CTFR 10k pace judgment

A time predictor might help you with your pacing in the Canberra Times 10k.

According to the time predictor my 90:50 half the other day equates to a 40.45 10k.

So I wouldn't expect to break 40 (yet).

In the CTFR I find I lose about 30 seconds between the 3k and 6k marks. (Because, not being especially fit, I slow dramatically up hills at present.)

To run 40.45, my pacing plan is therefore to hold myself back to about 4:00 per km from the start to the 3km mark, 4.10 per k to the 6k mark, and close to 4.00 per km to the finish.

If that's not too scientific for you, you too could have a go at working out your best pace based on your times for other runs.

3000 5000 10000 1/2Mar Marathon
9.45 16.40 34.30 77.00 2:41.30
10.00 17.05 35.20 78.50 2:45.20
10.15 17.30 36.10 80.40 2:49.10
10.30 17.55 37.00 82.30 2:53.00
10.45 18.20 37.50 84.20 2:56.50
11.00 18.45 38.40 86.10 3:00.40
11.15 19.10 39.30 88.00 3:04.30
11.30 19.35 40.20 89.50 3:08.20
11.45 20.00 41.10 91.40 3:12.10
12.00 20.25 42.00 93.30 3:16.00
12.15 20.50 42.50 95.20 3:19.50
12.30 21.15 43.40 97.10 3:23.40
12.45 21.40 44.30 99.00 3:27.30
13.00 22.05 45.20 100.50 3:31.20
13.15 22.30 46.10 102.40 3:35.10
13.30 22.55 47.00 104.30 3:39.00
13.45 23.20 47.50 106.20 3:42.40
14.00 23.45 48.40 108.10 3:46.30
14.15 24.10 49.30 110.00 3:50.20
14.30 24.35 50.20 111.50 3:54.10
14.45 25.00 51.10 113.40 3:58.00
15.00 25.25 52.00 115.30 4:01.50
15.15 25.50 52.50 117.20 4:05.40
15.30 26.15 53.40 119.10 4:09.30
15.45 26.40 54.30 121.00 4:13.20
16.00 27.05 55.20 122.50 4:17.10

prolific medallist

Gary "Griffin" Bowen with yet another Frylink series medal.

Gary ran a big pb in the Vets half marathon, including a 10k pb under 43 minutes on the way.
But in training on Monday, the next day after the race, he was still up there with the best of them (well, up with Chinup Charlie anyway). Whereas some of us could hardly move. So I say he is Team Moore's secret weapon for the CTFR - coming straight from a ball to the run, he won't have had time to sober up - so he could run really well! Go go green shoes!

Strewth's new weblog

Strewth's new running and training weblog is http://baussmann2.blogspot.com/. I have changed my permanent links accordingly.

Canberra Times Fun Run Team

The Team Moore entries have been sent in for the Canberra Times Fun Run on 18 September.
Your Team Moore team is Ewen Thompson; Katie Forestier; Geoff Moore; Gary Bowen; Ken White; John Stoney; Maria O'Reilly.

Hold the mail! Late addition - Jenny Langton. First four to count so watch her! She may sneak in a finishing sprint and can that girl run! (See photo further down)

Half Marathon Results

Team Moore results from today's Half Marathon.

A beautiful Canberra day saw a start among the newly planted Floriade flower beds, and great runs by Maria winning the W50s in brilliant fashion, David taking 2 minutes off his pb, Cathy making it look easy, Gary right on his 1:35 target, and speedygeoff running way faster than current form suggested.

And it looks as if Floriade will be blooming early this year.

M45 8 Gary Bowen 1:35:04
M50 1 Michael Leahy 1:22:45
M50 2 David Webster 1:24:29
M50 5 Ken White 1:45:28
M50 6 Mick Charlton 1:51:26
M55 2 Bob Harlow 1:29:58
M55 3 Geoff Moore 1:30:48
M55 6 John Kennedy 1:33:49
M55 9 Ken Eynon 1:41:15
M55 10 John Alcock 1:44:44
M55 13 Alan Duus 1:48:20
M55 14 Peter Hogan 1:48:40
M60 3 Geoff Barker 1:44:50

W40 5 Cathy Newman 1:45:08
W50 1 Maria O'Reilly 1:37:23
W55 4 Margaret McSpadden 1:57:13

p.s. full Australian Cross Country results at http://www.coolrunning.com.au/results/2005/2005nationalxcchamps.shtml

... and that's your blooming lot.

AIS 1500s

Thursday night saw a few good 1500 time trials run by the training group. I challenged those who were over 6 minutes last time to try and run evenly under 6 this time. Evenly we didn't get; but under 6 we did.
Jenny Langton ran 5:35
Charlie McCormack 5:43 (6:02 last time)
Bob Harlow 5:44
Katie Forestier 5:59 (6:06 last time)
Neil Boden 6:08
Annemarie Calnan 6:10 (6:29 last time)
Peter Hogan 6:14 (6:16 last time)
Peter McDonald 6:27 (6:06 last time)


click to expand

3000 metre challenge initiative

At about this time of year, when the first signs of spring appear, be they wattle blooms or bees or blowflies, I have usually had enough of winter running and start to anticipate all the pleasures of Canberra summer - especially those Thursdays at Bruce Athletics track, with sunlight until 8:30pm, watching or competing in races over 400, 800, 1500, 3000, 5000; and dinners at Zeffirelli every couple of weeks after most customers have left.

This summer there will be a new initiative on Thursday nights. The competition subcommittee is still in the process of completing the program, but the decision has been taken, I believe, to have a new award for the 3000m event, starting from day one of the season, 20th October.

The 3000m is a good event to focus on in the track season, because
(1) It is short enough to race regularly because recovery is quicker than for a 5000 or a 10000, i.e. racing it each Thursday should not compromise one's day to day training.
(2) Even a runner in marathon training can successfully race 3000s and improve their time, on marathon training alone.
(3) 800s particularly, and 1500s, because of the faster pace of these races, can sometimes cause injury problems for Veteran runners who train over long distances moving down to race on the hard surface at the AIS.
(4) For runners whose specialty is the 400/800/1500, the 3000 is a good distance to move up to as a runner should find it a lot easier to maintain a good pace over that distance than over longer distances, which tend to become a jog and which therefore can produce loss of leg-speed for the shorter races. In other words, a middle distance runner should be able to move up to 3000 and gain endurance without losing their middle distance speed.
(5) The gap between 1500 and 5000 is too big; 3000 bridges the gap nicely.
(6) One's 3000 time can be easily reduced with specific focused training.
(7) I like the 3000 because I still hold the Australian M35 record, set in 1984!

The plan is to have a 3000 metre event at 6pm; the first event each Thursday night. It will not be combined with the 5000. (Any 5000 will be at the end of the night). Even if a steeple is programmed, a flat 3000 will still be run. This means that in a twenty week program there will be twenty opportunities to run 3000s. A ranking list will be kept of the average best eight times of the twenty. At the end of the season the best male and female who have completed at least eight runs will receive a trophy.

So let's get our long winter races out of the way and start thinking about the 3000.

Downhill form

Maria and Jenny in full flight

Feeling Good.

