Training Log Archive: SusC

Down into the botanic gardens via Gardens Rd, then around the 3km loop that the runners and walkers use (anti-clockwise). 5min/km pace for the loop to see how that would feel...ok to begin with but sore by the end, so figure not ready for faster stuff yet. Home back up to the Geranium St entrance and back along the Stuart Hwy bike path.

To uni on a newly cleaned bike. Effortless bliss! To Malak from uni to check out Homework Club and then home via Cash Converters and the Salvos.

C • any bargins? 1

Debated riding to work or running in the morning and the run option won. Same loop as Saturday morning, out towards the wharf and back up the deckchair steps to run along the esplanade park.

Legs are tight rather than tender, and squatting is still hilarious and v painful. Running on flat not too bad and on a gentle uphill even 'nice' but downhill not so comfortable. Tightness in the sides of the quads rather than tenderness in the front. Happy about that, as despite the tightness the muscles don't feel tired:)

ABC Darwin half marathon, starting at Lake Alexander 7am. Two figure 8 loops of bike path including only a v small section of road out in the East Pt section. Loops headed south first, as far as Vestey's Lake and retuned to the start, and then north through Dudley and East points to return to the start.

Wasn't certain about running much under 5min kms, as this pace with Blair had felt like hard work over the last 3 weeks. Tried to start conservatively but got dragged along a bit at the start with the first km in 4.24. Figured I should slow down a bit, and managed to get back to about 4.35/kms which felt good, so stuck with that. People weren't particularly chatty (a lot were plugged in to music or whatever), which I was a bit disappointed about. Managed a short chat about HR monitors with one guy after the first incline but that was essentially it. At about 3kms picked out an M45 to run behind/with (who I'd heard at the start saying he was hoping for 90 but wasn't sure he could do it) and got a bit of a group together, but the group then seemed to speed up going through the start area at the 5km mark so I let them go. Ran along keeping them in sight for a bit and then eventually around at East point at about the 8km mark everything clicked and started to feel really comfortable. Cruised along for a bit in the shade of the monsoon forest and then found myself overtaking the M45 group at a water drop at about 9km. Was running alone by the end of the first figure 8 loop at half way and had to concentrate a bit more on things for myself. The sound of the sea rolling up to the rocks at high tide was soothing going out on the start of loop 2. Down near Vestey's Lake I caught a pair of gossiping M50s who I had had my eye on for a number of kms but they must have been at a point of slowing down as I ran through them without trying very hard, and at 14km on the incline overtook their 3rd member who had also been with them in the distance for most of the race up until then. Got a bit of a stitch on the incline at 14km, which made things suddenly feel like hard work as it didn't really go away. Ran alone pretty much from here on, there wasn't always anyone in sight and people seemed quite buggered when I did catch them. Think I fell asleep a bit in the final Dudley/East Pt part (HR had dropped to 160 from about 165 at one point); I think there was a km marker missing and I lost touch with how much further to go. Lachlan popped up and ran the last 2 or 3 minutes with me, which was nice.

10km 45.50, 1st lap 48.07, 2nd lap 48.37. Quite surprised with how easy it felt given my lack of enthusiasm/running over the last 4 months. Not a time I consider good, but something to work on for next year and it was great to enjoy 'racing' again. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have done the thing if it hadn't been for Blair's vehicular debacles and the resulting amount of time he spent with us in Darwin as a result! Cheers, Blair:).

Not exactly a cool morning, temp/dewpoint 20.9/20.0c at the start and 24.2/21.1c at 8.30am, with humidity still 80% (dropping from 95% at 7am). The mens' winner, Peter Eason, said the conditions were tough and his time this year (75.27) was 5mins slower than last year.

C • Well done! 6

A short lap of town; the length of Woods St down to the wharf, across behind the wavepool and swimming area, around next to the deckchair cinema and up the steps to the esplanade park, along to the end of Stuart Hwy and then back to Woolies to buy a paper.

Spent 3 hours cleaning my bike, finally! In the arvo rode out to Lake Alexander for the funrun briefing and to register. Felt sorry for all the pre-entered people trying to collect their chips and chest numbers as the last-minute entrant line was shorter and operating at the same speed.

