Sample Training #10 - racing

#10 - Racing

Runners should integrate into their training program lots of shorter distance racing. This would apply not only to marathon runners for whom short races are an excellent way of doing speed training, and of testing how their fitness is improving without having to run marathons and the like to prove themselves; this would also apply to middle distance runners; for example 800 metre specialists should race as many 200s and 400s as they can leading up to their main races without easing off their training.

How all this fits together

The sample training sessions I have listed should not all be attempted at the same time. Instead they are part of a sensible 12 month pattern.

Here is a rough guide to assembling them into your year. Canberra middle distance Vets want to peak in March for the ACT championships and March/April for the nationals at Easter. (This year the ACT championships are at the end of February, because of the Commnwealth Games, but think ahead for the next twelve months).

January race practice & speed development the main focus
February race practice & anaerobic
March racing
April general endurance
May general endurance
June general endurance
July general endurance, hill sprints
August specific endurance, hill sprints
September specific endurance
October aerobic intervals
November aerobic intervals
December aerobic intervals

So that is how to train for an 800 metre pb in March. Remembering to ease back the distance during the racing period. And being confident that you will improve, having subjected yourself to the discipline of long and hard sessions through the 12 months, and being fortunate or clever enough to avoid injury through that period, keeping motivated through varying the training, doing additional cross training and jogging, and being part of a training group whose members are similarly motivated.

Enjoy!

Sample Training Session #9 - Race Practice

My progress
.

last week’s target 90 km, achieved 91 km

this week’s target 80 km

weight 67 kilos

quote of the week “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow" - Mark Twain

song of the week I Turn Everything Over by Switchfoot from New Way To Be Human

.

Monday found me on my knees again

Breathing You in

To blur the lines that mark where I begin

And where You end

No use in trying to pretend

Come take me again

'Cause rumour has it I'm not who I've been

Come define me

.

What can we do

If the rumours are true?

.

I turn everything over

I turn myself in

I turn everything over

I turn myself in

There's nothing left for me to defend

I turn everything over

I turn myself in, yeah

.

The evidence convicts the hollow men

After looking inside

To my dismay I find I'm just one of them

'Cause I'm an already but not yet

resurrected fallen man

Come break this limbo

And I know You know just who I've been

Come define me

.

Rumour has it You love me

Rumour has it the world spins upside down

Rumour has my only hope is You

And the rumours are true

I turn everything over

.

#9. Race Practice

.

A good way to practice for races without actually racing is to run time trials – running over the racing distance at 90% effort, aiming to running comfortably for successive runs in a series where excellent pace judgment is the focus and pace is a little faster each time.

.

An 800m runner could incorporate a 600m time trial as the track season approaches, working on even pace and racing speed.

.

I suppose you can use races themselves as time trials - I do, e.g. in the summer series coming up on Tuesday nights I will probably run at a pre-determined rate each week; e.g. 4:30 per km, thus using the races as a good solid hit-out. Just don't be sucked into going too fast!

.

Team Moore Results Campbell Park

.
6k Vets Handicap

5 Peter McDonald 29:06 bronze
8 Margaret McSpadden 33:17
13 Kathy Sims 29:24
15 Annette Sugden 29:27
20 Cathy Newman 28:08
25 Geoff Sims 30:20
31 Geoff Moore 26:19
43 Jill Brown 35:05
49 Maria O'Reilly 27:28
50 Pam Faulks 34:19
64 Ken White 28:32
78 Ruth Baussmann 35:26
86 David Webster 27:29
97 Alice Scott 41:46
101 Roger Pilkington 29:43
105 Christopher Lang 32:27
.

3k Vets Handicap

5 Neil Boden 13:36 bronze
8 Sarah Pau 14:51
12 Carol Baird 14:05
17 Gary Bowen 12:43
21 Kerry Boden 17:53
33 Cathy Montalto 15:48
38 Michael Roche 19:43
40 Amanda Chew 20:59

Sample Training Session #8 - Anaerobic

#8. Anaerobic

There needs to be a segment of our training where we try and improve our lactic acid tolerance, and anaerobic training is the best for that. An example would be 200 fast 100 float by 12. Here you don’t slow down much on the recoveries; “float” means keeping momentum going. This should be the hardest session of all that you do! So if you find it too easy, shorten the recoveries even more. An extreme version would be a standing "recovery", ten seconds or so with no jogging or walking at all. This training is essential for 800 metre runners, but only do for a few weeks of the year.

The extra mile

"When I promised to go the extra mile with you, I didn't know you were running a marathon!"

Sample Training Session #7 - Speed development

#7. Speed development.

For middle distance runners, speed can usually be focused on and developed over a few weeks of the year. For example, sessions of 100m fast, 200m jog repeats, or 100m fast 100m very slow jog recovery, will cause some of those slow twitch fibres to be switched over to fast twitch, bringing back some of the natural speed and sprinting ability that may have been compromised while training over longer distances. Used as an easier session leading up to racing, after all the hard work has been done in earlier weeks, a handful of sprint sessions will sharpen you for races, and allow recovery from harder training. You should finish such a session feeling like you could do it again.