I am passing this on to you because it definitely worked for me and we all could use more calm in our lives. By following the simple advice I heard on a Dr. Phil show, I have finally found inner peace.
Dr. Phil proclaimed the way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started and left unfinished.
So I looked around my house to see things I had started and hadn't finished; and, before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of merlot, a bottle of white wine, a bottle of port, a bottle of Baileys, a bottle of Kahlua, a king-size packet of Tim Tams, the remainder of both Prozac and Valium prescriptions, the rest of the cheesecake, a family size Cadbury block and a box of chocolates. Also the rest of the tube of toothpaste.
You have no idea how good I feel.

North Lyneham Photo

The North Lyneham photo that has "innocently" graced this weblog for the last six months is a little strange!
Did anyone happen to notice?
Why is it strange?
To find out, let's see which Team Moore members are in the photo.
From the left - Cathy Newman, Colin Farlow, Roy Jones, Ruth Baussmann, Alan Duus, Christopher Lang, Tony Booth, Margaret McSpadden, Michael Leahey, yours truly, Rae Palmer, *someone* behind Rae, Jenny Langton, Charmaine Knobel, Ken White, and Gabrielle Brown.
So who is the *someone* behind Rae? The answer is - it's yours truly - again - cloned - very speedy indeed to be able to move faster than a digital camera.
And Maria O'Reilly was there when the photo was taken, but she has been erased.

Cutting and splicing by Ewen Thompson - who was there too, but behind the camera.

Q: Do we want to return to North Lyneham this summer? Or would we rather stay at Parliament House?
North Lyneham might be less attractive this year because of road works, are they going ahead this summer?
Parliament House might have finished its building works; also there are more running venues available there in daylight saving time than there have been in winter in the dark. Maybe the grass will regrow this spring?

Urambi Hills Race Report

Y O Y did I ever run at Urambi Hills? I have only ever run that race once before, but it was on the old course, and even though I swore I was never going to run it again, I changed my mind because the course had been made "easier".

Ha. Ha. Ha.

Some of the kms I "ran" in over 6 minutes. The uphills are too steep. The downhills are too steep. There is no flat.

What didn't help was having a rotten sore throat, but still, that doesn't explain everything. And the trouble with handicaps, or any seeded run for that matter, is you just cannot decide to "jog along" with your mates once you have started.

HOWEVER others in Team Moore did well - Col Farlow got a rare backmarker's medal in the long course, and Gary "Griffin" Bowen got a medal in the short course, AGAIN, with Katie getting fourth place for the third time. (One to go, Kt?).

Results 7.0K
9 Colin Farlow M40 28:51 (bronze medal)
13 David Webster M50 30:18
18 Charmaine Knobel W50 36:44
27 Margaret McSpadden W55 41:51
30 John Kennedy M55 31:45
32 Geoff Barker M60 38:41
39 Christopher Lang M50 38:32
45 Alan Duus M55 37:48
65 Peter McDonald M50 39:26
67 Carolyne Kramar W40 40:17
68 Peter Hogan M55 37:58
69 Cory Collins W65 50:30
77 Jill Brown W55 46:37
78 Graeme Small M60 43:58
79 Roy Jones M60 45:25
83 Ewen Thompson M45 43:57
84 Geoff Moore M55 41:03

3.5K
3 Gary Bowen M45 15:12 (bronze medal)
4 Katie Forestier W35 15:51
6 Sarah Pau W30 18:15
27 Kerry Boden W45 22:32
31 Neil Boden M50 19:45

Earth to Parliament House

I thought I'd write a short post about last night's training (as Geoff had a very slack excuse for not turning up). I'm able to comment because I jogged around at the back of the pack with a dodgy hamstring. At the left is a photograph from space showing where we ran. It's quite an old photo as it shows a road in front of our house where any demonstrator is free to drive up and park.

There was a good crowd of friendly demonstrators there last night. We all were careful to say "G'day Mate" to all the guards who watched our progress with interest. Colin supervised training and OH&S issues were a priority. He told us not to hurdle the barriers (like Lauren would) into the big hole in the footpath. He advised us to jog slowly past this obstacle single file in the gutter. He also warned us about the odd pothole caused by errant tractors.

We were to run the 'U' of Parliament House on the sandy footpath 'sprinting' half of each straight and 'jogging' the other half to recover. We ran two laps (2 Ewes?) and here are the results... Leading at all times was Colin (how could he supervise from there?) followed by Jenny! (looking very determined and purposeful). Then came Richard followed by Trevor. From here my memory is a bit blurry but I think it was Katie and Kevin, then David, then a bunch of marsupials with Cathy, Ken and Neil fairly prominent.

Towards the back was Maureen, Mike and a jet-lagged Ruth. After we finished the hard stuff we jogged another 1.7k to warm down!

"Modern Training Methods"

By Steve Bennett. Steve wrote this article a while ago and since Buster's Bronze Medal people may be talking more about his training methods.

For over the past 50 years there has been a great effort put in by a multitude of experts to develop & present information to do with the training of athletes for better performance. There have been many theories that have been tested by numerous coaches & athletes that have been accepted as facts. Other ideas have failed or have been replaced by new improved ones. This is the nature of Science and by carefully learning from it we can develop better ways of training athletes.

The challenge is to know what to keep & what to leave behind. In recent years we have seen the emergence of the popularity of Pilates & Swiss Ball training for example. Large amounts of money have been made because people could market something different. In the last few decades with endurance running we saw the emergence of the Long Slow Distance approach and more recently the focus on much lower volume training at a higher intensity. With my own squad of athletes we have varied the balance of the ingredients over the years.

Australian Track & Field has had a disappointing few years since the Sydney Olympics . When Benita Johnson won the World Cross Country Championships in 2004 our athletes & coaches were thrilled and surprised. Then we were blown away by Craig Mottram’s 12:55 over 5000m. The interesting thing is that both Craig & Benita are in the same squad coached by Nic Bideau. The program they have followed is nothing surprising but it may be against the modern Australian or American train of thought. Benita often does around 160-170km a week with a long run of 1:45-2:00, a threshold run of 45min, a track session that includes abut 10km of reps mostly at 5-10km pace & her normal days routine is a 70min run in the morning & a 30min recovery run in the afternoon. Most of her training is at a heart rate which is at 70% of VO2max and Anaerobic Threshold runs are also done at the right intensity. The heart rates for both are determined from Laboratory Treadmill testing. Her strength training is quite simple. Craig’s program is similar to Benita but he often does 200-210km a week. Their coach emphasizes the importance of having the athlete not train too intensely in any session. There is a clear need for the athletes to fulfil the training sessions goals & not exceed the required intensity.

What is striking about both Benita & Craig’s breakthrough is that they are doing something that smells of the past but it is as if everyone else has moved onto a modern program of smaller volume & greater intensity with minimal success. This concept of volume versus intensity is one I have debated with many people & given great thought. A common program in Australia over the past few years has been a much lower volume (70-90km per week) but with a much higher lactic intensity all year. But the effects of this program has been to produce rapid initial improvement followed by unpredictable stagnation. Having seen some of the athletes experience many difficulties with the negative effects of the intensity I decided to quiz many of our more successful coaches including Norm Osborne (coach of Mike Hillardt 3:33) , Rick Mitchell (Moscow 400m Silver Medallist), Marg Crowley 4:01 & many others. Norm’s Middle Distance programs had 2 medium runs per week of 60min and a long run of at least 90min , he approached intensity with caution early in the year and built toward a more intense program which started to peak in intensity 12 weeks out from the first key race. His male athletes did close to 160km a week & many of his athletes had great longevity. I then did some more research on the Lydiard program & can see an abundance of evidence to suggest that his program & ones like it produce, in athletes who can biomechanically cope with the high volumes, long & successful careers.

