Friday 28 February 2014

reality is more uneven than we have time here to explore

Posted by speedygeoff on Friday, February 28, 2014 with
Unless I wimp out and just post pictures, I write something every day for this blog.
I came across this key to good writing which I cannot recommend highly enough.
From http://thepaperthinhymn.com/2010/01/26/how-to-speak-post-modernism/

How to speak and write postmodern
Posted on January 26, 2010 by paperthinhymn
How to Speak and Write Postmodern
by Stephen Katz, Associate Professor, Sociology.
Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Here is a quick guide, then, to speaking and writing postmodern.

First, you need to remember that plainly expressed language is out of the question. It is too realist, modernist and obvious. Postmodern language requires that one uses play, parody and indeterminacy as critical techniques to point this out. Often this is quite a difficult requirement, so obscurity is a well-acknowledged substitute. For example, let’s imagine you want to say something like, “We should listen to the views of people outside of Western society in order to learn about the cultural biases that affect us”. This is honest but dull. Take the word “views”. Postmodernspeak would change that to “voices”, or better, “vocalities”, or even better, “multivocalities”. Add an adjective like “intertextual”, and you’re covered. “People outside” is also too plain. How about “postcolonial others”? To speak postmodern properly one must master a bevy of biases besides the familiar racism, sexism, ageism, etc. For example, phallogocentricism (male-centredness combined with rationalistic forms of binary logic).

Finally “affect us” sounds like plaid pajamas. Use more obscure verbs and phrases, like “mediate our identities”. So, the final statement should say, “We should listen to the intertextual, multivocalities of postcolonial others outside of Western culture in order to learn about the phallogocentric biases that mediate our identities”. Now you’re talking postmodern!

Sometimes you might be in a hurry and won’t have the time to muster even the minimum number of postmodern synonyms and neologisms needed to avoid public disgrace. Remember, saying the wrong thing is acceptable if you say it the right way. This brings me to a second important strategy in speaking postmodern, which is to use as many suffixes, prefixes, hyphens, slashes, underlinings and anything else your computer (an absolute must to write postmodern) can dish out. You can make a quick reference chart to avoid time delays. Make three columns. In column A put your prefixes; post-, hyper-, pre-, de-, dis-, re-, ex-, and counter-. In column B go your suffixes and related endings; -ism, -itis, -iality, -ation, -itivity, and -tricity. In column C add a series of well-respected names that make for impressive adjectives or schools of thought, for example, Barthes (Barthesian), Foucault (Foucauldian, Foucauldianism), Derrida (Derridean, Derrideanism).

Now for the test. You want to say or write something like, “Contemporary buildings are alienating”. This is a good thought, but, of course, a non-starter. You wouldn’t even get offered a second round of crackers and cheese at a conference reception with such a line. In fact, after saying this, you might get asked to stay and clean up the crackers and cheese after the reception. Go to your three columns. First, the prefix. Pre- is useful, as is post-, or several prefixes at once is terrific. Rather than “contemporary building””, be creative. “The Pre/post/spatialities of counter-architectural hyper-contemporaneity” is promising. You would have to drop the weak and dated term “alienating” with some well suffixed words from column B. How about “antisociality”, or be more postmodern and introduce ambiguity with the linked phrase, “antisociality/seductivity”.

Now, go to column C and grab a few names whose work everyone will agree is important and hardly anyone has had the time or the inclination to read. Continental European theorists are best when in doubt. I recommend the sociologist Jean Baudrillard since he has written a great deal of difficult material about postmodern space. Don’t forget to make some mention of gender. Finally, add a few smoothing out words to tie the whole garbled mess together and don’t forget to pack in the hyphens, slashes and parentheses. What do you get? “Pre/post/spacialities of counter-architectural hyper-contemporaneity (re)commits us to an ambivalent recurrentiality of antisociality/seductivity, one enunciated in a de/gendered-Baudrillardian discourse of granulated subjectivity”. You should be able to hear a postindustrial pin drop on the retrocultural floor.

At some point someone may actually ask you what you’re talking about. This risk faces all those who would speak postmodern and must be carefully avoided. You must always give the questioner the impression that they have missed the point, and so send another verbose salvo of postmodernspeak in their direction as a “simplification” or “clarification” of your original statement. If that doesn’t work, you might be left with the terribly modernist thought of, “I don’t know”. Don’t worry, just say, “The instability of your question leaves me with several contradictorily layered responses whose interconnectivity cannot express the logocentric coherency you seek. I can only say that reality is more uneven and its (mis)representations more untrustworthy than we have time here to explore”. Any more questions? No, then pass the cheese and crackers.

