Mooroolbark Meander: 2-hr metro

Nice run. I wasn't expecting too much out of this one because it was hilly and my knee was still reminding me that it wanted being nice to. Shins had fully recovered from Tuesday. It drizzled lightly for the first hour, but mostly very nice running conditions as we ducked in and out of the streets around Kilsyth and southern Mooroolbark.

Got third female! Two points behind Denise, but we both got the same number of controls, so she chose a higher-scoring route than me. First place (Leonie) was way in front.

16.9 km in 6:49 average pace, which I'm pretty happy with given the conditions. Also further than I ran last time I did a 2-hr Metro.

Rest Days

THU: 5.0 km walk in the morning. Cold with chilly patches.

Went shopping after work and bought a new tent. This one is quite a bit larger than my current pup-tent, and should be a bit nicer to hide out in when the weather turns feral. And speaking of pups... it's big enough for (wo)man's best friend too. :-)



FRI: 5.4 km walk.

SAT: grew roots and vegetated.

Weight	no idea - I'm too scared to look!
Walking	15.4 kms
Running	35.4 kms

And to respond to your comments: yes, I'm going to get a dog; no, I haven't decided what sort yet; but it won't be a great dane! I'm not having a dog that costs more to feed than I do. Besides, it wouldn't fit in the car. :-)

Street-O @ Bellbird Dell

To prove (to myself) that I *can* actually run, I went and had a really good one tonight. Only problem was an incredibly BADLY set course which gave no consideration to the safety of the runners - with controls set under trees and on poles in the dark, rather than on street lamps where we can see them; several controls set on the side of the road with no footpath and no grass verge, forcing us to run on the road with very little room for a car to pass as well; and a lovely pitch black run down the length of Bluebird Dell Reserve for nearly a km on the way home. Where's a Course Controller when you need one? Grrr.

Back 3 minutes late (maybe 4?) so lost all of my points, and my average pace reflects the fumbling around in the dark, rather than my actual running pace. Knee and shin pain disappeared after a few minutes, although I can feel my shins now (2 hours later).

7.2 km.

I now plan to rest until Sunday (no running, no cycling) to let my legs fully recover. Will walk instead.

Sleep in

WED: didn't go out for a walk this morning. My knee feels... "tight" - sort of sore without really being sore. And my shins are a bit tender too - but I can blame yesterday's hills for that. Running hills on a road is a lot harder than running hills on a grassy/forest slope.

The knee has been dodgy off-and-on for a while. I had it taped yesterday, and it wasn't really a problem. It's also not a problem once it warms up (perhaps that's what was missing from yesterday too - a warmup. Belting downhill from the start doesn't count). So I'm going to skip my cycle tomorrow, as I think that's what's causing it. Maybe I'll go to a yoga class instead. I'm also going to skip the MTB Orienteering on Sunday, and will do the 2-hr Street-O instead.

Street Orienteering - Mooroolbark/Croydon - Sunday 30 April

CR Run: Menzies Ck to Belgrave

Sunday long wobble/Puffing Billy training

Urgh. In a word. A Very Crap Run - no energy, no legs, no nothing. And I know no one particularly cares, but I felt a bit uncomfortable having everyone wait for me at each stop too. It wasn't only the uphill bits, I just couldn't muster any enthusiasm for the downhill bits either.

Not sure why - the only real reason that I can think of is because I only had a couple of bread rolls for tea last night, and nothing but a lemon juice before setting out this morning. No fuel in the tank. I was wearing the camelback, with an emergency gel stashed in the pocket, so I ate that while walking up a particularly steep bit just outside Belgrave. I think it helped a little.

11.3 km

Brunch at Ripe cafe in Sassafrass - awesome hot chocolate (made with half a slab of Lindt dark chocolate and a lick of steamed milk) and pancakes. Yummy... except I then spent the afternoon remembering why I don't eat/drink cow food any more.

For the techheads in the group:

Dog thoughts

I am seriously thinking about getting a dog. Medium-sized, female, probably NOT a puppy.