Alone At Aranda

I am hoping the Saturday morning session at Aranda becomes popular soon. It was very lonely out there this morning! We are going to use it to develop speed and then move to a little anaerobic work. Don't drop behind, join me! Still, if only I benefit, it will have been worth it.

Wednesday's Track Results for Team Moore members

3000m early event
Colin Farlow 10:18.48
Richard Faulks 10:53.14
Alan Duus 13:12.81
John Alcock 13:43.33
Geoff Barker 13:59.89
Pam Faulks 15:25.86
Margaret McSpadden 14:36.50

3000m late event
Geoff Moore 11:23.31
Kevin Chamberlain 12:24.51
Neil Boden 13:11.69
Tony Booth 13:08.80
Helen Larmour 12:31.79

4x800m Relay
(Patrick Stakelum)
(John Lamb)
Kevin Chamberlain
Geoff Sims 9:56.90 Australian M55 record

(Mick Horan)
Helen Larmour
Michael Leahey
(Craig Wisdom) 10:30.50

(Don Smith)
(Andrew McMahon)
John Alcock
Tony Booth 11:20.90

Alan Duus
Neil Boden
(Mick Saunders)
(Alan Williams) 12:03.40

(Margaret Taylor)
Jill Brown
Maureen Rossiter
Margaret McSpadden 12:54.80 Australian W55 record

4x100m Relay
Vicki Matthews
Karen Davis
(Craig Edwards)
(Andrew McMahon) 54.89

(Patrick Stakelum)
Geoff Sims
(John Lamb)
(Peter P Davies) 55.44

Jill Brown
Margaret McSpadden
(Margaret Taylor)
Maureen Rossiter 1:05.47 ACT W55 record

60m
Michael Rutter 7.95
Karen Davis 8.65
Pam Faulks 11.07
Maureen Rossiter 10.06
Jill Brown 10.26

Long Jump
Vicki Matthews 3.81

Sample Training Session #6 - Hill Sprints

Hill work is great for strength

#6 Hill Sprints

We sometimes just do hill reps - sprinting up, jogging back down, and repeat - but more usually we incorporate hill running into longer sessions on Mondays at Parliament House. Shortish loops for sprinters, longer for distance runners.

One of the loops we use takes about three minutes to complete and has two short sharp hills, and some easier downhill for faster striding out, and a session may consist of six reps on 5 minutes, rest, stretch, suck water, and talk in between.

These are great for strength and coordination. Good for the soul, too. And good ego-boosting for the "sprinters" when they challenge us distance runners up the steep bits.

Hot Friday

Ran my usual customs run today, a bit slower because of the heat, then took aki and flashduck around the lake on a cool down. Hmm, I wonder what compliments will apear on their respective blogs? Anyway, had to pretend when I got home that all was hunky dorey, that I wasn't the least bit stressed from doing 16k in the middle of the day. Still got lots of flak. Don't know if I can keep this pretense up, but if I don't I won't be allowed out!

Actually, no worries really. (Lot's of sweat, but no worries.)

Sample Training Session #5 - Aerobic Intervals

Like A Rock

When I was talking to Charlie at the Australia Day Fun Run today, about triathlons, this is how she described her swimming prowess in comparison with her cycling and running.

Like a Champion

Lauren ran a new 400m hurdles pb again today, and qualified for the first time for the Commonwealth Games. Now for the Nationals!

#5 Aerobic Intervals

Last year we devised a session at North Lyneham of 12 x 80 seconds hard, 160 seconds jog back. With an added challenge – jogging back over a hill. This forces you to keep at a reasonable effort on the recovery jog, instead of stopping to a halt.

These kind of sessions feature lots of intervals and have a longish recovery period, e.g. twice the time of the effort. They are a relatively painless way of quickly improving form and are probably the most common kind of interval training sessions.

Happy with 3000m

I am happy with my 3000m time at present, having taken another 15 seconds off my season's best last night to record 11:24. Note to you fast starters: my km splits were 3:48, 3:48, and 3:48.

So I only have to improve 14 more seconds to arrive at my publicly announced 2006 target of 11:10. This is almost as good as last week's 1500 in 5:23, where I was only 3 seconds outside this year's goal.

And it is still January!

Helen terrific

Brilliant Team Moore effort from Helen last night, when she ran 2:57 for the 800m in the relay; her first ever time under 3 minutes, a five second pb.

Happy Australia Day

Today I ran in the Australia Day Fun Run – 8k in just under 33 mins. Here I tried the totally different tactic of buzzing around Bob (FlashDrake) for the first few kms trying to upset his rhythm and concentration. It didn’t work of course; Bob is one of these steady runners who is unfazed by such tactics and can best be beaten by hanging on and sprinting at the end.

