LSR @ Olinda

Headed out to somewhere different this morning - to the Dandenong Ranges National Park at Olinda. I started at from the Woolrich Lookout, which is reached via a fairly hairy gravel road. It was cold and windy at the lookout, but cool and calm once in the forest.

large pond behind a wire fence

Lookout Rock

The plan was to be on my feet for 2 hours, and I didn't much care whether I ran or walked. I stopped to take a few photos on my way through R.J.Hammer Forest Arboretum, before navigating through the complex track network. I had a copy of the Melways page(s), but Mr Melway doesn't differentiate between wide open track, and overgrown tumbledown track. As a result, I spent about 1/2 hour fighting my way along Rifle Range Gully Trk. Note to self: don't do this again. If I wasn't climbing over fallen trees, I was crawling under them, or pushing through soaking wet ferns, or avoiding blackberry traps. I like singletrack, but this was a bit too much. Completely unrunnable.

I had half a gel once I made it out (at the 1 hour mark), and made a point of sticking to tracks called "Road", until I looped back to Georges Trk which I knew was more road-like than track-like. Had the rest of the gel 40 minutes later at the start of the long uphill trek back to the car.

I'd given up running at this point, but my heartrate was staying within Zone 3, so I figured I was still giving myself a decent workout.

12.1 kms, in 2:15. Average heartrate: 141 bpm.

Elevation profile


EDIT: MotionBased has me at 13.4 kms. Elevation gain +1403m. Strewth! Perhaps that's where the extra kilometre comes from, in which case, I'll take it. That 1.4 km climb was hard work!




Weekly Stats:

Weight	73.1 kgs ▲
Walking	18.9 kms
Running	27.7 kms