longevity

Here's a hint that will extend your running career: when you are in the process of building up distance, or trying to build up distance, don't worry too much about speed. Once distance is built up and established, then you can think about speed, some of the time anyway.

Cathy at Mt Ainslie

cold gold

Good luck to all the speedygeese running at the Gold Coast this Sunday

marathon Tori Hennig

marathon Roger Pilkington 

marathon Bronia Rowe

half marathon Bob Harlow

half marathon Elizabeth Bennett warming up for a marathon a month later

and to other Canberra Runners there including

marathon Jeff Grey

marathon Lance Purdon  

half marathon Graeme Small who turns 70 on the day.

I hope the weather stays cold for you.

And in Brisbane, not far from the Gold Coast, Grandson #8 (Grandchild #12): Samuel

Samuel Moore and Ethan Choi - first cousins

Baby Samuel with his brothers Jackson, Tyler and Charlie Moore

referencing the self-referential

Training at Parliament House last night were Andy, Cathy, Colin, Craig, David W, Ewen, me, Helen, Joel, Mick C, Nadine, Neil, Rae & Yelena. We repeated last week's session, 12 x 200m in 30 mins on the Rose Garden loop. Four of us ran 8k first and although it wasn't fast, it did (some of) us in. Actually I am off to the Doctor's tomorrow because I may have a problem, let's hope it is just tiredness.

Song of the week: Coldplay's Major Minus (http://youtu.be/n1O9X0_WNTY)

.

you didn't have to be there

Coming Events, week 26 of year 2011:

Mon 27 Jun	4:30pm	Parliament House 8k jog
	5:30pm	Parliament House speedygeese training
Tue 28 Jun	12:15pm	Ginninderra 7k handicap
Wed 29 Jun	12:15pm	BBQ Stakes 6k handicap
Thu 30 Jun	4:00pm	Dickson Oval long run
	5:30pm	Dickson Oval speedygeese training
Fri 1 July	12:15pm	Customs Joggers 5k handicap
Sat 2 July	8:00am	Metro Runners Acton Ferry Terminal
	1:00pm	YCRC, Symonston
Sun 3 July	9:00am	YCRC Women’s 6k Jogalong Weston Park

This is supposedly a true account recorded in the police log in Sarasota FL.
An elderly Florida lady did her shopping and, upon returning to her car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle.
She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at the top of her lungs, I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of the car!
The four men didn't wait for a second threat. They got out and ran like mad.
The lady, somewhat shaken, then proceeded to load her shopping bags into the back of the car and got into the driver's seat. She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition. She tried and tried, and then realised why. It was for the same reason she had wondered why there was a football, a Frisbee and two 12-packs of beer in the front seat.
A few minutes later, she found her own car parked four or five spaces farther down. She loaded her bags into the car and drove to the police station to report her mistake.
The sergeant to whom she told the story couldn't stop laughing. He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four pale men were reporting a car jacking by a mad, elderly woman described as white, less than five feet tall, curly white hair and carrying a large handgun.
No charges were filed.
Moral of the story? If you’re going to have a senior moment make it memorable.

Mt Ainslie conquered

26/06/11 - Mt Ainslie 9.3k
11 Roger Pilkington M50 43:54 72.5%
17 Jeni Greenland W35 52:53 59.6
18 Maria O'Reilly W55 44:29 85.0
25 Alan Duus M65 49:57 70.1
31 Geoff Moore M60 41:36 83.6
32 Kathy Southgate W55 40:49 91.7
35 Christopher Lang M60 50:14 68.7
43 David Webster M55 43:12 79.0
45 Kerrie Bremner W45 46:00 71.4
50 Rae Palmer W60 55:34 75.3
52 Michelle Wells W35 43:07 73.7
64 Janene Kingston W45 49:16 69.2
66 Nadine Morrison W40 47:54 67.0
68 Brett Morrison M40 56:45 51.7
79 Andrew Matthews M50 47:05 67.6
86 Caroline Campbell W65 61:35 74.0
92 finishers

