Green shoes shining in the sun

Signing off for now, speedygeoff in the last few strides of the Vets half marathon on 28 August..



... and ouch does it ever hurt, especially knowing I have just missed out on breaking the 90 minute barrier.

World Mountain Running

Just received a message from Scott McTaggart, after he completed the World Mountain Running Championship, held in New Zealand today. - "Hi, just finished the hardest race of my life. Came in 28th, Was in 24th but twisted my ankle with 400m to go. Came in first Aussie. Thanks for your support"

Geoff Barker's medal

In today's Vets Handicap Geoff Barker was the one Team Moore medallist - his 8th place in the 8k was enough to get him the silver medal. My 11th place didn't get me a medal though. Maybe next time. Go the Geoffs!

Baby's Birthday

I wasn't going to do this, Aki, but FD said I had to and a kick in the shins from FD could have done considerably more damage than a punch on the shoulder from you.... so,

The baby of our training group is having a birthday this Wednesday, 28th, when she turns
#### years old.

I haven't asked her, but my guess is all gifts of chocolate or champagne would be appreciated. And we might even be able to get her to come along to Zeffirelli on the 27th October, as an honorary non-youth for the night.


Happy birthday, babe! (blame FD for this)

World Duathlon results

In the World Duathlon championships - the unofficial results have
M55 Bob Harlow 5th
W40 Carolyne Kramar 35th
W60 Caroline Campbell 7th
The results list all three as coming from NSW. Hmmm. Very few Team Moore members are from NSW.
Great write-up by Flash Duck.

Not Seeing Stars, Hearing Stars

I am putting in a few posts in a row because I will be away for a few days; Port Elliot is where we have decided to stay next week, then Adelaide.

A fantastic new song on Rage this morning - the video clip of "Fix You" by Coldplay, from X&Y, is just awesome. Can it get any better than this?

I have many music CDs to take away for the trip but my favorites will be X&Y and Switchfoot's "Nothing Is Sound" (There's another great track on that CD, "Stars".)

Looking forward to a fun break.

September jogalong results

43. Jenny Langton 23:10
50. Maria O'Reilly 23:25
58. Katie Forestier 23:51
70. Annemarie Calnan 26:06
85. Charmaine Knobel 26:33
96. Pam Faulks 30:17
113. Gabrielle Brown 29:26
118. Caroline Campbell 32:31
Now my question is this - It is obvious the course was wrong because times look wrong, but if times LOOK right on other occasions, what guarantee do we have that the course was right?
So regretfully I will not be compiling jogalong rankings any more. In the past I have asked about the course and got vague answers. I would take the trouble to keep rankings if I know the course is precisely the same from month to month. I don't; so I won't.

Lot's of interesting events this weekend - World Duathlon competition. World Mountain running championships. And a Veterans monthly Handicap. I will keep you posted on results of all of these when I can.

The best is yet to come.

Here's our transition plan this spring.

Parliament House. No transition; we are going to continue to train there each Monday. This will be the first time we have run at PH during daylight saving hours. It opens up all sorts of possibilities about where we might run to. Same time: continuing to meet at 5:30pm.

North Lyneham. This area is still suitable for training so we will be going there too. Tuesdays at 5:30pm again. We will be starting there as soon as daylight saving commences; in other words, Tuesday 1st November is our first training night. We haven't had formal training on Tuesdays before; it does clash with the spring series and later the summer series, but hey, there are plenty of other racing opportunities, no?

AIS. Continues on Thursdays. And will continue for the next three weeks after which Vets track officially begins on 20th August. Vets track starts at 6pm. But we will still be there at 5:30pm to warmup as usual, won't we? (You race MUCH better with a decent warmup). You non-Vets won't be able to compete - but then, only one non-Vet was turning up to training that night ;)

Last and by no means least, our Zeffirelli nights after track (at Belconnen) are as follows -
Thursday 27 October - including a celebratory champagne after a successful winter.
Thursday 10 November
Thursday 24 November
Thursday 7 December
Thursday 21 December

See, I told you the best was yet to come.

CTFR Team Moore Results

Matthew and son


Too fast for the photographer...