Self-Belief

Posted by speedygeoff on Friday, February 28, 2014 with
While positive thinking won't necessarily make you run faster, negative thinking will make you run slower. Self-belief is a wonderful thing and most of you will have it in large quantities. However we all know the odd athlete whose negative mental attitude manifests in negative talk and negative results. You can be your own worst enemy. "I am not going to do well today" turns out to be a self-fulfilling prophesy. There may even be days when such thoughts cross your mind. On such days a surprise PB is unlikely. A healthy optimism is no bad thing.

What do you think about when you are running, and when you are preparing to race? Does your thinking help your performance? What do you hear yourself saying about yourself?

Firstly, don't spend all your time sweating over what some other competitor may do. In running, in jumping, in throwing, in walking, you have very little control over someone else's performance. A partial exception might be the 800m, an event in which your strategy and tactics could have some influence over someone else's time. But even then it is best to focus on what your own strategy is going to be rather than seeing it all from someone else's viewpoint. Don’t gift others control over your performance.

What you do have control over are your own thoughts and actions. One good idea is to mentally rehearse every important event. Throwers practice their skills over and over. Runners check a course thoroughly and see themselves doing each part of it well, efficiently, smoothly. Sprinters and jumpers talk themselves up before each effort in the same way that you see weightlifters and boxers do. You could decide to emulate these guys: Mohammed Ali’s "I am the greatest" wasn't just bragging, it was positive self-talk. If you are not the greatest as well, something like "I have done all the training, I am ready to go" would do. Make sure you do all the training though.

It is hard to convince yourself of something you know to be untrue. Self-talk is honest as well as positive. It reinforces what you already know.

It’s a great idea to have a coach who is able to give you this positive encouragement and feedback. A good coach boosts your confidence. And of course, the coach gives you advice in the areas of appropriate condition and good form.

Just listen to the talk around the start area before a fun run. You'd think all these guys were chronically ill and will spend the rest of their lives in high care. Perhaps they think they are psyching others out, but they seem to be doing damage to their own chances of success. Instead of sharing your fears, state positively “I will do my best today” and similar affirmations.

Belief alone won't make you run faster. Otherwise there would be thousands of runners breaking the two hour marathon barrier. But disbelief will limit you. And belief could start you on the road to better and happier times.

Start believing in yourself, stop comparing yourself with others, do your best by believing the best.

- article for March "Vetrunner" magazine

Thursday 27 February 2014

Speedy Geese at Stromlo

Posted by speedygeoff on Thursday, February 27, 2014 with
It was smoky at the Vets Handicap last Sunday, but that may have kept the temperature down. Here are some of our runners competing in the 8k. Photos by John Harding

Rod


Dave


Ewen


Margaret


Ruth


De-lurking
It is not too late to de-lurk, there were no spam comments yesterday so I am going to keep comments open to anyone, indefinitely.

Wednesday 26 February 2014

De-lurking day

Posted by speedygeoff on Wednesday, February 26, 2014 with
The lurker is the frequent visitor to the blog who reads, enjoys, but never comments. Yet on this day I invite you to say hello. It is not only a liberating act but warms our collective souls to see who else is out there in the blogosphere. So where are you from? What do you do? How often do you visit? Any info will be devoured by Ewen and myself.
Just say hello or make an observation, what is the best run you have had or which post have you enjoyed the most?
I have opened up the comments. Hoping the spam robots stay away.
You can continue to lurk tomorrow.


One of the lurkers, Peter Thomson at Sunday's Vets Handicap. Photo by John Harding

Recent speedygeese training sessions: On Sunday 23 February @ Stromlo Forest Park: Andrew, Dave, me, Jen, Joel & Kylie met to run a session of 4 x 1km with a full km recovery. Then Dave went on to race the Vets Handicap, as he does, while Jen and I caught up with some old friends we hadn't seen for a while, since the handicap was being held at our training venue.

On Monday 24 February @ Parliament House: Ewen, Kanjana (visitor) a.k.a. Gung, and I ran early, then for Rose Garden 200s Jen ran them on 2:15 and Christopher, Ewen, Marilyn, Mick C, Ruth and Gung all ran them on 2:45. The numbers were down because at least six of our number were dealing with injury or illness this week, including Colin who turned up on a bicycle, and others were missing because they were away. [Edit: Bronwyn completed the session later the same day, held up by a late finish to cricket]

Parliament House

Ewen, Gung and I returning from our 8k warm-up run. Photo by Jim Tucker!

Weston Park 5k

Last night's summer Series race at Weston Park. You can actually see Vanessa and me walking up to the start, with Jen and Mick C. closer to the camera. Of course you cannot see Ewen as he is behind the camera on this occasion. Nice and shady!

