what's on this week

coming events, week 9 of year 2011

Mon 28th	4:30pm	Parliament House 8k jog
	5:30pm	Parliament House speedygeese training
Tue 1st	6:15pm	Summer Series 5k Weston Park
Wed 2nd	12:15pm	BBQ Stakes 6k handicap
Fri 4th	12:15pm	Customs 5k handicap
Sat-Sun 5-6th		ACTVAC Track Championships
Sat 5th	8:00am	Metro Runners Acton Ferry Terminal
Sun 6th	7:00am	Stromlo Forest Park recovery run/s
	9:00am	Women’s Jogalong, Weston Park

Cooler weather means more running! I managed 112k last week and I shall probably run between 100k and 120k this week. Taking care to have at least one short recovery day. But I am having garmin trouble, so I may have to consult the maps stored on "Training Centre" to repeat exactly past runs. Fortunately there is over a year's data there to choose from.

Annette and Val

Annette Sugden, who lives in Brisbane, made a surprise appearance at yesterday's Vets handicap run.

Metro Runner Amanda J

just so I remember what she looks like in real life!

February Monthly handicap

ACTVAC Handicap - North Curtin 6.2k
6 Maria O'Reilly W55 28:33 83.2% **silver**
8 Geoff Moore M60 27:07 79.7
14 Alan Duus M65 32:49 66.7
23 Roger Pilkington M50 28:14 70.6
26 David Baussmann M60 29:53 71.7
31 Nadine Morrison W40 28:56 70.1
36 Annette Sugden W45 32:21 67.5
46 Rod Lynch M50 24:35 80.3
48 Warrick Howieson M40 30:08 59.8
54 Mick Charlton M55 35:53 59.2
55 Peter McDonald M55 39:40 52.6
58 Cathy Newman W45 29:43 74.7
60 Bob Harlow M60 28:08 77.2
69 Ruth Baussmann W60 34:43 71.0
73 Brett Morrison M40 28:57 63.5
74 Andrew Matthews M50 27:55 70.7
75 Alan Williams M60 34:29 62.9
78 Caroline Campbell W65 37:01 76.4
92 Janene Kingston W45 33:25 63.1
94 Ewen Thompson M50 39:47 50.6
96 Geoff Barker M65 45:51 48.8
104 finishers

I was fourth on handicap for the second month in a row - not deliberate, I assure you. But it means I am leading the pointscore. Given that I am genuinely improving, fair enough.

Great run by Maria, to gain the silver medal. Her first ever medal in the monthly handicap races, and achieved when it just happens to be her 100th run.

A genuine improver wins her first medal...

. and wins her 100 run t-shirt at the same time.

Well done Ken, winning short course gold:

North Curtin 3.0k
4 Ken White M55 11:59 78.0% **gold medal**
7 Noeline Burden W55 15:45 71.6
10 Katie Forestier W45 11:48 80.2
11 Graeme Patrick M55 13:21 70.8
17 Jill Pearson W50 15:29 68.8
26 Gary Bowen M50 13:14 68.5
41 Garry Maher M60 16:06 61.6
42 finishers

Metro Runner 馨文 (Mary)

 In a beautiful singapore dress attending a wedding on Saturday.

I have entered!

I have now put my entry in for the WESTON CREEK HALF MARATHON! Yes I really have! It's on Sunday 13 March. My next challenge, and always a great event.

Candid Canberra #56. Statue at St John's church in Reid.

Reminds me of that best-of-all Doctor Who epsiode, "blink".



Thursday 24th Vets Track:
100mM60 Garry Maher 14.77 81.2%
W55 Noeline Burden 16.83 78.2

200m
W55 Noeline Burden 36.33 75.5%

One Mile
M40 Damian Rutledge 5:21.21 75.6%
M55 Ken White 5:32.39 81.1
W50 Helen Larmour 6:13.00 81.2
W40 Bronwyn Calver 6:52.02 65.1
M70 Tony Booth 7:16.71 71.5

3000m
M50 Mick Horan 12:21.38 68.4%
W40 Bronwyn Calver 13:22.58 66.0

Friday 25th Customs 5k:
Tim Calver 19:23
Geoff Moore 20:40
... another full minute faster than my recent best.
Bob Harlow 21:39
Yili Zhu 21:49
Bronwyn Calver 24:07
Caroline Campbell 28:06

Foundations of Running #4: speed-endurance

The term "speed endurance" is often applied to sprinters when addressing how to extend their 100m speed to 200m or even 400m. This can also be applied to longer distance runners and is still about how to take a racing speed over any given distance and extend it to a longer distance. My own running career developed from short races over 100m 200m and 400m as a schoolboy, to races over 800m and 1500m as a young adult, and then to longer distances later on. Many people develop the other way; they start off as distance runners then see if they can develop speed after they build an aerobic base. But there is good reason to do it the way I did. Even though we talk about an "aerobic base", that doesn't mean that such a base must be the starting point. When one takes the attitude of very fast running into longer races, one achieves good results much more quickly.

