Training Log Archive: SusC

An actually cool morning after heavy rain in the night. The night before we watched the storm coming from the south (as apparently storms do during the buidup, and then from the north in wet season itself) and debated whether it would get to us...but got sick of waiting and so went to bed. It arrived about 11pm, with wind gusting through the appartment and sweeping up papers in the lounge, followed by what seemed like a couple of hours of rain (notice excitement of the rain deprived South Australian here).

Ran down through Cullen Bay (expensive, Sanctuary Cove style), checked out Myilly point, took a path down to the wasteland at the foot of the cliffs, around past the Casino and onto Mindil Beach, along it and then the bikepath past the school to the Trailer boat club and back on the inland side of the school, across into the Botanic Gardens, back out and past the tiny cemetary, golfcourse and home up through the roundabout at the top of the 'cliff'. Lachlan was dragging his heels by then, although it was probably harder work for him considering he was running in a thickish shirt.

First Darwin run with Lachlan. Didn't choose a very comfortable day to begin, even at 7am. Out the back lane from home and down Doctors Gully, then up to the foreshore park and along towards the Wharf as far as the lookout near Government House and back. Stopped to buy a paper on the way back near home so we could go lawn saling. However, post run sweating prohibited newspaper reading for Lachlan, so I got to tick the lawn sale boxes and decide which ones to go to:)

C • you mean like garage sale? 3

No excuse for not starting S&C now that I have loads of time! Followed a beginners brochure with a can of apricot nectar and one of coconut cream as weights. Felt incredibly wimpy but I can look forward to shouting myself to some dumbells once I have the technique right (and have progressed on to tall pineapple juice tins first). Followed the S&C with a matching Stretching brochure (which took 40mins).

C • I'm still 2

Morialta on the south side. Got off to a high heart rate start, with a black snake I nearly stepped on at the side of the track just on the way up to the carpark.

With Vanessa, from Zoe's in Carlton. Not exactly sure where we went but the Uni featured, and so did some everlastingly curvy roads in the cemetary. The highlight was definately morning tea after with Vanessa and Reubs at Threshermans. V good apple crumble.

To and from mum and Dad's for dad's 73rd birthday breakfast. I woke up at 3.15am and did not get much more sleep after that. A dog was barking persistently. Do they ever get sore throats?

C • Good luck in Darwin! 3

To/from work. Last day! Liz brought yummy morning tea apple cake and choc doughtnuts and Ross had a bag of lolly snakes so I got all sugared up. Tired and sugary...what a great combination.

To/from work

To Belair via BrownHill Ck and Pony Ridge, and back again after running. I thought I would test this out as an alternative to Belair Rd, which is not brilliant cyclist territory at 6pm. Ok, except for P. Ridge itself, which I could not ride an inch of. On the way back I intended for it to still be daylight, but it wasn't and I had no light so my options were either to catch the train or go back down P. Ridge again, away from any vehicles. Think I broke about ten road rules on the way back as I did all sorts of maneuvers to avaoid vehicles in Torrens Park.

Belair group run up to the top of the park and back with Troy, Scott, Fern and Nicole. Along to the playground and up to Jubilee Drive, to the top North gate, down to the train track right where the second tunnel starts, down the gully to Long Gully and back to playground. Nice views, legs a bit stuffed from Tues and all the riding. Fern was doing bettter than I was.

From home, to Snap printing, back to pool and then home. Got very confused about where I was on the way to Snap. I seemed to have crossed South Rd without knowing it? It was overcast which didn't help. So on the way back I thought I would try and figure it out by riding on South Rd. Tip for the day, if you are a cyclist, don't even contemplate riding on South Rd, even for kicks. If you are going to get yourself killed, there have got to be more fun ways to go about doing it.

C • cycle route 2

It was cloudy so I didn't get to keep up with my shadow today. The pool was dead empty, I eventually had another guy in my lane on lap 18. Enjoyed thinking about not much, and tried to remember to lift my tummy towards the top of the water like Fel told me to 3 years ago! Something made a small difference because after a while I was hitting the end right on stroke so I assume my strokes were carrying me a little further. 1k freestyle 32.06, 250m breastroke, 7.50.

