Lane Cove National Park

Endomondo Running Workout: 18.41 km in 1h:46m:28s

Just two of us in the end, and we drove through a light drizzle up to Hunter's Hill to get to the edge of the Lane Cove National Park. This is a resource which is slowly being eaten away by developers; I don't know how long it has to go. It's huge, so I guess a while. Plus the locals are both well heeled and articulate so there may be limits to how far claims that new corporate premises will be integrated "lightly" into bushland. And despite everything, this run (which you can see is squeezed into a pretty thin strip of bushland on the river bank) is not appreciably different to running through, say, the "real" bush; and it's only 20 minutes from Marrickville with Sunday AM traffic.

You can see we had to take a detour through a bit of suburb; the track & bridge were being refurbished due to the summer fires; there are boardwalks laid down at strategic points across the mangrove swamps, and presumably these were damaged by fire.

Liz has been paddling up the Lane Cove River recently on Saturdays. It's a much more significant entity than the Cooks River, for sure, where I think a canoe would get grounded at low tide. Even though you are very close to suburbia you still feel the quiet of nature. OK, quiet plus birds. But birds aren't all bad if you're not trying to sleep.

It's startling the variety of ground; primarily three kinds, the swamp, the sandstone and the soil, but these have their own internal variations and there are also sections of domesticated land, cleared and grassed with little beaches on the river banks. Surprising to see no sign of any boats though; in the bits of Middle Harbour (further north) that I've seen, where the landscape is vaguely similar, anything resembling water access has boats, even if they're old rowing boats chained to a tree. Perhaps the council here is less sympathetic.

All the variety of ground makes the running even harder. Nothing's flat, so you're either going up or downhill, both of which are hard work. There's rocks, logs, rocks and mud to avoid on the path, and trees to get under - not too many - plus branches to dodge. It takes a degree of concentration, which is fine on the first 10k or so, but not so easy as you get near to home on the way back. When I'm tired I mainly like to concentrate on breathing (it makes a surprising difference - given that you could do it without thinking - to pay attention to the mechanics) but with trail running concentration has to be on the path. Even more given that I was running without glasses, due to the previously mentioned fog issue. Anyway, no falls this time, unlike the NOSH where I went head-over-heels in the last kilometer.

I was pleased to stop though. Only 18 km this week, but I swear it was harder than the 21 last weekend. Still, I had a look at the Sydney Marathon course yesterday, and it has a lot of hills. I se more of these trail runs in my future.

Dolls Point Half

Endomondo: "21.81 km in 1h:41m:25s"

Time for a race: I've run down to Doll's Point from my place when I wanted a long run (it's about 30-ish km there and back) and it's a very pretty spot, with the bay in one direction and the George's River in the other. Of course, it's perilously close to "The Shire" for a big person but at 8:00 AM on a winter's morning it didn't figure to be all that dangerous. This was a Sri Chinmoy event, cheap and cheerful & with excellent pancakes and after a couple of long-ish training runs a brisk 21 km hit out seemed just the go. The run itself, like all SC events, is based around loops (it makes providing fluids much, much easier) and Dolls Point-Ramsgate-Taren Point bridge is a very scenic 10 km.

I wanted to do this in 100 minutes, which would basically be extending my 16k PB pace for another 5 km.  It seemed like a reasonable challenge, and in fact, the 101 minutes will do me as a success, given that I seem to have run a bit over the 21.1 km anyway. So that was good & the run actually includes a PB for the 10k (43 mins) and 16k (73 mins) as well. On a competitive note, I didn't make the top 3 in my age group (by 7 minutes) and the #7 women's competitor passed me in the final km and comfortably held me off to the finish line. (That's actually about par for me)

Another fantastically sunny day, pretty much identical to the last couple of Sundays, with one big difference: the wind. The one thing my phone doesn't do is measure wind speed (I'm sure that's only because I haven't looked hard enough) but I think I can give you an idea. The first lap wasn't so bad; there was a noticeable breeze, but the most noticeable thing about it was that it seemed to be coming from two directions. The first run east from the bottom of the bridge past the sailing club to Dolls Point was into a mild headwind which irritatingly persisted after we turned north at the point to head up to Ramsgate. "Irritating" turned out to be a mild problem because by some mystery of weather by the time we got back to the point to turn west back towards the bridge for the second crossing, the wind had turned and there was now a howling gale in our faces, the kind of howling gale that makes you think that you're not moving at all despite the effort, and has you wondering if there isn't some way to run sideways so as to present a smaller target (there isn't, BTW). The one good thing about this was that the leaders were by now going past us on their final couple of km, and they looked pretty happy and relaxed with the gale at their back.

