yesterday

yesterday I included a map of Stromlo in my post; cool! you can manipulate the map, zoom in or out or move it around, and view photo and text (I could have included a video, if I had one!). I will use google maps to set up more of these.

yesterday I trained at Stromlo as planned; I nearly talked myself out of it when no-one else arrived, but luckily sense prevailed and I ran my 1k intervals, averaging 3:48, four seconds per k faster than last week. It was cool and windy; I met a fellow ACT Masters athlete at the end of the session, Wayne Gregson, who was running around in bare feet (as I will one day) and no top (as I won't when it's that cool; I had two layers on top). He says it's faster in bare feet, which I can believe. If you're used to it. I will work my way into bare feet very gradually, next summer.

thursday was our track session at Dickson where I got the training group of Colin, Mick H, Rod, Bronwyn, Rachelle, David, Neil, Geoff B, Tony, Miranda, Ruth, Margaret & Jodie to run their 3x1k; Matthew & Christine G to run 3x600; and I supervised. Col, Mick and Rod were in the 3:20 to 3:30 range, which puts my Friday effort into some perspective.


Ruth, David and Rae at the speedygeese dinner.

Do You Want To Know A Secret?

This is secret baby-boomers business!

For the eyes of Baby Boomers only! In particular, neither my mother (who reads my blog) nor my daughter (who reads my blog) is allowed to see this. But if you are sixty or nearly sixty, you are allowed to follow the link below.

So, to find out what baby boomers are up to these days, enjoy
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-walt-babyboomers-blurb,0,1036393.blurb !! Don't forget to click in "Press here to start"!


And now, courtesy of Google Maps which I am trialling as of today, here is where I am training at 1:30pm: [edit: embeding this crashes "Compose" mode so I have to stay in "edit html" mode!] I hope this works!


View Larger Map


Speedygeese in the ABS FUN Run
67 Neil Boden 33:59
155 Barbara Tucker 40:14
Many hundreds of finishers …

Speedygeese in the High Noon Meet last Sunday
400m
9033 Emi Skopal UNA 1:08.16 Under 20
This is actually Christine Gates!!!! HA HA HA! And I didn't think she was under 20 ...
9036 Joel Pearson UNA 57.58 Open

1500m
9021 Ewen Thompson UNA 5:38.49 Veteran
Me: not in the results at all! HA HA HA HA HA!! Hysterical laughter.

Breaking news: Lisa Corrigan has been added to the Olympic team. As her coach Dick Telford told me last night at Dickson, thanks goodness one distance runner from Canberra has made the team. Go Lisa!

Run For Your Life

From Half Fast:
“Congratulations to Ilsa Paulson (pictured right) who won the Bolder Boulder Women’s Citizen’s Race. Eat a sandwich! Something’s not right when you can dramatically shift your centre of gravity by nodding your head.”

This "look" is NOT the goal of the speedygeese! Yes I keep track of my weight (see every Monday's post forever) but it is in the context of distances run, gym sessions completed, times achieved, and is all part of the analysis of what makes me strong fit speedy and healthy.

Good to see Mike (Running with Lydiard) is blogging again; he mentions over-training in his post. "it was interesting to note how many coaches and runners cited mood swings and depression as harbingers of over-training". Please, please use rest and recovery days, and read the signs! Here is a list of other signs of over-training:

- insomnia
- decrease in appetite
- decrease in performance
- loss of coordination
- prolonged recovery
- amenorrhea
- increase in muscle soreness
- loss of body weight
- elevated heart rate
- chronic fatigue
- decreased motivation
- decreases immune system (increase in infections, colds, etc...)

A very detailed article on over-training and its signs, causes, ways to objectively measure it, and methods of recovery from it, can be found at http://www.brianmac.co.uk/overtrn.htm. Where you will find links to many other articles, enough to keep you busy reading for the rest of 2008!

There's nothing left over on these plates!


Graeme, Cathy, Christine G at the speedygeese May dinner. Photo by Strewth.

It Won't Be Long

Had a good run at BBQ Stakes again today. (yes it is stakes. A play on words. OK?) As did Roger and Helen. With times of 25:14, 26:30, and 27:25 respectively.

So it won't be long before I get under that 25 minute barrier for the second time ever. But I would really like to break 24 one day.

Thought I'd feature Lucky Legs in today's post. One of the "older" role models, she can keep us relative youngies motivated with her training and her attitudes. Check out her blog at http://luckylegs.blogspot.com/ where she always has something inspiring to say. And I just love her cartoons and photos. Mon, there are often cow photos.


It won't be long before Luckylegs enters the W80s so in a couple of years time, records will fall!

Running: It's only a matter of time.

