Like Saturn's rings/An icy loop around me/Too hard to hold

Riccionne: a speedy goose at the World Masters Athletics Championships - Kevin Chamberlain in the M60 800m:

Heat 2: 7th in 2:30.23, qualified for the semi finals.

Semifinal 2: 8th in 2:24.70. There were less than 3 seconds between first and eighth; Kevin qualified last as the 12th fastest; beating the 13th fastest (5th place in the other semifinal) by 0.1 seconds.

Final: 9th in 2:23.44. Only 1.4 seconds outside Lindsay Hooper's ACT M60 record.


Snow Patrol
Five stars out of five for every song played last night by Snow Patrol. An awesome concert. Jenny and I had perfect seats, the best in the house - top row, in a dead straight line to the stage. Every word was audible, every song had its unique light show, the band was firing on all cylinders.

Playlist
1. Hands Open (b)
2. Chocolate (a)
3. It's Beginning To Get To Me (b)
4. Headlights On Dark Roads (b)
5. Signal Fire (c)
6. Grazed Knees (a)
7. How To Be Dead (a)
8. Tiny Little Fractures (a)
9. Spitting Games (a)
10. Chasing Cars (b)
11. Shut Your Eyes (b)
12. Make This Go On Forever (b)
13. Set The Fire To The Third Bar (b)
14. Run (a)
15. The Finish Line (b)
16. Open Your Eyes (b)
17. You're All I Have (b)

(a) Album 3 - Final Straw (2004)
(b) Album 4 - Eyes Open (2006)
(c) Spiderman 3 soundtrack

Interesting - for all but a couple of songs, the arrangements were bar-by-bar identical to their recordings.
Interesting - not one song was played from their first two albums. This is justifiable, albums three and four are superior, and much better known.
Interesting - every song they played, bar one, is on my MP3 player running play list. The exception was "The Finish Line". ("There is no finish line" - right?) But "The Finish Line" was haunting, eerie, ghost-like, great.

"Run" is my favourite song by anybody. Not well known by the audience. In fact, their third album "Final Straw" was not well known, but their fourth album "Eyes Open" was. In my view, both albums are as good as each other.

Light and colour throughout were excellent, and varied from song to song. There were beautiful falling-snow images for "Chasing Cars", for example. Sensational.

Other highlights were the brilliant harmonies of "Make This Go On Forever". And the fact that they sang "Third Bar", which I did not expect to be included, but they had a female who was just as good as Martha Wainwright join them from the support band.

I could go on and on. Variety, intensity, passion, creativity were all on display. It was just brilliant.

The original Nike ad.

I Am Speed

"While running, it is considered rude to count the people you pass out loud."



Monday Morning Monitor
My training progress
last week's target: 80k
achieved: 82k
year total to date: 2,818k in 36 weeks
this week’s target: 80k
weight: 66kg ►◄
song of the week: “Here Without You”, by 3 Doors Down.

It was an OK week running wise, stressful other wise, so thank you Flashduck for cheering me up when I bumped into you at Jammo. It's amazing what a difference a smiling face will make. Coming up this week, all being well, I will hammer out the BBQ Stakes on Wednesday, then try and outfly the rest of you geese at the Canberra Times Fun Run on Sunday over 10k. Anything could happen and it probably will. There are Speedy Geese Teams: we M50-59s are entered as the "Silly Geese". Fly Goose Fly!

Live Music
I have been to some good concerts over the years. The very best of the best include: The Beatles in 1964 at Centennial Hall, Adelaide. Also at Centennial Hall at other concerts The Rolling Stones, where they introduced their new song "Little Red Rooster", The Who, playing "My Generation" and doing the guitar smashing thing, Roy Orbison, a stand-and-deliver performance of hit after hit with his voice doing all the entertaining under a simple spotlight. At Thebarton, brilliant was Eric Burdon and the Animals, the best jazz improvisation I have seen; later at the Canberra theatre, Donovan, and at the AIS Indoor arena, Mental As Anything were sensational, great musicians and entertainers, as, surprisingly at the time, were the Cockroaches, who later morphed into the Wiggles and made their fortune as children's entertainers, and the Eurythmics was another awesome concert there. At the outdoor stadium, Dire Straits stands out.

Chasing Cars
There were many other concerts ranging from good to not so good. Tonight for the first time for a while I attend a live concert: Snow Patrol at the AIS indoor arena. I will tell you how it goes.

If I enjoy it I might just see Evermore, and Switchfoot, who are rumoured to be playing here later this year (not together!)

Catching Caroline

Speedy Self, Allrounder, and Ewen, making a last ditch effort to catch Caroline, in the ACTVAC Half Marathon. Photo by Ken.

Speedy Gosling wins award

"Dedication and commitment are what transfer dreams into realities."

Aki received a phone call yesterday from the cross country club. She has been voted in as the most improved female runner for this season past. And will be receiving an award. See her blog. Congratulations!

It's all happening at the Zoo.

We met at the Zoo today for our long run. An excellent choice of venue; should we make it a regular thing? And fine sunny weather.

Stretching
ACTVAC member Jack Thackray attended a stretching workshop recently he was impressed with. Their website (http://www.proconditioning.com.au/) shows a range of stretching/rehabilitation and other exercises that might be of interest. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet.

“The long run puts the eagle in the chicken.”

“The long run puts the tiger in the cat.” - Bill Squires, coach

Yesterday's 15k included the Pinnacle peak, at 703m. I stopped and looked at the view. Wet. Then jogged past 100 kangaroos. They are very tame in that area. A few bunnies were out and about, too. And flocks of white cockatoos, on the moist ground, quiet for once, feeding. Very tranquil.



A game: A bark in the dark. #4 in the Bonte series: this one is not at all tricky.

Track: Will the track be ready in time in mid October? I will pass on ALL intelligence gathered. I really have no idea at the moment.

Sad news: From Friar: Local running identity Rad Leovic finished the Hamburg Triathlon in first place in his age group. Then when he got to the hotel to book in for the World Masters Athletics Championships, he was told his wife Christine was in hospital. She died two days after having a heart attack. Rad flew back to Australia, but his wife had already passed away. Her funeral will be held shortly. As announced at the Customs joggers run yesterday, there are highs and lows in life. Rad has experienced both in the past week.

