Nationals prediction: showers

speedy geese Thursday track results.

ACTVAC 5000m championship
M45 3 Colin Farlow 17:49.86 bronze
M45 4 Amalendu Edelsten 18:00.80
M45 5 Mick Horan 18:13.49
M45 8 Richard Faulks 18:39.11
M45 9 Roger Pilkington 19:50.76
M45 14 Ewen Thompson 21:45.27
M50 2 Gary Bowen 20:31.03 silver
M55 3 Geoff Moore 20:25.32 bronze
M55 5 Neil Boden 22:26.92
M60 2 Geoff Barker 24:36.98 silver
M65 2 Tony Booth 24:07.67 silver
W35 1 Amanda Walker 21:03.30 gold!
W40 1 Katie Forestier 21:45.63 gold!
W50 1 Kathy Southgate 18:27.97 gold! ACT record

800m
M45 Colin Farlow 2:14.99
M45 Amalendu Edelsten 2:17.36
M45 Rod Lynch 2:27.99
M55 Shisei Oya 2:56.84
M55 Geoff Sims 3:08.26
M60 Kevin Chamberlain 2:23.04
M65 Tony Booth 2:57.42
W40 Katie Forestier 2:44.54
W55 Kathy Sims 3:08.02

2000m Turkey
M45 Rod Lynch 6:57.73
M65 Tony Booth 9:33.79
M60 Geoff Barker 12:01.05 "guess your time" turkey winner

Hobart Forecast for the National Track Competition
Thursday: "A few showers. Min 9 Max 15"
Good Friday: "Shower or two. Min 8 Max 16"

Moore Series
I guess if anyone should write up the results of the Geoff Moore 3000m track series, it should be me. The presentations were made on Thursday night to a thankful Paul Considine, who held off injuries just long enough to guarantee the win, before he missed the last few races. At the other extreme, Kathy Sims, whose run in the last qualifier of the series secured her win.
No prize for places, but speedy geese were second and third, with yours truly upsetting Colin Farlow.

the Moore trophy winners

well done Kathy

men
1 Paul Considine 79.5% 9 runs
2 Geoff Moore 78.1% 8 runs
3 Colin Farlow 77.5% 8 runs
4 Richard Hilhorst 75.9% 13 runs
5 Jim White 74.2% 8 runs
6 Dave McClelland 70.5% 8 runs
7 Roger Pilkington 68.9% 8 runs
8 Geoff Sims 68.0% 8 runs
9 Alan Williams 66.4% 10 runs
10 Michael Gardner 63.8% 9 runs
11 Jamie Macgregor 57.9% 8 runs
12 Nick Blackaby 53.2% 9 runs

women
1 Kathy Sims 75.5% 8 runs

Announcing my target races for winter 2007:

• Canberra Marathon 15 April
• Canberra Half Marathon 13 May
• Doomben Half Marathon 3 June
• Terry Fox 10k Fun Run 17 June
• ACT Cross Country Championships 21 July
• ACT Vets Half Marathon 26 August
• Canberra Times 10k Fun Run 16 September

Then training for the Australasian Masters Games in Adelaide in October; 5k track, 8k cross country, and half marathon. Then back to Vets track already!

The Final Thursday Track night

Quote of the day: A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams. - John Barrymore

Here's a nice little puzzle to amuse you for a few minutes, Free the Bird

Thursday track report
Strong runs from Amanda in the 5k with 30 second pb, and Ewen a good season's best. A large field for the 5k championship proved right the decision to schedule it on a Thursday night; nevertheless I ran slowly to reserve my strength for the marathon in two weeks time, I would prefer it a little earlier in the season, say in February. But, at this time of year, cooler weather does make for faster times.

Track (and Field) Presentations
Some speedygeese got amongst the club awards. Sadly none in the Fristad awards, allthough Mick Horan did get a special mention there; the Pennington prizes went to Colin Farlow and Kevin Chamberlain, and the women's Moore series award to Kathy Sims.

The ACT Cross Country Club's Women's and Girls' 5k Fun Run
And so with one season drawing to a close (except for those running Nationals in two week's time), a new season starts up. This Sunday, 1 April, is the fun-run-with-the-long-name, for non-men.

Will Southy finish top ten, again? Will other speedy geese finish together in the top twenty? Perhaps, Maria and Katie again, with Amanda joining the party?

Over 800 have pre-entered, and there will be a long queue of late entries, which will be accepted at Stage 88 up until 15 minutes before the 9am start.

For those males who will be watching or waiting for friends/family, the organisers invite you to give a little of your time to help in the finish area with time etc during the peak period.

Low carb diets for weight loss in athletes?

Many people take up distance running in order to lose weight. But to run well, you must eat well, the body only performs as well as its fuel allows.

Here is a link to a fact sheet on low carb diets, produced by SportsDieticians Australia. In future I will say more on weight loss and fitness, but for now, here are some of the points the fact sheet contains.

• Low carbohydrate diets are not ideal for active people who train regularly as they tend to be high in fat and restrict the very fuel that muscles need.


• Inadequate carbohydrate in the diet means less glycogen available for muscle work. This causes poor sports performance and slow recovery from training.


• Following a diet which includes moderate amounts of low fat/lean protein sources and low glycaemic index carbohydrates is suitable for recreational athletes who are trying to lose weight, provided they include adequate carbohydrate to match the intensity and volume of exercise they participate in. Maintaining a sense of fullness from nutritious foods is vital to avoid snacking on high kilojoule snack foods.


• Drink plenty of fluid to stay well hydrated and keep fatigue at bay.

When you are running long distances at a good pace, as most of my readers do, you must have a high carbohydrate intake, to renew glycogen stores, promote recovery, and make it possible to attain the next level of fitness.

Thumbs Up

Quote of the day: "Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night." - William Blake

Thursday night: final track night for 2006-07. Last chance for a pb.
6.00 2000m turkey handicap
6.15 60m
6.30 800m walk
6.45 long jump
7.00 800m, shot/discus
7.30 200m, shot/discus, triple jump, 5000m championship
8.00 Supper and end of season presentations


Helen and I, from the April Vetrunner, now available online. Today is BBQ Stakes day. Both Helen and I finished Saturday's 32k shakily, and we still plan to run the Stakes today, but a pb is out of the question. For the record, here's our recent progress:

date ... Helen .. Me
03/01/07 ........ 33 25:46
10/01/07 48 28:57
17/01/07 49 29:26 34 28:25
24/01/07 50 28:14 35 25:58
31/01/07 ........ 36 29:11
07/02/07 51 28:23 37 24:47**
14/02/07 52 26:31
21/02/07 53 26:46
28/02/07 54 26:30 38 25:02
07/03/07 55 26:18**
14/03/07 56 30:33 39 28:58
21/03/07 57 27:45 40 26:05
**pb

The first Wednesday of the month the course is run in reverse, which is supposed to be harder; but both of us have run our pbs that way. Personally I prefer the reverse course with its steeper start and nice long run down to the finish.

[update (in response to Tesso's comment) - today's BBQ result

date ... Helen .. Me
28/03/07 58 26:54 41 25:15
We both ran much quicker than we expected. Which is a great confidence booster!

Unfortunately Helen may be well ahead of us in the marathon: she won't be running all of it, she may just run half! She is playing at a concert that afternoon and has decided a full marathon would be a serious mistake.]

