Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

In case you think I haven't been travelling enough, I'm now off on an actual, non-orienteering, non-work holiday (my boss pretty much ordered me to take a week off using some of the vast number of excess hours I'd piled up during the recent project, and this was the best week for it), with North Queensland as the destination.

The logistics of the morning made for a new destination for a session. Jenny was on a flight at 6.40 and I was on one at 9.10, so I thought what would work best would be to drop her at the airport and then go to the nearest pool. (In the process, we successfully avoided hitting a broken-down car in a very awkward spot on the freeway on-ramp - definitely safety-car territory had it been a racetrack; thanks to the wonders of social media, I've since discovered that the car in question belonged to an old school friend (and now Rex pilot) on the way to the airport).

The nearest pool was Broadmeadows. Broadmeadows as a suburb doesn't have the best of reputations, but the only sign of local stereotypes at this time of day was that my two companions in the non-lap-swimming lane both had substantial tattoos. (It did surprise me somewhat that a council pool in one of the more socially-disadvantaged parts of town charges the highest entry fee I've seen in suburban Melbourne). Session was fine; felt a little sore but not exceptionally so.

Landed in Cairns in the early afternoon and then made my way up to Port Douglas. I've been to Cairns before for work but only had a day to look around, so missed a lot. Plans for the rest of the week are still somewhat open at this stage although I'm heading in the direction of the Daintree and Cape Tribulation tomorrow.

Probably wouldn't have been up to anything more than a sprint distance today - this time it was more the back that was troublesome than the hip - and never got any speed up. At least I got a decent view of the business end of the race as they progressively came through me, starting with David Lingfors who caught me a minute at the first control, never a good start to a sprint race (I'd unwisely tried to contour across the bushy slope on the rocky hill we started on). Blew 40 seconds or so on 9, the last one on the hill - came up faster than I expected (hard to get used to 1:4000 in bush terrain), then misread a couple of spots on the tricky 12 and went a lot further around than I needed to. Generally a disappointing run, but very pleased with how the event went as an event.

Day 3 1 - Splits

The long day of the 3-Day. In the middle of last week I didn't think that I'd be running at all this weekend, so to get through yesterday was a positive in that sense, but it felt iffy warming up this morning, not something you want to have happen before a long race. Sometimes things warm up so I was happy enough to start and see how it went, but it wasn't good right from the beginning. Managed to get through the technical first five on the mountain more or less OK, then 6 was a long, mostly downhill, leg - I thought if I was going to get going then that was where it was going to happen. It didn't, at which point I decided to do the small set of technical controls from 6-11 (Simon and Shep went through me here) and then call it a day unless things felt better. They didn't, and that was that.

Assuming that I can run tomorrow, 2 1/4 days is still better than I thought I'd do a few days ago, but it's disappointing not to take this opportunity. The most technical parts of the course were mostly behind me by then, although there were some physically tough areas ahead.

That wasn't the end of the day's work - the OA meetings were still to come, although we got most of what we wanted (necessary to plug the remaining holes in the OA finances) through despite some initially discouraging feedback.

Spotted so far in Wagga: the Geoff Lawson and Michael Slater Ovals, and the Steve Mortimer Field. I assume Mark Taylor's got something somewhere but haven't seen it yet. As far as I know no civic facilities have (yet) been named in honour of Georgina Macken or Allison or Shannon Jones.

C • Shannon 3

Day 2 Course 1 - Splits

Event: 2017 Australian 3 Days
 

1st day of the 3-day, at Connorton south of Wagga - a nice area with patches of intense granite and (mostly) open forest between them. The first time I was here I ran 5.2 minutes/km, and also have a bit of a history of claiming scalps here (Jules the first time, Shep the second), but didn't expect any similar miracles this time and was hoping, after the last week, just to get round without things hurting too much.

The running part went OK - slow but steady for the most part, and only minor niggles. Lost about a minute in the heavy rock at 4, where I couldn't work out which big rock was which or how they related to the contours; also a bit wide on 13 (which should have been a gimmy) and 19, but maybe only 20 seconds apiece on those. Had to concentrate all the way to the end; even the last control wasn't a giveaway.

Not competitive on pace though; second from the bottom (which was enough to give me a National League point), and more than 50% behind Craney and Simon who both did 38-39. I'm definitely staggering towards the 300 events mark. Tomorrow will be a challenge, although today gives me more confidence that I might be up to it (at least in the endurance sense).

