Run 34. 1977 VFL Grounds: Part 6. Western Oval. 27/08/2019.
Another opportunity to run one of the 1977 VFL grounds. Headed west this time to visit the home of the Doggies. They didn’t know it in 1977, but they were still 39 years away from winning a premiership.
Still feeling it from my adventure trail run last weekend, I started with the intent of running a loop, heading out on Footscray Rd and back into the city along Dynon Rd. The trip out was all good but with all the cyclists leaving the city I felt I was on a freeway for bikes. I did a lap of the football ground whilst a group of players started their training session – probably the senior team? But after leaving the football ground my sense of direction also left. Having stopped for a quick bathroom break, I turned right to go north, but it turned out to be east and so then I did a right turn to correct for the error and head east, but now I was going south. One more right turn to finally go east now had me going west and away from the city. A quick stop to check google maps and a 180 degree turn around to go east finally had me going east, but I was now back on Footscray Rd and decided to give up on the lap.
By now the peak hour bike traffic had subsided and given the weather was nice, it was an enjoyable run back through the city and back to Port Melbourne. So nice to be back on firm footing and relatively flat ground. Ran 1:48:30 so not too slow but much better heart rate.
My Three Learnings
Turning left is different from turning right. North becomes East (or sometimes South).
Bike freeways exist, but can be scary at night during peak hour.
Soreness takes time to leave your body.