Public Holiday - Darwin Show Day. Blair left today.

Rode out to Winnellie to go to the show with Claire. Interesting experience and good fun (although a bit exp., $17). Where else would live entertainment in the Coca Cola bandstand perform springs and backflips over a concrete floor with no cushioning, and kids be allowed to ride mini quad bikes around in a muddy ring for $10 without any footwear!?

Did the Yellow Brick Road as a backbone to our wanderings around the show grounds (about 1/3 the size of Adelaide's). Visited the chooks and produce on display...I voted for my favourite chook; a sweet Pekin bantam (the owner of the winning people's favourite was set to receive a 20kg sack of chook food)...and saw some giant pumpkins, but Claire reckoned they were nothing compared to the those at the pumpkin festival in Halifax (Canada, where she comes from), where the pumpkins are hollowed out and people sit in them and have races down the river!

Kept bumping into people we knew, which slowed things down a bit but made me feel like a local of sorts:)

Morning run with Blair and Lach. Started in the dark so that we could all fit in our desired distances and get to our respective works on time. Anyway, I had been awake since 5am so it was a useful use of time.

Took the Stuart Hwy bike path as far as Winnellie, running most of the section of old railway line before hopping off and cutting through the back streets to get across to Charles Darwin NP. It opened at 7am so we were spot on for timing. Randomly chose some mtb single tracks on the city side from right near the park entrance but didn't spend much time in here as Lach and I needed to start heading back. Initially popped out on a 4WD track near the edge of the mangroves (the tide was in) and then followed a fainter vehicle track and some orange tapes to find the gap in the park fence right at the mangrove edge (so now opening times don't matter). Back north through Winnellie on various roads through the light industrial area (they all have very nicely watered and mowed green lawns!) to come back to the Stuart Hwy bike path and head towards town. Eventually Blair disappeared off to do the rest of his run at Parap and Lach and I finally got to slow down:).

Just ate a massive left over baked potato from dinner last night....

C • I had been wondering.... 1

C • shoes 2

This run could best be described as Industrial estate meets Executive living.

With Blair before work: out to Tiger Brennan Drive and then north along the service roads (for the the light industrial/business area of the bay) to Bayview, where we headed east along along a concrete bike path between the swanky houses and the mangroves. Crossed over the Bayview marina entrance at the lock and followed a road back north to Tiger Brennan drive through more newly built suburb. Ran on Tiger Brennan for a bit (v busy, at 7.30am) and then headed up the fire station hill past Woolner to the Stuart Hwy bike track, taking it back to the city.

Blair did a bit more but I had to have breakfast. Definately humidish according to my hair which went bunta.

To/from work 40/38.

It's nice when it feels like your bike is pedaling by itself:)

To/from work, 42/38.

In the evening with Lach. Essentially just around the CBD, went to the wharf first and then around the coast via the deckchair cinema and esplanade park back to home. The setting sun was big and peachy.

We were sore but at least not too stiff.

C • I'm glad i came to Darwin. ... 5

A loop of the inner suburbs with Blair and Lachlan in the morning. Headed out down Tiger Brennan Drive on the bike path, looping through Parap past the markets and the old Qantas hangar. Then headed out into East Point, at first visiting the mangrove boardwalk and then taking the overgrown track through the dunes to the rock slabs area, around the more southerly part of the point, into the monsoon forest and then on little tracks through the forest until we finished out at the bike path again. Took the coastal bike path back towards the city, running on the beach at Mindil and taking the Nurses walk steps, into Cullen Bay temporarily and then through the backstreets of Larrakeyah to get back to the city.

Really nice weather; cloudy and cool. Legs started out feeling great but got sore from about the 70 min mark. At least I know I can run 21k now.

Spent the rest of the day eating and trying to move around a bit. 'Watched' World Games at Lachlan's work...or at least, we watched the numbers roll in.