See; steady running is best if you can concentrate and not get distracted by what others are doing.

Sample Training #4 - Fun Sessions

#4 Fun Sessions

Training as play is cool! We do lots of relays and other novelty events, to make training as varied and as enjoyable as we can.

One type of novelty session I like to use fairly often when training on the track is the continuous relay. Every now and then I dream up a new kind of continuous relay, the more complicated the better!

How about -
A two person relay where each person runs 300 metres each, then has to jog back 100, wide on the track. Eight repeats. Good because it works with a small or a large turn-out;

Five person relays of 100 metres each by ten, making 5000m in all for each team;

And my personal favourite, the eight person four baton mad dash, where if you don’t run fast enough, the next baton coming up behind you has a chance of catching up. It’s a 12 x 200 with only 100 recovery … On the 400m track, the fastest four in each team of eight who start with the batons I call runners 1, 3, 5, 7; they start simultaneously at 100m intervals, A, B, C, D around the track. Runners 6, 8, 2, 4 initially wait at A, B, C, D respectively. Each runner sprints 200, then runs the next 100 keeping ahead of the runner with the baton coming up behind them. Batons are exchanged 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 -> 5 -> 6 -> 7 -> 8 -> 1. We just keep going until everyone has sprinted 12 times. The more teams the merrier, and it can be amusing to watch the confusion early on as runners sort out how it all works.

I hope that's clear.

Sample Training #3 - Specific Endurance

#3 Specific Endurance

.

If you want to know what is the best training to improve speed in middle distance races, this is it! It is not sprint work - it is "endurance" training specific to the event you are targeting.

.

Specific for a 3k, 5k, even 10k race would be kilometre intervals on the track, for example. We sometimes run 3 x 1km intervals with a handicap start (so that runners finish together), and a not-all-that-slow jog recovery, restarting on every 9 minutes. The kilometres are run "as fast as possible". This session is excellent preparation for 3000m racing, and up, as it helps develop a focus on one kilometre at a time. It also helps the runner calculate the best even pace to target for in the 3000m race.

.

Specific for an 800m race would, for example, be 4 x 200 with very short recoveries at the desired race pace; another session would be a 600m time trial at that pace then running off the track and completing the projected time.

.

Aquathlon results

..

Some Team Moore members competed in last Thursday's aquathlon events

.

2006 Aquathlon Series Race 1
Black Mountain Peninsula

Thursday, 19 January 2006

Short - 300m swim / 2.5km run
Place Name Cat Overall Pl Swim CP Pl Run CP Pl
5 Roger Pilkington M45-49 1 15:42 5 5:35 1 29 10:07 1 2
39 Ruth Baussmann F55-59 2 20:35 39 6:57 2 50 13:38 2 34

Long - 600m swim / 5km run
Place Name Cat CP Overall Pl Swim CP Pl Run CP Pl
40 Bob Harlow M55-59 1 33:28 40 13:25 3 74 20:03 1 16
71 Aki & Flashduck Team 1 39:16 71 16:17 1 84 22:59 1 48
77 Caroline Campbell F60-64 1 41:18 77 16:06 1 83 25:12 1 63

.

W30 record holders

The following appears on the front page of February's Vetrunner ... and all four young ladies train with Team Moore.

(please ignore the grammatical errors. We are all volunteers!)

You can download your Vetrunner now from http://www.actvac.com.au/.

Sample Training #2 - General Endurance

#2 General Endurance

.

For General Endurance I would just run long slow distances, so there is no sample session here, just the common sense principle of building up gradually and not focusing on the other areas (listed next) in the months when doing so. Just jog; slow down, stick to the 10% principle; schedule every third or fourth week an easy week.

.

My progress

last week’s target 80 km, achieved 80 km
comment It is tough running 20k on a Sunday morning to make up the distance. Especially when I haven't run that far for a long time. And when the temperature is already into the thirties. I managed to average 5:10 per km, but felt absolutely awful for the last 3km. I should really try to spread the training out over the whole week! And I am starting to doubt this marathon idea.
this week’s target 90 km
weight 67 kilos
quote of the week "Sleep in. The early worm gets eaten by the bird."
song of the week Ode To Chin by Switchfoot from Ode To Chin
.

"Grow, grow where you are

Anchor your roots underneath

Doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs"

Sample Training #1 - Cross Training

I will post ten sample training sessions for athletes interested in middle distance (800m, 1500m) and up. Each of the ten sample training sessions will relate to a different area of conditioning for racing.

..

#1. Cross Training.

.

Any additional supplementary exercise is OK as long as running is not compromised. Of the most popular, cycling is good and can replace some of the longer running; freestyle swimming complements running and can be used for recovery, but doesn’t benefit runners terribly much, and gym work can be good, especially exercises like chin ups, hip flexor and abdomen exercises, and stepper running. Good runners do not improve their times by taking up pool running, treadmill running, heavy weight lifting etc, but I suppose it keeps people off the streets. Beware new and esoteric injuries when cross training!