 

I consider, rightly or wrongly, much of the repetition and interval training we do, as "speed-endurance" training. In contrast, if the interval between efforts is too short, speed is compromised, and the training is better described as "anaerobic". Or if efforts are short and the interval between efforts is too long, this is sprint training. And longer efforts with long recovery might fall into the category of time trials, tempo-intervals, or even aerobic training. In speed-endurance training, on the other hand, there should be a minimum amount of rest to enable a hard effort to be repeated, often many times.

 

The purpose of speed endurance is to prolong the amount of time where a near maximal speed can be maintained. Effort distance is less than one’s racing distance. Speed approaches the speed at which one wishes to race the longer distance. For example, an 800m runner might attempt sets of 200m intervals at speeds approximating 800m speed with a 200m jog recovery each time. Or, a half marathon runner might run intervals of 1k to 2k at half-marathon speed, with minimum rest.

 

When our speedygeese training group focuses on speed-endurance, we run fairly hard over short-ish distances, then have a recovery jog of about equal distance or less. What works, and is fun to organise when there are a large number of persons present, is a three person continuous relay, which gives participants sufficient recovery to continue on, to jog the course while the other two run hard in turn. These sessions last about thirty minutes.

 

If you are doing a speed-endurance session and want a second interval session in any given week, it might be best to do some hill-work or some easy fartlek running instead. Once a week speed-endurance training is quite enough for anyone. Any training session you do should have as its focus only one type of training. Our Monday night speedygeese sessions are wholly speed-endurance sessions during February, June, and October. For other months, when Mondays focus either on aerobic, strength, or anaerobic endurance, it would not hurt to do a speed-endurance session on one other day of the week.

 

A reduction in injury risk should result from having a complex training program. There’s little doubt that if you are doing only aerobic endurance training then you are increasing the chance of injury. There must be variety in training.

 

To summarise: speed-endurance training is where, if your rest between intervals were any shorter, you would be venturing into the anaerobic, and if your rest were any longer, your efforts would be all out sprints.

 

There are so many possible training sessions one can use. To quote Nic Bideau, "So varied are the possible combinations that rarely do the athletes repeat the same workout". As always, the principles are more important than the actual detail. Nic Bideau has many appropriate words of wisdom on this kind of training. I daren't say more except quote him at length:

 =========================================================

INTERVAL OR REPETITION TRAINING (excerpt from Nic Bideau's article) 

“I prefer high volumes of work when using intervals of 6-10k or running at various speeds relevant to the athletes current fitness level for 1500m, 3000m, 5000m or 10,000m with recovery bouts as required to maintain that pace. In the first stages of a training program these are initially focused on 10,000m race pace or even slower. Closer to the main target race faster speeds are introduced at the specific pace of the event the athlete is training for. I believe that too often athletes try to run too fast in track sessions relevant to their current fitness and are too anxious to focus on their cruising speeds for 1500m or 3000m races, whereas I prefer to set the bulk of these sessions at 5000m or 10000m cruising speeds over longer distance repetitions interspersed with shorter faster work. For example, when training for an event such as the World Cross Country in March, Benita Johnson may begin the preparation in November with 8-10 x 1km on a dirt path in around 3.20 with one minute rest. This develops into 3.10 and the next step is to speed up 2 of the reps, the 5th and 7th in 3.00. This may progress to 4 x 2km reps on the track with a lap jog recovery doing the first and third rep alternating laps in 70s (current 3k race pace) and 75s (half marathon race pace), the 2nd and 4th rep all even paced at 75s per lap (10k race pace).

 

“There are a myriad of workouts that can be designed with this philosophy. The main aim is to always be doing enough high volume to continue building aerobic endurance while introducing some faster running that relates to shorter distance race paces and still avoid flooding the athlete’s muscles with lactate during the workout. So varied are the possible combinations that rarely do the athletes repeat the same workout. I see a couple of distinct advantages in this - they don’t go home to check their diary and compare workouts from week to week or year to year — too often athletes try to compare workouts from one period to another, which I regard as impossible to do for any real gain. You can never go to the track with all other elements of your life exactly duplicated from one day to the next so you will always fail to read into the effects of other situations whether they be weather, poor sleep the night before, harder training the week before, personal problems or whatever - and being different, the workouts always provide an interesting challenge to the athletes who don’t know exactly how they will feel not having done that exact workout before.

 

“Benita did a workout of 13 x 400m at 5k race pace (72s) with one lap float (marathon race pace relevant to current fitness (82s)) recovery between laps while winning the national 10,000m title in 31.49 shortly before she won the World Cross Country in 2004. This year in her preparation for the Commonwealth Games she ran 3000m in 9.10 beginning with laps at 10,000m race pace for the 1st km, 5000m race pace for the 2nd km and 3000m race pace for the 3rd km, jogged a lap then did 4x200m at 1500m race pace with 200m jog recovery before repeating the effort with the 2nd 3000m in 9.05. For other complex reasons relative to another dimension of coaching that I won’t go into here, Benita was not able to produce that fitness during the Commonwealth Games 10,000m yet it was exactly that fitness that she was able to call on that enabled her to place 4th in both World Cross Country races just a week after the Melbourne Games this year.

