Training Archive: TheInvisibleLogIn the 7 days ending 2007-09-09:
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| M | T | W | H | F | S | S | ||||||||||||||
Sunday Sep 9 | ||
| Back, core and achilles 15:00 [1] | |
| (injured) | ||
| MTB (Not O) 1:17:00 [2] | |
| Knee problems meant orienteering was not on today's agenda. Easy bike ride was more sensible. | ||
| C • Too far from Bendigo? 12 | ||
Saturday Sep 8 | ||
| Event: Victorian Relay Championships | ||
| Back, core and achilles 15:00 [1] | |
| Real Orienteering 31:13 [5] 4.9 km (6:22 / km) | |
| shoes: Columbia | ||
Friday Sep 7 | ||
| Back, core and achilles 15:00 [1] | |
| Running 22:23 [2] 4 km (5:36 / km) | |
| shoes: Columbia | ||
| Welsford Hill circuit. Main aim of the short run was spine mobility. | ||
Thursday Sep 6 | ||
| Back, core and achilles 15:00 [1] | |
| Running 23:22 [3] | |
| shoes: Columbia | ||
| Easy run around the Dodder Track circuit. A short run to minimise risk of aggravating the various leg problems. The ground seems so hard after the Otways! | ||
Wednesday Sep 5 | ||
| Back, core and achilles 15:00 [1] | |
| Walking 30:00 [1] 4 km (7:30 / km) +45m 7:06 / km | |
| shoes: Columbia | ||
The end of the trip was marked with a visit to Stephensons Falls. NOt bad when you get there. But the road was closed because of heavy rain. This mean an extra 3 k walk. Couldn't see the problem with the road. The scenery left much to be desired. Call this the Grumpy Old Man Moment for the day. This image might convey the basis of the grumpiness.
If that was not enough, this little gem of a sign asked us to keep out of an area along the creek that was being revegetated... I think the occasional visitor is the least of the problem. Reminds me of an older photo somewhere in my archive. A hillside clear felled of all vegetation. All that is left standing is the sign saying native plants and wildlife were protected in that forest. Well done ACT Forestry. 
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| C • Stevensons or Stephensons? 6 | ||
| Note | |
Drove home around the west side of Lake Corangamite. Gave the opportunity to check out three more areas of stony rise terrain. A couple were pretty rough. Not as tough (or as complex) as the terrain around Mt Napier. Alex described that as the most complex terrain he had seen, and the slowest. This stuff was trafficable. On the other side of the road was some more open farm land in amongst the rises. I can only say the potential deserves more investigation.
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| Note | |
| Magic Moment:
Purchased one of those Colac durians on the way home. Plan to break it open this weekend. Outside. | ||
Tuesday Sep 4 | ||
| Back, core and achilles 15:00 [1] | |
| Walking 3:00:00 [1] 15 km (12:00 / km) +300m 10:55 / km | |
| shoes: Columbia | ||
| Today was devoted to beaches and cliffs. Both of us pulled up sore after the previous day. Unaccustomed steep descents is my excuse. So we did a lot of fast walking, interspersed with admiring the at times breathtaking views. The logged time is an estimate after removing slack walking, gazing etc. There was a long hit list, and unlike the previous day, we didn't come anywhere near completing it.
Wreck Beach: First on the list because it is only accessible at low tide. The attraction is two in-situ rusted anchors from long-ago wrecks. Add to that an atmosphere created a a pretty rough sea and a narrow beach. Followed that up with a walk to the Gable for an impressive vista and some great tunnel walks through the tea-tree. Dinosaur Cove: This became the Grumpy Old Man moment. Parks has done all it can to expunge this location from the knowledge. Seems a response to vandalism problems. It is still marked on the older Vicmaps, but it has been expunged from guides to the Great Ocean Walk. The nearest road access has been cut off. It looks like it was a road reserve through private property. Also appears that Parks have made a sign that says 'Keep Out Private Property" and painted it pink rather than green. We took the Great Ocean Walk from Castle Cove instead. A good choice as it turned out. A great experience, and would be a superb trail run! In fact, much of the walk would. Well, at least those parts that are actually walking trails. As a continuous walk, the trail has many 'lame' sectiosn where you head away from the coast on roads and then come back in later. This walk could be so much more impressive if it wasn't constrained by an apparent imperative to make no new tracks. We reach edthe vicinity of Dinosaur Cove and, sure enough, the track to the Cove had been hidden. lamely. Instead, the trail heads up the old access road and away from the coast. We plunged down the hidden trail, but stopped at the top of the steep decent. The tide was in and we didn't feel like another long climb back out. Finished up with a wander around Cape Otway. Seems the cape itself is commercialised. No access without paying. My original aim had been to walk into the massive sand dune area to the west of the Cape. No time, so another day. It would be another great trail run if a car shuttle could be arranged. Wreck Beach 
 
Dinosaur Cove trail 
The hidden trail head  | ||
Monday Sep 3 | ||
| Back, core and achilles 15:00 [1] | |
| Running 1:45:00 [2] 15 km (7:00 / km) +600m 5:50 / km | |
| shoes: Columbia | ||
| This was the first day of a short 25th anniversary holiday. We spent it in the most romantic way we could imagibe.
Magic Moment: Julie suggested we do a quick run to Marriners Falls before heading out for the day. It swas apparently 'just up the road'. Lacking a more specific indication of the distance, I declined the offer and instead popped two iboprufen and one paracetemol in the hope of controlling back, achilles and knee pain. We went by car instead. This still involved a 3 k run in to the falls. Turned out 'just up the road' would have entailed a 25 k run. Highlight: Drove to five waterfalls and did the run in and out. Turned out to be 15 k of running. Not what I intended, but the rests in between, the easy pace, the soft surface, the cool and wet weather, the pain killers and the inspiring scenery all helped to mask the pain. Great day. Grumpy Old Man Moment: I am growing tired of being condescended to by people who aren't thinking. We ended up the day at the Otway Fly... a 600 metre suspended walkway through the upper story of the forest. It is an impressive structure, and I didn't grumble about the $20 entry fee. If someone is going to spen six million dollars on it, they have every right to charge that much. But why oh why do I have to endure those twee uninformative feel-good interpretation signs dotted liberally along the track. I thought Parks was the expert at this facility... in the sense of facile. But this company out does even Parks. Thet are gaudier than Park's fare, much much larger (think metres not centimeters) and they are even more politically correct! The final straw was on elabelled the 'First inhabitants'. If you read it, you learnt that the koori lived on the edge of the forest. Actually, they kept well out of the forest. No game, bad spirits etc. Its ironic that the first inhabitants were probably the early timber cutters! But that wouldn't be politically correct, would it. Its worth going there and just ignoring the signs. Marriners an easy and pretty 3 k return trip 
Sabine: The tough one. 3.8 k, steep and a long climb back out. Least impressive when you get there. 
Beauchamps: Another 3 k. Very pretty once you get out of the pines. Best views require jumping the fence. 
Hopetoun: Shortest access, most impressive falls. 
Triplet: The full circuit takes one through a very impressive stand of mountain ash and massive beech trees. The fall aren't bad either. Has been somewhat spoiled by massive engineering works by Parks. They have created a poor man's Otway Fly. Keeps your feet off the ground. Reading between the lines, this was meant to be part of the payoff for curtailing Forestry. I don't think the timber workers would see it that way. Probably best seen as a monument to the naivety of either Government or the electorate. 
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