Friday Funday

A repeat of Tuesday. I got the Good Ruby back, and we walked down to the trail, ran until half-time, then reversed the process. Behaviour is improving (hers, not mine. :-)

7.1 km

confessional:
I should explain about the sweets in the mornings. I work for a caring, sharing company that provides breakfast to its employees. This generally consists of various cereals, yoghurt, fruit, bread, etc... and a tray from the local bakery each day with donuts, slices, sausage rolls, etc. The real food lives in the kitchen, but the bakery tray lives near the admin area, which I walk past 100+ times a day.

1/2 croissant KitKat Temptation bar (should really use the sugar-free checkout lane at the supermarket)

Had to go into Ringwood at lunchtime (shopping)...
and in Ringwood, we have...

Fasta Pasta (tomato-based sauce, so not (too) bad) Garlic bread (very bad) Coke

Paulc, you're an evil, evil man... And chocolate goes so well with pizza too. :-) But after a junky lunch, I'll save the pizza for another day.

Thursday

Cycled to/from work. Haven't been in the saddle for a couple of weeks, and I got to christen my new bike lights for the first half hour before sunrise. Came across a woman in the half-light with a stupid white fluffy dog on one of those stretchy leads that give you no control. HalfPint was running sideways right in front of my wheel, in my headlight, and not nearly fast enough for my liking. "Oh, I'm sorry", says the bimbo, "didn't know you were there..."

Must do something about my rear gear cluster - it's developed an annoying habit of not changing up when you flick the lever, only to bounce up when you least want it (like when you're applying pressure up a short hill or away from an intersection).

Trip in: 1:06 Warm still: 17 degrees.
Trip out: 1:10 getting pretty cool towards home.
Total: 37.3 km

confessional:

1" slice of peppermint chocolate slice 4 salted crackers

Feeling very virtuous, but I feel a pizza coming on tomorrow night.

Street-O @ Tunstall Junction

First Winter series event. All events from now until next summer are Score events - you have a set time to get as many controls as you can, with different controls having different points values. Course B must be back by 7:50pm, which works out at somewhere around the 45-minute mark after usually leaving late and getting back early.

Tonight's was no exception, finally being given the "Go!" at 7:02. Warm humid night. Interesting course, with no obvious "best" way around. Left myself with 5 minutes to run the last km home - do-able, but UPHILL and at the end of a run. I made it with nearly a minute to spare... which meant that I *could* have made a dash for control #7 - but would I have got back on time?!

7.4 km with an average pace of 6:21.

Wednesday short black

4.4 km. I don't know what happened to GoodRuby this morning, but I got SatanPup instead. Damn dog. Jumping up at the leash, biting the leash, and basically being a pain in the arse (sometimes literally). I'm presuming she wanted me to drop the leash, but I wasn't going to do that until (a) we were in the park, and (b) she behaved. Bloody mutt.

confessional:

1" square cherry ripe cake (it was there, okay?!)

office bbq to farewell a couple of the guys:

handfull of crisps 2 vege patties 1 sausage and bread 1 chicken kebab 1 light beer 1 coke later in the afternoon handfull of lollies during afternoon   (quick, someone drag me away...)

For RunDave and Stillwater Heron who don't know what a chocolate mud finger is - it's essentially a chocolate truffle in a sausage shape. Chocolate and sugar, rolled in coconut, about the size of your finger. Yummy.

Run tonight should burn a couple of lollies off.

Tuesday long flat white

I've been vaguely thinking of running to work on Tuesdays, to get a long run into my schedule. And I was flicking through the latest RW last night, and read the bit about how your long run should be no more than 30% of your total weekly kms.

Um, okay. Running Street-O and Orienteering will give me at most 20km, which makes the 18km run to work somewhat more than 30%. Does walking count? Add another ~15km, makes it 34%. Wahoo, nearly there. If walking counts. Which it probably doesn't.

So I planned a run this morning - not 18km, but as far as I could get in an hour with a puppy. We walked down to the trail, where I took the leash off (so she didn't keep tripping on it), and started running. Mad dog thought it was great! We turned around at half time and ran back to Seville station, clipped the lead back on and walked home.

