Training Log Archive: jennycas

Woke up at 5am, packed, got petrol, washed hire car, returned hire car, checked in, said "OMG" and other less ladylike things at the length of the screening queue (Perth definitely needs a reconfigured domestic terminal) and just made it through in time for a 7am flight. Horrible gusty landing in Adelaide had everyone looking a bit twitchy; it was still nearly 30 and blowing a gale. G & I then explored our new (future) domicile and gave my parents a guided tour and while we were picnicking with them around the camping table (no gas or electricity just yet) a medium sized branch was ripped off the tree next door and flew across the yard, nearly taking out our clothesline! I think that was the 109km/h gust...

Still a bit strange to think of Avenue Rd as "ours" but we won't move straight away because there are a few things to be done to make it more secure (front window screens) and energy efficient (curtains on the big glass windows at the back) and also no longer hospital green on the inside. Seeking advice on how to convince a pair of predominantly outdoor cats to move with us!

Moondyne Rd, just over the hill from yesterday's event, on a much wetter day. The women's race (at least) had a funny configuration with a route choice option out of the start being back through the assembly area and up the hill through the carpark and toilet queue. There were a couple of controls in the rocky green then back out to the farmland for a running leg and repeat; rather like yesterday except that the grass was longer and soggier.

Zoe ran first for the Arrows and was a casualty of the fact that the women's course started out at 180 degrees to the men's, something which it took quite a few women a little while to catch on to. Fern ran second and valiantly struggled around half her course in the rain before calling it quits and coming back just before I was going to head out in the 3rd leg mass start. So my heart wasn't really in it and I made some shocking mistakes, at least partly because the bubble in my compass had returned and my bearings were all over the place.

Ballsed up 1 by being so near and yet so far, left 2 at 90 degrees in the wrong direction and couldn't make out which fence I'd crossed, went up the wrong gully on 3 (but I wasn't alone). Had to walk the sodden hillside over near the OOB crop as my legs just wouldn't lift. Coming back towards the spectator control I found Liv sitting by the track with a nice Newcastle lady watching over her. Turned out she had done her ankle quite badly and been helped to hobble 400m to the track by this lady and a Dubbo friend who had gone back to the finish for the ambulance. There wasn't much helpful I could do once the ambulance turned up apart from taking Liv's SI card back to the finish - since I was going straight there I didn't bother finishing my own course.

Most successful thing I did today was managing in the afternoon (despite a power failure due to the feral weather) to get Blair's O gear washed and dried in time for him to put it (and himself) on a plane to the other side of the world, and making a salad to take to Richard & Nicole's for dinner. As a bonus, I didn't have any dirty O gear either when I got home on Monday :)

Warranine Brook. Patches of granitey bushland with open paddocks in between, often influencing route choice. Nice sunny day for it although I could have done with starting earlier than 11:30 (and finishing nearly at presentation time, by which time the results were no longer on display) and I was very grateful for my hat.

Zoe had overrun the first control so she was coming back to it as I punched, then shot past me across the paddock. 2 and 3 were in green sheoaks with fallen timber and I went a bit wide to 3 but not wide enough to make use of the track; Laurina went past me here. 4-7 were in the paddocks; at least the grass wasn't too long and bearings could be pretty direct. Clare came past at 7. Climbing up to 8 Bridget and Krystal passed me. I poured a drink for myself, then for Zoe, then spent the rest of the course wondering whether I really had punched that control!

Everyone seemed to do something slightly different on the way to 9. I went a fair way to the west and via 1. Think Laura & Lizzie (20 min) passed me on this leg. 11 was back into the green and I found this control along with Anna & Aislinn, after which I knew that everyone had passed me. I liked the sheoak country best and 13 in the green was a good challenge whereas 14 just involved following a creek up the hill until it petered out, and there was the control. The next few shorter legs were a good way of finishing the course although I wombled a little on 17. Other than that I don't feel that I lost any time - certainly not in the control circle although quite probably on route choice. And definitely on fitness. Ended up 13th of 15 and lost another 20 min to Lizzie in the second half.

At least that means I'm consistent. I'm probably on a par with how I was at the Aust champs in WA in 2006, although perhaps with better endurance. At least my ITB didn't trouble me at all today, and I found myself thinking, as I did in the sprint on Monday, that maybe if I can get back to some decent training Oceania could be quite good fun although I can't yet decide between W40 and 21E.

And I've discovered the perfect post-run recovery food: chocolate brownies with ice cream and stewed rhubarb & apple :)

Woke up pretty stiff & sore but I was keen to go up to Mt Brown lookout for the view over York. It's not as great a climb as going up Brown Hill, thankfully. Crossing the Avon River involved a crash course in Suspension Bridge Running 101. I like to think I'm a faster learner than Blair :)

Spent the day driving out to and walking around/up Kokerbin Rock, which claims to be Australia's 3rd largest monolith, with Steve & kids. I'm a bit suspicious about the veracity of such a claim because when I looked up Australia's 2nd largest monolith it turns out that at least 6 different rocks/hills make that claim! This was an excellent piece of granite, all the same.

