Running tracks at 180bpm

Yes, alright, yet another attempt at humour, as promised twice upon a time, the following "running tracks" are in the vicinity of 180bpm. so if any of them are tracks you like you can load them to your iPod / MP3 player and try running to them.

Price of Gasoline -Bloc Party -Silent Alarm 4:19 170
One Too Many Mornings -The Chemical Brothers -Exit Planet Dust 4:13 170
The Outsider -A Perfect Circle -Thirteenth Step 5:28 170
November Has Come -Gorillaz -Demon Days 2:45 170
Motivation -Sum 41 -All Killer No Filler 2:50 170
I Love You -Under the Influence of Giants -Under the Influence of Giants (Bonus Track) 3:25 170
The New Transmission -Lostprophets -Liberation Transmission 3:32 170
Totem On the Timeline -Klaxons -Myths of the Near Future 2:41 170
Loser -Beck -Mellow Gold 3:56 171
Who Let You Go (iTunes Version) -The Killers Who Let You Go - Single 3:58 171
Beautiful -Moby -Hotel 3:35 171
Rushing -Moby -Play 3:00 171
Summer Shudder -AFI -DECEMBERUNDERGROUND 3:07 171
When Your Heart Stops Beating -+44 -When Your Heart Stops Beating 3:12 171
Bottles to the Ground -NOFX -Pump Up the Valuum 2:20 171
Paper Planes -M.I.A. -Kala (Bonus Track Version) 3:23 171
Helicopter -Bloc Party -Silent Alarm 3:40 172
Judith -A Perfect Circle -Mer de noms 4:07 172
Meaningless Love -Under the Influence of Giants -Under the Influence of Giants (Bonus Track) 5:19 172
Sunday -Sia -Colour the Small One 4:17 172
Disorder -Joy Division -Unknown Pleasures 3:31 172
Next Year -Foo Fighters -Skin and Bones (Bonus Track Version) 4:34 173
A Martyr for My Love for You -The White Stripes -Icky Thump 4:18 173
Lonely Nation -Switchfoot -Nothing is Sound 3:46 174
Call It a Day (Live) -The Raconteurs Zane Lowe BBC Session - EP 1:56 174
Stars -Dubstar -Dubstar Stars - The Best of Dubstar 4:14 174
Down in Flames -Relient K -Double Take 4:08 174
You're Only Young Once -Amber -Pacific Truth in Sincerity 3:30 174
Attack -30 Seconds To Mars -A Beautiful Lie 3:09 174
Hotwax -Beck -Odelay 3:50 175
Ocean Avenue -Yellowcard -Ocean Avenue 3:18 175
Nothing In My Way -Keane -Keane Live from London 4:31 175
The Clincher -Chevelle -This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In) 3:43 175
Beautiful Way -Beck -Midnite Vultures 5:37 176
Going Under -Evanescence -Fallen 3:34 176
Monkey Wrench -Foo Fighters -The Colour and the Shape 3:51 176
Home -Great Northern Trading -Twilight for Daylight 3:49 176
2 Females -Freq Nasty -Bring Me the Head of Freq Nasty 3:58 177
Don't Push -Sublime -40oz. to Freedom 4:18 177
My Last Breath -Evanescence -Fallen 4:07 177
The Answer -Bloc Party -Bloc Party - EP 4:04 178
Anthem for the Year 2000 -Silverchair -Neon Ballroom 4:07 178
Beverly Hills -Weezer -Make Believe 3:18 178
Bob -NOFX -White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean 2:02 178
Going Under -Evanescence -Fallen 3:35 178
Show Me How to Live -Audioslave -Audioslave 4:37 179
Oh My God -Kaiser Chiefs -Employment 3:34 179
Way Away -Yellowcard -Ocean Avenue 3:22 179
Something to Believe In -The Ramones -Weird Tales of the Ramones 4:18 179
Bad Stone -The Crystal Method -Vegas 5:09 180
The Stomp -The Hives -Barely Legal 1:54 180
Inside of Love -Nada Surf -Let Go 4:58 180
Matrix -Edguy -Rocket ride 3:47 180
Comfortable Liar -Chevelle -Wonder What's Next 3:43 180
Name of the Game -The Crystal Method -Tweekend 4:15 181
Storm the Studio (DJ Swamp Mix) -Meat Beat Manifesto -Storm the Studio 5:01 181
Shut Your Mouth -Garbage -Beautiful Garbage 3:25 181
I'm Not Okay (I Promise) -My Chemical Romance -Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge 3:08 181
Santeria -Sublime -Sublime 3:03 182
Distraction -Angels & Airwaves -We Don't Need to Whisper (Digital Version) 5:36 182
How to Be Dead -Snow Patrol -Final Straw 3:24 182
Cutt Off -Kasabian -Kasabian 4:38 182
Badfish -Sublime -20th Cent. Masters: The Best of Sublime 3:08 183
Killing Time -P.E. -Broke 3:53 183
Miles Apart -Yellowcard -Ocean Avenue 3:32 183
No No No -Yeah Yeah Yeahs -Fever to Tell 5:14 185
The War -Angels & Airwaves -We Don't Need to Whisper (Digital Version) 5:08 190
No Way -Back Foo Fighters -In Your Honor 3:16 190

Brand new running track
And tonight we race on the brand new running track at the AIS. Let's hope the surface is rain proof as it is supposed to be. And level. Because, you see, much to everyone's surprise, not to mention the cat's, there has been some light overnight rain in Canberra. I think I will run in "everything" tonight but run very very very slowly. But at 180bpm of course.

Yesterday's BBQ Stakes
I "ran" about 29:50, satisfactory if I can improve next time, and Roger about 36:40, better than he thought after Sunday's mountain racing. I started off my correct handicap start and was very surprised to come second last, not last.

Relay team result at Brindabella; An informed source tells me that there were two speedy geese teams, the first team, in 4:18.48, were Peter McDonald, Richard Faulks, Mick Horan and Geoff Sims in that order, and the fifth team, in 4:48.31, who were also the first all women’s team, were Rachelle E-B, Charlie McCormack, and Maria O’Reilly in that order, with Maria running both legs three and four. No splits are available.

Stretch 9 - Trunk Extensors

Sit with your back straight, knees bent, and toes pointed slightly up. Tuck your chin and contract your abs to pull your body forward. Grasp the sides of the lower legs to gently assist.

6k Fun Run on 11/11

The "Ben Donohoe Run and Walk For Fun" - organised by Students from the Hawker College Year 12 Sports Administration Course, will be run this year on Sunday 11th November 2007. The 6k Fun Run/Walk will start and finish in John Knight Memorial Park, Lake Ginninderra, Belconnen at 9am. A 3k out and back run/walk is also available. The 3k is geared towards walkers (mothers and children in strollers etc) and those less fit and will start 10 minutes after the 6k. All money received will support Brain Tumour Australia for research into paediatric Brain Tumours in memory of Ben Donohoe.

Entry forms - http://www.bendonohoerunandwalkforfun.com/

Note that online entry is not available, the forms need to be posted or handed in. Ken Eynon will have entry forms at the Spring Series event, and at Vets track this Thursday. The form says 26 October is the closing date, after which a late entry fee applies. So enter now or Thursday with Ken!

