It's raining men

Training last night at Parliament House: for a while there we thought only guys were going to show, then finally two women turned up, both newcomers! After all the pro-women posts this week, that’s rather surprising! I was most apologetic that they had seemed to join an all male group. Craig, Ewen & I ran an early 8k, then we were joined by Andrew, Andy, Christopher, Colin, Dale, Kerrie B (new), Michelle G (new), Mick C, Neil & Warrick. We ran a hills session on our favourite 100m hill, 20 x 100m on 90 seconds. Another great night for training under the stars in Canberra. A bit cold, and the Vets Handicap on Sunday was a bit tough so many were reluctant to back up.

Vets Handicap results
29/05/11 - West Stromlo (Out & Back) 7.5k
1 Carolyne Kramar W45 51:09 52.5%
10 Alan Duus M65 40:40 69.1
19 Roger Pilkington M50 35:48 71.4
23 Jeni Greenland W35 43:30 57.9
27 Alan Williams M60 41:41 66.9
28 Mick Saunders M60 39:38 70.4
31 Christopher Lang M60 40:30 68.2
35 Mick Charlton M55 44:47 61.0
37 Ewen Thompson M50 45:29 57.3
38 Kathy Southgate W55 33:12 90.4
40 Geoff Barker M65 54:38 52.5
41 Maria O'Reilly W55 36:08 83.9
47 Kerrie Tanner W50 39:10 73.8
50 Caroline Campbell W65 42:44 85.1
53 Craig Davis M40 38:54 60.6
57 Bob Harlow M60 35:42 78.2
65 Rae Palmer W60 43:33 76.0
67 Ruth Baussmann W60 45:01 71.3
87 Debbie Cowell W50 37:40 76.8
88 Helen Larmour W50 36:01 80.3
91 Brett Morrison M40 46:14 51.0
93 finishers

29/05/11 - West Stromlo 4.0k
1 Peter Hogan M60 21:46 65.6%
8 Katie Forestier W45 17:15 79.4
9 Noeline Burden W55 22:51 68.5
18 Ken White M55 17:35 77.3
24 Gary Bowen M50 18:14 72.6
33 Jill Pearson W50 21:46 68.6
36 Garry Maher M60 24:28 58.4
37 Peter McDonald M55 25:03 54.2
38 finishers

Volunteers for Cross Country Championships
Volunteers are needed to help at Cross Country Championships on Saturday June 18th. This will only be for a few hours. Please contact Janene Kingston at j.k.kingston@bigpond.com if you can help.

Note that entries for the cross country championships CLOSE on June 16th. No late entries will be accepted and there are no entries on the day of the event. ACTVAC: On Line Entries http://tiny.cc/qzk7d.

At the 29 May High Noon Meet an M60 relay team consisting of John Lamb (ACT), Alan Carey (NSW), Geoff Sims (ACT) and Stuart Haywood (NSW) set a new Australian record for the 4x400m relay, breaking the previous M60 Australian record by 1.5 seconds. They ran 3:59.26, the old time was 4:00.86 set in Durban in 1996

Canberra Swans

comrades conquest

Congratulations Kelley - The first speedygoose to have run the Comrades (86k) - 9 hours 45 minutes. Brilliant running, what an achievement!

Coming Events, week 22 of year 2011:

Mon 30 May	4:30pm	Parliament House 8k jog
	5:30pm	Parliament House speedygeese training
Tue 31 May	12:15pm	Lake Ginninderra 7k handicap
Wed 1 June	12:15pm	BBQ Stakes 6k handicap
Thu 2 June	4:00pm	Dickson Oval long run
	5:30pm	Dickson Oval speedygeese training
Fri 3 June	12:15pm	Customs Joggers 5k handicap
Sat 4 June	8:00am	Metro Runners Acton Ferry Terminal
	1:00pm	YCRC 12k/8k Weston Park
Sun 5 June	8:00am	speedygeese training Stromlo Forest Park
	9:00am	YCRC Women’s Jogalong, Weston Park

We are certainly a gaggle. With one hundred geese, we are a very gaggly gaggle.

for the girls part #2

Click to enlarge (if you really want to) and read the writing.

