Thursday Part Two

Thursday (see two posts down) was also the day Team Moore won the Adler series, with Gary surprising everyone but himself by going into the lead in the very last race of the series, and Katie doing exactly the same in the women's. Also Vicki took out the Daniels series the previous week, must have been that extra training at Aranda. And Margaret the Moore series. All the awards - many we don't know the results of yet - will be presented next week, after which I will make a full report!
(Proud coach! Hem, hem.)

Lessons From Geese #3

Fact #3: When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position.

Lesson #3: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other's skills, capabilities, and unique arrangements of gifts, talents, or resources.

Application #3: Can I step aside from organising training sessions from time to time and let others take a turn? Can I encourage some of you who train with me to register as "contributors" to this blog and write posts every now and then? I hope so.

Thursday

Thursday was the day I spoke to many who had been to the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and I wondered why I hadn’t even thought about going down there myself and being part of the most awesome sporting spectacular Australia has ever seen.
Thursday was the day I felt sick with severe stomach ache for the second day in a row, making me wonder whether this, as well as the sore achilles, was going to be too much for me to run the marathon in a week’s time. But another few days should fix that! I am very glad my goal this week was “run as I feel” cause I sure don’t feel like running.
Thursday was the day I watched the Pennington 1500m race, won deservedly and by a huge margin by John Morton. Good on Maria for finishing fourth over all.
Thursday was the day I saw more than one member of my training group excel themselves in pace judgment as they ran excellent even splits in the same 1500m. Extraordinary effort guys. You CAN teach an old dog new tricks!
Thursday was the day I saw Tony run an extra lap for the spiral 8 because he forgot to move out on one of the laps; which is really funny because it was Tony himself who originated the spiral handicap concept. And he chose the longest spiral race for this brain explosion.
Not a bad day in all but I am feeling very nervous about next week!
Postscript. Heh, certain people are doing the iron man this weekend AND the marathon next. How do you do that?

Lessons From Geese #2

Fact #2: When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.

Lesson #2: If we have as much sense as a goose, we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.

Pennington finale tonight

Come along tonight - the second-last Vets track, the last with daylight saving. Not that you will notice with the overcast and damp conditions. Just what we need! Gentle rain! And it is a lot cooler too, perfect for long distance running. Can Colin win the Pennington for the third successive year? Can Maria sneak up into the top three?

Here's tonight's program
6.00 3000M, Weight (Lower Throwing Field)
6.15 200m (B)
6.30 1200/2000m Walk (Last Pointscore)
6.45 Long Jump (QA)
7.00 1500M (P), Javelin, Shot
7.15 High Jump
7.30 100m
7.45 Javelin, Shot, 200m Hurdles, Triple Jump
8.00 4x200m Relay
8.15 8 Lap Spiral (Adler)

Lessons From Geese #1

Fact #1: As each goose flaps its wings it creates an uplift for the birds that follow. By flying in a V formation, the whole flock adds 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.

Lesson #1: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

Application #1: And you thought running was an individual sport? My observation over the years has been that when we work together, training and racing, with shared goals, much more is achieved than if we work separately.

Running the Jurassic Marathon

It is getting closer, I have that feeling of impending danger.

It's a beautiful day

The weather is great this time of year. Days which are still, cool early, fine and sunny later.

It's funny, both my PC and the cat have adjusted for the end of daylight saving. Yesterday the PC changed its time by an hour automatically (one week early, for Queensland & WA readers who don't have to keep track of such complexities) and Riki the cat is sleeping an extra hour, head firmly tucked under tail and paws. Daylight saving actually ends next Sunday, the day of the Women and Girls Fun Run.

My progress

last week’s target 100 km, achieved 95 km
this week’s target whatever I feel like
weight 64 kg, weight loss -0.5 kg, total weight loss 3 kg
quote of the week What you don't have you don't need it now
song of the week "Beautiful Day" by U2, also by Sanctus Real on a new album, In the Name of Love - Artists United for Africa

The heart is a bloom

Shoots up through the stony ground

There's no room

No space to rent in this town

You're out of luck

And the reason that you had to care

The traffic is stuck

And you're not moving anywhere

You thought you'd found a friend

To take you out of this place

Someone you could lend a hand

In return for grace

It's a beautiful day

Sky falls, you feel like

It's a beautiful day

Don't let it get away

You're on the road

But you've got no destination

You're in the mud

In the maze of her imagination

You love this town

Even if that doesn't ring true

You've been all over

And it's been all over you

It's a beautiful day

Don't let it get away

It's a beautiful day

Touch me

Take me to that other place

Teach me

I know I'm not a hopeless case

See the world in green and blue

See China right in front of you

See the canyons broken by cloud

See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out

See the Bedouin fires at night

See the oil fields at first light

And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth

After the flood all the colors came out

It was a beautiful day

Don't let it get away

Beautiful day

Touch me

Take me to that other place

Reach me

I know I'm not a hopeless case

What you don't have you don't need it now

What you don't know you can feel it somehow

What you don't have you don't need it now

Don't need it now

Was a beautiful day

I ran a good Vets Handicap race yesterday - parts of the run were quite fast, and even though I backed off and jogged down some steeper bits I am pleased with the run. The good thing though is that the constant variety of niggles I have been experiencing went away for the race, which means that by the time the marathon comes along and with good management I should be niggle free.