Some people have no sense of humour

Namely, NSW police, and, as we know, all Americans.

These are the fake APEC passes Julian Morrow and Chas Licciardello had on them. They carry the words "Insecurity", "Joke" and "It's pretty obvious this isn't a real pass".



I wish could have been there. Hilarious.

Story here.

The Essence of Running

Running is a road to self-awareness and reliance …
you can push yourself to extremes and learn the harsh
reality of your physical and mental limitations or coast
quietly down a solitary path watching the earth spin
beneath your feet.
But when you are through, exhilarated and exhausted,
at least for a moment everything seems right with the world…

Thursday training report
In teams of two we ran up to twelve x 330m each, with a 110m recovery jog. Runners were Alistair (new), Bronwyn (third week), Colin, Gary, Jacqui (new), Jodie (new), Joel, Katie, Ken, Margaret, Maria, Matthew, Peter, Rod, Ruth, Tim (second week). It’s great to welcome so many new people!

Stromlo Forest Park
The new groomed grass country circuit at Stromlo Forest Park will be ready to open on 2nd December 2007.
The ACT Government and the Chief Minister are keen to do this in early November and have allocated approximately $35,000 to support the opening event.
The full circuit comprises a 2.5 kilometre loop that can be cut back to 2k, 1.5k or 1k, thus enabling multiple laps covering all distances required for events.
It is proposed that the event will become an annual event, however the date may change to fit in with the local running calendar.
Proposed Event
It is suggested that the opening event will include four races and entry for each will be free, with a voluntary gold coin donation to Hartley Life care.

Schools 2.5k cross country - one full lap.

2 x invitational 8k elite cross country races for men and women 2 x 2.5k + 2 x 1.5k laps.

Five-kilometre charity cross country run & walk for the public (5k) 2 x 2.5k laps.

Schools 2.5k Cross Country
This event will be 2.5 kilometres and one full lap of the circuit. Both Primary and Secondary schools will be encouraged through school Term four to get together runners and the two Primary and two Secondary schools with the largest number of runners per head of their student population will receive a cash prize of $1,000 and $500.
de Castella Invitational 8k Cross Country
Australia’s elite athletes will be invited to compete in a men’s and women’s 8 kilometre cross country races. Prize money for the event will be $3,000, $1,500 and $500 and perpetual trophies will be created for the events.
Some athletes will receive travel and accommodation funding to attract a quality field.
Fields of between 50 and 100 athletes are anticipated in year one and strict qualifying times will apply. This is aimed at making entry something special that athletes would strive to achieve.
Qualifying for men’s race might be 10k = 31.30 min; 5k = 14.30, women’s 10k = 41.30 min; 5k = 17.00 min.
Charity Celebrity & Community Cross Country 5k Walk & Run
A public event that is open to all, including families, kids and walkers will be held just prior to the invitational cross-country races. The event will comprise two laps of the full 2.5 Kilometre course.
A selected charity will be supported and funds from car parking, and other sources will be donated to the charity.
The benefiting charity will be Hartley Life Care. It is hoped that they will assist with some volunteers and can sell sausages etc
Local celebrates and politicians will lead the walk.
Aerial photos and maps of the course can be downloaded from http://wwwrsphysse.anu.edu.au/~vsj110/Stromlo/StromloParkaerial%20shot.JPG and http://wwwrsphysse.anu.edu.au/~vsj110/Stromlo/Stromlo%20map.jpg
Further information will be available on the ACTCC website closer to the event at http://www.canberrarunner.com.au/


Charmaine being chased.

Running at three steps per second

"Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it."

Just lately, I have been hearing stories of runners trying out my "three steps per second" recommendation and finding that it works. Two of the testimonies:

Helen is currently among the fastest women running the monthly 6k "Jogalong". She has run about 40 of them and this month managed to improve her race pb by twenty seconds, while focusing on maintaining 3 steps per second the whole way.

Phill is currently not among the fastest men running the weekly 6k BBQ Stakes. Yesterday he tried keeping three steps per second going for the whole distance, managed it, and “out of the blue” ran a twenty second pb. Phill has run about 70 of these races.

It’s worth trying. While many runners will already have learned how to run very efficiently and won’t benefit, many other runners, particularly those who take long strides, will definitely improve.

See my article "How to run Faster" in the September 2007 edition of Vetrunner, or you can read a short version here. Because of the interest, I will publish the full article here in due course.

Yesterday's BBQ Stakes times:
A better run from each of us than we managed last week. I am slowly improving again.
Helen ran 26.48
I ran 26:57
Roger 28:11
I should point out the start is handicapped & we do not run together!

Weighty problem
See what getting a hamstring injury & not being able to run, does to my weight! Dear, oh, dear.


Maria running Cross Country in the ACT.

Maria already runs with short quick steps. And runs very fast. And enjoys very high AST%s.

Drink Station Alternative

Water? Batteries? or... Ice Cream!



Margaret finishing a track race

How to run on a full stomach

Don’t.

Footy Finals Week One

Fri 7:50pm Power v Eagles

Sat 2:30pm Hawks v Crows

Sat 7:30pm Pies v Swans

Sun 2:45pm Cats v Roos

If my analysis is correct, we (Crows) want Port to win (for once) over the Eagles so we can play Port "away" in the preliminary final should we beat Hawthorn and (presumably) the Kangaroos first! It's well set up for the Crows to make the grand final from eighth, as we wouldn't have to travel to Perth to play the Eagles or to Sydney to play the Swans. If Port DO lose to the Eagles it would make it very difficult. But Port have a very big incentive to win, because losing would mean Port would have to get past both Geelong AND Sydney to make the Grand Final.

Monday Training
We conducted a two person zig-zag relay, 12 intervals each x 260m. Participating were Adam, Amanda, Annette, Christopher, Emma, Ewen, Geoff B, Helen, Joel, Kathy, Katie, Ken, Margaret, Maria, Rachelle, Ruth, Sonia, Yelena, and a surprise, Cathy M: welcome back Cathy! Most are over their winter colds, and a talking point was the number of break through runs at the Jogalong on Sunday.