Tuesday 25 February 2014

Inspiration έμπνευση

Posted by speedygeoff on Tuesday, February 25, 2014 with
Be inspired by our efforts over the last week.
Tuesday 18 February YCRC Summer Series #4
Lake Ginninderra 5k
15. David Clarke M55 20:49
26. Geoff Moore M65 22:59
54. Ruth Baussmann W60 30:01
56. Margaret McSpadden W65 31:06
60 finishers

Thursday 20 February Vets Track
3000m Pennington
2 Kathy Sims W60 12:47
3 Colin Farlow M50 10:52
4 Rod Lynch M50 10:57
7 Geoff Moore M65 12:45
12 Margaret McSpadden W65 16:57
16 Bronwyn Calver W40 13:38
Bronwyn was 16th, and last, only because she started late.

4 x 800m relay
M50 Colin Farlow & M 50 Rod Lynch in a team which ran 10:32.57. Individual times not known.

Spiral 7
3 Ruth Baussmann W60 15:50
5 Kathy Sims W60 12:49
11 Rod Lynch M50 11:47
12 Margaret McSpadden W65 17:49
Ruth doing well in her specialist event. But only 12 runners? Are novelty events losing their popularity?

Friday 21 February Customs 5k
3 Geoff Moore 30:41
5 Bronwyn Calver 28:29
26 finishers
Bronwyn and I both started early and took it easy, We had raced track Thursday night and had big runs planned for Saturday, in Bronwyn’s case a 25k time trial!

Saturday 22 February Ginninderra Parkrun #96
92 Miranda Rawlinson 28:24 W60 First Timer!
147 finishers

Saturday 22 February Tuggeranong Parkrun #53
10 David Clarke 19:57 M55
55 Ewen Thompson 24:00 M55
208 finishers

Saturday 22 February Gungahlin Parkrun #19
16 Geoff Moore 21:43 M65
23 Ron Vines 22:51 M70
61 Margaret McSpadden 28:44 W65
71 Gwen Vines 30:57 W65
142 finishers
I plan to run the Ginninderra Parkrun this Saturday

Sunday 23 February Stromlo Forest Park 8k
4 Ron Vines M70 40:43 78.1%
16 Rod Lynch M50 31:21 84.6
27 David Clarke M55 35:15 75.7
36 Ewen Thompson M55 47:55 56.4
50 Christopher Lang M60 45:57 62.4
53 Margaret McSpadden W65 52:32 69.2
65 Ruth Baussmann W60 50:14 67.5
81 finishers

Sunday 23 February Stromlo Forest Park 4k
5 Gwen Vines W65 25:30 69.8%
24 Jill Pearson W55 21:19 71.1
40 Cathy Montalto W60 21:41 74.4
55 finishers

Secrecy is all the rage these days. Obviously there is a lot to hide. I note the BBQ Stakes results have been suppressed due to ongoing operational matters. But I am informed by a possibly reliable source that a few weeks ago Jen ran a PB of 25:10.

Brisbane Visitors

M70 Ron Vines running at Stromlo in the Vets Handicap. It was good to catch up with Ron and Gwen, visiting from Brisbane. Both of them trained with us back in the old days.

Monday 24 February 2014

worth the fight

Posted by speedygeoff on Monday, February 24, 2014 with
Song of the week: "Love Alone Is Worth The Fight", by Switchfoot
From their new album "Fading West".
At http://youtu.be/rk9Pj3ID0UE

Sunday 23 February 2014

Downhill running improves your speed and strength.

Posted by speedygeoff on Sunday, February 23, 2014 with
See this link.
My take on this: I was the fastest downhill runner in Canberra once, even keeping with Olympians during races. (It was quite a different story on the flat and uphill.) But one day in a 25k race I jarred my back and was never quite the same again.
As time went on, and I got older, and shakier on my feet, I learnt to back off going down hills in races. I now run more slowly down hills than on the flat.
It's the old story. Anything that makes you stronger has the potential to damage you. There is always a threshold beyond which the training effect is negated.
My advice is to be very wary of any training that makes you stronger. By all means do it but begin cautiously; observe how you recover; increase the load after that at a very slow rate; and back off when any sign of problems surface.

I am in it for enjoyment and longevity.

Saturday 22 February 2014

Gungahlin parkrun

Posted by speedygeoff on Saturday, February 22, 2014 with
It was my first visit to the Gungahlin parkrun. A pleasant day, a little humid on Canberra standards, a "flat" course, a nice running surface all the way. Margaret and I ran, along with Margaret's twin Gwen and Gwen's husband Ron, both of whom trained with us decades ago; and a few familiar faces such as Hugh Ford (I didn't see him finish but I could hear him after the start), Andrew Sutcliffe, and Beryl Lowry. An M65 finished 43 seconds ahead of me but he was a parkrun addict visiting from England. And a mother with a stroller flew past in the second km, the only woman finisher ahead of me in the end. I was in 6th place early on but finished 16th in a time of 21:43, splits of 4:12, 4:23, 4:27; 4:25, and 4:16. It may not have been very fast but it is my best since Geelong last October. Ron did brilliantly to smash the M70 record and finish in 22:51.