Team Moore people in the CTFR -
72 David Webster 37.58
118 Bob Harlow 40.15
131 Geoff Moore 40.41
135 Jenny Langton 40.53
152 John Kennedy 41.25
161 Gary Bowen 41.43
203 Maria O’Reilly 42.53 1st W50
235 Ken Eynon 43.33
249 Charlie McCormack 43.47
256 Katie Forestier 44.03
257 Ewen Thompson 44.03
290 Michelle Wells 44.50
340 Carolyne Kramar 45.30
346 Cathy Newman 45.40
373 Alan Duus 46.15
391 Cathy Montalto 46.30
398 John Alcock 46.37
400 Peter Hogan 46.38
457 Charmaine Knobel 47.35
459 Mick Charlton 47.36
475 John Stoney 47.54
662 Caroline Campbell 50.40 1st W60
754 Christopher Lang 52.39
773 Maureen Rossiter 52.55
774 Gabrielle Brown 52.55
776 Neil Boden 52.58
799 Ruth Baussman 53.23
841 Graeme Small 54.10
888 Angelo Cataldo 54.59

The Team Moore team we entered ran 2:46.10 (Geoff 40.41, Jenny 40.53, Gary 41.43, Maria 42.53) which wins the athletic clubs team division by 0:43.10. But in today’s results it seems our team was coded into the family division, and given a win there. Nice thought, but it deprives “Wilson” of a win. Not to mention depriving Maria of a certificate. I have sent the CT an email about it.

If I missed you in the results it's unintentional. Please let me know who's missing and I will update the list. I have only looked as far as the first thousand so please submit times from further back as well. Corrections too.

Meanhile read the tips on surging (below). David's a racer and prolific surger. Bob's a pacer and a non-surger. I'm a pacer and a bit of a surger too. We are all different, which makes racing quite exciting. If only I could hang on to Bob, I can out sprint him. If I could hang on to David, who knows?

Racing Principle #2

"Practise Surging"

My favourite race is the 800 metres because it is the shortest track race run in the inside lane, and therefore is the most tactical race.

What are some good race tactics?

* A sprinter-type sits behind a distance runner-type for as long as possible before kicking past to the finish line.
* A fast distance runner employs surges in the second half of a race to try and build up a lead on a sprinter.
* A runner tries to run as evenly a TIME as possible for each split in order to run a pb or break a record.

In the third case this is not racing; this is pacing, or running a time trial.

In order to race successfully, a runner needs to be able to run at varying pace while very close to top pace. This can be practised at every training session.

Tactics for other distances - a 1500 is more weighted towards the distance type, so a distance runner invites a friend to act as a pacer for the first half of a race, so that a sprinter who tags along ends up tiring and is more easily beaten. A long surge at the right time then wins the race for the distance type. (Hey, I am biased towards distance types. OK?)

Cross Country and hilly road runs - a runner surges over and beyond each hill to catch by surprise other runners who tend to take a breather at the top of the hill.

Summary - in training we must separately practise sitting, leading, and surging. Although I teach that runners should aim at even splits for 800, 1500 and longer races, for any of these distances they should be prepared to surge at any time in response to what other runners are doing, and be prepared to surge when the time is right to make a break themselves.

And a surge to be effective could be quite long and strong - 300 metres say at full pace.

So you could run a session of 10 400s in 70 seconds say - but run each 400 quite differently, throwing in longer and shorter surges at different places, and taking it in turns to lead or trail the group.

But as I said in racing principle #1, when we race others we aren't out to be nasty about it. Let's be open about what we are doing and enjoy the competition, freely encouraging one another and enjoying the challenge of racing other runners, and being generous in complimenting our rivals for their meritorious achievements.

Racing Principle #2 - Surging

There were just a few examples of race tactics in this post. Please add more ideas about race tactics as comments below......

VR photo - fierce looking guy

Who is that fierce looking guy at the front of the pink-number-start-group in the Veterans Half marathon? He looks very determined.

No wonder Ken White is lurking coyly in the background.

The new October Vetrunner has this and several other excellent photos of people in our training group. Downloadable now from http://www.actvac.com.au/.

55 today

Neil looking younger than 55

Congratulations to Neil Boden who turns 55 today. Just in time for the track season. Hey Neil, do you want to run in the 4 x 1500 relay on 24/11?

The T&F program appears in the new October Vetrunner.
On 20/10 Vets track includes a 3000 and an 800.
On 27/10 there is a 3000, 1500, 400, and 3000/5000

The Pennington 3000 is on 17/11 and the Higgins 800 on 01/12

There is also a 4 x 400 relay on 3/11 and 1/12, 4 x 1500 on 24/11, and 4 x 800 on 15/12

I will be back from Adelaide before 20/10 so should make all Thursday sessions.
In Adelaide I will be running just the 5000 track and the 8k cross country, I don't think I will do the 1500 as I haven't done the speed training.