Flat Patch

My training progress
last week's target: 100k
achieved: 63k
year total to date: 2,736k in 35 weeks
this week’s target: 80k
weight: 66kg ▼
song of the week: “Blow Out”, by Radiohead, from “Pablo Honey”. I seem to like songs which build and gain momentum right to the end.

Going through a flat patch, I had no energy this week, I must be fighting off something. Lethargy from watching athletics each night, perchance? If so, this week will be better!

Saturday’s Cross Country Club Relays
Fifteen teams of four runners each ran a 3k cross country relay at Yarralumla, on a flat patch of ground but quite rough with large clumps of dry grass and much running and jumping, ducking and weaving. Only two geese ran, Ewen and Caroline. There were cones in all directions around the large oval area, meaning runners had to watch where they were going to stay on course. It was hilarious watching the few who were seriously navigationally-challenged repeatedly veering off in the wrong direction. And it was interesting to see not for the first time that certain runners always insist on doubling up in these relays, taking places in more than one team, when there are others missing out who might well come and run if asked. Sometimes we runners are too self focused and forget the team thing.

leg 2 – 8th of 15 -. Ewen Thompson M50 13:13
leg 3 – 14th of 15 - 14. Caroline Campbell W65 14:56

Sunday’s Jogalong
Some of the speediest geese are smashing their pbs. No wonder this gander cannot keep up in training any more! Incredible performances. And they probably all did a long run on Saturday morning, thus learning there is no need to ease off for most races.

Sonia Veldhoven W30 25:23 huge pb!
Maria O'Reilly W50 26:36
Amanda Walker W35 27:01 pb
Helen Larmour W45 26:27 pb
Caroline Campbell W65 30:57
Maureen Rossiter W55 33:10
Barbara Tucker W55 33:12
Margaret McSpadden W60 34:10
Emma Adams W35 25:15 [corrected] pb!
168 finishers

Let's show them who's boss!

25,000 doctors for one heart attack!
And there was an embarrassment of medical attention for a woman who collapsed at an international cardiology meeting in Vienna on Sunday. The woman was immediately reanimated by one of the 25,000 doctors present at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology… story here.

But Now I See

"Why is it that you only feel the thorns in your feet when you STOP running?" - from "Amazing Grace".

We went to see the movie "Amazing Grace" last night. Not only is it a surprisingly good movie with some great acting, it moved along at a fast pace (which is good for what looked like a "period costumer" set mostly indoors) and it contains a large number of quotable quotes and special insights. Recommended.

Rats
Before the movie I was hoping we would get to see a preview of "Ratatouille" but they didn't show it. Rats!

Are we there yet?
I didn't watch the jogalong this morning, I watched the women's marathon instead. Too hot! The large group hung on well, considering.

Crowing

World Athletics Championships
Remember on Sunday to watch on SBS at 8am Eastern Australian Time the Women's marathon, and at 8:30pm the men's 5000m featuring Craig Mottram.

Yes! As I said last week before the Brisbane game, The Crows were good enough to win three in a row and make the finals - with good wins against Brisbane and Collingwood in the last two rounds, we're ready to go further!

"Australians young and old fail health test"

"AUSTRALIANS young and old are failing to meet national guidelines for exercise and nutrition, according to two major surveys of more than 30,000 people.

"The studies released today have painted a grim picture of a slothful, unhealthy nation of people eating poorly and exercising inadequately.

"One of the surveys, of 16,000 adult Australians, showed one in four - 25 per cent - meet physical activity guidelines, while 55 per cent eat enough fruit and 15 per cent eat enough vegetables.

"But an alarmingly small number - fewer than five per cent - met the criteria for all three guidelines ... "

...see rest of article here.


A third "Bonte" game - loose the moose! This one is only slightly tricky, you may need to know that a series of steps at the end of the game is repeated...

Yesterday at Dickson we welcomed Bronwyn, Colin, Gary, Kathy, Ken, Margaret, Matthew, Mick H, Rod, Roger, Ruth and Tim who ran an 8x220m relay followed by an 8x90m shuttle relay in teams of three.

Rumour has it that the AIS track will be ready in time for the opening of the track season in October. Which is not far away! We will be continuing our twice-a-week speed-endurance training until then.

Burley Griffin

The lake - and the athlete.


Lake Burley Griffin made a picturesque backdrop for last Sunday's Half Marathon. Here's Griffin himself, powering home. Ken took many photos, I may put some on the ACTVAC website in the near future, with Ken's permission.

The BBQ Stakes handicap
Yesterday I ran a shocker, struggling in in just under thirty minutes; only to find that Roger and Helen who started over a minute ahead of me had also run just under thirty minutes. The Half Marathon took its toll!

Coming Events

-----------------------------------------------------------
Saturday 1 September
ACTCCC Yarralumla Relays
12:45pm 1km race
1:00 pm Relays in teams of 4 x 3km legs
Alexandrina Drive, Yarralumla.
Junior and Senior Teams Pointscore event.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday 2 September
Women's and Girls' Jogalong
Weston Park Yarralumla
1.6km Mini-Jog, 3km Event, 6km Jogalong Handicap, starts at 9:00 am.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday 9th September
MS Fun Run and Walk
10:00 am start from Lake Tuggeranong College
www.ms.org
https://www.registernow.com.au/secure/Register.aspx?ID=577

speedy gosling


Thea was running really well until recently, lets hope she overcomes the injuries soon and is back to form for the Fun Run season! A bad knee has forced her into the 5k walk at the Canberra Times Fun Run. Waddle, goose, waddle!

"I only drink beer on days that end in Y"

Monday night saw Caroline, Charmaine, Christopher, Colin, Emma, Ewen, Gary, Geoff B, me, Helen, Joel, Kathy, Katie, Ken, Rachelle, Ruth, Sonia and Yelena run a set of 6 x 440m with a 330m fastish recovery, and some push-ups along the way! Milder weather helped. I need to do more push-ups. Last week it was the legs that were sore on Tuesday, this week it's the arms.

