Training Log Archive: blairtrewinIn the 1 days ending Oct 26, 2011:
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Wednesday Oct 26, 2011 #
7 PM
Run 42:02 [3] * 9.1 km (4:37 / km) +250m 4:04 / km
spiked:18/18c
Started the day by spotting two (presumably) departing Year 12s heading for Ivanhoe Girls Grammar sporting Indian headdresses which were far more impressive than those sported by any of the Village People last Saturday night.
This was opening night of the Summer Series, at Ruffeys Creek, and was an immediate advance on the last two years because I got to the start line without any significant injuries. (Two years ago I did get to the start line and sort of muddled through before breaking down properly on Cup Day; fortunately, if you're a runner, breaking down on Cup Day doesn't involve a screen, a vet or a gun).
It was also a night of historical commemoration, marking 20 years since the first night event (as opposed to evening event - those have been going for almost 30 years), so it was perhaps fitting that for much of the course I was battling head-to-head against someone who's been a Summer Series sparring partner for almost all my time in Melbourne, Tony Bird. It ended up as a head-to-head quite quickly; after three controls the pack split, with 50 going one way and two going the other. Tony and I were the two. (The two options proved to be 20 metres apart, at least according to Bruce's and my GPSs).
For the first two-thirds I was behind Tony (having lost 50 metres early on getting a stone out of my shoe), perhaps losing a little ground on speed but gaining it through a couple of minor wobbles. I always felt that I'd probably be suited better when we hit the rougher ground in Ruffeys Lake Park, but that wasn't to be put to the test because from 20 (where we were together) he took a highly sub-optimal route choice and that was that. Perhaps unsurprisingly, lost a little bit of intensity once he was gone - the climb out of 2 was hard going - but managed to finish it off OK. Probably a better run than anything I did last summer; still haven't cracked 4.30 but that should come on a flatter area. Bruce beat us easily (about 4 minutes); not sure who, if anyone, was between him and me but expect that Bryan, at least, would have been.
When you've been around for a while most of the regularly used areas will have their memories, and Ruffeys Creek has more than most, with three standouts in particular. One, the last time I was here, was the event on the first day of the 2009 heatwave which set a record for the hottest-ever street-O. Another was on the last day of the 1994-95 season when Jase needed to beat me by three places to catch me in the overall pointscore and was, I think, a little frustrated as I sat two strides behind him for the duration of the course. The last was some opportunistic course-setting in 1996. The news had recently been dominated by the exploits of a Coles-Myer executive who had just been jailed for embezzling $6 million from the company and spending it on house renovations. The house was on the map, so I stuck a control in front of it. (It must be said that it wasn't immediately obvious where the $6 million had gone).
This was opening night of the Summer Series, at Ruffeys Creek, and was an immediate advance on the last two years because I got to the start line without any significant injuries. (Two years ago I did get to the start line and sort of muddled through before breaking down properly on Cup Day; fortunately, if you're a runner, breaking down on Cup Day doesn't involve a screen, a vet or a gun).
It was also a night of historical commemoration, marking 20 years since the first night event (as opposed to evening event - those have been going for almost 30 years), so it was perhaps fitting that for much of the course I was battling head-to-head against someone who's been a Summer Series sparring partner for almost all my time in Melbourne, Tony Bird. It ended up as a head-to-head quite quickly; after three controls the pack split, with 50 going one way and two going the other. Tony and I were the two. (The two options proved to be 20 metres apart, at least according to Bruce's and my GPSs).
For the first two-thirds I was behind Tony (having lost 50 metres early on getting a stone out of my shoe), perhaps losing a little ground on speed but gaining it through a couple of minor wobbles. I always felt that I'd probably be suited better when we hit the rougher ground in Ruffeys Lake Park, but that wasn't to be put to the test because from 20 (where we were together) he took a highly sub-optimal route choice and that was that. Perhaps unsurprisingly, lost a little bit of intensity once he was gone - the climb out of 2 was hard going - but managed to finish it off OK. Probably a better run than anything I did last summer; still haven't cracked 4.30 but that should come on a flatter area. Bruce beat us easily (about 4 minutes); not sure who, if anyone, was between him and me but expect that Bryan, at least, would have been.
When you've been around for a while most of the regularly used areas will have their memories, and Ruffeys Creek has more than most, with three standouts in particular. One, the last time I was here, was the event on the first day of the 2009 heatwave which set a record for the hottest-ever street-O. Another was on the last day of the 1994-95 season when Jase needed to beat me by three places to catch me in the overall pointscore and was, I think, a little frustrated as I sat two strides behind him for the duration of the course. The last was some opportunistic course-setting in 1996. The news had recently been dominated by the exploits of a Coles-Myer executive who had just been jailed for embezzling $6 million from the company and spending it on house renovations. The house was on the map, so I stuck a control in front of it. (It must be said that it wasn't immediately obvious where the $6 million had gone).