Pros	Cons
* someone to run with and motivate me to keep running	* I work all week. She'd be alone for 10-12 hours a day.
* someone to keep me company. Love and affection and all that	* could I take her orienteering? There are often a few dogs at the bush events - they get tied to the car while their owner is out running.
* security	* out-of-town accommodation could be a problem ("no dogs")
* social status - so RunDave, I guess that means I shouldn't get a toy poodle then.  :-)	* there are enough dogs in my neighbourhood already
* bloke magnet??  see above.  Anything called "Fluffy" is out - unless it comes with three heads and smells bad.	* cost - food, vet, rego, etc

Edit: thanks for all your comments. I've added them in above - I can see this being a "work in progress". I also bought my first Dog book today (Apr 27): The Dog Listener (as seen on TV). It's more of a narrative than an instruction book, but I find those more interesting anyway.

Edit #2: So there I was last night, standing around talking to people, when Bryan's dog Georgie trots over and parks herself at my feet. She's a totally gorgeous Cocker Spaniel cross, mid-sized, and an excellent runner. I crouched down, she had her paws on my knees, and we had a good ol' cuddle. Jacqui's cackling away, "you're hooked!" she says. Dammit. *grin*

Tagged!

I've been tagged by Spark Driver

1. What time of day do you run?

Before breakfast if I'm on my own; Street-O in the evenings and/or Saturday afternoon; or bush orienteering on Sunday mornings.

2. What are your favorite runs?

Trail runs through Dandenong Ranges National Park when there's no one else around.

3. What is your favorite song to run to?

I don't run with music, so whatever is playing in my head at the time. Or nothing at all. Bird song - trying to identify which bird is making which sound. Magpies are way cool. Lyrebirds are always hard to pick.

4. What book are you reading at the moment?

Harry Potter! I had a supplier in Sydney (10yo son of a workmate), but haven't found anyone in Melbourne of the right age, so I caved in and bought the first 5 books last month. Halfway through Chamber of Secrets for about the 3rd time.

5. When did you start running?

August 2003 - I'd just moved to Melbourne from Sydney, and was determined that *this time* it (running) would work. I'd started before, and got injured or discouraged and found other things to do. Did my first Street Orienteering event in October 2003, and have been hooked ever since.

6. What's your post-race/post-run ritual?

Refuel, and compare notes on route choice. This process (the refuelling and the comparing) can last well into the evening on an "away" weekend, where there's no tv, and only a group of mad orienteers for company.

7. What do you eat before you run?

Nothing - I try to have an empty stomach when I go out. It seems to work best that way.

8. What's your favorite running accessory?

My Garmin Forerunner 301. I don't do anything clever with it - I use it mostly to measure distance. During an orienteering run, I will trip the lap counter at every control as this helps me lay my route onto the map afterwards.

9. What's your motivation for running? (or why you first started running)

Weight loss and fitness. They alternate - I look okay in street clothes, but I love the feeling of being fit and being able to run. And I'd get really bored sitting at home in front of the telly all day. :-)

10. What are your running shoes?

ASICS Nimbus. I'm onto my second pair (previously MC/Koji - long story), although I also have ASICS Eagle Trails and VJ Integrators (orienteering spikes) for the trail and off-trail stuff.

11. What is your next running goal?

To survive the next event! I don't have long-term goals, and my short-term ones consist of "participate and finish". There's something on every weekend over winter, so I'm never short of something to aim for.


I now tag Stillwater Heron.

Middle Distance Champs

Middle Distance Champs @ Mount Korong

Horrible little course. Lots of hidden controls in amongst granite boulders and thick green stuff. Did okay up until control #16. No 15 was a bit dodgy, but I found it hidden in the next gully; and control #8 was a bit further away than where I expected; but #16 killed me. I couldn't relocate (identify where I was) in the rocks, granite slabs, and clearings - they all looked the same to me - and eventually decided that I'd had enough. Walked back towards the finish, and punched the last 2 controls on the way in. So, a DNF. :-(

On the up side, I found 17 out of 19 controls. There were a lot of people who gave up after only finding 5 controls over several hours.

