Training Log Archive: jennycas

Was running a bit late for this event due to spending too much of the day exploring back roads between Saddleworth and Robertstown with my parents, partly to satisfy mum's current interest in Sargent family history, and then the event was in the very NE corner of the map and I still had to tape my ankles when we finally arrived, so was a bit worried about getting around this course before 4pm closure.

Quite a nice area and course, fairly runnable and sometimes rough underfoot although route choices could mostly be chosen to avoid the hills. Because of starting so late I hardly saw anyone out there but then crossed paths with Robin just as she tripped on a rock and fell head-first, so spent a few minutes helping mop up blood and then thought I may as well walk back towards the finish with her (so I've deleted about 10 min from elapsed time) because her last control was one from which I had a pivot loop that I could still go and run.

Now in Burra in a very nice cottage (rather than generic Paxton's) with parents and once we got the wood fired (already laid for us) heater going it was toasty warm :)

C • Event 1

Redwoods return with Zara & Fern - glad of gloves!

C • Gloves 4

Busy couple of days at work with a colleague away but I finally got out tonight and ended up going up & down quite a few of the tracks in the university gorge. The silver lining to Aust Champs being cancelled is that I don't think my foot/ankle would have handled a week of being taped/running in terrain, anyway.

Over 60 x 2-person teams were entered for the relays and it was a gloriously sunny day, although the sun hadn't even come up yet when I left home this morning to go set up at Gawler with Simon & the Arrows. Jo & Abi did a great job of the courses, made even more complicated by a map flip on the longest course - for the first part of my first run (from the mass start) I was around Tyson then after the spectator control we had different configurations. Felt warm, running hard in the sun!

Was teamed with Fern in the open women's and we knew we couldn't beat Lani & Liv but thought we *might* have a faint chance of 3rd although my legs were very tired & tight today - I got past Zara on my second run but then when Fern on her final run came through the spectator control we could all see Bridget gaining on her and so it was a surprise to see Fern finish ahead of both Bridget and Abbie - she confessed afterwards to having taken a shortcut where the creek went under the building! (Admittedly that was marked as an underpass/through route on the previous incarnation of the map.)

By the time the presentations were over (due to a miscalculation by myself when purchasing prizes, category winners had to share a chocolate bar between the pair of them - oops) and everything was packed up - with lots of Arrows helping - and I'd brought the direction signs in, returned the key etc, and got home, I'd been away 9 hours.

Definitely needed a cup of tea when I got home but there was still just time/daylight enough for a tramline bikeride afterwards, before it rained.