Soon after the start. The M65 winner is in red behind me. Hugh is breathing down his neck. Ron is at the back of this group.


Margaret after the start.


Gwen after the start.


The M65 winner finishing.


The mother with the stroller finishing. She was quick!


And here I come.


Margaret racing home.


Gwen not far behind her sister.

Friday 21 February 2014

packing my bags.

Posted by speedygeoff on Friday, February 21, 2014 with
From http://youtu.be/_dm_2G-rIOs

Thursday 20 February 2014

דיה לצרה בשעתה we will cross that bridge when we come to it

Posted by speedygeoff on Thursday, February 20, 2014 with


This week I have been feeling happy - buoyant in fact - and was thinking that this is how I used to feel as a kid. Enjoying each day, not worrying about the next.



This first life is pretty cool.



"Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" which is why when I facilitate a training session I prefer to wait until the last minute to tell the participants what they are going to be doing!

Wednesday 19 February 2014

Step out and discover what you are capable of

Posted by speedygeoff on Wednesday, February 19, 2014 with
Speedygeese training sessions: On Saturday 15 February I ran from the Acton Ferry Terminal. From next week I expect to attend some of the parkruns starting with Gungahlin. Then on Sunday 16 February Dave and Andrew were at Stromlo Forest Park for 1k reps; I will be there next week along with a few others. On Monday 17 February at Parliament House Miranda, Ewen and I ran a good 8k early; then for the main session at the Rose Gardens running 12 x 200m on 2:30 were Alex, Andy, Bronwyn, Christopher, Colin, Jen, Marilyn, Rae & Vanessa. Ruth also did a similar session earlier in the day.

Tuesday 18 February 2014

Tuesday Times

Posted by speedygeoff on Tuesday, February 18, 2014 with
How we raced in the last week
Tuesday 11 February YCRC Summer Series #3
Barrenjoey Drive 5k
24. Kym Chisholm W30 22:57
34. Ewen Thompson M55 25:19
43. Vanessa Palmer W40 27:26
50. Mick Charlton M60 29:16
51. Geoff Moore M65 29:16
54. Ruth Baussmann W60 31:19
58 finishers
Our first sighting of Vanessa's form

Thursday 13 February Vets Track
3000m
M50 Colin Farlow 10:56.65 77.9%
M55 David Clarke 11:35.06 75.4
W30 Kym Chisholm 11:58.84 70.0
W60 Kathy Sims 12:42.38 91.1
W65 Margaret McSpadden 17:01.13 72.4
Kym under 12: one step towards a sub 20 5k.

1500m
M50 Rod Lynch 5:00.05 83.2
M50 Colin Farlow 5:13.62 78.2
W30 Kym Chisholm 5:38.24 69.1
M55 David Clarke 5:46.17 72.7
W60 Ruth Baussmann 7:53.94 69.9
Rod oh so close to a sub 5. He ran solo all the way

Spiral 6
1 Rod Lynch M50 9:02
4 Colin Farlow M50 9:20
5 Kathy Sims W60 10:42
9 David Clarke M55 10:05
11 Ruth Baussmann W60 13:44
15 Kym Chisholm W30 10:15
19 Margaret McSpadden W65 15:02
20 finishers
Rod flashes home to win just on the line

Friday 14 February Customs 5k
Geoff Moore 23:04
Bronwyn Calver 24:37
The second 23:04 in three outings this year

Saturday 15 February Ginninderra Parkrun #95
96 Ruth Baussmann 28:41 W60
157 finishers
Part of Ruth's long run

Saturday 15 February Tuggeranong Parkrun #52
6 David Clarke 19:50 M55
54 Ewen Thompson 24:51 M55
170 finishers
Dave running consistently under 20 minutes

Saturday 15 February Gungahlin Parkrun #18
120 finishers
No speedygeese today but I am thinking of running Gungahlin next time.

