Fraser Darcy

This blog comes to you on a Tuesday after one of the bigger training weeks I’ve had of late. That statement is based on the volume of training I completed last week and not necessarily the intensity in the week. The prior two weeks were probably more intense weeks with races on the Sunday’s, however this week there was no Sunday race so I could lock in for some, you guessed it, volume and crank out a big week.

On Monday it was an hour and a bit easy in Belair with a very tight left hamstring following Sunday’s TRSA Kuipto Forest race. I hoped it would get less tight over the course of the run but it didn’t. A bit of stretching and foam rolling throughout the day made a slight difference for my arvo run but it was still tight and I was a little concerned as to how it would pull up for Tuesday morning’s session with RunAsOne.

Seeing as the TRSA race was a lower impact than a road half marathon I felt good enough to attempt a session on Tuesday morning knowing I was a little fatigued and had a tight hamstring. On the cards was 5, 1.6km (Mile) reps with about 70-90 seconds rest depending on how fast I did them. In a perfect world I’d run about 3:00/km for the reps or just over (slightly slower than how fast I run 1km reps considering they are slightly longer in distance). In a not so perfect world where I’ve had a race two days before and still have a tight hamstring I’d run about 3:10/km (half marathon pace) and still be happy. In the group that morning was another runner who was aiming for 3:10/km pace so I thought great, as long as I’m with him or just in front I’ll be happy.

Off the start line in the fast rep, running to feel, I was already a fair bit ahead of him with the first two hundred metres that is slightly downhill. Oh well, just run to feel. I did and would’ve clocked a 3:00/km average but I missed hitting lap on my watch to start with so who knows exactly. The game from there was to maintain the same effort for the next four reps and not aggravate my hamstring any more than it needed. By the completion of the fifth rep I had pretty much maintained a perfect world average of 3:00/km. Nice little bonus. The rest of Tuesday was spent getting back to Quorn, shaking out my legs on an afternoon run and keeping on top of some computer based jobs.

Back in Quorn for the next little while I relaxed my way through a mid week long run on the Dutchman’s loop not really caring about pace, just running for fun. It was alright. My hamstring was still affecting me. Same again for the afternoon run.

By Thursday my hamstring was better however instead of a morning run I was out at Warren Gorge getting ready for a day of climbing with Port Augusta Secondary School. It was nice getting to climb and talk to some of the students I used to teach and that was about it. Pretty easy day, all finished and back home by 3:30pm with enough time to fit in a 75 minute run before it got dark. The hamstring was fine by now of course and the body wasn’t feeling that tired after a long day of climbing work.

I felt fresh on Friday morning as I woke up pretty early to publish The Blue Line for this fortnight and get sorted for my second session of the week. The plan for the next few weeks is to maintain at least one road/speed based session and one trail based session. Friday was the trail session and it was 5 hill repeats up the fire track section of Mt.Brown. Sometimes I do these with a rest at the bottom, other times I just do them at a continuous effort to get it more similar to a race/tempo style session. This Friday in question was more a race/tempo style session and it went ok, felt pretty good, had a good playlist so I was happy. I continued that happy and strong feeling from my running through the rest of my day, ticking off jobs and getting ready for a three day bush walk starting on Saturday as I mentioned in last week’s blog.

Before I went on that bush walk though I had to fit my long run into the week somewhere. Grateful to be living only an hour away from Mambray Creek (the start of the bush walk) I had an extra couple of hours up my sleeve to run in the morning as opposed to if I was travelling from Adelaide with the school group. So, just before 7am I headed out in gloves and two long sleeve shirts and cranked out a very good 32km long run that got rolling the longer I went.

It was very nice to get this done before the bush walk and in the style I did. It’s probably up there with the top 5 long runs I’ve done by myself in Quorn. I carried that confidence about my achievement with me for the rest of the day knowing I had ticked off all my important running sessions and if I got any running in during the bush walk that would be a bonus.

Which did happen! But that wasn’t the only bonus about the walk! On the original plan I was managing my own group (out of 4 in total) so knew I would have to do some ‘work’ in coordinating and managing the group. However, the plan had changed by the time the group arrived and met me at the carpark so I ended up walking with another instructor who was managing the group (they were young/still learning) and I got to chime in with my advice and just make sure they didn’t do anything too stupid or get lost (which almost happened). So I was very relaxed for the walk on Saturday and happy to be away in my own backyard without any real stressful things on my mind.