Tuning up for Easter

The best is yet to come! And Easter is the time members of our training group, the speedy geese, will be flying down to Hobart to do their very best in search of precious metal - gold, silver and bronze. I would very much like to be going but I have two clashes, not the least of which is the marathon the following week; were I to run the Nationals in Hobart I would have stayed and toured around with speedyjenny. Next year the nationals are in Sydney I believe, if so I will plan to be there.

speedygeese going to the Nationals:
Kevin Chamberlain, M60 400m, 800m, 1500m
Colin Farlow, M45 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 8kCC
Katie Forestier, W40 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 8kCC
Jeni Greenland, W30 10000m, 5000m, 8kCC
Shisei Oya, M55 800m, 1500m, 200m, 400m
Amanda Walker, W35 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 8kCC
Ken White, M50 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 8kCC, 400m
Some talent there. As in, Some! Talent! Go the Geese!

Report on Monday night training. Three not-too-fast laps around our 950m course, with a bit of a jog and a quick run-through after each. Three of the Hobart venturers were there, a couple of survivers from Saturday's 20 miler, and a few wanting a good 800m or 5000m this coming Thursday night.

Song of the week: "Open Your Eyes", Snow Patrol, from "Eyes Open". "My bones ache, my skin is so cold, I'm getting so tired and old" .... Every song on their fourth album grows on you, and I do like their third album "Final Straw" too.

Peace

quote of the week: "Peace: It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work; it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart." - unknown

My training progress
last week's target: 110k
achieved: 93k
year total to date: 1,231k in 12 weeks
this week’s target: 110k, maybe a 5k race on Thursday
weight: 63.5kg

With only three weeks to the Canberra Marathon, and seven weeks to the ACT Half Marathon, I had better get right into my training routine this week. Fortunately food revived me after the long run Saturday, I was pretty shaky at the end and had lost over ten minutes in the last few kms, partly lack of nutrition, partly foot soreness from new shoes. In the marathon shoes won't be a problem as I have an older pair I will use; unlike Saturday weather will be cold for the marathon, it has cooled down already; half the marathon course is flat, which suits me; I won't have had a massage the day before; I won't have gone out to a club the night before; I won't forget to have a big midnight plate of pasta; and for those and other reasons I should be able to handle 4:30 thru 4:45 pace on the day and finish less tired than on Saturday!

World Cross Country Mombasa
Two friends of the speedygeese ran, their results:
women:
57 Sarah Salmon 30:57
team result Australia 6th
men:
71 Martin Dent 40:00
team result Australia 9th

ACTVAC monthly handicap, Kowen Forest 7.5k
15 Amanda Walker W35 34:54
16 Alan Duus M60 37:02
19 John Alcock M60 38:31
25 Colin Farlow M45 29:58
27 Richard Faulks M45 31:20
35 Christopher Lang M55 39:42
40 Pam Faulks W45 43:57
49 Charmaine Knobel W55 39:25
52 Rod Lynch M45 29:59
54 Barbara Tucker W55 43:45
62 Roger Pilkington M45 33:07
65 Peter McDonald M50 38:03
70 Geoff Sims M55 39:39
94 Kathy Sims W55 40:35
97 Caroline Campbell W60 46:05

3.5k
7 Carol Baird W55 16:09
9 Neil Boden M55 16:07
10 Katie Forestier W40 14:58
33 Ken White M50 15:49

All my friends are turning 60
Happy birthday Peter Hogan, 60 today.

Balloons

I see in the paper today that the Canberra Balloon Fiesta is happening the weekend of the marathon.


Yesterday was a twenty mile race that a few of the speedygeese completed.
women
1. Emma Adams W35 2:43:16
2. Maria O'Reilly W50 2:52:16
3. Charlie McCormack W40 2:52:21
5. Helen Larmour W45 2:54:59
9. Annette Sugden W40 3:19:45

men
3. Richard Faulks M45 2:21:54
11. Geoff Moore M55 2:36:44
15. Roger Pilkington M45 2:54:11

prolonging the life of the geese

Quote of the day: "An election is coming. Universal peace is declared and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry" - T. S. Eliot

Thursday's track results
3000m
M45 Colin Farlow 10:16
M45 Richard Faulks 11:13
M50 Geoff Sims 13:06
W35 Amanda Walker 12:27
W50 Kathy Southgate 10:45 88.9%
W55 Kathy Sims 13:03

allrounder was delighted to run a pb of 13:32. Will she be the next big improver to break through the 13 minute barrier?

Pennington 1500m
1 Kevin Chamberlain M60 5:05
2 Mick Horan M45 4:41
3 Amalendu Edelsten M45 4:43
4 Ken White M50 5:02
7 Tony Booth M65 5:58
14 Neil Boden M55 6:07
17 Roger "6 foot" Pilkington M45 6:52

spiral 8
4 Kathy Sims W55 15:03
6 Geoff Barker M60 17:06
8 Kathy Southgate W50 13:33
11 Katie Forestier W40 13:37
12 Ken White M50 13:38
14 Kevin Chamberlain M60 14:32
16 Neil Boden M55 14:49
24 Amalendu Edelsten M45 12:22
27 Tony Booth M65 18:16
30 Roger Pilkington M45 16:02

Things I (re)learned today:
1. Don't wear new shoes in a 32km run
2. Don't assume that, just because you can run 24k at 5min per k comfortably, you can therefore run 32k at 4:30 per k comfortably.
3. You really should carbo load for runs that take more than two hours, even if they are "only" tempo runs.

I went through 21k comfortably in 97 mins, but was walking by 26k.

A move to "Google Reader"

Quote of the day: "the future is not what it used to be". - Paul Valery

Games
I have been wasting time playing "point & click" games this week. Here's a good one, relatively straight forward, The Doors. One feature of these games is, they don't take more than twenty or thirty minutes to solve.

At the track
All the series were wrapped up last night: Just to mention some of them, the Moore 3000m: great final runs by Colin and Amanda. Southy got to within half a second of the Australian W50 record. And it was hot! Daniels 100m: Very close in both the women's and the men's, results determined by the final race. Pennington 1500m: No women at all running, no M30s or M35s, only one M40, yet a large field! Strong performances by Ken and Kevin, who were both just over 5 minutes. Go the old men!

Google Reader
You will probably have noticed I am trialling Google Reader as an alternative to bloglines. If you look at the sidebar, I tried setting up a few categories with quite a number of blogs in each category. What should happen is that the most recent posts from each set of blogs will be displayed. Initially that's not so, but it will sort itself out.

So far I like Google Reader, it looks much better than bloglines.

Australian athletes land in Kenya

Quote of the day: "the future comes one day at a time" - Dean Acheson

Team Australia has arrived safely in Kenya ahead of Saturday’s anticipated IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

Headed by Martin Dent (pictured), a veteran of three World Cross Country Championships, and Victoria Mitchell, recently selected to the World Championships Osaka squad, 18 athletes and four officials have made the trip to Mombasa to compete again the world’s very best over the senior distances of 12km (men) and 8km (women).

Looking for some extra edge is 18 year-old Ben Guest (NSW) who has spent the last three weeks in Kenya’s Rift Valley, training with locals at high altitude.

Guest will lead the junior men’s brigade over the 8km course with the junior women representatives to compete over 6km.

