Training Log Archive: jennycas

Nobody mentioned the election at work today. Guess the pharmacy department was a bit shell-shocked by the death of our boss' daughter. (I had indeed known about her illness, in a professional capacity, which is why the past few weeks have been so difficult.) Some things in life just simply aren’t fair.

In other news, today Geoff decided to cycle-commute the 2km each way to/from work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

C • and 2

After a full night's sleep, a cheese toastie and cuppa tea, there were only 3 hours left to do so we packed lightly (water/safety gear/snacks) to run an approximately 20km loop which, if I had my way, would be entirely in the flat stuff and avoid the Hungry Range completely. This worked well and over the first 90 min we got 400 (!) points in about 11km. There were lesser points on offer on the way back to the HH, and also a strong headwind, so all we could collect was 180 points and got in 10 min early but this still meant we ended up with over half of the total points available on course. Our score should have been 1950 but for control 42 which didn't register last night :(

Still, 1910pts won us the 12hr by 100 points and would even have been a respectable score in the 24hr (where the winners got 2600 of the available 3600). It's hard to know how much more we could have got if we'd done the full 24hr, because it sounds like teams really slowed down in the night in the steep stuff. And it was great to have a shower at the HH and be already packed up before presentations. Even so, it was 7pm before I got home...

C • congrats - great result! 1

Technically this event was the state champs, but Mark Corbett & I had decided to do the roving 12 hour because of work-life balance (after this decision had been made, it eventuated that last week @work was in fact the most emotionally difficult I've experienced in my career). Bendleby is about 50km northeast of Orroroo and there are many 4WD tracks over the rugged Bendleby and Hungry ranges, with a pancake-flat plain in between the ranges, and the fully-equipped campground among native pines by the big creek was fairly central on the map.

The Hungry Range in the southeast looked incredibly steep, so we decided to go NW first and do the entire Bendleby Range section in the afternoon because that would be over 1300 points, but it was slower going than anticipated and we were still coming down from the 100-point trig on Marchant Hill (views all the way north to the Flinders Ranges from there) as the sun finally peeped below the clouds and headed for the horizon. First control after dark we veered a bit too far right on - but no real harm done - next control we apparently didn't both register punches but I don't know how, since I handed the Navlight punch directly to Mark. Finally got to water about 6:30pm; I'd been rationing the last of my 2L for a while but at least it was a cloudy afternoon, although it never rained. Heading south back towards the HH now but it was fairly rough underfoot and slow in the dark, so we finally got there just on 9pm.

I was glad to be off my feet, and to eat some fruit salad with cake & custard because I didn't really want proper dinner, but not so happy to hear the election outcomes...still, feeling more lively than Mark who'd had a funny tummy all afternoon. He did say though that nibbling gingerbread from the full-sized rogaine control (complete with real punch) I'd baked for his birthday helped settle his stomach a bit.

C • Roving 12-hour 4

Since I had to collect my parents from Somerton Park this morning (pre-rogaine logistics), I seized the opportunity for a sunrise run to/along the beach, which was just lovely, even if Glenelg & back seemed to take me a bit longer than it used to 30 years ago.

Clouds of 'steam' rising from the pool this morning.

Another night O, another (this time not actually clandestine) use of the golf course. And it was fun, even if not the anticipated all-nations-themed scatter O we have become accustomed to. Line course worked just fine, although I couldn't really be competitive with the Arro-Gang's mass start, having felt pretty average during the day and not even sure if I'd go to Belair, but I really wanted to because I haven't done any orienteering for a month. Running around by myself was all good though, and I could still see headlamps in the distance for quite a while :)

Got there late so missed the group - did think I'd spotted them but then they vanished into a wormhole in the space-time continuum. Turned out they were doing 200s which my knees and hamstrings would not have tolerated, and so I was content to jog 3 painful laps of the uni loop by myself.