Training Log Archive: PrueD

Just another walk around Blackburn lake and creeklands. l forgot to mention yesterday that l saw several dead ringtail possums on the ground - it appeared that they had just fallen out of the trees due to the heat.

Walk around Blackburn. My bakers cyst has flared up again and is causing discomfort. I am considering whether this is lymph related and am cuttting back on salt,sugar and coffee to see if this helps.

Swim in the Benalla indoor pool. It is quite a warm day and I got a bit sunburnt in the outdoor pool yesterday - so opted for indoors today. Both pools were fairly crowded by country standards - but there was still no need to share a lane!

You know you are in the country when......
1. You come out of the pool and there is a flyer on the car for 'bulls, broncos, barrels and babes' (I think they might need to review their target audience)....and
2. You see a motorised wheelchair in the middle of the road doing a right hand turn (complete with hand signals)...

C • flyer 14

Happy New Year everyone (a day late, I know). My New Year's resolution for this year is to lose weight! I seem to have stacked on a bit since I injured my knee - and my similarity to the PM is now more than just the hairdo. Nothing seems to quite fit around the middle and rear end, and there is a lot to cart up the hills orienteering.

I really enjoyed the 5-days of orienteering and also hope to do a bit less work and have a few more holidays this year.

Yesterday I dragged a golf buggy around the Strathbogie golf course as Peter's caddie. It is a lovely course for running and there was only one other party there - but my knee was too sore to run and it was also too hot.

Today I swam in the Benalla outdoor pool, which was lovely on a summer's afternoon, and my knee feels remarkably better after a few back stretches - which possibly indicates the ailment is partly a back problem.

Christmas Day 5 at Beechworth. Due to a miscalculation, the courses were longer than expected, accentuated by the rough steep terrain - but there was no-one to kill at the finish as the course setter was 'in absentia'.

I started reasonably OK, although slow, and then got slower from about control 14, which necessitated a steep climb back to the road to 15 and which I could see my fellow competitors climbing. I have an unfortunate habit of trying to avoid going the same way as my competitors - so I chose the cross country route to 16, which was a mistake as this route necessitated crossing a steep granite slab with a cliff at the bottom. I didn't have spikes and didn't trust the grip on my shoes, which meant I had to take a long rough circuitous route - eventually concluding it was a very long and silly route choice! By this time I was in some pain, could only amble and was lucky to get back.

My knee was tender (but not unstable, as it has previously been) even before I started and was not happy for most of the course, particularly the second half. The anti-inflammatories must have reached their limit. 4 days was probably enough. But I am happy that I completed the full 5 days, even though my result is at the bottom of Women C course, and happy that my orienteering days are not yet over.

NB - I forgot to write in an early blog that Kevin Moloney, owner of the O-shop and enthusiastic orienteer, is gravely ill in Dandenong Hospital. He has endured many hours of operations to remove cancer and is now in an induced coma. I visited him prior to Christmas but his condition has deterioriated since then.

C • Kevin 7