Feedback from the travelling party ahead of the 35th edition of the meet has revealed that grandstands and other infrastructure are still being erected and that conditions are less than accommodating at 39 degrees and close to 100 percent humidity.

With the only obstacles some golf bunkers, the course assessment is “flat and very quick” though there have been minimal opportunities for the Australian team to adequately prepare since arriving on Monday.

Athletics Australia’s National Events Coach - Distance Tim O’Shaughnessy, who has accompanied the contingent to Mombasa, said while the destination had been a “culture shock” for the Australians the team was looking forward to the task at hand.

2003 World Cross Country champion Benita Johnson was Australia’s best performer at last year’s meet, claiming fourth place in both the long course (98 finishers) and short course (91 finishers) races to lead the country to a bronze medal in the teams event.

This year Johnson has chosen to dedicate her efforts to the London Marathon.
-from Athletics Australia

Summer Series final race – Acton 5k
Women
10. Maria O'Reilly W50 21:15
32. Ruth Baussmann W55 26:07
33. Thea Zimpel 26:15 (23.04 + late start)
36. Carolyne Kramar W40 27:22
57 finishers

Men
27. Mick Horan M45 18:54
35. Richard Faulks M45 19:20
43. David Webster M55 20:10
63. Bob Harlow M55 22:09
77. Neil Boden M55 23:30
79. David Baussmann M55 23:42
85. Geoff Barker M60 24:42
97 finishers

So far, so good

Quote of the day: "I intend to live forever. So far, so good." - Steven Wright

Happy Birthday Charmaine, 55 today!

and now they are all W55s

Track events this Thursday:
6.00 final Moore - 3000m
6.15 final Daniels - 100m
6.30 final Perry - 1500m walk
6.45 High Jump
7.00 final Pennington - 1500m
7.00 Javelin, Shot
7.30 final Boag 400m
7.45 200m hurdles, Long Jump, Javelin, Shot
8.00 4 x 200m relay
8.15 final Adler - spiral 8

"I'm not sure if these are actually good running shoes, but they are the most expensive ones we carry."

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Alert

Quote of the day: "There is still no cure for the common birthday." - John Glenn

Report on Monday night training - I ran about 40 laps of Parliament House car park, owing to the non-clement weather outside. On arriving home afterwards, I did a few moments research on the affect carbon monoxide can have. "Carbon monoxide (CO) binds to haemoglobin with a higher affinity (200x greater) than oxygen, and at the same binding site. Consequently, carbon monoxide will bind haemoglobin preferentially over oxygen when both are present in the lungs - even small amounts of carbon monoxide can dramatically reduce the ability of haemoglobin to transport oxygen. Levels as low as 0.02% carbon monoxide can cause headaches and nausea, while a concentration of 0.1% can lead to unconsciousness. This accounts for the suffocation caused by carbon monoxide fumes, such as from the exhaust of a car engine." All of which convinces me we might run in the rain next time, instead of in the underground car park... even when it is raining cats, dogs, ducks and geese.

Canberra Marathon

Now that early entries have closed, the Canberra marathon entry list makes interesting reading; although still incomplete, for instance Helen's name is missing, she assures me she has entered; speedy geese include Maria and Charlie as well as Helen, entering their first marathon; Roger with a pb of 3:18.08; Emma with a pb of 4:00.40; Strewth 3:58.44; CJ 3:26.40; Griffin 3:27.03; Richard 2:55.58; and me, happy to be ensured a single digit chest number and uncertain of placing in the M55s as there appear to be at least three much faster M55 entrants including locals Trevor Jacobs and Peter Clarke, you others know who you are.

Late entries will be taken on the day. But so far, ten of us are having a go.

Run Dates

quote of the week: "None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm." - Henry David Thoreau

My training progress
last week's target: 100k
achieved: 92k
year total to date: 1,138k in 11 weeks
this week’s target: 110k
weight: 63kg

song of the week: Chocolate, by Snow Patrol, from "Final Straw"
This could be the very minute
I'm aware I'm alive
All these places feel like home

With a name I'd never chosen
I can make my first steps
As a child of 25

This is the straw, final straw in the
Roof of my mouth as I lie to you
Just because I'm sorry doesn't mean
I didn't enjoy it at the time

You're the only thing that I love
It scares me more every day
On my knees I think clearer

Goodness I saw it coming
Or at least I'll claim I did
But in truth I'm lost for words

What have I done it's too late for that
What have become truth is nothing yet
A simple mistake starts the hardest time
I promise I'll do anything you ask..this time

Change of Training on Saturdays
Now that our training at Aranda has come to a conclusion, it is time to note what Cross Country Club races will be available on weekends.
It all starts with a long run around West Basin this Saturday (the forecast is storms, and it is storming now!), continues with some low key and high key races, before settling down in earnest for the normal series of club runs.
All these runs will have large numbers of entrants and gives us an opportunity to run with people we haven't seen before.

Marathon Plan
I have decided to set a target of 4:45 per km for the first 32km, then see what happens. Plan A is to slow from there and finish in just on 3:26.58, my target time. And run exactly one hour slower than my pb set in 1978. But if I feel good at 32k, no blisters, no injuries, maybe I can get well below 3:20.

So as a practice I may run Saturday's Black Mountain Peninsula 32k at 4:45s.

ACT Cross Country Club program:
Sat 24 Mar, 7am, BLACK MOUNTAIN PENINSULA 1/5/16.1/32.2km
Sat 31 Mar, 1pm, REGATTA POINT 4km
Sun 1 Apr, 9am, WOMEN'S AND GIRLS' FUN RUN 5km
Sat 14 Apr MARATHON EVE – 5km/10km FUN RUNS & expo
Sun 15 Apr ASICS CANBERRA MARATHON AND 50km ULTRA
Wed 25 Apr ANZAC RELAYS 4 x 3.6km
Sat 28 Apr COOLEMAN RIDGE 1/5/8km
Sat 5 May CAMPBELL PARK 1/3/6km
Sat 12 May HALF MARATHON EVE 5km
Sun 13 May CANBERRA HALF MARATHON

Daylight Saving ends next Sunday 25th, the day of the Vets handicap. That gives us a bit of extra time to make the long trek out to the start in the middle of Kowen Forest.

"It beats a dating service"

How to run, train and race

You run, train and race, not necessarily by following someone else's program, but by learning what works for you and fitting that together into your own program. To assist, I attempted years ago to devise some generally applicable principles as guidelines, which I thought others could successfully apply to their own training and racing, These "principles" have been available on this blog. One "new" principle I can add, if not already included somewhere: as you train over longer distances, you can expect your times from 3000m and up to improve.

It is over a year since I published the "principles of running". Here are the links. You can also find them any time, via a link on the sidebar.

