August 2013

[Sweder]

Nipped out for an hour's plod alongside the Yarra this lunchtime. Spring has come early to this part of Australia. Warm sunshine and a cool breeze offered perfect running weather.

I wove through the milling throng of lunchtime office workers and distracted sight-seers, darting here and there to avoid oncoming cyclists and the ubiquitous Chuggers. After a mile or so the riverside path pulled clear of the city. Across the water loomed the Martian light towers of the MCG, home in just a few short months to the Boxing Day Ashes test and Cookie's finest hour. I passed a parade of Melbourne Rowing Clubs. The first proudly announced 'since 1862'. It's neighbour offered, somewhat tamely, 'since 1863'. I wondered if this was a source of racour between the competing oarsmen. They probably don't give it a second thought.

Right across a couple of streets and I was into the Royal Botanical Gardens. This handsome collection of antipodean flora is criss-crossed by a series of cinder trails known locally as the Tan Track. I crunched along, enjoying the leafy parade of every variety of Gumtree known to man interspersed with an impressive array of flowering cacti. I kept an eye on my pace, concerned to note it was way up over 9 minutes per mile. I wasn't looking to push it today - I have a date with MLCMMan on Friday that promises to be a stern test, so I want to keep something in the tank. Yet I felt if I had to push it there wasn't much there. Probably the aftermath of Sunday's Marathon mapping session and an extraordinarily long journey. Oh well.

   

I completed a circuit of the gardens and set off back towards my hotel. The boardwalk was if anything even more crowded. Fortunately I was now a good deal sweatier, breathing heavily as I lumbered through the parting sea of business suits and elegant skirts. My pace dipped under 8 m/m as I closed on the hotel, some sense of rhythm returning to steady my cadence. More core work needed, I fear. That comes tonight, in the dreaded hotel gym.

Showered and hydrated I'm heading out to meet one of Moyleman's old pals and brief RC resident Simon Payne. Simon upped sticks and moved out here a few years ago. It'll be good to catch up over yet another chai masala, my current Wagoner's drink of choice.

5.8 miles, 61 minutes