My official PBs.
100m ............ 12.0 .......1962 ........... Adelaide Boys High School oval (grass)
200m .............23.7 .......1964 ...........Adelaide Harriers track (cinders)
400m .............52.2 .......1970 ...........Ainslie Oval athletics track (grass)
800m ...........1:57.2 .......05/02/1972 ...Woden athletics track (grass)
1500m .........4:04.3 .......16/11/1974 ...Woden athletics track (grass)
3000m .........8:47.3 .......11/02/1984 ...AIS main stadium
steeple .......10:29.6 .......12/02/1966 ...Kensington athletics track
5000m ........15:10.5 .......21/01/1979 ...AIS main stadium
10000m ......31:59.3 .......22/03/1984 ...AIS main stadium
Hour ..........17,610m .......14/02/1985 ...AIS main stadium
Half Marathon 70:06 .......03/05/1980 ...Sutherland
Marathon ....2:26.58 .......08/11/1978 ...Telopea Park
Short story of the 800m:
I trained specifically for the 800m in 1964 and then from 1966 until 1974. For just four of those seasons I was to break 2:00, and that was after doing almost 100% track training and little longer distance. Training was hard and fast and carefully planned: for example daily sets of 20x400m in winter with the occasional 20-30x200m; intervals from 50m to 600m in summer and frequent racing. No long runs as such, but my bread and butter 400m session would have totalled 18k including a short warm-up and cool-down. I was used to running fast day after day: the day after the steeple pb mentioned above, which I ran only to get points for the club in a C Grade final (and I got maximum points), I ran in a 4 x 800m relay team which set an SA open record of 7:58. Just before leaving Adelaide for Canberra in January 1969, I ran an 880 yard race on Adelaide oval (grass) in the Highland Games, in a time of 1:58.0, equivalent to a 800m pb of 1:57.3. It wasn't until 1972 that I managed to beat that time, and then by only 0.1 second. My final serious 800m race was a couple of years later when, after running only 1:59.9, disappointed, I decided to give away middle distance track and take up cross country racing.
The details of my 800m PB: Woden grass track. Lap splits 57, 60. Placings (1) Dave Hobson 1:55.4. (2) me 1:57.2 (3) John Bromhead 2:00.7. In the last two weeks before this race, one of my training sessions was 2x300 fast; 4x200 in 25-27 secs, 1x400 in 55 secs: typical of my training at the time. Another session: 3x400 in 57 secs then 10x100; a third session 4x200 in 26 secs, then 6x100. Otherwise I had easy days including 3 days where I ran an easy 8k in 32 mins. My diary says that Nathan was just learning to walk at the time! My diary also says that I felt awful in the hours before the 800m race; that would have been nerves. I always felt worse before an 800m race than after it. Which is one reason why I eventually gave away this, my "favourite" event, and moved to longer distances. Why did I like the 800m so much? Because it is the shortest tactical race, a challenge to the mind as much as the body, and I still think it is the best race to watch.
Six geese a laying
Being a member of the "speedygeese" is much easier than racing 800m!
Today doesn't exist in Samoa
I am intrigued by Samoa's decision to skip Friday 29th this year, ie move the international date-line across their little country by changing their time-zone from GMT-11 to GMT+13. No problem except, what if you were on a running streak and hadn't missed a day? Hmmm?
It just reminds us how arbitrary calendars and dates are. I have recorded the events of most days in my diary since 1961, which is how I know that I took up running on 13 March 1962. But the existence of that event is rather more important than its actual date.
Still, this IS the sixth day of Christmas It is fun to keep track of dates... So, no geese a laying in Samoa this year! While here in Australia .....
p.s. Join me tomorrow morning at 7:00am at Acton Ferry Terminal for an early New Year's Eve long run! And if I don't see you, all the best for the new year.
100m ............ 12.0 .......1962 ........... Adelaide Boys High School oval (grass)
200m .............23.7 .......1964 ...........Adelaide Harriers track (cinders)
400m .............52.2 .......1970 ...........Ainslie Oval athletics track (grass)
800m ...........1:57.2 .......05/02/1972 ...Woden athletics track (grass)
1500m .........4:04.3 .......16/11/1974 ...Woden athletics track (grass)
3000m .........8:47.3 .......11/02/1984 ...AIS main stadium
steeple .......10:29.6 .......12/02/1966 ...Kensington athletics track
5000m ........15:10.5 .......21/01/1979 ...AIS main stadium
10000m ......31:59.3 .......22/03/1984 ...AIS main stadium
Hour ..........17,610m .......14/02/1985 ...AIS main stadium
Half Marathon 70:06 .......03/05/1980 ...Sutherland
Marathon ....2:26.58 .......08/11/1978 ...Telopea Park
Short story of the 800m:
I trained specifically for the 800m in 1964 and then from 1966 until 1974. For just four of those seasons I was to break 2:00, and that was after doing almost 100% track training and little longer distance. Training was hard and fast and carefully planned: for example daily sets of 20x400m in winter with the occasional 20-30x200m; intervals from 50m to 600m in summer and frequent racing. No long runs as such, but my bread and butter 400m session would have totalled 18k including a short warm-up and cool-down. I was used to running fast day after day: the day after the steeple pb mentioned above, which I ran only to get points for the club in a C Grade final (and I got maximum points), I ran in a 4 x 800m relay team which set an SA open record of 7:58. Just before leaving Adelaide for Canberra in January 1969, I ran an 880 yard race on Adelaide oval (grass) in the Highland Games, in a time of 1:58.0, equivalent to a 800m pb of 1:57.3. It wasn't until 1972 that I managed to beat that time, and then by only 0.1 second. My final serious 800m race was a couple of years later when, after running only 1:59.9, disappointed, I decided to give away middle distance track and take up cross country racing.
The details of my 800m PB: Woden grass track. Lap splits 57, 60. Placings (1) Dave Hobson 1:55.4. (2) me 1:57.2 (3) John Bromhead 2:00.7. In the last two weeks before this race, one of my training sessions was 2x300 fast; 4x200 in 25-27 secs, 1x400 in 55 secs: typical of my training at the time. Another session: 3x400 in 57 secs then 10x100; a third session 4x200 in 26 secs, then 6x100. Otherwise I had easy days including 3 days where I ran an easy 8k in 32 mins. My diary says that Nathan was just learning to walk at the time! My diary also says that I felt awful in the hours before the 800m race; that would have been nerves. I always felt worse before an 800m race than after it. Which is one reason why I eventually gave away this, my "favourite" event, and moved to longer distances. Why did I like the 800m so much? Because it is the shortest tactical race, a challenge to the mind as much as the body, and I still think it is the best race to watch.
Six geese a laying
Today doesn't exist in Samoa
I am intrigued by Samoa's decision to skip Friday 29th this year, ie move the international date-line across their little country by changing their time-zone from GMT-11 to GMT+13. No problem except, what if you were on a running streak and hadn't missed a day? Hmmm?
It just reminds us how arbitrary calendars and dates are. I have recorded the events of most days in my diary since 1961, which is how I know that I took up running on 13 March 1962. But the existence of that event is rather more important than its actual date.
Still, this IS the sixth day of Christmas It is fun to keep track of dates... So, no geese a laying in Samoa this year! While here in Australia .....
p.s. Join me tomorrow morning at 7:00am at Acton Ferry Terminal for an early New Year's Eve long run! And if I don't see you, all the best for the new year.
