Narnia

'Are you not thirsty?' said the Lion.

'I'm dying of thirst,' said Jill.

'Then drink,' said the Lion.

'May I - could I - would you mind going away while I do?' said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl...

'I daren't come and drink.' said Jill.

'Then you will die of thirst.' said the Lion.

'Oh dear,' said Jill, coming another step nearer. 'I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.'

'There is no other stream.' said the Lion.

- C.S. Lewis The Silver Chair, ch. 2

I have finally seen "The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". It was as good as I expected; even better.

The first C. S. Lewis Narnia book I read was the first he wrote, and the first film installment, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

My favourite is “The Silver Chair” but they are all excellent.

I first read them not that long after they were published, and have re-read them many times since.

Published order:
1. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950)
2. Prince Caspian (1951)
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
4. The Silver Chair (1953)
5. The Horse and His Boy (1954)
6. The Magician's Nephew (1955)
7. The Last Battle (1956)

Chronological order (now sold in this fashion):
1. The Magician's Nephew (1955)
2. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950)
3. The Horse and His Boy (1954)
4. Prince Caspian (1951)
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
6. The Silver Chair (1953)
7. The Last Battle (1956)

Film installment plans
1. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)
2. Prince Caspian (2008?)
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4. The Silver Chair
5. The Magician's Nephew
6. The Horse and His Boy
7. The Last Battle

Here is a quote from C.S. Lewis himself regarding the position of "The Magician's Nephew", when asked if the books' internal chronological order (not the published order) is preferred:

“I think I agree with your order (i.e. chronological) for reading the books more than with your mother's. The series was not planned beforehand as she thinks. When I wrote The Lion I did not know I was going to write any more. Then I wrote P. Caspian as a sequel and still didn't think there would be any more, and when I had done The Voyage I felt quite sure it would be the last. But I found as I was wrong. So perhaps it does not matter very much in which order anyone read them. I'm not even sure that all the others were written in the same order in which they were published.”

- from C. S. Lewis' Letters to Children

There is some debate around what the order should be, but I think Lion should be read (and viewed) before Magician’s Nephew.

Heights

quote of the day. "The heights which great men reached and kept, Were not attained by sudden flight, They, whilst their companions slept, Were toiling upwards in the night." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.


A young Ron Clarke lighting the Olympic Flame at the MCG in 1956

I thought. I ran. I conquered.

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or gazelle - when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."

Today I ran.

Yesterday my back was so sore I didn't even run. Today my back was so sore I decide to take it easy. After running, my back is no longer sore. Today I ran the BBQ Stakes in a new PB. And I thought I was taking it easy! It was 5 seconds faster than the previous pb run in August 2005.

What is going on?

Before we forget who the socceroos are

Socceroo sayings
These have been reported over time and collected by "sources" around the world.

"My parents have been there for me, ever since I was about 7." Tim Cahill.

"I would not be bothered if we lost every game as long as we won the league." Mark Viduka.

"Guus Hiddink is the best manager I've ever had at this level. Well, he's the only manager I've actually had at this level. But he's the best manager I've ever had." Lucas Neill.

"If you don't believe you can win, there is no point in getting out of bed at the end of the day." John Aloisi.

"I've had 14 bookings this season - 8 of which were my fault, but 7 of which were disputable." Ned Zelic.

"I've never wanted to leave. I'm here for the rest of my life, and hopefully after that as well." Mark Schwarzer.

"I'd like to play for an Italian club, like Barcelona." Vince Grella.

"I'm as happy as I can be - but I have been happier." Mile Sterjovski.

"I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel." Craig Moore.

"I took a whack on my left ankle, but something told me it was my right." Harry Kewell.

"I couldn't settle in Italy - it was like living in a foreign country." Vince Grella.

"Germany is a very difficult team to play . . . they have 11 internationals out there." Zeljko Kalac.

"I always used to put my right boot on first, and then obviously my right sock." Jason Culina.

"The Brazilians were South American, and the Ukrainians will be more European." Scott Chipperfield.

"All that remains is for a few dots and commas to be crossed." Marco Bresciano.

"One accusation you can't throw at me is that I've always done my best." Craig Moore.

"I'd rather play in front of a full house than an empty crowd." Mark Viduka.

"Sometimes in football you have to score goals." Harry Kewell.