Other ACT runners competing in Adelaide include Roger Pilkington and Michael Leahey.

VR Editorial Team

(With my "Chair of Member Services Subcommittee" hat on),

Wanted - an editorial team for Vetrunner magazine - to work with the current editor Jim O'Donnell initially, then take over editing Vetrunner!
This is serious because- Jim expects to be departing Canberra mid or late next year!
So get your thinking caps on and look around for suitable people for such a team.

Today's CT page 6

click on photo to enlarge..

We are all in it! It's the 40 minute plus people early in the race. Team Moore team are all there... somewhere. I can see myself in CR colours behind the guy in red at the front of the photo, Griffin about six people back and slightly to the right (in the photo) also in CR colours, and Kt way over on the right in red.
Maria, Jenny and Ewen, you must be somewhere too, you were near Griffin and me at that stage. Where are you?

There are many other familiar faces. On the right there's Robbie, on the left there's Charlie Modrack, behind him appear to be Jim White, Peter Ward, Bob Harlow, Brian Wenn, Michael Leahey, and Susan Hobson, all together. Then further to the right there's Colin Neave (?), Hugh Ford.... As you go further back faces are less distinct, but I reckon that's Andrew Sutcliffe out on the grass.

Anyone else you can identify?

Racing Principle #1

Redefine "Winning".

Have you heard the definition of a serious athlete? Times himself for every training run.
A really serious athlete? Times himself, and stops his watch when he has to stop running at road crossings, red lights, etc.
The most serious athlete of all? Times himself, and doesn't stop running at road crossings, red lights etc.

The evolution of what motivates us to race is similar.
Stage one is the young athlete, who is motivated by beating others; by crossing the line first.
But with maturity comes stage two - being motivated by improving one's time, running PBs (personal bests) or SBs (season's bests), not concerned with what others are doing.
And stage three, the final stage, is where one's racing is also aimed at helping others, encouraging other runners in a race to do their best as well as you doing your best.

So while doing your best, give others a hand to do their best. It's much more satisfying and rewarding, in the long run.

I will follow this with nine more posts of racing tips. But while the presence of other runners in a race can help you do better, it isn't really your objective to see other runners fail falter and finish poorly.

Racing Principle #1 - Redefine "Winning".

World Duathlon Championships

Among the ACT Athletes representing Australia in the World Duathlon Championships this coming week are Caroline Campbell (far left front), Bob Harlow (centre front) and Carolyne Kramar (the coy one at back right).
Wow - three more Team Moore members are now Australian representatives! That's double the number in one fell swoop!
I should add that Bob, the team manager, was world duathlon champion in his age group (M55) back in 2002.

Go Go Green Shoes

After the 10k

.. 'twas a might chilly when the sun went under a cloud. This bright looking bunch made up for the lack of sunshine...

Half a Glass

The optimist sees a glass half full.
The pessimist sees a glass half empty.
The economic rationalist sees a glass that is twice as big as it needs to be.

Running the CTFR

I guess the way to run the CTFR is to be happy to go out fairly fast, as it is a downhill start.
For example, if it is not windy like last year, I will probably aim for about 41 mins or so by trying for 4 min ks for the first 3k (it will still feel like I am holding back!), then pushing on to 4:10s or thereabouts for the rest. It will feel pretty well flat out heading up King's Avenue.

How to race a marathon

Thought I would commit to weblog how I approach racing a marathon.

1. Decide what time to target for. Taking into account - the degree of difficulty of the course (although, why not pick a fast course, like Melbourne, Canberra, Gold Coast?), the weather (cold and still is best), and your fitness (the indicators I use to decide how fit I am are my body weight, and my average weekly mileage over the previous eight weeks). Typically I would aim at a pb of about 4 minutes, e.g. after I ran 2:26 in 1978, I targeted 2:22 from then on!

2. First 15 kms concentrating on conserving energy - running very relaxed and evenly at target pace, trying to focus, resisting the temptation to chat and joke!

3. 15k to 30k. Getting serious! - pushing harder to maintain the pace.

4. 30k to 35k. Working very hard through this section, trying to get to 35k as soon as possible with a little bit left in the tank.

5. 35k to 40k. Count down begins. Forgetting what time I went through 35k in, throwing caution to the winds and counting backwards from "7k to go". I have a time target for this section alone (slightly slower than average pace).

6. 40k to finish. The final countdown. I have a time target for this section too, which I try and achieve regardless of what has gone before.