Because I run so many laps (unlike most distance runners, who hate laps) I have spent a fair bit of time thinking about winds. You might think that it all evens out, but in fact out of the 360 degrees that the wind might come from, only about 60 - at most - are beneficial. All of the other 300 are problematic, either because they slow you down, or interfere with your balance, or both. I was wondering what the winds would be like on top of the Taren Point Bridge, which I wasn't particularly looking forward to anyway because as bridges go, it does a very good impersonation of two non-trivial hills, and despite all Andrew H.'s exhortations, I still don't really like hills. But when I got onto the bridge, I forgot about the hill problem. It was time to worry about the standing up problem. The pedestrian pathway is protected by concrete barriers from traffic (hard to imagine they would actually be any use in an accident, but it IS nice to see them there) and the first problem was to avoid being blown into & over them. Every time one foot left the ground the wind would try to push you into the barrier, and please note that the definition of running is that there are periods where both feet aren't on the ground. Plus I had to hold onto my race number with one hand because I wasn't sure the safety pins were up to the task. The path is a shared pedestrian/cycle way, and cyclists were holding onto the railings to stop themselves being blown in front of the runners.

That sounds bad, but curiously downhill was even worse. Normally downhill I open out the stride and try to concentrate on not falling over while I run as fast as I can; not today. If you left your foot off the ground for the length of a full stride the wind would catch it and blow it across in front of the other one (yes, only for one side, for the other foot the wind tries to make you take a frog step) leading to disaster. I had to invent a new gait, which involved leaning into the wind and running slightly crabwise. Normally you hope to get back on the downhills the time you lost on the uphills. Today time was not the issue. Uprightness was. I didn't meet anyone who actually fell, but everyone I spoke to felt the same way about it.

Of course it was the same, reversed, going back the other way Really, quite an extraordinary feeling. I meant to take in a bit more of the scenery the second time round, but I was so busy concentrating I completely forgot.

Once off the bridge it was almost an easy run home. The wind did stay consistent, so it was at our backs for most of the last 4 km - if you look at the times I think I managed a 4:15 km around about the 18/19 km point. That is certainly tailwind, much as I might like to claim otherwise. I couldn't find any sprint in the legs over the last couple of km, which I suppose means no unused energy, but is a bit annoying when you get passed. It also suggests to me that the finishing burst of my youthful running was based around a lazy first 90% of the race. Strangely, that is what my PE teacher(s) used to say as well.

Hard work, but a lot of fun. Running with that wind makes for a totally different experience.

Another stunning winter Sunday

Endomondo Running Workout

Well, I said when I set out that it was already visibly clear that we were past the solstice because it was noticeably lighter than last week. It certainly makes it easier to get out of bed. The Marrickville sky was a little cloudy but the weather's been incredibly consistent recently, 4 days clear to 3 days rain, and the rain only finished on Thursday, so I was pretty sure it'd be a good day.

I was stiff as a board in the thighs - some new exercises started on Friday - but eventually I got up some speed. It's comically similar to the setting sail of the Queen Mary. It's curious, I don't feel that I'm running at all well at the moment, although the times are as good - possibly better - than 3 months ago. It's hard to get into the rhythm of it, and easy to fall out of the rhythm when eventually found. Anyway, how it feels is not that important. I have technology to tell me how it's going. (Grins) Marketers' dream, nearly; if I didn't have Yorkshire blood I'd buy every new device as it comes available. "Fortunately" they are too expensive and not actually all that useful; plus my phone has most of them built in anyway.

Barrelling along Illawarra Rd I noticed what looked like a layer of brown smog hanging over Homer St ridge (that's the farthest point on the Illawarra Rd horizon, about 3 km away). It looked pretty unpleasant but the curious thing was that there was no sign of it on Marrickville Rd. However by the time I got down to the river there was mist everywhere, pretty close to fog. I don't remember anything quite like it before; it really reinforces the geography.

The 3rd & 4th most diligent of our group were, respectively, orienteering and running the Gold Coast marathon this AM. It was pretty easy to guess that if you lived anywhere near the water getting up would be an unappetising prospect & it was too cold to wait around. Andrew (T.O.A) and I set off immediately.