I believe the best way forward for endurance athletes is to aim to do both the volume, at the right intensity to build a great base, while at the same time do activities on & off the track that will optimize the athletes efficiency & speed capabilities. This is where we return this discussion to Pilates & Swiss Ball. I believe that any type of mid torso work done well is beneficial & its even better if this work is integrated into their form drills & weight training as much as possible. Pilates & Swiss Ball activities have their place in any athletes training, however it is possible for athletes to have needs that are beyond what they offer. The athletes in my squad train at certain stages to improve their levels of strength in a range of mid-torso exercises eg hanging leg lifts, weighted crunches etc. At other stages they bounce medicine balls off walls to increase power & at other stages they do high reps of abdominal exercises (especially lower abdominals). It is all about how much time & adaptation resources an athlete is able to spend on all their activities. There is only so much time in the week & if they are doing hard running training then physical & mental recovery time is precious.

My current squad of mostly 1500m Middle Distance athletes are doing a program that resembles the main points of the Lydiard approach . Integrated into it is modern speed drills & mid torso training with a controlled approach to intensity, like Benita Johnson & Craig Mottram. Our program this year consists of 5-6 months base, 6 weeks hills/race pace phase, 9 weeks intense early comp and then the main race season. In the base period we are doing around 22km a week near Anaerobic Threshold (out of 100-125km a week). The athletes are staying fresh & eager to start increasing the volume of faster race pace work soon. We still have 5 months until the first important races & usually the athletes would be in much better race shape very early but they are usually under more pressure in training to see steady gains in more specific training. This year the group is more relaxed knowing that at this stage they are building a base & only need to feel ready for the upcoming period of intense work.

Young athletes should be encouraged to do a great variety of conditioning & strengthening training. Simulate the play of past generations & toughen them up. We need to develop a good training work ethic based out of a love of training in their early stages of involvement in this sport.

We need to never cast aside what has been proven to work with many athletes in the past while at the same time we need to refine the use of new strategies, especially ones that help in the implementation of tried & true methods of training.
regards
Steve Bennett

35 years

I am having a day off tomorrow. Jenny and I have will have been married for 35 years - to each other! We will go somewhere for the day.

Meanwhile back on 22 08 1970 at Ainslie -



It seems just like yesterday

AIS Achievements

We have been training at the AIS on Thursday evenings for some weeks now and I thought it was time to publish the results of the time trials we have run.
Where available I have included lap splits.

Angelo Cataldo
1500 6:33 100, 105, 107, 81
Annemarie Calnan
1500 6:29 100, 108, 107, 74
2k 8.45 98, 107, 111, 109, 100
Bob Harlow
1000 3:44
800 2.58
2k 7.44 92, 91, 93, 94, 94
Carolyne Kramar
1500 6:24 95, 105, 105, 79
600 2:24
800 3.21
Cathy Newman
1500 6:11 96, 101, 101, 73
Charlie McCormack
1500 6:02 95, 102, 101, 64
1000 3:42
Charmaine Knobel
500 1:53
Colin Farlow
400 63.5
500 82
600 1.38
Geoff Barker
1000 4:28
800 3.45
Jenny Langton
400 73
500 94
800 2.37
2k 7.37 89, 94, 93, 94, 87
John Stoney
1500 6:12 95, 102, 102, 73
1000 3:40
2k 8.15 95, 101, 101, 101, 97
Karl Strode-Penny
800 2.24
Kathy Sims
2k 8.24 97, 105, 102, 102, 98
Katie Forestier
1500 6:06 90, 103, 102, 71
800 2.57
Ken Eynon
1000 4:01
800 3.04
Ken Gordon
400 61.0
500 82
800 2.26
Ken White
400 72.3
500 94
Kevin Matthews
500 93
800 2.37
Maria O'Reilly
400 77.0
500 1:40
800 2.52
Matt Hardy
400 66.0
500 94
800 2.45
600 1.52
Michael Rutter
400 70
Paula Wilson
800 3.00
Peter Hogan
1500 6:16 94 103, 100, 79
1000 3:51
800 3.21
2k 8.44 96, 105, 108, 110, 105
Peter McDonald
1500 6.06 97, 104, 99, 66
Roy Jones
1500 6:52 106, 115, 110, 81
Thea Zimpel
800 2.59
Tony Bond
800 2.39
600 1.40
Trevor Cobbold
2k 8.03 93, 100, 98, 99, 93
Vicki Matthews
400 85
800 3.27
600 2.11

Many Notices

Veterans Half Marathon. Entries close soon. I planned to pace 100 minute runners, but I have had only one taker, and unfortunately the organisers didn't promote this offer, so I think I will just start in group three now and run as fast as I can. Unless I get more takers; deadline this Sunday because that's when my entry form goes in.
There are three starts, the first at 8am for runners who will take more than 120 minutes for the 21.1km, second at 8.30am for runners who will take over 100 minutes, and third at 9am for all runners who will finish the course in under 100 minutes. By the way I regard this start system as silly and illogical; firstly a twenty minute gap for people thirty minutes apart makes no sense, compounded secondly by the fact that many runners "cheat" by entering a slower group than they should, compounded thirdly by the fact that honest runners realise their rivals are in the wrong group so they start in the wrong group as well to make a race of it. I am sure that a forty minute gap for people thirty minutes apart would be more logical, but still unfair. And fourthly whatever system you use, the contenders for many of the age groups will be split between different starts. The only fair system is to split on age groups, e.g. have men 60+ and all women start 30 minutes earlier than the rest. This would also help the results processing quite a bit!

Canberra Times Fun Run - a reminder that this race starts at 9:45am this year. I am collecting team entries, up to half marathon day only. The Moore the Merrier. So far I only have three, that's not enough!

The Australian Masters Championships are in Canberra, Easter 2006. Organisers are urgently required!

The IT needs survey invites your input. Details were in the last Vetrunner. Only a week or so to respond.

I am still adding names to the C2S results (below) as times become known. So please continue to pass on to me any that are missing. Thank you to those who have done that already.

That should be enough reminders for now. Here's a drawing of a Team Moore member - I think. Which one?


Go Go Warrior Girl

City To Surf results

Team Moore results from the City to Surf.
David Webster 55.05
Richard Faulks 55.26
Bob Harlow 56.50
John Kennedy 61.31
Carolyne Kramar 64.17
Ewen Thompson 66.35
Charlie McCormack 68.47
John Stoney 68.49
Cathy Newman 69.03
Charmaine Knobel 71.56
Cathy Montalto 72.08
Annemarie Calnan 72.35
Thea Zimpel 74.40
Rae Palmer 74.46
Peter Hogan 75.11
Pamela Faulks 76.15
Roy Jones 77.11
Gabrielle Brown 77.46
Margaret McSpadden 80.42
Also of note
Ron Vines 61.45 (added because I am giving him some training advice)
Diana Schneider 82.45 (added because she reads my weblog!)
There may be names missing. Please inform me & I will update this post.
A good friend Scott McTaggart of Canberra was 6th in 42.45.

The City to Surf results have been posted at http://city2surf.sunherald.com.au/results.asp
Enter any name and if they finished it will come up with Time and Place.

Form Principle #10

“Be content with your unique style.”

