hip flexor stretch

Stretch #17 Hip Flexor Stretch

• Kneel with one knee on the floor and the other foot in front with the knee bent
• Push your hips forwards and keep the back upright
• Hold for 20 seconds

Variation: Sit on the ground with one leg tucked under your bottom. Lean backwards slowly

Janene in the classic finishing lunge we teach all athletes. (i.e. right hand on left wrist)

Stretches - quads, lying

Stretch #16 Lying Quadriceps Stretch

• Lie on your front and pull one foot up to meet your bottom
• Hold for 20 seconds

Variation: Wrap a towel around the ankle and pull the ends to increase the stretch

Rod Lynch racing O'Connor Ridge

standing quadriceps stretch

Stretch #15 Standing Quadriceps stretch

• Stand on one leg and pull the other foot up behind your bottom
• Keep your knees together and push your hips forwards to increase the stretch
• Hold for 20 seconds

David Baussmann during the O'Connor Ridge race

side stretch

Stretch #14. Side Stretch

• Stand up and reach above the head with one arm
• Lean over to the opposite side
• Hold for 20 seconds

Variation - Use both arms above the head

Helen takes off

abdominal stretch 2

Stretch #13. Abdominal Stretch

• Lie on the floor on your stomach
• Place your hands on the floor at shoulder level
• Lift your upper body away from the floor, straightening your arms
• Keep your hips flat on the floor
• Hold for 20 seconds

Helen and Roger waiting to run at O'Connor Ridge... was it cold?

abdominal stretch 1

Stretch #12. Abdominal Stretch

• Lie on your back over a fitball (yes I have one!)
• Keep your feet planted firmly on the floor
• Make sure your lower back is supported fully
• Hold for 20 seconds

Charlie and young Brett at O'Connor Ridge.

Happy Birthday Craig Davis, 43 today!
Happy Birthday David Webster, the big 6-0 today!

a musical diversion

Song of the week: "Land of the Bloody Unknown", from "I Want That You Are Always Happy", by The Middle East. Just one of many brilliant tracks. Unfortunately The Middle East has already disbanded, but now there is a similar sounding band called The Paper Kites.

The words - are hard to discern in places, because the singer’s voice has so many pitch inflections. So I have copied the words, below.
The meaning – you’d pretty well have to listen to the whole album to get the full picture.

From http://youtu.be/68DANp3e7v4

There were letters unopened at the foot of my bed
When I woke up with you in the morn
There were lions roaring on ships in the harbour
The night my true love was born

There’s a minstrel singing of the holy dove
On the mountain of old St Jerome
There is glass on the floor of the hallway I walk
When the stars bear down from their throne
And the old southern cross is shown
And it points down the sad road home
To the land of the bloody unknown

I heard that your mother took off in the fall
With her pretty curls and her wooden spoon
I heard you whispering to yourself last night
She’ll be coming home some day soon

Well the wine you drink is stained deep in your shirt
And just like the sin in my soul
It is never ever ever ever coming out
While the stars bear down from their throne
And the old southern cross is shown
And it points down the sad road home

To the land of the hunter dancing under the trigger
And the bride washing up on the shore
I could never really dance that well
I can’t raise the flags or ring them bells
But I can shoot my gun down the line towards my home
To the land of the bloody unknown

There’s a black dog watching over me in my sleep
And I stir just to toss him the bone
There’s a red moon rising on the hills tonight
Where the stars bear down from their throne
And the old southern cross is shown
And it points down the sad road home

spine rotation

Stretch #11. Rotation Stretch

• Stand upright with your arms folded across your chest
• Rotate your shoulders around to one side
• Hold for 20 seconds

Variation - Perform seated on a chair and gripping the backrest

Jeni Greenland makes her move

back arch & back slump

Alternate these two stretches

Stretch #10a. Back Arch Stretch

• On all fours on the floor, arch your back up as high as possible
• Hold for 20 seconds then relax.

Stretch #10b. Back Slump Stretch

• Kneel on all fours and let your back slump down as if trying to get the belly button to the floor
• Hold for 20 seconds

Carol Ey at O'Connor Ridge

latissimus dorsi 2

Stretch #9. Latissimus Dorsi Stretch II

• Kneel on the floor
• Lean forwards with the arms outstretched as far as possible and hands on the floor
• Push your bottom down towards your feet keeping your hands still to increase the stretch
• Hold for 20 seconds

Janene starting the 8k at O'Connor Ridge

latissimus dorsi 1

Stretch #8. Latissimus Dorsi Stretch

• Stand upright with your arms above your head
• Reach up as high as possible
• Hold for 20 seconds

Variation - Perform one arm at a time

Charlie, waiting...

stretch for the lower back

Stretch #7. Lower Back Stretch

• Lie on the floor on your back
• Bring your knees up to your chest and use your arms to pull them in further
• Hold for 20 seconds

Variations -

• Perform one leg at a time
• Add internal rotation to further stretch gluteus medius

Caroline at O'Connor Ridge

Happy Birthday Ken White, 58 today!

bridge

Strength #10. Bridge

• Lie on the floor on your back
• Bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor, halfway towards your bottom
• Lift the hips and thighs off the floor to form a straight line between your knees and shoulders

Variations

• Perform with only one foot on the floor
• Lift the other foot off the floor and straighten the knee so the foot points diagonally to the ceiling