We went over the steps from the Cooks River valley into the Wolli Creek valley, which was even foggier than the Cook's. It was so foggy that I came within inches of breaking my neck by tripping over a chain strung across the entrance to a park. The glasses had to come off; I have a patent "de-fogging" spray but it's completely useless in these conditions. But within an hour the mist had burned off, the run was riz, the sky was blue and we were being deafened by the morning chorus of birds (invisible) along the Bardwell Creek.

We managed about 12 km along trails near water before being compelled into the streets of Kogarah. We managed to wend our way - it's not that difficult to navigate by the sun when it's just risen - down to Botany Bay a little south of Brighton & then we ran back along the bay watching planes float mysteriously up and down to the airport.

That's it really. A long run, but a beautiful morning for it.

Back in training

This week's effort - Brighton & wetlands

Since the Sydney marathon is only weeks away, serious training has started. Although, to be honest, the distances seem to be escalating somewhat faster than planned. Last week was meant to be 20k, and turned out to be 22. This week the plan was 24k and turned out to be 29. I'm scared to go out next week; the plan is 28k!

Not that I expect there's much sympathy floating around.

The problem was that it was such a beautiful morning on the Botany Bay path that we found ourselves at Ramsgate without really thinking. That was already 16k, so we actually did quite well to find shortcuts on the way back. We did particularly well because we came back through uncharted terrority, which always means a few false starts. There's a wetlands reserve between the beach road and West Botany street, and we eventually able to find a track, if not through it, at least alongside it for a good distance. Also, the other Andrew knew a path through the mud pits (there's a concreted cycle path to the north and east of them that I usually use) - a boardwalk,  really quite scenic. There were a lot of water birds - nothing very glamorous, just lots of them; ducks, ibis, gulls, a couple of, maybe, bush turkeys. I got a closer look at one of the "mystery" grey birds during the week; it has a white face, and longer legs than I had noticed before. I couldn't quite get close enough to see if it had the green plumage around the nose/beak that I am lead to believe is the characteristic of the grey heron. I have looked at a few pictures of the grey heron online and it must be a good candidate. It seems to have a wide variety of sub-species[note: see below].

We also ran through a caravan park that I didn't know existed; quite a few tents, which suggests holiday makers rather than long term accommodation. I felt a bit guilty pounding - and panting - through a caravan park at 8:30 am on a Sunday. Imagine if you tried it at the Hilton?

We were planning to finish through Arnecliff - Andrew likes the extra hills - but we couldn't find a path across Marsh Drive, so we tried a new road through Tempe but got cut off by West Botany street and ended up settling for the usual river bank, and for me, Illawarra Rd.

The last three hills on Illawarra Rd. are a real challenge. But it makes the coffee and shower well-appreciated.

Note - bird identified as White-faced Heron. Also the bird mentioned a few blogs back (particularly for swimming underwater) is a darter. Thanks to local bird watchers video cameras, and YouTube.

A big day out...

The run...

The pedal...

So, a miraculous confluence of events saw what looks like me training for a triathlon, but which is just the result of Liz' dragon boat club having a social day out on bikes (one of the club members is chief bike propagandist for the local council) around Olympic Park and me wanting to try a run to Olympic Park. This is something I've wanted to try for a while, because I've been somewhat sceptical about the integrity of the bike path signs labelled "Homebush"  which can be seen along the Cooks River. It turns out you can get a fair way, but the last 5-7 km, as you can probably see, is on the road. Neither Richmond St nor Parramatta Rd are much of an advertisement for their local councils; the pavement on the one side of Parramatta Rd that has one is in a parlous state.