Ultimately style is individual. Yours is instantly recognisable – if someone who knows you, sees you in the distance running, they will recognise you straight away. (I recognise the runner but I don’t always remember the name! That’s my right brain working well, my left brain lagging behind).

Just as we all have different styles, we all have our own strengths and weaknesses. I say develop your strengths. We can still work on some less strong areas, but let’s turn our real strengths to our advantage.

Develop your natural style - run like you could run as a child – if your style has become restricted and limited through injury, illness, accident, or age, develop ways of overcoming these limits through exercises which strengthen, stretch, mobilise, and return you to the way you were born to run. Such limits aside, you will find that small changes in style are possible but not big ones. Your silhouette will still look like you. “Know Yourself” – realise what it is about your style which is good and develop those strengths you have.

Are we contradicting principle 9? Maybe, but to tell the truth, running style is a very individual thing.

Form Principle #10 - Be content with your unique style.

Form Principle #9

“Run with others who have a good style”

This comes from the simple observation that people who train together all the time often have a similar running style. I don’t think it’s because birds of a feather flock together. Rather I believe that we tend to copy others’ styles. Some do this more than others; there is one particular runner I can think of whose habit was to run just behind other runners in training and copy their cadence and rhythm and arm action and style. I think in general this is a good thing, particularly for novice runners. In time you develop your own style, but it seems to me that a creative person would take the time initially to try out a whole lot of new things before deciding what to take on board more permanently. Copying various styles on the run to see if they work for you is easier than reading this stuff and trying to implement it from words alone.

Just another advantage of joining a successful running group like Team Moore!

Form Principle #9 - Run with others who have a good style.

City 2 Surf Results

I have about ten of the results from the C2S for our training group but am missing a few. You might like to email me today with your time & anyone else's you know. I will post tomorrow what I have got.

Form Principle #8

“Be Alert and Aware”

Being alert and aware is like basketballers – while being focussed on the task and physically relaxed, you are “switched on” - aware of what is happening around you at all times.

Being alert and aware is like cyclists - in a race you must know what the other runners are doing, so that you can instantly respond if one of them tries to make a break.

As a competitive runner – you should be ever alert for your own opportunity to break away and make the winning run home.

Responding rapidly to the changing demands of a race, and dictating the fortunes of those you are racing, means both an alertness of mind and the ability position yourself to vary pace at any time.

By positioning I mean, not just running “one-out-on-back” or the equivalent, but also running with a style which enables you to change pace and take off when needed.

Like being actively “up-on-the-toes”, “hips forward”, “fast feet”. Being alert is a “form principle”, because it is your posture which facilitates alertness.

Of course, conditioning comes into it too - you must be fast to do this. And you must be able to recover from such surges and be fit enough to repeat them.

Practise surging in training and use surges in all your races. Use arms and breathing effectively to surge fast and long.

"Form"; "conditioning"; and the other big factor is the psychological one. It helps when you are confident that you will out-run the others, and it helps even more if you have convinced the others that you are the one to watch.

When others know you that you are able to surge at will, harder than anyone else, you can dominate a race, even when you are not leading. Your presence in the pack is enough.

On the other hand, if you are beaten every time despite these tactics, it’s still fun surging and breaking up the rhythm of the “plodders”. You know yourself, if some faster runner is “running the straights, jogging the bends” in a race, it can be quite annoying. So have a think about how surging will help you in an all-out race.

Some of those plodders are really good; we all know runners who run at the same pace all the time and seem to ignore your tactics. But they are so predictable; if you are alert and aware, you should somehow be able to work out how to beat them.

Have fun!

Form Principle #8 - Be Alert and Aware

Pick the odd man out

Friar - for your information the odd man out is Craig Mottram, the race was the world 5000m championships in Helsinki, and Craig finished third.
I am told 1987 was the last year a non-African won a medal in the 5000.

Finding Nemo

One of my favourite movies... a little something to go on with as I try to compile our C2S results..

Form Principle #7

“New breathing techniques may help”

You have been running along at a steady state for many years and then a coach takes you to the track and says, run a lap flat out. Suddenly you are gasping for the first time since you were a little kid. At the end you stop and double up because you have not been getting enough air. Or you start coughing because you have discovered there are depths to your lungs you have just never used before.

Does an all out effort mean that it matters how you breathe?

What should you do? Speed the breathing up and breathe more quickly? Split the difference and do what comes naturally? Slow the breathing down and breathe more deeply?

The trouble is, all your easy running has meant that you have not needed to extract the last bit of oxygen from your lungs before. Your legs have been your limiting factor, not your air. You have learned to run comfortably – aerobically – and not had to worry about your breathing at all.

Perhaps it isn’t a 400 – perhaps it is a sprint at the end of a race. Some smart alec told you to run at three steps per second; you have been working towards that; building up some leg strength until you have attained that, getting your posture and stride pattern right. Now suddenly it’s getting out of breath that stops you running faster.

Here is the good news.
Maybe you don’t have to worry. Keep practising running fast and your aerobic capacity will improve with time.

Here is more good news. There are several things you can try which should help.
1. Let the body and arms rise a little and relax a little as you breathe in. Higher arms breathing in, lower arms breathing out.
2. Fill the lungs with air as quickly as possible from the diaphragm up as you breathe in.
3. As you breathe out, force every last bit of air out of the lungs you can. Don’t forget the relaxed throat. Roar like a lion! (Lions wear green shoes?)
4. After you have breathed all the way out, breathe further out! Keep expelling air!
5. As you breathe out your arms and body drop slightly.
6. As you breathe out you surge forward. So it’s breathe out; surge. Breathe in, relax.
7. Practise relaxed higher arms breathing in; driving lower arms breathing out.

8. Now try learning some new breathing patterns. Here is a series of patterns you can try. Many runners breathe in a one-two-one-two pattern - two steps breathing in, two steps out. If that’s you here is what to do.

8.1 Determine which is your lead foot, the foot you step down with on “one”. For example suppose it’s your right foot, i.e. you start to breathe in and out on your right foot step, “one-two-one-two” is “right-left-right-left”. Now change it! For several days on all your runs, make a conscious effort to run “left-right-left-right” instead. Persist until it is just as easy to start on either foot. Once you have done that, or if this is all irrelevant and you don’t favour either foot, proceed to point b.

8.2 Move to a three step pattern. This should be easy if you have tried to increase the tempo of your running to three steps per second and you are already thinking of three-counts. You breathe in for one-two-three then out for one-two-three. Your steps are left-right-left then right-left-right (or vice versa, try both). It is a three beat pattern and as you can see you are alternating which foot is emphasised. Many of you probably do this naturally when you are not over-extended

8.3 Now the breathing really starts to come into it. I said in point three that you should see if you could prolong your air exhalation. You do that by changing the pattern to two steps in and four steps out. “one-two” “one-two-three-four”. This enables you to surge for four steps – a big difference. It enables you to expel a lot more air in one go. It enables you to maintain a mid-race surge for longer. It also means that when you breathe in you need to do so very fast.
You should practise this running at speed, or you could hyperventilate.

8.4 An adventurous runner could take this further and move to a two-step in, six step out pattern. But I don’t think we are talking about anything slower than a flat out 800m race now.

Does this apply to long slow runs? Maybe not. Have a go anyway. It won’t hurt.

Here is a summary. Breathe out long hard and vigorously to get all the air out and to use that time to surge. Breathe in as quickly as possible to refill. Let the body rise and relax as you breathe in.

Form Principle # 7 – New breathing techniques may help.