Around the 4-5km mark in last week's Half Marathon

Peter Clarke (first M60), Stephen Richardson, me (second M60), a relay runner, Kym Chisholm, Sarah Richardson, Michelle Wells.

At the finish

Craig Wisdom pipping me on the line. Our chip times were 1:32.03 and 1:32.04 respectively.

Photos (well the last two anyway) by Jim White.

for the girls part #1

Results Customs 20/5
Bob Harlow 24:43
Caroline Campbell 28:18
Carolyne Kramar 32:37

Results Customs 27/5
Bob Harlow 21:54
Me 24:29 (jogging)
Caroline Campbell 27:20
Peter Hogan 27:32
Carolyne Kramar 34:04
Geoff Barker 35:10.

Today I ran 30.5k, the most comfortable long run yet this year. And it was the most perfect morning. I ran the first 12k with Leanne & Jeanette of Metro, then joined in with Martin Fryer & Kerrie Bremner for the last 18k. So, no problems after last Sunday's Half, in contrast to how I went after the previous Half Marathon six week earlier when it took me five full weeks to get going again..

Thursday's Clarke & Dawe, from http://youtu.be/_K5psV0UUF4

We do it on grass under lights.

Dickson Training
Last night at Dickson, Craig, Miranda, Bronwyn & I went on the early run, then the group met at 5:30pm to run 10x300 in teams of two. The teams were Rod & Colin, Joel & Dale, Tori & Roger, Bronwyn & Craig, Neil & Janene, Gary & Noeline.

Today I resume running at Customs after a break of a couple of months. The knee seems to have recovered but this will test it out. And I need the speed if sub 90 half marathon pace is to feel comfortable. Just 20 weeks to go to the AMG Half!

Song of the week: Switchfoot - "The Sound (John M. Perkins' Blues)" at http://youtu.be/mNQgABsUfK8



This was the first song Switchfoot peformed at the gig I went to in Sydney last month.

don't ask

Rachelle

Former ACTVAC President, now Vice-President.

Post Run Planking

Mary's favourite

Run, sleep, eat. All good!

plankers and hooters

But first, the new ACTVAC Committee, elected at last night's AGM:
Jeff Grey - President
Rachelle Ellis-Brownlee - Vice President
Graham Burke - Secretary
Nick Blackaby - Treasurer
Plus Craig Wisdom, Kathy Sims, Paul Archer, Jan Banens, Fran Harris

That's only two speedygeeses, and only three with facebook links.
But once again, it's a very good committee.

Plankers:

Snoopy, the original planker.

Hooters:
I have a little toy hooter I shall bring along to training tomorrow night, instead of my usual whistle. It makes a bit of a goose-like noise. Should be fun.

upgrade

The ACTVAC AGM is tonight! This one is particularly important for the future of the club with many positions coming vacant, including President and Secretary. Please consider whether you would like to stand or nominate somebody else for a position. Here are the details:
7.30pm Tuesday 24 May
Belconnen Soccer Club
Cnr Belconnen Way and Springvale Drive
Hawker ACT

Many other events of interest are coming up:
"High Noon" (12 noon at the athletics track) meets start Sunday 29 May; the second one is Sunday 19 June.The program for these two meets is now available. The first date includes a 1500m and a 3000m, the second date an 800m and a 3000m.
The ACT Cross Country championships, which include ACTVAC races, are only four weeks away. These must be entered in advance. See the ACTVAC website and enter today.

Speedygeese training: as well as Mondays at Parliament House and Thursdays at Dickson, everyone is invited to our regular training sessions at Acton Ferry Terminal Saturday mornings, and at Stromlo Forest Park Sunday mornings when no major races are on. At Stromlo starting 5 June we will be meeting at 8:00am each week and running on grass as an easier recovery day, although if you want to run intervals there you could do that as well. The Saturday Acton runs also start at 8:00am and we run mostly on cycle path for any distance you like ranging from a few kilometres for beginners to 20 or 30kms for me! All are welcome to any of the venues.