Quick debut
Half Marathon debutantes Amanda, who surprisingly avoided training the next day and sent Colin in her place, and Sonia. They both ran ~1:46.

The "I only drink beer" quote is on the guy's T-shirt. Click to enlarge, if you dare! Those girls are so determined looking. Photo by Ken.

dire straits

Monday Morning Monitor
My training progress
last week's target: 96k
achieved: 96k
year total to date: 2,673k in 34 weeks
this week’s target: 100k
weight: 66.5kg ▼

I have a hectic schedule this week, and the world athletics is on, I don't think I can fit in more than 100k. It is nice to run pain free at last... let's hope things continue that way. I think... if I just keep doing tempo runs in place of races for a few months, I should be OK in the longer term. Straits not so dire any more.

song of the week: “Brothers in Arms”, by Mark Knopfler.

There are some songs which are never out of date! Get yourself a large mug of nice warm coffee – sit back – and enjoy. Heaven! (If you have Aussie pseudo-broadband, like me, you might first like to “pause” it and let it load). And a version is on the blog playlist.


I remember taking a very young Nathan and Loani to the outdoor stadium at Bruce, and standing in the pouring rain, close to the stage, we experienced the most awesome sound and light show by Dire Straits. As can be verified by any resident of Kaleen or Giralang at the time. They were loud! They were good! They played all their hits!

They were mighty good.

Winning Women - and Gary

Saturday 8k Pinnacle

Place	Name	Time
23	Geoff Moore	45:54
26	Ewen Thompson	49:20

Sunday ACTVAC Annual Half Marathon (21.1k)

Name	Time	Trophies
Richard Faulks	1:26.00
Maria O’Reilly	1:36.28	W50 silver
Helen Larmour	1:38.47	W45 gold
Charlie McCormack	1:40.35	W40 gold
Roger Pilkington	1:42.15
Gary Bowen	1:43.12	M50 bronze
Peter McDonald	1:46.10
Geoff Barker	1:46.23
Sonia Veldhoven	1:46.41	W30 bronze
Amanda Walker	1:46.53
Charmaine Knobel	1:53.24	W55 silver
Peter Hogan	1:55.44
Bronwyn Calver	1:57.34
Geoff Moore	1:57.40
Ewen Thompson	1:57.58
Caroline Campbell	1:58.09	W65 gold
Rae Palmer	2:01.06	W60 silver
Barbara Tucker	2:49.34

Worlds in Osaka

Just a note on the World championships - what an amazing run by Kenyan Luke Kibet to win the marathon so convincingly in an incredibly strong field. And what an outstanding commentary team of David Culbert, Steve Ovett and Nic Bideau; SBS have excelled themselves. And so much more to come, starting with Benita Johnson at 10:55pm tonight. Not to be missed!

Isn't it great to have a time differential of only one hour?

http://osaka2007.iaaf.org/index.html and http://www.iaaf.org/ have everything you ever wanted. Previews, news, timetables, reports, photos, interviews, videos, podcasts, even live coverage.

Charlie Joel ("CJ") Moore

Honestly, Charlie, Joel, and CJ, I had nothing to do with choice of names! Except, perhaps, "Moore".

Lisa with Tyler Jesse, Jackson Joshua, and Charlie Joel. Taken this morning by Nathan.

A big healthy boy!

Last Gasp

At training last night were Bronwyn, Colin, Gary, Geoff B, me, Katie, Ken, Maria, Matthew, Rod and Roger - eleven runners, the fewest we have had, although it was good conditions for running, but the threat of rain may have deterred a few. Come on, it never rains! We ran 12 x 200m in teams of three.

Can we win?
This is possibly my only AFL post this year. With two weeks of the minor round left, we - the Mighty Adelaide Crows - can still win the premiership! Teams from second down are all very even, and we may just have hit form at the right end of the season. We simply have to win six more in a row and we are there! It does depend on some other results for us to make the finals, but all we need is two of the following to happen - St Kilda lose at least one of their two remaining games; Sydney both; Collingwood both; Kangaroos both. It is very likely, given the draw, that two of these possibilities do happen; so it is up to us to win. We are good enough.

Then in the finals, as long as we don't meet Geelong in the preliminaries, and we don't travel away to Perth, we can get to the Grand Final, where anything can happen.

On the way, it would be good to get an "away" final against Port Adelaide! Thus cancelling their "advantage".

So for your "game" this week, watch the Crows eliminate Brisbane in Adelaide!

Go The Crows!


Reepicheep

"Where sky and water meet,
Where the waves grow sweet,
Doubt not, Reepicheep,
To find all you seek,
There is the utter East."

Charlie's Day

Yesterday wasn't your usual Wednesday. We will not forget 22-08-07. It all started with an exchange of presents between Jenny and me as we wished each other a happy 37th wedding anniversary. I should have realised it was going to be an "odd" day when it turned out we had bought the same anniversary card for each other!

Before heading off for an afternoon drive with Jenny, I did drop in to the BBQ Stakes to see how my running was going. Charlie had a blinder!

Roger ran 26:08 - 20 seconds slower than last week
I ran 26:47 - 20 seconds faster than last week.
Helen ran 26:50 - the same time as last week, and
Charlie ran 26:54 - a new pb and first time under 27 minutes.

So that was good and everyone was happy. Especially Charlie.

Later that afternoon, while on our drive, Jenny and I had a series of calls from our son Nathan in Brisbane, that Lisa was in the birthing suite and "it wouldn't be long". Sure enough, at 4:34pm, their third son, and our grandchild number ten, arrived into the world. "His name is Charlie", announced Nathan. "No second name yet".

So welcome into the world, Charlie Moore. A brand new baby born yesterday. 9 lb 1 oz. Just think, he will be my age in 2066! Scary!

So, Charlie McCormack, to avoid confusion we will have to think of another name for you. I wonder what that could be?

Coming events

Saturday 25th August: ACTCCC at the Pinnacle, Springvale Drive, Hawker
12 noon - 1km
12:15pm - 4km
1:00pm - 8km
-------------------------------------------
Sunday 26th August: ACTVAC Half Marathon, from Stage 88.
3 starts as follows:
8:00 am, for those who take 2 hours or more.
8:30 am for those between 100 and 120 minutes.
9:00 am for those who take less than 100 minutes.
------------------------------------------
9 September: MS Fun Run
------------------------------------------
16 September: Canberra Times Family Fun Run
-------------------------------------------

Roger in last year's ACTCCC 12k championships. Picture taken by R4YL because the CR next to Roger is wearing a R4YL cap.