The Ten Conditioning Principles
#1 Schedule an easy or rest day after the longest training day
#2 Increase total distance by no more than 10% per week
#3 Plan races so that you have a day off racing for every mile raced
#4 Racing, together with sprinting in training, should not exceed 20% of distance run, and should probably be around 10-15%
#5 Increase distance or intensity from week to week, but not both at the same time
#6 Warmup first before stretching
#7 Usually follow hard days by easy days. Never have three hard days in a row
#8 Don’t ease off training for races, except the handful of races that are your major goals
#9 Treat injuries immediately
#10 Have fun

The Ten Form Principles
#1 The Importance of Relaxation
#2 Run like a child
#3 For Faster Feet, run on your toes
#4 Get those hips forward
#5 Run Tall
#6 Drive with the arms
#7 New breathing techniques may help.
#8 Be Alert and Aware
#9 Run with others who have a good style
#10 Be content with your unique style


Ten Sample Training Sessions
#1 cross training
#2 general endurance
#3 specific endurance
#4 fun sessions
#5 aerobic intervals
#6 hill sprints
#7 speed development
#8 anaerobic
#9 race practice
#10 racing

The Ten Racing Principles
#1 Redefine "Winning"
#2 Practise Surging
#3 Plan races so that you have a day's break from racing for every mile raced
#4 Have Long Term Goals
#5 Define short term goals
#6 Set Intermediate Racing Goals
#7 Horses for Courses
#8 Develop elite runners’ strategies and abilities
#9 Even Pace Produces Fastest Times
#10 Have an established pre race routine

A training pattern that works for me (58 year old Vet), and would suit anyone:
day 1 fast
day 2 long
day 3 medium-tempo
day 4 fast
day 5 long
day 6 medium-easy
day 7 medium-long tempo

But a fit young athlete could do 10 or 12 sessions a week, which can include one more long run and one more fast session, remembering that more recovery is needed after a long hard run than after a short fast session.

And of course I recommend reading the Nic Bideau article, also linked from the side-bar!

Middle of Nowhere

Here is a cool game/time waster: Big Red Button. The average runner will be persistent/stubborn enough to see it through, I know you will.

Our Thursday night results
3000m
M45 Amalendu Edelsten 10:23
M50 Ken White 11:44
M55 Neil Boden 13:14
M65 Tony Booth 13:42
W40 Katie Forestier 11:52
W55 Kathy Sims 13:29

All 4x800m relay times
M45 Mick Horan, Colin Farlow, Amalendu Edelsten, Rod Lynch 9:07.59, new ACT & Aust record (old record 9:23.77)
M50 Phil White, Ken White, Neville Madden, Gary Bowen 9:53.67, new ACT record (old record 11:26.14)
M45 (B) Bryce Anderson , Ian Bradfield, Nick Mesher, Dale Moore 9:59.31
mixed James Savill, Andrew Cheffers, Peter Cullen, John Parker 11:00.90
M55 Mick Saunders, Neil Boden, John Lamb, Jim White 11:13.71
M65 Tony Booth, Michael Roche, Bryan Thomas, Richard Hilhorst 12:32.94, est ACT record
M70 Ray Bramwell, Bill Egan, Michael Freer, Bob Chapman 13:51.08, est ACT record
W70 Anne Young, Alison Ide, Consie Larmour, Cory Collins 16:43.22, est ACT & Aust record

Our 4x800m relay splits
M45 Mick Horan 2:10
M45 Colin Farlow 2:17
M45 Amalendu Edelsten 2:19
M45 Rod Lynch 2:23
M50 Phil White 2:26
M50 Ken White 2:28
M50 Gary Bowen 2:29
M55 Neil Boden 2:55
M65 Tony Booth 2:56
M75 Michael Freer 3:41

From Ken Eynon: A reminder that entries for the Women and Girls 5k Fun Run can be lodged online at www.canberrarunner.com.au or a hardcopy downloaded and posted. Entry forms are also available at the Canberra Runners Shop and at all ACT Cross Country Club (ACTCCC) runs. The 5k starts at 9am in Commonwealth Park on Sunday 1st April. All female runners and walkers are encouraged to enter this great event now in it's 21st year and where possible make a taxable donation to the Race Charity a very worthwhile local charity.

The ACTCCC, which is a not for profit organisation, would greatly appreciate any assistance or help on the day by those unable to participate. If you can spare a small amount of time on Sunday 1 April to help please advise me and I will pass your details to Robyn McClelland, the Race Director.

Today at training: more anaerobic work, 12 x 100m with 50m or less jog between. A nice short fast session to stimulate the muscles without fatiguing the brain! Shisei, Katie, Amanda, Colin and Ken enjoyed the morning. And it was great to see the rain, yesterday morning as well.

"Well according to the Global Positioning System we are exactly in the middle of nowhere."

The track season is drawing to a close

Saturday 17th training group runs at Aranda
Saturday 17th training group parties on
Sunday 18th training group jogs to recover from hangovers etc
Monday 19th training group still meets at Parliament House, usual time, despite it being a public holiday in Canberra
Thursday 22nd training group runs the last 3000m, the Pennington 1500m, a 400m, and/or the last spiral.
Sunday 25th training group (in large numbers) belt around Kowen Forest searching for gold.
Thursday 29th training group members win all sorts of prizes at the presentations. Or if not, it was still a great season.

It is the time of year when we look forward to some longer races in cooler weather. Only a couple of track Thursdays to go. Some will be heading off to Hobart at Easter to run in the Nationals: those people will be thinking about track for a while longer. The rest of us have almost transitioned our thinking to winter and the cross country and road races on offer this year.

Track
Colin is preparing for the Nationals and, in between being Meet Director, ran in a 4 x 800m relay which broke the Australian record by a considerable margin.

Colin would like to thank Katie for organising the relays while he ran in them. Katie followed that up with a new pb in the 3000m, around 11:50, another well paced race. (I have to say that, because Katie has been brilliant this season at learning how to pace herself for pbs.)

Amanda had baby sitting duties and is no doubt champing at the bit to get back on the track.

Ken also ran in a record breaking relay team, and followed that up with a season's best 3000m.

Our Nationals reps are all in top form.

Moore Series
With one race to go in the Moore series, Paul Considine will win the men's section, and Kathy Sims the women's, provided she runs the last event. If not, Margaret will win the women's, provided she runs the last event.

Daniels Series
With one race to go in the Daniels Series, in the women's Jill Brown and Sharon Gibbins are neck and neck, but Jill has the "low points" advantage. It works out that Sharon would have to finish 0.45 seconds, or better, ahead of Jill in next week's 100m to take first place. If my maths is right.

In the men's, Jack Thackray has the box seat, but Michael Roche or Kevin de Smet could win if either runs an outstanding time and if Jack doesn't run.

Our engraver has already asked me whose names will go on the trophies. Sorry, I am not psychic. (Psychotic, perhaps).

Cross Country Club races
This Saturday will be our last run at Aranda (until later in the year), given that the Cross Country Club have races at Black Mountain the following Saturday...

Vets Handicap.
... and the Vets handicap is on the Sunday. I am tipping Gary 'birthday' Bowen to celebrate his first run in the Frylink as an M50, to be the handicap winner, and in the longer race I am tipping a tussle between Charmaine, Ruth and Maria. Providing they do not get lost; Kowen Forest is a long way from here...

Dickson Training
Starts in April, from Thursday 5th. It's a very busy month, training will be low key for a few weeks. Which might suit those who are recovering from the track.

Details of those relay records, and ALL the geese involved, will appear here when the dust settles.

golden grandson

The 4 x 800m relay tonight has been swapped to 7:30pm.

My considered opinion is ; people who raced the half marathon shouldn't race again or do serious speed work for at least two weeks. Possibly three weeks! Even if they feel OK, they will surely pay for it. I have mentioned this before - when I penned the list of "Running Principles".