At Parliament House last night we ran twenty intervals over about 85m on an easier hill (the fourth one along the western side). Running early were Craig, Ewen & myself, then we were joined by Abi, Colin, Dale, Garry, Helen, Neil, Ruth & Warrick for the warm-up and hill sprints. The rain stayed away and it was a good session.

Janene needs this to complete her upgrade from a snail to a tortoise.

Happy Birthday Ruth, 61 today!

light at the end of the tunnel

...or in words, I think I have a chance of meeting my running objectives this year. So far so good.

speedygeese results from the weekend. Great performances all round!
YCRC Half Marathon Eve 5k, Saturday
18. Katie Forestier W45 19:58
24. Ken White M55 21:10
35. Ewen Thompson M50 23:06
39. Amanda Walker W40 23:23
49. Susan Sturgeon W35 25:09
70. Carolyne Kramar W45 32:26
77 finishers

YCRC Half Marathon 21k, Sunday
57 Geoff Moore 1:32:04 M60-64 2
58 Michelle Wells 1:32:17 F00-39 8
59 Kym Chisholm 1:32:29 F00-39 9
67 Fiona Hedgecoe 1:34:43 F00-39 11
75 Bob Harlow 1:35:40 M60-64 3
96 Maria O'Reilly 1:39:27 F55-59 1
103 Bronia Rowe 1:40:07 F00-39 16
104 Roger Pilkington 1:40:13 M50-54 9
108 Craig Davis 1:40:39 M40-44 13
125 Warrick Howieson 1:43:14 M40-44 14
140 Graeme Patrick 1:45:19 M55-59 4
152 Katherine Sheppard 1:47:34 F40-44 7
154 Sarah Pau 1:47:37 F00-39 28
167 Kerrie Tanner 1:50:06 F50-54 6
209 Caroline Campbell 1:57:16 F65-69 1
216 Zainab Farouk 1:58:05 F00-39 53
223 Ruth Baussmann 1:58:52 F60-64 1
247 Bill Arthur 2:02.53 M60-64 8
317 Geoff Barker 2:33:18 M65-69 8
327 finishers

Coming Events, week 21 of year 2011: 

Mon 23 May	4:30pm	Parliament House 8k jog
	5:30pm	Parliament House speedygeese training
Wed 25 May	12:15pm	BBQ Stakes 6k handicap
Thu 26 May	4:00pm	Dickson Oval long run
	5:30pm	Dickson Oval speedygeese training
Fri 27 May	12:15pm	Customs Joggers 5k handicap
Sat 28 May	8:00am	Metro Runners Acton Ferry Terminal
	1:00pm	YCRC Campbell Park
Sun 29 May	9:00am	ACTVAC Handicap West Stromlo

1 + 41 = 42

Nice, but I really hate that journalists can't do basic arithmetic.

It's like, you run from one mile post to the next, then because you encountered two separate mile posts, you claim to have run two miles.

Adds a new meaning to the term "extra mile".
Anyway...

So there.

I had a good run with the Metro runners yesteday, an easy 10k. It was minus 3 degrees when we headed off! Regular runner Ann was with me, also Leanne and Alison, who hadn't rejoined us this year until now. No sign of Mary, Bon, or Andy H though! The Metro run will be a regular event from next Saturday on, we always meet at 8:00am at Acton Ferry Terminal, I always do a run with the Metro guys then continue on by myself up to 30k in total. So anyone/everyone is most welcome to join us, please do, and bail out when you have run far enough! I am trying to encourage everyone training for longer races to join us so that we can encourage each other and support the newbies..

Clarke & Dawe (http://youtu.be/gHDDjJQzEa8)

Welcome to the W60's Kathy Sims!

Here's my advice to Kathy now that she has entered the humbling age group of W60-64:

p.s. In regard to my entry in tomorrow's half marathon race, it was nice to get a mention in today's Canberra Times. Now I shall have to run tomorrow whether I feel like it or not!

