Training Log Archive: blairtrewinIn the 1 days ending Dec 4, 2014:
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Thursday Dec 4, 2014 #
7 AM
Run 1:41:00 [3] 18.0 km (5:37 / km) +500m 4:56 / km
Headed out early in the day from Punta Arenas with a target of the hills west of town, setting out into a light rain shower (the first rain I’ve run in since WMOC), which cleared within a few minutes. Through the suburbs for the first bit – exiting town along Avenida Presidente Salvador Allende, which I think can be reasonably assumed to have been renamed at least once in the last 25 years – then onto a dirt road up towards the base of the local ski resort. This was a long and sometimes rather steep climb and pretty hard (and slow) work. Had thought there might be some forest tracks to run on at the far end but the entrance gate to the area was closed, so turned around at that point (would have been another 200 metres or so climb to the top of the hill).
I’d set out with original thoughts of 1.45-2.00, but was struggling a bit today – Achilles never really warmed up, and was starting to feel a bit of hamstring tightness towards the end too, so was happy to call it a day and not do an extra 10-20 minute loop through the suburbs to get the distance up. Hopefully a few days away from running will settle this down a bit. Reasonably happy with the way I ground up the big hill even on a day when things weren’t going smoothly, though I’m well aware that it was less than half the size of the Pluvi…
Moved on to Puerto Natales, the final jumping-off point for Torres del Paine, in the afternoon. Much of the rest of the day was devoted to getting relevant supplies for the trek, not as easy as it looks even though getting bookings in the refugios (huts) means I won’t have to factor in camping (except as an emergency option) or as much cooking – both Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales are full of outdoor shops but most are devoted to clothes rather than other useful items. I head off tomorrow morning and will be out bush for four days, so don’t expect to hear from me in that time. (I’ve occasionally mused on the subject of how many days my AP log would have to go un-updated for without notice before someone reported me missing….).
A sheep was being raffled in the shopping street of Puerto Natales. I didn’t buy a ticket.
There was a certain amount of local pride yesterday with the news that Chile is now ranked by Transparency International as the 21st least corrupt country in the world (only one point behind the US) – certainly every travel guide I’ve read has a comment along the lines of “don’t even think about trying to bribe the police in Chile”. As I don’t plan to go to any other countries from here, this means I should have made it through South America without having to pay anyone any bribes, something I thought might happen at least once (most likely in Paraguay, which was in the leading 20 at the wrong end of the list). Australia’s dropped from its usual top-10 position to 12th; presumably the activities of Eddie Obeid and associates have been unhelpful in this respect.
I’d set out with original thoughts of 1.45-2.00, but was struggling a bit today – Achilles never really warmed up, and was starting to feel a bit of hamstring tightness towards the end too, so was happy to call it a day and not do an extra 10-20 minute loop through the suburbs to get the distance up. Hopefully a few days away from running will settle this down a bit. Reasonably happy with the way I ground up the big hill even on a day when things weren’t going smoothly, though I’m well aware that it was less than half the size of the Pluvi…
Moved on to Puerto Natales, the final jumping-off point for Torres del Paine, in the afternoon. Much of the rest of the day was devoted to getting relevant supplies for the trek, not as easy as it looks even though getting bookings in the refugios (huts) means I won’t have to factor in camping (except as an emergency option) or as much cooking – both Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales are full of outdoor shops but most are devoted to clothes rather than other useful items. I head off tomorrow morning and will be out bush for four days, so don’t expect to hear from me in that time. (I’ve occasionally mused on the subject of how many days my AP log would have to go un-updated for without notice before someone reported me missing….).
A sheep was being raffled in the shopping street of Puerto Natales. I didn’t buy a ticket.
There was a certain amount of local pride yesterday with the news that Chile is now ranked by Transparency International as the 21st least corrupt country in the world (only one point behind the US) – certainly every travel guide I’ve read has a comment along the lines of “don’t even think about trying to bribe the police in Chile”. As I don’t plan to go to any other countries from here, this means I should have made it through South America without having to pay anyone any bribes, something I thought might happen at least once (most likely in Paraguay, which was in the leading 20 at the wrong end of the list). Australia’s dropped from its usual top-10 position to 12th; presumably the activities of Eddie Obeid and associates have been unhelpful in this respect.