From housesitting at Wagaman to housesitting in the city. Left it a bit late and it was getting dark. Awesome night for riding, cool and not windy and later than most of the traffic so only had to stop twice at lights. Went through Jingili and then along McMillans Rd, Bagot Rd, ducked through the side streets of Parap and then stuck on the bike path to the city. The council is in the process of extending the path at the city end, who knows, it might eventually end somewhere useful! (instead of on the outskirts of the CBD)

Another morning Blair-pace run. I figure they are good pace training for me if I actually am going to do the half marathon the weekend after this. Out to Nightcliff along Trower Rd, to pick up the bike path and follow it around the Nightcliff headland along the clifftops esplanade park. Over RC bridge and then along the beach past Dripstone Cliffs, to come back home through the uni. Felt like hard work and only a couple of minutes seemed to have passed each time I looked at my watch! A pretty morning though, with the tide out a lot further than last Friday and more rocks and beach exposed.

Have enjoyed running out around Casuarina lots. Off to our new house sitting venue tomorrow, right in the heart of the city.

C • When/where is the half? 2

To Stuart Park and back in the middle of the day from the Uni. Had thought we had an appointment with the structural engineer but he cancelled. A head wind there and another coming back it seemed.

In the morning with Blair. Through Alawa to a post box near the cake shop (which is always shut when I am in the vicinity) and then through to the northern end of the Dripstone area, via the Uni. Ran up the bitumen road through the Rocklands coastal forest in order to take the path back inland to near the hospital. The path was further up than I thought and my legs were feeling stuffed after Friday and then the rogaine so was very glad when we eventually did get to head south again. Came back through Nakara to Alawa and home.

A rather sweaty morning.

From uni to the city and then to home. Probably should have caught the bus but thought the bike would be quicker overall. A bit breezy, but also a bit humid and cloudy so maybe the wind was just as well.

Morning loop of 5 controls. Ran a bit to ensure we got them within 2hr14 (the amount of time we hadn't yet used up in the roving 12hr). Not so rough underfoot as yesterday and more thoroughly burnt, so actually quite fast going.

Running the downhill/flat area near the HashHouse. Nearly blew the good time we'd gained by stuffing up the very last control. Only had one map and so had taken turns to navigate each leg...this was one of Lachlan's:D. Relocated after some headless chooking around and made it back with 10mins to spare

Hayes Ck Rogaine, 9hrs46 walking, 17 controls. Pretty sandstone country with flowing streams, though a bit rugged in places. Only had bike lights as head lamps in storage so opted to get a number of controls in the day and then have a low scoring walk back to the HH along the Stuart Hwy after dark fell. Some parts of the map had 5m contours while elsewhere was 25m, which made planning and executing routes more difficult than usual.

First attempt at a proper long run since the March Metrogaine and was rather doubtful about how much I'd manage and how much I'd enjoy it. Turned out to be much nicer than I expected, talking pace and good company helped a lot.

From 'home' (Parer Drive) headed south through the streets of Moil and Jingili, crossing Rapid Ck above the water gardens (about the extent of inland crocodile excursions) and then up the 'hill' into Millner. Picked up the bike path through Nightcliff to the esplanade and followed it around the headland, where there were two bodies in the swimming pool on the cliff tops at sunrise (although neither appeared to be swimming) until back to Rapid Creek. Over the RC bridge and onto the southern end of Vestey's Beach, dodging the incoming tide along the sand up until the start of the Dripstone Cliffs. Hopped up on the cliff tops and ran along to the northern end, where a path leads down to a little cove at the southern end of the Rocklands area. Picked up a northwards track from behind the Surf Club at Rocklands and then promptly lost it again, ending back up on the beach before relocating it and then following it to the nudist beach car park. Continued a bit further north towards the nudist beach before turning off to the east to cross the hospital creek and associated mangroves on a small bridge which was happily not underwater yet (we figured the tide was at about 7m judging by the water height below the bridge...which floods at 7.6m) and then along the single tracks through the coastal forest towards Lee Point. These tracks are probably the nicest place to run in Darwin...a bit undulating with some twists and turns, through shady forest with a thick leafy forest floor. Very cool, on both counts.

Left Blair about here (71:00, 13.7km) as I'd already run at a faster pace for longer than intended and was worried that I might have bitten off more than I could chew! Climbed up onto the Lee Point Ridge to return south, following tracks through the Restricted area and past the construction works for Darwin's newest suburb, to end up on Rocklands Drive near the hospital. Wasn't sure what roads did what here, so followed the backstreets route Lachlan and I took during the Metrogaine to get out to Trower Rd and then followed Trower south through Casuarina to get back to Wagaman (33:00, 6.0km). Legs well and truly tired by then!