No "Y"

Dickson training, The session was a set of six 400s with a 400m jog, in teams of three, and participating were Bill, Bronwyn, Colin, Craig, Deb, Garry, me, Janene, Jenny, Maria, Noeline, Rod & Roger. And we sighted Trevor Jacobs cycling by. Also, Craig, Bronwyn & I enjoyed a long run before the session.

Results Customs 5k 13 May:
Caroline Campbell 28:10
Geoff Barker 34:52

Geoff Barker running at Stromlo. That's Jill behind him.

Canberra Reflections, May 2011

Fog in the mornings...

Clear and sunny in the afternoons...

No rain yet in May 2011, but that will all change when we are trying to run a half marathon this Sunday morning!

Life on the edge in the National Capital. And there's no better place to be.

one speedy gosling is engaged

And yes it all happened a few months ago but we didn't learn about it until April and I didn't blog about it until May. So then, congratulations to Thea on her engagement this year.

Looking good.

Looking gooder.

be bold with bananas

Spicks and Specks used this book last week in their Substitute game, and yes, we have it! But we haven't had it long, we acquired it from the mother-in-law when she moved to her new unit this year.

Bananas of course continue to be extremely expensive but I always have bananas with my breakfast and have limited myself to one every two days, at present.

Training at Parliament House yesterday: attending were Andrew, Andy, Caroline, Christopher, Colin, Craig, Dale (new), Emma P, Ewen, me, Joel, Kym, Mick C, Nadine, Neil, Ruth & Warrick. Some ran early, but the main session was a series of sprints for less than 100m up the south-east hill on Parliament House itself. Those training were delighted to be visited by Jen B with baby Daniel.

Song of the week: "You Are A Tourist", by Death Cab for Cutie, from "CODES and KEYS", the new album due out at the end of May.


... found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkk5wViJo-I&feature=youtu.be. This is an amazing song and I am looking forward to purchasing the album.

villanelle

Coming Events, week 20 of year 2011:

Mon 16 May	4:30pm	Parliament House 8k jog
	5:30pm	Parliament House speedygeese training
Wed 18 May	12:15pm	BBQ Stakes 6k handicap
Thu 19 May	12:30pm	ABS Fun Run, John Knight Park
	4:00pm	Dickson Oval long run
	5:30pm	Dickson Oval speedygeese training
Fri 20 May	12:15pm	Customs Joggers 5k handicap
Sat 21 May	8:00am	Metro Runners Acton Ferry Terminal
	3:00pm	YCRC Half Marathon Eve 5k
Sun 22 May	9:00am	YCRC Rex Foulkes Half Marathon

The YCRC events this weekend are at Lennox Gardens. See you there Sunday morning! I have now entered, at last. But I feel I may be slow, as my fitness has not returned since the last Half Marathon, five weeks ago. Also it has been so coooooold in the mornings of late.

Autumn colours a few weeks ago. Now they are nearly gone.

WOULDST thou not be content to die
When low-hung fruit is hardly clinging,
And golden Autumn passes by?

Beneath this delicate rose-gray sky,
While sunset bells are faintly ringing,
Wouldst thou not be content to die?

For wintry webs of mist on high
Out of the muffled earth are springing,
And golden Autumn passes by.

O now when pleasures fade and fly,
And Hope her southward flight is winging,
Wouldst thou not be content to die?

Lest Winter come, with wailing cry
His cruel icy bondage bringing,
When golden Autumn hath passed by.

And thou, with many a tear and sigh,
While life her wasted hands is wringing,
Shalt pray in vain for leave to die
When golden Autumn hath passed by.

- Villanelle, by Edmund William Gosse

I like this quote

"What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers" - Logan Pearsall Smith.

