Too many koalas, too few ducks

The Canberra Marathon entries have closed. I think I have achieved my main goal, a single digit chest number. I can see only five men with a faster pb among the entrants, which makes me number six.

Team Moore marathon entrants

Name, State, Age, PB, Year
Ruth Baussman, ACT, 55, 3:58:44, 2003
Gary Bowen, ACT, 49, 3:27:03, 2004
Peter Hogan, ACT, 59
Geoff Moore, ACT, 57, 2:26:58, 1978
Cathy Newman, ACT, 45, 3:40:11, 2005
Roger Pilkington, ACT, 47, 3:24:57, 2005
John Stoney, ACT, 40, 3:53:00, 2003
David Webster, ACT, 54, 3:14:27, 2005

Everyone else, come along and cheer!

Go here for the full list of entrants including 5k, 10k, and 50k.

Jilly Jogsaw

Three posts today! There's a jolly jigsaw at the bottom of the blog. All mixed up. Like a jilly jogsaw. Have Fun. I will update it every now and then. Good to see a few people trying it...

Training on Curtin Mountain

The Summer Series #7 race last night was at South Curtin, over a mountain and over 5.3k. It was good to see that some of the weekend half marathoners used common sense and did not race two days later. I was sorry to see that some of the weekend half marathoners backed up and did race again on Tuesday. You can tell a good long distance runner, but you cannot tell them much. Conditions were cool for once, a cool breeze blew in just before the start!

Women
4. Katie Forestier W40 24:10
19. Caroline Campbell W60 30:37

Men
20. Richard Faulks M45 22:07
43. Mick Saunders M55 24:21
50. Roger Pilkington M45 25:15
64. Mick Charlton M50 27:24
86. Geoff Barker M60 37:16

Where We Train

Here's the latest information on training venues, as we transition from summer to winter training.

Mondays - We will continue to train at Parliament House. Not on Easter Monday however as that is the day of the AMA 8k cross country.

Thursdays - The last Vets track is 6 April, then it's Easter, so we will be starting at Dickson Oval on 20 April.

Saturdays - The ACT Cross Country Club kicks off its winter season on 1 April, and we will stop meeting at Aranda then. I intend to resume there on 9 September. So the last sessions at Aranda for the time being are 18 and 25 March.

Geese Fly South

Weston Creek Half Marathon

Many Northsiders including a few Speedy Geese flew South of the lake to the Irish Club on Sunday to race in the annual Weston Creek Half Marathon.

It is usually a hot day for the run once the clouds burn off and Sunday was hot despite the clouds staying put.

It is a great day for runners and non-runners alike, with many family, friends and other spectators coming down to the course to have a gander at the runners.

Team Goose

Team Moore, or are we going to be known in future as Team Goose, enjoyed the run and did fairly well. Here are our individual performances.

43 David Webster 1:31.25

47 Roger Pilkington 1:32.39

53 Geoff Moore 1:33.40

56 Bob Harlow 1:34.29

70 Cathy Newman 1:38.12 - first W45

99 Zel Bodulovic 1:43.52

122 John Alcock 1:49.40

131 Thea Zimpel 1:52.48

135 Peter Hogan 1:53.50

149 Ruth Baussmann 1:56.47

161 Margaret McSpadden 1:59.26

181 Caroline Campbell 2:04.10 - first W60 I think

221 finishers not including relay team runners.

And our relay performance.

1 Speedy Geese 1:37.41 - first team!

45 relay teams finished

Have one start time!

A great day; the only complaint I have is the not-slow runners who abuse the early start privilege extended to the very slow. It is quite unfair for a handful of runners to start early and run out the front in potentially better conditions. This needs to be policed or eliminated altogether. To defuse complaints from the runners involved, I would suggest starting everybody at the early start time, 7:00am.