More Stretching
Stretch 7 - Hip external rotators

Place your foot in a rope. Wrap the ends of the rope around the inside of your ankle. Pull the rope under your leg and grasp it with the hand which is on the same side. Rotate your thigh inward, pivoting your lower leg outward and leading with your heel.

Stretch 8 - Hip internal rotators

Place your foot in a rope. Wrap the ends of the rope around the outside of your ankle. Pull it under your leg and grasp it with the hand on the opposite side. Pivot the lower part of your leg inward, leading with your heel.

Not-a-Shepparton-cow


but quite artistic never-the-less.

Over the Hills and Far Away

While running, I have been listening to albums “Cities” and “Blueprints for the Black Market” by Anberlin, and “We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes” and “Transatlanticism” by "Death Cab for Cutie". The latter are nothing like you think – they sound a bit like the album “Sum of Us” by Brisbane supergroup “The Henrys”. Death Cab for Cutie also remind me of Relient K for some reason, I don’t really know why, they are not all that similar. Maybe it’s the words. Anyway, my song of the week: this week is “Mood Rings”, by Relient K, from "Two Lefts Don’t Make a Right…But Three Do”.

This Thursday’s track program:

Time	Event
6:30pm	3000m (gm)
6:50	100m (d)
7:15	800m
7:45	200m (b)
8:00	4 x 100m, 2 x 200m
8:20	spiral 4

Hot, dusty, windy, awful; just some of the words used to describe the Brindabella Classic held last Sunday. Some entrants did not start, some did not finish, some faded badly, some handled the conditions well. Speedy geese as ever were outstanding, although some geese couldn't do stairs too well afterwards, as was evidenced at the Two Sisters Laos-Thai restaurant last night. Which is on the first floor.

Here's photographic evidence of Sunday: click to enlarge. Where's your hat, Mick?



And some results -

Bulls Head Challenge: 27.3k
10. Helen Larmour 2:08:26 first woman
12. Kelley Flood 2:18:13 second woman
18. Emma Adams 2:26:33
20. Roger Pilkington 2:29:55

Geoff Barker was a dnf, and Peter Hogan and Caroline Campbell were among the many who had entered but did not start. It was that kind of day.

In the longer 53.8k there were some Speedygeese in relay teams, but who they were and how they went I do not know, as the team names give no clues at all. So whoever you were, and however you went, well done.

Awards at the dinner last night went to those who attended most training sessions in July, August and September! These were-
Parliament House: Ken White; Sonia Veldhoven (both 12 out of 12)
Dickson: Matthew Hardy; Maria O'Reilly (both 10 out of 12).

Monday Monitor

My training progress (last two weeks)
week 41 target: 90k
achieved: 95k
week 42 target: whatever (travelling)
achieved: 34k
year total to date: 3,246k in 42 weeks
this week’s target: 71k
weight: 65.5kg ►◄

It is so hard to get weight to drop even a tiny bit! At least it is not going up! There have been lots of dinners and celebrations, with many more to come!
This week's target includes a series of tempo runs. Kind of anti-Hadd. (For everything there is a season. Turn turn turn.) I plan to add Extra Ks of jogging to my weekly targets from now on. But not if this hot weather continues - it has been close to the October all time record high temperature for three days now.

Wild Geese
I was all set to videotape an ABC program about wild geese last night, but two boring people yapped on for 90 minutes instead. And the ABC didn’t say if they would show the program later. Honk Honk, Not Happy.

Stretch no. 6 - Glutes. Resuming the series of recommended stretches. Lie with one leg straight and the other bent. Point the toes of the straight leg inward. Lift your bent knee toward the opposite shoulder. Keep your pelvis on the ground, and use your hands for a gentle assist.

Dare You To Moove


Speedy Jenny and stationary cow.

Try not stretching, you’ll like it!

Sunday Sermon: "when to not stretch"
For people who want to try not stretching, here is the good news: not stretching is easier than stretching. For people who don’t want to do much stretching, more good news: in our training group we do very little. In fact, here’s the routine we have established: and I blame myself for this. Warm up. A token stretch. A bit more warm up. Another token stretch. A run-through or two if necessary. Speed work. Cool down. Perhaps another token stretch. Then go home.

We do little stretching because (a) little is needed, (b) what’s the point of lying around after a warm up just to cool down again, (c) It’s too cold in winter at night to lie around. (d) I never used to stretch in all those years of good running.

After a warm up and before speed work it is better to stay warm and not stretch than it is to stretch and have to warm up again afterwards.

Q: “But I need to stretch, when should I do it”?
A1: After training or racing as part of the recovery, before cooling down too much.
A2: At the gym after warming up as part of the gym routine.
Take your pick.

WITH THAT IN MIND, our routine is going to change: here’s what I plan to do. Stretching IS important, and we are going to stretch AFTER we have done our training, and before the cool down jog.

All this because I sat down and thought about it. Sorry!

AMG GEESE
How we went at the Australasian Masters Games in Adelaide.

M45 800 Meter Run 45-49
Preliminaries 7 John Morton M48 Aust Capital Ter 2:15.55q
(cutting it fine there, John?)
Finals 2 John Morton M48 Aust Capital Ter 2:09.14

M45 1500 Meter Run 45-49
2 John Morton M48 Aust Capital Ter 4:38.34

M45 400 Meter Run 45-49
Preliminaries 3 John Morton M48 Aust Capital Ter 56.93Q
(Did not start in the final).

M55 5000 Meter Run 55-59
6 Geoff Moore M59 Aust Capital Ter 20:04.08

W55 5000 Meter Run 55-59
2 Barbara Tucker W58 Aust Capital Ter 25:44.24

M55 8k Run CC 55-59
4 Geoff Moore M59 Aust Capital Ter 35:50

W55 8k Run CC 55-59
4 Barbara Tucker W58 Aust Capital Ter 47:09

M55 Half Marathon 55-59
3 Geoff Moore M59 Aust Capital Ter 1:36:31

W55 Half Marathon 55-59
2 Barbara Tucker W58 Aust Capital Ter 2:01:35

Cows often sit down and think, but rarely stretch

Ten things you should never say to your coach.

10. I see you're taking it pretty easy today.
9. I just ate a huge burger for lunch.
8. Last week's work-out was easy. I want more sessions like that.
7. When do we start real training?
6. I have decided not to wash my running gear for a month.
5. No.
4. My last coach knew all about training properly.
3. We never work hard enough.
2. Who needs to warm up? Let’s get into it NOW.
1. I feel like an easy session today.

Mooving right along





FOOTNOTES
1. Good luck to all runners in the Brindabella Classic tomorrow.

2. There will be no training at Parliament House for this Monday only, it will be on again on the 29th. There are 26 coming to Monday's dinner.

3. I am assured Vets track will start this Thursday.

(my able body isn't what it used to be)

My new training plan, taking into account how much slower I have been getting:

Monday - speedwork (pm)

Tuesday - tempo run (am)

Wednesday - gym (am) & tempo run (lunch time)

Thursday - tempo run (am) & Vets track (pm)

Friday - swim (am)

Saturday - tempo run (am)

Sunday - tempo run (am)

All to be supplemented by long jogs whenever I feel like it, and a well constructed stretching regime. Doing tempo runs, rather than long slow runs with purely distance targets, is my attempt to get distance speed back towards what it should be.