I'd like to see that!

The cricket's washed out so they're showing the marathon! I'd like to see that!
p.s. Go The Crows.

Complementary Training Sessions

“You are supposed to be retired” my wife tells me, when she sees me racing around from one activity to the next. Great, when I decide to laze around the house, I will have the excuse “You said I should slow down” in reserve.

Even with a day off scheduled for today, I decided to go the gym and have a burst on the hill climber – for the second time this week. Today’s session was a pb – I have been feeling unusually good lately, maybe I am getting over my achilles soreness (in desperation I have had no less than three inserts under the right heel for the last two weeks), maybe it is because the days are getting longer and the weather warming up, a sign that winter is passing, or maybe it is because I am meeting many great new people recently – anyway the pb was:
45 minutes on the “cross country” setting, at level 10, then
a 5 minute repeat on the same setting, at level 12.

When I was running with Flashduck at the Customs run on Friday, she mentioned it was good to have complementary training sessions. We had both run the BBQ Stakes on Wednesday, me for the second time ever, then backed up with the Customs run on Friday, me for the first time ever. (Customs run #1413 was speedygeoff's run #1).

Wednesday’s BBQ Stakes 6k is too hilly for me – so I intend running it as often as possible to get some strength training – while Friday’s Customs 5k is flat and relatively fast – so I intend running it as often as possible to get an indication of how I am going, and to substitute for speed training which I am unable to do because of the achilles injury.

Those three sessions, BBQ Stakes, Customs, and hill climber, complement each other really well and I can recover from one despite doing the next as hard as I like.

Our training group’s speed sessions are similarly complementary. PH on Mondays is hilly and soft under foot, while our Thursday track session at the AIS is flat (couldn’t be more flat!) and the track there is hard and fast.

PH with the big hill, guards and alarms (yes we set off the alarms again last Monday, and yes, you can run up the big hill again). AIS with music and lights! Very different.

Complemented again by whatever gym sessions one does during the week; complemented further by any swimming, cycling, hockey, touch, …. , and most importantly complemented by as much long slow distance running as one is able to fit in.

And I mustn’t forget to stretch! (I will go and do some stretching now)…..

…I’m back.

Hopefully dear reader you also will be retired one day and will be able to fit everything in. (I have achieved the former but by no means the latter).

lunch races this week.
BBQ Stakes – 26.10 – 4.22 per km. 30 secs faster than the previous week.
Customs 5k – 20:30 – 4.06 per km. OK for first up, and is close to my 5k target for the year.

World Athletics

Sorry for the lateness of this - I have only just come across a list of times for World Championship races. Here are the longer distance races still to come, times are Australian Eastern Time. Set the video recorder to SBS or watch the highlights the next day.
13 Aug Men's Marathon 2120
14 Aug Women's 5000m 0310
14 Aug Women's Marathon 2120
15 Aug Men's 800m 0230
15 Aug Women's 1500 0255
15 Aug Men's 5000m 0320 * get out of bed for this one.

Team Moore updated

TEAM MOORE PEOPLE
Each row contains a name with hyperlinks to form guides where these exist -
Start of Christian name – to Veterans Athletic Club
Start of Surname – to Cross Country Club
End of Surname – to Lunch Time Running ....................
And contains a hyperlink to their running weblog or personal website if one exists.
John Alcock
Geoff Barker
Ruth Baussmann http://baussmann.blogspot.com/
Kerry Boden
Neil Boden
Tony Bond
Tony Booth
Gary Bowen
Ros Bowers
Gabrielle Brown
Jill Brown
Annemarie Calnan
Caroline Campbell
Angelo Cataldo
Kevin Chanberlain
Mick Charlton
Trevor Cobbold
Dion Devow
Alan Duus
Caz English
Ken Eynon
Colin Farlow
Pam Faulks
Richard Faulks
Katie Forestier
Rod Gilchrist
Ken Gordon
Jeni Greenland
Matthew Hardy
Bob Harlow
Peter Hogan
Roy Jones
Eloise Kelley
John Kennedy
Charmaine Knobel
Carolyne Kramar http://runflashduck.blogspot.com/
Christopher Lang
Jenny Langton
Helen Larmour
Michael Leahey
Alex Lloyd
Rod Lynch
Peter McDonald
James McMahon
Margaret McSpadden
Neville Madden
Kevin Matthews
Vicki Matthews
Cathy Montalto
Geoff Moore http://geoffmoore.blogspot.com/
Cathy Newman http://froggie61.blogspot.com/
Jim O'Donnell
Maria O’Reilly
David Palmer
Rae Palmer
Sarah Pau
Jill Pearson
Joel Pearson
Toby Pearson
Michael Roche
Maureen Rossiter
Michael Rutter
Alice Scott
Kathy Sims
Graeme Small
Kathy Southgate
John Stoney
Karl Strode-penny
Annette Sugden
Ewen Thompson http://gsxsuzuki.blogspot.com/
Amanda Walker
David Webster
Rachel Webster
Michelle Wells
Ken White
Lisa Wilson
Paula Wilson
Thea Zimpel http://akiruns.blogspot.com/

Notices

1. This Saturday's Cross Country Club race has been changed at the last minute to Yerrabi Pond. "The start area would be in Gungahlin Town Park. According to the map in the Yellow Pages, Gungahlin Town Park comes off Wunderlich St". 1/3.5/7k. Now you know as much as I do. Sounds more inviting than "Harcourt Hill" did. Also they may need an extra helper or two.

2. ACT Vets General Meeting this Monday 15th, 7:30pm at West Deakin Hellenic Bowling Club. As many Vets club members as possible should make an effort to turn up (just to make sure common sense prevails).

More New Words

If you write a lot, keep up to date with all the newest 21st century words!

404 A clueless person. From the World Wide Web message "404, URL not found" meaning that the document you've tried to access can't be located. "Don't bother asking him...he's 404, man."

aquadextrous (ak wa deks' trus) adj. Possessing the ability to turn the bathtub tap on and off with your toes.

irritainment Annoying, but one can't stop watching.

carperpetuation (kar' pur pet u a shun) n. The act, when vacuuming, of running over a string or a piece of lint at least a dozen times, reaching over and picking it up, examining it, then putting it back down to give the vacuum one more chance.

disconfect (dis kon fekt') v. To sterilize the piece of candy you dropped on the floor by blowing on it, somehow assuming this will `remove' all the germs.

eiffelites (eye' ful eyetz) n. Gangly people sitting in front of you at the movies who, no matter what direction you lean in, follow suit.

elecelleration (el a cel er ay' shun) n. The mistaken notion that the more you press an elevator button, the faster it will arrive

generica Fast food joints, strip malls, subdivisions. "We were so lost in generica that I couldn't remember what city it was."

lactomangulation (lak' to man gyu lay' shun) n. Manhandling the "open here" spout on a milk container so badly that one has to resort to the `illegal' side.

link rot The process by which links on a web page become obsolete as the sites they're connected to change location or die.

petrophobic (pet ro fob' ik) adj. One who is embarrassed to undress in front of a household pet.

Hispanic attack - a combined hissy fit and panic attack

Sarchasm. n. The gap between the person making a sarcastic joke, and the person who doesn't get it.