After an excellent weekend of running by the speedygeese, including starting serious track races over short distances off season, it was time to get stuck into some more focused training last night (I have already totalled 29k in the first two days of this week! Some silly runner will probably tell me that's "wrong" but I always ignore him). We had at Parliament House Alan, Amanda, Emma, Ewen, Geoff B, Helen, Katie, Ken, Margaret, Maria, Mick C, Miranda, Neil, Rae and Ruth doing 12 x 1 minute on, one minute off, while I took Christine G and Jill aside and ran them through some drills. What a great evening; lightning flashed for five hours into the night, and while I was at a meeting in Dunlop later that night we had 15mm of rain including hail at Holt. This morning I ran in mild to warm conditions listening to the "Narrow Stairs" album on my MP3 player with my new (birthday present) Bose in ear headphones and wearing my new (birthday present) Nike fit-dry long sleeve top and of course my Nike Frees. The album entered the Australian Aria charts this week at number six: good, I didn't know if Death Cab for Cutie had an Australian following, now I know they do. And having played the tracks through three times on this run, they are really growing on me! "No sunlight no sunlight! They disappeared at the same speed, the idealistic things I believed, the optimist inside of me...!" Great album all the way through. If pessimistic, or ultra-ironic, but I always know how to counter that (by at worst listening to Hillsong United albums the next day!!).

If my talking bird knew more words I'd say more. (In-joke for anyone having heard "Narrow Stairs")

I make no apologies for always talking about music on a running blog, because to me they go together. However there is someone who shakes his head and says to me "Why do want that music in your ear? Take it out and turn it off an enjoy the scenery". I take no notice of him either. Because I enjoy the run and the scenery and the music and the company and everything, all together.

For me it's often never either-or. It's usually both-and. So there.

And this morning I was drinking champagne from a paper cup. And everything was alright.

CJ


Some of the best, indeed the very best runners in the world, race with great music in their head

Monday Monitor

My training progress
last week’s target: 100k
achieved: 81k
year 2008 total to date: 1766k in 21 weeks
this week's target: 100k
weight: 63kg ►◄
I feel I am on the verge of real improvement. And my decision to focus the rest of this year on the 3000m and 5000m seems justified after my good 1500m run yesterday, see below. I will see if I can run a few more 1500s.

song of the week:
“Violet Hill” Coldplay, from “Viva La Vida”
Was a long and dark December
From the rooftops I remember
There was snow
White snow

Clearly I remember
From the windows they were watching
While we froze down below

When the future's architectured
By a carnival of idiots on show
You'd better lie low

If you love me
Won't you let me know?

Was a long and dark December
When the banks became cathedrals
And the fog
Became God

Priests clutched onto bibles
And went out to fit their rifles
And the cross was held aloft

Bury me in honor
When I'm dead and hit the ground
A love back home unfolds

If you love me
Won't you let me know?

I don't want to be a soldier
With the captain of some sinking ship
With snow, far below

So if you love me
Why'd you let me go?

I took my love down to Violet Hill
There we sat in snow
All that time she was silent still

So if you love me
Won't you let me know?

If you love me,
Won't you let me know?

Results
Saturday Mt Ainslie 9.5k
24. Mick Horan M45 41:14
47. Thea Zimpel 49:15
50. Caroline Campbell W65 54:29
52 finishers

Sunday High Noon track meet
Christine G, Joel, Ewen and I all do well
400m
Joel ~57 seconds, first race for 3 years
Christine G ~68 seconds, first race for 7 years

1500m
Me ~5:18, best time since January 2004 when I ran 5:16 at the age of 55!
Ewen ~5:39, a considerable improvement on recent times

Vets Handicap – Oakey Hill 7.5k
Geoff Barker the first goose

10 Geoff Barker M60 39:35
20 Miranda Rawlinson W55 44:49
23 Colin Farlow M45 29:48
27 Kelley Flood W45 37:28
29 Ruth Baussmann W55 43:01
33 Alan Duus M60 38:55
35 Christopher Lang M55 41:04
38 Rod Lynch M45 30:08
47 Charlie McCormack W40 35:59
54 Kathy Sims W55 38:26
56 Mick Horan M45 33:06
69 Rae Palmer W60 40:47
70 Maria O'Reilly W50 37:25
77 Margaret McSpadden W60 48:05
85 Peter McDonald M50 41:19
87 Tony Booth M65 42:43
90 Helen Larmour W45 37:21
91 Roger Pilkington M45 36:43
93 Peter Hogan M60 44:00
115 finishers

Oakey Hill 3.5k
9 Ken White M50 14:39
12 Katie Forestier W40 14:43
17 Rachelle Ellis-Brownlee W35 17:04
23 Neil Boden M55 16:32
29 Amanda Walker W40 16:53
31 Gary Bowen M50 16:09
35 Cathy Montalto W55 18:56
60 finishers

No results out yet for the ABS Fun Run

At Stromlo training on Friday Miranda averaged 4:54 for the km intervals; I averaged 3:52. ACT Masters may have a new SpeedySecretary, Miranda has been nominated, stay tuned!

This Tuesday night I plan to attend the ACT Masters monthly social dinner, possibly my last birthday party.

MAY SOCIAL DINNER
"This months social dinner is at the Cornerstone Brasserie, Wests Rugby Union Club, Catchpole Street, Macquarie 7pm for 7.30 on Tuesday 27 May 2008. All meals are a very reasonable price, however seniors card holders can have soup and main course of roast and help yourself veg from as little as $11.50. If you don't want to eat just come and socialise."