My new targets
I will not confess to any further target times this year, but the long term objective is to find some form again in March 2008 so that I can

run well in the Nationals in Sydney at Easter 2008

be ready for some good M60 races in May 2008 and beyond.

All being well I will probably run in April's Canberra Marathon next year too.

Song of the week - One, by U2




Prize winning geese

Barbara and I with our Australasian Games half marathon medals

Travel in Australia

Having driven to Brisbane and Adelaide many times, staying at various places along the way, I am starting to accumulate a list of really really bad places to visit and really really good places to visit; really really bad motels and really really good ones; places to run, places to eat, and so on.

Often we plan a slightly different route so we can visit somewhere new.

Sometimes we just drive until it's time to stop, and find the nearest motel. This is not always a good plan; some "half-way" places are little more than a less-than-basic motel at a feature-less location. Others are surprisingly good. But it is not true that every location had something of inherent interest for the casual visitor.

We have never bothered to book ahead on such trips as we like to be free to go where we feel like; although our experience twice on these holidays was to get the last room in town despite no-one being sure why all the motels were booked up. Perhaps people are travelling again?

Shepparton is fantastic
On Tuesday night we stayed at a new place; Shepparton in country Victoria. What a great place to stay! The town had a really good feel to it. Friendly people, pretty town, great restaurants, and the most excellent motel we have stayed at, Tirana Motor Inn. Shepparton has great sporting fields, is the home of the SPC factory, is the centre of a large fruit growing area as well as dairy. And "kids town" which we will visit another time, which is a children's/adult's playground centre. And many many kilometers of cycling tracks, as well as many kilometers of walking tracks. And an excellent art gallery - I loved the mooving cows.

So I will add Shepparton to my "must revisit and stay longer" list of Victorian towns. Along with Echuca and Ballarat.

Mooving Cows

Don't forget to vote!

I'm very forgetful. I'm always forgetting birthdays, meetings, anniversaries. Well, there aren't any anniversaries, so that one's easy.

I've forgotten I'm supposed to write something here while Geoff hits the frog and toad for the trip back to Canberra. So... I'm writing to tell you not to forget to vote! If you forget to vote, you may not be able to watch certain people singing silly songs on TV.

In running matters, there was another good group at Parly House on Monday evening. About 18 or 19 keen runners. We ran the same relays on the grass in front of the house again. Ruth and Wombat didn't come last! Woohoo! I even sprinted. Bad, bad, bad!

I DON'T do HILLS!

But at least it was a medal this time.

A disastrous half marathon for me; anyone seeing me run or train would know that I stop dead still up hills because the hamstrings and calves break if I run up them; and I crawl down hills because I don't like the jarring.

So wouldn't you know it; today's half marathon had a series of sharp hills to negotiate.

And I broke.

A tentative jog on the first few rises didn't help; by 16k I was so sore I could barely move. Then it was touch and go whether I could continue or would have to pull out. With about three kms to go I had a tussle with a W75 whom I had lapped! I think she passed me three times!

Story of the run
It was a three lap course; during the first 7k lap I had an eye on two M55s who I thought would expect to be first and second; but who I knew I could keep in touch with. I was trailing through about 10-20 seconds behind them when at about 5k they passed another M55 I hadn't seen; I caught him without any extra effort and when he surged to take over from me again "I knew I had him". At 6k I passed him again, just running my steady 4:10s (except on the hilly bits), and he didn't surge the second time. That left me in third still.

First lap 30 mins; second lap 31 and I was tying up a little, still keeping within range of the M55 leaders, but realising by then that a sub 90 was unlikely.

2k into the final lap with 5k to go, the right hamstring "went". It MAY not be a muscle strain; it may be cramp. Then I slowed; stopped; tried to stretch; started again at a hobble; stopped again and so on. But although a number of people passed me, no other M55 was in sight. In particular, the guy I had passed earlier must have given up. A lesson here perchance? So I struggled on, somehow negotiated the remaining hills, and walk/jogged to the line for bronze. Speedy goose outkicks tame goose yet again.

My laps were 30, 31, and 35.30 for a grand total of a very poor 96.30. If I had maintained my 4:10 pace, as I should have, it would have been gold not bronze.

Oh - and SpeedyBarbara got silver in 2:01, very close behind the winner.

Photos later!

Thousands of Photographs

Jenny has taken thousands of photographs these last two weeks, mostly of flowers/buildings/scenery. I will not be short of an illustration or two!

Friday and Saturday have been cold and windy, with occasional shower flurries. Sunday may start that way too. 21km of 180bpm will be an interesting challenge if the strong winds we have experienced most days continue. Then on Monday when we leave here, hot weather is due to return.

Next: how I went!

Australian Sunset Ostriches

I am feeling patriotic today. "Australian Sunset Ostriches" is what my daughter Loani used to sing for the first line of our national anthem when she was very little. Of course, that was before stupid political correctness changed the first line from "Australian Sons let us rejoice" to "Australians all let us rejoice". Anyone with any brains would know that "sons" in that context means "heirs". Changing words of old songs because their meaning might have changed since the songs were written is nothing short of vandalism.

I see in the local paper that our beloved political leader has discovered that original Australians do actually exist. How convenient. Just before an election and all. Well, one that will be announced any year now. Hurry up, this madness must not continue!

On matters closer to the point of this blog, Sunday's half marathon target, 4:10 per km, should result in a time of 88 minutes and a yet to be determined number of seconds. But the course looks like it is on public pathways and winds around a good deal. Hmmm.

And. Two weeks to go, still, to daylight saving. About time! And then an election. And hopefully, some rejoicing after that.


Flying the flag on Australia's longest river, the Murray

Countdown. Three days to go.

I jogged 6k this morning then spent the rest of the day being a tourist.

I am running hot

At 6am today it was already 21 degrees; 7am 22; later in the morning 29. And that, together with a stiff north to northeasterly breeze, made running fairly difficult for the 8k cross country. I didn't suffer at all in the conditions but others did. In fact I enjoyed it. Barb and I both ran 4th in our age groups. Four laps of two km on a very nice little course. Barb's race was before mine: after she has completed one of her laps, I yelled out "go you speedy goose" and the commentator said "that's Barbara Tucker, the speedy goose" and apparently repeated the information on the next lap as well. A good day; I totalled 24k including warmup and cooldown watching other races; and have high hopes still for Sunday's half marathon.

Several of the women runners lapped Barb in her race, but NO-ONE GOT WITHIN COO-EE OF LAPPING ME in the younger men's race, not even Grenville Wood.

Thursday Training
Because track at the AIS has been postponed, Thursday training will conclude at Dickson a week later than advertised: the last evening will be 18 October. I will be back for that training session. And look forward to catching up with everyone before track season starts in earnest, presumably on the 25th. And don't forget to tell me if you are coming to the group dinner on the 22nd; there has been quite a good response so far.

In Praise Of Not Being Lapped

Monday's 5k was extraordinary; I was not lapped. It could well be different on Wednesday; I have the pleasure of running in the M30-59 division, which makes me about the slowest, and the cross country course is 4 laps of 2k each lap. And thunderstorms are forecast. I promise to report how many people lap me. If it is not too hot or humid, maybe I can hold them off. We will see.