Oh, and a funny thing. I got to the start line and pulled off my track suit to discover I had left my singlet in the car. So I ran topless. I probably ran better for having no singlet, but I just hope there were no photographers around.

I still plan to run long this week but I will monitor it day by day this week and ease right back next week for the big one.

Kowen Forest Veterans Handicap

Team Moore results - long course 7.5k
9 Charlie McCormack W40 36:44
14 Tony Booth M65 36:51
24 Geoff Moore M55 32:37
29 Mick Charlton M50 38:50
30 Christopher Lang M55 40:11
31 Jill Brown W55 44:06
39 Rod Lynch M45 31:09
43 John Alcock M60 38:06
63 Alan Duus M60 38:19
75 Roger Pilkington M45 35:08
85 Neville Madden M50 37:48
86 Geoff Barker M60 40:35
93 Peter Hogan M55 41:09

Team Moore results - short course 3.5k
10 Charmaine Knobel W50 17:52
12 Katie Forestier W40 15:23 - bronze medal
14 Sarah Pau W30 17:23
21 Gary Bowen M45 14:48
27 Ken Gordon M40 14:38
35 Cathy Montalto W50 18:08
39 Michael Roche M60 22:10

When the drums stop

The handicap is over, now for the marathon.

Yay! I survived the Kowen Forest Vets race. I will be OK for the marathon now. The big run was from Katie who won the bronze medal in the Frylink race, she just keeps improving!

Anaerobic set

A description of the anaerobic set we did at Aranda the last two weeks - a 20 second sprint, a 15-20 second jog/stride, and repeat. Then wait until 80 seconds are up and repeat by ten.

Lights will guide you home

One of my friends from the ABS died last week after a long illness, his funeral is tomorrow. John Paice was a participant and organiser at the Lake Ginninderra monthly handicap run. He had many friends in the wider community, as well as family.

...by Karmin

This one's for Toby & Joel

A man (call him Horace) went on a safari in darkest Africa with a bunch of other people and some native guides. They traveled on foot, going deep into the jungle where they could hear the screeching of birds and howling of wild cats and other fierce wild animals.

After a few days of travel, Horace came to notice that there was a constant drumming noise in the background. He asked the leader of the guides what the drumming was. He got no answer, just a stony silence. The drumming continued all day and all night for the next several days. In fact, as they traveled deeper into the jungle the drumming got even louder. Horace tried again to find out what the drumming meant by asking the other native guides, but he still got no answer.

Finally one morning, after days of marching to this drumming (which by now was sounding quite ominous), the drums suddenly stopped. The native guides screamed and ran into the jungle to hide in the undergrowth. The leader remained behind with his charges, but he was trembling with fear. Horace asked "What is wrong? Why have the drums stopped?"

The native guide replied "Very bad."

"What?" asked Horace, who was expecting the worst. The guide answered "When drum stops, very bad - next comes bass solo!"

Even Pace

Children, and novice runners, have not learned about even pace. "But, the best way to race is to go flat out all the way, isn't it?" No.

Running is far more than just putting one foot in front of the other as fast as possible and slowing down when you get tired. Or, expecting with training that you will be able to go flat out all the way when you get enough fitness together.

Now I have a dislike of a mechanical, same-pace-all-the-way kind of run. I think real running is racing along enjoying surging, easing back, striding out, playing with tempo and pace.

So when I talk about even pace I really should call it good pace judgment. It is the knowledge of what your pace is, especially early in a long race. It is the ability to go out and run at a predetermined pace, and be spot on to the second. It is a feel for how fast you are going and a sense of how your body is responding to that.

The first thing a novice who plans to race and wants to improve times, needs to learn is good pace judgment. The second thing to learn, which must be added to good pace judgment, is the ability to surge. And with it, the fitness to be able to recover from the surges and continue on at an even pace still.

Very few middle and long distance runners in the Commonwealth Games who won heats or finals went fast early and slower later. An exception was the 400m, but that is a sprint at that level and a very different event from the longer ones.

So what are we going to do about it? All our interval training has been about learning good pace judgment. But as a training group we haven't been too good converting that experience to races. So I will be doing more monitoring of intermediate splits in future races and time trials. Secondly, we need to learn to surge. So I will be racking my brains for some fun ways of doing that around the tracks at Parliament House and on the oval at Dickson.

We have finished training at Aranda for the time being. Dickson starts on Thursday 20 April. Be there!

Start at YOUR optimum pace!

What Team Moore?

Other than the Daniels and Relay results mentioned below, here are the track times from Thursday for Team Moore.

I should add, I have just this week culled the Team Moore list to exclude people who have not trained with us in 2006.

This means some who trained with us loyally for years, and have not reappeared recently, have been removed; also missing are others who have come out a few times and promise they will be back.

Still, there are 50 names on the new list!

I should also add, I only list events I coach! So no walks, throws, jumps. (Athletics is really four sports, not one! A very strange mixture.)