Here are the results of Tuesday's Summer Series race, Stage 88 5k
Women
17. Thea Zimpel 22:23
46. Carolyne Kramar W40 27:54
54. Pam Faulks W45 31:11
66 finishers

Men
34. Richard Faulks M45 19:24
39. Mick Horan M45 19:40
51. David Webster M55 20:52
56. Bob Harlow M55 21:15
69. Mick Saunders M55 22:46
78. Neil Boden M55 23:59
83. Mick Charlton M55 25:04
97 finishers

speedy grandson Jarod entered the maximum of 6 events at the LILAC (Lake Illawarra Little Athletics Club) championships, and blitzed them:
U/6 Boys 50m run
1 Jarod Falconer 9.9

U/6 Boys 70m run
1 Jarod Falconer 14.0

U/6 Boys 100m run
1 Jarod Falconer 21.0

U/6 Boys 200m run
1 Jarod Falconer 41.9

U/6 Boys Discus
1 Jarod Falconer 9.74

U/6 Boys Pack Start (300m)
1 Jarod Falconer 1-07.2

Post 888

Quote of the day: "You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old." - George Burns

Song of the MONTH: Run by Snow Patrol (I must have played it twenty times so far this week. I am so stuck on it.)

Thursday night.
The program will include a steeplechase at 6pm, a 4 x 800m relay at 7:30pm, and a 3000m/5000m at 8:15pm. The conditions should be perfect for the late race, an opportunity to run a season's best 3k or 5k. Not me though, recovery from the half marathon is more important.

Tuggeranong Don ran 1:38.52 in the Weston Creek Half Marathon on Sunday. Good luck as you prepare for the Boston Marathon.

"Just Moo It".

Other "friends of the geese" running the half marathon included Caroline Campbell who ran 1:58:39 and won the W60 division.

Happy Birthday to
Christopher Lang 56 yesterday
Gary Bowen 50 today
Ken Gordon 45 on the 19th March
Charmaine Knobel 55 on the 21st
Peter Hogan 60 on the 26th

"Old age is fifteen years older than I am." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Golden Geese, Gaggle and Gosling

Quote of the day: "Grow old with me! The best is yet to be." - Robert Browning

The Weston Creek Half Marathon results are available.

We speedy geese did brilliantly. I ran with Richard for the first 6km at 4:05 pace; he continued on at that pace all the way and was first M45.

I slowed somewhat and still finished with a time way better than I expected. I was second M55.

David Webster showed what a good runner he is despite only recently resuming training, and was third M55.

Bob Harlow has run little recently and still ran well. As always.

Helen was our stand out runner, a huge pb, not afraid to push the pace, she maintained very even splits to the very end. Helen won the W45s and just keeps improving.

Emma has been training with us for a short time and will improve. Her time is an excellent one for the distance and should inspire her to run more half marathons; I predict five minutes or more improvement next time she runs a half.

Maria won the W50 section and was just six minutes faster than the M50 winner. Coming as it did after training for 800m on the track, it was brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

Mick ran easy, and was being careful not to damage for track races yet to come. He could have been up with Richard, maybe, had he thrown caution to the winds. But he is smarter than that.

Charlie had a good run to take second in the W40s, her marathon training seems to be going well. She always looks so relaxed, a good way to look when long distance racing. She would easily run under 3:30 in the marathon if she cares to try.

David Baussmann had a great run and should easily break 100 minutes on the other Canberra half marathon courses.

Our golden gosling Thea had a remarkable run on an accurate and difficult course; but she likes hills and a challenge. The previous day she couldn't walk, with a swollen ankle, and didn't look like starting.

With the help of music and all the consistent training she has been doing, Ruth ran a twenty second pb and won the W55s.

Peter Hogan has had a remarkable recovery from illness and has worked his way back into running, over the last few months, so much so he finished the half marathon. Amazing!

And in my writeup the other day I overlooked Michael; how could I do that. This guy is incredible; down and out from being collected by a bicycle one day a few weeks ago, after a cleanup and a whole lot of stitches he bounces back the next and is running as well as ever. He won the M75s of course and was the second-oldest finisher, but his time of 2:08 put him faster than 24 other, much younger, finishers.

The race within the race was the gaggle v speedy coach challenge.
As timed by the gaggle:
at 7k Amanda Walker 30:50 (4.24) v SC 29:00 (4:08)
at 14k Katie Forestier 29:57 (4:16) v SC 29:34 (4:14)
at 21.09k Ken White 30:01 (4:13) v SC 31:00 (4:25)
Gaggle 1.30:49 (4:18) v SC 1.29:35 (4:14)
Oh, and the gaggle were easy winners of the relay team section.

Speedy geese in the Weston Creek half marathon
26. Richard Faulks ACT 47 M45 1:26:33 4:06/km first M45
37. Geoff Moore ACT 58 M55 1:29:35 4:14/km second M55
54. David Webster ACT 55 M55 1:33:39 4:26/km third M55
55. Bob Harlow ACT 59 M55 1:33:51 4:26/km
58. Helen Larmour F ACT 47 W45 1:34:16 4:28/km first W45
76. Emma Adams F ACT 38 1:37:04 4:36/km
82. Maria O'Reilly F ACT 52 W50 1:38:02 4:38/km first W50
86. Mick Horan ACT 47 M45 1:39:13 4:42/km
102. Charlie McCormack F NSW 42 W40 1:41:39 4:49/km second W40
109. David Baussmann ACT 56 M55 1:42:49 4:52/km
136. Thea Zimpel F ACT 24 1:46:59 5:04/km
157. Ruth Baussmann F ACT 56 W55 1:53:20 5:22/km first W55
168. Peter Hogan ACT 59 M55 1:55:05 5:27/km
210. Michael Freer ACT 77 M75 2:08:09 6:04/km first M75

234 finishers in the individual section.

speedy geese in the relay section
1. SPEEDY GAGGLE FFM 1:30:49 4:18
17. GEOFFS SENIORS FF 1:58:52 5:38

38 teams, each with two or three runners, finished.
As an exercise for the reader (!) I will leave you to find out who "Geoff's Seniors" are. Hint - they are not necessarily my senior in age.
Good iffort, Geiff's Seniors.

Last night we had an easy recovery interval session; well, you could run as hard as you liked. Five intervals of about 370m on five minutes, jogging continuously in between.

So, a tremendous result everybody in the half marathon. It will be a very good year.

50

quote of the week: "It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad." - C. S. Lewis

My training progress
last week's target: 85k
achieved: 83k
year total to date: 1,046k in 10 weeks
this week’s target: 100k
weight: 62kg

song of the week: Run by Snow Patrol (again)

I'll sing it one last time for you
Then we really have to go

50
Is it a birthday? Is it an ultra? Is it the average runner's IQ? Whatever it is, 50 is an important number.

I thought Tesso might be a good person to run with in the Canberra marathon, but she has entered the 50k ultra.

Griffin might be a good person to advise to run with me. He will be 50 by then, and if older equates to wiser, he won't want to start so fast this year.

You know, it is amazing that it is always the same runners you see coming backwards fast in every race you run. When you experience life; make sure you are learning from it as well!

The great majority of the speedygeese are now excellent at judging pace. Sure, every now and then pick a race where you intentionally start out "too fast". Sometimes it works! Most times it is a learning opportunity; you experience the monkey jumping on your back, and discover that even pace works better.

But a 50k run? I don't know how you people handle that. Whether or not you set off too fast, exhaustion will happen anyway.