Too hard to get to & from Morialta with both Jenny and Tyson away this week so Fern and I did our own hill. From home south through streets to the bottom of Randles reserve, then up through reserve to Sheoak Rd, east along to Pony Ridge (45min), down to Brown Hill Ck and home along the wider gravel path. No koalas today. We must both be getting fitter because it didn't feel like we were running for that long (too much talking maybe!). The 10 hours of sleep felt darned wonderful, by the way. Not a thing to worry about now until house moving. The interview (by phone) for the Darwin job was yesterday and it seemed to go ok.

To & from work and to & from Wakefield St for my last OASA management meeting!

First Sunday morning run from the designated summer venue, Bridgey oval, with Tyson, Troy, Andrew, Fern & Jenny. Simon will be sad he missed this one, it was a perfect morning for running...goose bumpy waiting at the start, then overcast and misty drizzle while running but interspersed at times with enough sun to make a shadow.

Took the Heysen trail along Cox creek under the trainline and freeway, then followed gravel Mt George Rd and Muller Rd north up the valley to Rangeview Rd on the ridgeline and north along it to Carey Gully CFS, west a little on Greenhill Rd and then south again down Gully Rd in the next parallel valley over. This brought us out at the foot of Woodhouse so finished by getting back on the Heysen trail to go through the golfcourse and conservation pk, and back under the freeway etc to the oval again.

To bowling for Schools team breakup, Nadia's for pizza and detention stories, then to the pool because it is close to Nadia's, and then home. A great day, though it was fuelled by pizza, softdrink, icecream and two coffees, which is two more than normal.

First swim of the season. Don't know why I had put it off for so long! The water was awesome and the pool nearly empty. Love the soothing rhythm of freestyle, the incredible blue of the water, and watching the little Susanne shadow windmilling along on the bottom of the pool. Arms ached for the first couple of hundred and then it felt good. 33mins freestyle (1k), then 7.30 breastroke (250m). (Breaststroke should not be faster than free, I'm sure.) Decided swimming has some similarities to 10 pin bowling; you can't tell by looking at someone's physique whether they are going to be any good at it, and you have to wait til the end of the lane to see the outcome of their efforts.

To and from work.

Early morning round trip to mum and dad's....to take them a pot of basil. It was not a particularly comfortable pot to carry. Nice riding when there is no traffic!

To/from work

Group run from Belair golf course carpark, with Simon, Scott, Troy, Fern, Zara, Nicole & Jenny. I love it when the girls outnumber the boys...we have a bit more influence over the pace! Up the west side of the park on the inside, then along the north side next to the train line, over the line at the crossing and up a steep narrow track to the quarry area, then down a different steep narrow track to above lower waterfall and down through echo tunnel. Really enjoy running the narrow tracks. Still green in the higher slopes of Belair...v pretty. Nicole did well, coming the whole way with us.

Ride to & from work. Hot, 37c.

A warm day (35c) and couldn't get to Morialta so ran with Fern and Jenny up along Brown Hill Ck on the track behind the caravan park (met a number of yellow tailed black cockies in the pine trees) and then onto the Yurrebilla trail on the north side of the creek until the ford (32.20). Back along the broader path on the south side until the road bridge, then the footpath opposite the caravan park on the north side. Had to stop to go around a grunting koala at one point, we chose not to get too close. You can see that they get rumpled fur on their bottoms from sitting down all the time...

Shepherds Hill with John, Troy, Scott, Tyson & Rachel. Troy led? us up the valley towards the train line and then directed us up a ridiculously steep track (Rachel and Tyson peeled away here) on the north side, which is possibly the steepest track I've ever run up (didn't even know it existed before this run, despite thinking I was pretty familiar with Sheps) to the Gloucester Ave spur, then along the footpad behind the houses and around to the next spur south and directly down it to meet the line close to the tunnel entrance. Followed the line south on the foot pad like two weeks ago, along with a freight train keeping us company. My turn to take a stack tonight and I chose a darned good spot! Right on the narrowest of spurs, right above the cutting with the train going through it. After tripping and not managing a save, I fell over the edge (luckily on the train-less side) and was left clawing at the edge of the track and hanging down the slope. Luckily there were some prickly bushes for added comfort. After thinking about things for a little bit I scraped myself off the hillside and got back on the track just in time to meet Troy who was running back towards me and wanting to know why I was hiding in the bushes trying to scare Scott (who was still coming along behind me). Humph! The rest of the run was uneventful, back down the long broad spur which has now been mowed, so it didn't have that cool runners' magazine photo feel about it anymore.

To/from work.