Monday 17 February 2014

lanterns

Posted by speedygeoff on Monday, February 17, 2014 with
Song of the week. I have finally caught up with the group "Birds Of Tokyo". Here is their popular number from 2013. I "discovered" this by listening to the Triple J Top 100.
From http://youtu.be/mbJ3vacGOhw

Sunday 16 February 2014

New Physical Activity Guidelines

Posted by speedygeoff on Sunday, February 16, 2014 with


For more than a decade we've been told we need to be physically active for 30 minutes a day, but new exercise guidelines suggest we do double that.
If you are one of the 50 per cent of Australians who manage to fit in the 30 minutes of exercise every day, well done. But you are probably going to be a little disappointed to know you should now aim for 60 minutes.
Australia's new physical activity guidelines have been released, and they are a world first in recommending we do up to 300 minutes of exercise every week.
This amount is not only double the 150 minutes previously advised in the Australian guidelines, which were released in 1999, it's also double the amount recommended in international exercise guidelines.
We're also being encouraged to avoid prolonged periods of sitting and to do muscle strengthening activities at least two days a week.
Lead author Professor Wendy Brown says we need to aim for a "stretched target" or a range of 150 to 300 minutes of moderate intensity exercise, which is exercise at a level that takes some effort, but at which you are still able to talk.
"If you're currently meeting the previous guideline of 150 minutes per week, you should be looking at increasing that up to 300 minutes per week," Brown says.
"If you're not currently meeting the recommended 150 minutes, then it's important to take note of the new guidelines and try and gradually increasing your activity levels."
Growing waistlines
The old guidelines said we needed to 'put together at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days'. We were told to do this as evidence shows switching from doing nothing to 30 minutes a day can cut the risk of heart disease by up to 40 per cent.
"It was almost as if we were saying 'try to get to 150, but if you can't... don't worry about it'," said Brown, from the School of Human Movement Studies at The University of Queensland and board member of Sports Medicine Australia.
"This is a way of saying 'well get to 150 minutes but try and do a bit more'. It's a bit of a wake up call about how little we do. It's trying to change people's perceptions to say 'you have to take this seriously'."
With Australian adults gaining weight at an average rate of about half a kilogram a year, Brown says, our growing waistlines call for more drastic advice.
She admits 300 minutes a week is not a cure for obesity, but that it is a target designed to prevent many of us from gaining weight. And it's a move international exercise and public health experts are applauding.
"Around the world there has been amazing interest. Researchers and leading scientists are saying 'that's fantastic, it's about time somebody bit the bullet'. I thought at the time we are putting our heads on the block a bit here but it needs to be done."
"If you prevent weight gain, you prevent diabetes, cardiovascular disease and several cancers as well."
Short on time? Go harder
The previous guidelines emphasised moderate intensity exercise, adding in some extra vigorous exercise if you chose to. The new approach is more flexible – pointing out that you can do either moderate or vigorous exercise. (Vigorous exercise is described as requiring more effort and making you 'huff and puff'.)
And if you're short on time, choosing vigorous exercise means you can roughly halve the time you need to invest. So you could choose to do 75 to 150 minutes a week of more vigorous exercise, or an equivalent combination of both.
"Most people actually do a combination," Brown said.
But whatever you do, it needs to be regular – daily or every second day if you can – as you won't get the same benefit if you try to achieve your entire target on one or two days of the week.
In Brown's view, the fact that only 50 per cent of the population is meeting the previous guidelines should not detract from the importance of the message – especially given there's evidence around half of those who met the old guidelines were actually active for 300 minutes a week.
"We all make choices about how we spend our time. It's a question of prioritising what's important."
"It is achievable. It's not as though no-one's doing this."
Other recommendations
We're also being told to break up long periods of sitting as often as possible because of evidence linking too much sitting to the risk of type 2 diabetes and other poor health outcomes. This message is relevant for all of us, even those who do enough physical activity.
Aiming for two sessions of muscle strengthening activities is also being encouraged, as this is known to help prevent diabetes, improve weight maintenance and improve physical functioning as you age.
The research is not clear on the duration needed but a good goal was two 20 minute sessions a week, which could be part of the total weekly exercise you clocked up, Brown said. It need not involve weights or machines or visiting a gym. You could try household tasks that involved lifting carrying or digging, or do body weight exercises like pushups, squats or lunges.
For the first time, the new separate guidelines for children and teenagers also recommend limiting time spent using electronic media for entertainment.
Published 12/02/2014

Saturday 15 February 2014

lovely weather for (speedy) ducks

Posted by speedygeoff on Saturday, February 15, 2014 with


...but none of the speedyducks were at Acton Ferry Terminal this morning. I did have a long chat with Lyn and Kent though. And there were many people out running; mostly young women I don't remember seeing before. Maybe many are from the new intake at ANU as O week has been on. If so, this generation of young women are right into running. And none, absolutely none, of the young men, sadly.

I will TERMINAte the Saturday morning Ferry Terminal run now, as interest has waned, and I will revert to running some of the immensely popular parkruns instead.