Ruth powering along at O'Connor Ridge

straight leg raise - harder than it looks

Strength #9. Straight Leg Raise

• Lie on your back or sit on the floor as shown with both legs straight
• Keeping the knee straight, raise one leg off the floor
• Start by lifting just a few inches and increase as you progress

Variations

• Lie on a bench with one leg bent and the foot on the floor to support you
• Start with the other leg straight and the heel on the ground (so your hip is in an extended position)
• Keep the knee straight as you raise this leg off the floor and above the level of the bench
• Add an ankle weight to increase the difficulty

Heidi at O'Connor Ridge

Time to run - I'm outa here.

peerless

Strength exercise #8. Single Leg Mini Squat

• Stand on one leg with the other knee bent
• Use a wall or banister to help keep your balance
• Bend the standing leg and push your bottom out behind you
• Start with only a small movement
• Make sure your hips stay level, don't let one drop down
• Don't allow your knee to move forwards past your toes

Variation - Rest the non-standing leg on a bench or chair behind you

Song of the week: Coldplay – "Paradise" from http://youtu.be/J6ZWlDks0nQ



The new Coldplay album "Mylo Xyloto" will be released on 24 October

Coldplay - Paradise
When she was just a girl
She expected the world
But it flew away from her reach so
She ran away in her sleep
and dreamed of
Para-para-paradise, Para-para-paradise, Para-para-paradise
Every time she closed her eyes

When she was just a girl
She expected the world
But it flew away from her reach
and the bullets catch in her teeth
Life goes on, it gets so heavy
The wheel breaks the butterfly
Every tear a waterfall
In the night the stormy night she’ll close her eyes
In the night the stormy night away she'd fly

and dreams of Para-para-paradise...
...And so lying underneath those stormy skies
She’d say, "oh, ohohohoh I know the sun must set to rise"

This could be Para-para-paradise

Ken White following the arrows at O'Connor Ridge

Training at Parliament house last night: It was a public holiday, the car pack was packed with foreigners driving foreign cars: NSW, VIC & QLD number plates. Running early were Ewen, Jen & I, running the main session of 12 x 200m with a recovery jog were Andy, Bronwyn, Colin, Craig, Neil, Ruth, Yelena & I. Hurray for daylight saving at long last; we are no longer training in the dark.

Peerless coach Percy Cerutty

Percy was a coach of the highest calibre. No other coach has ever come close. He was independent, inspirational, knew what he was talking about. He has spawned some strange followers with odd ideas but regardless, his coaching ideas and teaching methods were "sound as". Barefoot running; instinctive running, cunning running, personal training; it was all there. A true motivator and way ahead of his time.

I'd better get packing.

real running

Coming Events: October 2011

All Mondays	4:30pm	Parliament House 8k jog
	5:30pm	Parliament House speedygeese training
Wednesdays	12:15pm	BBQ Stakes 6k handicap
Thursdays	5:30pm	Dickson Oval on the 6th only
	6:00pm	ACTVAC track from the 13th
Fridays	12:15pm	Customs Joggers 5k handicap

Strength Exercise #7. Wall Sit

• Stand with your back up against a wall
• Your feet should be shoulder width apart and toes pointing straight forwards
• Take your feet out from the wall
• Bend you knees and slide your back down the wall
• Do not let your knees move in front of your toes
• Do not squat deeper than a 90 degree (right angle) at the knee
• Start with shallow squats and increase gradually
• Hold for up to one minute
• Return to the starting position

Variation - Use a dumbbell in each hand to add weight

Emma Adams flying at O'Connor Ridge

de-tweeted but not de-feated

I deactivated my Twitter account "speedygeese" today. Twitter is mostly a pain. Whereas I find Blogger the best way to communicate, Facebook both useful and fun still, and google+ looking promising once it gets some users. But Twitter is superficial and a waste of time. The Blogger and Facebook experiments were successes, the Twitter experiment is over, and we'll see how google+ goes.

I am leaving Canberra on Wednesday for three weeks to spend time in Adelaide, compete at the Australian Masters Games, and do some sightseeing. Guess what, I have prepared each day's Blogger posts in advance. If you would like to know how and where I am going in Adelaide and beyond you will have to check out Facebook, e.g. via the obvious address  http://www.facebook.com/speedygeoff.

Let's have another strength exercise. Yes I do the exercises I'm posting. No I haven't met the model in the pictures yet.

Strength exercise #6. Lunges

• Step forwards with one foot in a long stride
• Make sure your feet are in line and pointing straight forwards
• Keep your back upright as you slowly bend and lower the back knee towards the floor, raising the heel off the floor
• At the same time bend the front knee, making sure it doesn't go past your toes
• Don't let the back knee touch the floor before returning to the starting position

Variations

• Use a dumbbell in each hand
• Use a barbell over the shoulders
• Walking lunges - after completing one lunge as above, swing the back leg forwards so that it becomes the front leg and repeat

O'Connor Ridge racer Amanda

a marathon to dream of

Bronywn has found an all downhill marathon in New Zealand! It's the "Mountain to Surf". http://mountaintosurf.co.nz/

Strength Exercise #5. The squat

• Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and toes pointing straight forwards
• Keep the back straight as you initiate movement at your hips
• Push your bottom out behind you and bend your knees
• Do not let your knees move in front of your toes
• Do not squat deeper than a 90 degree (right angle) at the knee
• Start with shallow squats and increase gradually
• Return to the starting position

Variations -

• Use a dumbbell in each hand
• Use a barbell over the shoulders

Garry Maher at O'Connor Ridge