1993 - with the bush around the lake. It's the first time I've been back for a while, which means it's the first time (I think) that I've seen it without its level crossing. The derelict petrol station that had been there for the best part of 20 years has gone now, too.

Get to do this all again tomorrow (except it's a midnight start this time).

Shifting my personal time zone ahead of overnight meetings the next two nights (with a 2am start tomorrow and 12.15am on Wednesday). That meant getting up at 5 today, and I decided I'd swim before Pilates rather than after. Back at Fitzroy for the first time. Felt more awake than I expected, but still getting used to being in the water again - it was pretty slow, despite a promising patch in the middle.

Pilates coming after the other session rather than before today. Seemed to be a reasonable session. A bit of tightness in the left calf - noticed that walking yesterday too but wasn't an issue running yesterday so hopefully won't be an issue in the future.

Going to bed in daylight when you're not in Scandinavia feels strange.