 

“Closer to the big race, these type of workouts often mimic planned strategies due to be employed in the race whilst surrounding it with volume to ensure aerobic fitness is still maintained. Before the Melbourne 5000m Mottram ran a series of 3x1600m. The first one was done in 4.20 (basically what we felt was around 10,000m race pace for him or more specifically the slowest we could imagine the Commonwealth 5000m race being run at inside the last 2km). The 2nd rep was to practice the tactic, which we hoped could take him clear of the Kenyans in the Melbourne 5000m. His training partner England’s 5000m runner at the Games, Mo Farah ran the 1st lap in 65 secs and Mottram went to the lead running the 2nd lap faster, the 3rd lap faster again and once more increasing the pace on the last lap. He ran those laps in 59, 58 and 57 for a final 1600m time of 3.59. He then eased back to 4.20 again for the 3rd rep and finished the workout by cruising 4 x 200m at 1500m race tempo with an easy 200m jog recovery. We felt he was ready for Ben Limo and he was. But, unfortunately for us, Augustine Choge had something else.

 

“These sessions are usually only carried out once per week.”

energy

Last week I felt weary most of the week. This week I feel like I have plenty of energy. Could the reason be that I bought a fuel belt on Monday, never having owned nor worn one before? Does a drink of Gatorade every 5k on my long runs make that much difference? Apparently so. After 49 years running, I have learned something new. Alternatively, after 49 years running, my body has changed and I need to drink more.

Summer Series #4: Barrenjoey Drive 5k, 22 Feb
31. Kym Chisholm 22:08
40. Bob Harlow M60 23:08
52. Craig Davis M40 24:40
55. Mick Horan M50 25:07
72. Ewen Thompson M50 27:01
73. Ruth Baussmann W60 27:29
76. Caroline Campbell W65 28:07
77. Mick Charlton M55 28:13
79. Geoff Barker M65 28:23
91 finishers.

Song of the week: "Everything In Its Right Place" – Radiohead.


Or view at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrpGhEVyrk0

The March 2011 issue of Vetrunner is now available online at http://www.actvac.com.au/Vetrunner/2011/201103.pdf

Bucket List - 40 things to do before I die
See my Facebook Notes page: http://www.facebook.com/notes/geoff-moore/my-bucket-list-40-things-to-do-before-i-die/501585320915. The first one to be ticked off is #22: just this morning I have bought tickets to a Switchfoot concert. Better not tick them off too fast.

After Stromlo

Ruth, Jen, Kym, Brett, me, Emma. Ewen as usual is hiding behind the camera.

Coming up: ACTVAC Track and Field championships

The following club championship events will be held over the next few weeks:

Date	Event	Venue
Thurs 24 Feb	Pentathlon 10000m walk (in conjunction with AACT walk championship)	AIS
Fri, Sat, Sun 4 – 6 March	Joint Track and Field Championships with AACT – draft timetable and info via this link	AIS
Sat 13 March	Throws pentathlon	Masson Street
Thurs 24 March	5000m walk (in conjunction with AACT 1500, 3000, and 5000 walks)	AIS
Thurs 14 April	5000m	AIS

Important notes for the Joint T&F Championships 4 to 6 March

1.      The closing date for entries is 9:00pm on Saturday 26th of February.  Late entries will not be accepted.

2.      Entry is on-line via this link.

3.      Check in closes 45 minutes before the scheduled start time.

4.      You will not be charged a gate fee for the Joint T&F Championships.

Medals will be available for collection in the Commonwealth room 30 minutes after the event, except for the events on Friday 4th, which can be collected on the Saturday or Sunday.

Other Championship events

1.    Entries on the day until 30 minutes before the start. 

2.    Paper entry forms are to be used (not on-line).

3.    Please download and complete the form (attached) and bring it to the event.

4.    You must be entered in the championship to participate in that event (e.g. you cannot run in the 5km championship event unless you are entered in that event).

5.    Fitness walkers are invited to participate in walking events of their choice (non championship).

6.    Thursday night competitions - $4.00 gate fee as per normal for everybody plus $5.00 per championship event.

Medals presentations will be made at the track after the event.

Officials for the Track and Field Championships

We need volunteers over the weekend.  If you are not competing and wish to help, or have some time to spare between events, please contact Ken Smith ( smith.kenneth.d@gmail.com or phone 0415 653 151 ) to indicate your availability. 

This is a great opportunity for our ACTVAC officials to get some valuable experience in a high profile athletics competition where they can work under the guidance of experienced AACT Officials. 

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Stromlo 7.5k

Michelle Wells and Natalie Archer sprinting to the finish line.

