Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

Recovered some confidence going into the next couple of weeks with a steady if unspectacular long run, helped by the first decent Sunday running conditions for a while. Took on the Apollo Parkways hills, probably for the last time (unless I do a Greensborough street-O), and various other bits of hilliness through the middle stages. Not sparkling but did the necessary, and was happy enough to do an extra loop at the end to take it out past 2.30 (felt it was too close to the big day to take it further than that, although I had something left in me). A bit of hamstring tightness around 20k but settled down again by the end; no sign of back issues on the run itself but tightened up afterwards.

As noted in comments, my impending move means I've abandoned the alphabetical quest in a formal sense but I still wanted to get to Aqueduct Drive in St. Helena (one of the most remote streets on the list) in the name of clearing unfinished business, after a couple of false starts earlier in the summer. I'm not going to try anything similar in my new council area of Darebin - much of its area is in the uninteresting running country of Preston and Reservoir.

I made the mistake of picking up the Weekend Australian getting onto the plane. They spent more than a page rehashing all of the old allegations about our data and some new ones besides - the retired accountant I mentioned a couple of weeks back got a good run. (If it's measured by column inches of criticism, they appear to think that I and my colleagues are about 10 times as reprehensible as Gary Glitter). Perhaps even worse was a column by Robert Gottliebsen on the East-West Link in which he stopped only just short of calling on Tony Abbott to send in the Army to remove the Andrews government by force.

The logistics didn't end up working for a run in the Blue Mountains (where a few of us headed for the day) so instead I did another one from Coogee, this time south to Maroubra. Something of a struggle for much of the way and definitely worked hard on the climbs (of which there were more than planned, because high tide made a section of the coastal walk - the same bit that Hoggster and I bailed out of last time - impassable), but starting to come good in the second half. Humidity a bit of a step up from previous days.

Heading home tonight, with something long in mind for tomorrow (exactly how long depending on how I feel, and perhaps how late I get in tonight).

Original plan for this morning's swim was Wylie's Baths. I got there to find they didn't open until 7 and I didn't have time to wait 15 minutes for that (I had the speaking spot everyone wants at a conference or workshop - first up the morning after the dinner), so instead took to the smaller rockpool at the south end of Coogee Beach (saving myself $4.80 in the process). Felt reasonable although it always feels a bit strange trying to swim in a straight line somewhere where there isn't a black line to chase.

Turned out to be a good workshop, as I thought it would be - smaller ones (30 or so in this case) focused on a specific topic often are. As always, we emerged with a larger to-do list than will probably get done. (I was tempted to add "achieve world peace" to the to-do list, as it is a necessary precondition to the full implementation of something which is there as a long-term goal, having a climate reference observing network with full global coverage).

By the way, the Uni of NSW campus (at least the part that we were on) is seriously complex. Competitors next weekend should consider yourselves warned.

Lots of hills on a Coogee-based run. Started out with a 25-minute loop inland up to the top of the hill and then back down to the south, then linked up with two of the others for an out-and-back to Bronte along the coastal path. Felt a bit flat on the early parts but got going reasonably well through that middle section. Headed out on my own again for a final half-hour, this time to the south. Felt somewhat plodding through here, and not a lot for the sharper climbs, but was happy with the handling of the distance - only pulled up short of 2 hours because I'd run out of time before the workshop start.

I left to the accompaniment of someone departing the Coogee Bay Hotel (an establishment which has a certain reputation for footballers disgracing themselves and similar) in the back of a police van. There were numerous other police around at various points on the coastal path; my initial assumption was that someone might have fallen off the rocks, but later on I saw three of them talking to a dubious-looking character (nothing relevant on the news). Also spotted the famously ambiguous (and much-forwarded) Randwick Council sign "If your dog does a poo please put it in a litter bin".

C • far less excitement on t... 1

10x1 minute along the foreshore path at Tom Caddy Point at Clovelly, named after someone who was a local swimming teacher for 70 years (makes a change from 19th century minor aristocrats or town clerks). Felt pretty sleepy when I headed out after getting in fairly late last night - getting from the airport to Coogee by bus was a more drawn-out process than I'd imagined - but got going quickly and had a fairly reasonable session. Saw a couple of the Brits at the workshop who were on the way back from their own run, and a few flashes of lightning offshore (somewhat to my surprise), although there was no rain on land until well after I finished.

Warm-up and down. As noted earlier, not very awake for the start, and lots of up and down.

Another step towards normality. Started very slowly (although without any sign of the back problems which sometimes manifest themselves with an uphill start), but gradually settled into it and felt quite reasonable for most of it. Still slower than I'd like but getting there.

Up in Sydney for the rest of the week for a workshop. Question for the Sydney crowd: anyone interested in joining me Saturday morning when I introduce some visiting international climate scientists/trail runners to the delights of the Sydney bush? Flexible as to time and venue.

C • Metrogaine on Saturday 2

Reshuffling the program a bit this week because I'll be in Sydney most of the week and don't want to take my belt with me (plus the Coogee baths seem like a good place for a swim, assuming they don't get swamped by a storm like they were the last time I was in these parts). This was a fairly routine session; not too many people around today.

Original plan was to go out at lunchtime (after a reasonably frantic morning at work - mostly about backgrounders on the cyclones, and to a lesser extent the extreme heat in WA). Seeing red and black on the radar in abundant quantities (and a classic warning map, with red circles and arrows going all over the place, which suggested that someone in severe weather had brought their three-year-old in with them today) was enough to convince me that this run might be better rescheduled, so I went out in the evening instead. This turned out to be the best I've felt on a run since I was sick (being the coolest it has been for a while helps), so the reshuffling was worth it. Didn't seem to feel any aftereffects from yesterday either. A promising session.

Only in Australia (perhaps only in Queensland): a news story on post-cyclone fuel shortages in Rockhampton (where some of the locals don't seem to be exactly distinguishing themselves) quoted a petrol station owner called Shazza.