Not Jaded, I.
I have been watching Dr Who Series II, thanks to my brother who has loaned me the DVDs. I watched Series III in 2007 but did not see Series II in 2006 when it came out; not realising how good it would be. David Tennant is extraordinarily good (out of this world, perhaps?) and appeared first at the beginning of Series II.

"not for the world weary, jaded or cold-hearted. The emotion is full-blooded, the jokes in your face, there's wit and love and pain and adventure. Your actions count. The universe is dangerous and your moral choices, your actions define you".

Yes, Dr Who is no longer escapism, it tastes very much like real life.

Silver Goose

Monday Monitor
My training progress
last week's target: 70k
achieved: 70k
year total to date: 3,117k in 40 weeks
this week’s target: 90k
weight: who knows? Let's call it 65.5kg & steady.
song of the week: “Broken”, by Lifehouse, from "Who We Are".
"I might try to be guarded, but I'm an open book instead".

Indeed. Freedom is having nothing to hide.

Race Result
It went exactly as planned.
M55 5000m 20:04.08.
(3k split 11.57 - yay!)

I trotted the 5k at a steady 4 mins per km, no ill effects, no injuries, not tired. I won't say where I came, but four of the M55s who beat me were precisely 55 years old, and the other one was 57, so I was out-aged rather than out-classed. What was particularly interesting was, the race was a combined M55/M60 event and only one M60 finished in front of me, and that was an ex-Canberran now living in Adelaide, Liam Hanna. So bring on my 60th birthday next May.

There was one other goose, competing for the first time today as well. Although a speedy goose, she calls herself a slow goose; but a goose from the land of the silver fern is rarely slow. Appropriately she won silver today. So at least one old goose is in the medals.
W55 5000m Barbara Tucker 25.44.24 (silver)
(3k split 15.00)

Barbara, like me, will also be competing in the 8kCC on Wednesday, and in the Half Marathon on Sunday. Also Barbara and Mark, and Jenny and I, and my mum, are having a little outing in the Barossa on Thursday. (For the uninitiated, that is winery country). Yay again.

Toronto Waterfront Marathon

From Roger:
Hi all, I finished the marathon about 2 1/2 hours ago, I did it in 3hrs 41mins 38secs, my net time was actually 3:40:32, I was very happy with the run, conditions were a bit overcast at the start about 14 degrees and it was about 19 when I finished, it is a fairly flat run that is basically parallel to Lake Ontario.

I did the first half in 1:50:10 (taking off the time to get to the start line) and doing 1:50:22 in the 2nd half, I ran home well in the last 12kms picking up over 200 runners, I was still fairly sore and considering my preparation had not been that great I can't complain about my time.

See you all back in Canberra in a few weeks, and for those running Bulls Head, keep the training going.

(this was sent on 1 October)

Monday Racing
I will be running the 5k in the morning. My first start in this year's Australasian Masters. My goal is to run it slowly, and finish it, so that two years after my first and only and disastrous attempt, I can finally say I have completed a race at Santos Stadium. Two years ago I pulled up injured after only a few steps and was wheeled from the track. So here goes...

The Unusual Suspects

Every Masters Games brings them out. Simple cheery characters with a smile, a Games pass, a collection of medals around the neck, and a story to tell every passer-by. One apprehended me today asking "are you here for the Games" and happily told me of his exploits barely waiting to notice whether I had answered him or not. Oh dear.

Yes it's the usual Masters where an average medal is easy to get and an engraver's fee of $6 per medal is unnoticed next to the joy of getting your name on gold. And where a person ranked tenth in their home town can be first in their country.

Now if only the other competitors in my age group can break down before the half marathon...

In Holiday Mode

Everyone else had a camera

Another day in Paradise

A quick 12k run yesterday, then a trip to Renmark and two hours on a river cruise with an excellent commentary, not to mention scones.

"Renmark River Cruises invite visitors to cruise the Murray River to experience the peace and tranquillity aboard the Big River Rambler, a spacious air conditioned houseboat style vessel. Enjoy the skippers commentary and the freshly cooked scones for afternoon tea. 2 hour cruises at 2pm Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday and a one hour cruise from 11am on Sunday. Leaves from the Town Wharf."

Also a howling gale. But we sat in the open on top, anyway.

Recommended.

Perfect Run

Yesterday was the perfect day for a perfect run - from Elizabeth to Andrew's Farm and back. The day reached 33 degrees here in Elizabeth but was somewhat cooler in the morning, although the Northerly breeze was up. A 16k run in just on 85 minutes; still on track for the Masters.

Then we had lunch at my brother's place in Coromandel Valley, a 75 minute drive from here through the city traffic. Today we are driving back to Renmark for a cruise on the Murray.

Song of the week: Expo '86, by Death Cab for Cutie, from Transatlanticism
"Sometimes I think this cycle never ends/we slide from top to bottom then we turn and climb again".

provocation from a wombat

Nobody would have got within coo-ee of the cats. Well done Geelong!
It is great to be in Adelaide with Power fans so distraught.
It is a beautiful sunny day and a great day to jog. I ran from base a course I thought would be about 10k and told J see you in an hour. As I re-entered the front gate - and I took no short cuts nor ran any extra loops nor did a Terry Levings slowdown at the end - the garmin ticked over to 1:00.00 and 10.00.
Well something is falling into place.
But I had a couple of seniors moments on the drive over; I seemed to have acquired a motel room key; and I ran out of road exiting from Renmark, it seems we were on the wrong road.

Monday Monitor
My training progress
last week's target: 80k
achieved: 70k
year total to date: 3,047k in 39 weeks
this week’s target: 70k
weight: 65.5kg ►◄

Why I'm late for training

I'm not talking about Speedygeese training - I usually on arrive on Monday afternoons with a few minutes to spare. I'm talking about the training I do on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Calwell. If I arrive 5 minutes late, I get to warm-up by myself, or maybe with Karen, who is equally happy jogging slowly.

If I arrive on time, I might have to warm-up with Kathy (pictured here) and the speedy teenagers. This is sometimes stressful, as Kathy only knows one way to run - fast. I mean, she ran 38:21 in the Canberra Times 10k and she's older than me! I think she inherited some talent from her son and daughter. Her son was able to do no running for months, then come to training for a couple of weeks and run under 2 minutes for 800 metres. Her daughter is one of the best young steeplechasers in the ACT.

Yes, I'm happy to have a reputation for tardiness. Much better than the daunting thought of going for a warm-up at half marathon race pace!

The sacrifices we make!

Speedygeoff is off on an 1,100k road trip to Adelaide to run in a 5000 metre race. Didn't anybody tell him he could run one of those out at the AIS track?

I was thinking about the sacrifices we runners make in the pursuit of our sport. For instance, today I was only able to squeeze in a 10k run, before a lunch date at Tosolinis with four young ladies. Yes, four! Perhaps you can guess who they were? One offered to kick me in the shin with her good leg, after a joke I made at her expense. One is blonde, wears red leather and Greek jewellery. Two were from Brisbane.