3000m early
M40 Colin Farlow 10:15.57
M45 Amalendu Edelsten 9:55.23
M45 Roger Pilkington 11:11.08

3000m late
M45 Roger Pilkington 12:12.55
M55 Mick Saunders 12:54.56
W40 Katie Forestier 12:12.39

200m
M55 Mick Saunders 33.38
W45 Vicki Matthews 30.49
W55 Maureen Rossiter 32.59

What's It To Be?

Sixteen days to go.

What Relay Happened

Our speedy W40s set an awesome 4 x 1500 record at the track in Canberra last night. Here are their splits

Charlie 5:43 {84, 91, 97, 71}
Helen 5:45 {85, 95, 97, 68}
Gabe 6:01 {89, 97, 101, 74}
Katie 5:39 {84, 93, 95, 67}

Final time 23:08.08 - an ACT and Australian record.

Vicki Victorious

The final race in the Daniels Series left Vicki in front of the women's field. In the men's, Craig Edwards came through to snatch the win, with his .5 second win over John Burns earning him the extra points he needed to pass John.

Still More Moore

Still three Moore 3000m races to go and in the women's results the fat lady is singing with Margaret McSpadden having the series sewn up although Rosemary Parker is theoretically able to catch her. In the men's the fat lady is warming up and stretching; Michael Leahey should win from Paul Considine with only Colin Farlow a threat - that is, if Colin can improve by a minute in his last two 3000s. He might be more interested in the Pennington 1500m this Thursday.

Funny Man

An alleged Peter Ellet from Scullin wrote an alleged letter to the Canberra Times, published on Tuesday, which I reproduce here for the benefit of my *international* audience.

"No wonder there are so many empty drink containers littering the streets when our elite athletes set such a bad example.

"I am sick and tired of seeing long distance runners snatching at drinks, guzzling it (sic) down like pigs (spilling most in the process), then carelessly throwing the container on the ground for someone else to pick up.

"If they want a drink during the race, they should stop running, ask politely, then drop the container in the nearest rubbish bin."

So probably the two most important components of my marathon preparation have been a waste of time - with the realisation that I won't win, all the practicing I have done raising both hands in a victory salute over the finish line - and now with this letter, practicing grabbing a drink off the drink table at speed without knocking over any of the other drinks.

Good on this guy for exposing once and for all how nasty we runners are because we rubbish our city.

I do wonder however if Mr Ellet has ever gone out and observed the post-marathon cleanup gangs removing not only the cups, sponges etc left by the runners, but also the other rubbish that was there at the start such as KFC containers, chocolate wrappers and other debris discarded by the non-athletic, sedentary, obese members of our wonderful community.

Lauren's run 2006

Stop Press - Lauren ran the ninth fastest time in the semis of the 400 hurdles. She just missed making the final.

Can't wait for 2007, 2008, ...

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
Love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

--Mary Oliver

In case you missed it.

** Have you tried the new puzzle? ("Page Down" to the end).

** I didn't know there were "mountain running" form guides (just click on an event to start navigating around), which include marathon and half marathon, as well as lunch time, cross country, and the now defunct Vets form guides.

** A cutting from a Canberra Times earlier this year. Michelle is of course and esteemed member of Team Moore.

Twenty Days

There is a feast of swimming and lawn bowls in Melbourne. There is running as well. I’d like to see that.

My progress

last week’s target 110 km, achieved 110 km

this week’s target 100 km

weight 63.5 kg, weight loss 1 kg, total weight loss 3.5 kg

quote of the week "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars". - Les Brown
song of the week Belter, Powderfinger

You go
I feel like dropping bombs between your eyes
But not today

Too slow
I feel like sinking arrows in your mind
You're all the same

You don't have to reveal it
You get trouble concede
You don't have to reveal it

Are you feeling right
Are you feeling right
A defeated sight
Are you feeling right

You go
Soaking up your public appetite
The war you wage

Too slow
I tell you once again you're not my type
You're all the same

Something come along gonna make a change

You don't have to reveal it
You get trouble concede
You don't have to reveal it

Are you feeling right
Are you feeling right
A defeated sight
Are you feeling right

My plan

I am still recovering from the half marathon. I might run the Vets handicap on Sunday as the only fast effort between the half and the full marathon. Or I might just jog it.

Twenty days to the marathon

and i feel like a ....

Question – what is the best way of attaching helium balloons to oneself when leading a paced group in the marathon?

From Dave Mackenzie

Urgent call for Officials and Volunteers for AMA Nationals - Easter. With only a month to go we have an urgent need for officials and volunteers to make our Nationals a success. As of now I have about 60 names on the list. To service the 400 to 500 expected competitors requires about three times 60. The meet runs Easter Friday to Monday about 8 to 5 each day. Assistance for any or all of the time would be appreciated. Many competitors will assist when not competing but this must be supplemented by large numbers of our own members coming to the party. We need help in all areas except starters and announcers. Needs range widely across all skills and experience from qualified event judges to runners for the starting lists, to implement retrieval, to distribution of lunches to volunteers, so on and so forth. Whatever happens we'll find something useful for you to do. Please contact Dave Mackenzie at 6288 5891 or 6288 1844 (latter phone on fax) or by emailing to Chris Lang at vicepresident@actvac.com giving some idea of your preferred activity and available time and your T-shirt size. We'd like to ensure that our visitors enjoy a well-run competition worthy of ACTVAC.