Clarke&Dawe of Thu 12th, from http://youtu.be/itbC7KwQ1Co



Results
YCRC 7.5k Stromlo Forest Park
21. Katie Forestier W45 31:18
27. Kym Chisholm 33:50
29. Ken White M55 34:15
34. Caroline Campbell W65 40:58
37 finishers

Mothers Day 10k
31 Michelle WELLS 40:51
219 Katherine SHEPPARD 49:02
368 Rae PALMER 52:49
390 Thea ZIMPEL 53:18
460 Michelle STUCKEY 54:42

Mothers Day 5k
28 Katie FORESTIER 20:13
32 Ken WHITE 20:27
35 Gary BOWEN 20:35
92 Amanda WALKER 23:48
216 Noeline BURDEN 27:12
267 Yelena PEARSON 27:58

Foundations of Running #5: anaerobic endurance

I wonder, how fast can you run when your energy supplies are almost depleted? I am not so much thinking about the marathon runner who “hits the wall”, i.e. has run out of muscle glycogen and is starting to utilise less efficient energy systems, as I am thinking about the track runner who has run at maximum speed and has no “energy in the tank” to continue at top speed any longer. Any of us who have run track know the feeling. Such as one’s first attempt at 400m, discovering the total inability to sprint down the straight. Or one’s first attempt at 800m, having in mind to “sit” for 600m then put in an all out sprint for the last 200m and win the race, only to discover that at 650m the calf muscles cramp and unaccustomed pain is experienced. We all know, or at least all of us who have (or used to have) the ability to run really fast know, that extending one’s maximum speed beyond normal distances causes unique muscular pain, described as “lactic” or more simply as “tying up at the end of the race”. The excruciating look on the face of the 400m or 800m runner as they slow up in the home straight isn’t their resolve wilting; it isn’t through lack of willpower, or a symptom of insufficient guts and determination; it’s the result of a genuinely muscular/biochemical phenomenon which we all can experience if we run fast enough for long enough.

It’s all due to the anaerobic system coming into play when the aerobic system cannot deliver enough energy. And it hurts, because the anaerobic system leaves waste products in the muscles, which hurt.

Anaerobic means "without oxygen". During anaerobic work, involving maximum effort, the body is working so hard that the demands for oxygen and fuel exceed the rate of supply. Waste products accumulate, the chief one being lactic acid. The muscles, being starved of oxygen, take the body into a state known as “oxygen debt”. The body's stored fuel soon runs out and activity ceases, painfully. Once into oxygen debt, it takes only a few seconds at maximum effort for the fuel stored in the muscles to run out. Fortunately the body can resume limited activity after even only a small proportion of the oxygen debt has been repaid.

What can we do to overcome this? We can train the body to get rid of lactic acid more efficiently, to handle higher intensities, and to run at a higher heart rate, all of which means we can train to run continuously at a faster pace. To achieve this, setting out on regular training runs at “threshold intensity” is the best approach for Masters athletes. On some of your longish runs, pick the pace up for just a few minutes at a time, rest for a bit then repeat. You want to find out where your anaerobic threshold is: the point at which lactic acid is being removed at the same rate it is being formed. The “talk test” comes into play here. Most training is aerobic and you can talk; at the anaerobic threshold you can just about talk but with few words at a time; beyond the anaerobic threshold you can hardly talk at all!

The other approach is to do specific anaerobic workouts, such as very fast intervals of between 100m and 400m with a very short recovery in between, just enough recovery to get your breath back. These are risky because they are so exhausting. And after such a session, racing or speed-work shouldn’t recur for 3 or 4 days, even for the fittest athletes. So these days, I don’t recommend this kind of intense session for Masters. There are plenty of effective alternatives which are kinder to our bodies.

retrospective

Dickson report: Present at Dickson on Thursday night were Abi, Bronwyn (early only), Caroline, Colin, Garry, me (early then jogged), Janene, Jeni G, Maria, Nadine (early and jogged), Neil, Noeline, Rod, Ruth & Tori. It didn’t feel as cold as I thought it would, but we limited ourselves to a 20 minute session, running continuously sixty seconds fast/sixty seconds slow, 50/50, 40/40, 30/30, 40/40, 50/50, 60/60, 50/50, 40/40. 30/30, 40/40, 50/50, 60/60. Some ran an extra cool-down lap too, and it was good to see the return of Garry & Noeline, they jogged over from home and jogged back home at the end.