"10 reasons I don’t run"

.... 10 reasons I don't brush my teeth
10. My friends don't do it, why should I ?
9. Don't need to do it...life is just fine without it....
8. I just don't have the time to do it.....
7. It’s so boring....
6. People have to do it every day. It must be addictive, so I avoid it…
5. The temperature in the bathroom is not comfortable….too hot or too cold….
4. The people that do it think they are better than others.....
3. My parents forced me to do it when I was young.... I resent that......
2. It hurts my elbows, it can’t be good for you…
1. Everyone did it in the ‘70s, it’s just not cool any more.

adapted from http://ppalma.com/Topten%20reasons.htm

Form Principle #6

“Drive with the arms”

Good running form looks roughly as follows - free flowing (see principle 1) and natural (see principle 2); fast, high off the ground and up on the toes, leading from the hips (see principles 3 4 and 5); and the arms need to be working hard, because the legs tend to follow the arms; the arms and legs working together determine the gait and pace of the runner.

Think of a galloping horse – first the forelegs, then the rear. For us humans, the drive similarly comes from our forelegs, the arms, and the pattern and pace of the run is set by the arms.

So like the horse our arms need to reach forward, not across. If we push the arms out in the direction we are running, and the legs follow and stride out in that direction (good!). If we slow down the arms, the legs slow down (not so good!). If we push our arms across our body, the whole body rotates sideways instead of moving in a forward direction (bad, bad!). If we speed up our arms, our legs speed up (good!). If we throw our hands forward and down, our stride shortens and becomes very quick (very good!). If we throw our hands down but pick them up again very quickly, our knees come up fast off as well (very good!).

A good style is a varied style – resisting the temptation to plod along with just one running action, we vary the way we run. Like a child! We need to re-awaken, re-activate the patterns of running we exhibited when we were very young.

So develop natural ways of moving the arms – at times throw the hands out and down, pick them up fast. At other times the movements are smaller. At all times the elbows do not lock. The elbows should not be frozen in place. Now the worst feature of nearly every running style I observe is the locking of the elbows. It is associated with sore necks, restricted breathing, bad posture, excessive shoulder sway, tension, tension, tension.

(To clarify - a "locked" elbow is one where the angle of the elbow does not change)

Of these faults, the most obvious to the naked eye is shoulder sway. And with that, elbows out to the side of the body, “Chicken wings.” I am at fault here as much as anyone. All the years of slow marathon training have helped develop in me the really bad habit of sticking the elbows out to the side. To have the arms reaching forward and pulling back most effectively, the elbows really should be quite close to the body. A way of correcting this (in training) is to turn the hands over; rotate both hands outwards so the palms are facing up. Then you can practise until it feels comfortable. It will feel strange at first so ask a friend if you really are tucking the elbows in. And when you resume normal arm actions be aware of where the elbows are.

A good running style is a varied style. In particular it doesn’t seem to matter how high or low the arms are held, as long as they are working vigorously and hard, and there is good relaxation. Because high arms are less relaxed for me, I have developed lower arms, and that is my preference. But high arms are OK too.

Breathing and arm movements go together. But that is the next topic.

So pump those arms stronger and faster!

Form Principle # 6 – Drive with the arms.

shipwreck

A guy gets shipwrecked. When he wakes up, he's on a beach. The sand is dark red.
He can't believe it. The sky is dark red.
He walks around a bit and sees there is dark red grass, dark red birds and dark red fruit on the dark red trees. He's shocked when he finds that his skin is starting to turn dark red too.
"Oh no!!" he says . . . . .
.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.


"I've been marooned!!"

USA Masters, last set of results

M55 200 Final
1 Allie, Charles M57 Unattached 24.55
2 Tharpe, Bill M56 Unattached 25.80
3 Yeck, Raymond M57 Unattached 26.35
4 *Sims, Geoff M57 Australia 27.00
5 Jacobson, Vance M57 Brooks - Fle 27.13
6 Ng, Allen M57 Hawaii Maste 29.96

W50 1500 Final
1 Smith-Hanna, Carolyn W54 Genesee Vall 5:17.35
2 Janneck, Denise W51 So Cal Track 5:33.48
3 Ward, Kathy W50 Brooks - Fle 5:37.41
4 *Sims, Kathy W54 Australia 5:57.49
5 Miyashiro, Angie W52 Hawaii Maste 6:08.13
6 Prather, Sherri W51 Unattached 6:35.27
7 McCurdy, Lucy W54 Mid-Pacific 9:00.17

Canberra Times Fun Run

To all you Team Moore members, you can enter in the Team Moore team in the Canberra Times Fun Run.
To get in the team, please do the following
1. Get your entry form to me on or before Sunday 28 August *half marathon day.
2. WITH payment in the form of cheque or credit card details – NOT cash.

We can have as many as we like in the team, with the first four to count. So far Ewen, Katie and myself are in the team. Speed preferred but not essential!

Results from Goorooyarroo

8k Women
1. Kathy Southgate 49 W45 33:03
8k Men
23. Michael Leahey 51 M50 32:40
43. Ewen Thompson 48 M45 37:53
45. Ken Eynon 59 M55 37:57
52. Geoff Moore 57 M55 40:40
53. Mick Charlton 53 M50 40:40
62. Graeme Small 64 M60 47:48
The less said about my "run" the better. But I loved the course.

Today's Jogalong

No new PBs in today's jogalong. Katie was the closest; 4 or 5 seconds away. Here is an updated rankings list.

TEAM MOORE JOGALONG PBs (Weston park course only)
01 Maria O’Reilly 24.52 Sept 2003
02 Carol Ey 25.06 Oct 2003
03 Lisa Wilson 25.21 Mar 2003
04 Kathy Sims 25.58 Mar 2003
05 Annette Sugden 26.14 May 2004
06 Michelle Wells 26.36 May 2003
07 Katie Forestier 27.09 July 2005
08 Rae Palmer 27.11 May 2003
09 Cathy Montalto 27.17 Sept 2003
10 Helen Larmour 27.24 Sept 2004
11 Annemarie Calnan 27.47 Sept 2004
12 Mary Ann Busteed 28.06 June 2003
13 Thea Zimpel 28.39 July 2005
14 Carolyne Kramar 28.44 July 2005
15 Charmaine Knobel 28.53 May 2004
16 Maureen Rossiter 29:43 Aug 2003
17 Cate Winning 29.44 May 2005
18 Gabrielle Brown 30.11 Sept 2004
19 Margaret McSpadden 30.21 Aug 2003
20 Sarah Pau 30.23 Mar 2005
21 Caroline Campbell 30.36 Sept & Oct 2003
22 Clare Gunning 30.58 Nov 2004
23 Pam Faulks 31.48 July 2005
24 Alison Sims 32.16 Nov 2004
25 Mandy Chew 32.36 May 2004
26 Philippa White 32.41 Sept 2004
27 Amanda Knobel 33.03 July 2004
28 Marian Blake 33.15 July 2005

More Results USA Masters

W50 800 Meter Run
1 Martin, Kathryn W53 Northport Ru 2:31.91
2 Smith-Hanna, Carolyn W54 Genesee Vall 2:34.58
3 Janneck, Denise W51 So Cal Track 2:45.15
4 Ward, Kathy W50 Brooks - Fle 2:50.28
5 *Sims, Kathy W54 Australia 2:51.65
6 *Staub, Britta W53 Unattached 3:12.04
7 Prather, Sherri W51 Unattached 3:13.02
8 McCurdy, Lucy W54 Mid-Pacific 4:10.30

M55 800 Meter Run
1 Blake, Carroll M55 Unattached 2:17.37
2 Mathes, Stan M59 Unattached 2:17.83
3 Cash, Grady M57 Nashville St 2:20.79
4 *Sims, Geoff M57 Australia 2:22.10
5 Hall, Gary M58 Unattached 2:24.98
6 *Payne, Tim M55 Canada 2:29.08
-- Weiner, Robert M58 Potomac Vall DNF

First results USA Masters

Honolulu day two
M55 400 Meter Dash
1 Allie, Charles M57 Unattached 55.64
2 Blake, Carroll M55 Unattached 58.35
3 *Sims, Geoff M57 Australia 1:01.93
4 Yeck, Raymond M57 Unattached 1:03.90
5 *Waltermann, Stefan M55 Carolinas Tr 1:05.33

Kathy's name isn't in the W50 5000 results of day one so I guess she didn't run it. Three more days' results to come.

