Training Log Archive: jennycas

You know how when you've been looking forward to something for a long time and then that day arrives, but it's somehow not the same shape or colour which you had been imagining? Unley pool has reopened for the summer, and yet it was still the middle of winter today.

C • Pool opening 5

Was worrying in the night about whether we'd pre-emptively cancelled our event too hastily, given that it hadn't rained so very much at home over the past couple of days, but then I saw that the Mt Crawford area had received nearly an inch in the past 24 hours, and figured I'd go and see what the creeks are actually like up there today. Also I wanted to run the juniors' camp champs senior girls' course which I had obtained from Bridget since this stuck mainly to Little Mt Crawford and didn't cross the South Para River, into which the creek through Wirra Wirra is a tributary.

Sooo much water lying around when driving up there, and every little creek throughout the hills was fully gushing, so I wasn't surprised to see the string of Gumeracha Waterholes all overflowing into Chalks campground, and the fast-flowing South Para appeared to be well over my head in depth, so if the tributary creek 5km upstream has even only a quarter of that volume running through it, it's definitely not crossable by the average orienteer, and justifies our decision. Also, it was 10 degrees with rain blowing in drifts which would not have been any fun for a night event (and not great for putting out controls either).

I enjoyed my solo orienteering adventure but was very slow through very squelchy native scrub (with pretty wildflowers and soggy kangaroos) plus legs were a bit hammered from a Killer Massage earlier today. Had thought about also doing Bridget's Run Like A Bush Pig training course at Watts Gully, so although I hate that area I actually drove over there which only took 15 min but in that time I had become so cold in wet O gear that I noped out of the idea and even after getting changed into many layers of dry clothes it still took me the hour's drive home to become properly warm again.

Not sure but I think this training course may have been one of Adrian's first prototypes when he was drafting the map of the old golf course - certainly I'd never run this particular course before so its configuration had novelty even though of course some of the features are no longer on the map. Less novelty by now to have feet sinking into super-soggy ground but I was happy to meet my goal time of half an hour and to get this done before it rained again.

Western Belair loop wih Zara/Leith, Lucy/Patsy, Greg & Bridget, after which an online convention of Wallaringans made the reluctant decision to cancel/postpone this weekend's events at Wirra Wirra with the creek already being difficult to cross and quite a bit more rain forecast over the next 48 hours (plus, with less than 3 hours until entries closed, only 30ish people had entered each of Sat's & Sun's events, so they'd obviously all seen the forecast too...)

C • Cancellation 3

On a warm windy morning, trotted over to Hawthorn for some runthroughs but the oval was closed for maintenance, so ended up outside Mitcham Library where the longest continuous patch of grass took me about 15 sec to sprint across so I did so x 20 - then as a bonus, managed 20 x up/down the world's smallest flight of stairs (8 steps) behind the library, before heading home to get ready for work.

The group trotted over to Montefiore Hill and did 6 x ascents - I started not too much further up than I used to do, and didn't finish too much further behind the group than usual despite being very careful of my footing on the rough stuff, so I guess that's something. Got excited and did 2 x stair reps on the way back and they were surprisingly ok too.

Bailed from work right on 5pm so that I could quickly get my ankles taped and still manage to complete a course, if not before sunset then at least before it was too dark to read the map. Ran the bush sections from a couple of previous Snap Sprint Series events and this was mostly good although when I got into the long-grassed area where the old dump has been rehabilitated I felt rather like a corgi in snow, bouncing up and down without much forward progress!

Anyway, came home feeling a bit more positive about Aust Champs and celebrated with wine which I am probably going to regret. In other news, am pleased that the Queen's corgis have found someone to take them in...

C • Corgis 3

Tingling with fatigue from scalp to fingertips to toes, but was mostly ok for the Bowling Green loop with Bridget, Simon & Mitchell, although I sloweed riiigght dooown going up hills because someone had spread treacle all over them. Had been a bit sad, after seeing the Pittwater maps/courses online last night, not to have gone to the Tas middle distance champs this weekend, but Bridgie-run was quite a fun substitute, especially splashing through the mud - of which there was plenty (had worn old shoes for this reason) - and it was nicely sociable.

Headed via my favourite Asian Grocery on my way home and was amused by the signage on the box of Corella pears, proclaiming them to be "gorilla pears" then bemused by the Renew Placenta* brand of soap (actually a skin whitening product).

*"I do not think it means what you think it means"

C • Tas middle 2