Melbourne to Avalon (not that one, the other one) (aka Week 17)
20 August 2023
Editor’s note: This is being written from the future (ooohh). The race has come and gone, but we’re behind on the training blog. Full race report coming shortly.
Editor’s note v2: I don’t have an editor.
Peak of the training this week! It’s a tiny bit behind schedule (meant to be last week), but we got there. 93 clicks in total. I got the chance to do a few of this week’s training runs from Melbourne, and visit some of my favourite tracks in the meantime. The hard sessions for this week were:
A Tempo Run, comprising two 18 minute sessions in Zone 3, with a 5 minute breather in the middle; and
A Progression Run, same as the one from a few weeks back, where you slowly increase pace over 34 minutes - 20 mins in Z2, 8 mins a bit fast, 4 mins faster still and 2 mins just shy of a sprint pace. I missed this one, which is a shame; it’s great fun.
For the Tempo Run I made my way down to Melbourne’s go-to loop, The Tan, along the Yarra River just South of the CBD.
It’s a 3.827k gravel loop with mild elevation which, depending on the direction you go, you can either knock out in a tough 200m climb up Anderson St (and enjoy a leisurely downhill / flat run for the rest) or take the few kms of incremental climb. Always the former for me. Given its proximity, it’s a great option to if you’re working or staying in the city and want to get out for a run. It also loops around the lovely Royal Botanic Gardens, which I highly recommend you duck into afterwards for a stroll to sniff the flowers and say g’day to the eels. The ‘official’ start point for the loop is the “Pillars of Wisdom”, where you can see the top 10 efforts on the loop for both men and women (hasn’t been updated with my time yet).
My other run in the great city captured two of my favourite tracks in an out and back loop to the northern suburb of Brunswick. The first is a highly underrated walk/bike path that follows the Upfield train line from Princess Park (near Carlton / University of Melbourne) out north (to, of all places, Upfield). If you’re heading north it’s a false-flat with a slight incline. It’s basically straight (as train lines tend to be) and, my only complaint, dotted with road crossings where you’ll be disrupted waiting for traffic to pass (although these are slowly being removed). Aside from the agreeable running surface, the path showcases some of Melbourne’s great industrial-chic with many hipster highlights along the way. Graffiti galore, plenty of cafes promoting their third wave coffee (fourth? Fifth? I don’t know), sticky-carpet pubs (my favourite), factories and some silo art for good measure. Running parallel(ish) to the Upfield line on the east side is the Merri Creek Trail, a much better known and equally as fantastic track. You can cut across between the two basically anywhere from Brunswick onwards, but I recommend doing so at Batman Station (for out-of-towners, mandatory reading) and cutting into the lovely Coburg Lake Reserve. Merri Creek Trail winds along the creek and similarly showcases a number of beautiful Melbourne (largely hipster) sites, with a slightly greener edge than the Upfield line, including Brunswick velodrome, CERES community farm, and the aforementioned Coburg Lake. Taking it back into town, you’ll pop out in Clifton Hill where you can connect onto the Capital City Trail to link up to other paths. If you want a good glimpse at the true hipster Melbourne, do this run - you’ll love it.
Later in the week I was back in Sydney for my final big run of the season. 5 hours on foot. Conveniently I was needed in Avalon in the northern beaches on the weekend and so a one way run from the Inner West up there was just what the doctor ordered. Less preferred by doctors (or me, at least) was the 5am start. Good chance to get some practice in with the headtorch at least. Plan was to get to Manly from the City, and then follow the ocean north till Avalon. Ordinarily I’d take (and highly recommend) the Bondi to Manly walk to get out to Manly - it’s unparalleled for running paths - but unfortunately hugging the harbour was going to add too much time and distance to today’s run so I had to forgo that for a more direct path to Manly, cutting through Cremorne and Mosman toward the Spit and then directly across to Manly. From there it was unknown territory for me following the coast up north. Something I will say is that it’s amazing how quickly the vibe changes from busy bustling city to idyllic laid back surf towns. It’s great. The run proceeds in an orderly fashion from there - hit a gorgeous beach, cut through some back streets full of houses you’ll never be able to afford or a scenic reserve, hit another gorgeous beach, rinse and repeat. Fortunately for me and my tired legs (and any mild OCD tendencies I may have) all it took was a short additional lap of the Avalon Surf Club when I got there to hit the treasured 42.2kms. It’s a bit of an undertaking, but if you can find an excuse to get to the northern beaches (or at least a way back afterwards) this run comes with a strong recommendation.
That was it for a big week in the Kayanos. Notwithstanding the numerous missed training runs, having knocked that week out, with the mara to top it off, I’ll be coming into CCC in a good place. From here the taper starts, and the main goal is to not accidentally hurt myself and to not get sick.
Seeeeeee ya.