26/06/11 - Mt Ainslie 4.5k
2 Peter McDonald M55 24:31 61.8% **gold**
7 Jill Pearson W50 23:44 70.2 **bronze**
9 Katie Forestier W45 18:44 81.3
10 Graeme Patrick M55 21:23 71.4
13 Noeline Burden W55 25:32 68.3
16 Cathy Montalto W55 24:59 70.6
25 Ken White M55 20:05 75.4
28 Amanda Walker W40 22:33 66.6
29 Peter Hogan M60 23:25 67.7
32 Gary Bowen M50 20:44 71.2
38 Heidi Johnston W40 21:34 68.2
45 Tony Booth M70 31:07 58.1
46 Garry Maher M60 28:34 55.5
48 Margaret McSpadden W60 49:53 38.7
48 finishers

I hadn't been feeling the best all week - walked in some training runs, spat the dummy in others - but I made myself go and run this thing and felt OK. 90 seconds faster than last year can't be bad. Mt Ainslie is my favourite ACTVAC handicap course and I actually enjoyed the hills again this year. So, train on, a breakthrough is due.

motivation

Running in the recent Rex Foulkes Half Marathon

My next Half Marathon will, I expect, be the ACTVAC one on 21 August. Apparently I have competed in 16 of them in the 29 years they have been held. Haven't won an age group gold yet though. Maybe this year?

ACTVAC is calling for members to fill some vacancies:
(1) Sixth Committee member
Members are invited to nominate for the remaining sixth committee member position not filled at the AGM. Please contact a member of the committee for more information.

(2) Member Services Sub-committee
Members are also invited to join the Member Services Sub-committee to assist in providing club services to members.

Happy Birthday Rae Palmer, 64 today!

 The big cats were roaring quite loudly as I ran past Canberra Zoo this morning.

planning ahead

Having entered the Australian Masters Games 5k track in October, I have to start some track 3k runs in July. So I intend running the High Noon Meet's 3000m on 10 July, 1:10pm. Fields are very small for the High Noon 3ks so it might turn out to be like a solo time trial but I still need to run it. However, if some of the speedygeese would like to join me and make a bit of a race of it, or so we can work together at a quickish pace, that would be great. Details of the day's program and entry processes are at this link. Think about coming along.

I also entered the 8k cross country so am running some 8k tempo runs at Stromlo Tuesday lunchtimes in July and on. However the last Tuesday of the month is the Lake Ginninderra handicap over 7k which I will run next week before starting out at Stromlo. That suits because my third and main race at the Games will be the road half marathon.

Please join me for training if you like because company helps with these time trials/tempo runs.

By the way, I am still collecting ideas for accommodation in Adelaide during the Games. Thank you to those who have already suggested where I might stay. I will have to make up my mind soon.

Stand Up the Boy Who Did That: at http://youtu.be/2f8XDwq3KyI



speedygeese Dickson Training last night: Abi, Bronwyn, Craig, me, Janene, Maria, Nadine, Neil, Rod, Roger & Tori participated. The main session was a set of five handicapped 400m runs preceded by a 400m to see how fast everyone was going to be on the night. Handicap runs are ideal because they pressure runners to maintain their best training pace throughout the session. Better probably than the continuous relays we often run, which have the extra pressure that comes with being part of a team.

fences will drift

Song of the week: Home is a Fire, By Death Cab for Cutie, from Codes and Keys. video at http://youtu.be/CVErSWseFf



we will awake
only to find
nothing's the same

I am enjoying my gym sessions Monday and Wednesday, sometimes Friday, not the least because they are inside out of the cold. There is a risk however ...

So far this hasn't happened.

standard of debate

"Argument is an intellectual process. Contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of any statement the other person makes". from http://youtu.be/teMlv3ripSM

hidden treasure

A new Simon's cat, a short one. Similarly our place after 40 years in the one house would have tons of hidden treasure.... from http://youtu.be/HYlD0KXujAk



No run for me. I had planned a cross country run today, but Canberra is cold, wet, windy, and promises volcanic ash pollution. Indeed, the planes aren't flying this afternoon. Despite my resolve to keep running, I won't compromise my health for the sake of fitness!

It's boys week again! The same day my son Nathan turned 40 - yesterday - he became an uncle again. Another son was born to Nathan's wife's sister. A cousin for Nathan's new little boy who is 3 weeks old tomorrow.

