Lilydale Line (Part 2). Surrey Hills to Mitcham.
SURREY HILLS. 6/6/2018. 149th Run. 17.3 km.
Second after work run this week to make up for missing a few days due to having a cold. It was also the night I was meant to meet a photographer from the Age newspaper who wanted a picture for a story that was planned later in the month. In the end it was decided that it would be too dark and the photo was put off until another day. But apart from that, this was one of the smoothest run so far. Nice cool night, little wind, and virtually no navigational issues. OK - one small one at the start. Think I recognized a hockey field that I ran past as one that my daughters had played at earlier in the year - but hockey fields do tend to look the same. Home just before 7:30 pm so good night after all. Later nights are ahead for sure with the longer mid week runs on the agenda.
MONT ALBERT. 14/4/2018. 135th Run. 17.5 km.
Nice to be back in the cooler weather after a couple of runs (no stations) in Queensland whilst attending the Commonwealth Games. Easy Saturday morning logistics with no time pressures so train system nice option. Lots of turns but now using google map voice directions so not that complex. Would help if there were more prominent street signs to help know exactly where I was. Ran past Riversdale station (well signed), nearly a full year since I ran home from that station so couldn’t entirely remember the way home from there, but looked familiar.
BOX HILL. 9/12/2017. 107th Run. 21.1 km.
Back to running on a Saturday and had an early win when I beat the “Journey Planner” ap by changing train at Richmond in less than 2 minutes. Satifying way to start the day. Having run to catch the earlier Elsternwick train, I was now 40 minutes earlier to Box Hill than originally planned. But I gave some of that back by taking forever to find my way out of Box Hill shopping center just to start running. Win some - lose some. Having exited the wrong side of the center I finally found Station st and finally away. Nice conditions to run and google took me along the path by Gardiners Creek that look like they had flooded during last weekend. Still getting confused by the voice commands at round-abouts so need to pay more attention as I approach them. Home early so heat not a factor.
LABURNUM. 2/7/2017. 67th Run. 21.1 km.
This run started the use of all my technology together. First I caught an early morning Uber to save time and avoid the train waits on a very cold 1 degree morning. Then I started using google maps voice directions through my headphones so I didn’t have to stop to look for directions once I was lost. And it was mostly successful. One of my first attempts at using the Gardinars Creek trails however trails and voice commands aren’t always well matched so a little bit of zig zagging, but lovely area to run. Didn’t get totally lost so that was good. First run in a while wearing long skins and I was thankful that I wore them.
BLACKBURN. 22/8/2018. 171st Run. 22.5 km.
After work run that had a bad start. Waited 15 mins for 109 tram to get into Southern Cross. Plenty of trams going the other way though. Missed my preferred train at Southern Cross so finally at Blackburn by 6:10 pm. Reverted back to old fashion directions written on my hand as google maps wanted me to use the creek tracks and not a good option in the dark. This added a bit of distance but felt a lot safer option. I am capable of falling over in full daylight. Staying on main roads also facilitated passing a McDonald’s which also makes a good pit stop. Lots of work on Koornang Rd near Carnegie station as they remove the ground level train line. Home a bit later than planned but nice night to run.
NUNAWADING. 28/5/2017. 56th Run. 25.6 km.
This was the longest run so far in the challenge but felt more like an orienteering course with a few back tracks. Must have looked at my phone at least 5 times to course correct due to the crossing of creeks and freeways that are not intuitive. Caught the 8:24 am from Elsternwick and was at Nunawading by 9:20 am. Easy run to start and got onto the track along Damper Creek, but followed it too far and came to a dead end. Tiptoed across the creek and first back track to get back onto High St Rd. Then onto Gardiners Creek track and again stayed on too long and found myself near Alamein station. Haven’t run Alamein yet but now I know where it is. Not too bad after that but certainly not the best way to get home when running other stations out this way.
MITCHAM. 26/5/2018. 146th Run. 25.3 km.
Started the weekend run with short trip to Elsternwick. Getting good at fast changes at Richmond meant I was at Mitcham before 9 am. First cool morning in a while so went with long sleeve shirt. Long skins only for temperatures below 3. Headed north from the station when I should have probably gone south but I am getting used to going the wrong way at the start so nothing new. Having run from this direction a bit I enjoy the tracks along the creeks and no longer fear getting lost. Perfect day for running so drink stops not an issue. If its not hot - I can cover 25 km without the need to drink. Think I share genetics with the camel.