Roger, Helen & I will race again today in the weekly BBQ Stakes. (Charlie may run too). Roger jumped out last week to be a minute faster than Helen and me, so for the time being he is doing better.

like a small fish in a small pond

...that's how I felt when I saw how far back our runners were in the City to Surf last week. Nevertheless Caroline managed second in her age category, and a team which included Maria and Charlie finished second in a team category. Well done!

Any other category results I am not aware of.

But it's all good. It means there is a large sub-culture of fit and healthy people in Sydney and beyond. Pity the media in general will continue to focus on the unfit and the unhealthy. I shall try not to do that here.

Monday night training on western tracks at Parliament House was a 220m run with a 120m jog, by 12, on 2 minutes. Running were Adam, Alan, Amanda, Caroline, Christopher, Ewen, me, Helen, Joel, Katie, Ken, Maria, Peter, Rachelle, Sonia, and Yelena. It is almost light enough to run on those tracks again.

"...been a goose for years."

Monday Morning Monitor

My training progress
last week's target: 80k
achieved: 80k
year total to date: 2,577k in 33 weeks
this week’s target: 96k
weight: 67kg ▲
song of the week: “4:12”, by Switchfoot, from “Oh! Gravity”. A bright breezy track about waking up at 4:12 which goes for exactly 4:12 at 190bpm on the album. I have added a live version to the playlist (right hand column of this blog).

Well I managed to keep the discomfort of a sore hammy at bay last week so optimistically I have scheduled a little more distance this week. Will probably race BBQ Stakes on Wednesday again as a test, and have entered Sunday's Vets half marathon and plan to run easy in around 1:55 or 2 hours. (Not "jog": that would be 2 hours 10 or so!) which should help me achieving the 96k target.

Emma in Training

Emma sped around Blewitt's yesterday and left us in her wake... clearly liking early morning runs, hilly courses, and cold wind.

speedy geese @ Dunrossil Drive 4.2k

Place	Time	km rate
Women 10. Annette Sugden W40	17:26	4:09
Men 67. Geoff Moore M55	19:31	4:39
Men 70. Ewen Thompson M50	20:09	4:48

speedy geese @ Blewitts pines

7.0k

Place	Time	Age %
2 Emma Adams W35	31:39	76.0
23 Margaret McSpadden W60	41:16	72.6
28 Charlie McCormack W40	32:54	74.4
34 Helen Larmour W45	31:52	82.0
35 Maria O'Reilly W50	31:54	86.3
40 Richard Faulks M45	28:45	80.7
44 Amanda Walker W35	33:20	72.5
45 Colin Farlow M45	28:13	80.6
48 Rod Lynch M45	27:45	83.1
57 Peter McDonald M50	34:39	70.4
60 Roger Pilkington M45	31:32	73.6
66 Ewen Thompson M50	45:30	51.6
69 Tony Booth M65	37:44	75.6
75 Caroline Campbell W65	41:13	80.4
79 Alan Duus M60	36:10	71.7
80 Christopher Lang M55	38:46	64.1
83 Barbara Tucker W55	43:32	67.3
86 Charmaine Knobel W55	38:02	74.3
94 Kathy Sims W55	38:57	73.4
99 Mick Horan M45	36:51	63.0

3.5k

Place	Time	Age %
5 Rachelle Ellis-Brownlee W30	17:11	tba
16 Ken White M50	14:24	80.1
21 Katie Forestier W40	14:38	80.4
37 Gary Bowen M50	15:50	71.7
38 Geoff Moore M55	15:36	77.8

random thoughts

There were many good runs at Blewitts this morning; Gosling Emma, and brand new baby gosling Rachelle, did best. None of us were in the medals, though former geese Graeme Small and Peter Hogan managed to win a couple of them. It was interesting to compare times with last year; Amanda has improved a whole four minutes in the 7k; and Katie a whole minute in the 3.5k. The ASTs will be interesting.

Some discussion ensued about "King" and "Queen of the Mountain" outcomes. But as they are based only on handicap places, I don't think they mean much. We all know that Maria is the best mountain runner, regardless of who gets to be "Queen".

I will be checking out if we can enter CTFR teams online, before rounding up M50 team entries starting tomorrow.

Feeling mathematical?

Engaged and Engrossed

What running am I doing this weekend? I will soon be leaving for the Cross Country Club's Dunrossil Drive run today, always a good run because it is short and gets a large field; and the ACTVAC's Blewitt's Pines handicap run early tomorrow, where I will for the first time be comparing a "short course" time with last year's. I wasn't running all that well then, but I bet I cannot match it tomorrow.

...although it is the kind of day I would pefer to stay inside with someone warm and cuddly...

And on TV this weekend: two of the very best movies ever made are on SBS; Amelie tonight, and A Very Long Engagement tomorrow night. These movies are very different from each other, but both feature the acting skills of the engaging French actress Audrey Tautou.

I could very easily just veg out, stay home; watch the footy; watch Dr Who; watch these great movies. But no, the plan says I still need 31 more km this week, so running it is.

Lighting the Fire

Mid August in Canberra: the days are getting longer, but the weather is still cold enough to keep a fire going day and night. However at last night's training it was relatively mild, making it much more pleasant to be out there on the Dickson wind-plain. Training were Barbara, Charlie, Colin, Geoff B, me, Joel, Kathy, Katie, Ken, Maria, Matthew, Peter, Roger, Tony & Yelena. We ran (as a relay in teams of 4 with 2 batons each team) 400 fast with 200 jog. For 25 minutes. Mild enough that I even noticed some sweating!

