silly point

A good "Clarke and Dawe" this week: from
http://youtu.be/3owsj5MTDKg
"what a wonderful series this is"


"Bishop none for 724".

Highlights of last night's track meet: The heat was the highlight last night. It certainly beat me, as did the rest of the field. I haven't run dead last in a non-handicap event for a very long time. If you can call a 14:30 3000m running.

Too hot!

Kittens don't go running when it is over 30 degrees Celsius.

At least we can sit and watch the cricket again today.

no snow

Happy Birthday Lucia, 31 years old today!

Track tonight
6:00pm 3000m GM
6:20pm 300m/400m hurdles
6:30pm 800m/2000m walk PH
7:00pm 100m
7:15pm 4 x 800m relay
7:30pm 400m
7:50pm 4 x 100m relay
8:05pm 6 lap spiral

The Snowman! The Doctor Who Christmas special coming up soon. Doesn't seem quite right given the heat forecast, when I plan to attempt 3000m tonight. And humidity - there might be storms.

Fifty years of Doctor Who will be celebrated in 2013.

From http://youtu.be/L3KVpvEUTns



Global warming means there will be no more snow in Australia after 2050.

Christmas

I have tried to hold it back, but Christmas is here. A large lunch today put paid to me doing a catch-up tempo run this afternoon. With four weeks of festivities to go, I had better start writing my January resolutions now. Seems no chance of implementing any more fitness goals before then.

Last Friday a couple of speedygeese ran the Customs 5k - Cookie ran 26:38, and Caroline 31:05.

More handicap photos from last Sunday, courtesy of John Kennedy.

Thea, Andy

Rod

Nadine

Mick, Ruth

Bling for Tony, Andy

"I don't mean to spoil your day, captain, but there's a fierce storm approaching"

Song of the week "Featherstone" by The Paper Kites.
from http://youtu.be/M0IDiVQxZYg

Is there anyone (probably parents) who know the connection between the post title and the song of the week? The name is not quite the same, but close enough.



Training at Parliament House: thank goodness the clouds came across for our interval session, we are not acclimatised to heat, not yet. Running 7k early were Andrew S, Ewen, Miranda, Craig and I, then doing the interval session, balanced teams of three with quite a bit of subbing, were Jen, Kym, Andrew N, Ewen, Warrick, Garry, Andy, Susan, Mick & Christopher.

More from Sunday's handicap race:

Garry

Cathy

Tony

Brett, Graeme

Jen

Photos by John Kennedy

heated finále

Speedygeese in the Vets Handicap races, Sunday 24 November
Mount Ainslie Woodlands 7k
1 Tony Booth M70 39:10 73.4% **gold**
6 Jennifer Bright W35 32:32 69.9
7 Thea Zimpel W30 42:12 51.0
8 Andrew Matthews M50 32:48 70.5 **silver**
23 Rod Lynch M50 28:54 79.5
47 Nadine Morrison W40 34:33 68.4
57 Helen Larmour W50 33:56 78.1
67 Roger Pilkington M50 36:29 63.4
83 Christopher Lang M60 42:14 59.2
88 Mick Charlton M60 45:15 55.1
89 Ruth Baussmann W60 50:23 58.5
101 finishers

Thomas Series final point score
1. Rod Lynch
6. Nadine Morrison

Thomas Series Age Standard scores
2. Maria O'Reilly
5. Rod Lynch

Mount Ainslie Woodlands 3.5k
5 Brett Morrison M40 15:55 65.9%
22 Garry Maher M65 19:54 62.8
28 Cathy Montalto W60 19:59 69.2
38 finishers

Frylink Series Age Standard scores
7. Cathy Montalto

Sunday's sunny runners

Jen

Andy & Thea

Rod

Nadine

Helen

Photos by John Harding.

nut again

From http://youtu.be/h4E-uiaIxNc



Training at Stromlo this morning: Andrew and Ewen ran 3 x 1km intervals while Miranda and I jogged around. Copious amounts of water were consumed; it appears that summer has returned for another year.