Goose Bumps

Team Dinner

A gaggle of runners can be expected to attend the Team Moore end-of-season dinner in May. Still a fair way down the track, no arrangements have been made but the date has been set at Monday 15 May. The thinking is that many will be recovering from the Canberra Half Marathon the day before, so instead of training we will meet for dinner and present any track season Team Moore prizes. Put it in your diaries; more information to follow.

How to run faster

Pictured is a Team Moore member learning to run faster by turning up late at Parliament House and racing to the "ladies" to get changed.

Why did I post this? Just wanted to see if I get any MSN search (or other search engine) hits on "how to run faster". If that is you, sorry! Appreciative comments are welcome.

Don't forget that we train at Parliament House year round. Come May, we will be starting some hill sprints for strength and co-ordination.

Big relay day this Thursday

Get your teams together for the 4 x 1500m relay runs this Thursday. Plenty of vulnerable age group records to go for! Go the W40s - Katie, Gabe, Charlie and Helen. What a team! I get goose bumps just thinking of it.

Brutal

Here are the Team Moore performances last night. There are still some of us are running well! Everyone there agreed the wind down the back straight was "brutal". I heard that word used several times. The 100m runners would have loved it. By the time the 10000m runners got on the track it had started to die down. I am now in marathon mode and not running track. I wonder what everyone else's excuses are?

10000m
M45 Roger Pilkington 39:46.26
W55 Margaret McSpadden 52:55.51

3000m
M40 Colin Farlow 10:18.82
M45 Rod Lynch 11:11.31
M45 Richard Faulks 11:26.82
M45 Gary Bowen 12:35.75
M45 Roger Pilkington 12:44.22
M55 Mick Saunders 12:27.73
M65 Tony Booth 13:39.51
W45 Helen Larmour 12:43.89
W45 Pam Faulks 15:17.46

800m
M40 Colin Farlow 2:22.06
M45 Rod Lynch 2:39.97
M50 Neville Madden 2:33.87
M55 Gary Bowen 2:37.69
M55 Neil Boden 2:42.63
M55 Mick Saunders 2:54.95
M65 Tony Booth 3:00.50
W40 Katie Forestier 2:48.25
W50 Kathy Sims 2:56.70
W55 Jill Brown 3:10.49
W55 Maureen Rossiter 3:12.83

400m
M45 Rod Lynch 69.1
M55 Geoff Sims 61.3
M60 Michael Roche 81.6
W50 Kathy Sims 81.3
W55 Maureen Rossiter 73.0

100m
M60 Michael Roche 15.38
W45 Pam Faulks 18.69
W55 Maureen Rossiter 15.36
W55 Jill Brown 16.97

Too many koalas, too few ducks

The Canberra Marathon entries have closed. I think I have achieved my main goal, a single digit chest number. I can see only five men with a faster pb among the entrants, which makes me number six.

Team Moore marathon entrants

Name, State, Age, PB, Year
Ruth Baussman, ACT, 55, 3:58:44, 2003
Gary Bowen, ACT, 49, 3:27:03, 2004
Peter Hogan, ACT, 59
Geoff Moore, ACT, 57, 2:26:58, 1978
Cathy Newman, ACT, 45, 3:40:11, 2005
Roger Pilkington, ACT, 47, 3:24:57, 2005
John Stoney, ACT, 40, 3:53:00, 2003
David Webster, ACT, 54, 3:14:27, 2005

Everyone else, come along and cheer!

Go here for the full list of entrants including 5k, 10k, and 50k.

Jilly Jogsaw

Three posts today! There's a jolly jigsaw at the bottom of the blog. All mixed up. Like a jilly jogsaw. Have Fun. I will update it every now and then. Good to see a few people trying it...

Training on Curtin Mountain

The Summer Series #7 race last night was at South Curtin, over a mountain and over 5.3k. It was good to see that some of the weekend half marathoners used common sense and did not race two days later. I was sorry to see that some of the weekend half marathoners backed up and did race again on Tuesday. You can tell a good long distance runner, but you cannot tell them much. Conditions were cool for once, a cool breeze blew in just before the start!

Women
4. Katie Forestier W40 24:10
19. Caroline Campbell W60 30:37

Men
20. Richard Faulks M45 22:07
43. Mick Saunders M55 24:21
50. Roger Pilkington M45 25:15
64. Mick Charlton M50 27:24
86. Geoff Barker M60 37:16

Where We Train

Here's the latest information on training venues, as we transition from summer to winter training.

Mondays - We will continue to train at Parliament House. Not on Easter Monday however as that is the day of the AMA 8k cross country.

Thursdays - The last Vets track is 6 April, then it's Easter, so we will be starting at Dickson Oval on 20 April.

Saturdays - The ACT Cross Country Club kicks off its winter season on 1 April, and we will stop meeting at Aranda then. I intend to resume there on 9 September. So the last sessions at Aranda for the time being are 18 and 25 March.