Next Game
A followup to the last one, it's Bonte Room 2. As before, only slightly tricky, lighting the fire needs instructions! There are three rectangular buttons on the top right and a round one on the top left of the fire. With the top left button off press the left-most button on the top right, then the middle one. Then turn on the round button and press the button on the far right, it should stay on. Turn off the round button, press the middle button again then put the round one on again. Finally press the left-most rectangular button. (The "clue" in the game is "12321" but it's pretty obscure.) Otherwise the game is straightforward!

ACT marathon medallists including speedygeese: speedyself (150 T-shirt) and speedyGriffin (beanie, still cold after running 42.2k!)

Campbelltown Commuters

With no athletics track here in the National Capital all winter (and beyond, probably!), Garry and Kevin had practice runs on the Campbelltown track last Saturday, in preparation for the World Championships in Riccione. Kevin reports: "We were well pleased with the outcome. After a thorough warm up and stretch we ran a few run-thrus and a couple of accelerating bends runs. Then after changing into my 'FAST' spikes we ran a 300m time trial. Very pleased with 46.8 sec , over 4 seconds faster than I had been able to manage on grass. Rested for about 10 minutes and ran a 400m with Garry joining in for the last 200. I went thru the first 200 in 32.6 and although fading finished it off in 67.1 ( fastest recently on grass was 71.?)

"Next Saturday we are going up again for the Skins Winter all comers meet where I intend to run the 1500."

Please get in touch with Kevin if you are interested in travelling to Campbelltown this week. Program details are

Time	Event
10:00	Hurdles
10:00	Hammer
10:00	Pole Vault
10:25	100
10:50	400
11:00	Long Jump
11:10	1500
11:20	Shot Put
11:25	200
11:45	Steeplechase

Date	18 Aug 2007
Location	Campbelltown
Contact	Athletics NSW - 9746 1122

At the BBQ Stakes this week Roger ran ~25:49, a 61 second improvement on last week; Helen ~26:50, a 22 second improvement; I ran ~27:07, 113 seconds faster than last week. And at last I am allowed to do some gentle strengthening exercises for the hamstring.

Happy Smiling Faces

ACT women marathon medallists, including speedygeese Ruth (centre) and Maria (next to Ruth, also capless)

Final Geese Facts

All geese eat a largely vegetarian diet; Geese usually mate for life; Both parents protect the nest and young, which usually results in a higher survival rate for the young geese.

Fly Goose Fly!

Speedygeese in the City to Surf

Name	Place	Time
Richard	524	57.06
Maria	1990	65.35
Charlie	2051	65.53
Emma	2158	66.17
Ewen	3340	69.37
Adam	4658	72.27
Geoff B	4841	72.48
Thea	6097	75.07
Kathy S	6476	75.55
Charmaine	6799	76.32
Caroline	7368	77.35
Bronwyn	7404	77.40
Margaret	16273	93.02

Ewen in Sunday's City to Surf

Forced Landing

Goose Fact #7: When a goose gets sick or injured and drops out of their "V" flight formation, another two geese fall out and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with the fallen goose until it is either able to fly or until it is dead. Only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation, to catch up with their group.

The strength of a training group is measured by how much its members look out for one another; care for one another and support one another!

Last Night at Parliament House saw the speedy geese Adam, Alan, Amanda, Caroline, Christopher, Emma, Ewen, Gary, Joel, me, Helen, Katie, Ken, Ruth, Sonia and Yelena run some interval training; three lots of 30, 40, 50 and 60 second runs, each with a good recovery. A great session. But when will the weather begin to warm up???

News from Narnia
Walt Disney Productions has announced that it will produce the entire "Chronicles of Narnia" collection onto film. Following the success of the debut film "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", the company will attempt to release one movie a year, starting in May 2008 with the next installment, "Prince Caspian".

There are new hero creatures, specifically Badger and the mouse Reepicheep; there are huge battle sequences.

Can't wait.

“I didn’t know that!”

Goose Fact #6: The geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

What do we say when we honk from behind?

My training progress
last week's target: 60k
achieved: 60k
year total to date: 2,497k in 32 weeks

With twenty weeks left this year, were I to average exactly 65k per week I would equal last year’s total. But naturally I would like to better it.

this week’s target: 80k
weight: 66.5kg ▼
song of the week: "How To Be Dead" - Snow Patrol - from "Final Straw".

I have road tested "How To Be Dead" and its 180+ beats per minute certainly gets you motoring!

Interestingly and not unexpectedly, the album "Hooked on Rock and Roll" is a constant succession of 163 bpm tracks!

Additional: I am adding each of my "songs of the week" to a playlist, now located on the right hand column of this blog.

Q: Did you know that there are world records for the marathon which are held by a member of the Speedygeese training group, i.e. us?
A: see this website, and check out the women's age records for 5, 6 and 7 year old. Yes, she still holds those records from a long time ago, and they are still faster than the boys' records for that age.

Speedygeese at the Women's Jogalong on 5 August
Sonia Veldhoven W30 27:09
Amanda Walker W35 27:58
Helen Larmour W45 26:55
Barbara Tucker W55 33:44
Charmaine Knobel W55 29:45
Margaret McSpadden W60 34:14

Jennifer Amyx, world traveller, world record holder, now based back in the US, migrates south some winters

The Rhythm of Life

Goose Fact #5: When the lead goose tires, it drops back into the "V" and another goose takes over in front.

To those who always “sit”: be prepared to take your turn in the lead.

To those who always want to lead, be ready and willing to defer to others, allowing them to take their turn leading, with you being content to follow.

The best way to learn about leadership is to follow closely a good leader! Once adept at leadership, the leader still needs to drop back frequently and rest, while allowing others to exercise and develop their leadership abilities.

This applies both to running a half marathon; and to life!

Speedy Helen out in front

Fly Away Home

Goose Fact #4: Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front.

If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed the same way we are going.

A Game: The Bonte Room. Only slightly tricky. If I remember rightly, a hint you may need is, at the end of the "doghop" puzzle, what should you "square"? Careful observation solves these games!

David flying home in the half marathon

Flying together

Goose Fact #3: Geese fly in a “V” formation. As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. When a flock of geese fly in a “V” formation, the geese can travel nearly twice as far than if each bird flew on its own.

There is no reason to train by yourself; call other runners today and plan to meet them tomorrow! Running seems easier and finished sooner when in company.