Twitter boosts hit counts
My hit count for the last couple of months has averaged 80-90 per day. Which is high. And I have never exceeded 110 in a day. Until: yesterday there were 130 hits, Monday 120, and Sunday 220! The spike is because someone has tweeted a link to the popular Nic Bideau article, "COACHING MIDDLE AND LONG DISTANCE RUNNERS", and as you know, tweets can "take off". This one has, resulting in many US readers in particular finding this blog. WELCOME!

coming up in less than three weeks: Weston Creek Half Marathon

The next big running event in Canberra is the Weston Creek Half marathon, on Sunday 13 March. A most enjoyable and social event, with heaps of barrel draw prizes at the end. Here's the lateset press release!

Dear Runner,
Just a reminder that the 26^th Annual Weston Creek Half Marathon is now only a few weeks away. If you haven’t entered yet, you can enter online at
https://www.registernow.com.au/secure/Register.aspx?ID=3373

The event starts at 7:30am  on the 13^th of March.

This year we have a bunch of extra random draw prizes with new sponsors coming onboard.
ACTEWAGL is donating 4 prize packs,
Edge Fitness is donating a 3 month memberships a 1 month membership & 10, 1day passes,
Curves Weston is donating 1month membership( Female only club) and we will again have high quality fruit from Ziggys Fresh Fruit at Belconnen markets.
This is in addition to our usual prizes from the Running Shop and giveaways of wine and other prizes.

Further, a professional photographer Dave Briss (www.epsomrdstudios.com.au) will attend our event this year and these photos will be available for purchase after the event.

We look forward to seeing you on the day.
Regards
Vince (and Paul)

Race Directors

I haven't entered yet, but I shall.

Last night's training attendees: Abi, Andy, Caroline, Colin, Craig, Emma P, Ewen, me, Helen, Katherine, Kym, Mick C, Neil, Ruth, Susan, Suzie, Warrick. A great speed endurance session.

Some results from Friday's Customs Joggers 5k:
Tim Calver 19:12
Yili Zhu 21.45
Bronwyn Calver 23:53
Caroline Campbell 28:22

Results from the Stromlo Running Festival

Trevor Jacobs wins the Percy Cerutty award

Twelve runners ran all four major races and were eligible for the award; Trevor came out on top followed by Stuart Grey and Jeff Grey.

 

Damian Rutledge wins the Stromlo Criterium Track Road Race
Criterium Track Race 1.2km
Overall
1 Brett McRutchie 3:20
2 Damian Rutledge 3:28
3 Paul Arthur 3:34
4 Shaun Creighton 3:40
5 Jeff Grey 3:42

Age‐Gender Adjusted
1 Damian Rutledge 3:08 **winner**
2 Trevor Jacobs 3:11
3 Paul Arthur 3:15
4 Jeff Grey 3:17
5 Ros Lowe 3:18
24 finishers
 
Age‐Gender Adjusted Cross Country 7.5km
6 Kathy Southgate 54 30:35
26 Maria O'Reilly 56 34:19
35 Elizabeth Bennett 47 32:29
42 Geoff Moore 62 33:34
46 Michelle Wells 39 32:12
80 finishers

Lightning Strike 11km
Overall
11 Michelle Wells 55:11
18 Heidi Johnston 59:20
65 Michelle Stuckey 1:20:35

Age‐Gender Adjusted
4 Michelle Wells
15 Heidi Johnston
61 Michelle Stuckey
70 finishers

Lightning Strike 30km
61 Elizabeth Bennett 2:54:53
64 Kelley Flood 2:55:53
65 Elle Knight 2:55:54
67 Kerrie Tanner 2:56:38
87 Michael Horan 3:17:46
104 finishers

Coming Events, week 8 of year 2011:

Mon 21st	4:30pm	Parliament House 8k jog
	5:30pm	Parliament House speedygeese training
Tue 22nd	6:15pm	Summer Series 5k Barrenjoey Drive
Wed 23rd	12:15pm	BBQ Stakes 6k
Thu 24th	5:45pm	ACTVAC Track events:
		Pentathlon, 100m, mile, 10k walk, 200m, 3000m
Fri 25th	12:15pm	Customs 5k handicap
Sat 26th	8:00am	Metro Runners Acton Ferry Terminal
Sun 27th	8:30am	ACTVAC Handicap North Curtin

tea: strong, black, and forgotten

Saturday training: the Metro Runners did 12k in my absence, present were Mary, Ann, Chuan and [one other whose name will come back to me soon] while Ewen, Ruth and Emma P also ran in their vicinity (briefly) before coming out to Stromlo.

Sunday Training: this morning Emma P and Kym joined me for a long run watching the 11k and 30k races: It was good to run a hilly long run for a change instead of a flat long run. I wouldn't mind racing the 30k next year, the course looked quite good, but more hill running will be needed between now and then.

Stromlo 7.5k age-gender handicap. Liz was the next runner to set off after me, she caught me at 1k (and kicked on). Fantastic run, Liz!

My awesome cheer squad. Here they are. Camera-work by Ewen.

5k completed in 22 minutes flat, on target , but both heavy clouds and pain are on the horizon.

I discovered when I got home that my morning cup of strong black tea was sitting cold on the kitchen bench. No wonder I was delirious by the end of the race. Not a mistake I shall make again!