Course: 4 (W35)
Course length: 4.0 km
Actual distance: 6.87 km
Time taken: 1:23

Overnight at a campground in Bendigo along with everyone else. Cold night - but toasty in my new -5-degree sleeping bag.


Vic Club Relays @ Fiddler's Green

Much more fun. Deb, Pam and I make up the "DROC Dead Gorgeous" W21B team - 3 legs of equal length and medium difficulty. Lovely open course with NO ROCKS! I barrelled around the course with no problems, except for maybe a 2-minute dislocation at control #7. I was the second-fastest on my leg - beaten by less than 60 seconds by a 15-year-old! Deb was also 2nd on her leg - beaten by a 75-year-old! Sheesh, not sure which is worse. We got 2nd overall. :-)

Course: 5 (W21B)
Course length: 2.7 km
Actual distance: 3.4 km
Time taken: 30 minutes


Weekly wrap:

Weight		denial is everything
Walking	11.1 kms
Running	17.4 kms
Cycling	37.5 kms

Happy Hour

7am: conference call with a US client
8am: walk 5.9 km - icy cold rain
9am: brekkie
10am: walk into the office to see the "Happy Hour" sign up for pizza and beer this afternoon

Mmmm, pizza... :-)


There have been a few posts recently on CR about cycling benefitting running - specifically on hills. Plus 2P's introspection on much the same topic.

Got me thinking that I should put a bit more effort into my cycling. I tend to take it easy and cruise both on the trips to/from work, and out on an MTB course. I used to be a mad-keen cyclist in my uni days, so the speed is there... lurking somewhere in the aging legs of a near-40 year old. I can already run hills fairly easily, but while I've got the strength, I don't have the endurance. And orienteering is all about strength and endurance.

Dark and muddy

Cycle to/from work. Trail was heavy and slow after 10mm rain overnight, but it was clear and sunny on the ride in. Coming home at 6pm wasn't so much fun - dark, drizzly, muddy(!), my glasses kept fogging up, and a few kms from home, my new VisionStick died.

The manual says that it is due for recharging when the light goes yellow. But not to recharge when its only partially drained for the first few cycles to prevent establishing a short memory. Right... so ride until the light goes yellow - I can do that. But it goes yellow bloody fast! Like someone took a dimmer switch to a 100w bulb and dropped it to 20w. And about 5 minutes after that, it drops to almost nothing. Faaarrrk! By this stage I was in Station Street, but it's still an unsealed road with NO STREET LIGHTS, and not a lot to stop me from rolling into the ditch.

I guess I expected to get more than 2 hours burn time (I have a similar torch for diving, and it lasts closer to 12 hours), but the manual says 140 minutes once it's had a few charge/discharge cycles.

37.5 km

Street-O @ Waverley Woods

Weird weather - warm, windy, floaty weather that is fun to run in. Had a good run on an irritatingly well-set course with no obvious "best" route choice. Plenty of hills, but they didn't cause too many problems.

7.1 km in 6:04 average pace.

Also WALK this morning: 5.2 km.

Easter 3-Day Orienteering Carnival

Event centre at the Harcourt Recreation Reserve, where I camped for 3 nights on the footy oval, and made use of the facilities (communal showers, kitchen). The events themselves were held south of Castlemaine - one near Newstead, and two out past Campbells Creek.

Day 1: Mia Mia

First glance at the map, and relief that it looked "easy" - straightforward with clear features and no technical crap. Scale was 1:15000 and only white and green patches on the map.

10:22 start, clear and sunny, but turned overcast with drizzle patches during my run. Good run - I pretty much landed on every control, or knew exactly where I was if I didn't (if it's not *this* cliff, then it must be *that* cliff). Open running country, and I trotted for a good portion of it.