And at Parliament House last night the two girls who trained, Rae & Nadine, were out-numbered by the boys, Andrew, Andy, Christopher, Craig, David W, Ewen, me, Joel, Mick C & Neil. We ran 12x200m on 2:30, down the east-side sandy stretch, with the "rose garden" loop as recovery.

Results from the Customs Joggers 5k Friday 17 June: Yili Zhu 22.57, Caroline Campbell 28.12; Geoff Barker 35.23

On-line Vetrunner. I have finally made the switch to the on-line  version of "Vetrunner" magazine, i.e. cancelling my printed copy. Saves the club printing and postage, and anyway the photos are in colour on-line. If you would like to do the same, Vetrunners are downloaded from http://www.actvac.com.au, and the email address to advise that you want toe be taken off the Vetrunner mailing list is vetrunner@actvac.com. July's Vetrunner will appear on-line very soon if it is not already there.

This Sunday's Mt Ainslie handicap is the best of the monthly ACTVAC handicap courses. Everyone aged 30+ do come out. The running surface won’t be affected by this week's rain. The Mt Ainslie course starts at the end of Phillip Avenue, Dickson (Yellow Pages Map 50, C7). The long course is 9.3 kms and the shorter option is 4.5 kms.

Threatening storm hides Canberra sunset

At last we have some rain instead of the storm passing us by.

rainy days are Mondays

Coming Events, week 25 of year 2011:

Mon 20/6	4:30pm	Parliament House 8k jog
	5:30pm	Parliament House speedygeese training
Wed 22/6	12:15pm	BBQ Stakes 6k handicap
Thu 23/6	4:00pm	Dickson Oval long run
	5:30pm	Dickson Oval speedygeese training
Fri 24/6	12:15pm	Customs Joggers 5k handicap
Sat 25/6	8:00am	Metro Runners Acton Ferry Terminal
Sun 26/6	9:00am	ACTVAC Handicap Mt Ainslie

Speedygeese results
ACT 8k cross country championships (M60+ and all women)
Katie Forestier 33.33 gold W45
Geoff Moore 34.45 bronze M60
Helen Larmour 35.32 gold W50
Maria O’Reilly 35.39 gold W55
Caroline Campbell 43.06 gold W65

ACT 12k cross country championships (men under 60)
Roger Pilkington 56.31
Ken White 56.52 gold M55
Ewen Thompson 59.33

Conditions - awful (cold and windy).

Great run by Helen winner W50

Great run by Maria winner W55

Photos taken earlier in the year on a good day.

See you at Parliament House tonight, rain or (moon)shine!

age is no barrier

If someone wants to purchase Bryan Thomas's excellent book, "Age Is No Barrier", how do they go about it? Bryan brought back about fifty of the books from Brisbane and they have all been sold. But you can still purchase a copy, go to the AMA website, via this link

No barrier. Keep going.

Keep moving forward, never look back.

Happy Birthday Kym, 30 years old today!

And Happy Birthday Susan, 37 years old today!

I shall be at Stromlo tomorrow running off the 8k race we suffered there today. I did OK, achieved my main goal of getting an M60 medal (despite all the M60s with more than one leg also running). And I survived the icy wind off the snow which was falling on the ranges at the time. It was just one of those tough, tough racing days. If you want to join me there Sunday for some recovery running, it's 8am. Not too hard, obviously.

I thought you might be interested in seeing my bucket list which was published on Facebook in February.

