Sydney surprises, schnitty rolls and green Gatorade (aka Week 4)

21 May 2023

Dear listener,

I have some exciting news. I hit all my training sessions this week. Pop the champagne! 71 kilometres in the bank. Beyond the ‘80%’ sessions, a session with 4 sets of 4 mins in the lower zone 4 range (out along the Glebe foreshore for these - what a place) and then back to the hill repeats. The hills were tough this time around - 4 by 2 mins. There’s a lot of hills in inner Sydney, but not that many that are long enough to run up for 2 mins! Queue the Anzac Bridge’s east-end ramp. It’s a tough gradient for the first 40 seconds, then calms down a bit. 2 mins just gets you over the crest of the bridge, then turn around and have another go at it. The ramp sits next to the Nova offices - I’m sure no one was paying enough attention, but jeez it’d look strange if any one noticed this silly fella going up and down (and up and down and up and down and up and down) the ramp.

This week’s longy was a trip out along the Parramatta river. I needed to get 2 hours in and knew if I headed out from Drummoyne and crossed over at the first bridge (aka Ryde Bridge) and came back I’d roughly get that. Done plenty of running out that way so should be fine. Was all going fine on the way out - over the Gladesville Bridge (equal parts a quad-killer and terrifying, if you’re not so keen on heights) and hugging the north side of the river where possible - but then I took a wrong turn after crossing Ryde Bridge and ended up in unfamiliar territory. Now, this is what I love about long runs in Sydney - and it’s happened to me time and time again - I ended up stumbling across both amazing running paths and running trails. This city is littered with amazing running infrastructure (and my goal is to document it all!).

The particular paths I ended up on for this run were the Kokoda Track Memorial Pathway in Rhodes and some amazing trails that hug the river around Rivendell School and Yaralla House, part of which is the ‘Concord Foreshore Trail’. The Kokoda pathway is a beautifully manicured memorial, with lovely paths and gorgeous gardens. But the trails were the highlight (no surprises there). Cruisey gravel trails, snacking along with the river, through bush, shrubs and parks. Some parts could be mistaken for rural farmyard tracks; others you’re treated to the imposing structures of the aforementioned school and mansion. Really amazing. Maybe I’m naive but it’s not something I expect to stumble along in the burbs of Sydney. The end of the run was almost as good - ducked into the shop near home for a chicken schnit roll and some hot chips, all washed down with a green apple Gatorade. Enough to make the King jealous.

See you next week!