Guts on Display

Best effort
Socceroos. All guts. Some glory.

Not so best effort
This about sums it up
Quote of the day. "A lot of people run a race to see who's the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts." - Steve Prefontaine

We are a flourishing training group

We are a flourishing training group - just look at the runners in Sunday's race! Lots of excellent performances on a freezing morning.

My training progress
last week's target 110km actual 64km. heh!
this week’s target 120km. hmm!
weight 65kg and falling
song of the week One Last Breath – Creed
quote of the week “run to the half way mark as if it were the race itself” - Percy Cerutty

Last week I had a bit of a cold because of long runs in the cold! The race at Mt Ainslie (see below) was a struggle and not as fast as I ran as an M50 once. However I am happy with the time and seem to be still on track. This week I hope to run extra kms, if I can find any spare time, because we are off to Sydney next week and I won't be doing a lot of running there, probably. Hey Sydney readers, any good runs around the Baulkham Hills area? Early mornings, Tuesday 4 July and on, will be my only option. This week's training plans may disappear out the window if I get no sleep tonight watching the soccer. Go Aussies!

Yesterday’s Vets Handicap – Mt Ainslie
Long course – 9.3k
3 Barbara Tucker W55 50:18 gold
10 Barbara Williams W60 49:47
12 Alan Duus M60 45:04
14 Roger Pilkington M45 38:50
15 Cathy Newman W45 43:31
20 Rod Lynch M45 36:49
21 Kathy Sims W55 46:10
27 Ruth Baussmann W55 53:07
31 Geoff Moore M55 39:45
37 Jill Brown W55 54:27
40 Pam Faulks W45 52:52
46 John Kennedy M55 39:59
50 Maria O'Reilly W50 42:22
54 Christopher Lang M55 50:07
57 Graeme Small M60 55:30
64 John Alcock M60 47:14
65 Helen Larmour W45 44:40
66 John Stoney M40 46:26
72 Geoff Sims M55 49:07
73 Colin Farlow M40 37:43
77 Peter McDonald M50 48:11
79 Margaret McSpadden W55 55:06
81 Neville Madden M50 46:02
83 Geoff Barker M60 51:33
88 Charmaine Knobel W50 50:11
90 David Webster M50 42:47
94 Amanda Walker W35 50:42
98 Alice Scott W60 68:00
108 Tony Booth M65 54:58

Short course – 4.5k
4 Amanda Chew W45 26:11 silver
21 Neil Boden M55 20:14
22 Katie Forestier W40 19:11
30 Gary Bowen M45 18:56

Food for thought
In our Veterans athletic club, three very important things to foster are
...1. A good (welcoming) (supporting) atmosphere, as in our motto "Fitness Through Fellowship", and
...2. good communications by EVERY means possible, and
...3. good solid contemporary rock music. (sorry, a minor typo, that should read “flourishing training groups”).

Tuesday Run
Given the soccer, a sleep in will be called for tomorrow. Here is the perfect way to start the day: (from Ian Clout, ABS)
"With a sunny day forecast for tomorrow, what better way to spend your lunchtime than having a go at the Ginninderra Handicap. As the bikepath is still unavailable for the first half km of the course, meeting place is in the car park behind Bella Vista restaurant, from about 12.10pm."

Barbaras Beat the Best

Barbara ("The Barbara", see photo below) was belatedly declared the winner of last month's Vets Handicap.

Meanwhile, "Kiwi Barbara" was the worthy winner of this month's Vets Handicap.

They train together. Go Barbara go Barbara go!

Oh, and Mandy won a short course silver.

Footnote - a group dropped in to see Peter after the run today. See Tuggeranong Don's article & photo.

ANOTHER training group engagement /wedding announcement!

I have heard a rumour that last weekend Joel Pearson & Yelena Valdivia announced their engagement.

I have further heard a rumour from a very reliable source that they will be married at 12pm November 4th, 2006 in La Molina, Lima, Peru. (3am Sunday November 5th our time).

Joel you didn't tell me!

Congratulations, how fantastic, imagine the honeymoon options in the Peru mountains!

Rain at last

Where's the sun? Not here. No I didn't run at Customs today. Maybe if I were nearby I would have, but it is wet and gloomy out there today. I stayed home and dry instead.