1. Write a book
2. Learn to dance
3. Complete my family tree
4. Learn one new musical instrument
5. Play in a band
6. Attend an AFL grand final
7. Save a life again
8. Run an ultra marathon
9. Live in new Zealand for a year
10. Learn Japanese
11. Set a world record
12. Have a street named after me
13. Get 1000 hits per day on my blog
14. Enjoy the company of many great-grandchildren
15. See a live U2 concert in Europe
16. Visit London’s Natural History Museum
17. Compose a song
18. Fly over Lake Eyre
19. Revisit Singapore
20. Do a Western Australian wildflowers tour
21. Read every book written by China Miéville
22. Attend a Switchfoot concert DONE!
23. Collect every book written by Neil Gaiman
24. Watch every Coen Brothers movie
25. Run 100km per week indefinitely
26. Make the front page of the Canberra Times again
27. Mentor young people
28. Audition for a play
29. Be highly regarded by my peers DONE! or so they tell me.
30. Go on a second honeymoon
31. Develop discernment
32. Fly up the east coast of Australia
33. Hike south-western Tasmania rainforest
34. Run the Australian Outback Marathon at Uluru
35. Eat at a durian store in Singapore
36. Catch up on my reading
37. Meet people socially each week
38. Stay financially secure
39. Buy the best new car one day
40. See all my children, children-in-law, and grandchildren flourish.

And that's not all, I shall probably extend the list at year's end. After all, there is no finish line.

wear and tear

Dickson training: Bronwyn, Craig, Tori, Nadine & I ran early; joined at the track by Amanda, Janene, Maria, Neil & Rod. The track session was 25 minutes of running a lap hard, with a lap recovery jog. The temperature plummeted while we were there: it was pleasant in the sun, but after sunset I was imagining it was cold as my fingers were frozen; it was no illusion, the temperature at 7:00pm was 4 degrees.

We ran in lane two: we don't use lane one because of wear and tear on the track. I think all the other users run in lane one, but that's not our responsibilty, is it?

For the next couple of weeks, a large turnout will mean relays, make sure you come along and invite others, and if numbers are still low we shall run intervals with handicapped starts instead of relays, no problem.

Pat pending. from http://youtu.be/wzzHwY6PVJI



What's your responsibility?

waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Song of the week:

Time, by Pink Floyd, from "Dark Side of the Moon". Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way. Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town Waiting for someone or something to show you the way. Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain. You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today. And then one day you find ten years have got behind you. No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun. So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking Racing around to come up behind you again. The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older, Shorter of breath and one day closer to death. Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time. Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way The time is gone, the song is over, Thought I'd something more to say.

From http://youtu.be/MUt7qmSvxLI



This morning's total eclipse of the moon - time lapse

via Janene

Breathe (reprise), by Pink Floyd, from "Dark Side of the Moon". Home, home again. I like to be here when I can. When I come home cold and tired It's good to warm my bones beside the fire. Far away across the field The tolling of the iron bell Calls the faithful to their knees To hear the softly spoken magic spells

snail statistics

Last Reminder - Cross Country Championships, 18 June:
no late entries.
The ACTVAC races are 8k for all women and for men 60+, and 12k for men 30-59. I will be running in the 8k at 10:40am, while the 12k starts at 11:10am well before I have finished!
On Line Entries for ACTVAC (only) can be made at http://tiny.cc/qzk7d
Closing Date for entries is Thursday June 16th, late entries will NOT be accepted.

Results Customs 5k 10 June
Caroline Campbell 28:03
Geoff Barker 35:27
I had intended to run this but I took a sick day… I was not too well.

Snail statistics
"Warriorwomen running" has a blog post where she talks about her training partner crushing snails on the run. Her run summary goes:

Day 12 Tally
Snails squished: 6
Runs: 9/12
Run Distance: 2.08k/19.7k
Alcohol Free Days: 4/12

So I suggest that when the snails emerge after the next lot of rain (which we have been promised but which never seems to happen) I want to see a "snails squished" tally in your statistics too. Thank you.

contact

I saw Phil Essam out near the zoo judging the walkers in the LBG 20 mile race on Sunday. We hadn't met before despite being "facebook friends".

Monday's Training
We ran under the lights of the Western and South-Western side of Parliament House a double pyramid of 200m 400 600 400 200 400 600 400 200 on go-2 minutes 6 12 16 18 22 28 32 finish on 34. If the whistle for the next sprint blew before any runner had returned to the start point, they were allowed to turn around early on the whistle and run shorter. On this occasion no-one completed the full session: Warrick was the closest, getting back on time (just!) every time but simply being unable to complete the last 200m. A good hard session designed to test the better runners! Along with all but Warrick & Craig, I bombed out on the very first interval and it was all downhill from there.

