Where we went part 20D: Pitmedden, pm, 2 June

After lunch we left Aberdeen and headed north. To the green mark at the top of the map ..


The gardens at Pitmedden














A walk nearby. I met a couple who asked for directions to the nearest bus stop. No idea!








A special farewell dinner back on the cruise ship that evening

we are the speedygeese: running and socialising

It was another very pleasant Speedygeese session on Monday night, followed by an equally enjoyable meal at the Yacht Club after training.

The 5:00pm run included Miranda, Ruth, Ewen and me, and a surprise visitor from Cambridge England, Margaret, formerly of Canberra and who as it turned out knew Miranda.

Then at 5:30pm after a warm-up run the main group did Rose Garden continuous relays, teams of three each person running 360m fast then 360m recovery.

We ran for 25 minutes.

Participating were Alex, Alison, Andy, Azrianne, Colin, Dan, Ewen, Garry, me, Isaac, Jen, Julia, Kylie, the new Margaret, Mick, Miranda, Thommo, Ruth, Susan & Warrick.

It is pleasing to have 20 runners on a Monday. The third time in recent weeks.

Then at dinner there were 24: I even kept a roll for that; Mick, Alex, Andy, me, Ewen, Ruth, Sam, Julia, Lola, Bron, Azrianne, Garry, Warrick, Caroline, Daniel, Laura, Isaac, Jen, Richard, Remi, Karyn, Dan, Jim & Jill.


I only just started to "run in" new Nike Lunarglide 6's in the early run but they are not quite ready for speed yet.

speedygeese results

Tuesday 27 January YCRC Summer Series #1 Stromlo Forest Park 5k
14. Craig Davis M45 22:53 4:34
17. Peter Thomson M50 23:23 4:40
19. Jennifer Bright W35 23:58 4:47
20. David Clarke M55 23:58 4:47
26. Ewen Thompson M55 24:41 4:56
37. Amanda Ruffin W65 25:51 5:10
41. Kathy Sims W60 26:51 5:22
45. Mick Charlton M60 28:06 5:37
48 finishers

Sunday 1 February YCRC Women’s 6k Jogalong
38. Nadine Morrison W45 28:53
55. Kathy Sims W60 29:44
63. Marilyn Banfield W65 37:45
75. Caroline Campbell W70 36:30
94 finishers

Tuesday 3 February AMRA Mt Ainslie Run-Up 2.2k
18 Peter Burke 16.34
25 Peter Thomson 17.56
28 Bill Arthur 19.51
32 Caroline Campbell 22.27
38 finishers

Tuesday 3 February YCRC Summer Series #2 Boathouse East 5k
29. Craig Davis M45 22:11
36. Jennifer Bright W35 23:23
38. Kathy Sims W60 23:24
43. David Clarke M55 23:50
47. Elizabeth Mountbatten W55 24:25
53. Sarah Pau W40 25:31
54. Vanessa Palmer W40 25:47
69 finishers

Thursday 5 February ACTVAC Track
3000m
M55 David Clarke 11:44.05 75.1%
M65 Geoff Moore 12:54.82 74.5
M55 Roger Pilkington 13:20.22 66.1
W60 Ruth Baussmann 16:14.86 73.4
W65 Margaret McSpadden 17:05.07 73.2

800m Pennington
1 Colin Farlow M50 2:22 84.0%
3 Kathy Sims W60 3:06 83.2
8 Helen Larmour W55 3:10 71.4
9 Roger Pilkington M55 3:20 61.1
10 finishers

Spiral 5
2 David Clarke M55 3:44.5
5 Helen Larmour W55 4:11.0
8 Margaret McSpadden W65 5:41.2
12 Roger Pilkington M55 4:20.8
14 Ruth Baussmann W60 5:10.8
16 finishers

Friday 6 February Customs 5k
Peter Burke 22:22
Bill Arthur 26:23
Caroline Campbell 33:57
Bron Sparkes 42:20

Saturday 7 February 5k Ginninderra Parkrun #146
233 Bron Sparkes 43:47 W35
257 finishers

Saturday 7 February 5k Tuggeranong Parkrun #103
25 Peter Thomson 20:47 M50
41 Margaret Phillips 22:09 W60 New W60 record!
44 Julia Anderson 22:19 W40 New PB!
79 Ewen Thompson 24:40 M55
363 finishers

Saturday 7 February 5k Gungahlin Parkrun #69
65 Geoff Moore 24:50 M65
198 finishers


The selection trials for the Australian team to go to Worlds cross country was held here on Sunday. This is Natalie Archer flying in the women's 8k.


As a tempo run in the Gungahlin Parkrun I ran with 25 minute pacer Breanna. Here she is running the Penrith parkrun on New Year's Day. Penrith look very flat, we must go there!

song for someone

My song of the week this week is "Song For Someone" by U2
From http://youtu.be/a6nL8eXjVGE
There is some very good music on the “Songs of Innocence” album. Why would anyone in their right mind want this taken off their iPhone? It’s beyond me.

then the wind changed

Everyone should watch this! We all love Bron and her family; here is her story. I have seen the documentary that is on tonight, and it is a story of survival out of tragedy. Spellbinding, gut wrenching. Don't miss it, don't miss the start.