Tomorrow is a 30th birthday party for my youngest daughter, then Sunday I WILL run at Mt Ainslie whatever the weather. If I am going to slip down from second place in the point score, I would sooner do it after running and trying to hold off the inevitable, than by missing the race altogether.

Cool Kewell

Twenty Twenty
Set the group a twenty twenty run last night; as a bit of a break from the longer training sessions we usually do at this time. Twenty seconds "on", twenty seconds "off", for twenty minutes.

Two Two
The draw sufficed for the Socceroos to make the round of sixteen. Another night of little sleep coming up!

Happy Harry
"STUTTGART (Reuters) - A late equalizer by Harry Kewell gave Australia a 2-2 draw with Croatia on Thursday to put his country into the last 16 of the World Cup.

"Kewell scored from close range in the 79th minute of the Group F match after Croatia, needing a win to qualify themselves, twice took the lead.

"Croatia went 1-0 up through Darijo Srna in only the third minute but Australia equalized with a Craig Moore penalty after 38 minutes. Croatia's second goal was scored by Niko Kovac in the 56th minute.

"Australia go on to play Italy in a second round fixture in Kaiserslautern on Monday.

"Croatia finished with nine men after Dario Simic and Josip Simunic were sent off and Australia ended with 10 after Brett Emerton was dismissed in the closing minutes."

Footnote
Peter is scheduled to have his operation at 11am today.

Obesity Obscenity

So I'm gonna buy a gun and start a war

If you can tell me something worth fighting for.

- Coldplay, A Rush of Blood to the Head.

With childhood obesity in Australia dramatically rising, and adult obesity at disgraceful levels, why do we continue to hear promotions by unethical food companies such as McDonalds who have been primarily responsible for this epidemic, along with the stupid people who fall for it and consume far more food than they need?

It is time we started a war!

I reproduce an article in one of today’s papers. Does it make you as angry as it makes me?

UP TO 50 Victorian schools have signed up with Krispy Kreme doughnuts to raise funds, leaving health experts and parents' groups furious.

The American doughnut chain - which opens its first Victorian store in Narre Warren today - will provide kids with cut-price doughnuts to sell to raise cash for their schools.
Nutritionists are horrified the international chain is encouraging children to eat fat-laden doughnuts while the nation is in the grip of an obesity crisis.

Almost 400 New South Wales schools ran Krispy Kreme fundraisers within months of the first Australian store opening in 2003.

A glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut has about 836 kilojoules (200 calories), with half coming from fat.

A fundraising box of a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts costs $8.

Schools on-sell them for $13, netting a $5 profit per box. There is a minimum purchase of 50 boxes.

A company spokesman yesterday said about 50 not-for-profit Victorian organisations had registered to raise funds through Krispy Kreme, but would not disclose how many were schools.

The company will launch the details of its Victorian fundraising policy in the next two weeks.

Statistics show about 10,000 Victorian children become obese or overweight every year.

Kelly Neville, from Nutrition Australia's Healthy Eating Schools program, said the Krispy Kreme fundraising was appalling.

"It is horrifying. Krispy Kremes are very high in saturated fat and are larger than other doughnuts," the dietitian said.

She said the fundraising program would encourage children to eat more doughnuts and contribute to the obesity problem.

Nutrition Australia recently released a Fundraising Ideas for Healthy Kids manual which lists a number of alternatives.

"We have seen some schools take the risk and drop hugely successful junk-food drives in favour of staging a fun run," Ms Neville said.

Obesity expert Professor Boyd Swinburn said Krispy Kreme was undoing the programs to reduce childhood obesity.

"They are undermining all the hard work that the State Government, schools and parents are doing," he said.

"All junk food should absolutely be banned from school fundraising."

Parents' groups have joined the experts in calling for junk-food bans.

They say chocolate, lolly, pie and especially doughnut drives should be dropped.

The State Government plans to ban sugary soft-drinks at schools.

But parents say schoolground bans are pointless when their children return home with boxes of junk food to sell.

Parents Victoria president Elaine Crowle said schools with good healthy eating policies were hypocritical by raising money through junk-food drives.

"They really defeat the purpose of having healthy eating at school," she said.

Ms Crowle urged schools to be wary of Krispy Kreme.

"I suggest schools look very carefully at the nutritional value of Krispy Kremes and not just at the dollar signs."

Victorian Parents Council executive officer Jo Silver said junk-food drives should be used in moderation.