Thursday training saw Colin, David, Gary, Geoff B, Joel, Ken, Margaret, Maria, Matthew, Rachelle, Rod and Ruth run in three person relay teams, a set of 8 x ~350 with a half lap jog in between.

From "ABS News"

Simon surrounded by 4 or 5 speedygeese: at the rhs you can see Amanda, Ken, Katie and myself; Maria may be in there somewhere as well. Click to enlarge.

Lift-Off

Still G rated?
Q: Why does it take 300 million (male) sperm to fertilise one egg?
A: Not one of them will stop and ask directions.

Goose Fact #2: "Hearing the call of the wild geese, some of the tame geese on the ground start to run along, beating their wings, crying out in awkward, confused disorder – but they are just mimicking the flying birds, they never lift off."

Your friends will need heaps of encouragement when they start a fitness program. Be patient; and be persistent, domesticated geese don't turn wild overnight!


The BBQ Stakes 6k is a really good measure of how my hammy recovery is progressing or not. Just the fact that I can finish the run, albeit somewhat slowly, means there is light at the end of the tunnel. Seems a darned long tunnel , but.

This week Roger ran ~26:48, Helen ~27:12, and I ran ~29:00. Compared with last week, I was genuinely surprised, I thought things had worsened. I was only a tad* slower. So, chin up and run on!

Helen was significantly faster than last week. Roger always amazes; he shouldn't have recovered from the Bush Capital marathon, yet has not slowed down at all.


Running Secret #3: Run twice a day instead of once a day.
If you have been running daily and seem to have reached a plateau, your next breakthrough will happen when you run 6 or 7km in the morning, slowly, following up later in the day with your normal longer and speedier running.

The principle is, step up to the next level, whatever that might be. For example if you are used to going out three days a week, consider adding a fourth.

Secret #1 180bpm
Secret #2 Lydiard style training
Secret #3 Twice a day

That early morning run/jog/fast walk can make all the difference.

*10 seconds = 1 tad

Cover Story

Some very fit migratory geese

Three Speedy Geese in Capri. From CJ’s blog. Lots more travel photos there.

Goose Fact #1: “Every time wild geese go on their amazing migratory journey, they fly along, not too far above ground, and call out to any geese on the ground to join them in their flight.”

It’s a rescue mission. It’s not (just) for us, it’s (also) for them. That’s why I want to see the group increase, in numbers! No power play here. No megalomania. Merely a desire to see everyone involved in life enhancing activity!

There's another report today that Australian are getting fatter and lazier. Well it’s obvious, you just have to stand outside Kingsleys at Kippax for example and watch the very wide customers negotiate the very wide doors and sit on the well-spaced apart seats and eat their fatty fast foods. The only non-fat people I have seen so far in there are the girlies behind the counter.

From JILL STARK (The Age):
"THE fat epidemic is not slowing. More than half of adult Australians are considered overweight or obese. Figures from the Australian Social Trends report show that 36 per cent of adults in 2005 were overweight — a jump of 3 per cent since 1995 — while obesity rates rose from 13 per cent to 18 per cent over the same period. Almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of men were fat, their average weight up from 80 kilograms to 84 kilograms. Average weight for women rose from 65 kilograms to 68 kilograms, with 45 per cent considered overweight or obese.

"But despite 7.5 million people carrying excess weight, most are in denial. Almost half (47 per cent) of men and a fifth (21 per cent) of women who were overweight or obese thought they were a healthy weight. Obesity rates are up across all age groups, with the greatest rise among men aged 35 to 44. Even migrants who arrive in Australia with a healthy weight are soon caught up in the obesity epidemic. Fifteen per cent of people who were born overseas and arrived in Australia before 1996, and 11 per cent of those who arrived between 1996 and 2005, are obese."

We are an inclusive group. It is really important we welcome others into our training group, others who may not feel they do not fit the "mould". Wild geese call to domesticated geese to join them. Let's do the same.

Rated G

A man walks into a bar and asks for a packet of helicopter flavour crisps. Barman shrugs and says - "sorry we've only got plane".

Song of the week: United States, by The Smashing Pumpkins, from Zeitgeist. A live version is on my playlist (bottom of page).

Monday night training saw Adam, Alan, Amanda, Annette, Carolyne, Charmaine, Emma, Ewen, Gary, Geoff B, Helen, Katie, Ken, Margaret, Ruth, and Sonia enjoy 12 x 260m in teams of two. A very solid session but fun as we started teams at two different points and zigzagged past each other on each lap. Team Ken&Emma just pipped team Helen&Katie, with team Sonia&Amanda not far away. Fierce was the competition. And with me plus 4 walkers out there, we had the best turn-out for a while, 21.

Ruth and Gary were back from their respective overseas trips. I would like to say "none the worse for wear" but that might be stretching the truth.

In German a pun which doesn't quite translate into English. So let's say it means "Go Go Speedy Geese". Gary sent this card to our training group when he was overseas. We will talk again soon about how lessons from geese can inspire us.

Getting faster?

My training progress
last week's target: 72k
achieved: 54k
year total to date: 2,437k in 31 weeks
this week’s target: 60k
weight: 68kg ▲

After "coming good" for eight days, I found myself struggling again from Thursday; I couldn't run Saturday's race, and couldn't run at all on Sunday. Still the hammie. Start again this week! I can only improve.

To move faster, it will often help if you try something new.

Yesterday!

Not subtle, but still very funny! Small print: Should you find this objectionable, please remember (a) There has been virtually no political content in my previous 1,000+ posts, and (b) I will make a "comment" and attach it to this post, of the exact text of every email I get complaining about it, however silly the point of view contained therein! This has not been a party political broadcast on behalf of the Liberal Party.

With sincere apologies to Paul McCartney.



Continuing the "yesterday" theme, Cross Country results, Forest Drive 6.5k.
No forest though. And a bitter wind. An excellent new venue, at the new Mt Stromlo facility. The run didn't use the specially prepared grass cross country course as it is not yet open, but ran on the "forest" tracks.
Women
12. Thea Zimpel 31:20
Men
46. Ewen Thompson M50 35:30
49. Geoff Barker M60 36:28

Who We Are

"Who We Are" is the title of the next Lifehouse album. Due out soon?