Ron Sidnell

Silver Success

"Lauren Boden enjoys life in the fast lane."

From the Canberra Times -
By James Lucek-Rowley

"Boden leads the way to brighter future for Aussie athletics"
While Australia’s chances at the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Helsinki look bleak, the future of the sport is looking a lot brighter thanks to Lauren Boden.
Boden returned home to Palmerston from the World Youth Championships in Morocco yesterday with a little extra baggage — a silver medal.
The 17-year-old Canberran was one of 37 Australian athletes who competed in Marrakech after she won the 400m hurdles at the National Championships earlier this year.
Boden blitzed the field in the heats to qualify fastest in 58.19 and was confident heading into the final.
“Having run a race the day before sort of put all the nerves out of the way,” she said. “I knew what I had to do so I just went out and gave it my best shot.”
Boden and AIS coach Matt Beckenham devised a plan of attack for the race but didn’t anticipate her American rival Ebony Collins running a two second personal best to snatch the gold medal.
“The final was a bit windier and I thought I ran better but the time was slightly slower. I’m thrilled that I got second.”
Boden also competed in the long jump, but was disappointed with her 10th place.
“My first jump was a foul and I was pretty disappointed because it was a decent jump. I was looking to make top 8 because then you get another 3 jumps.”
While Boden’s career spans over a decade now, she has only started to take the sport seriously in the last couple of years.
“I’ve always done hurdles. I think I would prefer to run the 400m hurdles than the 400m flat purely because it gives you something to do.
“You’re not concentrating about the pain so much, you take it one hurdle at a time, so it helps break down the race.”
At just 17 years of age and competing at such a high level, the Commonwealth Games next year seem within her reach, but Boden is not setting her sights too high just yet.
“It is an aim but it’s not something really major. I know that there will be other Commonwealth Games opportunities for me, so I’m not getting too hung up on this one. There is World Juniors in Beijing next year which is probably more realistic for me,” she said.
While the Olympic Games are her ultimate dream, Boden is aiming for longevity in the sport rather than immediate success.
Despite comparisons to Australia’s 400m hurdler Jana Pittman being thrown around already, Boden’s head is firmly set on her shoulders. “I don’t want to be a child prodigy who never makes it to the next level. My aim is to be like Jana but only in terms of her world status. People say you’re the next Jana but really I’m the first Lauren,” she said.

North Lyneham

Where we train on Mondays in summer

A 10k Training Program (part four)

Weeks thirteen to sixteen
Monday 8 August to Sunday 4 September- focus more on race practice

I published part one on June 01.
The second part on June 10.
The third part on July 02.

Week thirteen
Monday 8 August 5 x 1 minute fast, on 5 minutes
Tuesday 9 August rest
Wednesday 10 August 5k time-trial
Thursday 11 August 40 to 50 minute run
Friday 12 August 10 x 100, jog back
Saturday 13 August 60 to 90 minute run
Sunday 14 August easy jog

Week fourteen
Monday 15 August 1 x 6 minute fast
Tuesday 16 August rest
Wednesday 17 August 3k time-trial
Thursday 18 August 40 to 50
Friday 19 August 10 x 100, jog back
Saturday 20 August 60 to 90
Sunday 21 August easy jog

Week fifteen
Monday 22 August 5 x 1 minute fast, on 5 minutes
Tuesday 23 August rest
Wednesday 24 August 5k time-trial
Thursday 25 August 40 to 50
Friday 26 August 10 x 100, jog back
Saturday 27 August 60 to 90
Sunday 28 August easy jog
or….
Saturday 27 August easy jog
Sunday 28 August run that Veterans half marathon that’s on in Canberra

Week sixteen
Monday 29 August 1 x 6 minute fastish, relaxed if ran the half marathon
Tuesday 30 August rest
Wednesday 31 August 5k time-trial
Thursday 1 September easy jog
Friday 2 September easy jog or rest
Saturday 3 September easy jog
Sunday 4 September race (jogalong) or 5-10k time trial

Bush Marathon result

Bush Marathon Team Moore results

42.2km
16 Christopher Lang 5.13.02

25kms:
14 Cathy Newman 2.10.46 (3rd woman)
18 Carolyne Kramar 2.17.09
19 Peter Hogan 2.17.09
22 Mick Charlton 2.26.19
31 Alice Scott 3.16.15

16kms:
14 Ewen Thompson 1.19.49
29 Geoff Barker 1.28.16, 30
35 Thea Zimpel 1.31.59
42 Mike Worsley 1.36.09
43 Caroline Campbell 1.36.11
54 Marian Blake 1.40.59
74 John Kennedy 2.03.33

CCC results

Team Moore results Mill Creek 6k
Women
1. Kathy Southgate W45 24:42
Men
25. Ken Eynon M55 28:41

Team Moore results Mill Creek 3k
Men
28. Graeme Small M60 19:00
29. Ken Eynon M55 19:01

Training Plans

Hurray some nicer winter weather - or at least up to today. All being well all of our sessions at PH on Mondays & the AIS on Thursdays will continue as planned thru August and leading up to the CTFR on 18 September.
I plan to continue a series of time trials at the AIS, and a few short sharp runs as needed or when sprinters turn up. For CTFR preparation some runs of between 2k and 5k are called for so that is what we will do for the next few weeks.
At PH it depends somewhat on what areas are runnable or whether the powers that be make it impossible to train there by digging everything up. (So much for their work being finished in April, promises promises). What I would like to do there will include sets of shorter sprints than we have been doing, with longer recoveries, possibly in teams with batons if that is practical.
Only six weeks until the CTFR, means a bit of sharpening, race practice, and easing back from the very hard interval sessions.

p.s. I ran the BBQ stakes today for the first time ever. I have missed thousands of runs there!

Forty hits a day

Hits on this weblog are now up to 40 per day average - that's an increase of 33% since I last checked. And a bit of blog trivia, I heard on news radio this morning that one new weblog is being created each second world wide.

I have certainly found this an excellent vehicle for communication!

Later today I might post something about our Monday and Thursday training sessions, and our plans for August.

Oh, and I must investigate "Google Earth" soon and get some running course pictures onto this site.

The best is yet to come! There is no finish line!

Medal Count at Edmonton

Kathy Sims bronze (5000), bronze (4x100), silver (4x400)
Geoff Sims silver (200), gold (400), silver (800), gold (4x100), gold (4x400)
Consie Larmour bronze (100), silver (200), gold (400), bronze (4x100), silver (4x400).

Consie's 100, 200 and 400 times were all new ACT records.