Four Steps Forward One Step Back

My Progress

last week’s target 100 km, achieved 75 km
this week’s target 110 km
weight 64.5 kg, weight loss -0.5 kg, total weight loss 2.5 kg
song of the week Mountain's High, Delirious - World Service. "This mountain's high, too high for us"

My week

I could only shuffle around this week, with a very sore muscle in my right calf. However, the masseur said I could still run the half marathon yesterday, so I gave it a go despite considerable discomfort. I backed well off from my target pace. What I have found is that, when I am injured, it is just as hard running slowly as it would be running faster. I kept having to ease back, especially down hill, but it seemed just as hard as if I had raced down the hills. Anyway, the calf only got a bit worse during the run, and I ended up passing a few people up the hills in the second half who were suffering more than me. Despite all that, I was very pleased with my final time of 93.40 for the Weston Creek course, still within the range of times I was hoping for; I now know that Canberra Marathon at over a minute per km slower should be no problem; and I am confident of running 87:30 in the Canberra Half in May, more injuries permitting.

My form over the years

This graph shows how I rate my form over the years I have been running. It is "seasonally adjusted" for age, so for example a 2:30 marathon at age 30 would be equivalent to a 3:00 marathon at age 60. The X axis is year from 1962 to present. The Y axis is percentage fitness. I estimate I have improved to about 70% fit this year so far. A 100% fitness now would be about a 37:30 10k. "Zero percent" was when I could "only" run about 46 minutes.

The interesting thing about the chart is the plummet from 100 to 0; the change was overnight, the reason was never discovered.

I was at my peak for about fifteen years, an achievement I am proud of. Most people can expect about ten years. It was probably mostly luck considering my high mileage through that period; being light on my feet may have helped. I had almost no injuries.

Woke up.. fell out of bed... dragged a comb across my head

Ewen running yesterday's six foot track. Photo by Plu. It looks shady and flat? That can't be right!

It was an early start for the Six Foot Track run yesterday and the Weston Creek Half Marathon today.

Six Foot Track

Team Moore results
200 Geoff Barker 5:15 (2nd M60)

385 John Kennedy 5:53.30

519 Mike Worsley 6:19.30 (6th M60)

523 Cathy Montalto 6:20 (8th W50)

561 Christopher Lang 6:29

675 Ewen Thompson 6:56

718 Alice Scott 8:05

Carol Baird DNF

An amazing run from Geoff Barker.

They all ran 45km on mountains on a rather hot Saturday morning.

Carol Baird and Geoff Barker at a previous event. Two very speedy people indeed. Carol, one of the race favourites for the Six Foot Track, hurt her foot and was unable to finish.

Weston Creek Half Marathon

A hot Sunday morning for the half marathon - it had cooled down very little overnight - saw the biggest field for a number of years. Age category winners from Team Moore were Cathy Newman, having her first win as a W45, and Caroline Campbell W60. "Speedy Geese" comprising three Team Moore runners was the first women's relay team. Speedy Goose 3, Maria, won a barrel draw prize too. Have I forgotten anyone? Official results to come.

ACT Veterans Athletic Club news

There is a new link on the sidebar of this blog, a link to ACTVAC News. The news page is a new service recently appearing on the ACTVAC website. It will be updated weekly, every Monday. Something I have volunteered to do. If you have news you would like to appear there, please email me!

Thursday Night Track Results

Track and Field
Canberra is gearing up for the conduct of another fabulous AMA Track and Field Championship weekend at Easter, an event which comes to the ACT about every seven years. Full details are available on THIS website but be quick, entries close very very soon. In fact if you are reading this after 16 March 2006 you have missed the boat. Don’t despair; you can help out by being a volunteer this time, then train up for next year’s in another state. And perhaps there will be the odd Sunday night dinner ticket still available.

Team Wimp
Is this you? Come and run track! Only a few weeks to go and it is all over for another season.

Track Results
For the few who attended track last night, the performances were quite outstanding… here are our results.