Day1 Course 1 - Splits

Out earlyish in the morning before heading back to Melbourne, mainly in the name of seeing if things still worked. Hip was mostly at niggle stage and didn't get much better during the run, but didn't get any worse either, so should be up for at least the shorter events tomorrow (especially as it seems to have pulled up OK this afternoon). Went down to and along the river as far as the island at Lock 11 (providing a small taste of the Murray River forests, which I've never orienteered in), taking in on the way an impressively-sculpted flood marker and the Mildura Lawn Tennis Club, which is one of relatively few which is still lawn. (It occasionally hosts Davis Cup fixtures when we decide that we're better on grass than our opponents will be).

One feature I haven't seen at an airport before was the Mildura airport book swap, a nice idea, although the cynic in me thinks that it was only possible because (a) Mildura airport is owned by the council and not private enterprise and (b) no-one is trying to sell reading matter at Mildura airport (whose only business is a coffee shop).

Being in the office for only half the day meant that I only spent half the day interpreting the latest numbers coming out of the UK.

Headed up to Mildura today to deliver a series of talks to the Council and the community. In doing the preparation, it was clear that in this part of the world, as in much of southeastern Australia, 1997 is a major breakpoint (after then, maximum temperatures take off and rainfall drops away in the cooler months). I've long thought there was a certain symbolism in my first trip on the Melbourne-Mildura route, on 27 March 1997, on the way to Easter at Broken Hill - with the company of a massive duststorm for most of the last 300km into Mildura, which I sometimes think of as the symbolic start of the long drought (much as I think of the floods of 1996 Tasmanian Championships weekend as the symbolic end of the previous wet epoch). I'm sure many other Victorians who did the trip will remember the dust, too. I had a picture of it as my opening slide.

(In another nod to personal history in this part of the world, the shirt I wore for the talks today was the one I bought in the local menswear shop in St. Arnaud on the way to Warren and Tash's wedding, after realising on the way out of Melbourne that I'd forgotten to pack one).

The flight up was early enough in the day that trying to squeeze in something beforehand would definitely have tested my early-morning capabilities, and I knew I had some time to spare before my first engagement at 12.30, so my plans were to do something once I arrived. That part did go more or less to plan despite the shortcomings of airport transport - there is no public transport to Mildura Airport, and apparently the town only has 14 taxis which isn't really enough to cope when three flights arrive near-simultaneously (I eventually shared a ride in and hope that Australia's taxpayers appreciate the $25 I've saved them) - and I also remembered my swimming gear this time, unlike the last time I was here.

The mid-morning pool crowd is a bit different to the early-morning one - in between swimming lessons and aqua aerobics, I suspect I was the only person in the water (other than instructors) between the ages of 8 and 60. Started slowly but gradually built into it. Noticed three-quarters of the way through that my towel had been moved, and thought I'd better get out to check that the locker key wrapped in it was still there before resuming - in the process of which I got a massive cramp in my right thigh, something I've never had happen to me before while swimming (foot cramps are quite regular, but not there), and bad enough to make me grateful that it happened at the shallow end and not in the middle of a large body of water. Quickly decided not to go back in once I got out (which I eventually did via the ramp); the affected area didn't feel right even several hours later. Presumably this all has something to do with my lingering something-like-a-cold; it certainly isn't because of excessive exercise or excessive heat this week (and I don't think there's been anything particularly unusual about my diet lately either).

On the positive side, the talks went well (and the Council itself was a less challenging audience than I'd expected, given what I'd heard of the mayor's climate scepticism), my throat more or less held out through three one-hour presentations, my hip seems to have improved enough today that I'm willing to try it out on a bit of a run tomorrow, and I indulged in a sporting feast this evening, taking in the soccer, the AFL and the NRL on side-by-side screens at the Mildura Working Man's Club (yes, it's still called that). This establishment used to be in the Guinness Book of Records for possessing the world's longest bar, but sadly said bar, like (probably) some of its patrons, fell victim to the pokies.

C • Council 3

Back to the pool, still not feeling that brilliant (either in terms of soreness or health, with a cold still lingering in its later stages). Nice enough in the water and felt as if I was at least achieving something.