It was Grand Final day, but it hardly crossed my mind. OK... 1.30 lunch, out of there by 3, home 40 minutes later to catch the second half. Nup, didn't happen. What is it with females and three hour lunches? What did I do wrong? Probably ordering the Field Mushrooms - all three of them. Red leather girl then took pity on me and we ordered dessert and more coffee. Tiramisu! I wondered if this would give me an 'up arrow' for the weekly weigh-in. Anyway, it was a great lunch with great company. Who cares about footy?

It was only Geelong v Port Adelaide. Lee Troop's team against the second-best team in the competition and the best team from Adelaide. The Cats won by 119 points! It would have been totally boring after the first quarter. I wonder if the second-best team from Adelaide would have done any better? At least one of the Speedygeese would have been happy. He was only knee-high to a grasshopper when Geelong won their last flag in 1963. A pity you missed out on the draw for Grand Final tickets Mick. You can finally dust off the old jumper and wear it to training on Monday night.

Wogger on Blogger

Thursday training report. We did the inverse of last week's pyramid session; Strewth's blog summarises it best! Running were Alistair, Colin, David, me, Kathy, Ken, Margaret, Maria, Matthew, Mick, Rod, Ruth, Tim and Tony. Maria and I ran a solid 8.5k early; the rest belted around the track in the rapidly cooling conditions.

North Lyneham training: I might start up a new training session at North Lyneham on Fridays; after daylight saving begins, i.e. starting on Friday 2 November. These would be at 5:30pm and go for two months; in January we would probably move back to Aranda Saturday mornings instead. Are there any takers for North Lyneham? If there are enough people who would come regularly, it will happen.

We did try Tuesdays some years ago but Monday + Tuesday intervals was not a good idea. But when we tried Pinnacle on Fridays one year, after track Thursdays, that worked quite well. I think North Lyneham late Friday would work well if Monday’s session were short and quick, Friday’s session longer and slower, more of a recovery session from Thursday.

Training Group Dinner
There will be a group dinner on Monday 22 October, at 7pm, instead of training. The location will be the Two Sisters Lao Thai restaurant at Dickson. Please get in touch via email and tell me if wish to come to the dinner, I do need precise numbers. It is the day after the Brindabella Classic so we could all run that instead of training hard the next day.

A Game. Wogger is a great game, a little different from others, try it and you will soon get the hang of it; at each step there are only one or two places you can click to get something to happen, and if you click the “wrong” spot, you don’t have to undo or restart anything. It’s engrossing. When a game “chapter” finishes, and the chapters are quite short, it displays “End of …” and you can click on the next chapter link to proceed. The number of chapters seems endless; I am up to chapter 25.

Keep on stretching

Stretch 5 Quadriceps: Lie on your side with your knees against your chest and your head on the ground. Slide your bottom arm under the thigh of your bottom leg and place your hand around the outside of your foot. Grasp the shin of your upper leg with your upper hand. Move your upper leg back as far as you can.

Countdown to Track

Happy Birthday Aki. 25 years young, tomorrow! Only five more years and you're a Veteran!

Veterans' Track Program, first night, Thursday 18 October:
As well as throws and jumps, we have

Time	Track Event
6:00pm	1000m walk
6:20pm	sprint hurdles
6:30pm	1500m
7:00pm	100m
7:15pm	3000m (GM)
7:35pm	400m
8:00pm	4x100m, 2x200m relay
8:15pm	spiral 4

See http://www.actvac.com.au/Track/Prog2.htm for more information.

Keep on stretching

Stretch 4 Hip Abductors: Place your foot into the loop of a rope. Wrap it around the outside of your ankle. Rotate the leg outward and the other leg inward slightly. Lock your knee. Extend your leg across the midline of your body, leading with your heel.

At yesterday’s BBQ Stakes I ran 25.55 and Helen 27.18. Helen was over a minute faster than last week. My time was my fastest since 16 May. My next race is the 5000m track on 8 October at the Australasian Masters Games in Adelaide. Originally hoping to break 19 minutes, I think I have regained enough form to break 21. It could have been a lot worse.

First day of new training program a rest day! That is the way to organise it! I have got myself a new training program starting Friday 19 October. The first day is a rest day, but I will be trying out a new gym on that day.

Meanwhile Ken will be looking after Speedygeese training while I am away. And Ewen the blog, although I will still be posting fairly regularly I hope. After my return on 18 October, I will be introducing brand new training sessions at Parliament house Mondays, with track racing starting up on Thursdays. And as daylight saving arrives, at last.

And if you missed Allrounder on the television news last night, there's a photo and an article in today's Canberra Times newspaper.

My most recent music purchases, for listening to on my new car CD player as I drive across the Hay plains in the next few days:

Duathlon Gold

Stretch 3 Hip Adductors:
Place one foot inside the loop of a rope. Wrap it around the inside of the ankle. Lock your knee, rotate your leg inward. Extend your leg out to the side of your body, leading with your heel. Complete one set. Repeat leading with your toe.

Congratulations to our 2007 Australian and ACT Duathlon Champions
Sunday 23 September, 2007 at the new Stromlo Forest Park.
Caroline Campbell - first ACT, first Australian in her age group
David Baussmann - first ACT, third Australian in his age group.

Pick an event. Track season starts 18 October.
ACT Records as of 3 June 2007
800 Metres
M30 1.56.71e Vince Craig 2000
M35 1.55.9 Jeff King 2000
M40 1.57.6 Tony Murray 1988
M45 2.01.0 John Morton 2004
M50 2.05.9 Kevin Chamberlain 1997
M55 2.16.2 Kevin Chamberlain 2002
M60 2.21.82e Lindsay Hooper 1987
M65 2.41.2 Keith Perroux 1991
M70 2.51.9 Merv Collins 1996
M75 3.01.91e Rad Leovic 2005
M80 3.32.63e Merv Collins 2006
M85 4.24.84e Allan Sherriff 1999
W30 2.11.4 Stacey Quitzau 1993
W35 2.14.07e Jenny Brichacek 2003
W40 2.15.3 Elaine Cooper 2000
W45 2.30.41e Kathy Southgate 2005
W50 2.30.70e Kathy Southgate 2007
W55 2.47.03e Maureen Rossiter 2006
W60 3.04.83e Fran Harris 2003
W65 3.12.00e Cory Collins 2002
W70 3.40.54e Cory Collins 2007
W75 4.31.50e Norma Wallett 2006

1500 Metres
M30 3.58.7 Mark Silins 1995
M35 3.55.43e * Gerard Ryan 1996
M40 3.56.2 Tony Murray 1989
M45 4.12.0 Garry Hand 1991
M50 4.21.1 Kevin Chamberlain 1997
M55 4.39.4 Kevin Chamberlain 2002
M60 4.43.81e Lindsay Hooper 1987
M65 5.32.2 Keith Perroux 1991
M70 6.05.05e Merv Collins 1997
M75 6.58.38e Rad Leovic 2003
M80 9.34.4 Hal Dalheim 1998
M85 8.45.67e Allan Sherriff 1999
W30 4.27.4 Susan Hobson 1990
W35 4.33.0 Elaine Cooper 1995
W40 4.40.18e Jenny Brichacek 2006
W45 4.57.95e Kathy Southgate 2002
W50 5.02.76e Kathy Southgate 2006
W55 5.59.1 Anne Young 1991
W60 6.16.5 Anne Young 1996
W65 6.46.57e Anne Young 2001
W70 7.50.92e Anne Young 2005
W75 8.15.43e Norma Wallett 2006