Geese Fly South

Weston Creek Half Marathon

Many Northsiders including a few Speedy Geese flew South of the lake to the Irish Club on Sunday to race in the annual Weston Creek Half Marathon.

It is usually a hot day for the run once the clouds burn off and Sunday was hot despite the clouds staying put.

It is a great day for runners and non-runners alike, with many family, friends and other spectators coming down to the course to have a gander at the runners.

Team Goose

Team Moore, or are we going to be known in future as Team Goose, enjoyed the run and did fairly well. Here are our individual performances.

43 David Webster 1:31.25

47 Roger Pilkington 1:32.39

53 Geoff Moore 1:33.40

56 Bob Harlow 1:34.29

70 Cathy Newman 1:38.12 - first W45

99 Zel Bodulovic 1:43.52

122 John Alcock 1:49.40

131 Thea Zimpel 1:52.48

135 Peter Hogan 1:53.50

149 Ruth Baussmann 1:56.47

161 Margaret McSpadden 1:59.26

181 Caroline Campbell 2:04.10 - first W60 I think

221 finishers not including relay team runners.

And our relay performance.

1 Speedy Geese 1:37.41 - first team!

45 relay teams finished

Have one start time!

A great day; the only complaint I have is the not-slow runners who abuse the early start privilege extended to the very slow. It is quite unfair for a handful of runners to start early and run out the front in potentially better conditions. This needs to be policed or eliminated altogether. To defuse complaints from the runners involved, I would suggest starting everybody at the early start time, 7:00am.

Four Steps Forward One Step Back

My Progress

last week’s target 100 km, achieved 75 km
this week’s target 110 km
weight 64.5 kg, weight loss -0.5 kg, total weight loss 2.5 kg
song of the week Mountain's High, Delirious - World Service. "This mountain's high, too high for us"

My week

I could only shuffle around this week, with a very sore muscle in my right calf. However, the masseur said I could still run the half marathon yesterday, so I gave it a go despite considerable discomfort. I backed well off from my target pace. What I have found is that, when I am injured, it is just as hard running slowly as it would be running faster. I kept having to ease back, especially down hill, but it seemed just as hard as if I had raced down the hills. Anyway, the calf only got a bit worse during the run, and I ended up passing a few people up the hills in the second half who were suffering more than me. Despite all that, I was very pleased with my final time of 93.40 for the Weston Creek course, still within the range of times I was hoping for; I now know that Canberra Marathon at over a minute per km slower should be no problem; and I am confident of running 87:30 in the Canberra Half in May, more injuries permitting.

My form over the years

This graph shows how I rate my form over the years I have been running. It is "seasonally adjusted" for age, so for example a 2:30 marathon at age 30 would be equivalent to a 3:00 marathon at age 60. The X axis is year from 1962 to present. The Y axis is percentage fitness. I estimate I have improved to about 70% fit this year so far. A 100% fitness now would be about a 37:30 10k. "Zero percent" was when I could "only" run about 46 minutes.

The interesting thing about the chart is the plummet from 100 to 0; the change was overnight, the reason was never discovered.

I was at my peak for about fifteen years, an achievement I am proud of. Most people can expect about ten years. It was probably mostly luck considering my high mileage through that period; being light on my feet may have helped. I had almost no injuries.

Woke up.. fell out of bed... dragged a comb across my head

Ewen running yesterday's six foot track. Photo by Plu. It looks shady and flat? That can't be right!

It was an early start for the Six Foot Track run yesterday and the Weston Creek Half Marathon today.

Six Foot Track

Team Moore results
200 Geoff Barker 5:15 (2nd M60)

385 John Kennedy 5:53.30

519 Mike Worsley 6:19.30 (6th M60)

523 Cathy Montalto 6:20 (8th W50)

561 Christopher Lang 6:29

675 Ewen Thompson 6:56

718 Alice Scott 8:05

Carol Baird DNF

An amazing run from Geoff Barker.

They all ran 45km on mountains on a rather hot Saturday morning.

Carol Baird and Geoff Barker at a previous event. Two very speedy people indeed. Carol, one of the race favourites for the Six Foot Track, hurt her foot and was unable to finish.

Weston Creek Half Marathon

A hot Sunday morning for the half marathon - it had cooled down very little overnight - saw the biggest field for a number of years. Age category winners from Team Moore were Cathy Newman, having her first win as a W45, and Caroline Campbell W60. "Speedy Geese" comprising three Team Moore runners was the first women's relay team. Speedy Goose 3, Maria, won a barrel draw prize too. Have I forgotten anyone? Official results to come.

ACT Veterans Athletic Club news

There is a new link on the sidebar of this blog, a link to ACTVAC News. The news page is a new service recently appearing on the ACTVAC website. It will be updated weekly, every Monday. Something I have volunteered to do. If you have news you would like to appear there, please email me!