And yesterday afternoon AthleticsACT held its AGM, outcomes tba

Fun and Games

Amaroo, a suburb of Canberra, has a footy ground and an eight lane athletics track whose grass is in a considerably better state than Dickson's. And it has lights. It is a pity that Amaroo is in the far north-west corner of Canberra, else we could train there. People won't travel to Stromlo because it is "so far away" (which isn't true, it is central) so with petrol prices still sky-rocketing they certainly wouldn't travel to Amaroo. Anyway, yesterday I spent a pleasant 2 hours in the sun watching Bronwyn's team play Tuggeranong there.

Please don't score another goal


Please... Please... Oh, darn!

Look out umpire!


If the ball doesn't land on your head, umpire, we all might!

This month I am the proud holder of the BBQ Stakes trophy - having on 7 May in the 6k handicap been third in the "retireds" team and ahead of third in any other team. (so it's pretty random who gets it. Nevertheless!).

Here's the speedygeese mascot admiring the trophy.



Subscribers to this blog number 23 via bloglines, and only 7 via google reader. I find this a little surprising, as I transferred from bloglines to google reader quite a long time ago and found it excellent. For example, the “latest blog posts” boxes on the right hand sidebar are produced by google reader. But I suppose bloglines gained popularity some years ago amongst the coolrunning bloggers and must still work reasonably well, so people don't bother to change.

If you want to try out google reader, go to www.google.com.au and under the "more" tab, select "reader". I particularly like its "discover" option, where it points out blogs I might like to subscribe to, based on those I already do.

Half Marathon Photos

At the 20k Mark


Geoff Moore



Mick Horan



Kelley Flood (F111) (flying!)



Roger Pilkington



Gary Bowen


Cathy Newman



David Baussmann



Bronwyn Calver

At the start


Geoff Barker (13), Caroline Campbell (F681)

All photos by David Appleby, on the Cross Country Club website.
Click to enlarge!

Waiting for the fog to lift

Wednesday BBQ Stakes times:
Me 25:32
Helen 27:33
Roger 30:54

While I am waiting for the fog to lift, I will type some words about Thursday training - except, while a training session at Dickson may have been enjoyed by Colin and a few others, at a restaurant in Belconnen there were 25 of us enjoying a break from training and celebrating the change-of-season and the promise of things to come, not to mention the odd birthday. Mark & Barbara, Katie, Ken, Neil, Charlie, Ruth & David, Cathy & Graeme, Rachelle, Margaret & Peter, Miranda & Andy, Peter H, Maria, Roger, Christine G, Helen, Rae, Gary & Pat, Jenny & I all participated, with apologies from Christine's partner, from Mick H, Charmaine, Cathy N, and Peter Mc all of whom had wanted to be there. Ruth has her 58th birthday this week and others in the group with birthdays this week but missing out on the party were Kathy S, Trevor, and Lisa. Trevor is 60 now, too! Next year we will have a party at about the same time in May, is that sufficient notice??!! And thank you for 60th birthday wishes, card, and present!! I will wear the new super special head-phone thingies tomorrow on my long long run. And drink the wine quite soon I expect. I have just two more functions to attend, to complete two months of partying!

Have you noticed that when our group goes to a restaurant on a week night, even if we all arrive early, we are the last to leave by over an hour? Must test the patience of the staff, heh?

The fog to which I am referring is not so much in my head after the party, but more outside blocking the sun. Thought I should explain that.

My fourth marathon

Canberra Marathon - 20.11.1976. I was 9th in 2:50.54

Training at the new Stromlo Cross Country Course

Fridays from this week on I plan to train at Stromlo, starting at 1:30pm. Please contact me to make sure I will be there any particular week; occasionally I will be away interstate.



The entrance is off Uriarra road, just west of Coppins Crossing Road intersection. The map shows brown earth after the fires, but it is an old map - the course is now very green, and anyone could run there barefoot, if that's an option for you in winter!

Initially I will run a 2.5km warm-up at 1:30pm, followed by 3 x 1km circuits "fast" with a 1km circuit recovery, then a final 2.5km cool-down, making 10km of training in all.

While this is part of "my" training, the idea is that this is available for anyone to come along, particularly if you miss Thursday night at Dickson.

Edit: actually the latest google earth is a bit more up to date - it looks as if work has started on the Stromlo facility.

Very Very Old

Before I rush off for a full day of stretching, strengthening, running with music, racing, socialising and shopping ('aint retirement wonderful?) I will whip up a quick Wednesday morning post ... (thinks: next time, do it in advance Tuesday night!)

