Training Log Archive: Bruce

Event: Sprint the South West
 

Sprint the South West Stage 1
Bunbury 3 Campus



At #1 I punched the depression and as I was taking off, whack! Something hit me on the top of my head. I had stood up and hit a tree. Just like Catching Features!
My head was a bit sore on the way to 2 and I felt some blood dripping. I lost a few seconds by not concentrating.
The rest of the course was fine. I probably missed the shorter route choices on 9 and 10 as I did not see the opening to the elevated walkway. Instead I came in from the back. It may have slightly longer but was less twisty.
After the race I wanted to warm down, but about 20 people wanted to look at my head at different stages. I knew that I needed to go to emergency but I couldn't get away.
It doesn't hurt too bad but it will need a couple of stitches.

Sprint the South West Stage 2
Bunbury Cathedral Grammar



After 2.5 hours at. Bunbury Hospital, I actually recovered ok for this race.
There were some tricky garden beds and fences in the first half, but I was smooth.
I pushed harder in the easier second half and extended my lead.

Mason had another fantastic run to win the Short category.

Bunbury 3 Campus Long - Splits

Bunbury Cathedral GS Long - Splits

Australian Relay Championships
1st Australian team in M21E
Matt Doyle, Bruce Arthur, David Brownridge



The Danish team got the win, but what really mattered was the first Australian team home. The field was depleted. We even had to make a late change with Bryan Keely not able to make the starting line today with injury.

Matt got off to a great start, coming back with the leading pack of Simon, Oscar and the Danes, with a bit of a gap back to Ian.
I started just behind Craig. I took the lead up the hill and felt that I had an edge in speed on him today after recovering better from a shorter race yesterday.
Craig had the shorter split at 1 and re-took the lead, but I ran away up the hill to 4 and 5.
I must have passed the Danish team at 5. I didn't notice this until I heard the commentators when I went through the spectator control in the lead.
Just before this the rain really started coming down hard.

The rocks were getting really slippery and I had to slow down to avoid any nasty falls. I had already slipped early in the course on the way down to 1, but luckily I landed on my feet.

My only time loss was a small mistake at 17. I though I left the fence at the bend, but on my GPS it shows that I left about 30m early.
My time wasn't brilliant, but I had a longish split of 7.7km and slippery conditions. Still, I did what I needed to do, which was put David out in a good position for the final leg.

Victoria was resident champion in Men's Elite at the Australian Orienteering Relay Championships for the first time since 2003 at Beechworth. This was my only other elite national title.

Thanks to my team mates Matt Doyle and David Brownridge. Not bad for a Year 12 student, an M40 and David stepping up at the last minute.

I thought that my days of elite national championships were now out of reach. We were a bit fortunate that the field was weaker than normal, but at this stage of my career I will happily take it.

I was also fortunate to have a proud Dad moment with Mason Arthur, Jensen Key and Torren Arthur taking out the Australian Orienteering Relay Champions in Men's 12.
Torren has had a great week with M10 wins in all competitions. He is now more than ready for the next challenge in M12 in Tasmania. He returns to Melbourne tonight (with Anne and Sophie) for Division Athletics on Tuesday and school camp on Wednesday.
Mason had a couple of very close seconds last weekend, so it was great for his confidence to be part of a winning team. He is looking forward to Sprint the South West on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

Well done also to the Victorian Elite Women for winning the National League title, and to all Victorian age group runners that contributed to the best overall state award at today's relays.

Australian Championships
1st M40A



I decided that plodding along mid-field in a long distance elite class was no longer very satisfying for me. Instead I decided to challenge myself to see how fast I could race an M40A course. There was good competition from Jock Davis and Greg Barbour, so it was a worthwhile challenge.

I had a lot of fun, and managed to complete a good performance. I pushed myself quite hard and only lost a few seconds in navigation.

My goal was to go out hard and try to catch 4 minutes on Jock. I thought I may have seen him in the distance in the open paddocks. However I ended up sighting him leaving 10 as I was approaching, about 40 seconds ahead. This allowed me to drag him in on the long leg, and then swap the lead a few times in the more technical granite controls.

I pulled up quite well after the race and felt much better than most of the elite men looked. The kids and I headed to Cottesloe Beach in the afternoon for a recovery session in the ocean (staying well away from any sharks).

It was a good day for MFR and Orienteering Victoria.
Congratulations to Australian Champions Aislinn Prendergast (Elite Women resident champ), Matt Doyle (Junior Elite Men), Lanita Steer (Junior Elite Women), Patrick Jaffe M16, Asha Steer W16 resident, Torren Arthur M10, Bruce Arthur M40, Natasha Rowe Key W40, Jim Russell M50, Warren Key M55, Ted van Geldermalsen M65.
Victoria got close to the OA Shield award, but NSW had too many placings in the M/W65 and above age classes.

King's Park, Perth
A nice run to get my legs moving after a day walking at Rottnest yesterday.
This was very scenic, and included a couple of lookouts.

I included one 1000m surge down the Broadwalk to keep my leg speed up.
It was downhill, but may have been my fastest 1km time ever - 2:52.

The rest of the day was spent at the Perth Show. Walking around in huge crowds is not my favourite thing to do, but the kids had a great time on several rides.
We escaped with only a couple of show bags containing food. The boys wisely decided that most of them were full of plastic junk and they saved their money for other things.

C • 2.52 5

C • Showbags 1

A rest day on Rottnest Island. Most of the day was at The Basin at the beach. I did go for a long walk with the boys later in the day to explore some other bays.