My pattern, revised
Mondays PH intervals, supervising only
Tuesdays Summer Series race over 5k
Wednesday recovery
Thursday track race
Friday recovery
Saturday A parkrun race 5k
Sunday SFP interval training

What no long runs you say? There will be. When Summer Series ends I will turn Tuesdays into a very long day. And when track finishes or when I won't be running track, Thursday will be a second long day.



Q: What time does a duck wake up?
A: At the quack of dawn

The best things in life.

Posted by speedygeoff on Saturday, February 15, 2014 with
I just wanted to say that the speedygosling twins Darcy Joseph Morrison and Molly Heather Morrison are now one month old! And they are absolutely gorgeous. Congratulations once again Brett and Nadine.

Friday 14 February 2014

problems

Posted by speedygeoff on Friday, February 14, 2014 with
Sitting around the table the other day with a few speedygeese I posed a couple of simple problems. Simple to me, a mathematician, when viewed clearly, so I thought at least the other mathematicians/IT people there might come up with the right answers. But they did struggle a bit and some prompting was needed. To be fair, it was straight after training.

I will restate in general terms the two problems I gave them. When I posed the question to the group I was more specific (I think I chose 23 for x). The answers are below the surprisingly relevant cartoon! The problems concerned a hypothetical tennis tournament. Any number of people are allowed to enter and play in this tournament. I am the tournament manager and will allow byes only in the first round. (a) If x people enter the tournament, how many matches do I have to schedule? (b) If x people enter the tournament, how many games will there be in the first round?

So I suppose you will jump to the answers below, but have a think about it first; try some values for x to get an idea how it works. Note that x can be any positive integer.



The answers are: (a) the simple way of looking at this is that every match eliminates one player. Only one player, the winner, doesn't get eliminated. So x-1 players need to be eliminated, which is the number of matches to be scheduled. (b) Much trickier. If x is a power of 2 there are no byes and there are x/2 games in the first round. If x is not a power of 2, let y be the next power of two greater than x, then the number of players absent from the first round is y-x, the number of players actually playing is therefore x-(y-x) which is 2x-y, and the number of matches is half that. For example, a tournament of 20 players would have 12 (32-20) sitting out while the other 8 would be playing in 4 matches to decide which 4 would join the 12 for a second round of 16 players. Easy!

This is the sort of thing one thinks about sometimes when out running.

Thursday 13 February 2014

Smitten - A Simon's Cat episode for Valentines Day

Posted by speedygeoff on Thursday, February 13, 2014 with
From http://youtu.be/aE_gN8fA2xE



And happy birthday to my little brother today
From http://youtu.be/tGtSpsYURAQ

Wednesday 12 February 2014

who is training in the heat?

Posted by speedygeoff on Wednesday, February 12, 2014 with
On Saturday 8 February Acton Ferry Terminal, Andy and I had an easy run. We cut it back to 12k, and it is surprising how easy it felt not doing the 19k we have done in the last few weeks. This proves the value of the 19k! There were many lake users this morning, getting their exercise in while it was cooler.

On Sunday 9 February @ Stromlo Forest Park there was a total fire ban so I assumed that like last time the park would be closed to all members of the public. Surprise surprise, there was a big MTB event booked which went ahead as if nothing was any different. I understand that Andrew turned up and did his interval session there. I will ignore fire bans in future.

On Monday 10 February @ Parliament House – Bronwyn did the session in the morning. At the normal time I ran early in the heat, it was oppressively hot, then I supervised a session of 6 x 400m from the tennis court, attended by Andy, Christopher, Colin, Jen, Kym, Mick C, Ruth, Vanessa & Warrick. It had cooled down quite a bit by then. We did Ruth Challenge exercises between sprints.

In the last couple of days the Bungendore Doctor has arrived in the early evening. Let's hope that continues. Better still, a change in the weather would be good. It has never been this hot for this long.

Snow bunnies...


Never happens here...


For interest...

Tuesday 11 February 2014

Tuesday Times

Posted by speedygeoff on Tuesday, February 11, 2014 with
Race Results
Wednesday 4 December 2013 BBQ Stakes
6. Jennifer Bright 25:51
42. Caroline Campbell 43:58
Wednesday 18 December 2013 BBQ Stakes
10. Andrew Matthews 29:46
12. Jennifer Bright 30:54
31. Caroline Campbell 43:15
Wednesday 8 January 2014 BBQ Stakes
15. Jennifer Bright 26:15
22. Andrew Matthews 29:34
32. Joel Pearson 31:44
Wednesday 15 January 2014 BBQ Stakes
7. Jennifer Bright
11. Caroline Campbell
23. Joel Pearson
Wednesday 22 January 2014 BBQ Stakes not yet available
Wednesday 29 January 2014 BBQ Stakes ditto
Wednesday 5 February 2014 BBQ Stakes ditto
Results for BBQ Stakes 6k come through very late which is why I have ignored the event for a while.