The Stromlo Running Festival was a great success and will grow mightily in numbers in the next few years, I would imagine. Results from all their timed events will be published in due course.

I have friends

The verdict on Firefox: I finally got around to trying out the Firefox browser. A couple of very minor oddities detected, no more than for other browsers, and the only annoyance in the things I tested is, "select" (for copy from blog) misses embedded videos. Safari had the same problem, Chrome was the only browser where "select" works exactly as I think it should. Otherwise Firefox is better than Chrome in the few areas where Chrome is annoying.

For functions I frequently use, I would rate my five browsers as follows, on a scale of one to ten: Firefox 9; Chrome 8; Safari 6; Opera 4; Internet Explorer 2 (some will challenge that but it has a couple of good points!) So I recommend everyone consider installing Firefox, it is quick and easy to do so and is easy to get working, partly because it can copy over all your existing browser’s settings before you even start to use it.

ACTVAC Track Results 17 February
60m
W40 Emma Adams 9.18 79.1%
M60 Garry Maher 9.29 85.5
W55 Noeline Burden 10.06 85.3

200m
W40 Emma Adams 30.53 75.0%
W55 Noeline Burden 35.36 77.6

4x1500m Relay
M45 Bruce Graham, M45 Ian McDonald, M45 Geoff Monro, M45 Jeff Grey 20:16.36
M55 Ken White, M55 Phil White, M55 Roger Hollis, M55 Michael Leahey 20:40.49
M50 Angel Marina, M50 Gary Bowen, M50 Peter Thomson, M50 Rod Lynch 21:49.54
W55 Kathy Sims, W55 Maria O'Reilly, W50 Helen Larmour 23:13.57, W50 Kathy Southgate 23:13.57
M60 Geoff Sims, M60 Paul Archer, M60 Jim White, M60 Robbie Costmeyer 23:37.16
W40 Heidi Johnston, W45 Katie Forestier, M70 Tony Booth, M55 George Kubitzky 23:59.24
M75 Stuart Reid, M75 Ray Bramwell, M75 Peter Trotter, M75 Bob Chapman 31:01.77
M80 Michael Freer, M80 John Burns, M80 Rad Leovic, M80 Merv Collins 37:53.44

Spiral 5
1 Geoff Barker M65 13:07
3 Brett Morrison M40 8:03
5 Maria O'Reilly W55 9:00
13 Graeme Patrick M55 8:45
15 Ruth Baussmann W60 10:13
16 Kathy Sims W55 9:01
17 Helen Larmour W50 8:22
18 Nadine Morrison W40 8:25
24 Rod Lynch M50 7:29
30 Gary Bowen M50 9:33
31 Tony Booth M70 13:38
32 finishers

I have friends.
At the Stromlo Running Festival this morning, Kathy Southgate excelled herself with a top ten placing in the age-gender 7.5k handicap, running sixth. I ran well back. Not well, just well back. I would like to thank my friends for coming out to cheer me on - Emma P, Kym, Ruth, Ewen and Brett. And Maria and Liz who both ran (and ran well!) and cheered me on. Thanks guys. Thanks for waiting at the end for me to come in, I will run better next time, I promise.

Tapping the watch

(Actually, my run was OK. But it was very humid and very hard-going)

W50 Australian record 4 x 1500m

Congratulations to Kathy Sims, Maria O'Reilly, Helen Larmour and Kathy Southgate on their 4 x 1500m W50 Australian record. The record was formerly held by a Queensland team, and they broke it by 11 or 12 seconds. Go the geese!

Preparation: The four runners in the record breaking relay team got together some weeks ago and decided they would prepare specifically for this event. And it paid off. It's no secret folks: if you want to do well in a particular event, then plan and prepare for it.

Previous Owner Kevin


"Kevin Who?" The latest Clarke and Dawe, seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg1oBhsZ6Uk&feature=player_embedded

joining the dots

Running: For the March 12 Weston Creek Half Marathon, online entries close on Wednesday 9 March. The website is http://www.westoncreekathletics.org.au/, entries at https://www.registernow.com.au/secure/Register.aspx?ID=3373.

For the April 10 Australian Running Festival events, it's not recorded when online entries close, but early entries close on 25 February. The website is http://www.canberramarathon.com.au/ and the events are 5k & 10k on the Saturday, half marathon, marathon, and ultra marathon on the Sunday. Breaking news: apparently the Griffin program will be going ahead.

Broulee Runners
The Broulee bunch have just celebrated their four year anniversary - and here they are! Congratulations, ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys.

Meet them at http://brouleerunners.blogspot.com/

Music: four brand new album releases are on the horizon: Hillsong United's first studio album for two years, "Aftermath", Death Cab for Cutie’s “Codes and Keys”; Radiohead’s “The King of Limbs”; and Switchfoot’s “Vice Verses”. My favourite band, Switchfoot, have a Sydney gig planned for 21 April, then a quick trip via Ringwood (Vic), Toowoomba (Qld) and Albany (WA) before playing Singapore on 28 April and continuing on with a comprehensive world tour.