I hope you like the idea of a playlist on this blog. I will probably modify the list every couple of weeks. Its sources are the entire web, so there is rather a large number of available tracks which could be included.

I might just add this one soon, if I can find it:

If I could just see you
Everything would be all right
If I'd see you
This darkness would turn to light

And I will walk on water
And you will catch me if I fall
And I know everything will be alright
I know everything will be alright

-from Storm, Lifehouse, "Who We Are"

No Idea

Thursday training
Last night Caroline, Jeni, Margaret, Maria, Matthew, Peter, Rachelle, Rod and Tony ran 30 minutes of 400m intervals. Colin was there early and ran 200s, and Barbara and I also ran early, 8k instead of track. Next week I will attempt to attract a larger group so we can run relays.

Deer joke
What do you call a deer with no eyes?
No Eye-Deer.

What do you call a deer with no eyes and no legs?
Still no Eye-Deer.

I still prefer cow jokes.
Two cows were standing in a paddock.
One said "mooooooooo".
The other turned and said "Not fair! I was going to say that!"

A Game
Haluz Lots of fun, another game like Samarost. And easy. It is a bit slow when it has to load a brand new scene, you have to wait. Only the first time for each scene, though.

The most improved runner in our training group, Amanda.

MixMeister

You might want to gradually increase the tempo of your running towards three steps per second, or towards your personal optimum, over time. This post should help you in a couple of ways.

Firstly, do you want to check the pace of your music and decide which songs to load to your iPod/MP3 player? Here is a much easier way than using a metronome!

The MixMeister BPM analyser is available from http://www.mixmeister.com/, and it’s free to download, doesn’t take long either. It analyses songs and tells you how many BPM each song is.

A sample:



In this example, Snow Patrol’s “Final Straw” album, the track “How To Be Dead” (actually track 1), at two steps per beat, is almost exactly pace I recommended here! And the guitar plays at double time anyway, 182. “How To Be Dead” is actually track 1. (The order above is different because I rename the tracks to play them in my preferred order). I am out of breath just listening to it!

If your current rate is somewhat less, say 140, you might want to start off by choosing songs only a little faster, say 150 or so.

Jeff Galloway on Stride Length
Secondly, thanks to Cool Runner "2feetoffground", in this thread, I have read an article by Jeff Galloway on Stride Length which may be of interest. He says as you get tired, you tend to lengthen your stride in order to not slow down. He says this tendency should be resisted.

"Shorten your stride
"When you feel tension in muscles that are at their limits - especially the calf and hamstring groups - you need to shorten the stride a bit to relax them. Keep on shortening your stride until the leg muscles do relax. This may allow you to pick up the turnover of the feet and legs. But even if this increase doesn't happen, you'll reduce the chance of injury caused by the increased fatigue of over-striding and speed up recovery. Often, the only adjustment needed is a shortening of an inch or two, but the relaxation it provides will allow the legs to go at a faster rhythm. Some runners can actually speed up at the end of the race.

"As you pick up the turnover on form accelerations, be sure to keep the stride short enough so the leg muscles are relaxed and maintain a quick rhythm. When in doubt, keep the stride short so you can maintain a light, quick step on each of these pick-ups."

Galloway proposes a drill to enable you to increase cadence:

"Turnover Drill
"As runners become faster, their stride length decreases. Therefore, the way to get faster is to increase the turnover of feet and legs. Even those who lack a fast bone in their bodies will benefit from turnover drills because they teach the body to find a more efficient motion.

"The Drill
"After a slow 1-mile warm-up, select a level and traffic-free stretch of road, trail or track. Without picking up your speed, count the number of times either your left foot or your right comes down in 30 seconds. Jog or walk for a minute or so and then run back, counting again for 30 seconds, with the goal of increasing the count by one or two. Repeat this four to six times, with the same projected increase each time but without a significant increase in effort.

"If you do this drill once a week, you'll intuitively learn to stay low to the ground with an increasingly lighter touch of the foot. If you do this drill at least once a week, a year from now you'll be running faster and with no increase in effort. The increased turnover and improved efficiency also makes running feel easier. You'll see more progress if you do it twice a week. But you'll lose two weeks of progress if you miss a week."

Solid Support

Song of the Week: "[Fin]", by Anberlin. The last track on their "Cities" album and my favourite song today, just ahead of "Starz" by the Smashing Pumpkins, in favouritism. Thanks to Karmin for putting me onto such a great group.

Friar has managed to put the 8k and 12k Cross Country results together from two weeks ago, they now appear on the Cross Country Club website.

Colin Farlow is our guest writer (much to his surprise I imagine): "Hi Maria and Peter, I just thought I'd put the pressure of the pair of you (as any worthy monarch should be able to perform under pressure). With only one event left in the King and Queen of the Mountain series, and after removing each participant's current lowest score, Peter is just three points behind Steve Bradford, while Maria is only a mere 10 points behind Jennie Blake. After a few patchy runs earlier in the warmer months, Peter has come good at the right time of the year and is well positioned to overtake the more fancied Bradford. With both Peter and Steve to retain their group relativities, Peter needs to look over his shoulder in the last km of the next race to ensure he puts two others between himself and Steve at the finish line. Maria, arguably the better runner, has carried her marathon form across to the Thomas series and should perform well enough next month to eclipse the 10 point gap if she refrains from a 25km run the previous day. And such result is even more likely if the handicapper quite rightly burdens Jennie with an additional delay, but leaves Maria alone, as both are on the cusp of re-grouping. I'm looking forward to the witnessing the coronation ceremony when I plod across the line many seconds behind the pair of you!"

Peter replies: "That's very observant of you Colin. A well timed tackle on Steve could earn you a knighthood."

Today's BBQ Stakes.
Charlie ran about 27:20 (and was third on handicap), Helen about 27:40, and I ran about 28:50. For me that's about 6 minutes faster than last week, so I will just keep building up & it shouldn't be too long before I start showing some semblance of form.

Honk Honk

That's Ken about to pass Griffin. Or is it Griffin having just passed Ken? Take your pick.