On Sunday 25 June the distance group (
Dave) reports:
This morning’s speedygeese long run started according to plan, with Jen and I doing a 6k frozen lap of Lake Tuggeranong in minus 5 degrees then meeting up with Sammi, Narelle, Bronwyn, Sandeep, Ewen and Thach (who ran in from home) for a 16k course to Gordon Pond, Pine Island and back to the lake. The run ran smoothly…until the second kilometre when Jen tried to send Narelle the wrong way. Of course, I quickly got them back on track, and kept them on track, leading the way for at least another 1km. I must admit I missed a turnoff (having only run this course 5 times before) and most of the others followed like lemmings until I admitted I had no idea where we were going. Meanwhile Bronwyn, Sandeep and Ewen had given up shouting and continued on the correct course. We turned back and met up with some of them, waiting for us, a few km later (except for Jen, who had refused to follow me a second time and ended up heading into the bush). Narelle, Sammi, Ewen, Thach and Sandeep continued on, following Bronwyn who was by this time way out in the lead, never to be seen again. I went back for Jen and found her walking in circles mumbling about gates. After leading Jen out of the wilderness, we eventually caught up with Ewen and Sandeep (Narelle, Sammi, Bronwyn and Thach were long gone) and it was smooth sailing for the last few km. I finished off with a 6.5k lake lap in just under 30 minutes. In the end Bronwyn, Ewen, Narelle and Sammi had done 16k, Sandeep did 18 while Jen managed 22 with a sore hip (among other things) and Thach chalked up 25 at a cracking pace. I finished with 30k in 2:29 (not counting stops). After a geriatric hobble to the coffee shop I found the crew, with Sandeep conspicuously missing even though he assures me he had coffee?? Thanks for the run everyone. Next week is the Sri Chinmoy 20k trail run and the Gold Coast marathon. Good luck in the marathon Narelle.
Monday 26 June at Parliament House: I was otherwise occupied;
Pieta reported who attended:
running 20x hill repeats on 90 seconds were Pieta, Emily (new), Paul (new), Jen, Isaac, Warrick, Jennie. Dave did the warm up then went and did a lap of LBG.
On Sunday 2 July the distance group (
Dave) reports:
Well minus 6 degrees didn’t stop the speedygeese this morning. The usual Sunday long run was a bit quiet today, with only two runners, as most were doing other events.
Thach did around 20k and
Bron 17k over Mt Taylor and Coolemon Ridge and back. According to one unconfirmed report they didn’t get lost, but I suspect that’s just a case of fake news. Sarah was nearly finished the Sri Chinmoy 104k solo ultra, when she suddenly woke up and realised it was after 8 o’clock and the run had already started ;-) Not sure whether she stayed in bed but I’m sure she’ll deny the dream.
Bronwyn did a solo 17k at Mt Arawang. Giles did his own little 20k run with Bunty and Jen was rogaining with Isaac, after running an amazing 5k time yesterday of 19:43 to finish 6th in the YMCA age/gender handicap at Stromlo Forest Park.
The rest of us were either taking on the Sri Chinmoy 20k Tuggeranong Trot trail run or the Gold Coast marathon or half marathon, testing out whether all those Speedygeese long runs, speedwork and other training was paying off. It seems it was, with plenty of bling picked up by Speedygeese runners. Mhairi finished in a fantastic unofficial time of 1:48:24 to take out the first female 50-59 gong and Jennie B was second over 60 female across the line in 2:28:43. Sammy picked up a cup for 5th female overall in 1:42:08. I was happy with 1:34:40 (second male 50-59, beaten by 30 seconds by some old bloke). Other unofficial times were Kerron 2:02:53, Warrick 2:05:13, Sandeep 2:02:19, and Yin 2:07:55. Thommo got 1:53:04 after completing a marathon a few days earlier.
Meanwhile, at the Gold Coast, Narelle completed the marathon in an amazing 3:27:47 and Pieta finished the half marathon in 1:45:50 (both PBs). Apparently they had a ball at the Gold Coast (and probably still are :-) )
Thanks to Suzanne, Thommo, Sandeep and Sammy for the Tuggeranong Trot pics, and Narelle for the burger pic.