Thursday Night Track Results

Track and Field
Canberra is gearing up for the conduct of another fabulous AMA Track and Field Championship weekend at Easter, an event which comes to the ACT about every seven years. Full details are available on THIS website but be quick, entries close very very soon. In fact if you are reading this after 16 March 2006 you have missed the boat. Don’t despair; you can help out by being a volunteer this time, then train up for next year’s in another state. And perhaps there will be the odd Sunday night dinner ticket still available.

Team Wimp
Is this you? Come and run track! Only a few weeks to go and it is all over for another season.

Track Results
For the few who attended track last night, the performances were quite outstanding… here are our results.

3000m
M40 Colin Farlow 10:20.18
M45 Amalendu Edelsten 9:56.64
M45 Gary Bowen 11:51.46
M55 Neil Boden 13:12.08
M65 Tony Booth 12:51.58
W40 Katie Forestier 12:14.14
W50 Kathy Sims 12:50.11

100m
M60 Michael Roche 15.67
W40 Katie Forestier 15.98
W40 Gabrielle Brown 16.07

200m
M55 Geoff Sims 27.06
M55 Kevin Chamberlain 30.27
M60 Michael Roche 33.37

Pentathlon
M45 Roger Pilkington
Long Jump 3.14
Javelin 23.73
200m 37.68
Discus 17.06
1500m 7:46.24 (?? surely not!)
total 808 points

W40 Gabrielle Brown
Long Jump 3.05
Javelin 16.00
200m 34.04
Discus 17.41
800m 3:04.50
total 1514 points

W45 Vicki Matthews
Long Jump 3.71
Javelin 21.14
200m 30.16
Discus 21.55
800m 3:08.52
total 2424 points

W45 Alex Lloyd
Long Jump 4.00
Javelin 23.33
200m 32.35
Discus 18.38
800m 3:17.85
total 2263 points

Summer Series Results Boathouse 5k

Women – Thea had a blinder
16. Thea Zimpel 22:35
17. Annette Sugden W40 22:38
35. Margaret McSpadden W55 26:28
36. Ruth Baussmann W55 26:53

Men – David is improving again
29. David Webster M50 20:25
51. David Baussmann M55 22:37
58. Roger Pilkington M45 23:17
61. Bob Harlow M55 23:26
66. Mick Charlton M50 24:18
69. Geoff Barker M60 24:22
83. Graeme Small M60 28:36

Lauren's race is coming up soon

Lauren will need to do a Steven Bradbury to win the 400m hurdles final. Lauren will need to do a Steven Bradbury to make the 400m hurdles final. Go Lauren!

Commonwealth Games Women's 400m hurdles heats - midday session, Wednesday 22nd March
Commonwealth Games Women's 400m hurdles final - evening session, Thursday 23rd March

Quote of the Week "Be more like a child today, for children sing whether they sound good or not."
Song of the Week "If You Could See Me Now" - P.O.D., Testify

For every proverb there is an equal and opposite proverb

"Nostalgia isn't what it used to be", but on the other hand, "The older you get the faster you were".

It is birthday time for
**Cathy Newman, 45 last Saturday. Welcome to the new age group.
**Annemarie Calnan, 50 last Monday. She only lasted two days in Cathy's age group before moving up.
**Christopher Lang, 55 next Monday. Welcome into the elite group, Chris.

Others of note to have birthdays are
*Rosemary Longstaff, 55 last Thursday (and turned up at track to see if she could break Maureen's 800m record. She didn't. She ran 2:55, just over Fran's old record.)
*Mick Dando, 72 last Monday
*Alex Osborn, Kathy Sims' grandson, 1 this Thursday
*Gary Bowen, 49 next Tuesday

Happy Birthday To You All!

Annemarie enjoying the track

For The Record

There are so many people changing age groups, I thought I would publish the official ACT middle distance records, as of 31/12/2005. Quite a few of the records are held by people who were part of "Team Moore" in the dim and distant past, but I have highlighted just current members. The complete list of records is on the ACTVAC website. An * indicates a current Australian Record.

800 Metres
M30 1.56.71e Vince Craig 2000
M35 1.55.9 Jeff King 2000
M40 1.57.6 Tony Murray 1988
M45 2.01.0 John Morton 2004
M50 2.05.9 Kevin Chamberlain 1997
M55 2.16.2 Kevin Chamberlain 2002
M60 2.21.82e Lindsay Hooper 1987
M65 2.41.2 Keith Perroux 1991
M70 2.51.9 Merv Collins 1996
M75 3.01.91e Rad Leovic 2005
M80 4.47.6 Hal Dalheim 1998
M85 4.24.84e Allan Sherriff 1999
W30 2.11.4 Stacey Quitzau 1993
W35 2.14.07e Jenny Brichacek 2003
W40 2.15.3 Elaine Cooper 2000
W45 2.30.41e Kathy Southgate 2005
W50 2.35.2 Maureen Rossiter 2003
W55 2.54.9 Fran Harris 1997
W60 3.04.83e Fran Harris 2003
W65 3.12.00e Cory Collins 2002
W70 3.53.1 Anne Young 2005

