Training Log Archive: jennycas

Picked up Simon (admired the nursery at Bridget's invitation) and headed up to Renmark where we spent the afternoon taping 42 of his control sites at Crooked Straight for the long NOL race on Anzac weekend, before going to stay with Lanita & Matt (which was very pleasant, and not just because of the hot shower and friendly cat!).

Take-home message of the day: Sand is sandy. It was fun sandskiing down the slopes, but reeeallly difficult staggering up the Sandhill Of Death. And there are some fairly steep ups and downs in places; apparently the course planner's notes will say something like "terrain ranges from flat to vertical". But there were magnificent views out over the river and beyond.

C • Course notes 15

Well, that was an interesting evening. I arrived about 5:30 to help set up tents - they turned out not to be essential, because the rain had passed over, but everyone was watching the river, because the rain which had passed over was now coming downstream, and at such a rate that the low-lying footbridge was rapidly getting closer to the water level...I dashed across to the toilets on the other side with dry feet, but coming back 5 min later I had to take off my shoes and wade across the bridge!

We decided to move the start across the creek, and told everyone to walk the long way around 800m via Holbrooks Road, while I ferried the maps etc across barefoot. By the time of last start, the water level had gone down again enough that a small child in a miniature car was able to drive across the bridge (I was secretly hoping that the motor would get flooded and the car stall, as happened to my sister's boyfriend's Holden Kingswood in Newikie Creek on the way to the Paradise event about 20 years ago, but I was disappointed in this regard).

Was also a bit disappointed in my actual run because the course was fairly straightforward/macro and therefore I just had to run as hard as I could on tired sore legs, well aware that others would be faster than me, and try not to trip over the pavement. Still fun though, and simpler courses meant that the stragglers finished sooner, so we were all packed up by 8pm.

It was lovely & misty up by the Lower Waterfall but by the time Z & F & I came back down Jubilee Drive it was properly wet, and so were we. Driving through puddles on the way home was fun :)

Think I need a haircut, because when it clings to my face underwater I get rather claustrophobic!

A bit ashamed of not having done any intervals since...September. And also a bit spooked by the fact that Easter's only 2 months away (I'm kind of committed to going to the races due to OA meetings and controllers' workshop - sigh). So I fronted up tonight despite an inadvertent attempt at self-sabotage by leaving my pants home (rectified by the fact that home is halfway, in a straight line, between work and Nth Adl) and we did 3 sets of 45 sec on/45 sec off x 2, 90 sec on/90 sec off x 1, along the river. Absolutely died on the last 90, which was uphill, but had survived ok until then.

C • Easter 9

Group warmup was too short for me - only 5 min - but warmdown was the rest of the way up to the suspension bridge, then back again. I've realised another pre-Easter problem is that there's precisely one bush event in SA between now and April (the week beforehand, at Belair).

Short jog on tired legs, incorporating a new-to-me section of singletrack, with a bonus kangaroo encounter (I've only once before seen a Skippy in Sheps), before heading home to watch the premiere episode of the Amazing Race Australia. It's rather engaging viewing; I'll be clearing my schedule for the next few evenings but I don't know what to do about having meetings on some nights next week...thankfully they are via Zoom :)

C • Is it amazing? 4

Nicely sociable Bowling Green Lane loop with Zara/Roo, Steve/Lexi, Troy, Fern & Tyson on a cool cloudy morning where we all felt up to doing the Carey Gully extension for once. I started out with knees hammered from riding last night and lagged behind on hills but by the end even the dogs had slowed down, so I was fine at keeping up.