Running early were Craig, Ewen & I, and we were joined for the main session by Andy, Jill, Neil, Warrick & Yelena. Numbers were down as it was a public holiday in Canberra. Next week we will repeat the session, or something like it. Because it's hard and it's a challenge and it's the best track there for running fast intervals.

Jill: a surprise attendee at last night's training session.

Reminder - Cross Country Championships, 18 June: no late entries.
The ACTVAC races are 8k for all women and for men 60+, and 12k for men 30-59. I will be running in the 8k at 10:40am, while the 12k starts at 11:10am well before I have finished!
On Line Entries for ACTVAC (only) can be made at http://tiny.cc/qzk7d
Closing Date for entries is Thursday June 16th, late entries will NOT be accepted.

Demons Run when a good man goes to war

What I am viewing: The 2011 Doctor Who series has been brilliant, none better than the "Demons Run" episode, providing you had been following the story to that point. The series is now on pause but continues later this year.

What am I reading: Embassytown, by China Miéville. This 2011 novel is simply amazing. It is going to take me a long time to achieve item#21 on my bucket list, "Read every book written by China Miéville", if he keeps churning out novels faster than I can read them. I am going to enjoy the challenge.

What I am hearing: new CDs by The Middle East and by Death Cab for Cutie.

Coming Events, week 24 of year 2011:

Mon 13/6	4:30pm	Parliament House 8k jog
	5:30pm	Parliament House speedygeese training
Wed 15/6	12:15pm	BBQ Stakes 6k handicap
Thu 16/6	4:00pm	Dickson Oval long run
	5:30pm	Dickson Oval speedygeese training
Fri 17/6	12:15pm	Customs Joggers 5k handicap
Sat 18/6	8:00am	Metro Runners Acton Ferry Terminal
	10:00am	8k/12k Cross Country Stromlo Forest Park
Sun 19/6	8:00am	speedygeese training Stromlo Forest Park
	12:00noon	High Noon Meet 800m, 3000m

Results YCRC Hackett 5k Saturday 11 June
18. Katie Forestier 20:34
32. Ken White 22:38
33. Maria O'Reilly 23:12
39. Peter McDonald 27:32
45 finishers


Thursday's Clarke & Dawe from http://youtu.be/eqKc8yunNu0

It's magic

Good to see speedygoose Kathy Sims featuring strongly in this ad. Video at http://youtu.be/ryMBgFLwdgg

on the road again

Training at Dickson last Thursday: Running long first were Bronwyn, Craig, Nadine, Tori & I; we were joined at Dickson Oval by Abi, Amanda, Colin, Janene, Maria, Neil & Rod. A session of 330m fast/220m jog in teams of three for 30 minutes was followed by Brownies to celebrate a certain 47th birthday during the week. Janene along with everyone else was delighted with Bronwyn's cooking prowess.

Bronwyn

Mary was farewelled at breakfast at Urban Food Cafe this morning and flies home to Singapore today. She has been a great Saturday morning running companion for the first half of this year.

馨文 (Mary)

The girls at the farewell

Geese on a Seattle highway, from http://youtu.be/COm7CNhh8V4

Misty Ginninderra Creek

Doubt

Jimmy

Marathon

The anti-taper

There are times when the runner needs to ease back on training distances and/or training intensity. Leading up to major races is possibly not one of those times. I feel that the idea of tapering before important races is over-rated.

Conventional wisdom says that a reduction in training before a major event will produce the best results. Many runners have been known to follow religiously this idea every time they race, regardless of relevant circumstances such as how their training is progressing and how much training they actually do and how fast that training is.

Some runners start to reduce their training volume as early as three weeks before their event; way too soon in most circumstances.

There are all sorts of reasons to ignore the “taper” idea and “train through” instead. Here are some for your consideration.

1. You are in a phase where you are building up distance following injury, illness, slackness, or busy-ness. As a result you are gaining in fitness. Therefore don’t be tempted to ease back: continue the build-up phase even if you are still running an important race. Want convincing of this? Look back through your training diary and see how many of your best times were run “unexpectedly” at the end of your longest and/or hardest weeks.