1500 Metres
M30 3.58.7 Mark Silins 1995
M35 3.55.43e * Gerard Ryan 1996
M40 3.56.2 Tony Murray 1989
M45 4.12.0 Garry Hand 1991
M50 4.21.1 Kevin Chamberlain 1997
M55 4.39.4 Kevin Chamberlain 2002
M60 4.43.81e Lindsay Hooper 1987
M65 5.32.2 Keith Perroux 1991
M70 6.05.05e Merv Collins 1997
M75 6.58.38e Rad Leovic 2003
M80 9.34.4 Hal Dalheim 1998
M85 8.45.67e Allan Sherriff 1999
W30 4.27.4 Susan Hobson 1990
W35 4.33.0 Elaine Cooper 1995
W40 4.47.5 Elaine Cooper 1999
W45 4.57.95e Kathy Southgate 2002
W50 5.28.49e Maria O'Reilly 2005
W55 5.59.1 Anne Young 1991
W60 6.16.5 Anne Young 1996
W65 6.46.57e Anne Young 2001
W70 7.50.92e Anne Young 2005
W75 9.45.36e Juani O'Reilly 2003

3000 Metres
M30 8.54.3 Colin Neave 1992
M35 8.47.3 * Geoff Moore 1984
M40 8.36.0 * Tony Murray 1987
M45 9.07.4 Frank Green 1985
M50 9.46.9 Bernie Millett 1992
M55 10.15.0 Bernie Millett 1997
M60 10.36.0 Peter Kallio 1997
M65 12.11.0 Keith Perroux/Michael Freer 1991/1995
M70 12.39.0 Michael Freer 2000
M75 14.23.0 Hal Dalheim 1994
W30 9.05.93e * Susan Hobson 1989
W35 9.51.0 Elaine Cooper 1995
W40 9.54.0 Elaine Cooper 2000
W45 10.44.81e Kathy Southgate 2002
W50 11.47.0 Kathy Sims 2002
W55 12.31.0 Anne Young 1993
W60 13.03.0 Anne Young 1996
W65 14.15.0 * Anne Young 2002
W70 16.23.14e Anne Young 2005

David Palmer

Sad news - David Palmer passed away yesterday - Sunday morning. Our deepest sympathy goes to David's wife Rae Palmer and her family.

For those in the training group who don't know them, Rae was a regular at Parliament House training in the last few years, and David did join us there on one occasion last year.

David's brother-in-law, Rae's brother, David Webster presently trains with us, and our sympathy goes to the Webster family too, as well as to others in the extended family.

This comes as a shock as David Palmer was a fit bicycle rider and was seen each week at the Vets Tuesday group with Rae.

progress continues

last week’s target 110 km, achieved 113 km
this week’s target 100 km
weight 64 kg, weight loss 1.0 kg, total weight loss 3 kg

As well as running my longest week for a long while, I also ran a couple of races well.
BBQ Stakes 6k 25:13 (pb by 1 second)
Customs 5k 19:43 (pb by 8 seconds)

My BBQ Stakes times for the last three weeks have been 25:15, 25:14 and 25:13. The first of these was a thirty second pb. Looks good!

My Customs run was the first time for ages I have strung a couple of sub 20s together. So it looks like things are going well. The only trouble I have had was pain across the bottom of my left foot - which went away completely when I loosened my shoelaces!

This week I will be easing off to race the Weston Creek Half Marathon.

Try Something Challenging

Sahara Run

The six foot track is on this coming Saturday? Ho hum, I will be pleased when it's over and we don't keep hearing about it all the time. Try something challenging! See http://www.raidsahara.com/.

Weston Creek Half Marathon

It is on this coming Sunday. Entries close tomorrow and you can enter on-line now at https://www.registernow.com.au/sports/SportsRegister.aspx?EventID=151. I told David Webster I would pace him for a 90 minute time. I hope he co-operates because he will run much faster if he can learn to run evenly. As for myself, somewhere between 90 and 95 minutes is the expectation, and I will give sub 90 a shot, but really I am just running it to see what I can do early in the year prior to getting fitter, and to try out the shoes I will be wearing in the marathon.

Canberra Marathon

It's official! I have just learned that I have been accepted into the 4 hour patcarrollpacers group. I will have the patcarroll singlet and helium balloon and will run an even 3:59 whatever the weather.

Women's Jogalong

Fantastic run from Helen today. And it was good to catch up with Michelle Wells, who is going very well indeed, into her fifth month of pregnancy.

Approximate times for today's jogalong
Helen Larmour 27:02
Katie Forestier 27.15
Sarah Pau 31.05
Caroline Campbell 35.20

Winter Track Training

When we return to track training on Thursdays after the marathon is over, we should go back to Dickson oval do you think, rather than the AIS? That's my thinking. Feedback welcome.

It doesn't get any easier

On CJ's 45th birthday, I have news for all Veteran athletes who are looking forward to changing age groups. It doesn't get any easier!

Why? Because as achievable as the times seem that older people are running, when you get there yourself, it's darned difficult to do anywhere near as well, let alone better.

Here's proof. On Thursday night at track, Merv Collins ran the 100m, 400m, and 800m races in new ACT records. The 800m was a record by 63 seconds. He ran 3:44 for the 800m, 91 for the 400m, and 19 for the 100m . Merv is a new M80. He was nowhere near last in each race.