An oldie but a goodie. Again.

ebullient sexagenarian

Last week the Saturday run was 10km at just on 6's, today it was 20km at just under 6's. And Thursday's run was an age standard of 74%, an improvement of 2 percentage points over the previous week. I am quite happy about all of that.

Speedygeese track results from Thursday night.
60m
M65 Garry Maher 9.14 88.0%

200m
M65 Garry Maher 30.04 83.2%

1500m
W55 Maria O'Reilly 5:50.58 86.6%
M70 Tony Booth 7:05.12 71.3
W70 Caroline Campbell 7:16.93 84.9

3000 m
W60 Ruth Baussmann 17:53.42 64.7%

5000m
M40 Craig Davis 19:58.49 68.9%
M60 Geoff Moore 21:52.85 74.3
M50 Roger Pilkington 21:55.44 67.4
[W80 Norma Wallett 31:11.58 95.0]
M55 Ewen Thompson 31:14.16 48.1

One full lap around Central/West Basin is exactly 20.0k.

Measured this morning.

rising to the challenge

Congratulation to Craig Davis, winner of the long-running speedygeese challenge to see who would be the first to go under 20 minutes for 5k for the first time. 19:58.49 tonight, and to think that two months ago his PB was 21:30!

Craig working hard. As always.

The other outstanding performance last night was Norma Wallett breaking the Australian W80 5000m record by a whopping 5 minutes. The national record was around 36:06, and Norma ran 31:11.58. Ewen would be too humble to mention it, but Ewen has been coaching Norma for many years. And be sure to regularly check out Norma's blog at http://www.luckylegs.blogspot.com.au/, in fact, subscribe to it like I do.

"Here she is after her record breaking run still fresh as a daisy:)" Photo and caption by Ruth, and check Ruth's blog http://baussmann2.blogspot.com.au/ soon for more photos, probably.

I ran a 21:52.85, more than a minute better than recent runs. My km splits were ~4:20, 4:24, 4:21, 4:26, 4:20. The 3k split ~13:05, way faster than the last three weeks worth. I am recovering from injury much quicker than I imagined. Racing felt so much easier, too

My recovery run today (after an hour's circuit in the gym) was a 10k run that seemed to go on forever, particular the uphill parts. It's worth publishing the elevation map as well as the course map. Tomorrow, a longer run is scheduled, and it will be flat.

Yes, Charnwood to Mt Rogers and return.

Results from Customs 5k last Friday 16/11
Andrew Simpson 20:36
Kym Chisholm 22:08
Amanda Cook 26:48

infinity and beyond

Track tonight
6:00pm 1500m
6:15pm 1200m/10k walk
6:20pm short hurdles
7:15pm 60m
7:30pm 200m
7:50pm 4x400m
8:05pm 3k/5k

day off

It's a welcome day off. All that I have on is a quick breakfast, an hour of stretching in the gym (the kind of stretching that seriously challenges the muscles), a church service, a quick lunch, a half hour massage (the kind of massage that seriously challenges the muscles), meeting preparation, a quick dinner, a meeting about athletics, then home by 10pm I hope. Some day off! No time to run today, I shall run again tomorrow.

Speedygeese results from the YCRC Spring Series race 3, Black Mountain Peninsula 5k.
37. Geoff Moore M60 23:02
38. Ewen Thompson M55 23:15
40. David Baussmann M60 23:29
49. Janene Kingston W45 25:55
52. Tori Hennig W50 26:40
64. Mick Charlton M60 28:41
68 finishers
Black Mountain Peninsula course map

Three laps, my lap splits were approximately 7:35, 7:45. 7:40. A slightly different course than before: half of this new course is concrete/bitumen, and half is rough grass.

yellow brick road

There may have been a group called "The Love Pirates" who changed their name to "The Former Love Pirates"? Anyway in 2011 they changed their name from "The Former Love Pirates" to "The Former Love". Here's one of their songs.
From http://youtu.be/oitUTE4vs6o
Song of the week: "Family Tree" by The Former Love.



Last night's training at Parliament House:  Miranda & I ran early (7k this time) Then running relays on the SE side were Andrew, Jen & Garry; Maria, Helen & Ewen; Andy, Eliza & Yelena.