Here are the last sets of results -
M55 800 Metre Final "Section 1"
1 Payne, Tim M55 Canada, Orillia 2:28.05
2 Hill, Bruce M59 Canada, Maple Ridge 2:44.07
3 Payne, Randal M58 RSA, Westville 2:56.10
4 Buendgens, Valentin M58 Germany, Aachen 3:44.69
-- Ribeiro, Jose M57 Canada, Toronto DNS
-- Barrow, Geoff M56 Australia, Brighton DNS
"Section 2"
1 McGlynn, Mike M55 USA, Jackson 2:17.60
2 Sims, Geoff M56 Australia, Hawker 2:17.79
3 Carter, Michael M56 Canada, Mississauga 2:23.76
4 Judson, Fred M59 Canada, Edmonton 2:23.82
5 Pawluk, Fred M58 Canada, Richmond 2:26.92
6 Slanina, Jan M59 CZE, Kromertz 2:44.14
-- Oneil, Peter M59 USA, Union DNS
-- Jermacans, Viddy M56 AUS, Whitfield DNS

W50 800 Metre Run Finals
1 Nicoletti, Catherine W54 USA, Nederland 2:44.25
2 Richards, Mary W51 USA, Atlanta 2:45.01
3 Ana, Jerman W53 Slovenia, Trzic 2:47.47
4 Goodwin, Christine W52 AUS, Montacute 2:51.08
5 Sloan, Jeanette W51 Canada, Edmonton 2:51.43
6 Sims, Kathy W54 Australia, Hawker 2:55.66
7 Zalite, Iraida W54 Latvia, Riga 3:14.39

Men 4x100 Metre Relay 240+Finals
1 Australia 50.55 1) Morioka, Harold 62 2) Sims, Geoff 56 3) McIntyre, Neville 62 4) Crombie, Peter 60
2 Canada 'B' 52.01 1) Green, Charlie 67 2) Mintz, Bruce 58 3) Dunn, Dave 69 4) Boyd, Barry 53
3 Canada 'D' 57.23 1) Armstrong, Mervyn 66 2) Roberts, Richard 62 3) Smith, George 61 4) McFadyen, Bob 62
4 Japan 58.98 1) Inoue, Takashi 76 2) Wada, Eiji 68 3) Singh, Gurdev 66 4) Singh, Puran 55
5 Canada 1:03.24 1) Hughes, Burton 72 2) van Tol, Arie 61 3) Barlow, David 46 4) Renwick, Doug 63
6 Canada 'C' 1:04.97 1) Friesen, Les 68 2) Poonia, Kesar Singh 71 3) Fedyna, Victor John 73 4) Cote, Norman R. 70

Women 4x100 Metre Relay 200-239 Finals
1 Canada 'B' 1:01.21 1) Nutting, Jan 51 2) Roberts, Catherine 58 3) Sloan, Jeanette 51 4) Poelzer, Linda 48
2 Canada 1:01.75 1) Trott, Rhona 56 2) Radcliffe, Marg 63 3) Amerongen, Loretta 51 4) Fossberg, Mette 53
3 Australia 'B' 1:04.13 1) Hondromatidis, Chrisoulla 56 2) Larmour, Constance 70 3) McDonnell, Hazel 58 4) Sims, Kathy 54
4 Australia 1:05.61 1) Cattermole, Lyndsey 57 2) Denehey, Jessica 55 3) Redwood, Victoria 51 4) Fielke, Alison 47

Men 4x400 Metre Relay 240+ Finals
1 Australia 27.03 3:55.64 1) Sims, Geoff 56 2) Morioka, Harold 62 3) McIntyre, Neville 62 4) Crombie, Peter 60
2 Russia 4:28.52 1) Lushchikov, Vladimir 65 2) Razzhigaev, Nikolay 64 3) Solovyov, Victor 57 4) Tsukanov, Alexander 57
3 United States 4:43.79 1) Fischer, Bobby 65 2) LeVasseur, Jerry 67 3) Hamlyn, Maxwell 64 4) Cameron, Alan 46
4 Canada 'B' 4:56.51 1) Friesen, Les 68 2) Giegerich, Joe 73 3) Fedyna, Victor John 73 4) Cote, Norman R. 70
5 Canada 5:01.26 1) Hughes, Burton 72 2) Renwick, Doug 63 3) Barlow, David 46 4) Hill, Bruce 59
-- Canada 'C' DNS 1) Smith, George 61 2) Roberts, Richard 62 3) McFadyen, Bob 62 4) Kaluzniak, Marvin 58
-- Brazil DNS 1) Lemos, Antonio Lauro 62 2) Cesar, Normando T.B. 59 3) Bueno, Zildo 65 4) Pereira, Luiz Felipe 57

Women 4x400 Metre Relay 200-239 Finals
1 Canada 5:32.81 1) Roberts, Catherine 58 2) McBlain, Liz 57 3) Nutting, Jan 51 4) Sloan, Jeanette 51
2 Australia 5:40.97 1) McDonnell, Hazel 58 2) Hondromatidis, Chrisoulla 56 3) Sims, Kathy 54 4) Larmour, Constance 70

City to Surf

David Webster - leading in this photo
Only two weeks to go to the City to Surf, and I am tipping David Webster as a big improver. He's been running brilliantly this year and the C2S has always been his main goal. Good luck mate! And I won't be there, but best wishes to everyone competing.

Coach who specialising in brithday invitiations

As if last Monday’s grumble wasn't enough – having now actually read Vetrunner, I am slightly annoyed at "weblog" being split into two words by the editor; but I am embarrassed to see the Cross Country Club program screwed up.

Ignore the calendar of events: Cross Country Club races for August 2005 are -
6 August Goorooyaroo
13 August Harcourt Hill
20 August Dunrossil Drive
27 August North Lyneham
and the National Cross Country is in Adelaide, not Canberra.

"The Importance of Proof Reading"
IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you are one of hundreds of parachuting enthusiasts who bought our Easy Sky Diving book, please make the following correction: on page 8, line 7, the words "state zip code" should have read "pull rip cord."

It was incorrectly reported last Friday that today is T-shirt Appreciation Day. In fact, it is actually Teacher Appreciation Day.

There was a mistake in an item sent in two weeks ago which stated that Ed Burnham entertained a party at crap shooting. It should have been trap shooting.

There are two important corrections to the information in the update on our Deep Relaxation professional development program. First, the program will include meditation, not medication. Second, it is experiential, not experimental.

In the City Beat section of Friday's paper, firefighter Dwight Brady was misidentified. His nickname in the department is "Dewey." Another firefighter is nicknamed "Weirdo." We apologize for our mistake.

Our newspaper carried the notice last week that Mr. Oscar Hoffnagle is a defective on the police force. This was a typographical error. Mr. Hoffnagle is, of course, a detective on the police farce.

In a recent edition, we referred to the chairman of Chrysler Corporation as Lee Iacoocoo. His real name is Lee Iacacca. The Gazette regrets the error.

Apology: I originally wrote, "Woodrow Wilson's wife grazed sheep on front lawn of the White House." I'm sorry that typesetting inadvertently left out the word "sheep."

In one edition of today's Food Section, an inaccurate number of jalapeno peppers was given for Jeanette Crowley's Southwestern chicken salad recipe. The recipe should call for two, not 21, jalapeno peppers.

The marriage of Miss Freda vanAmburg and Willie Branton, which was announced in this paper a few weeks ago, was a mistake which we wish to correct.