Course: 10: W35A
Course distance: 6.6 km
Actual distance: 7.9 km
Time taken: 1:25

Day 2: Spring Gully Diggings

Huge map (1:10000) with lots of colours - orange open stuff, green inpenetrable stuff, white semi-open stuff, and lots of technical gold-mining detail. A good map though, and the controls were where they were meant to be.

Late start 12:52 - had "lunch" before heading out (a very sad vege burger from the caterers), and hot on the course. Stuffed up control #3, eventually found myself at #11, relocated, and hit the rest pretty much spot on. Stopped running (too easy to screw up) and walked the rest of the course.

Course: 10: W35A
Course distance: 5.4 km
Actual distance: 7.4 km
Time taken: 1:38

Day 3: Deadman's Flat

Same location as yesterday, although running the southern section. Map was 1:10000 again but with 2.5m contours - which meant for a *very* detailed little map. We needed the extra detail though - this was the most technical course of the three.

I was listed as starting at 9:20, but my name wasn't on the start list. WTF? Eventually found my name against an 11:10 start, so walked all the way back to the spectator area (over a km back up the road), to hang around for another couple of hours. Dammit - I needn't have got up so early!

Good run - took it carefully and hit everything accurately.

Course: 10: W35A
Course distance: 4.5 km
Actual distance: 5.5 km
Time taken: 1:13


Day 2 (yellow) and day 3 (blue) courses. Where they come together is the Finish for both days - the starts are at the other end. Squiggly bits are where I went looking for a control.

Oink Oink, Grrrr

Pig #1:
I'd just left Harcourt (near Castlemaine) on the Calder Hwy, when about 8km west of Malmsbury, traffic grinds to a halt. We sit on an average of 10 km/hr crawling up and down the rolling terrain. Malmsbury's often bad (single lane, lots of cafes and associated traffic hazzards), but not *this* bad. Eventually I get to the top of the hill above the township and see red and blue flashing lights - oh, okay then, it's an accident. But noooo... it's a bloody police checkpoint holding up thousands of cars. Which half-arsed idiot thought *that* was a good idea?!

Pig #2:
Two hours later, I'm sitting behind a wanker in a dark blue Commodore doing 70 km/hr in an 80 zone. Passing lane comes up and I'm outta there. Wanker speeds up. WTF? I figure small dick with a large ego doesn't like being passed by a small car. So I hold my speed into the 70 zone (this is the Warburton Hwy - speed limit changes every 500m) with the wanker right on my tail. Bastard. Wanker flashes his highbeam at me, and when I look closer, I see some cute little blue and red flashing lights in the window. ARSE! $210 and 3 demerit points later, I finally make it home.


weekly wrap (incl Monday)

Weight	71.0 kgs ▼
Walking	10.4 kms
Running	36.7 kms
Cycling	37.4 kms

Easter report coming soon....

THU: cycle to/from work 37.4 kms

Wore my new 3/4-length GroundEffect "witches britches" with the fluffy knees. Nice and warm in the chilly morning air. I'm going to do a small plug for GroundEffect clothing - it's awesome stuff, fits perfectly, and looks like something you could wear in public rather than posing as a mobile advertising board. I have a good collection of their clothes now, and love every one.

Also got to use the kick-arse lightstick on the way home. It kicked arse! The guy in the shop said that it wouldn't slow me down (as in, it would give me enough light), and he was right. It was dark by the time I got to Mt Evelyn, and usually I just cruise down the trail to Seville. But tonight I was riding through a tunnel of light with pitch black to either side. So cool. Got a homeward PB too.

1/2" slither of chocolate slice (trying to be good) 1 slice herb bread 3 small easter eggs

Street-O @ Doncaster Heights

Excellent run, nice cool weather, and the hills just disappeared under my feet. Running really well once I'd warmed up. I was on track for a perfectly-timed finish with about 1km to go and 5 mins to get there, picking up one final control on the way home.