Bron says:
"For those who have not seen this amazing documentary by Celeste Geer, it will be screened on ABC2 Sunday night 8:40.
For those who have met me and my family in recent years and would like to know a bit about us and what we have come through, here is a unique opportunity."

ABC2. Tonight. 8:40pm

I do love Mondays

Monday is my favourite running day. 

As blog readers know, I write non-running posts on Mondays: they're always about my favourite music. Partly because music and running go together anyway. But mainly because I can post about a song quickly then take some time to prepare for Monday training. Monday is my favourite running day because I meet my running group that day. Parliament House has been a successful meeting venue for many years and continues to be so. It is central whereas most venues have tended to be northside. It is easy to find. Parking is secure. There is variety, we don't have to train at the same spot each week. Parts of it are well lit in winter. Hundreds of runners have joined us over the years. So it is good to see the numbers holding up in 2015, and it is great to see how the runners who do come, both enjoy and appreciate the sessions. I invite anyone and everyone to think about coming along regularly or just dropping in occasionally. And if you are from out of town and visiting Canberra, do make a point of coming over and saying hello.


Dan, Kylie and Julia training at Parliament House last Monday.

You're welcome!

agile bouncy cheerful chirpy energetic jaunty lively playful zippy speedy

They're all fine But whatever you do,

Where we went part 20C: Ardoe House Hotel lunch 2 June

We drove back to Aberdeen and had lunch at Ardoe House Hotel. Very posh.







The next three photos were taken by Jenny (the first time I have used her photos in this series) just to prove I was there.







Then we jumped back onto our coaches and went through the city













Heading north out of Aberdeen for the next part of our adventure. (to be continued)

speedygeese training

Making the most of a cooler week, lots of training including Sunday when I ran 10 x 200m at Stromlo Forest Park. Feeling much better than the previous couple of weeks' attempts at intervals.
Also present
Andrew
Dave

Monday I ran early with Bron and Ewen, then did another 10x 200m, this time just striding out comfortably.
Also present for the 200m Rose Garden intervals:
Alison
Andy
Azrianne
Bron
Cathy M
Colin
Dan
Ewen
Garry
Isaac
Jen
Jessica
Julia
Kim
Kylie
Mick C
Peter T
Ruth
Thomas
Warrick
Some ran 12 x 200m. Most of the others ran not as many as that.

Some are still on holidays...


Miranda and Suzie at Minnamurra Falls

Groundhog Day

Our latest speedygeese race results:

Thursday 29 January ACTVAC Track
3000m
M50 Colin Farlow 10:59.76 78.1%
M55 Ewen Thompson 13:35.44 65.4
W40 Julia Anderson 13:44.04 66.3 (PB by 36 seconds)
W65 Margaret McSpadden 17:12.08 72.8

800m
M50 Colin Farlow 2:26.57 81.4%
W40 Julia Anderson 3:08.50 64.0

10k Championship
M65 Geoff Moore 45:57.90 75.2%
M55 Roger Pilkington 46:49.09 67.6
W60 Ruth Baussmann 57:20.21 73.1
W30 Thea Zimpel 59:51.97 50.3

Friday 30 January Customs 5k
Jennifer Bright 20:26
Peter Thomson 23:08
Bron Sparkes 25:40
Bill Arthur 26:27
Caroline Campbell 31:30

Saturday 31 January 5k Ginninderra Parkrun #145
188 Helen Northey 33:29 W35
256 finishers

Saturday 31 January 5k Tuggeranong Parkrun #102
20 David Clarke 20:27 M55
27 Peter Thomson 21:03 M50
142 Ewen Thompson 28:02 M55
318 finishers
Incidentally W65 Sue Archer ran a new PB of 22.29.

Saturday 31 January 5k Gungahlin Parkrun #68
31 Nadine Morrison 22:31 W45
33 Julia Anderson 22:42 W40 New PB! (by 54 seconds)
37 Janene Kingston 23:11 W50
87 Ruth Baussmann 28:02 W60
104 Margaret McSpadden 29:41 W65
119 Brett Morrison 31:53 M45
189 finishers

Groundhog Day. We will watch that movie tonight. Again.



Does it matter who becomes Prime Minister in the next couple of days? Will it be same old same old; will the environmental vandalism party still be in charge? Or will they wake up to reality?

"contains adult themes"

Song Of The Week: An old favourite, "Paranoid Android", by Radiohead.
From http://youtu.be/sPLEbAVjiLA

The Day of the Final Challege

#GMJanuaryChallenge2015 Day 30:
Plank 3 minutes, Crunches x 10, Leg Extensions x 10, Superman x 10
Well the plan was to see if I could do a 3 minute plank, but 2 minutes was enough. Still, I am pleased to have got to the point where I can go for two minutes and have done so several times thru January.

My February challenge is a much easier prospect: no alcohol for February. There will be no post-updates but you can assume it's going well.

Final cartoon.



Yes, go and work-out, no excuse. No time to lose, only 28 days in February. p.s. I ran 10 x 200m intervals this morning.

Where we went part 20b: Crathes Castle morning of 2 June

After passing through Aberdeen we drove on and arrived at Crathes Castle and Gardens. I have 120 superb photos and it was difficult to cull them. This 16th-century castle is renowned for its 240 hectares of incredible landscaped grounds and formal gardens.