C • Kokerbin Rock 6

Solo lap of York in the last of the daylight in order to alleviate stiffness from standing around watching the schools' relays (yay for Sarah & Meredith & Emily coming 3rd in junior girls!). Definitely had the feel of a late spring/early summer afternoon with the golden light and the smell of drying grass.

C • We were all very happy with... 1

Senior girls' course from the Aust Schools' Champs. Pretty warm by the time some of the schoolkids were finishing; at least it started to cloud over before the public event. I took it pretty easy, but also I couldn't run any faster anyway through the long grass with small rock underfoot, which my knee particularly didn't like. There were some good elephant tracks in places, although using these didn't stop me from being progressively overtaken by a string of W50s, starting with Carolyn Jackson on the longish leg to the south, where I came at the control from below and since the control was about 2 contours higher than mapped, she, coming from above, found it well before I did. I made a few dumb mistakes in the second half, starting with not being able to work out why the spectator control I had arrived at had a different number from the one I wanted to be at, and then not being very focused on my bearings on the downhill legs and so letting Christine Brown and Hilary Wood pass me by. By the end I was walking fairly casually and promising myself that I will be more diligent with my back exercises in future, so that I can run properly up hills again.

Short run on Rottnest, taking in a beautiful tiny beach and a lookout with 360-degree views, from the Settlement with Blair. His cousin's husband is in charge of fire services on the island and by gatecrashing a family visit I managed to tour the island both by fire truck (if a 2-door Landcruiser with tank & hose on the back can be called a truck) and by boat, which involved seeing no less than 4 whales breaching, and which was truly excellent. Met a cute 3-year old, too.

Curtin University. Another Juffymap; quite readable I thought, although that may be because these days I'm too slow to run faster than I'm thinking! Found it quite easy to plan ahead, anyway, and there weren't too many traps which I'm aware of having fallen into, although on subsequent analysis with Steve I can see at least 3 legs which I could have done better. Managed a slightly more optimal route than Lizzie after the spectator control :)

W21E - Splits

Lover's Ridge. As armchair IOF event adviser, I'd seen the elite courses so decided to run W35. There's something to be said for acting my age. Cathy Hogg was delighted that she beat me, but I still got a badge for the first time in years :)

We were privileged to run on a Juffymap. I especially liked the first part with no undergrowth and a cool creek network. The second part had rocks in and lots of people milling around one particular hillside where I lost maybe up to a minute not being in the same place as the cliff I wanted. Starting to get a bit hot in the sun towards the end, but immediately after I finished it saw fit to rain - go figure.

I think I might by now be prepared to concede that I am actually on holidays, and that work is 3000km away.

C • Congratulations 2

C • Thanks 2

Aust MDC, Course W35A - Splits

Event: Karrak Karnival
 

Spice Brook, in the rain. Loved it, especially the wildflowers. Escarpments with deeply incised creeks and flat vague bits in between where each soaking-wet bush looked exactly like the next. Mostly managed to run fluently, if slowly. Did a couple of dumb things such as running down the wrong spur on the short leg 6-7, and on 13 hitting the gully below the control and then going further downstream instead of upstream, losing about 3 min in the process. But at least on the leg beforehand I was smart enough to keep an eye on Craig's bearing as insurance against running off the southern edge of the map.

Met up with Allison & Shannon & Cathy that evening for dinner which was nice, until as we were leaving the pub in Northam a couple of drunken dickheads were attempting to have a go at the kebab shop owner across the road because he was Muslim. As Geoff is fond of saying, people really are that stupid :(

WA Long Champs, Course W21A - Splits

Had hoped to fit in a short run after walking dog and packing and cooking enough food to leave for George for a week, but dogwalking was disrupted by the random dog which bounded up to Meatloaf and started chewing on his ear. It was being walked in the park by a mother with 2 daughters but when the smaller of them took the leash I knew exactly what would happen. The dog (which had a degree of staffy in it, I reckon) started running towards us, pulled the leash out of her hands, crossed the road and before Meatloaf could react, started biting at his neck. Naturally I screamed and tried to push bigdog off, then I thought of letting Meatloaf's leash go so he could run away, but the other dog was gnawing on his ear.

The mother ran up and the dog responded to her, but she didn't really tell it off, nor did she apologise although she looked embarrassed. I guess she had a tearful daughter to contend with. Meatloaf didn't seem particularly perturbed at the fact that the other dog had drawn blood, but I was pretty upset. Got him home (only a couple of blocks) and found that I no longer had my house keys; they must have been dropped when I was dog-wrestling. Attempted to break in to the back yard but realised that I'd then have to break in to the house anyway, so tied my dog to the towbar of the derelict Troopy (it's finally come in useful for something apart from being the cats' second home) and ran back to find the keys.

Maybe when we move house the neighbourhood dogs won't be such bogans!

Why does Qantas decide to cancel a direct Adelaide-Darwin flight on Christmas morning, but still leave it available every other day?
Already we had to cancel our Jetstar flights and rebook on Qantas because they were at a civilised time when we booked but were subsequently changed to the wet-season overnight schedule; now we are apparently going through Sydney and getting in at 10:30pm, having missed all of Christmas Day with the new niece or nephew :(

C • :-(( 8