Weight revisited: I have joined the dots in yesterdays’ weight graph, things were looking good for a while back in 2008, let’s hope we can revisit that and improve on it as well. As I have known since marathon days, there's definitely a connection between (a) my distances run in training (b) my race times (c) my weight. Not sure what causes what, but they are obviously interconnected. As I lose weight over the next few months I am making sure I stay strong by (a) doing gym work and (b) keeping weight losses small, even if the losses look dramatic on the graph. Incidentally, twenty years ago (when I was 42) and before that, I was never more than 56kg, often less. So I'm not worried about getting "too light", it won't happen.

The weight graph (updated)

The full version looks even more impressive than yesterday's partial one.

It's a known fact

...that body weight and distance race times are related. Here's a chart which shows how my body weight increased since June when I got the hamstring injury which lasted until December, and how it has decreased since January where there has been 100km of running per week. I weigh myself every Monday morning, and record it in my diary, linked above.

It looks more dramatic on a graph compared with just reading the numbers from a table. By the way, the gap is where I simply haven't had time to enter the numbers yet. So, since the beginning of 2011, the graph is heading in the right direction again. Even before the injury, you can see there was a gradual increase in bodyweight. Better though than my highest bodyweight of 76 kg, back in 1998/99.

Summer Series Race #3 - North Curtin 5k, Tuesday 14/2
34.     Bob Harlow     M60     21:34    
37.     Kym Chisholm         22:06    
42.     Yili Zhu     M45     22:22    
59.     Susan Sturgeon     W35     25:46    
61.     Ruth Baussmann     W60     26:19    
64.     Caroline Campbell W65     27:43    
67.     Mick Charlton     M55     28:39    
78 finishers
I usually run this one, but I am saving myself for the Stromlo Running Festival 7.5k age handicap race, 10:15am this Saturday.  Many of the best runners from around the nation will be running, so I want to be at my very best. It will be the first time for a long time I have "tapered" for a race. It will be fabulous to have someone out there to support me, in my first attempt this year at running flat out.

Kayleigh, Jarod, and their grandad, running laps of Stromlo. (yes we did! I was breathing heavier than they were!)

run - as if you have a choice

Training at Parliament House: a fine evening, some easterly breeze, slightly warm for the early run but most pleasant for the interval session. Caroline, Craig & I ran early, with Ruth, Katherine & Ewen close behind. Then we were joined by Abi, Andy, Christopher, Colin, Emma P, Joel, Kym, Mick C, Susan, Suzie, Tim, Yelena & Zac. The 30 minute continuous interval session was in teams of three at the lower flagpole rectangle, where each runner (a) raced down a diagonal (b) jogged a short edge and waited for their relay team member to arrive (c) raced up a long edge (d) jogged a short edge and waited, repeating this until the half hour was up. Which meant each runner had a good recovery while their two team-mates were running. This is the first time we have run such a relay around the lower flagpoles, a slightly longer interval than we had done before when running these "zigzag relays". Next week (or the week after) we may try for even teams and run longer intervals.

Song of the week. "RUN": by Leona Lewis: thanks to Jen for alerting me to this version of my favourite Snow Patrol song.



YCRC Women's 6k Jogalong result, Sunday 5 February
Helen Larmour W50 27:57
Sarah Pau W35 30:55
Kathy Sims W55 31:03
Katherine Sheppard W40 32:19
Thea Zimpel 34:13
Alison Sims 34:18
Caroline Campbell W65 35:39
Cathy Montalto W55 35:57
117 finishers

Candid Canberra #55 - Tawny Frogmouth

Photographed in Hackett in November by John Harding. Miranda and Andy Rawlinson had Tawny Frogmouths in their trees a while back. I wonder if there are still some around? They look amazing, and camouflage so well.

rest and recovery

Something different, before I type up "what's on this week", here are my personal plans. I shall be changing my routine to accommodate some rest and recovery, and to prepare for a "big race" on Saturday morning. But I am still targetting 100k in total.

My training this week:
Monday am rest, pm 16k at Parliament House with the speedygeese
Tuesday am intense gym hour, pm rest or 8k jog
Wednesday am 8k pm 16k
Thursday 8k jog
Friday am easy gym circuit, pm 8k jog
Saturday 10:15am 7.5k race at Stromlo Running festival, total 20k
Sunday at Stromlo, 16-24k to total 100k for week.

Note: unlike some other runners who tie themselves to a predetermined program, I adapt and change my plans each week.

p.p.s. despite appearances, possibly, this IS a relatively easy week for me because I WON'T be racing Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday!