3000 Metres
M30 8.54.3 Colin Neave 1992
M35 8.47.3 * Geoff Moore 1984
M40 8.36.0 * Tony Murray 1987
M45 9.07.4 Frank Green 1985
M50 9.46.9 Bernie Millett 1992
M55 10.15.0 Bernie Millett 1997
M60 10.36.0 Peter Kallio 1997
M65 11.43.8 Peter Kallio 2006
M70 12.39.0 Michael Freer 2000
M75 14.23.0 Hal Dalheim 1994
M80 17.44.97e Keith Perroux 2006
W30 9.05.93e * Susan Hobson 1989
W35 9.51.0 Elaine Cooper 1995
W40 9.54.0 * Elaine Cooper 2000
W45 10.44.81e Kathy Southgate 2002
W50 10.44.82e Kathy Southgate 2007
W55 12.31.0 Anne Young 1993
W60 13.03.0 Anne Young 1996
W65 14.15.0 * Anne Young 2002
W70 16.23.14e Anne Young 2005

5000 Metres
M30 15.17.0 Danny O'Dea 1991
M35 14.36.8 * Garry Hand 1985
M40 14.51.4 Garry Hand 1987
M45 15.44.5 Frank Green 1985
M50 16.49.0e Trevor Jacobs 2002
M55 17.28.0 Bernie Millett 1997
M60 17.59.2 Peter Kallio 1997
M65 20.40.0 Michael Freer 1995
M70 22.22.0 Michael Freer 2001
M75 25.18.0 Hal Dalheim 1995
M80 31.44.7 Allan Sherriff 1997
M85 29.28.88e Allan Sherriff 2001
W30 16.25.7 * Susan Hobson 1989
W35 17.08.7 Elaine Cooper 1995
W40 17.28.22e Elaine Cooper 2001
W45 18.40.0 Kathy Southgate 2005
W50 18.27.97e Kathy Southgate 2007
W55 21.21.0 Anne Young 1992
W60 22.32.0 Anne Young 1995
W65 23.57.78e Anne Young 2002
W70 27.45.69e Anne Young 2005

10000 Metres
M30 32.32.0 Anthony Perry 1996
M35 30.13.5 Garry Hand 1985
M40 30.33.1 Garry Hand 1987
M45 32.25.0 Garry Hand 1991
M50 35.02.0 Bernie Millett 1991
M55 36.14.87e Trevor Jacobs 2007
M60 37.43.0 Peter Kallio 1996
M65 40.54.9 Peter Kallio 2005
M70 44.27.0 Michael Freer 2000
M75 52.33.0 Hal Dalheim 1995
W30 32.54.92e Susan Hobson 1990
W35 36.03.3 Annette Perkins 1984
W40 37.56.0 Mary Ann Busteed 1991
W45 38.23.0 Kathy Southgate 2002
W50 39.07.42e Kathy Southgate 2006
W55 44.12.0 Anne Young 1991
W60 46.18.0 Anne Young 1996
W65 49.56.0 Anne Young 2001
W70 60.49.12e Anne Young 2006

*=Australian record
red=speedygeese

Gwen, Margaret, and Ron

Look carefully, a 50-run T-shirt can be helpful in identifying runners, particularly when twins are involved.

Chicken flashback

At Speedy Geese Training on Monday were Adam, Alan, Cathy, Colin, Emma, Ewen, me, Helen, Kathy, Katie, Kelley, Ken, Maria, Mick, Neil, Ruth and Sonia. We returned to one of our 100m hills and ran 20 sprints up and jogs down, restarting each 90 seconds.

Keep on stretching
Stretch 2. Hamstring: Lying with one leg bent, one straight, place your foot into the loop of a stretching rope. Lift your leg as far as you can. Grasp the ends of the rope with both hands and "climb" up it, hand over hand, as your leg lifts. Repeat several times.

From Ken Eynon:
The National Capital Authority (NCA) has a draft brochure in print at the moment called 'Lake Burley Griffin and Surrounding Parklands'. The brochure is a guide to the recreational activities and areas in and around Lake Burley Griffin. I have seen a copy of this brochure being a ACTCCC representative on the 'NCA Lake Users Group.' I expect that the NCA want to brochure out in the public domain very quick hence this email.
In my humble opinion the brochure is excellent although I do have a few gripes. I have mentioned these to the NCA, but fear that they might ignore them anyway. The brochure mentions some clubs (not running, walking or triathlon etc) and I feel that this is unfair. This is another matter and not as important as below.
My main beef is that the recreational trails around the lake that we all like to run on, are called 'Cycle Path' on the brochure. If my memory serves me correctly these were originally called 'Recreational Trails' and somehow over the years the name has changed to 'Bike or Cycle Path' As these recreational trails in my mind are not only for cycling, I am suggesting that runners and walkers contact the NCA ASAP and suggest that the name be changed to 'Recreational Trails' as they are a shared facility and not solely for bike riders.
The NCA contact is Tanya Boulter email tanya.boulter at natcap.gov.au or phone 6272 2978. If you do have the time get yourself a copy of the brochure and provide comments as you see fit.

Monday Monitor

My training progress
last week's target: 82k
achieved: 80k
year total to date: 2,977k in 38 weeks
this week’s target: 80k
weight: 65.5kg ▼

I thought I ran pretty slowly on Sunday - I trotted down the hills, struggled up them - but it was as quick as I have run for a while, I ran the same time as I did on this course last year, and surprisingly I had the best AST% in the training group for either course. But the fact that it felt slow is probably a good thing; so I am waiting for a run to feel fast.

I might even take up stretching to see if that helps. Or; I owe it to the training group to do some personal research on whether stretching helps after running forever.

Stretch 1 pelvic tilt: Lie down on your back with both knees bent. Place your hands behind your knees. Lift your legs toward your chest. Gently assist with your hands; don't pull. Only hold for a very short time; Repeat several times.

song of the week: “All Day and All of the Night”, by The Kinks.
Evermore also have an excellent version of this song, on their "Light Surrounding You" single. I have added the Kinks' version to the blog playlist...

Our House


(This is a reversal; here J cooks, I clean)

Today's ACTVAC Handicap results

Speedy geese at today's ACTVAC Handicap races:
Parkway 8k

Place	Name	Time	AST%
1	Alan Duus M60	40:53	69.9
4	Kelley Flood W45	37:21	74.2
25	Roger Pilkington M45	34:41	73.6
34	Barbara Tucker W55	46:16	69.5
36	Helen Larmour W45	35:44	80.3
41	Maria O'Reilly W50	35:51	84.4
42	Ruth Baussmann W55	44:22	71.7
47	Kathy Sims W55	39:33	79.5
49	Rod Lynch M45	31:09	81.4
50	Colin Farlow M45	31:52	78.6
53	Christopher Lang M55	42:31	64.4
58	Margaret McSpadden W60	46:11	71.2
61	Richard Faulks M45	32:52	77.6
63	Mick Horan M45	35:02	72.8
66	Charmaine Knobel W55	40:53	76.1
75	Geoff Barker M60	42:01	68.5
76	Geoff Sims M55	42:03	67.1
81	Peter Hogan M60	43:23	65.6
91	Peter McDonald M50	41:58	63.9

Parkway 4k

Place	Name	Time	AST%
13	Ken White M50	16:11	82.2
16	Cathy Montalto W55	20.18	76.8
21	Geoff Moore M55	16:30	84.7
23	Katie Forestier W40	16:38	81.0
35	Maureen Rossiter W55	22:24	70.7
37	Gary Bowen M50	17:46	73.3
44	Neil Boden M55	19:58	68.8

Last Month:

Speedy Gosling Rachelle at the August Vets Handicap.