"Parents need to consider the health food messages their children are learning at school and should think about other fundraising alternatives."

Williamstown North Primary School scrapped its chocolate fundraiser - that netted about $4000 per year - in favour of staging a Golden Circle fun run that earned them just as much.

I saw a "Krispy Kreme donut" once and it was disgusting looking. How can people bring themselves to swallow such junk?

Three Fifties

The latest group to reach the 50 runs status at Oakey Hill are all Team Moore members, from the left, Neville Madden (married Jill Brown last Saturday), David Webster and Mick Saunders.

A bit of a wasted day; I didn't run the BBQ stakes today; I arrived late at Woden then got a phone call asking me to return home because the plumber was arriving. Before returning home I had time to go shopping and didn't find what I was looking for. Aaaaargh.

Great to see you there today Charlie. Looks like you ran well. Also I saw Peter last night and today; he goes in to Canberra Hospital on Friday and should be operated on the same day.

If you missed Monday's Canberra Times page three photo, here's another photo of Barbara. She's a popular girl this week!


See you all at Mt Ainslie on Sunday, if not at training this Thursday.

Terry Fox times

one photo they didn't publish.

click to enlarge.




Some of the results for Team Moore and friends

Female 10km
6 Melinda Cockshut 41:48
14 Bronwyn Calver 45:00
16 Cathy Newman 45:20
Gabrielle Brown ~48.20
Charmaine Knobel 50.08
Pam Faulks 51.11
Barbara Tucker ~51.59
Margaret McSpadden 54.49
Ruth Baussmann "55" she said

Male 10km
Richard Faulks 39.44
Geoff Moore 40:56
John Kennedy ~41.20
David Webster ~41.30
Bob Harlow 42.35
Dave Baussmann ~46.20
Alan Duus 46.48
John Stoney ~49.59

Female 5km
6 Kathy Southgate 19:13
14 Katie Forestier 21:08
23 Barbara Williams 24:02

Male 5km
20 Roger Pilkington 19:29
Graeme Small "28"

There are many I do not know.
eg Neil Boden?

Quite a few pbs here, congratulations.

Moore updates

My training progress

last week's target 100km actual 94km

this week’s target 110k
weight 66kg and rising
song of the week Come Back Down - Lifehouse

"When you come around

I'll be there for you

Don't have to be alone with what you're going through."

I must reverse that weight gain - it was 62 or 63 before April's marathon, and has gone up to 65 or 66 since. There are ten weeks until the Vets half, my next challenge. I should be able to get down to 60 or 61 kg by then. I can come back down!!!!! My times have been improving despite the weight gains, but it would be so much easier, were I lighter!

My best time in the Terry Fox Fun Run as an M50 was 41.46, and so far as an M55 was 43.37, so yesterday's 40.56 is all the more pleasing for bettering both those times.

Lastly, I hope to see Peter today and again tomorrow to see how he is doing and offer him all the support we can provide him. I know he appreciates all your kind wishes and expressions of concern.

footnote - I see that one of my favourite songs, The Hardest Part, which I quoted in my coaching essay, entered the aria singles chart this week. It is the only decent new lyric being played today. But it has a very weird video clip!

Terry Fox

The bravest story in running is the story of Terry Fox.

Terry Fox was a young Canadian who, having lost a leg to cancer, began a run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. After running two thirds of the way (more than 5,000 km) he had to stop, stricken by lung cancer, and shortly thereafter died on 28th June, 1981. Terry captured the hearts of millions of people and through his "Marathon of Hope" raised more than $24 million for cancer research. Terry Fox Fun Runs are now held in 58 countries around the world. Please visit the Terry Fox Foundation's web site for further information: www.terryfoxrun.org.

The Fun Run
Today's Fun Run to raise money for cancer research was organised by the Canadian High Commission, Canberra, the Cancer Council ACT, the Australian-Canadian Association in Canberra, and the ACT Athletic Association and the ACT Cross Country Club.

I ran, and managed four minutes faster than my year's previous best official 10k, although I was only about half a minute faster than my Doomben half marathon 10k split would have been. Anyway, my time of 40:56 was good for me; I usually have trouble with the Terry Fox course (hills!) but today was better.

Sad Irony
One of the runners in the training group (who is known as "PRB" - "Perfect Running Buddy") told me at the Terry Fox run today, that he has just been diagnosed with cancer of the bladder. We wish Peter all the best as he starts urgent treatment asap.