What's on this week for everyone:
Monday 14 Feb 4:30pm Parliament House 8k jog.
Monday 14 Feb 5:30pm Parliament House speedygeese interval training.
Tuesday 15 Feb 6:15pm YCRC Summer Series Race #3, North Curtin 5k
Wednesday 16 Feb 12:15pm BBQ Stakes 6k Handicap, Woden Town Centre
Thursday 17 Feb ACTVAC. Track events:
6:00pm 2000m steeple
6:20pm 2000m walk
6:50pm 60m
7:00pm 4 x 1500m relay
7:30pm 200m
7:50pm 4 x 100m
8:05pm spiral 5 laps
Friday 18 Feb 12:15pm Customs 5k handicap, Commonwealth Park
Saturday 19 Feb 8:00am Metro runners, Acton Ferry Terminal
Sunday 20 Feb 8:00am Stromlo Forest Park training

Plus, the Stromlo Running Festival is on with its program going from Friday to Sunday. See http://www.stromlorunningfestival.com.au and/or http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001688469909&sk=info

Browser Comparison.
A couple of minor irritations with Chrome functionality have led me to download Firefox to see what it's like. For a start, here is a comparison of the five browsers I have installed

Raw Performance (based on 3 benchmarks):
1. Chrome
2. Opera
3. Safari
4. Firefox
5. Explorer (distant last)

Appearance/Ease of use (based on my subjective judgement):
1. Chrome & Opera & Safari & Firefox
5. Explorer (distant last)

Functionality (based on some of the little things I want the browser to do for me, which some won't)
1. Chrome
2. Explorer
3. Safari
4. Opera
Firefox - I don't know yet, I shall deliver my verdit in a few weeks time (or days if it's not too good).

p.s. one irritation with Firefox already: while I prepare this post, it "pages up" every time I "bold" something! Or it could be a blogger hiccup, we shall see.

Not sure how accurate this is though....

Foundations of running #3 revisited: aerobic endurance.

Compared with training only short distances at a fast pace, long slow running gets you fitter. Long slow running gives you a fitness base which is not easily lost again. Long slow running makes you faster over long distances than sprint training does. Long slow running is the starting point of all fitness programs. It is the very best way to make huge gains in aerobic endurance (unless you have year round access to cross country skiing courses!)

So, here is an interesting article on long running which may further inspire you: "The many benefits of long runs"
http://www.pfitzinger.com/labreports/longruns.shtml

Saturday morning's metro run from Acton Ferry terminal: running 10k: Julian (new), Richard (new), Chuan, Ann, Byron. Running 20k: Ewen, Andy, Zainab, Emma P & me. Running 32k: Ruth. Some of the Metro runners are in training for the half marathon here in April, so will be gradually building up distance run.

Metro runners

Saturday morning a week ago

ACTEWAGL Women and Girls 5k Fun Run/Walk. Entries now open.
The YMCA of Canberra Runners Club invites women and girls of all ages to join in the ActewAGL Women and Girls' 5km Fun Run/Walk on the 3rd April 2011 at 9.00am.

Entrants may walk, jog or run the 5km loop starting from Stage 88 in Commonwealth Park, Canberra.

Online entries now open.

Please note no late entries will be taken on the day of the event.

Our charity partner this year is a local ACT charity - OvCan - an Ovarian Cancer Support Group.
Contact: Kerrie Tanner. Visit the website http://wgfunrun.com.au for more details. Click here for an entry form http://wgfunrun.com.au/docs/wgEntryForm.pdf.

not so flash floods

It's raining again (as I compose this Friday afternoon as an advance post) . Here's a photo of a spiderweb from a couple of days ago after the rain.
Candid Canberra #54:

Speedygeese results from Thursday ACTVAC track
100m
W40 Emma Adams 14.52 76.5%
W55 Noeline Burden 16.33 80.6

400m
M40 Damian Rutledge 55.95 84.9%
W40 Emma Adams 66.79 79.4
M50 Rod Lynch 67.39 74.0

1500m
M50 Rod Lynch 5:04.82 79.8
M55 Ken White 5:05.93 83.7
M50 Gary Bowen 5:20.59 77.2
M40 Brett Morrison 5:30.77 67.6
W45 Katie Forestier 5:33.33 78.0
W40 Heidi Johnston 5:34.76 73.4
M50 Andrew Matthews 5:42.95 70.9
W55 Maria O'Reilly 5:50.00 85.6
W50 Helen Larmour 5:50.73 79.9
M40 Craig Davis 6:29.23 57.5
W40 Bronwyn Calver 6:30.42 63.6

3000m
M50 Rod Lynch 11:03.31 76.5%
W50 Kathy Southgate 11:18.64
M40 Craig Davis 13:26.31
W40 Bronwyn Calver 13:41.08

10000m Championship
M60 Geoff Moore 43:10 77.2% 2nd M60
M50 Roger Pilkington 44:31 68.7 3rd M50
M50 Andrew Matthews 45:31 ran extra lap and given 47:16
M50 Mick Horan 47:32 63.9
W45 Cathy Newman 49:01 68.9 1st W45
M50 Ewen Thompson 49:26 62.4
W65 Caroline Campbell 52:15 85.7 1st W65
W60 Ruth Baussmann 52:25 75.2 1st W60

Thanks Craig for lap scoring my 10k. My first 5k split equalled my best recent 5k anywhere, my second 5k split was another 10 seconds faster.