Blogger has been down...

... so I have back-dated this post one day to fill the gap.

stories

experts write stories..... last week's Clarke & Dawe:



from http://youtu.be/mTGiYAMBl1M

Often I feel the only reason there are so many different opinions out there about health and fitness, so many different stories about the best way to train, is that there are so many people clamouring to be noticed as "the" expert on how things are done. But getting fit is simple. Get out and run. And coaching is simple. Give people a push to get them out to run. There are no secrets, that is all there is to it.

Ditto for nutritionists. (Do I have to spell out how little use are all the varius diet fads that come around, whether accepted generally by society, or not? And I don't have to "expose" food and supplement advertising as a lot of pseudo scientific crap, do I? We all know that advertising is all invention.)

alliteration

Last night's speedygeese dinner: a variety of circumstances kept the numbers down at Zen Yai, but those who were there had a very good time indeed, I spoke very briefly about Maria's exploits using a nifty piece of inspired alliteration (as I am told, but which I don't really remember since I wasn't listening closely enough to what I was saying). Anyway Jenny and I were joined there by Craig, Brett, Nadine, Geoff Sims, Neil, Tori, Maria, Helen, Kym & Abi. And of course it was Maria who was awarded the Caramello Koala for her high AST performances this year. "AST" may or may not stand for "Tables of athletes broken down by Age and Sex".

Maria O'Reilly at Stromlo

conversation

Song of the week. "Conversation 16", by The National, from "High Violet"



from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg5geyUlU4Y

Training at Parliament House last night: Ewen & Nadine trained early and left early. Craig & I trained early and stayed on. The main training was also attended by Abi, Andy, Christopher, Colin, Emma, Helen, Joel, Kym, Mick, Neil, Ruth, Tim & Warrick. Twelve hill sprints were completed then we moved into our occasional attrition series where those finishing last in each interval drop out. The final sprint was contested by Joel, Colin & Abi who finished in that order.

Results 30 April Mill Ck 6k
23 Kym Chisholm 28:32
25 Maria O'Reilly 28:48
31 Geoff Barker 36:25

Results 1 May Women's Jogalong 6k
Nadine Morrison 28:16
Katherine Sheppard 29:53
Cathy Montalto 33:38

Results 7 May YCRC N Lyneham 6.4k CC
24 Yili Zhu 29:45
32 Caroline Campbell 37:23

coming events

Coming Events, week 19 of year 2011:

Mon 9 May	4:30pm	Parliament House 8k jog
	5:30pm	Parliament House speedygeese training
Tue 10 May	7:00pm	speedygeese dinner
Wed 11 May	12:15pm	BBQ Stakes 6k handicap
Thu 12 May	4:00pm	Dickson Oval long run
	5:30pm	Dickson Oval speedygeese training
Fri 13 May	12:15pm	Customs Joggers 5k handicap
Sat 14 May	1:00pm	YCRC Stromlo Forest Park

Don't forget to enter the YCRC Half Marathon on 22 May (I still haven't done so). Also, the ABS Fun Run is on Thursday 19 May. And the Vets AGM is on Tuesday 24 May. A busy month!

at the footy

Amelie turned six years old yesterday and we are having a party today.

Mon, Scotty, Liana and Amelie at the footy yesterday

Josiah on the fence

Kym, only three seats behind me.

trophy night

Helen Larmour, Consie Larmour

David Baussmann, Ruth Baussmann

cold at Dickson

It was cold but still last night at Dickson for the speedygeese session. Bronwyn, Craig & I ran 13k early, and Nadine ran some of it with us. Then we were joined by Bill, Caroline, Colin, Deb (new), Janene, Jenny, Miranda, Neil, Rod, Roger, Ruth & Tori. We ran 6 x 660m with 220m recovery, in teams of two. And three of the speedygeese who were there but not running  the session were Brett, Fiona & Suzie.