2. You have built up your training and are now running as far and as fast as your plans suggest you should. All is going well, the training pattern is such that easier days or rest days allow you sufficient recovery to repeat the efforts of the hard days. Why ease off? You have learned to handle fatigue and to recover properly between sessions, why ease back the training?

3. Your important run coming up this weekend is only one of a series culminating in “the big one” later in the year. Take the long term view: train through this one and see how you go. You might do worse, you might do better. How will you know if you don’t give it a try?

4. Is your running routine important to you? Some people can feel out of sorts when they follow a taper program, as it throws them out of routine. You’ll feel flat, you’ll feel sluggish, you won’t warm up properly because you are not used to the change to less running that you have had to endure. The literature will suggest you are somehow addicted to lots of running and desperately afraid of losing fitness, however don’t be fooled and don’t let the “experts” make you feel guilty about being reluctant to run less than usual. Ignore those thoughts, what you’re feeling is actually true; all that running is in fact doing you good. Sticking to your normal schedule may your best way of preparing for races.

5. How important is the long term? If you forever go through a cycle of taper/race/recover, you are compromising long term fitness goals. Learn how much racing is good for you and fit it into a schedule where you can train on, train through.

I predict that the tapering obsession will go the way of the built-up running-shoe obsession. People are now moving towards running barefoot because they have discovered that decades of running shoe wisdom was not so wise after all. Similarly in the future it may be discovered that tapering is not required when weekly, fortnightly, or monthly patterns of training include appropriate built-in rest and recovery segments.

If you have to taper, presumably because you are suffering from fatigue through over-training or over-racing, or because your knowledgeable friends would be aghast if you didn’t, or because you believe in the “science” which advises you to do so, or you are feeling mentally stressed and need to relax a bit more than usual, I wouldn’t worry too much about reducing the speed of your training, but you might reduce the distances by a small margin. Three weeks out seems crazy however; cutting distance down by 20-30% in the last week should suffice in most cases.

And after a very hard race, something different, I’d advise keeping the distances up, but cutting the speed back a little until recovery is complete. Too many people stop running after a hard long race, but after such a race, resting delays recovery, while easy running promotes recovery and allows a return to full training much sooner.

Would I have done any worse if I had not eased off for my major races? Perhaps not, because often my best times came in minor races after long, hard weeks when I didn’t ease off.

But here’s a word of caution. If you have been training hard and you have picked up an injury, or have been feeling altogether unwell, or are feeling mentally exhausted for whatever reason, you had better taper, as you certainly won’t perform under those circumstances by training through. Or, heaven forbid, you could do the sensible thing and skip that particular race and rest up until you feel well enough to resume full training. It’s up to you. Actually, it’s all up to you, as always.

Comments and feedback welcome!

fit for publication

An article on tapering is coming very soon, it needs a bit more work and then it will be fit for publication.

Meanwhile here is a picture of an owl to go on with.

This rather imposing Owl streetartwork, commissioned by the ACT Government no less, guards the corner of Belconnen Way and Benjamin Way. Jon Stanhope's last stand?

Boys Week is over

Happy Birthday Janene 47 today!

Yes “Boys Week is over”. The girls returned to Parliament House last night. One of the girls was Rae Palmer, returning after a long time away, it was great to see her again, with brother David Webster what's more.
Craig & I ran early then just jogged covering 16.5k altogether. The main group consisting of Abi, Andy, Cathy M, Christopher, David W, Helen, Neil, Rae & Warrick who ran in teams of three, 30 minutes of lower flagpole sprints (each time running the diagonal then up along the flags), our first speed-endurance interval session in the June series. It was cold but as there was no breeze to speak of we soon warmed up. More (different) speed-endurance sessions coming up, at both Parliament House and at Dickson.

Australia Story
I don’t often watch the ABC production "Australia Story" but last night’s was terrific. Australia Story is repeated on Saturdays at 12:30pm.

Cross Country Championships:
The ACTVAC races are 8k for all women and for men 60+, and 12k for men 30-59.
On Line Entries for ACTVAC (only) can be made at http://tiny.cc/qzk7d
Closing Date for entries is Thursday June 16th, late entries will NOT be accepted, and events take place on June 18th.
I am going out to the venue at noon today for a practice run over the 8k course.

