Training Log Archive: PrueD

Cross country skiing at Seefield Austria, with '70 flights of stairs' worth of climb and some pretty steep downhills. I've got a new pair of light touring skis and, being modern, they seem a bit faster than my old racing skis, so l think l'll use them in the races. The scenery here is just spectacular. I nearly got run over today because l was looking the wrong way when l stopped onto the road

It was raining today so we helped the local economy by visiting the ski shops and then drove to Innsbruck. The scenery was quite brilliant. On arrival at town we went shopping, but must have been in the middle eastern quarter as we ended up in an entirely Muslim fruit shop. I don't expect to see any of those ladies on the ski slopes.

C • Innsbruck 1

A drive up out of the mountains today east of Munich. I was quite surprised at the neatness of the landscape - green rolling hills interspersed with coppices of pine trees and deciduous trees, and beautiful villages, each with a prominent church spire. It looks as though you could walk the length of Germany cross country without crossing a fence.
We then went back into the mountains and visited Ruhpolding, where we did a shortish ski circuit. My legs (inner thighs in particular) are a bit sore.

I didn't take my garmin out today so distance and time are an estimate. I explored some of the undulating trails that wound through the pine forest near Reit Im Winkle. The newly waxed skis ran well for most of the time and l seemed to get a bit of grip on the uphills (l'm doing classical skiing this trip). The downhills were great too and l 'm getting my ski legs back.
There was a 42 km team race here today and 3 girls entered in cow suits. It must be a theme around here.

Arrived in Munich last night after a long flight that crossed Iraq and flew right over Mosel. Qatar Airways must think it is now safe to do so (although this was their first flight on that route for some time). We then drove down to Reit Im Winkle, a fairly popular cross country area. Today we skied around the resort tracks and did a bot of a tour. I only did about 12 kms before I decided my skis weren’t running well (I kept getting passed by people who shouldn’t be able to) and sent then off for a wax. It started off as a cold misty morning and ended up a bluebird day. We are staying in an older-style apartment out of town on a quaint farm. We think the cows are housed in the room next door!

C • Cows in the barn! 4

Street O at Mullum Mullum. Very pleasant evening in a nice area. Got caught by the traffic lights crossing the Ringwood Bypass Rd.

Street O at Tally Ho. I didn't feel like running, so just walked
However, it was surprisingly tough on my feet (maybe l had on the wrong shoes) and l felt some blisters coming on.

Street O training in Camberwell on one of Geoff's new scout maps. He set a most pleasant course, maximisating the use of the parklands. I was very slow as it was hot and humid, and area fairly hilly. We had a nice coffee afterwards in a local cafe.

Bush walk with lan in the Dandenongs. We went up Glasgow Track (straight up) and then across to Mt Dandenong, then contoured our way back. It was really hot and humid and l found it tough going and couldn't get cool. My knee wasn't happy either. But it was good training for our planned adventures over the next few weeks.

Run around Blackburn creeklands and lake, in the reverse order to normal (uphill). My knee was quite sore to begin with (it doesn't like running in the evening, and was sore from last night) but settled, and it was pretty warm. I'm low on energy as mental weariness seems to translate into physical weariness. I'm also still battling the email system - it's surprising how may things use your email address as a login and then how hard it is to change. I'm glad l started the process early, when l haven't got a lot of other work on.

Street O at Camberwell. It wasn't one of my better efforts. I had a slow start, walked up all of the hills, overshot one control by a whole street and generally had no mojo. I have had a busy day with my new email address and trying to change all my logins etc. and possibly are a little pent up.

Run around Benalla lake.

Run around Benalla lake with Peter on a very humid morning.

Street O at Kew East. I ran much faster tonight and really tried, although there were of couple of pauses at the start as l tried to identify a good route. I arrived at the last control at the same time as Greg T and challenged him to a sprint finish, which l am pleased to say l won. I must have looked as though l was trying as the organiser told me l didn't need to try that hard - there were no sheep stations at stake! Then home and back to the report l have to write tonight.

C • Sprint finish! 2

Run around the Beleura Hill area of Mornington after staying at my sister's place last night. Jogged most of the hills (hence the slow time).

Slightly cooler day. Run around Blackburn lake and creeklands. The rainbow lorikeets were out in force and looked and sounded fabulous.

Full brownie points to a distant cousin in Ireland, with whom l have just connected after looking up the Wikitree.
He wrote back advising l must have made a mistake because he'd googled / Facebooked Prue Dobbin but could only find the fire consultant/orienteer. Perhaps l was her mother, because she couldn't possibly have had a godfather born in 1901 (his great great uncle!).

Blackburn creeklands. I left it too late for a run and it was quite hot. The tracks were deserted and l decided not to push it.

Street O at Cavill's Corner. They ran out of maps and l looked around for someone with a map who ran as slow as me. There wasn't anyone so l went with Len. I ran flat out for the first 8 controls and refused to look at the map, as that would have slowed me down. Arguably this was the fastest l have run for some time. Unfortunately on the downhill, urged on by Len to 'go for it', l pulled something in my back and this then spread to the other side. I walked the last 2 controls. I think the damage was just a muscle spasm and is hopefully not lasting.

Run around Benalla lake before farewelling my visitors.

Now for a reflection on 2017. I kept up my running 4 times a week, with noticeable health benefits. Despite competing in all qualification events, l only ended up ranked 12th for my age group for foot O, due to a couple of bad runs. WMOC was good, with a reasonable result in the sprint but a failure to make the finish of the long distance due to illness. The highlight was my win in rhe middle event in Pittwater Dunes! I haven't been able to repeat that one.

Aims for 2018:
- To continue running approx. 5.5km four times a week.
- To make it into the top 10 for age group in foot O.
- To resurrect my cross country skiing, maybe with a few more races from the World Loppet series (long distance races with distances from 42 to 90 km). I have completed 5 (Aust, NZ, Czech, Austria and Italy) and have 5 more to go in 5 countries in order to become a World Master.
I also have some more personal goals but these are not for AP.

Happy New Year everyone!

C • Goals for 2018 4