2008 Canberra Half Marathon - official results for the speedygeese
99 Moore, Geoff 60 1:30:30 M60
115 Horan, Mick 48 1:32:21 M45
149 Flood, Kelley F 47 1:35:55 W45
158 Pilkington, Roger 49 1:36:56 M45
184 Bowen, Gary 51 1:38:55 M50
191 Newman, Cathy F 47 1:39:14 W45
211 Baussmann, David 57 1:41:30 M55
246 Calver, Bronwyn F 38 1:43:42 W35
316 Duus, Alan 62 1:49:35 M60
378 Barker, Geoff 63 1:54:04 M60
392 Baussmann, Ruth F 57 1:55:24 W55
396 Campbell, Caroline F 65 1:55:38 W65
468 Knobel, Charmaine F 56 2:02:00 W55
475 Hogan, Peter 61 2:03:15 M60

633 finishers

Half Marathon Eve - 5km
29 Forestier, Katie F 42 20:16 W40
31 White, Ken 54 20:35 M50
44 Thompson, Ewen 51 21:46 M50
46 Walker, Amanda F 40 21:51 W40
47 Larmour, Helen F 48 22:05 W45
59 Boden, Neil 57 23:15 M55

99 finishers

Coming Events - "it's all happening!"
Wed 21 May BBQ Stakes 6k
Thu 22 May ABS Fun Run
Fri 23 May at 1:30pm my first Stromlo interval training session
Sat 24 May The CCC have a 9.5k at Mt Ainslie, one of the best courses around
Sun 25 May Vets Handicap at Oakey Hill, AND
Sun 25 May The first High Noon Meet at the AIS track.


One of those very very old photos. A Fun Run at Thredbo many many years ago. Photographer Graeme Small. That's me number 10 and number three next to me would be Chris Caton. That's right, THE Chris Caton. We ran to Dead Horse Gap and back. In late December, it snowed on us during the run! Back then, I did do hills. As I said, a very very old photo.

ACT Masters Athletics

Training last night:
Because I wanted a shorter training session last night, so that we could get to the ACTVAC (now to be known as "ACT Masters Athletics") Annual General Meeting, I organised an intense session of just ten efforts of one minute duration, with a minute's recovery jog between each. Present were Alan, Cathy M, Christine G, Ewen, Gary, me, Helen, Katie, Ken, Margaret, Mick C, Miranda, Neil, Rachelle, Ruth and Tim. It was c.c.cold; until we started running, anyway.

Then at the AGM
Rachelle and I presented our motion to change the name of our club. "Vigorous debate" followed, and it all ended successfully with about two-thirds of those present voting in favour. This is most encouraging, given that one might imagine that those who have the most "ownership" of the old name of our club would be the ones most likely to attend an AGM. Which was indeed the case. So thank you to all who supported us and approved the motion; now comes the hard work of promoting the club under its new name!

The new club committee
is without a Secretary and Treasurer, although these positions will probably be filled very quickly. The new committee members who did nominate and were elected are of the highest calibre and should be congratulated for volunteering. All other positions were filled; President Christopher Lang re-elected, Vice President Rosemary Parker re-elected, committee members Kevin Chamberlain, Rachelle Ellis-Brownlee, Wendy O'Brien, Brad Osborn, Jack Thackray, and Craig Wisdom. Four of these, Kevin, Rachelle, Wendy and Brad, are new on the committee this year. Another who was nominated, Fran Harris, would also make a great committee member, and might be co-opted should one of the others take over as Secretary and/or Treasurer.

Some of the challenges ahead for the committee, as reported by outgoing Secretary Rod Lynch, which are of special interest to me include
. Subcommittee structures
. Canberra Masters Athletics publicity
. How to attract new members generally, and new members under 45 years of age
. Website/Database upgrade with the provision of email capabilities

The Canberra Half Marathon results
are in the paper today, but as ~400 of the ~650 (?) names are there, and no age groups, I will wait a bit longer before I list our official results here. I came 99th! Which shows how good the field was. I might be second in the M60s: I was confused about the age of one of my rivals who I now find out is actually 57! There are two "Peter Clarke"s in the entry list, the fast one is 57 and the other whom I do not know is 60. Peter must have wondered what I was talking about at the start line when I said that Des Brown was an unbackable favourite to win "our" age group (which Des did, of course, being more than six minutes in front of me).



The three speedygeese on the ACT Masters Athletics 2008-09 committee are Christopher, Kevin, and Rachelle. With "friend of the geese" Brad, that's a good representation!
I didn't take my camera to the meeting, so this goose picture will have to do!

Potential

My training progress
last week’s target: 80k
achieved: 84k
year 2008 total to date: 1685k in 20 weeks
this week's target: 100k
weight: 63kg ▼

song of the week:
“I Will Possess Your Heart”
Death Cab For Cutie, from “Narrow Stairs”
How I wish you could see the potential
The potential of you and me
It's like a book elegantly bound
But in a language that you can't read, just yet
You gotta spend some time, love
You gotta spend some time with me
And I know that you'll find, love
I will possess your heart




Potentially I could have run much faster in the Half Marathon. But not to worry, next time. Which raises the question .. what now are my plans? My next big goal is the AMA Track championships in April 2009. So I am going to have to set some intermediate goals. I don't have any more half marathons planned, in fact I have nothing planned except serious training for the 5k for track season leading up to April. Everything I do between now and then will be about running a faster 5k.

The training pattern documented here still applies.


So for a start, there's a 1500m run this Sunday, at the first of the High Noon meets! It will be an M60 1500m pb and it will be very very slow!


And here's a link to where the half marathon results may appear

Canberra Half Marathon

The rain went away, the cold wind slowed everyone down, the top ten weren't all that fast which is an indication of the difficulty of running on the day. But there were some good performances from the speedygeese, as you would expect.