One very tired puppy kept a lot closer to me on the return trip - not so much bounding off to bury her nose into everything. Very well behaved though, didn't chase any rabbits or bark at anything.

7.2 kms, including 2x1km walk to/from the trail

1/2 chocolate mud finger (sigh... I love these things) another 1/2 chocolate finger after lunch (oooh, I am so weak)

Didn't do too well last night. Had a disgusting freezer meal which I didn't finish, and filled up on too many raisins. Still prowling for food at 8pm, so walked to the shops and bought a

Magnum ice cream

My second night at home in a row and I'm bored, there's nothing on telly, and I've finished my pile of books and magazines. Guess it's probably time I started renovating again...

Monday skinny latte

4.5 km with the mad dog in tow. I kept her on a tight rein until we got to the sports ground, then I dropped the leash. Took her across the creek (across a fallen-tree bridge - that was fun!), and around the back streets past all the vineyards. First day back at school after the holidays, so lots of kids walking around - very exciting for a young dog, but again, I kept the kiddie-magnet in tight and she was well behaved.

crap food diary
My confessional. I'm not going to log the healthy stuff I eat during the day - muesli, salads, fruit, healthy lunches/dinners, etc. Just the bad stuff.

1" square of lemon slice (morning gluttony) 1x K-Time Muffin Bar (afternoon snack) 1/2 dozen crackers with cheese (pre-dinner)

Long-O @ Mount Hickey

A 3-hour score event at Mount Hickey, north of Melbourne. 30 controls, and 3 hours to get as many as you can. Fairly complex granite terrain, but an excellent course with easy to find controls, and lots of 'soft' (although longer) options to get from one control to the next.

Hit every control dead-on, walking probably 90% of the course - too warm to do anything more (although many younger, fitter people did). Enjoyable day.

Course: 3-hour
Actual distance: 11.9 km
Time taken: 2:59:20

Weight	71.0 kgs ▼
Walking	23.5 kms
Running	23.0 kms

Detox Saturday

Did a detox day on Saturday, with fruit and juices in the morning, my normal breakfast muesli, fruit and yoghurt at lunchtime, fruit throughout the afternoon, and a salad for dinner. And after my shower, I was back to 71.0 kg.

Took the mad dog for a long walk late in the afternoon. I wanted to go out anyway, having done nothing all day except a few chores, and lounging on the deck reading a book. Went down to the Warby Trail, and dropped the leash. This gave both of us, I think, a more enjoyable walk: I got to walk at a consistent pace without getting my arm pulled off or having to stop all the time, and Ruby got to tear around, sniff things, and gallop at her own pace.

She really is a very good dog. She didn't try anything naughty (like running away), and would alway run up to me with a big grin on her face. Gorgeous puppy.

6.2 km

I am a fat tub of lard

73.0 kg this morning. sheesh!

All hail to the deities Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Oprah, and Women's Weekly, I have sinned badly this week. I have had fish and chips, Nando's chicken burger and chips, Fasta Pasta and garlic bread, multiple Cokes, K-Time muffin bars and $1 chocolates from the office machines, and cheese and crackers for dinner more than once.

All Crap.

Obviously, if I am to become a lean, mean, running machine, I need to not eat these things.

I'm also dehydrated. I've had a nagging dehydrated sort of a headache off-and-on since Monday night. The water at work tastes pretty ordinary (I think the filter needs changing), and Coke goes better with crap food anyway. I've just bought a powerade (and an apricot bar thing (on special)) to kill it once and for all. It's nice and sweet, and nearly gone already.



god, I hope no one's reading this...

Street-O @ Blackburn South

Last event in the Summer Series, last of the special Commonwealth Games theme events. Thank god! There's way too much brain power required at these. The results from Monday's event were up - and I beat a lot of people that I don't normally beat. Fast thinking beats fast running, hah hah. If only.