Full Results?
There won't be full results of the Terry Fox 5k or 10k as only the top 25 men and 25 women have their times recorded. So I will be asking everyone who ran what their times were, and in due course publish a list. If you see this, please, please send me your time and any others you are sure of, to save me some time chasing you up! There are lots of excellent runs to report.

Huge Support
I was pleased to see large numbers of Team Moore members running today. Even though the Fun Run is not a "major event" on the calendar, and we don't train specifically for it, the run is seen as a significant one and heavily supported.

Who is in the new banner?

CJ & Strewth
Colin
Aki
Kevin M
Matthew & Son
Speedy Goose
Roger
Maria
hem hem
Mr B
Annemarie & Tony
Helen, SG, Charlie & Gabe
My Jenny
Mr Flibble

second row
Dash
Buster
...
Our Lauren
...
Luckylegs
Southy & li'l Southy
Chris

Sprinklers and Splices

I went to the Customs 30th anniversary run today, it was nice to see the sun and a temperature in double figures (yes, ten degrees!). A lot of people turned out who don't normally go, as well as old faces from the distant past, and regulars. In the new-comers category there were many Team-Moore-ese friends such as Jimbo, Geoff "six foot" Barker, Helen, Cate me Mate, and even Jill the day before her wedding day.

Flashduck produced some cleverly hinged results boards she had made which she can carry folded up on her bicycle. Oh if I only had half the brains she has.

Excuses first. I had a hard training session last night, had two errands on the way into town and did not have time for more than 3kms warmup which given the cold day and my state of soreness was too little, sprinklers were on over the track, and part of the path behind Regatta Point was covered with machinery and closed forcing a detour up and down the icy grass.

So with all that in mind (blow by blow description coming up) I decided I would jog and not race, and picked Phill to run with. But he left early and I missed him, so I decided to start with Jodie. I got ready but she'd gone early too! Then I decided I would run with Helen, but she started too soon too, with Rosemary, and I missed her as well. So then I decided to start with Allrounder. Any later and it would be up to my real start time! The brain was surely in slow motion today. At 14:30 we set off, Allrounder taking off (as usual) and at 2km I finally caught her having had to push it to keep her in sight! Then I more or less ran with her to the end. 21.59 is OK for a "jog".

Next - Terry Fox 10k on Sunday. Can I persuade myself to race this one?

Have you tried the blogger spellchecker?

Blogger Spellchecker suggestions for this post are as follows.

Jimbo - jumbo
Cate - CAT
Flashduck - plastics
Phill - Philly
Allrounder - alarmed
warmup - harrumph
blogger - blocker
and finally, spellchecker - splices

All very apt I think.

Square One

“Under the surface trying to break through”

Reading other runners' blogs is something I do every day. It is a good way to get inspired to carry on, whether it is one of those rare blue days one would have thrown in the towel, if one had a towel, or whether it is one of those happy days when everything's fine, the kitchen installers have done the right thing, and my training is up to date.

This blog's right hand column has a few links (see "blogroll"), and if you want more, you cannot do better than browsing the cool running blogging guide.

Speaking of which, I see Strewth has joined Team M. Welcome!

“You just want somebody listening to what you say”

I do have a towel by the way, a nice new blue Doomben Half finisher's towel. That was a good idea, race organisers, prizes should be things you can eat, and/or wear, and/or carry around with your racing kit.

I see that Belconnen's weather yesterday ranged from minus seven to plus eight. That's almost illegal, isn't it? It was OK though, there was no wind. One had to be very careful, however, not to slip on the ice on the front steps when retrieving the morning paper.

"The future's for discovering the space in which we're travelling"

My eldest grandchild (of the nine we currently have) is seven years old today. Phew! Makes one realise the days are ticking past fast. Happy Birthday Kayleigh.

“You wonder if your chance will ever come
Or if you're stuck in square one”

I do feel like I restart from square one after every hard effort requiring recovery. Oh for those younger days when I could bounce back to form in minutes!!

3-1

“I Told You So” - Johnny Warren

I didn’t make it to the BBQ Stakes today. I had wanted to go and catch up with my good friends, check out Lowes and their "Girly Girl" T-shirts, not to mention buying some new gear at the Runners Shop! Having workmen around to fix our kitchen intervened.