.

Middle Distance Runners must strengthen their stomach muscles.

.

Abdomen work. How many small sit-ups can you do in 90 seconds?

.

Sample session.

.

We use the exercise circuit at Parliament House to run the 800 metre loop and incorporate a set of push-ups, a set of dips, a set of chin ups, and at the grass oval, some abdomen work and/or knee tucks. Several laps of the circuit allow the runners to do a couple of the exercises on each circuit.

Knee tucks. Great for the lower tummy muscles.

How we do chin ups.

As shown in the photos,
. chin ups are performed with full extension
. the feet do not touch the ground.
. hands are in the "curl" position

Those who cannot perform a chin up can be assisted to chin the bar, and then should attempt to lower themselves slowly back to the start position.

Lizard? Strewth!

See this post for explanation

Thursday Track Results

With many of the athletes in our training group learning how to train for the 1500 and 800, it is little wonder that times just keep on improving. Here are some of the results from Thursday night which demonstrate just how well we are going.

2000m Steeplechase
Alan Duus 09:59.2
John Alcock 10:08.0

1500m
Colin Farlow 4:36.68
Rod Lynch 5:01.74
Roger Pilkington 5:13.69
Gary Bowen 5:17.02
Ewen Thompson 5:47.89
Geoff Moore 5:23.65
Kevin Chamberlain 5:30.72
Alan Duus 6:32.38
John Alcock 6:36.33
Tony Booth 6:01.37
Katie Forestier 5:41.54
Charlie McCormack 5:57.24
Helen Larmour 5:53.11
Kathy Sims 5:50.98
Margaret McSpadden 7:07.86

4x400m Relay
Ken Gordon
(Mick Horan)
Karen Davis
Charlie McCormack 4:15.65

Geoff Sims
(Phil White)
(Don Smith)
Vicki Matthews 4:24.50

(John Morton)
(Dave McClelland)
(Peter Cullen)
Helen Larmour 4:29.79

(Leo Kennedy)
(Dale Moore)
Rod Lynch
Katie Forestier 4:30.40

Jill Brown
Maureen Rossiter
(Margaret Taylor)
(Carol Baird) 5:17.02 ACT W55 record

200m
Neville Madden 30.12
Karen Davis 29.08
Charlie McCormack 32.73
Vicki Matthews 31.03
Maureen Rossiter 31.89
Jill Brown 34.26

Real newspaper headlines

This kind of thing does the rounds every now and then. These are my personal favourites. Real headlines.

. 17 Remain Dead In Morgue Shooting Spree
. Coach Fire - Passengers Safely Alight
. Grandmother Of Eight Makes A Hole In One
. Something Went Wrong In Jet Crash, Experts Say
. Police Begin Campaign To Run Down Jaywalkers
. Drunks Get Nine Months In Violin Case
. Eastern Head Seeks Arms
. Prostitutes Appeal To Religious Leader
. Failed Panda Mating - Veterinarian Takes Over
. British Left Waffles On Falkland Islands
. Teacher Strikes Idle Kids
. President Wins Budget; More Lies Ahead
. Plane Too Close To Ground, Crash Probe Told
. Miners Refuse To Work After Death
. Juvenile Court To Try Shooting Defendant
. Stolen Painting Found By Tree
. Two Sisters Reunited After 18 Years In Checkout
. War Dims Hope For Peace
. If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last A While
. Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
. Man Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge
. New Study Of Obesity Looks For Larger Test Group
. Astronaut Takes Blame For Gas In Space
. Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
. Local High School Dropouts Cut In Half
. Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery - Hundreds Dead

Another W55 record falls

They are pretty good these W55s - a very large slice was taken off the 4x400 record at track tonight.

A good run from Griffin too, but not as I expected in the four lap spiral. Instead Griffin blitzed the field in the B division of the 1500 in a new pb of 5:17. Only my 5:23 and Kevin Chamberlain's 5:30 were within coo-ee of that.

Many of the women are running excellent times. In the 4 x 400 relays I clocked Karen at 65, Maureen at 70, Charlie at 73 and Katie at 76. In the 1500s Katie ran 5:41, Kathy 5:50, Helen 5:53 and Charlie 5:57.

Colin led the way though with the fastest 1500 of the day, winning the quickest division with his aggressive front running.

And it was great to get a cool evening for a change!

Map of Aranda

This is where we will be meeting on Saturdays, starting this week.

Flood Level

Anyway

Another wet day

... and twentyone runners and three walkers enjoyed Parliament House in the deluge last night. A hard session but very rewarding.
.

Griffin Hot Favourite

Welcome to new co-contributor Griffin. Griffin is the hot favourite to take out the four lap spiral at the Veterans Track and Field this Thursday night. That is, as long as he resists the temptation to defend his win in the steeplechase first.