Tonight's course was the usual 20 controls: 6 bronze, 6 silver, and 8 gold. Course C had to get 10 "medals" in total, including at least 3 gold, emulating Sri Lanka's efforts in the history of the CG.

Ran a very tidy route of 5.0 km to come in fairly well placed, I think. Average pace 6:24, but this included more walking/calculating breaks than usual - both to give my legs a rest and to plan my route.

After aggravating a couple of blister spots the last few weeks, I ran without my orthotics tonight. This means that my heel was lower than usual, and for the first few kms I felt flat and heavy. Once I'd warmed up I didn't notice they were missing, although I was (sub?)consciously aware of my heel placement as I landed, making sure I didn't over-pronate.

Good run to round off the summer events, followed by the season prizegiving where I picked up a coffee mug and a couple of place certificates.

Street-O @ Shepherds Bush

Debbie set us a trickly little course for the last Monday night Street-O until next summer. A Score event (by time), 25 controls, but no control plates - instead 25 clues and 75 possible answers (with points off if you guessed wrong or were back late). Required far too much brain power!

Example, Control #8. Run to circle (as marked on map), look at clue: How many seats overlook the lilypond. Count: 2. Look at cluesheet: answer B. Write B on the control card in the square beside #8.

Except it went more like this: Control #18. Run to circle, fumble with cluesheet... what number is this? oh, #18. Clue: How many rings are on the monkey bar. Count: 6. No, hang on, 7. Check back on cluesheet. crap, what number is this again? Check map: #18. Check cluesheet: 7, right? Answer: B. Fumble pencil and control card. shit... oh yeah, #18. Write B on control card in correct square. Find place on map again and heard off in correct direction.

*sigh*

At least we all had similar stories to tell when we'd finished!

6 km

Woof

MON: 4.8 km. Took RubyDog out again for a WALK this morning - I was too tired to run, but Ruby had plenty of energy to burn. Barked at a horse which had more curiosity than a cat, and growled at a goat. I used an idea off The Dog Listener and turned Ruby away when she barked, then let her turn around to look again when she stopped. It only took a few rotations before she figured that it was better to look-and-not-bark, than to bark-and-not-see. As I said last week - very intelligent dog.

TUE: 4.1 km. Let me know when you get sick of dog stories, will you? I nearly didn't make it out of bed this morning, but eventually got to Ruby's front door only a few minutes late. Simon put the lead on before opening the door, and released the tornado. She calmed down after a few mad minutes, picked up the loop of the lead in her mouth, and she was ready.

It wasn't so much of a "walk" as a "sniff" this morning. Just as well I was only half awake and not very energetic, and I let her bury her nose into every exciting tuft of bush that we went past. We met some more horses, who she was curious about, but didn't bark at. And a bloke who called her "Killer" - she barked at him. Yes, silly man.

WED: 4.3 km. Boy, this dog-walking racket can be hard work. I hit Google yesterday to make sure I was doing the right thing with RubyDog (I am), and nearly everyone said to stop as soon as the dog puts *any* tension on the lead. So I did. After 45 minutes, we'd only done 2-and-a-bit kms. By that point we were at the sports grounds, so I ran the loop of the footy field with her held firmly at heel, and most of the way home, to burn off some puppy energy and get home within a reasonable time.



THU: with the puppy off with her extended family for the day, and a late one last night after the presentations, I took every excuse for a lie-in. Wasn't going to cycle today because I have a massage after work, and besides which, it's going to be too hot (forecast 30 degrees). Maybe tomorrow. :-)

PM: Massage with Matthew the Myotherapist. And for once, it didn't hurt. He said that my back and calves were looking really good.

FRI: 4.0 km. What I would really like is a puppy that walks at a consistent pace. I guess that's a big ask at 14 weeks, right? We saw some rabbits on the trail this morning. Ooooh, the excitement! RubyDog sat down at the end of her leash quivering with excitement, but quietly watching, as they flashed their white bums as they hopped through the grass.

A Bush-O We Will Go

A double-header bush orienteering weekend, with the Saturday event at Bendigo, and Sunday just outside Daylesford.

