The Bay Run

Again last night I woke up after 2hrs sleep, had a coughing fit and then fell back to sleep again. Odd. Not too happy about that and no idea where it is coming from. I'm not coughing during the day, I'm getting my miles in and I feel OK - fatigued, but OK. Ho-hum. I'd gone to bed a bit earlier than usual and as a consequence it took a little less time to get going this morning; in fact I felt....alright. But FRICKEN COLD. Night temperature dropped to about 8 degrees, which isn't arctic, but Australian houses of the era of mine (1930s) were not built with chilly nights in mind. As a result 8 degrees in my Sydney hovel feels colder than -8 degrees did back in Blighty. Again - I need to man-up. Dogs walked and coffee downed I was ready to hit the road. This morning I also had a PowerBar gel. Apple flavour, apparently. Tasted bloody awful.

Today's run was the western approach to the City which takes me over several bridges. Fig tree, Tarbum Creek, Gladeseville, Iron Cove, Anzac and Pyrmont Bridges. Only today, instead of going over the Iron Cove Bridge I went under it and around the Bay Track. This provides a bit or a relief from the lung-busting fume-athon of Victoria Road. Before you get back onto Victoria Road. I toyed with the idea of going around the bay and then jumping on a bus, but figured that my knackered legs would carry me to work more quickly than a bus crawling along Victoria Road. I'd passed a couple of old Jags on Gladeseville Bridge (done up for a wedding.) I got to the petrol station at the Iron Cove bridge, popped in, bought myself a gatorade, had a bit of a breather and only then did the Jags crawl past me; as soon as I started hobbling on I passed them again. The land speed record will not be broken on Sydney's Victoria Road.

The Bay was nice, if a little longer than I remembered. Small boats bobbing around, a few mangroves desperately hanging on. I toyed with the idea of finishing the loop, running to Balmain and getting a ferry over to the City. But I figured that would leave me a couple of km short of what I wanted, so I carried on over Anzac Bridge and towards the office. As I came over that bridge it occurred to me that I felt fatigued and slow, but without any significant acheiness or tightness. Nine days in, no stretching to speak of and the body is holding up pretty well. In fact today the only minor niggles were the graze on the top of my right little toe (big deal) and the middle toe on my left foot which has a nail on it that would look better on an elephant. It doesn't hurt, just aches a bit and that is probably down to my dog managing to land his 34kg weight entirely on it yesterday night and again this morning. What are the chances?

The mental challenge is, I fear, about to kick in. Ha! typing THAT proves it is already stalking me. I have few options for new and interesting routes to run, what with my miles coming on the way to work; I do not anticipate moving either house or office before the month is out. I need to grab some mental stimulation to cope with going over the same ground next week, and the week after, and the one after that.

So that was today done; easier than expected - but certainly not easy - and around the 22km mark. Will upload from the garmin when I get home.

Ah, on that...how is it that runningfreeonline suspects that each route I upload is a duplicate? Surely the date and co-ordinates are a dead giveaway? Very odd. Almost as odd as the site not being able to work out what time it is where I am; my GPS knows what time it is and where I am; does the site think it's lying? Very odd. Minor gripes; after all, the site is free, and waaaay better than anything I could create.