Preliminary Report [updated]: approximate times the speedygeese ran:
99 Geoff Moore 1:30.30
115 Mick Horan 1:32.21 won a barrel draw prize
149 Kelley Flood 1:35.55
158 Roger Pilkington 1:36.56
184 Gary Bowen 1:38.55
191 Cathy Newman 1:39.14
211 David Baussmann 1:41.30 pb & won a barrel draw prize
246 Bronwyn Calver 1:43.42 pb
316 Alan Duus 1:49.35
378 Geoff Barker 1:54.04
392 Ruth Baussmann 1:55.24 W55 winner
Caroline Campbell ~1:55.30 W60 winner & won a barrel draw prize
Charmaine Knobel ~2:01
Peter Hogan ~2:03.30

I will update/correct/& republish this whenever I find out more, and finally when I see the official results, which shouldn't be too long..

My own run was OK, nothing to write home about, I ran 98 seconds faster in 2007 but this is my second fastest ACTCCC Canberra Half Marathon since 1994. I wanted to run 4:10s but managed 4:15s exactly from the start until a sore left foot started to slow me down at about 15k, but not by much. Anyway, I am quite happy to call it my M60 pb for now or forever! And of the people I was "serious" about beating, none finished ahead of me, which is good! Some of you know who I mean.

But what fantastic runs from Kelley and from David, to pick out just two!
And Bronwyn's pb despite smashing a foot playing footy yesterday!
And Caroline & Ruth winning their age groups!
Woo hoo!

And there were only a few barrel draws; three of them wins to the speedygeese!

High Noon

Something is on every weekend at the AIS athletic track: High Noon meets are every three weeks.

High Noon Program for Sunday 25 May
12:00 Long Hurdles 200m/400m, High Jump
12:15 60m, Discus
12:30 100m
12:50 Triple Jump
1:00 1500m
1:10 Shot Put
1:15 400m

High Noon Program for Sunday 15 June
12:00 Sprint Hurdles, High Jump
12:15 60m, Javelin
12:30 100m
12:50 800m, Long Jump
1:05 200m
1:10 Shot Put
1:15 3000m

Anyone can join in; cost is $5 per day

Saturday training organised by Brad Osborne, 10am to noon, is held on weekends when no High Noon meet is scheduled.


I hope all the roads are open for tomorrow morning's half marathon! It's pretty wild weather out there today, and it may get much worse!

Cross Country Day


Jarod & Kayleigh after their cross country races.

Lease of Life

Last night's training saw running 8 laps each with a reverse lap jog in teams of three Rod, Colin, and Matthew setting the pace; Bronwyn, Alistair, and Rachelle trying not to be lapped more than once; and a team of five running 100m many times (~17 each) of Neil, Margaret, Miranda, Maria and an impressive Ruth who really put it in.

On Fridays from 1:30pm I plan to start training at Stromlo, running km intervals on the soft undulating grass. Company would be most welcome. So from next week, 23 May, join me there if you are free, or better still, flex off from work and come on over. Entrance is off Uriarra Road near Coppins Crossing road.


The map shows bare earth after the fires of 2003, no green! It's quite different now!
I experienced a new lease of life when I started training there over summer and am very keen to resume.

Coming Events

Saturday 17 May
3:00PM Half Marathon Eve 1.5k Mini Jog
3:30PM Half Marathon Eve 5k Fun Run
Late entries will be taken on the day. ACTCCC members run for free and will be issued with a race bib. ACTCCC members must register to receive race bib and are requested to arrive early

Sunday 18 May
9:00am Half Marathon 21.1k
If you entered before 2nd May your name will be on our list of entrants on the club website www.canberrarunner.com.au Chest bibs have been posted to all on that list except those from overseas or as requested. If you have not received your race bib a new one can be provided on Sunday morning prior to the start. Late entries continue to be received online and will be accepted up until late PM 15th May.via our website and Register Now. Hardcopy late entries will be accepted on the day from 7.30am onwards. Our preferred method for payment of late entries on the day is cash. We will have well over 600 starters on the day.
Parking - Sunday only
Flynn Drive the road that is directly alongside Lennox Gardens forms part of the half marathon course. So please do not try to park on Flynn Drive or try to enter the small Lennox Gardens car park area. The area will be coned off and we will have marshals there to move you on. Similarly please do not park on Alexandrina Drive which is also part of the course. Parking for family and friends arriving in this area after 9.30am will be permissible as all half marathoners should be through this area by then. For half marathoners there is plenty of parking elsewhere and an easy walk to the start area. Please park legally and safely and walk to the Start/Finish area.
RACE BIBS
Race bibs must be worn on the front of your race clothing, not altered in any way and above your waist line.
FINISHING
Please do not run under the finishing clock more than once. This being the time that you finish your half marathon. Our results depend on all runners doing the right thing.

Monday 19 May
5:30PM Normal training at Parliament House
The training session will finish by 6:30pm.
7:30PM ACTVAC Annual General Meeting
Western District Rugby Union Club (WESTS) Catchpole Street, Macquarie

Thursday 22 May
No training session at Dickson
7:00PM training group dinner
Thai Chiang Rai, 102 Emu Bank Belconnen
Banquet: Wontons, Spring Rolls, Chicken Satay, Red Curry Beef, Prawns & Cashews, Paat Thai Chicken & Prawns, Stir Fry Mixed vegetables, Steamed Jasmine Rice, Tea/Coffee. Cost $28.90pp. Or a vegetarian banquet is available, $27.90pp.
All names to me please, on or before this Monday night.