Punched control #16, counted left, left, right, opposite 2nd street on the right. No control. Hmmm, trot up and down the street a bit in case it's been mis-placed (an irritatingly common occurrence by tonight's course setter). Saw a t-intersection just up the road. What's that doing there? Check map - no t-intersections here. Wonder where I am? BUGGER! Head to the intersection and turn right, because it looks like the main road is at the end of it. Turn right at the main road, because I should be east of Home. But what's that big intersection doing there? See another runner heading toward me. Help?! This way, he says, pointing behind me. Huh? Run with him thinking I'm heading west towards Home, then we turn a corner, and I still have no idea where I am until I see the park and the flashing light indicating the finish.

Back 5 minutes late, and I figure out that I should have turned an extra Left after #16, and that instead of heading south, I was actually heading west. Luckily my white knight in a blue t-shirt was there to rescue me!

8.5 km in 6:09 average pace.

WED: walk 5.0 km. Nice warm morning, nice to be able to walk along a road without dogs going off (barking) in every direction.

you know what:

1/2 cheese and bacon bread roll 1" square cherry ripe slice small hot cross bun yoghurt drink   ahhh, what's wrong with me - I am sooo hungry this afternoon.

TUE: 7.4 km run Chandler Road loop plus a bit extra along the trail to make up the distance. Cold, with warm patches on the high bits. Strange weather. No sign (or sound) of the dog this morning.

I've had a slight niggle in my right knee since the weekend, so have had it strapped for the morning walk/run. Hopefully nothing of concern.


yesterday's confessional:

1" square of lemon slice 1" slice of apple turnover 1 small bag of liquorice bullets :-)

today's confessional:

1 lammington finger 1 small hot cross bun 1 K-Time Muffin Bar

having a lot of trouble staying awake... constantly yawning... and it's only 3:45pm.

The love affair is over

5.4 km, without the dog.

Simon and I had Words over the weekend about Ruby's incessant barking. I'd got back from my shopping trip on Saturday: barkbarkbark from the next door front lawn (there is a low fence between us, which she can see me over). The tail's wagging, so she's not being agressive, just noisy barkbarkbark. Got out of my car barkbarkbark, opened the boot barkbarkbark, started to unload barkbarkbark barkbarkbark faaaaarrk shuddup already. Saw Simon standing in the doorway with one of his kids, just looking on. Gimme a break! When Ruby is with me, she doesn't bark, because I don't let her. When she's at home, Simon's the boss, and he condones the racket. I didn't say anything, but went inside. Barking stopped. Funny that - she'd "won". And I spent the evening stewing over what I should have done.

Next morning, Sunday 7:30am, I'm loading up the car barkbarkbark. Bet the neighbours are thrilled barkbarkbark. I refuse to back off, and just stay at my car watching her barkbarkbark. After a few minutes barkbarkbark, I walked around to their door barkbarkbark with the dog staying between me and the door BARKBARKBARK actually crashing into the door BARKBARKBARK until Simon came out. This is not on Simon blahblahblah it's got to stop blahblahblah I hate being accosted everytime I'm in my driveway blahblahblah. He just stood there crouched over Ruby trying to make her shut up, and muttered "sorry" as I stalked off.

How to train a dog to shut up: (1) ignore her or just watch her when she barks; (2) talk over her barking; (3) cuddle her and say "bad doggy"; or (4) remove her from the situation. Well, I'll give you a clue - it ain't 1, 2, or 3.

When I went out for my walk this morning, I wondered if they'd leave her outside for me to pick up. Oh yeah, or (5) take her for a walk when she barks. Wow, what a reward for barking... must keep it up. Not. Anyway, she was going off barkbarkbark inside the house, so I didn't bother going any closer.

Nice canine-free walk.

MTB-O @ Bell's Reef Extended

Mountainbike orienteering just west of Daylesford, through a forestry area. Most of the course was through pine plantations, on either gravel roads (boring and rough), or wide tracks through the plantings covered with pine needles (silent and kind of eerie), with some fun singletrack to finish off.

