Training Log Archive: jennycas

Shepherds Hill, Eden Hills, Bellevue Heights, Flinders Uni and home. Started off as a plod but by the end was downright painful, because with each step the impact travelled straight up my hamstrings into my butt. I fail to see why this should have been the case.

Too nice an autumn morning not to.

Oh dear, someone put treacle in the water. Or maybe glue. Creaky ankle wouldn't kick properly, I am sick of elbowing the lane rope even when I'm the only one in the lane, and hamstrings were even tighter afterwards. But it was still more fun than getting to work for an 8am meeting which turns out to be cancelled, as happened yesterday.

Attack of the Killer Physio
With friends like Kath, who needs enemies? :)

To Echo tunnel where Fern, Tyson, Cheryl, Simon left us, then up past lower waterfall to tank where John left us, then it was a girls' run with Lauren & Zara (plus Callum) past upper waterfall to the tap, back down Saddle Hill Rd and Long Gully. Lovely and damp after rain and I counted 15 kangaroos. Expected to feel worse after physio but maybe the Deep Heat hadn't worn off yet. Also, maybe, I am slightly faster than I was a couple of weeks ago.

Short loop, in rather a hurry to beat the approaching thunderstorm and get to North Adelaide for a meeting at 6:30pm. Pushed hard and this was definitely a minute or more faster than ever before. Why can't I run that hard in sprints? I guess I am too busy trying not to stack it.

Anyway, the bottom then dropped out of the sky just as I needed to drive into town. Have never seen the water up over the kerb of the gutters before, and the lights at Greenhill/Goodwood Rds were out :(

After taking sunrise photos of wind turbines in the plural and lighthouses in the singular, ran up the road as far as the Murrell's Beach turnoff and headed west to join the Great Southwest Walk back towards the lighthouse. The waves were rolling in seamistily across Discovery Bay and nearly obscuring the turbines in the distance at Cape Bridgewater. This was a beautiful run although for some reason my knee consistently didn't like going uphill. Nicest section of all was under the mallees back along the road, it smelled like a dewfresh camping morning and made me want to go bushwalking.

Drive back to Adelaide via Nelson & the coast road was less fun, hip/groin unhappy and the rest of me hot & bothered. Lunch at Robe was good though.

From the lighthouse at Cape Nelson near Portland (the lighthouse keeper's cottages were an excellent destination for a Clayton's honeymoon, but the bed was a bit soft, and so my back wasn't happy) along the Great South West Walk through mallee bushland around the east side of the tip of the peninsula, across to the west side - much more exposed with bare limestone - and back to the lighthouse. Pretty buggered and sleep deprived but bacon & eggs and strong coffee fixed that (husbands are good for something :)

We spent the day touring around Portland (saw the Endeavour replica in port), out to Cape Bridgewater and Mt Richmond. If one were not a fan of wind turbines, then this region may have lost some of its appeal since their advent, but I rather like them - something to do with the apparent perpetual motion, the same way I like watching waves crash on the beach/cliffs. Our route basically took us around the 3-Bays marathon course. I couldn't help but notice that the first half is really rather hilly, even before getting to the ascent out of the lakes (which is known as The Shuffler).

Hagabies (Hagabys? sounds like a bouncier cousin of a wallaby) are fun when you're not too far off the back of the pack to have anyone to play with. And I wasn't, for at least about 3 controls, after which it became clear that even junior girls can run faster than me (as they ought to do) but I was developing a sneaking suspicion that they wouldn't be able to maintain it for a whole 10km.

Having the longest splits on the first loop, I wasn't surprised to see only about 3 maps left when I came through the changeover. Was pleased to see a shorter second loop, ballsed up the second control of it by going up the wrong erosion creek (1 min?) and took a poor route choice through the bracken on the longer leg back towards the changeover, but overtook a couple of juniors (giving me enough time to stop for a drink from my Gatorade stash) and was not dying on the hills, and looking forward to some different terrain on the 3rd loop.

Caught first glimpse of Bridget at about the 3rd control of the final loop but she powered away up the hill and I found myself chasing Amy Buckerfield (who obviously has no fear of bracken, or else no long pants) across a number of ridges. My cautious approach to 22 (go up the track to the head of the gully then aim east) nearly backfired because I came out below it then went further down the gully before realising that the gully junction was above me. Crossed the ridge to 24, but came out a bit south of it. Bleeding time here; I kept seeing Bridget/Amy and losing them again, so tried to pull myself back into focus. Around 25 there was more green stuff than mapped, also at least 3 girls in the vicinity; one of them was Rachel W. We all ran down the road and chased Bridget up the steep singletrack. I caught on that we were about to overrun 26 and turned off into the bushes before the others did. Then I was ahead but only just. Realised that going around the east side of the diggings into 28 gave the clearest approach, but nearly came unstuck when the erosion before it was hidden under the control circle.

Finished strongly, a bit surprised that I'd only just cracked 10 min/km despite working so hard, but it was definitely a good 'toughen up' race, and I know I would have died in the arse, so to speak, in a similar race any time last year. Hamstring held up fairly well but was fatiguing on the final loop and twinged every time I landed in an unexpected hole, which was not infrequent. Suspect I frittered away 3-4 minutes in mistakes, which can be improved upon - would have been quite satisfied with about 95 min, I think.

Long Distance WE 0 - Splits