The dinner venue.

Whinge Free zone

Ah Belconnen. City of unsynchronised traffic lights. I guess it's good for business for the petrol companies and car repairers. But annoying for drivers. And dangerous given the high proportion of tail-gaters and of red-light jumpers in this city. But this blog is a whinge free zone, so back on topic...

Today I went over to Woden for the weekly BBQ Stakes. The three speedygeese who ran did much faster than last week. And beautiful sunny days, will this never end? Yes it will. And my BBQ time indicates I have recovered from the marathon, just in time for Sunday's half marathon.

Today's times for the 6k:
Geoff Moore 25:08
Roger Pilkington 26:43
Helen Larmour 28:59

Also today I picked up the banquet menu for Thursday 22nd's group dinner. I will post it tomorrow and I will email everyone on the email list and I will see them on Thursday/Sunday/Monday to confirm numbers. Please get in touch if I don't see you; Monday night is the deadline for letting me know you are coming.

Meanwhile, there is no finish line...



And, back in the zone
I loved the letter in Monday's paper from Bryan Furnass. Copied below, and while we are there; wouldn't it be wonderful if we had an extensive light rail system instead of our worsening choked up roads? Melbourne and Sydney would be cactus without their rail networks, and I remember in Adelaide mid-twentieth century, nearly all the trams were removed and replaced with buses, a huge mistake. In the current debate about light rail there are many opponents. But my friends, "without vision the people perish". And that's what will happen as we continue with ever expanding road systems and ever expanding use of cars and fuel.


Click to enlarge! I don't usually go "political", but today, I am inspired!

Say Cheese

Monday night training

The speedgeese have started four or five weeks of short intervals with good recovery - last night we ran eight intervals of 80 seconds each, on 4 minutes, alongside the western Parliament House road. Present were Alan, Amanda, Caroline, Cathy, Christine G, Emma, Ewen, Gary, me, Helen, Jill, Kathy, Katie, Kirsten, Ken, Margaret, Neil, Ruth and Tim. It was pretty mild for mid May, and no breeze.

Saying cheese.


All smiles after the relay. Bronze medal 4x400m relay team at the AMA Nationals in April 2008 at Blacktown. A speedygoose Mick Horan, son-in-law of a speedygoose Brad Osborn, friend of the geese John Lamb, and husband of a speedygoose Geoff Sims.

spread your wings and fly

My training progress
last week’s target: 80k
achieved: 61k
year 2008 total to date: 1601k in 19 weeks
this week's target: 80k
weight: 64kg ▲
I had to curtail somewhat my running this week, as the result of a cold.

song of the week: "When I get where I’m going" – Brad Paisley/Dolly Parton
"When I get where I’m going
On the far side of the sky
The first thing that I’m gonna do
Is spread my wings and fly

"I’m gonna land beside a lion
And run my fingers through his mane
Or I might find out what it’s like
To ride a drop of rain

Chorus:
"Yeah, when I get where I’m going
There’ll be only happy tears
I will shed the sins and struggles
I have carried all these years
And I’ll leave my heart wide open
I will love and have no fear
Yeah, when I get where I’m going
Don’t cry for me down here

"I’m gonna walk with my granddaddy
And he’ll match me step for step
And I’ll tell him how I’ve missed him
Every minute since he left

"So much pain and so much darkness
This world we stumble through
All these questions I can’t answer
So much work to do

"But when I get where I’m going
And I see my maker’s face
I’ll stand forever in the light
Of His amazing grace"

The Brad Paisley/Dolly Parton version of this song reached #1 on March 4, 2006, on the US Billboard “Hot Country Songs” chart. As a 60 year old, Dolly Parton became the oldest woman to have a No. 1 song on the chart.
The “Geoff Moore” version is on my playlist on the side-bar!
I like the song for its words more than its tune. My favourite songs at the moment are … still ... Crooked Teeth, Soul Meets Body, and Lightness.

Mothers Day Fun Run results include
5km
17. Emma Adams 19.58 - 2nd W30-39/ 6th Female
21. Katie Forestier 20:23 - 2nd W40-49/ 8th Female
24. Ken White 20:40 - 1st M50-59/ 14th Male
28. Gary Bowen 21:12 - 3rd M50-59/ 18th Male
44. Amanda Walker 22:09 4th W40-49/ 18th Female
and Jodie Davis 28:54

10km
Bronwyn Calver 45:33 6th in age group/16th Female
Thea Zimpel 48:21 11th in age group/ 24th Female

Jarod


Jarod (at the back) near the end of his cross country race. Despite being much younger than some of the others, and having a vicious cold, he still finished ninth.