It was a fantastic day for a run, and indeed the pedal, of which more later, cold, clear and sunny. The water in the Cooks River was so clear that the reflection of the background houses (I want one of those houses!) looked more real than the houses themselves. Naturally, since I was armed with a camera,  there was no sign of any grey waterbirds. There were an amazing number of cyclists out but I didn't feel the need to photograph them. Although the Cook's is my regular stamping ground, I don't usually run on the north bank, so this was a relatively novel run. At some point I must have reached a point where I had never been before, but I couldn't say exactly where that was. There are lots of what the architect member of the club calls "remnant parks", an Australian Rules football club, swampy/wetlands bits, the back of a racecourse, plenty of overhanging trees and in general it was very pleasant, if ornithologically uneventful. One curious thing about my running at the moment is that it is, by the clock & odometer, much faster than it feels. I could've sworn I was plodding along at 6 minute pace this AM, but inspection reveals that I maintained a pretty steady 5:30-ish pace. It's very puzzling. Anyway, so long as the pace is OK, I suppose. Today was the "official" start of my preparation for the Sydney marathon, so all in all that wasn't a bad hit out. I'll be running a 4-week cycle of 20/24/28/32 km on Sundays for the forseeable future; although it might end up being 22/26/30 if the preparation for Canberra was any guide. I'm adding in an exercise component; well, hopefully. I find it quite difficult to do even 15 minutes exercise daily, despite cheerfully running of an hour and a quarter. Curious, n'est-pas?

The bike is really not much in the way of exercise after a run; admittedly this was an unabashed beginners hit-out, with frequent stops. But you can see we didn't go much faster on the bike than I can run - well, I read somewhere that a bike is 6 times as efficient as walking at converting energy into forward motion, so today's ride was roughly equivalent to running at 2 km/hour. Obviously I'm not complaining!

Olympic Park is a very good venue for riding; it certainly got us into parts of the Park we'd never seen. The armory wharf has been converted into a coffee shop/restaurant; very pleasant. They had an outdoor chess set (pieces about 2 ft high) and I watched some of the worst chess I have ever seen. The armory (I don't know when it was decommissioned) seems to have been mainly run by toy train; there are tracks everywhere. I guess that makes sense - no point in carry the bombs around by hand. Apparently the train still runs once a fortnight. One of the club members is trying to organise an outing for those of us interested; I'll keep you posted.

Most of the ride is through wetland, but I didn't see a lot of birds. It's pleasant, but might repay a more expert eye on a second visit, so I'll do some research. We'll certainly go back, if just as an excursion for Jill's kids next time they're up.

One nice feature of the ride is an artificial hill with a terraced(?) path up so that as you make your first turn and look up you can see rows of cyclists on multiple levels above you. Very amusing. But the really nice attention to detail wasn't revealed until I look at the GPS track above, which shows that it's exactly 1km up (and down) the hill. (Look at kms 3-5) Very cute!

You can correctly imagine that not much else happened today. Market shopping & some work on linguistics that I hope will feed into a project I'm working on. "Some work on linguistics" just means reading, but it's all very interesting.

A winter Sunday

Endomondo Running Workout: "was out running ..."

A reprise of Canberra weather, except possibly colder. I did put on a waterproof jacket though; they're sweaty and uncomfortable and hot, but a lot better than freezing to death in the rain. The only deficiency was that the pocket with the mobile phone collected half-an-inch of water by the 9 km mark, at which time the phone gave up the ghost. It's drying out now (fingers crossed).

There's been some new birdlife around recently; that is, new to me, a sulky looking all grey bird about the size of a cormorant but with no visible neck. I saw a couple during the week up river and today another down near the Alexandria canal. I'll try and get a picture next time I'm out; I haven't had any success tracking it down online. Must get a bird book sometime; for a non-specific search books are still a winning technology.

Not much else to see today. Really, the weather was shocking. We didn't see anyone else at all around the water. One guy was out watching the planes land; there's a spot about 50 meters from the runway and when the weather is heavy the planes are meters lower. You'd be hard pressed to find a better spot to combine an idea of how BIG a 747 is with the idea that it can also fly. He was fighting with an inside-out umbrella.

Liz and I went to Port Macquarie yesterday, where she raced in a 17 km dragonboat race up the Hastings River and I ran around the headlands in rain exactly like today's; well maybe worse than today's. I had to run with my glasses off so I didn't see much, although what I did see of Port Macquarie itself didn't really make a strong case for a tourist's return. The hinterland though will, I think, get us back. There are a lot of boating opportunities, the whole place is a mass of watercourses. Ocean is always nice, of course, even in rain, but it was all a bit of a grey blur.

Anyway, I don;t usually run consecutive Saturdays and Sundays, but I've really been struggling with heavy legs all week - possibly a side effect of the NOSH run - so I wanted to run them back into shape. I'm pleased to report that that seems to have happened. The run today went very well, allowing for the weather, and the legs could have gone a fair bit further. The ears & face were keen for a hot shower though.

The Sydney Marathon is in 3 months - so I guess I will call today the first training run.

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!