Have been itching for a long run for ages and finally didn't feel too tired upon getting up. Starting work 15 mins later than usual clinched the decision. Started out south like on the boys Monday night runs but when I got to Randle's Reserve (view looked nice over the city, pale bluey-grey sea and sky) I borrowed part of a Jenny run route and went up the hill to the BP and then along Sheoak Rd to Pony Ridge, down to BrownHill Creek (I don't know how Ryan rides either up or down that track) and back down the creek to the Tilley's Hill Rd ford. A year since I'd gone this way and had forgotten it doesn't really take much time, so added an extra 3.5k (+150m climb) by going up Tilley's Hill Rd to the end and back, then home along the wider side track of BH Ck Rd. 26.22 BP, 40.00 Pony Ridge, 54.00 ford 1st time, 77.00 ford 2nd time.

Saw a red browed firetail finch in Randles, hopping on the quarry fence. By far the closest to the city I've ever seen one, feral olives providing habitat? Running felt really good today, the easiest and most comfortable since that horrible Simon-party cold in September at the start of September...

Day 5 of the red meat challenge. I already failed the challenge on Tuesday as I was in town too long in the morning to get home in time for a red meat lunch (we had Chinese planned for dinner) and I had to eat my emergency sandwich instead in the city. I managed to rectify things on Wed by double dosing (lunch and dinner). The roast is finally finished and now I have progressed on to beef schnitzel (home made) but I suspect it is deceptively less red meat than a serve of roast, owing to all the bread crumbs.

Riding to/from work. Running late despite the 15mins later start. But legs were ok to ride up the hill even after the long run. Awesome!

Riding to/from work. Hill seemed ok today...no easterly wind?

Woke up at 4.20am and did not get back to sleep. Brilliant. But it is quite comforting to lie in bed and hear the freight trains chugging their way along the line, on a quiet night I can hear the same train twice because the line does a massive bend in order to lose 200m+ height between Belair ( 3k away as the crow flies) and Mitcham.

Tried the new blue shoes out again, soles of feet felt ok but still not used to such a sturdy sole and not being able to feel the ground and the edges of rocks. A big group tonight, saw Bec, Claire and Gerry for the first time this Morialta season. Usual loop up through Deep View to 3rd falls and down on the southern side past Kookaburra lookout, but with lots of turning back for others. 3rd falls track getting more overgrown weekly!

Dinner at Zen after, 12 of us at a table with a round whizzy thing in the middle. The food you wanted always seemed to be either going in the opposite direction to you or on the far side stationary. But good food once it finally got to you. Got the giggles over John's Nazi carrot and then when Troy finished all the left over Chinese tea like a row of shots, from the little tea cups. I am going to miss all the Adelaide fun in Darwin...

Finally, 8 hrs of sleep:). Have got next weekend's kids camp under control at last, maps are done and info sent out after a 10hr stint at it yesterday.

Evening run from home with Tyson, Simon, John and Scott (who appears fully recovered from last week's tumble, if his railway crossing pedestrian baricade fence jumping is anything to go by) up along the line, east uphill through the bottom corner of Randles reserve (someone really should make a street O map to cover that area) then past the cemetary and down to Brownhill Ck, crossing on the wooden plank in the caravan park and up the steep track (past the guys on mountain bikes who were about to start really struggling) to Carrick Hill carpark and then home pretty well west from Mercedes. Had been feeling a bit lumpish after a sedentary couple of days...felt much more alive after running.

Have set myself a diet challenge: red meat every day for two weeks. Mincemeat and sausages don't count, and it has to be a quantity amounting to at least 1/3 of the food on the plate. So far I am living on last Saturday's 2.5kg lamb roast (have back-dated the challenge to Nov 1st) which is great, as I haven't had to cook since then, but I do think I might have to invest in dental floss company shares.

C • Well 3

With Lachlan, part of the Heysen Trail from Pocock Rd (Meadows) north until we reached mum & dad walking south, then turned around and ran back south to the car.

The background to this is that this Fri/Sat mum was walking the same 50k route that Trailblazer was 2 weeks ago, though she did it over two days. Friday I walked with her from Mt Lofty to Glen Bold Rd (22km, 4hr 40) with dad meeting us several times along the way in the car. Then Saturday she and dad walked together the rest of the way to Kuitpo (6hrs, 26km?), while Lachlan and I did the support crew role. At the end of Friday's walk we had driven back to the YHA at Mylor and stayed there, then returned to Friday's finishing point to start again on Saturday morning. Mum took under 11hrs altogether and was very happy.