Plans

Now's the chance to settle into my regular routine. Which is (to be)

Monday	4:30pm	Parliament House warm-up run
	5:30pm	Parliament House group training
Tuesday	early	medium-long run
	9:15am	Vets Tuesday Group run
Wednesday	9:20am	Flexibility & Strength class
	10:30am	One Hour easy run
	12:30pm	BBQ Stakes tempo run
Thursday	11:00am	Long run
	5:30pm	Jog/Supervise Dickson group training
Friday	12:00 noon	Flexibility & Strength class
	1:30pm	Speed-work at Stromlo
Saturday		Meet others? long run
Sunday		Meet others? jog, catch-up, race, or rest

Note to self - plus regular stretching!
Most of the above I am already doing. But not the stretching!
And next Sunday is the Canberra Half Marathon. So I will have to figure out how much easing off is necessary for that.

Go Kayleigh


Kayleigh ran 21st in her 8&9 year girls District cross country. Great run!

Running

Today's post is about running.

And mapping.

According to Garmin "Training Centre" software, Friday's run this week (10k at Flinders, a suburb of Shellharbour) is as follows

And Monday's 15k run in Adelaide was as follows:

One says Pacific Ocean and the other Indian Ocean. Very impressive. The Flinders one is right, but the Adelaide one was a run from McLaren Vale to Willunga and back and wasn't all that close to the Indian Ocean. St Vincent's Gulf would be a slightly more accurate name. "Indian Ocean" would be correct if Adelaide were west of Perth!

Step By Step

I seem to be getting fitter even though I am 60! But it is so much a step by step process these days.

Where I used to work is the ABS. Get ready for the ABS Fun Run - 12.30pm Thursday 22 May 2008. This is a 7.3km runner/6.2km walker circuit from John Knight Park Lake Ginninderra. Mail Entries are now open and close Friday 16 May. Download an entry form (pdf file - right click, save target as) here

And as I am returning from Shellharbour tonight , here are some pirate jokes. Beware - some pirate jokes arrrrrrre really bad!
What are pirates afraid of? Sharrrrrrks!
What is a pirate’s favourite game? Darrrrrrts!
What does the crew say on long voyages? Arrrrr we there yet?!
What comics do pirates read? Garrrrrrfield!
Why does the sun rise in the east? That’s just the way things arrrrre!
What’s an Australian pirate’s mascot? The kangarrrrrroo!
Did you hear about the new pirate movie? It is rated Rrrrrrrr!
And of course…
Why did the pirate cross the sea? To get to the other tide!

This Is Home

song of the week: "This Is Home", by Switchfoot, from "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Soundtrack".



I often sing the praises of one of the best bands in the world, Switchfoot, and its lead singer, Jon Foreman.
And I have been so looking forward to catching the second Chronicles of Narnia movie, Prince Caspian, which opens in early June here in Australia.
But little did I know until I received an email from Switchfoot, to whom I subscribe, that there is a new Switchfoot song "This Is Home" on the Prince Caspian soundtrack!

New song and video from Switchfoot - "This Is Home"
Here's a note from Jon about the song:
When my brother and I were kids, my dad used to read us CS Lewis books before we went to sleep. So when we were asked to be involved in a movie based on his book, "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" - we were honored to be considered.
I wanted to capture the longing that is embedded in much of Lewis' writing- so I tried to think back to what these stories meant to me when I was six years old and write from that perspective. The song that came out is called "This is Home." It's been quite a journey: a San Diego song with strings cut at Abbey Road in London complete with a video shot in Hollywood.
We are so excited to not only share this song with you, but also the video, which you can see on our site (here). And, you can hear the song streaming on our website, myspace, and facebook. The song will also be featured on the soundtrack, which is being released through Hollywood Records on Tuesday May 13th in stores everywhere.
This is our first venture as an independent band- so thank you for being a part of this! And thanks again for all your continued support.
- jon foreman

Overtraining

Speedygeese Runners at North Lyneham Saturday 3 May. 6.2k.
50. Thea Zimpel 29:48
57. Neil Boden M55 30:59
59. Charlie McCormack W40 31:27
64. Roger Pilkington M45 32:27
69 finishers

Women's Jogalong 4 May. 6k.
Amanda Walker W40 28:08
Helen Larmour W45 27:55
Gabrielle Brown W40 32:23
Caroline Campbell W65 32:40
180 finishers
Helen's daughter Natalie Larmour (U16) ran 33:02 first up.

Nail Can Hill Albury, 4 May
Kathy Southgate 3rd in the open women & 1st in the W50 in 48:34, a 5 minute W50 record.
Geoff Barker ran 61.26

The Mothers Day Classic, 5k and 10k, is this Sunday; late entries will be taken from 7:30am
See http://www.mothersdayclassic.org/home/event-details/canberra/

Overtraining is worse than undertraining. Much Worse.
I took on an athlete once who had been training with another Canberra group. After discussing their training with them, I realised they were doing too much too fast. On my advice the athlete radically changed their training program and showed vast improvement over the next few months, after being stagnant and flat before that. Name withheld, but this athlete went on to set ACT records, and I am 100% positive this would never have happened if the training had not been modified.

Training To Lose
Some speedygeese are overtraining and over racing! Yes, maybe you, even now! Please seek advice! Don't keep doing speedwork day after day. Have a sensible structured program. Make sure you always schedule a full recovery after every hard race by allowing sufficient number of days to freshen up. One day for every mile of the race! Don't run as far as others do until you have given yourself the months, even years, of gradual adaptation. Read and follow my "Principles of Training"!

