Friday 13 April 2018

This week’s speedygeese training sessions

Posted by speedygeoff on Friday, April 13, 2018 with
Sunday 08 April long run report [William]: - Aranda Painter Pinnacle
17 runners and 2 dogs went up then kept going up. Then went down and down, and up a little under the road. Then they went up and up. There was some fog. End of super short, 2 went back. Others went down and down then left at horse sign (except 2 that didn’t). Then there was some up a bit of down and a tree filled with rocks. At this point many went back except for 4, the many went down a bit, then went up and up and finally went down. The 4 continued on going up to the fire station, then back to where they came from. They then went up down up down up down down down up up up down up up down down.
Other things to note:
A dog yelled at Jen, Jen yelled back at the dog, and then yelled at the dog owner.
Giles had an important date, and had to leave.
Helen was awesome, so was Jane.
Jen took a shortcut, then approached from the bushes and ambushed at the top of a hill with talking to people who couldn’t talk.

Sunday 08 April Alternative long run report [Helen] -- Aranda 2 Before 10 to Mt Painter
After a short battle with the snooze button I made a pot of tea and got myself to Aranda shops before 7am. There were quite a lot of cars in the carpark; a popular place on a sunday morning. I set off up the concrete path to top of Aranda hill, marveling at the number of runners out early. At least they were all friendly. Very friendly. Some of them acted as if they knew me!
At the top of the hill a nice man called William took a photo and waved, I have a feeling I've seen him around somewhere. I ran down the powerline fire trail in a westerly direction and crossed under a bitumen coated vehicular carriageway (shudder) to find some lovely dirt trails on the other side (swoon). The mist got thicker which made me feel more alone, enhanced by my slower pace than all these runners about.
I was following a Bronze Wren who flew up past some giant water tanks then disappeared into the mist which made me sad because following her made me feel less lost. Yet the climb up mt Painter was so beautiful that my spirits lifted, my heart soared, my legs ached so I stopped to take this photo.
At the top there were an awful lot of people just milling around so I was mistaken in thinking they were runners. More like talkers. Met a nice friendly sheep who promised to show me the way back to 2B10 so I followed him like a sheep except that I'm not. Baaaaaa! I boldly suggested a single track short cut through Aranda bushlands. Soon we were back at 2B10; a little too soon as I would have liked more time inserted between each step.
The Sheep promptly left to pick up his little Lamb. Yes it's not just Mary who has one. It's the 21st century. Having nothing better to do I went for a pleasing nature hike back up to top of Aranda then down to the snow gums, photographed a confused tree, took a selfie, texted a family member then decided it was time for breakfast. Unfortunately there was a hill between me and breakfast. Ow, aaooow, eeeooow, done.
Sat down to poached eggs with avocado and chili sauce-with-fancy-name and a few beans plucked from the 2B10 trellis, to the dismay of a flirting couple who I had to lean over and squeeze around, which was absolutely delicious. There must have been a table shortage because a whole lot of people joined me without so much as a by-your-leave. They were very friendly so I didn't make a point of it. I sat next to a very Shiny One who was on day release from Answering Children's Questions, and the Tacky One who was on day release from Sunday Cleaning. They entertained me with many anecdotes of how to make your child into a champion and other interesting topics. The Tacky One stole a strawberry and ate it with succulent abandon. I think they liked me, although whether that will still hold by the end of this report is uncertain.
Addendum: The Talkers (Runners) wish to advise that they reached the Pinnacle of achievement this morning. I couldn't see it myself but that could have been the obscuring effect of the mist.

Monday 09 April at Parliament House: I supervised after an early run; Ruth jogged around in preparation for Sunday’s marathon, and took the photo below; Christopher was rumoured to have made an appearance, but there is no photographic evidence; while running 20 by 100m hill sprints on 90 seconds were Dom, Isaac, Jacob M, Kevin, Celina, Bron, Jen, Susan, Warrick, Pieta, Craig, Tori, Lisa, and also Jinny despite having entered this Sunday’s marathon as far as I know.

This photo was by Ruth (oh, you can tell) of Monday's participants at Parliament House. The good looking man on the right, unexpectedly supporting a very white beard, is wearing his TGIM (Thank God It's Monday) tee shirt.

Thursday 12 April at Parliament House: Running 600m intervals were Ricky (new), Jen, Isaac, Dave, Tori, Craig, Colin, with me watching after a short early jog. Then I went home.
p.s. Half the runners walked back to their cars after training and avoided the cool-down jog. As bad as this is, it is significantly better than Monday the 9th when 100% of the runners walked back after their hill sprints.
I must learn to write reports like the fabled Helen (see above).