Wizard

Showing on TV this Saturday night. Again. I was the lion once in a play long ago. Really! It was a family effort while on holidays. If I were king of the foreeeeest...

33rd Thredbo National Running Week

See this PDF file for details.

long day, long year

I have just arrived home after a long day out.

It started this morning at Stromlo where our training group met, as it will on Sundays into the foreseeable future. The session of kilometre reps - four of them - was run by Andrew, Joel, Sarah, Kym & Ewen. Also training were Emma, Abi, Miranda, & I.

The day ended with a visit to my daughter, son-in-law, and three lovely grandchildren.
In between, various activities with various other relatives and friends.
All in all, a productive day away from home.

I am just starting to get my plans together for the weeks leading up to Christmas. There are so many options!

Customs 5k results 16 November
Andrew Simpson 20:36
Kym Chisholm 22:08
Amanda Cook 26:48

cell division

What the eclipse of the sun looked like here in Canberra

Happy Birthday Garry Maher, 66 today.

Thursday results
100m
M65 Garry Maher 14.6 82.6%

300m Hurdles
M65 Garry Maher 59.73 75.1%

Pennington 1500m
6 Rod Lynch M50 5:09 79.4%
8 Tony Booth M70 6:35 76.7
14 Roger Pilkington M50 6:32 63.1

3000m
M40 Craig Davis 11:42.85 68.3%
M50 Rod Lynch 11:02.47 77.2
M50 Roger Pilkington 13:25.79 64.0
M60 Geoff Moore 13:06.07 72.1
W30 Yelena Pearson 14:37.77 57.2

One Hour Run
M50 Roger Pilkington 11614m
M55 Ewen Thompson 12575m
W50 Helen Larmour 13488m

Congratulation to both Craig and Yelena on yet another 3000m PB.
My 72.1% is a slight improvement. The aim of course is to see it improve much further as the track season progresses.

See where I run
Friday

 I needed a recovery run from Thursday night's 3000m so I did an unscheduled 6k after gym

Saturday

I ran for 90 minutes again and managed 15k, which is an improvement. I am happy to be down to 6 minute ks, it felt not too bad.

how are your navigational skills?

Check out what Eliza does for work, at
http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/lost-ants-use-visual-cues-to-quickly-navigate.htm.

How are my 2012 goals going?
It is week 46 already and three months injury can certainly dent one's goals and aspirations. The running ones, anyway.
• Run 4k or more every day. Well, not since the injury. But I am back running daily.
• Run many 100k weeks. Let's try again in 2013.
• Do at least 4200k for the year. Looks like being ~3500 at most.
• Break 20:12 for a 5k race DONE 6 March
• Break 90:18 for a Half Marathon WON'T HAPPEN
• Complete an Ultramarathon DONE 15 April, that might have been the problem.
• Two gym sessions per week doing, at least that's been happening all year.
• Two exercise circuits per week no, too slack
• Ten reverse chin-ups; ten normal chin-ups WON'T HAPPEN but I am working on it again.
• Flexible enough to wrap fingers around toes without bending knees of course WON'T HAPPEN but I am working on it.
• Three minute plank WON'T HAPPEN
• Stay coffee free. Yes, coffee free at present.
• Weight in the low 60’s got there but it's back to high 60's again.
• Don’t get injured Hah hah try again next year
• Watch every Coen Brothers movie Will do, only four to go. Two I have seen before and two I haven't.
• Turn 64! No worries, Plan for 2013 is to become an M65.

I have re-grown a beard too. These are my more hairy goals for the next three months.

What are your hairiest goals? Feedback welcome.

novelty events

Kayleigh's results in the Gymnastics in Geelong; The 2012 Women's National Clubs Championships, International Stream level 8: 3rd on beam, 2nd on floor, 8th on bars; 5th on vault; 3rd overall. An excellent result, her best yet! Now to move up to level 10.

Stills from the television coverage of the Melbourne marathon
Debbie

Me!