Spent the night (camping) at Mt Franklin, just up the road from a burnoff which sent flakes of burnt stuff into the campground and smoke into the air. I woke up at one point from a nightmare about an escaped bushfire which caused us to evacuate the campground. Clear skies in the morning though.


Diamond Hill

The first club event by Bendigo Orienteers held on the outskirts of the town. Did the longest course, ran nearly all of it, and found the navigation very straightforward. All my attack points magically appeared, and I hit all the controls dead on. The coaching last weekend is paying off!

I'm also starting to "see" the big stuff like gullys within gullys, and how to read the gully-spur detail properly, which has pretty much escaped me until now. *happy*

Course: A
Course length: 6.1 km
Actual distance: 7.9 km
Time: 1:38, but this included a stop to help Erin who had fallen and hurt her ankle.


Hepburn West

Vic State Series #1 with the start/finish on a private property with an amazing collection of dead vehicles lining the driveway. Most of the course was within a pine forest, which made for hard running over previous tree fellings and rough ground. Several very long legs to start with (1.3 km and 2 km) to wear us out, and I walked about 80% of the course - the body still tired from yesterday's run. Lots of deep erosion gullys to climb into and out of. Again, hit most of my controls dead on, with NO fumbling around or wandering aimlessly looking for them.

Course: 4 (W35A)
Course length: 6.4 km
Actual distance: 7.4 km
Time: 1:47, much more physically demanding than yesterday

Weight	72.0 kgs
Walking	5.7 kms
Running	31.3 kms

Ruby

Took SatanPup (Ruby) for a walk/run this morning, with a pocketfull of beef treats. After about 5 minutes of territorial growling and barking at her front door, we set off in high spirits. She's a really intelligent dog, eager to please, but has had NO socialisation outside the home. I'm fairly strict with animals, and she soon learnt what was expected. She barked twice at a boy near the takeaway, ignored the man at the hardware store, thought about growling at 2 blokes in a ute outside the garden centre, and was very interested in the big machines, big holes, big piles of dirt, and the workmen digging our new gas lines. We did a route with lots of grass because I wasn't sure how tough her paws were, and at one point we were running along a very wide grass verge and I had to keep looking down to make sure she was still attached to the end of the lead because it was slack, and she was running perfectly at heel.

I think I've found myself a running companion.

4.5 km

Nothing to do with Running

I submitted to the pizza craving on Tuesday night, and sat in front of the telly stuffing myself with pizza, garlic bread, coke, and chocolate (dessert). Then spent the next few hours watching crap and knitting(!).

Didn't go for a waddle on Wednesday morning. I've been feeling a touch run down, so I'm having a rest morning, or two. Today (Thursday) was a bit the same, except I opted out of cycling to work instead of opting out of walking. BUT, I slept through the night for the first time in ages.

Was just sitting down to read the paper when I saw the neighbour's 4-month old dog on my deck at the back of the house. I'm getting a bit pissed at this dog (a pedigree Alsatian) because she won't stop barking at me when I'm on the driveway. She also jumps the fence and barks at me from my driveway which is a bit off. Anyway, I cornered her on the deck, grabbed her around the collar, and dragged her back next door. Boy was she not happy! The whole neighbourhood must have heard the fuss.

Simon came around a few minutes later and got an earful. I was still shaking! I like dogs, but this one hasn't had much discipline. Anyway, Simon asked if I'd like to take her on my morning walks - which is what I was thinking myself a while ago. So we're going to try it tomorrow morning.

Street-O @ Park Orchards

PH had set us a course with a Commonwealth Games theme, which (in reality) meant that we had to get 14 controls out of 25 (instead of the usual 10 out of 20). Having problems counting to 14(!) but beat the usual suspects home.

Entertaining joust with Ian. We stayed pretty much together through "The 100 Acres", although he would take off downhill, and I would catch him on the uphills. Then he went left and I went right outside the park, and I didn't see him again until 5 minutes after I'd finished... heh, heh.

6.3 km in 6:43 average pace (too many counting/calculating breaks!)
average HR 159, max 182.

