Sunday Run (1)

Endomondo Running Workout: "was out running 17.04 km in 1h:40m:13s using Endomondo."

If the above link works it will take you to a map generated by a free internet service (the "Endomondo") that connects with the GPS in my mobile phone to keep an automatic record of my running. I don't use it all the time - because I mainly run laps of the the local oval - but it's good for the "street" runs because otherwise I would have no real way of measuring speed & distance. You can see the odd bits of doubling back - near Tempe station because the underpass floods at high tide, and the other off the Princes Highway where we tried to take a shortcut through St. Peter's cemetery. Perhaps unsurprisingly the only way out was the way we came in. Sydney manages its old cemeteries completely differently to Melbourne. Sydney allows them to return to parkland, stonework & all. It's a - surprisingly - nice ambience.

For the rest, it's quite striking how much running you can do through parkland, even around the airport. The planes pass teeth-rattlingly close overhead; it's probably possible to count the grooves in the tyres, if they have grooves, which I guess they wouldn't, since braking is their main purpose. Next time I'm out I'll check. Council has spent/is spending a lot of money on foreshore reclamation and shared bike/pedestrian paths. I'm a bit out of sympathy with the latter, but they are better than nothing & early on Sunday there's not much sharing required.

Another benefit of running around is that I'm developing a feeling for how the area fits together, something I don't get from inside the car. I don't really have a sense of direction; Liz can visualise where she is in relation to places she knows even when she is somewhere she hasn't been before - I can't. It's all completely new to me, if it's even vaguely off the beaten track. I'm quite capable of getting lost within a kilometer of home, but all the running is starting to help me to fit it together. Soon I'll have to be 5 kms away before I'm at risk of being lost!

This isn't the most scenic run that I do (in conjunction with another serious runner who provides the navigation). There's another one along the Bardwell valley that's almost 100% bushland. The last time we ran it was after a week of heavy rain and all sorts of unexpected waterfalls had appeared. Hard work, but good for the soul. They're hard runs anyway because of the hills. I'd like to carry a camera, but it just isn't practical to run & take pictures. Mind you, the technology is getting there. I accidentally videoed my feet with my phone a month ago.

It was much better quality than you might expect. It might be possible to run with the lens pointed in the right direction and get interesting shots; if there was a burst-mode still function it would be better than video. Generally burst mode only runs to about 10-12 pictures in cheap digital cameras, but with the 1600 ASA equivalent most of them get the sharpness would probably be OK. Still, between carrying water, GPS, keys, a camera just seems like the one thing too many.

One of the reasons for carrying a camera is that there are some really unexpected pictures; for example, I rounded a corner preparatory to running down the Bardwell spur and saw what I would have sworn was an olive grove, which, given that 50% of the flora is indigenous & the other 50% Anglo parkland/flower garden, seem completely implausible while sticking out like the proverbial sore thumb. I think only a good picture could capture the incongruity of it. Anyway, it *was* an olive grove, maybe 40 trees, all around 12-15 years old judging from our backyard experience. It will be a significant harvest for whichever of the locals can be bothered. UPDATE: The olive grove was planted by the Rockdale Council, in honour of the significant connections between Rockdale residents & Greece. I tracked it down on Google Earth; there are roughly 70 trees. It's in the middle of the Silver Jubilee Park; well, they do call Philip "the Greek" so maybe that's apposite. More likely though that it's a piece of grubby land that council couldn't think of anything to do with, so regularly re-uses when memorialism strikes.

Also, once, I saw a steam train chugging its way down past Tempe station. Now, I may get back there again to photograph it - apparently it's a regular Sunday service - but equally I may not. It would have been a nice picture; planes landing in the background. Tempe station looks pretty steam age, too. The old railway bridge across the Cooks River is in good order as well.