Already at 5pm, going outside is just like entering a walk-in freezer. At least there is no breeze. I have returned from a 20k run; just me, gloves, long-sleeve top, MP3 music player, and Mr Flibble who told me the distance was the 20km I always guessed it was, or close enough. That's the fifth day in a row I have run 16k or more.

The altitude varied from 560m to 660m above sea level. My house, the start and finish point, is at 600m.

The songs that accompanied me today were
Beautiful Day – U2
Beauty In Me – The Whitlams
Been Away Too Long – The Whitlams
Politik (Live) – Coldplay
Roots In Stereo – P.O.D.
Square One – Coldplay
Talk – Coldplay
Fondness Makes The Heart Grow Absent – The Whitlams
God Put A Smile On Your Face (Live) – Coldplay
Lights Out – P.O.D.
Sleeping Sun – Coldplay
Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of – U2
What If – Coldplay
White Horses – The Whitlams
A Rush Of Blood To The Head (Live) – Coldplay
Beautiful As You – The Whitlams
Elevation – U2
Gravity – Coldplay
If You Could See Me Now – P.O.D.
I Was Alive – The Whitlams
White Shadows - Coldplay
Fix You – Coldplay
Goodbye For Now – P.O.D.
One I Love (Live) – Coldplay
Second Best – The Whitlams
Walk On – U2
Year Of The Rat – The Whitlams - “Everyone’s a Star”

Finally it's great when people add their comments because then it's not just a monologue. Thanks cool Karmin, lovely Lulu, dashing Don, burley Griffin, and every last goose out there.

“Leave the place better than you found it” - Johnny Warren.

Practise Those Starts!

Recent Results

Molonglo Reach 5.0k Women
6. Katie Forestier W40 21:40

Molonglo Reach 5.0k Men
19. Roger Pilkington M45 21:47
23. Geoff Barker M60 23:50

Molonglo Reach 10.0k Women
6. Maria O'Reilly W50 43:43
14. Thea Zimpel 49:27
15. Kathy Sims W55 49:48
29. Barbara Williams W60 55:36
33. Pam Faulks W45 57:35

Molonglo Reach 10.0k Men
43. Roger Pilkington M45 41:05
47. Richard Faulks M45 41:46
56. Bob Harlow M55 43:03
70. Ken Eynon M60 45:59
77. John Alcock M60 48:17
78. Peter McDonald M50 48:25

Goorooyarroo 8.0k Women
6. Thea Zimpel 23 39:58
7. Caroline Campbell W60 43:38

Goorooyarroo 8.0k Men
29. Roger Pilkington M45 34:31
41. Bob Harlow M55 37:25
42. Geoff Moore M55 37:41
47. Ken Eynon M60 40:28
48. Neil Boden M55 40:56

Vets Point Score
After 5 rounds I am still in second place in the Thomas Series, but slipping fast!

The Value of Starting Practice

It's An Honour

Jack, our club Patron, was awarded an OAM today.

Name: PENNINGTON, John Harold
Award: Medal of the Order of Australia
Date granted: 12 June 2006
State: ACT
Suburb: Kaleen
Postcode: 2617
Citation:
For service to athletics, particularly in the area of long distance running, as an administrator, coach and competitor.

Cooler than cool

My training progress

last week's target n/a actual 62k

this week’s target 100k
quote of the week “Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself." - William Faulkner
weight 65kg and steady
song of the week Year of the Rat - The Whitlams, from "Little Cloud"

Monday and Tuesday were long runs in Brisbane, then three days off running while returning home. We visited Western Plains Zoo on Friday morning. I “raced” Goorooyarroo on Saturday in 37:40, very slow but still three minutes faster than last year when I jogged the last bit. Hills are not my forte. Had a bit of a run with Griffin and Speedy Goose on Sunday before heading off to Scott & Ruth’s engagement party. Can’t say I am feeling all that flash but it’s good to be home, despite the cooler than cool – ice cold – weather.

Tying the Knot

Jill and Neville have just announced they are getting married next Saturday! (Sorry, I cannot find a photo of Neville at such short notice!!) Congratulations and very best wishes for the future.

Let's hope the weather brightens up for your wedding.

It's a very nice venue, the same as where my youngest daughter was married, in 1999.

sub 90 form

The last few seconds.