Three Gold Medallists

Caroline, Ruth and Cathy after winning their age groups in the 10k. Photo by Ewen with Ruth's camera.

Friday's Customs Joggers 5k: Tim Calver went for time, without his 10kg backpack for once, and ran 19:11. After Thursday night's track, Bronwyn was 25-ish, and Caroline and I were 29-ish.

“turn the lights off”

What I am reading: Kraken: by China Miéville. Neil Gaiman is still my favourite author by far, but I haven't read any China Miéville before and this is quite good.

Speaking of Neil Gaiman, I often mention him to my friends and they haven't heard of him. Interestingly though, some have heard of his wife and I haven't. He is married to someone called Amanda Palmer, I am not sure who she is but many of my friends do know of her and not of her husband. I guess it just depends on what sort of things in life attract our attention?

More on the Women and Girls Fun Run coming up: following on from yesterday, here is another release with information about this great event.

25th annual ActewAGL Women & Girls Fun Run & Walk
The YMCA of Canberra Runners Club is proud to present the 25th annual ActewAGL Women & Girls Fun Run & Walk:
on Sunday 3 April, 2011 at 9am
from Stage 88, Commonwealth Park.
Online entry is now open at www.wgfunrun.com.au

Dear Club Members,
We are seeking volunteers for a range of tasks on Saturday, 2nd April (afternoon) & Sunday, 3rd April (morning) 2011. Tasks include:

Saturday:    Start/finish area set-up
    Accepting Late Entries
    Handing out timing-chip packages

Sunday:    Handing out timing-chip packages
    Cutting up fruit, preparing refreshments
    Course marshalling
    Manning a drink station
    Parking assistance
    Assist with removal of timing-chips from runners at end of race
    Dismantling of Start/finish area 

If you are able to help and contribute to the success of this event on its 25th Birthday, please provide your name & contact details to: Beryl Lowry (Volunteer Coordinator)  

Please state day/s available & if you wish you may nominate a preferred duty. 

Many thanks,

Kym Chisholm (Race Director), Women & Girls’ Fun Run/Walk Organising Committee

The 2011 Women's and Girls' 6k Fun Run

Speedygeese Recent Results - 
Summer Series Race 2: Boathouse West, Tuesday 8 February

30.       Bob Harlow                   M60      21:46

40.       Kym Chisholm                           22:59

43.       Mick Horan                   M50      23:12

46.       Cathy Newman              W45     23:49

50.       Geoff Moore                  M60      25:13

56.       Ruth Baussmann           W60     26:18

62.       Neil Boden                    M60      27:25

65.       Mick Charlton               M55      28:04

66.       Caroline Campbell        W65     28:05

72.       Ewen Thompson           M50      28:48

79 finishers

I ran with Ruth for 4k and picked up the pace for the 5th. But a gym session that morning had left me sore in the usual place - lower abdominal muscles! We shall work on it.

======================================

YMCA of Canberra Runners Club

Media Release

Issued by: Kym Chisholm, Race Director, Tuesday 8 March 2011

ActewAGL 25^th Annual Women and Girls’ Fun Run/Walk 2011

Stage 88, Commonwealth Park, Sunday 3 April 2011, 9am

More than 1000 women and girls are expected to participate in this year’s ActewAGL Women and Girls’ Fun Run/Walk.  2011 marks the 25^th anniversary of the event.

The event is hosted by the YMCA of Canberra Runners Club and involves the work of about 50 volunteers.  ActewAGL is the major sponsor and The Canberra Times, the major supporting sponsor. 

The event fund-raises for a charity, OvCan, a local ACT Ovarian Cancer Support Group who also raise awareness of ovarian and gynae cancers.  It is a very important time for them as February is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

The Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, MLA will start the race at 9am.  He was the originating convenor of the Women and Girls’ Fun Run.

The event provides excellent community footage, especially the mass start at 9am, and aims to promote a healthy lifestyle for women and girls of all ages.

Entrants will include a variety of school, mother and daughter, sister and work/organisation teams.  We also hope to see Sue Counsel and Joan Mallory continue their stunning effort of participating in every single Women and Girls’ Fun Run.

Please visit our website – www.wgfunrun.com.au for more information.

Members of the media are invited to attend the event.

            When:                         Sunday 3 April 2011, 9.00am

            Where:                        Stage 88, Commonwealth Park

            Media Contact:          Kym Chisholm, Race Directory

Great to see our Kym running the show this year. Let's all assist her, if we can.

======================================

According to a "Teen Health Snapshot", one in four Australian teenagers are FAT, it's official. You'd think they'd have learnt by now? 

Here are some FAT FACTS.

1. There is a GROWING BODY of obesity research. We have now discovered that OBESITY IS REALLY WIDESPREAD, OBESITY IS A GROWING PROBLEM, and OVEREATING HAS HEAVY CONSEQUENCES.

2. Here's a puzzle: Q: What's an anagram for "United States of America"? A: "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries".

C'mon Australia. We can do better than that.