Tuesdayitis

Walk this morning: 5.8 km. Nothing special. 6 1/2 degrees at 7am, and foggy in the valleys.

But right now (2pm) I have zero energy and zero motivation to work, and all I want to do is lie down and close my eyes.

Have hauled myself back on the wagon after a couple of weeks of takeaways for lunch (and a corresponding weight gain to match), with a yummy (hah) salad and wholegrain bread.

But Trev had reheated leftover pizza for lunch and the kitchen area smells of pizza and garlic bread, so now I'm craving pizza. And the snack man came today to refill the snack box, and there's a chocolate frog calling me from the end of the office.

Or maybe an apple or a muesli bar.

Hmmm, pizza...

Street-O: Houdini's Handicap

Course setter Ian had ranked everyone who runs the Monday series from top to bottom, and divided us into 15 groups. He had set a Scatter course at Jells Park, with the aim of having everyone finish at the same time in approx 35 minutes.

I landed in group J, with 14 controls, along with some of the people I "compete" with in Course C, and some of those I used to compete with in Course B. We were trying to decide whether Archie Labrador was an asset or a handicap for Jacqui, who usually runs the shorter Course E with him.

Fun event, good setting, and I beat the people I run against in C, and came in behind those I ran against in B.

5.3 km in 6:26 average pace.

Girl's Weekend away

Cunningly disguised as an orienteering Women's Coaching Weekend, this weekend was the perfect excuse for 26 women to escape to Maldon for two days of entertainment, gossip, drinking, and... oh yeah... some orienteering.

Friday night started with a yummy dinner and a questionnaire where we had to rank ourselves on a scale of 1 (suck) to 5 (expert) on such things like "running through broken ground", "terrain interpretation", and "route planning". Fortunately, we didn't have to confess to anything in public, although there was a lot of hilarity at each table as we completed it.

Saturday morning was at a dam just out of Maldon where we did some practical exercises in Attack Points and a Line Course in following compass bearings. After a picnic lunch we had a team's "race" to bring all the controls back in - I was first to my 2 controls to earn my team 18 points. :-)

~9 km

Because of the heat, we abandoned any further plans for an energetic afternoon, and spent it wandering around Maldon, checking out the bottle store, playing on the climbing wall, and basically having a lazy afternoon. Found a Gnome Factory (must-see!) and bought a frog (below)

Cocktails were accompanied by a "what am I" control description game, followed by a 3-course dinner and lots of wine. Hot, stinky night.

what am I?


Sunday, we left Maldon and headed for Chewton forest to do Control Picking and Out-Guessing The Course Setter. Most of us did it at a very sedate pace in near 40-degree heat, and we didn't have to do the final sprint to get the controls either.

~4 km

Fun, enjoyable weekend.

Weight	72.0 kgs ▲
Walking	19.7 kms
Running	28.2 kms
Cycling	37.3 kms

Street-O @ Blackburn Creeklands

Long course, totally self-inflicted. Obviously forgot to switch the brain on this evening. Legs and hills going well, but the navigation and counting ability was definitely off.

8.5 km in 6:40 average pace.

Street-O @ Blind Creek

Sub-optimal route choice saw me heading across a lumpy grass field towards my first control (#12); whereas a better route choice would have been to follow the crowd (d'oh) along the path, picking up #6 on the way to #12. Then I wouldn't have had to go uphill to get #20 to make up the required number of controls. But I was running well on the hills tonight - almost like they weren't there.

The skin on my left heel from the blister acquired 1 1/2 weeks ago finally parted company with my foot, causing a bit of a hot spot on the way back in. I've since pulled it off completely (it was quite a thick layer), and I hope it'll be okay by tomorrow.

6.8 km in 6:20 average pace. A couple of WTFAI ("where the f- am I") moments illustrated on the pace chart by coming to a complete standstill. MB has my moving time at 6:15 pace. Average HR 157 bpm.

It's dark still...