.

fog

Coming Events week 23 of 2011

Mon 6 June	4:30pm	Parliament House 8k jog
	5:30pm	Parliament House speedygeese training
Wed 8 June	12:15pm	BBQ Stakes 6k handicap
Thu 9 June	4:00pm	Dickson Oval long run
	5:30pm	Dickson Oval speedygeese training
Fri 10 June	12:15pm	Customs Joggers 5k handicap
Sat 11 June	1:00pm	YCRC Watson (note change of venue)
Sun 12 June	8:00am	speedygeese training Stromlo Forest Park

Results from the Pennington 12k Saturday 4 June

27. Ken White M55 1:00:29

28 finishers

 

Results from the Longstaff 8k Saturday 4 June

6. Katie Forestier W45 34:23   

14. Geoff Moore M60 36:24    

18. Maria O'Reilly W55 37:58  

23. Ewen Thompson M50 40:16          

31 finishers

 

Results from the Women’s 6k Jogalong Sunday 5 June

Michelle Wells 25:01  

Kerrie Bremner 28:05  

Michelle Greenwood 31:28

Cathy Montalto 31:57

Alison Sims 35:41       

Kris Davis 42:42         

93 runners

 

Bike cage with token tree in the Canberra winter fog

 

 

Every Teardrop is a Waterfall

Song of the week: Coldplay's new song, fom http://youtu.be/1Kf_6BWcOOg



I ran the Longstaff 8k yesterday, results not yet available but it was a good run, 40 seconds slower than two years ago, but very hard going on the clumpy grass.

Next will be the Vets Cross Country championships, just two weeks way, which I must remember to enter in advance, as they are not taking entries on the day. I plan to taper and try to win the M60s. No tapering this week: it was 110k including three races.

The course at Stromlo Forest Park is interesting: the grass is now all white and dead but the surface is firm. Of course, one has to contend with the wind as there is no shelter. No wind this morning when I ran there but pea soup fog and a temperature in the minuses made it quite painful.

Just a note on this coming Saturday's race: the venue has been changed to Watson instead of Goorooyaroo. After the cull they may rename it Gooya (i.e. no more roos.) Surprised they don't close Stromlo Forest Park as there were hundreds of roos there this morning, enough to satisfy every shooter's bloodlust.

back by now

Speedygeese running the Customs 5k on Friday 3 June
Andrew Simpson 19:06
Geoff Moore 22:07
Kerrie Bremner 22:22
Caroline Campbell 27:04

The goal now is to keep training for the half marathon while working towards a sub 20minute 5k. I am not sure though if there are going to be any 5k races until September or October except for this Customs run, which varies a little from week to week and can be a tad short of 5k but "is" 5k taking into account its degree of difficulty.

I am back on track running my third 100km week in a row.

Today the Metro runners and I jogged around the lake with Mary, having her last run with us before returning home to Singapore. As well as Mary there was Ann, Alison, Leanne, Jeanette, Bon and Laura. "Thanks for the company" ♥ ♥ ♥

A diversity of views

Last night's Clarke&Dawe, from http://youtu.be/fZWX39oB5nU



Dickson Training: Bronwyn, Craig, Miranda, Tori & I ran early, 13k or so. Then at 5:30pm the main session consisted of 10 x 200m with 200m jog as a continuous relay; others present for that were Amanda (new), Colin, Dale, David (new), Janene, Joel, Maria & Neil. On this occasion the Bilbys well and truly out-numbered us. They train after we do; and another group, Gerard Ryan's group of young athletes, trained before we did, having moved down from Southwell Park which is apparently closed for renovations for the rest of winter if not longer.

New Moore baby

Samuel Jordan Moore, dob 1 June 2011

Boys ‘R Us

This is boys' week. Our twelfth grandchild arrived safe and well last night just before midnight 1 June - Samuel Jordan Moore, a brother for Jackson, Tyler and Charlie. So now we have eight grandsons and four granddaughters.

Samuel was born in Brisbane, and the flags are flying here in Canberra in celebration.

telstra glow

Meanwhile, we are waiting for grandchild #12 to arrive in this world. Waiting, waiting...