Hey Thach also reported on the same run: This is the official report on today’s long run. Please treat any comments from David Clarke regarding this run with suspicion.
It was a select field this morning with only Bron and me making it to the start line. It was cold, -4 degrees, but the sky was clear and not a breath of wind; perfect conditions for running!
Following the ultratrail course, we trotted along one of the tracks at the base of Mt Taylor which eventually led us through west Kambah. After crossing Kambah Pool road we scrambled up to the top of Mt Arawang where we were rewarded with a fantastic vista of the Brindabellas.
We then descended down the mountain and followed the southside of Cooleman track before crossing over the ridge and joining the northside of the loop which we followed for a further 2 kms before taking on the 2nd trig point climb.
Descending down the stairs we followed the northside of the track behind Chapman before skirting around Fisher and finally finishing off with a tough 1 km climb back up Waldock St that averages just under 7 percent.
Thanks to Bron for the excellent company and conversation. I’m still amazed that you can run for over 2 hrs (with over 400 metres of climbing) on a single cup of coffee!
Hope everyone has a good running week.
Ps We didn’t get lost today
Monday 3 July at Parliament House: It was cold and wet;
Sandeep, Rae, Jennie and
I turned up and didn’t run;
Dave and
Giles sped off into the weather together.
I don’t remember what happened on Thursdays 22 June, 29 June, 6 July at Parliament House! I think on the 6th I was there to supervise 2 x (200, 400, 600) and let’s say
Isaac, Sarah, Brownie, Jennie, Dave, Susan, and
Andrew Smith participated. Also I think
Fiona and
Jen were there but didn’t run.
On Sunday 9 July the distance group (
Dave) reports:
Today’s speedygeese long run was very different in some ways and very much the same in other ways. It was cloudy and therefore warmer than recent runs, at 4 degrees, with a slight breeze that was mostly felt near the top of the mountains. As is often the case, I started early at 7.00am, and knocked over 10k from Aranda shops to Lake Ginninderra, around the lake and back. Meanwhile Sarah and Thach started slightly later and did some hills. Then we all met at Aranda shops at 8.00 as usual, although I was running a bit late due to a mishap that I won’t go into here, so I left 5 minutes after the others. A good size crowd headed off to do the short loop first, supposedly to Mount Painter according to the route created by Bron, then Black Mountain for the long course. The group included Thach, Peter B, Isaac, Jen, Mhairi, Sarah, Narelle, Susan, Bron, Graeme and Sandeep. I had a simple plan…follow them to Mount Painter and meet up as they came back down the hill. As I approached the top, however, it became apparent that something was very wrong. Yes…..they had all gone the wrong way. I know what you’re thinking, but Jen later confirmed that I was right – a rare occurrence (Jen confirming I'm right, that is). After a few selfies and a touch of hypothermia at the trig and having realised that I was probably on my own for the rest of the run, I decided to do a Speedygoose solo run. With a few minutes of sun warming the old bones every now and then, I headed off down Mount Painter and continued along the bikepath to Black Mountain, then up the narrow trail on the lake side of the mountain to Telstra Tower, down the other side to the CSIRO tree seed centre then along Belconnen Way back to Aranda shops, arriving just after 10.00am - 30km and 665m of vert all up. To my surprise, as I finished I received a call from Jen, who was the only one still running with 1 km to go to finish 18k. She informed me that all the others had stopped after the short course, so were probably gone. I stumbled into the coffee shop and glanced around, hoping to spot a familiar face, but alas there were none. At that moment, just for a second, I remembered that there are more important things in life than running……like ducted gas heating for example. Eventually Jen turned up and we enjoyed a noisy coffee and fruit toast and another coffee….and another coffee. I’m sure the others enjoyed their run and their coffee. Thanks everyone. Too bad we didn’t get to spend any time together, but maybe next week. 😎
Monday 10 July back at Parliament House:
Pieta, Paul, Jennie, Isaac, Rae and
Bron ran 20 x 100m hills on 90 seconds while I supervised. Things will take a few more weeks to get back to normal for me but I expect to get to Monday and Thursday training each week.
Two very good looking speedygeese.