It was all about route choice today - the actual navigation was piss-easy, but the up-and-down steep hills sapped your energy. I'm too much of a wimp to go flat out downhill, and I used a lot of the lower gears going up (including walking gear at one point). So slow but steady. Nice sunny day too.

Course: 3 (Women's B)
Course length: 15.5 km
Actual distance: 14.4 km - I love it when I "beat" the course setter. :-)
Time taken: 1:16


The road across the top is A300 from Daylesford to Ballarat


Sunday wrap:

Weight	71.3 kgs
Walking	10.3 kms
Running	14.8 kms
Cycling	51.9 kms

New Jeans

I pulled on my favourite pair of jeans, and was a bit surprised to notice how loose they were at the waist. So I grabbed my tape measure and my notebook. In the six months since I last performed this humiliating little ritual, I have lost 5 cm from my waist, 2.5 cm from my arse, and 4.5 cm from my thigh. And 3.8 kg.

This is not necessarily a good thing.

It means I need to buy new jeans (my second-favourite pair was already too big). And I HATE CLOTHES SHOPPING. Especially bottoms. All my good/work clothes are either home-sewn or bought through mailorder.

I have a "classic" hourglass figure - which worked well until I moved to Australia, where everyone has a more rectangular shape. So to fit jeans around my bum, I end up with a few spare inches in the waist. The last pair of jeans I bought, I had to take the waistband off and remove 5 INCHES from the waist. I really don't think I should be paying $70+ for something that doesn't fit - but there you have it. Jeans suck.

Anyway, I struck paydirt on my first stop, and found that Levis still do a "classic" jean (555) which I may be able to get away with just adding some elastic to pull the waist in.

I celebrated by going slightly mad in the bookshop.

Oh, and just to state the obvious - I didn't go rogaining, or orienteering at Bendigo. It was, in fact, an exercise-free day. Didn't get my hair done either.

Pizza Friday

7.4 km run with RubyDog. We left an hour later today, as I had a 7am conference call with a US client. Our usual out and back run along the Warby trail. My energy levels were a bit lacking and it felt like hard work for most of it, with quite a few walking breaks. I left Ruby off the leash as we walked back along the water-filled ditches (and the dog IN the ditches trying to bite the moving water), which was great fun, until she tore across the road to yell at some stupid yappy dog in a front yard.

Went bike light shopping at lunchtime, and bought a kick-arse $170 NiteFlux VisionStick 5.5 which should turn night into day on my rides home in the dark.

1/2 croissant Hungry Jacks whopper combo (burger, chips, Coke) (very late lunch) Pizza and Coke (Happy Hour)

Windy with showers

I didn't make it to Street-O last night. I got stuck at work helping some idiot in another country install a product he didn't know, on an operating system he didn't know, in a language that clearly wasn't in his top 5. Arrrrgh, so irritating. Went home to leftover pizza, and spent the evening rejigging the lights on my bike using some garden hose and a bit of kiwi ingenuity.

Cycled to/from work: 37.4 km total. 8 degrees on the way in, 12 on the way home.

Had the bike serviced earlier in the week - new bottom crank and a full adjustment on the rear gear system. Noiice... Now I just need a much gruntier headlight and maybe some mudguards.

Oh, and I'm an aunty again - congrats to my sister (and brother-in-law, of course), and a big hello to Rebecca Grace. 7 lbs.

confessional:
Ewen, if I was a good girl, I wouldn't have to make confessions now, would I? :-)

1" square chocolate slice Nando's chicken burger, chips, dip, and a Coke

Humpday

4.8 km walk. I'd suggested to Simon that he leave the dog and the leash outside his door in the mornings, so she didn't disturb the whole family when I came to get her. It sort of worked - the leash was hanging from the door handle, the door was open, but Ruby had opted for the warmth of her kitchen instead of waiting for me!

It worked exceptionally well in reverse though. When we got back, I filled her bucket with water, took off the leash, hung it back on the door and left Ruby quietly sitting on the doorstep. It worked so well that I thought I should double-check that she hadn't run off somewhere. Walked back to her place - dog was gone. Leash was gone too, and their oldest daughter G was just walking away on her way to school. Well, I thought, it must be okay.