Ultra talk
Supporter to runner: “Are you tired?”
Runner: “Yes”
Supporter: “Do you want to stop?”
Runner: “Yes”
Supporter: “Are you going to?”
Runner: “No”

"Maybe this will help with your morning run."

Footnote: Griffin will be 50 on 14 March.

speedy geese in the six foot track

277 Roger PILKINGTON 5:17:52
330 Cathy NEWMAN 5:26:27
351 John KENNEDY 5:30:18
409 Carol BAIRD 5:37:50
618 Ewen THOMPSON 6:24:55

half marathon goal achieved

Quote of the day: "It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards" - Lewis Carroll

Speedygeese results from Thursday night:
Mile
M45 Rod Lynch 5:19.95
M50 Ken White 5:26.26
M55 Shisei Oya 6:54.46
M60 Kevin Chamberlain 5:28.82
M65 Tony Booth 6:41.37
W40 Katie Forestier 5:58.15

3000m
M45 Colin Farlow 10:22.32
M45 Mick Horan 10:35.40
M45 Rod Lynch 10:38.68
M45 Richard Faulks 11:12.39
M55 Geoff Moore 11:17.49
M65 Tony Booth 14:57.97
W55 Kathy Sims 13:30.27
W55 Ruth Baussmann 15:08.82
W60 Margaret McSpadden 15:13.02

How the Weston Creek Half went:
(a) age group winners included Helen, Ruth, Maria and Richard; outstanding runs. Four golden geese! I missed out by a narrow margin (sob!).

(b) speedy coach beat the speedy gaggle (Amanda, Katie and Ken). But they ran darn well too.

(c) speedy coach achieved stated aim of breaking 90. And is sore. Sciatica hit me in the first km and only determination prevailed from there. But I am ecstatic with my final time, about 89:34. A first 5k of 20:20 and 10k of 41:40 is good too. But darn those hills and a sore bum. Next the marathon, and as a result of today's experience I will only set out to run about 3:20 or 3:30, as originally planned.

(d) My Weston Creek progress
M40 pb 1990 1:11.38 (1st), and a few other runs in the early days.
M45 did not run, lost form
M50 12/03/2000 1:40.06
M55 13/03/2005 1:39.12
M55 12/03/2006 1:33.40
M55 11/03/2007 1:29.34

(e) "sob" has two meanings.

Time Predictor

Time Comparisons for long distance racing
The following chart enables you to predict an expected time for one distance based on your best recent time for another distance:

3000 5000 10000 1/2Mar Marathon
09.45 16.40 34.30 77.00 2:41.30
10.00 17.05 35.20 78.50 2:45.20
10.15 17.30 36.10 80.40 2:49.10
10.30 17.55 37.00 82.30 2:53.00
10.45 18.20 37.50 84.20 2:56.50
11.00 18.45 38.40 86.10 3:00.40
11.15 19.10 39.30 88.00 3:04.30
11.30 19.35 40.20 89.50 3:08.20
11.45 20.00 41.10 91.40 3:12.10
12.00 20.25 42.00 93.30 3:16.00
12.15 20.50 42.50 95.20 3:19.50
12.30 21.15 43.40 97.10 3:23.40
12.45 21.40 44.30 99.00 3:27.30
13.00 22.05 45.20 1:40.50 3:31.20
13.15 22.30 46.10 1:42.40 3:35.10
13.30 22.55 47.00 1:44.30 3:39.00
13.45 23.20 47.50 1:46.20 3:42.40
14.00 23.45 48.40 1:48.10 3:46.30
14.15 24.10 49.30 1:50.00 3:50.20
14.30 24.35 50.20 1:51.50 3:54.10
14.45 25.00 51.10 1:53.40 3:58.00
15.00 25.25 52.00 1:55.30 4:01.50
15.15 25.50 52.50 1:57.20 4:05.40
15.30 26.15 53.40 1:59.10 4:09.30
15.45 26.40 54.30 2:01.00 4:13.20
16.00 27.05 55.20 2:02.50 4:17.10

Assumptions:
You have trained for the longer distance being compared
You set off at an even pace when you race

When your time in one column improves, your other times will correspondingly improve.
But of course there will be individual differences which mean that your current potential may not be straight across one row of the table.
If that is you, see if the step between columns for your times is consistent. If not, you can identify where your current potential pbs are.

Incentive

quote of the day: "He who has no imagination has no wings." - Muhammad Ali

Thursday report.
Some good performances at track last night, Kevin Chamberlain ran 5:28 in the mile, taking ten seconds off Keith Perroux's M60 record in the process. Katie broke 6 minutes for the mile for the first time. Colin in a valiant effort to move into second place in the Moore series, ran his fastest 3k of the season. Sadly for him, I also ran my fastest 3k of the season, and stay second, relegating Colin to third. 11:17 is my fastest time since 17 November 2004 when I ran 11:13 in a Pennington race; with an M55 pb on 03 November 2004 of 11:10, and an M50 best of 11:12, I am not far off "success".

Blog visitors
I am averaging 40 to 45 readers a day, quite good! It always interests me why and how visitors find this blog. I keep getting a lot of people visiting to read the Nic Bideau articles about Craig Mottram (linked from the side bar). Also many come in via the text of some quotes, or via song lyrics, mostly "I see the light surrounding you. So don't be afraid of something new!" and recently "Even if you cannot hear my voice, I'll be right beside you" (Tuesday's post title). Or artists; Coldplay and Switchfoot references have resulted in many visits, and recently a flood of "The Smashing Pumpkins" fans who may have been wondering why they came.

Then there are the people searching simply for information on training; "how to train for the 400m hurdles", or "Principles of training 5000m" two recent search texts. Others want to read about individual runners; the last couple of days have seen searches for "Peter Sandery", "Kathy Southgate", "Lisa Corrigan", and "Mick Horan" (twice!). Sorry Ewen, no searches for you, yet.

Recently a popular search, a dozen visits, has been for "Winning Women", a post title on 10 February. Makes you think; to get more readers, one could make more use of words or phrases people search on; "Goulburn water". "Grassby statue"; "Road Rage", etc, but not too popular or they would never find one in the crowd.

But I would never do that.

Oh, I just did.

Weston Creek Half Marathon

The team v individual challenge is hotting up, with speedy geese half marathoners Maria, Helen, Charlie and myself all in top form, and the relay runners Amanda, Katie and Ken also in top form. I now plan to run 4:10 per km for the first 16km then 4:30 per km for the last five. But should any of the afore-mentioned be around abouts, it will be my incentive to go just that little bit quicker.

Fly Goose Fly!

Things couldn't be hunky-dorier

Everything is going well...

A poem
Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote all but the last two verses.
Come, rest awhile, and let us idly stray
In glimmering valleys, cool and far away.

Come from the greedy mart, the troubled street,
And listen to the music, faint and sweet,

That echoes ever to a listening ear,
Unheard by those who will not pause to hear

The wayward chimes of memory's pensive bells,
Wind-blown o'er misty hills and curtained dells.

One step aside and dewy buds unclose
The sweetness of the violet and the rose;

Song and romance still linger in the green,
Emblossomed ways by you so seldom seen,

And near at hand, would you but see them, lie
All lovely things beloved in days gone by.

You have forgotten what it is to smile
In your too busy life come, rest awhile.

Then wend your weary way to Weston Creek
And after having rested for a week

You’re too relaxed to get into the race
And won’t match speedygeoff’s amazing pace.