I am a pacer rather than a racer. A racer would say "hang on to the pack until you drop off". That's not my preference - for one thing, passing people through a race spurs me on. For another, I tend to start much too fast if I take that approach, and that's OK for shorter races but catastrophic in a marathon.

What's your approach?

Sydney Marathon results

In last Sunday's Sydney marathon, the Team Moore results I have stumbled across are-
Cathy Newman 3:40.11 (pb)
Carolyne Kramar 3:47.13
These times are not official nor are they necessarily correct. Conditions were warm & humid so they both did very well running these times. If there are other marathon finishers from the training group no doubt they will let me know & I will add their results later.


Carolyne in the marathon


Go Cathy Go

19:56

What's the point of seven day forecasts when today's is way out? I have been watching the weather channel with great interest. Adelaide today was supposed to be showers and storms and high winds with a maximum of 16!? Well at 2pm it was still beautiful sunny and warm, good enough for me to have a run in the SA Masters 5k race in the south parklands, where I ran a year's best time of 19.56. Hurrah! Back under 4's. The funny thing was, the race was two laps of a figure eight course; exactly the same pattern as our last few training sessions at Parliament House!

I even met a chicky-babe wearing green shoes. She spotted mine first and I heard the cry "green shoes like mine" and we had a good chat.

I also met a runner who not only knew my brother and sister-in-law from Blackwood SA, but also knew my best friends Lindsay and Linda Mee from Darwin!

For those who want to know what our movements are over the next few days, we are heading back to Canberra soon, and should be home by Wednesday 14th.

I hope all goes well for those running in the Sydney marathon, and I hope the weather forecasts for Sunday in Sydney are just as wrong as today's were for Adelaide.

Adelaide in the Spring

It's warm spring weather here in Adelaide - I have managed to run for an hour or so every morning since arriving here. All the runs have been through the Elizabeth Downs/Craigmore areas where there are many beautiful trails with wildflowers (soursobs mainly!) and birds and peace and quiet. Pity to have missed the big cross country carnival and the marathon carnival of a week ago, and also will have left before the City-to-Bay (C2B) Fun Run in a couple of weeks' time, that I have never been here to run in. It would be my ideal course - 12k gentle downhill all the way on the road. It clashes with the CTFR though and that's also a favourite run.
All's well and the funeral took place yesterday. My brother and I gave the eulogy and we complemented each other well - very different viewpoints which together gave a rounded picture of my father's life and interests.
The thermometer near me is reading 29 degrees. What a beautiful day! Still, they are forecasting 16 maximum on Saturday, showdown day. Go the Crows! Shame about the loss of home-final rights but serve them right for overconfidence against, of all teams, St Kilda.....

PH v NL

Here's a summer training proposal for all to consider. (Plan C)!

Monday nights Parliament House.
Tuesday nights North Lyneham.

And if one of the venues doesn't work out too well, we could always revert to just the other on Mondays.

Of course there would be no expectation that anyone need turn up at both venues each week. But I can think of all sorts of good reasons for offering both.

Remember in summer at PH we won't be limited to running where there is lighting.

Thoughts?

10k training part 5

This is the last instalment in a training program aimed at the Canberra Times 10k Fun Run on 18 September!
Weeks seventeen, eighteen - Monday 5 September to Sunday 18 September
"Ease right back to peak for the race!"

What you actually do might depend on how things have been going.
As a general rule, if you are flying over shorter distances, you may add more longer running in the first ten days.
But if you are tired you should drop back to shorter runs.
No panicky speed work!
You may have to convert your easy days to rest days. Don't be afraid to have a break.
Remember too that you may stay feeling tired right through to Sunday - but come good on the day!
And if you haven't followed the program or done very much training at all, easing back won't help, it would be far better to be building up through the next two weeks.

The kind of pattern I would follow is -
Monday 5 September speed work, undulating to hilly
Tuesday 6 September run very long
Wednesday 7 September medium run or rest
Thursday 8 September easy intervals on the flat
Friday 9 September medium run
Saturday 10 September 5k fast
Sunday 11 September run long and relaxed
Monday 12 September interval training flat track
Tuesday 13 September medium easy run or rest
Wednesday 14 September run long and relaxed
Thursday 15 September jog 20-30 mins
Friday 16 September rest
Saturday 17 September jog 20-30mins
Sunday 18 September IT!

George William Moore

George William Moore 15/03/1924 - 31/08/2005

My father passed away at 11:20pm last night. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith". He died peacefully in his sleep. Jenny and I will be away in Adelaide for a few days for the funeral.