Anyway, you will note the number I am wearing in my profile is 666, the number Griffin is wearing in the photo is 222, and coincidently Ruth Baussmann finished in 111th place in Sunday's novice triathlon (short course). Better than that, Ruth came second in the W55 age category. Congratulations Ruth!

Team Moore results in the triathlon

Ruth Baussmann 2nd W55 Short Course
John Stoney 2nd M40 Short Course
Bob Harlow 1st M55 Long Course
Roger Pilkington 3rd M45 Long Course
Caroline Campbell 1st W60 Long Course

Anyway
Snippet from a poem Mother Teresa had hanging on a wall of the orphanage she founded in Calcutta:

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;

Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;

Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;

It was never between you and them anyway.

Rain

Even if it rains on Mondays, Parliament House training is still on.

My progress
last week’s target 90 km, achieved 63 km
this week’s target 80 km
weight 67 kilos
quote of the week "Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever." - Napoleon Bonaparte
song of the week Walking Away by Lifehouse from Lifehouse

Calendar Change

Tuesday Training

.

There is a new plan for Tuesday training - it is no more!


If you are desperate for a hard Tuesday run, there is always the Summer Series starting soon.

I will attend some of the Summer Series but track/marathon training is the priority.

Speaking of marathons ...

Saturday Sessions

A new Saturday morning session at Aranda replaces Tuesdays..

... 9:00 am on Saturdays from this week and on. A proposed schedule is

9:05 am slow warm-up run Aranda Hill anti-clockwise (latecomers and/or sprinters if any could warm-up on the ovals)
9:30 am warm-up drills on the grass
9:40 am speed training
10:05 am cool-down run Aranda Hill clockwise
10:30 am head home before the heat strikes.

Parking is behind Aranda Primary School, off Banambila Street.

.

Tri Trials

.

I went out to see the novice triathlon this morning - perfect conditions, cool air, warm water. Quite a few from the Team competed - Bob Harlow, Roger Pilkington, John Stoney, Caroline Campbell, and Strewth. Not quite my kittle of fush, but fun to watch.

Team Moore Ran Jumped but didn't Throw

Thursday Track Results

Great results all round for our training group.

3000m Early Race
Rod Lynch 11:19.4
Roger Pilkington 12:56.3
John Alcock 13:53.1

3000m Late Race
Rod Lynch 11:34.8
Gary Bowen 12:26.7
Ewen Thompson 14:14.9
Geoff Moore 11:39.9
Trevor Cobbold 12:11.6
Neil Boden 13:13.9
Alan Duus 13:46.8
John Alcock 14:24.4
Tony Booth 13:11.3
Katie Forestier 12:37.6
Helen Larmour 12:48.9
Pam Faulks 15:49.2
Kathy Sims 12:57.5
Margaret McSpadden 14:51.5

5000m
Roger Pilkington 21:48.0

800m
Colin Farlow 2:09.52
Rod Lynch 2:27.99
Roger Pilkington 2:32.88
Gary Bowen 2:39.02
Ewen Thompson 2:55.70
Neville Madden 2:26.60
Ken White 2:27.13
Kevin Chamberlain 2:31.03
Trevor Cobbold 2:32.93
Neil Boden 2:42.31
Alan Duus 3:01.93
Tony Booth 2:57.18
Katie Forestier 2:50.96
Helen Larmour 3:01.17
Maria O'Reilly 2:42.68
Kathy Sims 2:53.17
Maureen Rossiter 2:47.96 ACT W55 record

100m
John Alcock 17.22
Katie Forestier 15.89
Vicki Matthews 14.79
Maureen Rossiter 15.50
Jill Brown 17.11

400m
Colin Farlow 61.22
Geoff Sims 61.48
John Alcock 79.89
Vicki Matthews 71.86
Pam Faulks 88.55
Maria O'Reilly 74.89
Maureen Rossiter 72.48
Jill Brown 80.11

4x100m Relay
(Leo Kennedy)
(Sue Bourke)
Vicki Matthews
(Ian Sanders) 56.00

(Ken Telfer)
(Andrew McMahon)
John Alcock
Maria O'Reilly 59.00

(Heidi Wain)
Pam Faulks
(Patrick Stakelum)
Geoff Sims 63.43

(Margaret Taylor)
Jill Brown
Maureen Rossiter
Carol Baird 66.40

Long Jump
John Alcock 3.39
Vicki Matthews 3.73

High Jump
Roger Pilkington 1.33
Ewen Thompson 1.30

1500m Walk
Ewen Thompson 9.05
Rod Gilchrist 9.55
Carol Baird 10.02
Margaret McSpadden 12.20
Alice Scott 11.39

Maureen Makes a Mess of the 800 Mark

Last night Maureen mauled the W55 800 metres record set by Fran Harris back in 1997. Fran was there to see Maureen break the record by about seven seconds, the old record was 2:54.9.

