Training Log Archive: PrueD

I went for a brisk walk this afternoon around Blackburn Lake and up to Mitcham - meandering along bike tracks and streets. It was a beautiful day and I wish (please for Christmas) I had a bike in Melbourne because it would have been a lovely day for a ride. Having two residences is a problem because you need two of everything and anything that you only have one of is always in the other place when you need it.

I spent a fair bit of yesterday and today doing shopping and came home today stacked up with the obligatory boxes of chocolates. I can only hope that they make it to Christmas!

Highlight of the day was hearing someone call out "Hi Prue" across the shopping centre. To my surprise it was Simon Overland's chief of staff who is also the head of the major crimes unit. The fact that he found me sufficiently memorable to remember my name was interesting - and I can only assume that either he thinks I'm very very good or, alternatively, awfully awfully bad!

(Distance estimated) I went for a run this afternoon from Westerfolds Park (Porter St carpark) along the river to Plenty RIver and back. A very pleasant although slowish run. Too many mince pies and chocolates methinks (and its only going to get worse over the next few weeks).

One thing I observed was the number of rabbits near the golf course at the Plenty River end. They didn't seem at all perturbed by people and bikes passing them by. There's signs up about a pindone program but I didn't look at the dates - if the pindone is there already then its not going very well. Actually, I have a bit of a soft spot for rabbits as I used to have a pet rabbit ("Bunny") that was house trained and followed me around - wanting to be the centre of attention and generally getting in the way. They make great pets and are quite intelligent. Unfortunately everywhere else they are a terrible pest.

Nothing - I went to my brother-in-law's birthday dinner and got home around midnight. The party included a trivia quiz with some really hard nautical questions, favouring the sailors. I am staying in Melbourne this weekend.

Just went for a walk around the creeklands this evening. I am still surprised at the number of big (forest sized) trees down after last week's storm.

Things that happened today:

- I was the mouse that tipped the boat (if you've ever read "Who sank the boat?" to a small child) as I stepped into a lift with 8 very rotund uniformed CFA officers today - only to have the lift instantly go out of action After a bit of experimentation the weight problem could be clearly attributed to me and I was cast out while they continued on their way. No doubt, given our past year's experiences, they were highly amused to have a joke at my expense.

- And what a beautiful, well-aimed shot at the UFU foday in the RC. Couldn't have been better. Score 1 - 0. Why didn't we use them on the 7th? Because 46 out of the 300 rostered firefighters stayed home on the worst fire risk day in Australia's history. Truancy is a big issue in the MFB. Too frightened, we think, to go to work - imagine if we'd all done that!! Apparently the UFU has hired Mr Mullet to give them some guidance in managing politics - but so far not too helpful.

C • Wide Load... 3

I slept really well last night but woke up tired and, quite peculiarly, with sore knees. In fact it took me until nearly lunchtime before I felt that I had properly woken up. Several others at work complained of similar tiredness and joint pain. And one girl even claimed to pull a muscle while sitting in a chair in a meeting.

Some suggested that perhaps, unbeknown to us all, we had been running around all night under the full moon. I didn't explain that I was quite familiar with running around under a full moon (rogaines are only held under a full moon) but didn't think I had in this case.

I felt better this afternoon and went street orienteering at Ringwood. It was a score event and Course C only lasted only 45 minutes. My first house was on the map near Ringwood Station and I am very familiar with this area. I used to run a lot when I lived there and my mind was imprinted with the memory of this. So I ran all the way, even up all the hills (albeit slowly). This, I suppose, shows the positive effect that visualisation can have. Numbers were down a bit, both at the event and the after-BBQ.

Had a really good sleep last night so feel much better today. Planned to go for a swim after work but was called into a longish meeting at 5.30, so the swim didn't eventuate. I was then lucky enough to receive some customer service from one of the new Metro station attendants (when the train doors shut, just as I got there) - "You've missed your train. You'll have to wait for the next one." Why thank you!

Anyway, today's entire story is about bulls. Encounters on rogaines. Why, why, why would the perverse course setter of the Walwa rogaine put the closest control to the HH into a paddock with 3 large bulls (who probably hadn't seen humans for some time). I still have an image of a snaking trail of about 400 rogainers heading up the hillside being charged and then scattered by two bulls. The bulls ran straight through, thank God, but it didn't look good from a distance. Same rogaine, returning home, with the last checkpoint also in a bull paddock, who by this time was quite angry and snorted and pawed the ground as we tiptoed past.

How to avoid bull encounters? Get a slower, fatter partner (could be a problem). Or make sure that you are not wearing a Paterson's Pursuit t-shirt. Or, if you are, select your partner carefully from the vast BKV selection and offer ...."perhaps you'd like to borrow my lovely green t-shirt".

I didn't sleep well last night because I was woken by a low flying aircraft at about 1.30am and then didn't go to sleep until about 5.00am. Of course I was sound asleep when it was time to get up - so I was a bit tired today. Nevertheless I struggled out for a bit of jog tonight. Interestingly the storm damage around the Blackburn Creeklands was quite severe, with many large fallen branches and the track blocked in some places. There were a number of groups out training - of particular note was the nordic walking group. I thought they were cross-country ski training but not so.

AND - continuing on from yesterday - I have had many encounters with trail bike groups when out running in the Strathbogies. It used to seem that, wherever you were and however small the track, if there were bikes about then they were sure to find you. They were also usually very surprised to see someone on foot. Once, coming down a steep narrow track alone, I encountered a group who stopped and asked "Are you on your own?". I was torn whether to tell the truth or lie "Of course not, there's 10 men with big dogs behind - but they all run much slower than me!". Another time, on a surprisingly quiet day, I met the motorbike police who asked if we seen any trail bikes around. Of course we hadn't as the local policeman's son was a trail bike rider and had quickly spread the word around. The police then rode off with great aplomb - but went straight down a washaway - only to have to screech to a stop and turn around, redfaced, before speeding off down the main track.

C • Cops 2