Some runners even believe that if a certain amount of training makes them good and fast, twice as much training is twice as good and makes them twice as fast. Or if they don't actually think that, they train as if they do.

Not so!

Train to Win!
These thoughts arose from reading an article on Chinese Athletes overtraining, which is found at http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080507/wl_asia_afp/oly2008chncoaching.

Regional Cross Country


Tomorrow I will be in Shellharbour watching grandchildren Kayleigh (pictured) and Jarod run in their regional cross country races.

Claiming my Steak

My training progress
last week’s target: 60k
achieved: 60k
year 2008 total to date: 1540k in 18 weeks
this week's target: 80k
weight: 63.5kg ▲
My weight is a little bit higher than it should be, but not too bad, and after another weekend of partying coming up I should be able to get back into a more usual routine next week.

Must say I enjoyed Monday's run from McLaren Vale to Willunga and back along the old train track which is now a recreation trail. Tuesday it rained so I didn't run, and we flew home that afternoon anyway. But 80k this week is still possible.

BBQ STAKES speedygeese times today
SpeedyGeoff 25:26 first "race" as an M60 so therefore a PB
Charlie 27:50
Roger 29:35
Helen 29:47
I ran third for "retireds" who took out the team prize today. So I took home the trophy this month; that's a first. But I had to put in a protest to stake my claim and claim my steak; the protest was successful! I celebrated by buying some new running shoes, as you do.

Cutting the Cake


Last Sunday at Belair. 6 candles and an O.

Mottram, Johnson back to best.

Craig Mottram won the 10k at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitation meet, in California, running a time of 27:34.48, which is Craig's pb by 16 seconds. His previous pb was set in 2003.
He moved from seventh to second on the Australian all-time list, and is only just short of Sean Creighton's Australian national record of 27:31.92.
Meanwhile, Mottram's long time training partner, Benita Johnson, won the 10k Great Edinburgh Run in 32:20, well clear of Kenya's Rose Cheriuyot.
Bring on the Olympics! Where Mottram will compete in his best event, the 5k.

Somewhere in the world...

I will be back soon.

At Last The Big Day

Benchmark: The Beatles; for all contemporary music.
Postmark: When you add labels to a post; which I have stopped doing.
Landmark: Turning 60; which I am doing today but will never do again.
Trademark: Poor puns; one may emerge today and I will keep producing them on occasion.
This is an occasion!
Grouchomark: one of the five marks brothers; name the other four.

Sorry, Marx.

When you turn sixty you are finally able to honestly claim you are old. Age is a very good excuse: for misbehaviour; for faulty memory, for accidents and incidents of all kinds. For misspellings and split infinitives. You can flash your ACT Seniors card and say, see, officially healthy wealthy and wise, and it's all because of AGE. You can get away with things younger people would be heavily censured for. Yes, sixty is much better than eighteen. I am going to enjoy it very much!

And the poor puns will keep coming. You thought "dad jokes" were bad? Here come the "grandad jokes". Jokes that make your dad groan!

Please send me your suggestions; I will publish the worst ones.

By the way, I was born in Adelaide at 11:50pm on 4 May 1948. That's 12:20am on 5 May in the Eastern states and the ACT. Not a problem though, as on 4 May 2008 I am actually visiting my old home town, Adelaide, again.

Random Holiday Snaps

Jossie's Journal



Treasure Box



Finding Crabs

A real cause for protest

Force feeding geese!



"As York city council looks at banning foie gras, the French-named delicacy that comes from force feeding geese, Spanish farmers have perfected an "ethical" version. It's even won an award in France.

"It is the foodstuff that leaves the table divided. On one side, those who consider the fatty goose liver the ultimate delicacy.

"And opposite, those whose plates are pushed aside as their thoughts turn to the practice of gavage - force-feeding geese and ducks until their liver swells to many times its normal size".

Full story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6301715.stm

Beaten by a nanometre

In praise of the joy of learning and doing new things which foster growth and enhance life.

Seven year old grandson Jossie was learning last week about nanometres, micrometres, millimetres etc. His thirst for knowledge is endless. So I was interested to hear him say that his mate beat him in the school cross country race "by four inches". He's learning ALL the words. I am starting to realise how pedantic I have been in the last forty years in disapproving usage of the old imperial weights and measures. So as a new life resolution, I will stop being so pedantic about "correctness". For a start, use of crass nasal american pronunciation, as used in eastern Australia, instead of the cultured english pronunciation up with which I was brought in South Australia of words such as chance, grant, plant for example have always annoyed me but I am going to get over it. I might even start pronouncing the american way words the easterners actually get "right" like path, past, fast, half. Also, ending sentences with prepositions was something up with which I was not brought. Now I determine not to worry any more and go with the flow. After all, you don't want me to evolve into a cranky old man, do you?


Jossie at Gerroa playing cricket

Tonight Dickson training is on. I will be in Adelaide.
Monday night Parliament House training is on. But I will still be in Adelaide.
In a week's time Dickson is on again. I will probably be in Shellharbour.
Monday week I'M BACK for Parliament House training!