Tuesday 4 February YCRC Summer Series #2
Boat house East 5k
12. David Clarke M55 19:39
16. Kym Chisholm W30 20:42
26. Geoff Moore M65 22:18
47. Ewen Thompson M55 26:32
53. Caroline Campbell W70 27:59
54. Mick Charlton M60 28:04
55. Ruth Baussmann W60 28:07
58. Margaret McSpadden W65 30:34
59 finishers
Ewen hadn’t expected to run so didn’t have his racing shoes.

Thursday 6 February Vets Track.
I was the Meet Director so didn’t run.

3000m
M50 Rod Lynch 10:48.64 80.1%
M50 Colin Farlow 11:10.06 76.3
M55 David Clarke 12:23.63 70.5
M55 Ewen Thompson 13:47.28 63.9
W60 Ruth Baussmann 16:34.42 70.9
W65 Margaret McSpadden 17:27.57 70.5
It was hot

800m Pennington
3 Rod Lynch M50 3:58
4 Kathy Sims W60 4:00
5 Caroline Campbell W70 4:09
14 David Clarke M55 4:26
19 finishers
These are gross times. The net times in the website were wrong last time I looked. They would all be out by the same number of seconds; about 30 to 33.

Spiral 5
1 Kathy Sims W60 8:59
4 David Clarke M55 8:07
6 Rod Lynch M50 7:42
13 Caroline Campbell W70 11:14
14 Ruth Baussmann W60 11:16
20 Margaret McSpadden W65 12:10
24 finishers

Friday 7 February Customs 5k
Geoff Moore 23:45
Bronwyn Calver 27:02
Caroline Campbell 32:10
It was hot

Saturday 8 February Ginninderra Parkrun #94
106 Ruth Baussmann 29:24 W60
119 Margaret McSpadden 30:31 W65
174 finishers

Saturday 8 February Tuggeranong Parkrun #51
10 David Clarke 19:38 M55
60 Ewen Thompson 24:21 M55
244 finishers
Dave was 2 seconds outside his PB

Saturday 8 February Gungahlin Parkrun #17
182 runners
Record numbers once again.

Monday 10 February 2014

Song of the week from Arcade Fire, live.

Posted by speedygeoff on Monday, February 10, 2014 with
Song of week: Arcade Fire, live in the Triple J studio, with "My Body is a Cage"
via http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/thedoctor/blog/s3934667.htm
From http://youtu.be/tTUNmFavgxw

Sunday 9 February 2014

babies

Posted by speedygeoff on Sunday, February 09, 2014 with
A new baby for Kristian


Just the two for Nadine and Brett


You don't want too many

Saturday 8 February 2014

The benefits of weight training for distance runners

Posted by speedygeoff on Saturday, February 08, 2014 with
Put simply - I haven't had a sprint finish in years. Last Tuesday, in the Summer Series 5k at Boathouse East, I was huffing and puffing along trying to drag in runners, and out of the blue sprinted the last 100m or so. Haven't done that in years.

So if you want to find your inner sprinter, even if only at the end of races, do some weight training.

Friday 7 February 2014

Seen at Campbell Park

Posted by speedygeoff on Friday, February 07, 2014 with

Nadine


Cathy


Rae


Dave


Ruth


Nadine


Mick


Mick receives his 100 run T-shirt.

Thursday 6 February 2014

Recovery after training is as important as the training itself

Posted by speedygeoff on Thursday, February 06, 2014 with
I wonder how long it takes to recover from a training session? My "rules" of training have included the following:
(a) Follow a speed or strength day with a long day, to aid recovery.
(b) Follow a long day with an easy day, for the same reason.
(c) Precede a race or speed day with an easy day, so that you come into it fresh.

True up to a point but greatly over simplified. Possibly counter-productive if followed religiously. Rules are made to be broken, especially when they are rules of thumb like the above. There are many other factors to consider which should influence your decision about the kind of exercise appropriate from day to day, and whether you have recovered sufficiently for the effort you had planned for today. Do you want to avoid over training, to stay well, and to perform at your best? Then you had better be flexible enough to say "no" to your planned training session whenever you need to.

Break the pattern when
(a) You have had a really good training session and gone harder than you had planned. The worst thing you could do is to get all excited and push up the pace and intensity again the following day. The best thing to do is to reduce the intensity or distance of the next day's session. This will ensure you recover well.
(b) You have felt good and gone hard for *two* days in a row. You MUST take it easy on day three, whether the schedule says that or not.
(c) You spend the rest of the day after a run doing unaccustomed physical labour. You will need to factor in the extra tiredness that will eventuate.
(d) It is hot. Hydrate, but also cut your long run by at least a third. A 10k run on a hot day will give you the same benefit as a 15k run on a cool day, trust me.