Ran out to the uni to check that we got all the pink tape in from Friday's Sprint...where it had been tied to a fence to stop people running into it and then got collected in the dark by Lachlan without a torch. Got there via some tracks through the mangroves that I hadn't been on before. A bit messy in there with rusty dead cars and muddy/lumpy bare earth. Then explored the Vestey's Beach dunes, to see if they are worth mapping...which should happen soonish while they are still burnt, if it is going to happen at all. Running south to Rapid Creek along the tops of the dunes in the early morning sun was fun, though felt a bit guilty as I was conveniently ignoring the fact that there is a 'Revegetation Area' sign at the northern end (which is now burnt so maybe it doesn't matter).

Finished the run back at uni to collect my bike which I'd lent to Claire who had slept in and was running late for a meeting at uni this morning. Whole body feels very tired still...just winding down from NT champs I hope!

C • rest day 2

Started early to be back in time to help on the start. #1 was another slow uphill first leg with rocks, with the second being downhill but rocky and slow too, back down the other side of a rocky ridge. The course got into flatter spur gully after that and was more runnable, including a funky long leg north with a number of route options. I went simple and ran wide to a track and then followed the ridge line, which was easy but would be interested to know how it compared to the straighter route with more undulation (that Kate took). Then there was a series of shorter zig-zaggy legs in the spur gully off the side of the flat ridge, followed by another longish leg to get back into the steep stuff near the finish. Had thought I should be able to do 60mins as Adrian predicted but on the other hand was happy to finish without feeling totally stuffed.

Zipped straight across to the start to help when I got back and after that closed did finish times until noon. Everyone returned by course closure, which I was very relieved about and a lot of people said they enjoyed the courses and the terrain, which I'm sure made JP relieved too.

Packing up was a a bit of a task, with ratty tired kids running around and grownups in a similar state of weariness trying to coerce things into a resemblance of order. Managed to skip control pickup (only felt a little guilty about it) and got a ride home with Adrian, via Lake Bennett where we had dinner with John and Jeffa. So NT champs is over, at last....

C • Pat on the back... 1

Manton Dam event. Set by JP, in a middle distance style. Thought the course was quite good and the combination of small hills, regenerating greenery and a cool morning made the experience novel enough for the rocks to not be the only memorable thing. It certainly was rocky...the whole map seems to be covered in black specks...but generally they were either big enough to allow running on the tops of them if you were quick enough to keep your balance, or just far enough apart to fit a foot between. I jogged around and even walked on the hills and it was very pleasant. Kate and John got stung by a whole bunch of wasps which was not so pleasant, but with no long lasting damage it seems.

Stuffed around to find #1 because I got carried away going up the hill from the start and was too far right, where I could make nearly everything fit the map without trying too hard. But after that I O-ed a bit more sensibly.

Squeezed in a trip into Litchfield after and had a dip at Florence Falls with Tyson, Blair, Kate and John. It was nice to escape from NT champs duties for a few hours! Got back to the airstrip at Coomalie at 3pm to start on dinner duties with the 'ladies'. The afternoon was a blur of damper making, vegetable chopping, pot stirring and dish washing on the western edge of the airstrip, with an ongoing backdrop of planes taking off and landing. Somehow we managed to concoct and serve dinner for around 90 people, at approximately 7pm, without either running out of food or having the hot dishes turn cold, which I thought was a remarkable achievement (and one that I had felt was not a certainty at any point during the six months of event planning that occurred!).

C • 90 people! 2

We survived cracker night...and so did the coastal part of the sprint map with the courses set in it, although immediately south got burnt. Whew!

Cracker night has just possibly been my least enjoyable Darwin experience to date...although that was probably a bit accentuated by being dead tired while trying to do a number of Sprint champs related things and having a headache. I'm glad we aren't staying 3 doors further along and directly opposite the guy with the rocket launcher. And I'm also glad that we're not in the suburb of Gunn...

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/832942/toddler...