Historically, before I taught at PASS in 2023, my last couple of years of outdoor ed work involved me trying to juggle a fair few things whilst doing outdoor ed work. It’s difficult to juggle other things while working in the outdoors because with the ‘free time’ you have at camp each night you want to be doing other things but can’t because you’re out of phone reception or just away from the things you need or are getting distracted by the group. I used to get frustrated at times because I felt like I couldn’t do the things I wanted and wasn’t being the most productive worker as a result. In contrast, this walk I had ticked off all my running, I had just published The Blue Line and I wasn’t trying to organise any AirBnb or home related things. I basically had nothing on my mind so it was lovely to relax and walk around in essentially my backyard, whilst getting paid to add my two cents in about bush walking and life to these school students. The other positive element to this bush walk is that it is the same bush walk I first went on as a 15 year old back in 2010 so it’s always nice to reminisce about those and other memories from previous times walking in the area.

With such a relaxing and enjoyable bushwalk over the course of Saturday – Monday, you may be wondering if I bothered to go for a run at all too? Well, another positive element to the walk was that there was a young runner who was also keen to go for a jog on Saturday and Sunday afternoon’s with me. It’s always easier to go for a run when someone else is keen so this was brilliant and made the km’s fly by, especially so because this runner (Tessa Ebert, there you go Tessa, you’ve got your name drop on the website if you’re reading this) is very good for her age so it was good to learn about her training/routines and how it differs to that of an older runner.

With all this positivity about the bush walk there had to be one negative element in there, balance is of course everywhere in life. The fact that the Bombers lost to Carlton on Sunday night was the only disappointing thing over the weekend. Luckily the positive results out of the French Open were enough to soften the blow of the Bombers loss…

Getting back to Quorn on Monday after the bush walk was a real treat as I was home by 11am and had plenty of time in the day to do what I normally do on a Monday. Just when I finished all my normal jobs and was starting to pace around the house, staring out the window, looking for something to do, the greatest worm farmers of Willunga showed up, that’s right, Chad Freak and Emily Frahn! I knew they were coming but you didn’t so I hope you were surprised! Chad was keen for a run up Mt.Brown and I was keen for 16km’s of running so we went out in the late afternoon and ticked both of these goals in 1hr 40minutes (which is a bit long for a usual Monday run but seeing as I only did one run it’s fine). Again, it’s always nice to run with someone and this time was no different. Emily did not join us for the run and instead relaxed at my house for a bit before getting dinner organised. In all my two and a half years I can’t recall any other time I’ve returned home to dinner already organised (left overs doesn’t count) so that was a real treat. And it was a good meal!

After a number of days of being actively quite busy this Monday night into Tuesday morning’s session was the final act before I got a rest day for the rest of Tuesday. As a result I was a little tired and not as energetic as I was on the weekend for my Tuesday morning session this morning but I still got it done despite that and despite an increasing headwind. I opted for 8, 1km reps with 60 seconds rest between. The pace I had in mind, was an average of 3:10/km considering I had stacked a few big days of activity together in a row. The first one, uphill and into a slight breeze, was just under 3:10. The next, downhill with a tail wind, was just below 3:00. This is usually what happens when there is no wind and I proceed to drop a few more 3:00 flat reps up and down the hill having warmed-up properly with the first two. This morning though, this session went the other way, the third rep back up the hill and into the wind went at 3:13. Back down the hill was 2:56. Back up the hill was 3:15 and I was feeling very cooked. Just get through it. Down the hill the legs didn’t feel fast but I still ran 2:53. One final rep up the hill and into some pretty windy conditions was measured at 3:20. Lastly, the downhill rep with the biggest tail wind of all time was the quickest km rep I’ve ever done at 2:47. And that was me cooked for the rest of the day pretty much. Since that session this morning I’ve been dragging out my jobs list across the whole day and have just ticked off a big one by putting this weekly blog together. Wahoo… now I can I have a nap… again.

I’m using this Tuesday to rest a bit knowing I have another easy running day tomorrow (Wednesday) + some climbing at Devil’s Peak. On Thursday I have another day climbing out at Warren Gorge with Quorn Area School and then it’s another episode of Will Fraser Drive To Adelaide For The Weekend Or Not? I could head down for training and a long run with RunAsOne and sister of the blog Georgia Darcy’s birthday drinks on Saturday afternoon. Or I could train on my lonesome up here for the weekend. Watch this space. Another area to watch is where my next race will pop up. It could be this Saturday at an 8km XC race. It could be the Pichi Richi Half Marathon. it could be the same Brisbane trail race I attended last year in order to improve my application for selection in the Australian team for the almost late notice Asia Pacific Trail Running Championships. Without opening a large can of worms around this event, essentially I have to be ranked in the Top 30 in the country (currently 25th) by July 15th to be eligible and considering my ITRA score from the TRSA Kuitpo Forest race of 722 was good but not good enough to improve my ranking, it would be beneficial for me to race in Brisbane in order to attempt to either solidify or improve my ranking. And just to race the best in Australia again and see how I fare. But we’ll see what plans I make in that space. The beauty of being a one man band is that I can be flexible. Anyway, that’s enough of that can of worms, for now, thanks for reading, and I look forward to informing you of whether or not I made it to Adelaide for the weekend next week.