Results from Tuesday’s Boat House 5k
Speedygeese Women
12. Maria O'Reilly W50 21:42
15. Cathy Newman W45 22:01
38. Caroline Campbell W60 26:06
43. Ruth Baussmann W55 27:01
45. Margaret McSpadden W60 27:50
70 finishers

Speedygeese Men
20. Richard Faulks M45 19:36
25. Mick Horan M45 19:58
30. David Webster M55 20:25
63. David Baussmann M55 23:28
73. Mick Charlton M55 25:44
86 finishers

Can anyone guess where today’s title is from? Hint - Series 1 Episode 6 of ...

Storm Photo

The storm that hit Canberra CBD last week, as seen from out west.
Click to enlarge.
You can see the stars!

This Thursday is the penultimate "Moore Series" 3000m race. Will Colin Farlow and I come through for second and third, will Kathy Sims or Margaret McSpadden win the women's section? Kathy needs to run both remaining races to qualify and win, Margaret also needs both races, no other woman can qualify. In the men's I should manage to finish second, although I have a bit of work to do, something like 11:30 or better for the two remaining runs should get me there. Paul Considine will win, Colin should finish third unless he sneaks past me into second.

The program this week.
6.00 3000m
6.15 Daniels 100m
6.30 1500m race walk championship
7.00 Mile
7.30 4 x 400m relay
7.45 200m hurdles
8.00 spiral 7, 4 x 200m relay

Weston Creek Half Marathon. I have checked the 2006 results; I placed 53 out of 221 individual finishers, and ran 1:33.40, a reasonable time considering I had hamstring problems and could not stride out, especially down the hills. The first team was the Speedy Geese in 1:37.41, out of 45 relay teams. This year I think anything just under 1:30 would be a great result; hence I will try to run that time, and the way to run it will be to run strongly and evenly for the first 16k, factoring in a considerable slow-down over the final 5k, which is all up-hill.

Canberra Marathon News
It is only nine days until early entries close. If you want to take advantage of the discounted early entry fee, make sure you have your entry in by Friday 16 March. Late entries will be taken on race weekend but at full price.

The Kids Marathon has no provision for late entries. All entries for this event close on 16 March. The Kids Marathon requires the kids to run their 40km prior to marathon Sunday.... accepting entries after this time (4 weeks out) and expecting young children to run long distances to make up their 40km isn't appropriate, hence the early cut-off.

Even if you cannot hear my voice, I'll be right beside you

Monday night saw Alan, Amanda, Kiwi Barbara, Charmaine, Christopher, David W, Ewen, me, Helen, Ken, Maria, Mick C, Mick H, Neil, Peter, Ruth and Shisei run 8 intervals of 45 seconds, starting each on 2 minutes. We reversed direction each time, so as to ensure everyone did the full recovery. Then a few stride-outs on the grassy 200m oval to finish off. An easy session.

Sunday's 800m
W35 Amanda Walker 2:53.92
W40 Katie Forestier 2:47.25
W55 Maureen Rossiter 3:00.02
M45 Colin Farlow 2:13.79
M45 Mick Horan 2:28.60
M50 Ken White 2:22.77
M55 Shisei Oya 2:54.35
M65 Tony Booth 2:56.93

400m hurdles
M45 Mick Horan 68.10

song of the week: Run by Snow Patrol

I'll sing it one last time for you
Then we really have to go
You've been the only thing that's right
In all I've done

And I can barely look at you
But every single time I do
I know we'll make it anywhere
Away from here

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

Louder louder
And we'll run for our lives
I can hardly speak I understand
Why you can't raise your voice to say

To think I might not see those eyes
Makes it so hard not to cry
And as we say our long goodbye
I nearly do

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

Louder louder
And we'll run for our lives
I can hardly speak I understand
Why you can't raise your voice to say

Slower slower
We don't have time for that
All I want is to find an easier way
To get out of our little heads

Have heart my dear
We're bound to be afraid
Even if it's just for a few days
Making up for all this mess

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

Half Tilt

quote of the week: "We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort" - Jesse Owens.

My training progress
last week's target: 120k
achieved: 120k
year total to date: 961k in 9 weeks
this week’s target: 85k perhaps
weight: 63kg and fluctuating (fluids in the heat?)

Despite the heat I achieved the target distance last week, owing to four training runs over the weekend. Now to ease off for a tilt at a fast Weston Creek Half Marathon; I will run hard(ish) at training today, jog Tuesday and Wednesday, run a 3000m on Thursday, and jog again Friday and Saturday. I don't know about a time target for Sunday; but there is the small matter of defeating the speedy geese relay team in the Half Marathon. The score so far in half marathons is speedy coach 2; speedy geese nil. This time the team is Amanda, Katie and Ken; all three are big improvers so (they think) they might have a chance. My tactics will be to build up a massive lead. And extend it. And extend it further. So there.

Saturday's track championships
1500m
M45 Mick Horan 4:31.30
M45 Colin Farlow 4:36.51
M50 Ken White 5:04.53
M55 Shisei Oya 6:25.36
M65 Tony Booth 5:59.92
W40 Katie Forestier 5:32.02

400m
M45 Mick Horan 57.07
M55 Shisei Oya 71.80
W40 Katie Forestier 73.43
W55 Maureen Rossiter 73.08

Sunday at the track - even hotter and more unpleasant than Saturday - saw few pbs, with the exception of Amanda in the 800m, who ran around the time of her recently established pb of 2:53.

Interviews with the Inarticulate

Quote of the day: "Sometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world." - Lily Tomlin

Running Commentary
On a very hot (34 degrees C) Saturday afternoon, a tiny handful of local Veterans ran the 1500 metres at a combined ACTA/ACTVAC championships. Notable performances by the speedygeese were M45s Mick passing Colin in the straight to win in about 4:31, with Colin 4:35; Ken getting under 5:10 in the M50s, and Katie running a lifetime 5 seconds pb to win the W40s. Colin and Katie started fast; Katie would have run an 800m pb had she kept her first lap pace up.

Random thoughts.
Just some personal thoughts today, before I go for my run. Living as I do in a part of Australia where the sports coverage consists mainly of sports where fat people run up and down with a ball tucked under their arm (controversy!!), at least we have the internet where I can read
..how my SANFL team is going, 2006 premiers the Woodville West Torrens Eagles.
..how my AFL team is going. No off season Crows news makes it here. Today's Canberra Times says "Cats give Adelaide the slip", when it was Port that Geelong defeated! Ignorance reigns.

Although, I was delighted that the ABC news last night, after their ten minutes of interviews with the inarticulate, had an athletics spot where they mentioned both Craig Mottram and Lisa Corrigan. Of course, websites like http://www.athletics.com.au/community/news/melbourne_wrap tell the full story. Read there how ACT's Lisa Corrigan broke the Australian mile record, upsetting the favourite. And Craig Mottram ran a world class 5000m time, running a rather quick 2:20 for the last km.

Highlights are to be shown on SBS today at 4pm. Hurrah for the SBS! Perhaps the media aren't that bad after all.

Still on track

Thought for the day – if you entered the six foot track marathon, and they discovered you were only 5’11, would you still be allowed to run?

