The NOSH

Running: "15.01 km in 1h:33m:37s"

First of all, I want to put in a protest: it was 15.3 kilometers according to the organisers and no part of my leg machinery wishes to argue with them. Secondly, also according to the organisers, my time was 91 minutes. And if I hadn't got stuck behind all the slow people at the beginning who couldn't then be passed for several kilometers due to the narrowness of the track, and, if I hadn't fallen over with a kilometer to go, it would have been less than 90 minutes (although probably not as emphatically less as that previous sentence might sound).

The NOSH has nothing to do with food. It is a 15 kilometer run organised by the Northside Orienteers and Sydney Harriers through one (or possible two) national parks and it defies the laws of physics in that it goes uphill significantly more than it goes downhill. Rather unfair really; it achieves this by having a finish line some 80 meters higher than the start, and the uphill nature of things is somewhat emphasised by the rocks and trees you have to climb to go up them, and the fact that you can't really relax on the rare occasions that you get to go downhill because downhill is wet slippery and likewise rocky and steep.

Still, all good fun. I saw a lyrebird sunning itself on a rock. It's my first trail run and I can see the attraction of them. Trees and water make better scenery than highways. But it really is much much harder work than road running. I can see that I'm due to spend more time in the gym. There's a race called the "Six Foot track" which I've been thinking about doing next year; it's 48km over the same kind of terrain (in the Blue Mountains) and since I don't want to take a day to finish it I'll need to be a tad fitter.

OK that's it. I've got work tomorrow, washing up to do, and an assignment due at the end of next week. Holy timetables, Batman, that means I'm busy!