Who Reads This? Search Me.

The last four searches have been for "Canberra Times Fun Run Results." My advice is, buy last Thursday's paper; the Canberra Times are after newspaper sales, not internet hits.

Prior to that, "running action flailing legs". My advice is, wait on, Aki is a contributor, I will get her to write the definitive story. No Ewen, it wasn't Aki submitting the search, its source was the UK.

And "snow patrol final straw". Of course. Now if only I had gone to the Powderfinger Silverchair concert and written that up. OK, I have. A big tent in Canberra's cold did not appeal. Though I do like the old Powderfinger, a bit.

Then another half a dozen folk looking for Fun Run times. (OK, the winner broke 30 minutes but not the course record, it was Brett Cartwright, no one in Canberra knows him that well, but he has lived here for some years, he trains alone.) Happy?

A "running time chart". I get that one regularly. Happy to oblige. It's linked from the side-bar.

No "Nic Bideau" or "Craig Mottram" in the last 100 hits / 2 days. I get that one regularly as well. But how many more would there be if Craig had won "that" race, heh? By the way, I noticed on Cool Running heaps of criticism of Nic and his training methods. Oh yeah, who else in the western world has achieved what Nic has with Craig, eh? Boo to all critics, that's what I say. It's a very unpleasant and well documented Australian trait - the tall poppy syndrome. Craig was in the race. Where were you?

No strange and unusual hits in the last two days. They are not all that uncommon though. One reason the search engines find me is that I update this every day. The other reason is that I know a lot of words. (That's an attempt at humour, by the way).

So name-dropping Rob de Castella and mentioning that he finished the Fun Run may attract some interest. More likely though is that people will want to know "how to train for the 800m", or "how to stretch". I might write something on "how not to stretch" though, and they still find me.

My grand-daughter Kayleigh blitzing the competition on the beam in the NSW state gymnastics championships.

FOOTNOTES
1. The Vets Handicap tomorrow is at the old Deeks Forest start point, on Uriarra Road near its intersection with Cotter Road. Long course is 8k, short course 4k. Anyone aged 30 and over can run.

2. Yes it's a week early. That was in case anyone wanted to go in a throwing competition next weekend and would have missed the handicap. (How likely would that be?!)

3. Next year a new policy comes into force which will see all Vets handicaps run on the last Sunday of the month, with very few exceptions (e.g. if that would clash with Easter). Hurray!

Recovery

Thursday training saw Al, Anna, Barbara, Bronwyn, Colin, Geoff B, me, Jacqui, Joel, Ken, Maria, Matthew, Tim, Tony, and Yelena run a simple pyramid of 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 100, 80, 60, 40 and 20 seconds with a jog of the same duration before each sprint. A good session on a cool and humid night.

At the BBQ Stakes on Wednesday Roger ran 27:23, I ran 27:27, and Helen 28.33. Roger hadn’t run the CTFR but Helen & I were still in recovery mode. That’s my excuse anyway.

Sarah ran her first ever 10k in Sunday's Fun Run.

My ten favourite songs of all time are currently

1	Run	Snow Patrol	Final Straw
2	Yesterdays	Switchfoot	Oh! Gravity
3	Storm	Lifehouse	Who We Are
4	Remyxomatosis	Radiohead	Com Lag (2+2=5)
5	Make This Go On Forever	Snow Patrol	Eyes Open
6	Recovery	Graeme Hush	Home
7	Chocolate	Snow Patrol	Final Straw
8	Stop Whispering	Radiohead	Pablo Honey
9	[*Fin]	Anberlin	Cities
10	Shut Your Eyes	Snow Patrol	Eyes Open

I list these because today I plan to purchase a CD player for the car for the first time. Hurrah! Ready for the Adelaide holiday. (I hope the installation is trouble free!)

The Last Word
And (from Wikipedia) "Veldhoven is a municipality and a town on the Gender stream in the southern Netherlands, located just southwest of Eindhoven." So now you know.

Canberra Times Fun Run Results

Team Results: The three Speedy Geese teams, Speedy Chicks, Silly Geese, and Slow Geese, won easily their age categories.

Individual Results: with Wild Geese (those currently flying) in red, and Domestic Geese (those who have flown with us in the past and may yet return to the formation) in purple, and Ducks (friends of the geese, or "just because") in blue:

Place	Name	Time
58	Kathy Southgate	38.21	W50-59 first
97	Peter Cullen	40.05
107	Richard Faulks	40.26
119	John Kennedy	40.43
143	John Morton	41.25
149	Christine Pauling	41.35
154	Ken White	41.44
160	Emma Adams	41.51
171	David Webster	42.08
173	Geoff Moore	42.12
179	Katie Forestier	42.19
206	Sonia Veldhoven	43.00
216	Maria O’Reilly	43.14
223	Helen Larmour	43.22
235	Jim White	43.33
238	Bob Harlow	43.38	M60-69 first
260	Gary Bowen	44.08
280	Debbie Cowell	44.31
285	Michelle Wells	44.35
299	Mark Kethro	44.49
325	Kerrie Tanner	45.16
351	Ewen Thompson	45.43
514	Tony Booth	47.50
515	Peter McDonald	47.50
518	Rachelle Ellis-Brownlee	47.52
540	David Baussmann	48.11
564	Robert de Castella	48.29
590	Keith Bradley	48.45
608	Kathy Sims	48.59
614	Geoff Barker	49.02
640	Gabrielle Brown	49.15
641	Adam Robinson	49.15
651	Barbara Williams	49.31	W60-69 first
678	Rae Palmer	49.51
717	Roy Jones	50.27
721	Caroline Campbell	50.29
747	Mary Ann Busteed	50.47
788	Diana Schneider	51.16
789	Christopher Lang	51.17
791	Sarah Pau	51.18
822	Cathy Montalto	51.40
869	Peter Hogan	52.09
873	Cate Winning	52.11
...	Geoff Sims	52.20
886	Vanessa Palmer	52.30
892	Michael Thomson	52.33
981	Michael Freer	53.43
1037	Ruth Baussmann	54.31
1097	Clare Gunning	55.14
1117	Margaret McSpadden	55.31
1148	Doug Fry	55.56
1213	Graeme Small	56.42
1256	Maureen Rossiter	57.27
1272	Barbara Tucker	57.40
1480	Michael Roche	61.22

I will have missed some people - so in particular if you the reader ran and are missing, but also if your close friend/ running mate/ child/ grandchild etc. ran, I want to add their name too. Or anyone else you think I might like to add.

As far as I can tell, the timing chips were a great success.

Congratulations to all who ran (2230 official finishers in the 10k, 1729 in the 5k "walk", and many more late entrants not included in the results). See you next year!