Two years ago Maureen set the W50 record at 2:35.2, so she should be able to improve on her W55 record again next time.

Can she break the 400 record? It’s 70.3 set by Fran in 1998. Maureen ran 65.3 in 2003, so who knows!

Can she break the 1500 record? It’s 5:59 held by Anne Young since 1991. Go on Maureen, give it a go!

Click on photo to enlarge

Here's Maureen in the pink top looking very relaxed after racing around Parliament House on Monday this week chasing Karen and Katie … I wonder what we are saying that made her run so fast? Obviously the hard session in the heat did no harm.

Moore Moves Towards Target Time

My Thursday night's 3000 of 11:39 was 20 seconds closer to this year's target time - already. The splits were 3:50. 3:59. 3:50, conditions muggy. I felt fantastic at 50 metres, instead of having the usual sluggish start, so I decided to go for a time. And today I coasted the Customs 5k in 21.14, that's OK. Things ARE looking up.

Farlow Form Forces Higgins Betting Plunge

Colin had a great run in the 800, breaking 2:10 for the first time this season, and mixing it with the BIG boys. Others to do well included Helen, close to 3 minutes for the first time. Helen's previous bests were 3:09 at a High Noon meet and 3:10 at Vets, in 2004. And Kathy, looking fitter in the new year, improved. And Maria too.

I will list last night's Team Moore times as soon as they appear on the ACTVAC website.

My cricket questions.

I do enjoy watching cricket, specially when crashing after a training run. Training for long distances takes so much out of you and a cricket match, even a twenty20 game, gives you a nice long break to recover.

Like many others, I hate the televison commentary. But the ABC radio commentary is just great.

Some of the questions people SMS in to the radio commentators are quite amusing. For example, a real question was, which team has had the most men out in a losing score? I thought, surely I can dream up more questions like that?

I understand cricket well, in fact I love it because it is full of statistics and useless knowledge. So it is tempting to send an SMS to the commentary team with my questions. I wonder if mine would get a mention, they must receive far more than they discuss?

Anyway, here are my questions. You can SMS them in if you like, I probably won't have the nerve.

1. Has anyone ever declared the innings closed in a one day match?

2. Has anyone ever sent in a night watchman in a one day match?

3. Has anyone ever sent in two night watchmen at the start of an innings?

Meanwhile, roll on winter...

... while we swelter in Canberra's hottest summer, we can hardly imagine what it would be like in the Northern Hemisphere at this time of year.

Keep working on that form!

Time To Run

I must say it is difficult to get out there and run when it is 36.4 degrees at 5pm, as it was yesterday.

(For international readers, we are talking Celsius, not Fahrenheit here)!

But our 10k training and marathon training programs dictated 10km to 11km of running for Griffin, Strewth and me, and we didn't want to have to catch up later in the week.

(By the way it is interesting to see who reads this blog. The readership is up to 50 per day now, and I can drill back via my Site Meter to see where many of you have come from. With that in mind, I hope what I have to say is inspiring, encouraging and helpful, if not entertaining as well)

So we cancelled the speed part but still ran the distance.

Not that we have to run every day - I could easily sleep on or stay in but, well, I try and summon up the discipline to get out every day, and each time it helps to make it easier next time.

No I don't have any real health problems, it is just that this is my 45th year of belonging to athletic clubs and competing very frequently, and it gets harder to motivate myself. The best way I have found is to arrange to meet other people for training.

I used to like that Nike slogan - but in this heat I am not so sure....

And a new photo

Yes, a new photo taken last night means I can update my sidebar. Click on the photo for a larger version! This was taken on a very warm night where I took the distance runners around an 800 circuit at speed several times, and my acting sergeant made the sprinters work even harder on a short loop.

A New Week Already

Train Daily

...wherever you find yourself.

Last week

... I didn’t quite achieve my distance goal – I felt a bit tired towards the end of the week, due no doubt to the warmer weather and the fast Wednesday run.

I could have run a bit longer on Sunday but the achilles started hurting more than usual so I just did my normal 13k.

If I get behind target during the week I usually catch up later in the week. But one of my “rules” is to write off each week after Sunday, and start again each Monday.

Last Week’s target 80 km, achieved 77 km
This Week’s target 90 km
Weight 67 kilos (no I haven’t suddenly put on weight. I am using new scales. Aaaargghhh!)