I stuck my head around just as I was leaving for work - apparently G had opened the door and said, Oh, the dog's here! Quiet little mouse had been so well behaved!

confessional:

1" square of cherry ripe slice another 1" square of cherry ripe slice (Mmmm) K-Time Muffin bar

Got a call from my rogaine partner on the way to work this morning to say that her husband had cracked the shits and wouldn't let her out for the weekend (*rolls eyes* I can't believe he gets away with this). So now I have to ask around at Street-O tonight to see if anyone wants to fill her spot, or if I can join another W/Open team. Or I could just give it a miss, stay out all night partying on Friday, and get my hair done on Saturday (long overdue, and my mother is coming to visit), and/or go to a Bendigo club event instead.

Pizza, at last

7.4 km run with Ruby, out and back along the Warby trail. 9.5/10.

confessional:

small lamington slice 5/10 Nestle Club Hazelnut Creme 2/10 (me, not the chocolate - which was also 9.5/10)

In the interests of professional research, I just had to check out the pizza shop in Mt Evelyn. Verdict? 9/10

Vegetarian Surpreme pizza Garlic bread Coke

MON: 5.6 km. MadDog and I did the Chandler Road loop, and I let her off the lead once we were past suburbia (so probably about 4km worth of unleashed puppy). 9/10 for behaviour. Oh, and we found a HUGE dog bone in the park near home - sooo exciting, and very disappointing that I wouldn't let her bring it with us. Oh, oh, and it's been raining right, so all the ditches are full of flowing water. And flowing water is SUCH a puppy-magnet! I don't think I've ever seen her with such a silly grin on her face.

Silly mutt wrenched the Garmin half off my wrist during an energetic puppy leap. Luckily we were on a dirt road at the time, not on the grass or I'd never have found the pin. This side of the watch has been loose since I fell on it a few weeks ago - does anyone have any clever ways of making it stay put (I'm thinking hairspray (no I don't own any), superglue, etc).

confessional:

1" square chocolate slice Apricot bar Chinese takeaway for lunch, because I was at the shopping centre clearing my mail, and even though I had a yummy healthy salad in the fridge at work. It wasn't even particularly nice.

Bush-O @ Creswick Diggings

Club orienteering event out at Creswick amongst the gold tailings. Very technical area; I chose the second-to-longest course (15 controls) and BLITZED IT!

Course: 2
Course length: 5 km
Actual distance: 6.5 km
Time taken: 1:15

I started off at a slow trot feeling the effects of yesterday's run; fumbled control #5, and lost 10 minutes. As I was leaving it I saw Pete coming in to get it. Bugger! He's dynamite at navigating, and running the same course as me. So I hightailed it to the next control, opting for a slightly longer (but safer and faster) route along a forest track to the next control, all the time keeping an eye on the hill above me for any sign of him. From there it was a rabbit run, only this little rabbit never saw the hound again until the finish. I ran fairly hard, navigated almost perfectly, and beat him by over 15 minutes!

*hot and happy*

I'd bought a new Deuter 2L hydration pack yesterday, and took it for a test run today - perfect. Didn't move about at all, and was comfortable for the whole time. Anyone want a second-hand camelback? :-)

Weight	71.0 kgs
Walking	8.9 kms
Running	35.2 kms
Cycling	37.3 kms

Street-O @ Mullum Mullum

The first Cake-O of the year. Signed up for Course A, and ran a perfect Course B. *rolls eyes*

7.1 km

Small map and hard to work out an obvious route (a sign of a well-set course). I skipped a few controls at the top of the map, and looped around collecting everything else and came in 10 minutes early - just as it started bucketing down. The rain stopped 10-15 minutes later, and we had cake, coffee and sunshine to round off the afternoon.

slice of Lauris' cake (which is really very healthy) small piece of some chocolate nougat thing fish and chips for dinner Coke Lindt Petits Desserts Dark Orange (bliss)