You should also change the pattern as you get older. I could once coast through 20k and beyond in 90 minutes in training. A 20k run now would take me up to 2 hours in training. I calculate that my 90 minute 15k run is of the same value now as my 90 minute 20k run was then. Here's the key: run to time, not to distance, as you age.

Ageing may bring with it delayed recovery. What took one day to get over at thirty years of age, may take two when you are fifty, and three when you are as old as me. All the more reason to plan runs according to time rather than distance.

Recovery is as important as effort when it comes to training. Some would say that recovery is the key to improving your fitness, because it is in recovery that the training effect occurs. So, don't just stick to a schedule. You must HAVE a training plan. But be prepared to look at the bigger picture and be prepared to use some common sense, fine tuning the schedule daily according to circumstances.

- my Vetrunner article February 2014.
Footnote: I might have mentioned that recovery after racing is just as important.

Wednesday 5 February 2014

bringing up the rear

Posted by speedygeoff on Wednesday, February 05, 2014 with
Training sessions over the last week included Saturday morning 1 February when at Acton Ferry Terminal Miranda ran about 16k and I ran 19k. Part of my run was reasonably fast.

Then on Sunday 2 February speedygeese @ Stromlo Forest Park: There was no Andrew, Lucia, Ewen, or Kylie today but I supervised while Dave ran 5 x 100m and 20 x 200m with 100m recovery and some breaks, and Joel arrived later and joined in. Ken, Katie and Amanda were also training there.

On Monday 3 February the speedygeese training @ Parliament House was held in extreme heat. I supervised while Christopher, Jen, Rae, Vanessa and Warrick ran 6 x 400m on 4 mins from the western side oval looping south.

Tuesday 4 February 2014

How we have been racing.

Posted by speedygeoff on Tuesday, February 04, 2014 with
Tuesday 28 January YCRC Summer Series #1
Stromlo Forest Park 2k
4. Caroline Campbell W70 11:09
13 finishers

Stromlo Forest Park 5k
9. David Clarke M55 21:38
10. Kym Chisholm W30 21:42
16. Geoff Moore M65 22:56
23. Ewen Thompson M55 25:47
38 finishers
I do enjoy this course, two laps of the grass cross country circuit. The time was better than expected, too.

Thursday 30 January Vets Track
3000m
W30 Kym Chisholm 12:05.69 69.4%
W60 Kathy Sims 13:11.46 87.7

800m
W30 Kym Chisholm 2:45.24 68.6%
M65 Geoff Moore 3:02.65 71.8

10k
M50 Colin Farlow 41:50.95 73.1%
M55 David Clarke 43:30.43 72.1
M55 Ewen Thompson 52:57.39 59.7
W70 Caroline Campbell 58:54.14 80.2
No joy for me in the 800m. Splits of 90 & 92.

Friday 31 January Customs 5k
No speedygeese this week

Saturday 1 February Ginninderra Parkrun #93
168 finishers

Saturday 1 February Tuggeranong Parkrun #50
12 Jen Bright 19:56 W35
22 David Clarke 21:15 M55
250 finishers
Four second 5k PB for Jen and first time under 20 minutes, and she eclipsed Craig's sub 20 PB by two seconds.

Saturday 1 February Gungahlin Parkrun #16
63 Ruth Baussmann 28:41 W60
74 Margaret McSpadden 30:01 W65
155 finishers

Sunday 2 February YCRC Women’s 6k Jogalong
32. Kathy Sims W60 29:13
54. Caroline Campbell W70 36:12
70. Cathy Montalto W60 35:36
83 finishers
The new Jogalong course at Weston Park was by all accounts a great success.

Not everyone suffered from Canberra's record heat.


Young athletes at the AIS water jump during competition last week.

Monday 3 February 2014

Living Colour

Posted by speedygeoff on Monday, February 03, 2014 with
Song of the week: Living Colour, by Paper Kites
At http://youtu.be/jGclgHQltf0

Sunday 2 February 2014

A brief comment about early starts on weekends.

Posted by speedygeoff on Sunday, February 02, 2014 with

Saturday 1 February 2014

Priorities

Posted by speedygeoff on Saturday, February 01, 2014 with
I met a man the other day who hadn't exercised because he didn't have time. Ah, priorities! My priority is somewhat at variance to his.



What are your priorities? What do you spend your time doing? What is on your mind most of the time? In what areas of your life have you set goals? Are your priorities good ones? Are they the best?