Fitter and Faster and Further

Please Stand By
I have come across, via one of my “running writing” links (Vanilla of “Half-Fast”), an article from Runners World on the “180 strides per minute” story. Which supports everything I said. Although, they reckon you can increase your stride rate by running some downhill intervals. Well, yes, but you need to do something which increases your stride rate on the flat and uphill as well. Downhill intervals would have a role in teaching the muscles to move faster. But practise up and down hill. They also reckon you should pump your arms a little faster and your legs will follow. That’s dead right! And on the topic of tempo, cadence, 180 steps, please stand by, I will be publishing my “How To Run Faster and Further” article very soon!

Canberra Times Fun Run
Results will be out tomorrow! (Go the Geese!)

Fast Rae

Rae "Are YOU Really 60?" Palmer running the half marathon. Getting FITter and faster, she ran a good Canberra Times Fun Run on Sunday.

In a bunch, in a bunch.

Monday Night at Parliament House saw sore Fun Runners consolidate their aches by running four intervals over 730m with a 350m jog recovery in teams of two. It is nearly light enough by the end of the session at 6:30pm to still see. If only daylight saving were to start early; I think it starts on 28 October this year, but everyone disagrees with me. I think it ends on 6 April next year, one week later than it used to, and I think it starts on the first Sunday in October next year, not this. But because everyone else thinks it starts early this year, I need someone who really knows, to tell me the correct dates. I will be very happy to say "I was wrong"!

Running last night were Alan, Cathy, Charmaine, Christopher, Colin, Emma, Ewen, me, Helen, Joel, Kathy, Katie, Kelley, Ken, Neil, Rachelle, Ruth, Sonia, and Yelena. Welcome new starter Kelley, our first PCRG ("Pat Carroll Running Group") recruit!

Peter's return to racing

Peter Hogan running the half marathon recently.

Peter's the one with the hat and the chest number. He ran in Sunday's CTFR, and seemed to be going quite well.

Monday Morning Monitor. Still not Summer.

"A winner is someone who sets their goals, commits themselves to those goals and then pursues their goals with all the ability that is given to them. That requires someone who believes in themselves, who will make self sacrifices, work hard, and maintain the determination to perform at the best of their ability."

My training progress
last week's target: 80k
achieved: 79k
year total to date: 2,897k in 37 weeks
this week’s target: 82k
weight: 66kg ►◄
song of the week: “Shut Your Eyes”, by Snow Patrol, from “Eyes Open.”

Shut your eyes and think of somewhere
Somewhere cold and caked in snow...


And today is forecast to be 12. Not quite snow, but feels like it. The wind is up, the grey clouds are approaching. We certainly were fortunate to have great conditions for yesterday's Fun Run! Training is on as usual tonight at Parliament House whatever the weather. Outdoors if at all possible, so don't put the long sleeved tops in mothballs yet!

Happy Birthday Annette Sugden for tomorrow! Welcome to the W45s. How is your track form for relays this summer? I know certain other W45s who will be seeking you out for the odd 1500m or even 800m!

CTFR10kSGPBS

Preliminary report on the CTFR: Speedy chicks, geese and birds of all feathers did very well. I tried to run at 42 min pace and achieved it, only grinding to a crawl at 9k, and saw many other speedy geese on the way. I even saw Richard early on, who muttered "hamstring" before disappearing over the horizon. Running around 42 mins were Ken, Emma, myself, and Katie; around 43 mins Sonia, Maria, Helen and Gary. I didn't see Gary as he started at the back of the field giving the leaders about four minutes. Sounds like fun; if the results (with the new timing chips) fall into place, it's tempting to do the same next year.

Massive improvers were Emma, Sonia and Katie. Rachelle ran her first ever 10k and did very well too. All geese will get their names and official times recorded here once the results come out. Photos too. And I might list some "friends of the geese" as well. But I won't list a certain scantily clad gentleman who I passed at the 4k drink station..

Bonus Video: How LOTR should have ended:

Geese Find Fame. Fortune to Follow.

Today's Canberra Times (click to enlarge):



I know of three Speedy Geese teams in tomorrow's Canberra Times Fun Run, and there will be others running as individuals. Teams include

"The Speedy Chicks": Helen, Kerrie Tanner, Chris Pauling and Katie. A couple who are speedy and a couple who are chicks?

"The Three Slow Geese": Marg, Barb and Ruth. They must be running well, as Maria didn't make the team, though she is running too, and

"The Silly Geese": Ken, myself, Gary, David, Peter and Ewen. Five geese and a wombat who wishes he were a koala. Very silly because it is only three to count.

So remember, as I told the interviewer yesterday, geese call out to one another by honking as they are flying along.

More of the Chaser

If Cross Country were easy, it would be called football!

Taking up the Challenge



Thursday night training saw Al, Barbara, Bronwyn, Jacqui, Jodie, Joel, Kathy, Ken, Maria, Matthew, Rod, Ruth, Tim, Tony, Yelena and I enjoy six intervals over 400m with a lap jog, plus the usual warm up and cool down, on a balmy night. For many an easier session than usual. Sunday's 10k will be enough of a challenge this week!

Chaser
If you thought APEC was funny, watch this -



And a new video of the Moore grandsons (Jackson, Tyler and Charlie from Brisbane) is on my family blog.

Going The Distance

"Winning isn't always victory, losing isn't always defeat."

In yesterday's BBQ Stakes, I ran 25:58, another one minute improvement, approaching the times I was running earlier this year. Roger was 29:39, obviously not too well. Actually I didn't feel that flash either. Helen wasn't there, she would be getting the timing right for Sunday's 10k Fun Run, and Charlie wasn't there either, she is in Hong Kong and will miss Sunday's run.

Each year when the Canberra Times Fun Run is on, we seem to experience a change in the weather from Winter to Spring, overnight! We line up the start in blazing sunshine and unaccustomed warmth. It looks like a hot one again this year, if the forecasters have got it right! So make sure your fluid levels are up.

Hot weather means bigger fields. A welcome innovation this year is the chip tied to the shoe laces, meaning everyone gets accurate times. That will help at the start; if runners realise they don't have to be close to the front when the gun fires, it will be easier for everyone to get away at a sensible pace. Let's see if it works like that?

I am looking forward to Sunday but a fast start would be disastrous. If I feel like I did at just the 1k mark of the BBQ Stakes yesterday, and that k was only 4:15, I don't think I will make the distance.

Plum blossoms in our driveway at home herald warmer weather.

Shut Your Eyes and Sing To Me

Snow Patrol at Monday night's concert. A sensational 90 minutes.

Speedygoose, gander and two goslings were at the Snow Patrol concert as well as us, as you may have discovered from the Cbox entries. And Speedygoose spotted Jenny and I across the crowded room and came over and said hello. She has very good eyesight for a goose; I could barely see them at that distance and certainly wouldn't have recognised them. Not sure about your band recognition though, hey Sg?

SpeedyKen took training on Monday night at Parliament House while we were at the concert. Present were Emma, Adam, Alan, Helen, Ewen, Sonia, Ruth, Cathy M, Joel, Yelena, and Ken. The girls were in mean form and Joel saved his best for the last like a good sprinter!

Thought for the CTFR: "Anyone can run 100 meters. . . . It's the next 9,900 that count!"