Song of the Week

Talk by Coldplay from the album “X & Y”
Oh brother I can’t, I can't get through
I've been trying hard to reach you 'cause I don't know what to do
Oh brother I can't believe it's true
I'm so scared about the future and I wanna talk to you
Oh I wanna talk to you

You can take a picture of something you see
In the future where will I be?
You can climb a ladder up to the sun
Or write a song nobody has sung or do
Something that's never been done

Are you lost or incomplete?
Do you feel like a puzzle, you can't find your missing piece?
Tell me how do you feel?
Well I feel like they're talking in a language I don't speak
And they’re talking it to me

So you take a picture of something you see
In the future where will I be?
You can climb a ladder up to the sun
Or write a song nobody has sung or do
Something that's never been done, do
Something that's never been done

So you don't know where you're going and you wanna talk
And you feel like you're going where you've been before
You tell anyone who'll listen but you feel ignored
Nothing's really making any sense at all, let's talk
Let's talk, let's talk, let's talk

Hill Training is the Best

Our training on Monday and Tuesday nights not only features long or short speed endurance intervals - there are also one or two hills to negotiate on most of the circuits we use.

That's me at the top watching "Survivor" while directing the training session.

It is always good to tell runners they are running up the last hill of the day. Of course, this may not always be the exact truth.

Come along and enjoy the undulations. Why suffer because you are struggling on all by yourself when you can join a training group and share your suffering with a whole lot of others?

Ask CJ, Strewth, Maria et al. What's a little Blood, Sweat, and Tears? (A - a well known popular group)

Non Contact Sport

Running is meant to be a non contact sport, but lo and behold, the latest fall... involving contact with the ground.


CJ! How could you?

Jenny's farewell

Langton Gone But Not Long Forgotten.

.

Jen Langton failed to survive the 2005 Castaway Voting and is off to Brisbane for the duration. This was a good excuse for a feast at Two Sisters, Dickson. Everyone wore their cheesiest grins for the photo shoot. Jen says, "I'll be back!"

We will see you Jenny at the Gold Coast Half Marathon - it's a date - if not before.

Customary Customs Cast

I cast off all pretensions of speed and struggled through Friday's Customs 5k race in about 21.48 this week. This weekly race has been a regular addition to my program recently as it gives me a chance to run a flat fast 5k course when completely exhausted from a week of hard running and from Thursday night's excesses. The usual gang was there; Bob Harlow looking for a race-off with me (I send him on his way as usual), his good flash lady making a good target to run down towards the end of the course - up the hill, huff and puff, and then young Thea in a good mood after all when she ends up winning this week's race and taking the prize money, and me pleased to see that such a nice person has finally won.

Thursday's Track Substitute.

All this was after our excessive Thursday of substituting track races with a session comprising 800 + 400 + 800 + 400 + 800 for each runner in relay teams of two, so no rest for the wickedly fast. Ken was the only one of ten who faded really badly but he returned to top form later that evening at Jen's farewell as he assumed the role of official photographer. Great recovery, Ken! I fear, though, that he has learned Ewen's trick of how to avoid being in Team Moore photos - be the one who takes them. Regardless, thanks Ken. Bye Jen.

Heart Attacks

I heard today that Steve Bradford has suffered two heart attacks. The first was relatively mild and took him to hospital. The second was very serious and it was fortunate he was in hospital when it occurred. Please be thinking of Steve, Pru and family at this time. As I get more details I will update this.

Lunchtime Running

I had an easy run over the BBQ Stakes 6k course yesterday. When I say "easy" I had no intention of pushing the pace following the hard training I have been doing recently; I got there early and ran 8k beforehand while the sun was still under the clouds; and wore my cap and glasses which is a dead give-away that I am not taking a race very seriously. Anyway, the time was 25:58, a new pb for the anti-clockwise version of the course; I have only broken 26 minutes once before, this for the clockwise version. So maybe things are looking up?

The BBQ Stakes is on every Wednesday lunchtime at Woden from 12:15pm and costs $1 to enter. It is my only really hilly run of the week. Because it is a handicap, one is dragged along at a reasonable pace. A good work-out. And you can park on Chappell Street Lyons right at the start/finish between 11am and 2pm for free.

Speedy Wombat

Here is a photo of my weblog co-contributor (in yellow) enjoying the rigours of the Canberra Marathon. We don't see many photos of Ewen, as he is often the one with the camera. We are planning to update our Team Moore photos soon, so when you come out to training in the next couple of weeks, please wear your best smiles.

Ewen sometimes races over very long distances but plans to run a fast 3000 on the track this year. At the very worst 11:59.9.

Look at all that lovely shade on the marathon course! I never realised.

Blond Joke

Normally I don't link to this kind of humour, but this blond joke is very, very funny.

Patterson's Curse and Fallen Trees

I got scratched!

.

These nasty little plants are everywhere at North Lyneham ridge, where we train on Tuesdays.

Fallen Trees

Two fallen trees on the track, hard terrain, long grass, hot sun yesterday meant improvising a shady session of twenty second sprints on a softer straight at the back of the ridge.

How We Trained

Seven of us running hard for twenty seconds with only forty seconds to jog back didn't leave any time for talking, so nothing to report! We all did twenty of these. Ruth usually won the jog back to the start.

Here's Ruth running in the Canberra marathon.