MON: 5.0 km. Wore the Frees, and they're definitely a thumbs-down on anything unsealed (grass is okay though). The soles filled up with gravel until it was packed in so tightly there was no movement left, and I needed a very solid twig to empty it out once I got back onto the sealed stuff. Bummer - and back to the Asics tomorrow.

TUE: 5.8 km. Drizzly and overcast - lovely.

WED: 4.5 km.

THU: 37.3 km. Cycle to/from work. I had company for a short stretch of my trip in this morning. Just after I joined the Trail, this guy came alongside and asked if he could ride with me. Turns out he's just moved to Yarra Glen (so how did he get onto the Warburton Trail?!!) and commutes to Lilydale. He kept me company for maybe 5-10 minutes before zooming off into the distance.

FRI: 4.4 km

Frees

Discovered one problem with the Nike Frees on a test-walk down to the shops - they're no good on unsealed roads! The grooves in the sole fill up with gravel with every step, and you can feel that the sole is slightly distorted by the small stones.

They felt good though - I never wear shoes inside (or outside, when I'm at home) so they didn't feel too weird to walk in. Although I was surprised at how built-up the heel was. I thought the idea was to mimic bare feet - my bare feet don't have a 1" rubber heel on them.

Weight	70.9 kgs ▼
Walking	12.7 kms
Running	12.7 kms
Cycling	37.7 kms

Was adding up my February mileage, and realised that I hadn't done *any* long runs in the whole month - none, in fact, since mid-January. Too much mountainbiking!

Discount Saturday

Rebel Sport had a Club Day today, with 20% off everything. So I trundled down with my eye on a pair of Nike Frees. Got the last pair of Ladies Size 9 (pink and grey), already marked down from $169 to $139, less another 20%, makes $112.

Next door, Ray's Outdoor were also having a sale, so I bought a new sleeping bag at 22.5% discount.

Then spent the HOT afternoon pulling my bike apart. The rear wheel axle needs repacking, and I pulled the front one apart too. Now I just hope the bike shop is open tomorrow to get replacement bearings!

I Don't Do Mornings...

MON: 3.9 km. Woke up with a (sinus?) headache. Very groggy, and took half an hour to get out of bed. Short walk. Cool, and foggy in the lower areas.

TUE: 4.8 km. Chilly, foggy morning. 6 degrees at 7am. Headache.

We're getting a mains gas line put through Seville, and there's a dotted yellow line that's creeping around the streets (marking out where they're going to dig). This morning, I noticed that it's marked straight through the middle of a neighbour's colourful front garden (that's gonna hurt), and heading for my place.

PM: when I got home there was a large clay hole in the other-side-next-door neighbour's front lawn - with the yellow line just skimming my trees and plants. Hopefully they can tunnel around the tree roots, rather than having to dig.

WED: woke up with the alarm. Woke up 1/2 hour later, got up, turned on the light, went to the loo, turned off the light, and crawled back into bed. Woke up again at 7:45am. Should really get to bed earlier, I suppose. No headache today though. Yay.

THU: 37.7 km cycle to/from work. 8 degrees at 7am. 32 degrees on the way home at 6pm. Why do I do this again...?

FRI: 4.0 km. Mild, but it's going to be another hot one today.

Street-O @ Heyington Heights + Scotch College

A fun course set by the students of Scotch College. We had a map changeover: map #1 was a normal Street-O map of 20 controls set in the streets around the college. Course C had to get 10 of the 20. Then back to the start area to pick up map #2, which was a map of the college on a micro scale of 1:3125, and we had to get all 10 controls set within the grounds.

map #1:
3.2 km at 6:45 avg pace (best 4:09)
avg HR 166 bpm (max 192)

map #2:
3.0 km at 6:06 avg pace (best 3:42!)
avg HR 173 bpm! (max 240!! I don't think so)

total: 6.2 km

I feel like I'm running really well at the moment, especially when I warm up (after ~15-20 minutes). I was really strong in the second loop, and I think my average pace would have been higher if I didn't have navigation issues within the college grounds (ducking around buildings and up stairwells and a few stalled moments when I figured which way was up).

*happy*