Congratulations grandma

Sandgate run, bye bye sun.

Our Brisbane holiday has reached its last full day.

We spent the morning and lunch time at Bribie Island, but the wind was too strong to attempt a picnic lunch on the beach as planned, so we sheltered in a park instead, and were hassled by eight white ibises for food scraps.

Mid afternoon I ran 12k from the top of Shorncliffe along the coast cycle path through Sandgate and Brighton to the Houghton Highway Bridge and back, while Jenny walked to the end of the Sandgate Pier and a couple of grumpy old fishermen, before following me along as far as a quaint old Baptist church by the sea.

"Perfect the next"? They must have been kidding. Cool and cloudy and windy today! With all the smoke around, a glorious sunset, but!

Vale Jim Sawkins

Just read this on allrounder's blog - another dear friend departed. Jim was recently, amongst other things, a regular with the Vets "Tuesday group". And very fit and fast.

Redcliffe Run (but no cliffs)

Today I ran along the shore line from Suttons Beach to Albatross Canal and back at lunch time, a total of 17km. This is around the Redcliffe/Scarborough area. There is a 15km cycle track marked every 100 metres! No hills (hurrah!) and the 17k took a comfortable 90 minutes. Obviously I am completely recovered from yesterday's race. Next time I might head south instead of north and do the other half of the track. It was very warm, clear and sunny, with a light easterly breeze off the sea. While we were there at Suttons, men were pulling in, with the aid of two cars, a huge net which contained truckloads of large mullet. We bought six off them for $4.00 altogether. We know they are fresh as they were still kicking! Fresh fish for dinner tonight, yummmm.

Cutting It Fine

.......so I went out at 4:10 pace in the Queensland Half Marathon today knowing I was nowhere near fit enough to maintain it on current performances but interested in how long I could keep it up for assuming that I could get on the pace to start with!

.......and the first four km were on pace, then reaching 5km in 21 mins flat which was perfectly satisfactory, halfway in 44 mins or so; well up on the time in Canberra three weeks ago and well on target for a sub 90.

......not sure what happened after that but just like Canberra the left hamstring seized up after 15k, however unlike Canberra the lower back was alright. And it was getting rather hot.

......at 17k was running about 4:35 pace, up and down a bit, and realised that I needed 4:25s exactly, from that point, to crack the 90 minute mark. So I tried to ignore the pain and make a race of it with the other runners as they continued to pass me.

......and I finished in a time of 1:29:55. Phew!!!!

.... silver in the M55.

Ron Vines (silver in the M60s) and John Diamond were also running, and also I enjoyed meeting (how's my memory?) Eddie, Tesso, Lady Jove, Cato, ILikeToast (resplendent in psychedelic tights), IHateToast, Robert Song, Beagle, Karisma, Run67, Digger, and a few more whose names elude me now.... meeting them all for the very first time. And many other coolrunners I didn't get to meet including a cool cheer squad of two (Davo and Cirque). Thanks to all of you guys!

postscript - I was 88th out of 499 official finishers. An M55 pb at the age of 58, and my second best time since the early 1990s. Can do better!

Old Photographs #5

I like this one because of the good view of the main stadium which is now obscured by pesky trees.

Note the 'tucked in' singlets - very neat.

I'm guessing this was a 1500 metre race. The bearded runner is Andrew S, who, for many seasons had the ambition of running sub 4 minutes for 1500 metres. He eventually achieved this goal due in no small part to his single-minded focus on the event.

Andrew used to 'double' and run the 3k steelechase for Interclub points. His technique was so bad that even a slow wombat could beat him and that was before the said wombat was coached by Geoff to run under 11 minutes for the event.

This is my last post for a while as I have to pack my bags for our trip to THE BIG ONE. Geoff will be back soon to report on his fabulous, fast and hot half marathon.

Old Photographs #4

This one is at the Warm-up track at Bruce when we still had another track in the main stadium - February 1985. Note the lack of a grandstand in the background.

I think everyone wore club uniforms in 'the old days' because they were so trendy. You've got to love those vertical stripes. Very footy-like. There were a lot of female middle distance runners in the 1980s. I'm not sure who the Weston Creek runner leading in this race is but I know the other two.

Woden had heaps of female runners because the maron and blue vertical stripes looked so good. Crop tops hadn't been invented back then.