We will continue to do speed endurance training on Tuesdays for another two weeks, and then move to three weeks of anaerobic work.

Grass Seeds and Tiny Bugs

Grass Seeds

The hot weather here has dried everything out, and removing grass seeds from socks and shoes has become a popular activity after each training run.

Tiny Bugs

The hot weather has also brought a plague of tiny bugs which like to gather around my bedlamp at night, waiting for me to switch it off so they can spread out and invade nose, ears etc. Little clouds of them greet us on our runs.

How We Trained

Fortunately Parliament House featured neither grass seeds nor tiny bugs last night, as thirteen of us ran three intervals of just under a kilometre with a good break in between. The little oval we met on has shower as well as toilet facilities, I discovered last night. Very handy for cooling down between intervals.

Welcome to our training group, Karen.

For the next few Mondays we will do similar longish intervals. There is a sprinters' option too - shorter intervals, longer recovery.

Old Photographs #1

January 1985 - The AIS Track, Bruce

Yes, it's 21 years ago! I'm not sure of the distance - maybe 1500m or 3000m. It shows an unknown runner being followed intently by Kaaren Sutcliffe and Carol Ey, both of whom were marathon runners showing the benefit of racing on the track.

Waiting for the breakthrough

Training Update

. My running and other training has been on target for the last six weeks or so.

. Times still haven't improved to my satisfaction, and my weight has been stuck on 64 kilos for months now. That's not too bad - just three years ago it peaked at 73 kilos. My target is 57 kilos which would give me a BMI of 20, as low as I want to go. I am glad that my weight didn’t sky-rocket over Christmas this time as it usually has.

. Maybe the breakthrough will come this month?

Last Week’s target 70 km, achieved 70 km

This Week’s target 80 km

Weight 64 kilos (67 kilos on my new set of scales. Aaaargghhh!)

Song of the Week: On The Mend by Foo Fighters from the album “In Your Honor”

.

BMI

.

An article I wrote for Vetrunner in March 2004; slightly updated.

Because I race over long distances, a light frame can be an asset. So I like to keep track of my body weight every day. I found long ago that a reduction in body weight – up to a point – corresponded to a reduction in times for longer distances, especially the marathon.

Admittedly in recent years ‘monitoring’ means watching my weight go up when training falls below about 50k per week, and watching it go down again – at a considerably slower rate – when training reverts to a normal (injury free) 70-80k.

I was interested to come across the ‘Body Mass Index’ (BMI) measurement recently. A BMI of 30 or over is considered obese; 25 to 30 overweight, and 20 to 25, normal. Anything under 20 is considered underweight.

The formula for BMI is a simple one – BMI is weight (in kilos) divided by the square of height (in metres). You can see it is not really measuring body fat but body mass, and doesn’t take into account that a very strong person could have a higher weight where extra mass may be muscle not fat. Nevertheless when comparing distance runners whose body types are naturally lean, it may be a reasonable comparison.

Shock! Horror! At 73 kilos in early 2003, and 1.68 metres, I fell into the overweight category (26)! This was a wake up call and I have successfully reduced my weight to an acceptable level since then.

I will list a few simple points about losing weight.

. Have a target weight. Make sure the target weight is a reasonable one. Check it out with your medical adviser if unsure. Work towards the target weight by aiming to lose NO MORE THAN a kilo every two weeks.

. Shun fad diets. Eat widely from all the food groups. Keep up your strength. Don’t reduce your intake (assuming you are not a glutton!) but spend more time exercising instead.

. Once you reach your target weight, BE HAPPY WITH IT and stay there. Don’t go to extremes. A very low body fat level is extremely dangerous.

So don’t give up, it can be done. Keep an eye on the scales, follow the principles above, and you can look forward to a slimmer, healthier, and speedier future.

.

....and I would have peaked at 76 kilos had my old scales been accurate. Aaaargghhh indeed!

New Year Racing

Caroline Claims Silver

The Women’s Jogalong was held this morning in blistering, blustering, and blazing heat. Team Moore was again prominent although the field was understandably smaller than usual.

. Caroline Campbell ran second on handicap. She thinks she was third but she was actually second. Her time was around 29.48. Now if they don't put her back too many groups ..

.

Katie Kicks "Donkey"

. Katie ran an exceptional 25.54 for one of the fastest times in the 5.56k. Katie's place was eleventh on handicap despite being off group 42. A good start to the year.

. Just ten seconds slower than Katie was allrounder who ran a great 26.04

.

Heat Hits Handicap

.

"Oh Boy" it was hot this morning. Canberra's forecast is 38 degrees, same as yesterday, although here in Belconnen it was 41 yesterday. Can't wait for that change! In the olden days, hot summer days in Canberra might reach 30, but only once or twice would peak at 35.

On Resolutions

Here are my New Year Resolutions.

To run a marathon. To learn Japanese. To not give three points on everything.

And yours? (It's OK to tell people)