Meet me at 8:00am tomorrow at the Acton Ferry Terminal if you wish. I will be running with the Metro runners as far as they want to go, then continuing on to complete 30k in total. Another zero morning forecast; it was -4 this morning. So by the end of 30k I might be starting to warm up.

last day today to RSVP for the 10 May dinner

.. About 18 coming so far: please tell me today if you want to be included.

Leaning into it.

Andy.

job done

From Tim:
I just wanted to thank you for the words of support in the Sahara.
It’s taking a bit of time for everything to sink in, to comprehend what I’ve just accomplished.
Made many new friends along the way – It was certainly the toughest, both physically and mentally, event I’ve been involved with to date…who knows what's next?
Thanks again – the emails really did help – it was like Christmas when they brought them around to each tent!
I’ve attached a photo – yes, that’s me, I took that shot right after I crossed the line, the buff on my head is an Australian flag one, I was wearing it like a pirate, I felt like I’d plucked a pair of wings, out of the desert sky, for my damaged knee that day…don’t know how I was able to run so fast, but I made the most of it!
Could you also thank some of the other geese that sent emails that didn't put in their email; Ewen, Miranda and any others I may've missed as we discovered, not all emails made it through.
Kind regards, Tim Calver

63 years done

That's too old, I need a shirt with this on the back

did he just sneeze?

Catching up now that I'm home again.
Last Thursday's Clarke & Dawe, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiyWMHyV1DY:



Last Thursday's Dickson training:
Present were Bill (new), Bronwyn, Fiona (new), me, Janene, Jen G, Jenny (new), Maria, Miranda, Nadine, Roger, Ruth, Susan & Thea. Maria and I ran early, as did Jen G but a little later; the group ran continuously 12 x 200m with each 200m preceded by a 100m float. The track is in a reasonable condition but the west side slopes are not; they have been attacked by bulldozers, polluted with fertiliser, and surrounded by fences. Plan A was to have been running intervals off-track along the slopes for the next few weeks. It appears we will have to stick to the track instead.

Last Friday's speedygeese at Customs:
Yili Zhu 21:20
Bob Harlow 22:18

Monday night's Parliament House training: I got back from Kiama in time to get there and run 20k. Ewen, Craig & Nadine also ran early. Other participants meeting us at 5:30pm were Andrew, Andy, Christopher, Emma P, Helen, Neil & Ruth who did a session of 6 x ~680m on five minutes, using one of the steeper slopes as part of the loop. No breeze, it wasn't cold, but it was dark.

Dinner reminder: This Thursday is the last chance to let me know that you are attending Tuesdays 10th's dinner.

I'm glad to be back; NOW I can focus on re-establishing those absolutely essential 100k weeks, and on looking to start improving again.

week 18

Coming Events, week 18 of year 2011:

Mon 2 May	4:30pm	Parliament House 8k jog
	5:30pm	Parliament House speedygeese training
Wed 4 May	12:15pm	BBQ Stakes 6k handicap
Thu 5 May	4:00pm	Dickson Oval long run
	5:30pm	Dickson Oval speedygeese training
Fri 6 May	12:15pm	Customs Joggers 5k handicap
Sat 7 May	8:00am	Metro Runners Acton Ferry Terminal
	1:00pm	YCRC North Lyneham
Sun 8 May		Mothers Day Classic

See you at Parliament House!

baptisms and birthdays

Today Jenny and I are visiting one family of grandchildren where each one is celebrating something special. The two eldest, Kayleigh and Jarod, are both being baptised; Alex(8) and Olivia(6) are both celebrating their birthdays; and the yougest, Will, is being dedicated.

Meanwhile here are some photos taken at Mary's birthday which we celebrated last week.

Although she is leaving us and returning to her home in Singapore in a few weeks time, Mary will never forget the longest run of her life, so far.

And we won't forget Mary and her kind and generous spirit.

Look at that flag! I had forgotten how windy it was, as well as wet, on the day of her maiden half-marathon.