I ran this morning at Aranda with Joel & Yelena; there are only three more training sessions to go at Aranda, 10, 17, and 24 March, as Cross Country club races start on 31 March. I am happy with a 20:03 in the Customs 5k yesterday (and first on handicap), a goal of mine has been to run 20 minutes comfortably for every 5k I run, and this was the first such. I still have 28k more to make the 120k for this week. At the ACT track championships today and tomorrow, I will go and watch the 1500m and 800m races, and jog around to help make up the distance. I am on track for a fast Weston Creek half marathon next weekend. I am looking forward to resuming Thursday training at Dickson track come April.

The Aranda track is becoming indistinct, it needs remarking.

Here are some of my favourite running tracks at the moment.
Light Surrounding You - Evermore - Real Life
Harrowdown Hill - Thom Yorke - The Eraser
American Dream - Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity
Where I End and You Begin. (The Sky Is Falling In.) - Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
Know It's True - Evermore - Dreams
Dollars And Cents - Radiohead - Amnesiac
Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
No Surprises - Radiohead - Ok Computer
The Only One I See - Evermore - Real Life
Atoms For Peace - Thom Yorke - The Eraser

4:12 - Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity
Backdrifts. (Honeymoon Is Over.) - Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
Without Your Smile - Evermore - Dreams
Paranoid Andriod - Radiohead - Ok Computer
Let Your Love Be Strong - Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity
Myxomatosis (Judge, Jury & Executioner) - Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
The Great Unknown - Evermore - Real Life
Fix You - Coldplay - X&Y
Run - Snow Patrol - Final Straw
Skip Divided - Thom Yorke - The Eraser

Afloat - Evermore - Real Life
Planet Telex - Radiohead - The Bends
Amateur Lovers - Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity
Stop Whispering - Radiohead - Pablo Honey
Running - Evermore - Real Life
Sit Down. Stand Up. (Snakes & Ladders.) - Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
Blind - Lifehouse - Lifehouse
The Clock - Thom Yorke - The Eraser
It's Too Late - Evermore - Dreams
Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box - Radiohead - Amnesiac

Burn Out Bright - Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity
The Bends - Radiohead - The Bends
Inside Of Me - Evermore - Real Life
A Punchup at a Wedding. (No No No No No No No No.) - Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
Wow - Snow Patrol - Final Straw
How To Save a Life - The Fray - How To Save a Life
Into The Ocean (Calling You) - Evermore - Dreams
The Eraser - Thom Yorke - The Eraser
Yesterdays - Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity
Pyramid Song - Radiohead - Amnesiac

Come To Nothing - Evermore - Dreams
Everything in it's Right Place - Radiohead - Kid A
Awakening - Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity
Lurgee - Radiohead - Pablo Honey
Morning Star - Evermore - Real Life
And It Rained All Night - Thom Yorke - The Eraser
Open Your Eyes - Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
2+2=5 (The Lukewarm.) - Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
Are You Satisfied??? - Evermore - Dreams
Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead - The Bends

Dirty Second Hands - Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity
The Gloaming. (Softly Open Our Mouths in the Cold.) - Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
Unbreakable - Evermore - Real Life
Bullet With Butterfly Wings - The Smashing Pumpkins - Rotten Apples
Head Over Heels (In This Life) - Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity
Analyse - Thom Yorke - The Eraser
My Guiding Light - Evermore - Real Life
Karma Police - Radiohead - Ok Computer
Low - Coldplay - X&Y
Bones - Radiohead - The Bends

Waves on the Sea - Evermore - Light Surrounding You single
Idioteque - Radiohead - Kid A
Chocolate - Snow Patrol - Final Straw
Cymbal Rush - Thom Yorke - The Eraser
Real Life - Evermore - Real Life
There There. (The Boney King of Nowhere) - Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
Oh! Gravity - Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity
Exit Music (For a Film) - Radiohead - Ok Computer
Sun Down - Evermore - Light Surrounding You single
Blow Out - Radiohead - Pablo Honey

The Sound In My Mouth - Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity
Coming Back to Life - Pink Floyd - The Division Bell
Make This Go On Forever - Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
Air Bag - Radiohead - Ok Computer
Circles - Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity
You - Radiohead - Pablo Honey
The Blues - Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound
Go to Sleep. (Little Man Being Erased.) - Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
For One Day - Evermore - Dreams
The Everlasting Gaze - The Smashing Pumpkins - Rotten Apples

Subterranean Homesick Alien - Radiohead - Ok Computer
Hands Open - Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
Over My Head (Cable Car) - The Fray - How To Save a Life
I Might Be Wrong - Radiohead - Amnesiac
Dreams Call Out To Me - Evermore - Dreams
Reaching - Leeland - Sound of Melodies
Morning Bell / Amnesiac - Radiohead - Amnesiac
Yellow - Coldplay - Parachutes
Eye - The Smashing Pumpkins - Rotten Apples
High and Dry - Radiohead - The Bends

Shut Your Eyes - Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
All at Once - The Fray - How To Save a Life
Scatterbrain. (As Dead As Leaves.) - Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
On The Turning Away - Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason
C'mon C'mon C'mon - Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity
Lucky - Radiohead - Ok Computer
It's Beginning to Get to Me - Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
Disarm - The Smashing Pumpkins - Rotten Apples
I Can't - Radiohead - Pablo Honey
Talk - Coldplay - X&Y

Lynx

Hey today I thought I would include a few interesting links so you can waste, sorry, invest time browsing yet more websites.

Canberra Marathon entrants http://www.canberramarathon.com.au/index.php?pageid=132 - entries close soon.

A man with real style! Millionaire winner - watch the movie, it's great.

Running news, from the elite down to the six foot trackers and everything in between. http://www.coolrunning.com.au/ - I read it most weeks.

Athletics at the Australasian Masters in October http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?assoc=3719&pID=13 - I have already entered.

Just one of hundreds of running bloggers http://oscar065.blogspot.com/ - but wait there's more.

The world’s most boring blog http://mostboringbloginuniverse.blogspot.com/ - do you know writers like this?

Joan Nesbit Mabe http://www.runningland.com/ - she writes well!

Athletics around the world http://www.iaaf.org/ - revamped and good value

There that should keep everyone happy for today. If not, there are a few more links on my sidebar.

Hail like Snow

Quote of the day: "Action is the foundational key to all success." -Pablo Picasso.

Major damage Tuesday night in North Canberra from summer hail. It missed us out here in Holt

Summer Series results, South Curtin (5.3k)
Women
7. Cathy Newman W45 24:30
19. Charmaine Knobel W50 28:15
28. Margaret McSpadden W60 31:44

Men
23. Richard Faulks M45 21:25
26. Mick Horan M45 21:39
39. David Webster M55 23:13
48. Roger Pilkington M45 24:15
55. David Baussmann M55 25:57
63. Neil Boden M55 26:39

There is no Vets competition tonight. Instead there will be our championships on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, combined with the ACTA championships.

Looking at the weekend timetable on the ACTA website, it all looks very low key. Vets names appear to be omitted from the program but events are scheduled, e.g. it apppears a Vets 1500m has been squeezed in at 3:05pm Saturday for men and one at 3:35pm for women, similarly a single 800m for men on Sunday at 2pm and for women at 2:20pm. We are asked to arrive an hour early to check in. Interestingly, I could not see any Vets entries listed on the ACTA website, something has gone wrong there, perhaps?

I won't be running, 1500m is the longest race this weekend, and with my marathon training going so well, I don't want to risk it.