Track tonight
6:00pm 3000m GM
6:20pm 300m/400m hurdles
6:30pm 800m/2000m walk PH
7:00pm 100m B
7:15pm 1500m P
7:30pm 200m D
7:45pm Hour run

Novelty events rule!

Website for next year's AMA Nationals

A special purpose website has been built for the Australian Masters Athletics championships, to be held here in Canberra at Easter time, 2013. The website is found at
https://sites.google.com/site/ama2013canberra.

See where I ran today - one lap of residential Charnwood, total 5k

See where I ran yesterday - a 5k race at Barrenjoey Drive.

YCRC Spring Series #2, 13 November
Barrenjoey Drive 5k
21. Craig Davis 20:25
36. Ewen Thompson 23:07
45. Geoff Moore 24:11
47. Janene Kingston 24:51
63 finishers

My laps were approximately 8:26, 7:42, 8:02. Lap 2 is shorter than laps 1 & 3.

good morning

Speedygeese training at Parliament House: a 275m circuit at the south-east end of Parliament House was used for 24 minutes of a continuous relay. The teams of 3 were Sarah, Jen & Andrew S; Kym, Craig & Andrew N, Verena, Ewen & Ashleigh (new); Miranda, Tony & Garry. Miranda & I ran early as well, and Christopher, Abi & Warrick were seen in the vicinity, and later Ruth, so I will mark them present as well. Afterwards many of us retired to Ainslie for a quiet drink and burgers.

Song of the week: "Morning Has Finally Come", by Tigertown. From
http://youtu.be/yXdW3D4rLjI



Happy Birthday grandson Will, 3 years old today.

Will's oldest sister Kayleigh is in Geelong this week, in her last national gymnastics competition in level 8 before she moves up to level 10.

Kayleigh

running in deep space

Speedygeese in the Deep Space Mountain Marathon events
Honeysuckle Creek ACT
Sunday 11 November 2012
Half Marathon 2nd female Kym Chisholm 31 1.59.47
10km run 4th female Amanda Ruffin 53 1.01.33
10km run 5th female Eliza Middleton 27 1.05.33

Training at Stromlo

Another nice day for training, and quite a few youngsters pushing the pace on the soft green grass of Stromlo Forest Park. Meeting for training in our group were Miranda, Andrew, Ewen & I, along with Emma P and her friends, and quite a few other runners. An easy 12k finished off  a challenging week.

I managed to total just 61k this week, will try for 68k next week if can stay relatively pain free.

Next Tuesday's Spring Series race will be at Barrenjoey Drive, just across the road from the arboretum main entrance.

10 11 12

A hilly 14k course was the plan this morning. I couldn't quite run back on the same course I ran out - I would have run through a line of soldiers either rehearsing or warming up for events at the War Memorial.

Acton Ferry Terminal to Campbell Park Offices via the War Memorial, and return.

Speedygeese results Thursday night track.
800m
M50 Rod Lynch 2:29.31 79.2%
M50 Roger Pilkington 3:07.65 63.5
M70 Tony Booth 3:10.92 77.2
W30 Kym Chisholm 2:47.75 67.5

1500m
M50 Rod Lynch 5:02.53 81.1%
M50 Roger Pilkington 5:57.59 69.2
M60 Geoff Moore 6:38.68 68.0
M70 Tony Booth 6:39.37 75.9
W30 Thea Zimpel 6:40.21 58.2
W30 Yelena Pearson 6:45.53 57.4
W50 Helen Larmour 5:55.39 80.9

Spiral 5
6 Rod Lynch M50 7:35
19 Kym Chisholm W30 9:11
21 Roger Pilkington M50 9:24
22 Tony Booth M70 11:40
24 finishers

Everyone who's never run a marathon under 2 hours 30, leave the room now

This one has doing the rounds this week ... Hitler's running injury Downfall .. at http://youtu.be/BW0oFTMTxkw

Results Customs Joggers 5k, 2 November
Andrew 21:48
Caroline 35:17

Highlights of last night's track: New starters at Vets Yelena going under 7 minutes for 1500m; improving to about 6:47, and Kym running her first 800m; 200m splits a "consistent" 38, 41, 43, 45.