Fifteen years ago I eyed the M50 and M55 records, thinking "I will break those". Ten to fifteen years later, the records are faster, and I am much slower.

My new plan is to wait until I am 85. But the problem is, Merv gets there first.

Thinks. "Merv was a 300m hurdler ten years ago." Hmmm.

What do you think of those times? You can say what you like; no-one of Merv's age would ever read this blog. Surely?

Track Thursday Night

Some Team Moore results

3000m
M40 Colin Farlow 10:13.81
M45 Rod Lynch 11:13.94
M45 Richard Faulks 11:25.87
M50 Neville Madden 12:20.86
M55 Mick Saunders 12:10.36
M60 Mike Worsley 13:42.36
M60 Geoff Barker 13:48.53
M65 Tony Booth 13:03.59
W45 Helen Larmour 12:09.16 **20 second pb
W55 Margaret McSpadden 14:52.92

800m
M40 Colin Farlow 2:12.12
M45 Rod Lynch 2:36.72
M60 Mike Worsley 3:25.92
M60 Geoff Barker 3:43.41
M65 Tony Booth 2:51.94
W40 Katie Forestier 2:47.19
W40 Gabrielle Brown 2:58.88
W45 Helen Larmour 2:57.26
W50 Maria O'Reilly 2:52.47
W55 Margaret McSpadden 3:40.93

3000m Turkey Handicap
M45 Roger Pilkington 13:22.74
M55 Mick Saunders 12:56.79
M60 Mike Worsley 14:12.04 ** turkey winner
M60 Geoff Barker 14:59.82
M65 Tony Booth 16:14.72
W40 Gabrielle Brown 14:47.36
W50 Maria O'Reilly 13:24.09
W55 Margaret McSpadden 16:08.71

400m Boag Event
M45 Rod Lynch 77.72
M45 Roger Pilkington 78.05
M55 Mick Saunders 74.46
M55 Geoff Sims 61.46
M60 Geoff Barker 105.81
M65 Tony Booth 76.32
W40 Katie Forestier 74.86
W40 Gabrielle Brown 80.18
W45 Vicki Matthews 72.10
W45 Alex Lloyd 82.98
W50 Maria O'Reilly 77.06
W50 Kathy Sims 79.18
W55 Jill Brown 80.91

100m
M60 Michael Roche 15.98
W40 Katie Forestier 16.29
W45 Vicki Matthews 15.44
W45 Alex Lloyd 16.10
W55 Jill Brown 17.23

When you're on a good thing ... stick to it!

Sticking to the plan

I wonder how many runners chop and change their training from month to month or even from week to week?

Assuming they even have a plan. The place where I worked had a whole lot of runners who trained most lunchtimes. In the change rooms it was commonly heard "where will we run today?" No plan. Just a wish to get out of the office and run. As a result, every run was the same; little variation in distance or intensity, and no progress made towards improving fitness.

In December I outlined a simple plan here which I have since been translating into monthly, weekly and daily goals. It was just to "build up to 110k per week and maintain all current speed sessions". This plan has been working really well as my times are finally starting to improve!

The key is (a) have a plan (b) make sure it is a good plan (c) stick to it.

It is often the stick-to-it part people have trouble with.

Give running close to the plan a reasonable priority. And don't get at all discouraged when you don't see results or when you plateau . That's normal, it's not just you! Stick to it and the results will come.

Even one bad day can discourage some people and they give up straight away. Hang in there! Put the bad days behind you and see what tomorrow brings.

Have a training plan – just ONE plan - with plenty of variety so you won't get bored – then stick to it.

Another hot 5k run

Summer Series Results

Tuesday at the National Library

Women
43. Margaret McSpadden W55 26:12
45. Ruth Baussmann W55 26:31

Men
47. David Webster M50 20:45
65. Mick Saunders M55 22:13
71. Bob Harlow M55 22:47
77. Mick Charlton M50 23:59
78. David Baussmann M55 24:03
82. Geoff Barker M60 24:57
98. Roy Jones M60 29:25

Why I wasn't there

Canberra Connect

Vets Stall at Canberra Connect last month.

Roger Pilkington writes:

"I would like to thank all those people who helped on the day at the Vets Stall on Canberra Connect day. Ken who helped me set up, Peter M, Jenny, Charmaine, Phil, Pam, Peter H, Katie and Gary attending at the stall and the last three who also helped pack up.

"I thought the stall looked good, we had a very good position by the Canberra Centre. Next time I won't worry about trying to sell any Vets clothes, but having some gear hanging up in the tent was good. I would be happy to hear from anybody with suggestions for next time.

"On the day we probably had about 30-40 people stop and have a chat at the stall, most people took a Vetrunner & Brochures about the Club, I felt myself and what others had said that most people seemed very interested in the club.

"It was good to see people were also getting info for relatives including sons, daughters, mums & dads. I would be hopeful that we get 4-5 members out this promotion. In the future I would like to have some stalls set up at different shopping centres including Dickson, Canberra Centre, Belconnen, Woden, Tuggers and Coolamon Court. It be great if we could get club support for this as well."

Roger