How Long Can an Athletics Carnival Last?

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That was the question I asked myself as I drove through the gates to Chev this morning! Indefinitely, it would seem!

Once again I could see the 'troops' heading down from the top oval towards MY OVAL & MY TRACK! And, with that out the window went all my plans for today's session of 10 x 300m intervals. This sort of thing is seriously interrupting my training! Don't they know that by now?

I kept driving through the grounds, down "Main Avenue" until I reached "Meadow ONE" - once again - which I drove right across on the grass and parked on the far side of the oval. This decision to park so far from civilization was to have some consequences later!

However, in the meantime I set about changing the program to 16 x 100m which was far easier to measure down one side of the soccer field than trying to work out exactly where 300m would be. I ran bare foot again and so the morning was off to a good enough start.

2km warm-up
Drills & a few strides
16 x 100m.
2km warm-down

I ran the warm-up all over the oval, every which way. I spotted a very green cricket pitch in the middle and thought : what a great place to do drills! And it was, because the grass here isn't nice & flat like on the track, but a bit rough and I didn't want to do my fancy drills, especially the 'Carioca' or 'Grapevine' and fall flat on my face. I look stupid enough just doing it and staying upright!

The 100m intervals I ran down one of the white lines that marked a side of the soccer field and they seemed to go OK : 31 seconds, 30, 29, 28, 30, 27, 27, 24, 26, 26, 26, 25, 26, 27, 26, 24. Then the 2km warm-down and returned to the car.

It wouldn't start! No matter what I did, it refused to give even the slightest encouraging sign of life!

So there I was, way off in no man's land and not another human in sight. Thank goodness I never leave home without my mobile! Enter the good old faithful NRMA about 30 minutes later. First he - as did I - thought it was a flat battery but then he changed his mind to the 'starter motor'.... whatever that is! Then he came back to it being one or the other, but not absolutely sure which one!

So....I was given instructions, after he got it started, to drive home, leave the car turned off for an hour and then try again. If the same thing happened, call the good old faithful NRMA again and they would replace the battery which was still under warranty. If that makes any sense to some, good! It didn't to me, but I know absolutely nothing about cars except how to drive one; so I did as I was told and lo and behold....the dear old faithful car sprang into action and didn't stop again later in the afternoon when I drove the doggies to the paddocks for their daily run and rabbit chase. Will it die again though......that's the worry now!

I didn't at all mind waiting for the NRMA. I took my towel from the car, lay it on the grass, sat basking in the sunshine and thought about nothing....not even the fact that this would be my last run and last day in my seventies!

Hello Eighty!

After all....another pleasurable day!