3000m
M40 Colin Farlow 10:20.18
M45 Amalendu Edelsten 9:56.64
M45 Gary Bowen 11:51.46
M55 Neil Boden 13:12.08
M65 Tony Booth 12:51.58
W40 Katie Forestier 12:14.14
W50 Kathy Sims 12:50.11

100m
M60 Michael Roche 15.67
W40 Katie Forestier 15.98
W40 Gabrielle Brown 16.07

200m
M55 Geoff Sims 27.06
M55 Kevin Chamberlain 30.27
M60 Michael Roche 33.37

Pentathlon
M45 Roger Pilkington
Long Jump 3.14
Javelin 23.73
200m 37.68
Discus 17.06
1500m 7:46.24 (?? surely not!)
total 808 points

W40 Gabrielle Brown
Long Jump 3.05
Javelin 16.00
200m 34.04
Discus 17.41
800m 3:04.50
total 1514 points

W45 Vicki Matthews
Long Jump 3.71
Javelin 21.14
200m 30.16
Discus 21.55
800m 3:08.52
total 2424 points

W45 Alex Lloyd
Long Jump 4.00
Javelin 23.33
200m 32.35
Discus 18.38
800m 3:17.85
total 2263 points

Summer Series Results Boathouse 5k

Women – Thea had a blinder
16. Thea Zimpel 22:35
17. Annette Sugden W40 22:38
35. Margaret McSpadden W55 26:28
36. Ruth Baussmann W55 26:53

Men – David is improving again
29. David Webster M50 20:25
51. David Baussmann M55 22:37
58. Roger Pilkington M45 23:17
61. Bob Harlow M55 23:26
66. Mick Charlton M50 24:18
69. Geoff Barker M60 24:22
83. Graeme Small M60 28:36

Lauren's race is coming up soon

Lauren will need to do a Steven Bradbury to win the 400m hurdles final. Lauren will need to do a Steven Bradbury to make the 400m hurdles final. Go Lauren!

Commonwealth Games Women's 400m hurdles heats - midday session, Wednesday 22nd March
Commonwealth Games Women's 400m hurdles final - evening session, Thursday 23rd March

Quote of the Week "Be more like a child today, for children sing whether they sound good or not."
Song of the Week "If You Could See Me Now" - P.O.D., Testify

For every proverb there is an equal and opposite proverb

"Nostalgia isn't what it used to be", but on the other hand, "The older you get the faster you were".

It is birthday time for
**Cathy Newman, 45 last Saturday. Welcome to the new age group.
**Annemarie Calnan, 50 last Monday. She only lasted two days in Cathy's age group before moving up.
**Christopher Lang, 55 next Monday. Welcome into the elite group, Chris.

Others of note to have birthdays are
*Rosemary Longstaff, 55 last Thursday (and turned up at track to see if she could break Maureen's 800m record. She didn't. She ran 2:55, just over Fran's old record.)
*Mick Dando, 72 last Monday
*Alex Osborn, Kathy Sims' grandson, 1 this Thursday
*Gary Bowen, 49 next Tuesday

Happy Birthday To You All!

Annemarie enjoying the track

For The Record

There are so many people changing age groups, I thought I would publish the official ACT middle distance records, as of 31/12/2005. Quite a few of the records are held by people who were part of "Team Moore" in the dim and distant past, but I have highlighted just current members. The complete list of records is on the ACTVAC website. An * indicates a current Australian Record.

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 4.47.6 Hal Dalheim 1998
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 2.35.2 Maureen Rossiter 2003
W55 2.54.9 Fran Harris 1997
W60 3.04.83e Fran Harris 2003
W65 3.12.00e Cory Collins 2002
W70 3.53.1 Anne Young 2005

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 4.47.5 Elaine Cooper 1999
W45 4.57.95e Kathy Southgate 2002
W50 5.28.49e Maria O'Reilly 2005
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 9.45.36e Juani O'Reilly 2003

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 12.11.0 Keith Perroux/Michael Freer 1991/1995
M70 12.39.0 Michael Freer 2000
M75 14.23.0 Hal Dalheim 1994
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 11.47.0 Kathy Sims 2002
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

David Palmer

Sad news - David Palmer passed away yesterday - Sunday morning. Our deepest sympathy goes to David's wife Rae Palmer and her family.

For those in the training group who don't know them, Rae was a regular at Parliament House training in the last few years, and David did join us there on one occasion last year.

David's brother-in-law, Rae's brother, David Webster presently trains with us, and our sympathy goes to the Webster family too, as well as to others in the extended family.

This comes as a shock as David Palmer was a fit bicycle rider and was seen each week at the Vets Tuesday group with Rae.

progress continues

last week’s target 110 km, achieved 113 km
this week’s target 100 km
weight 64 kg, weight loss 1.0 kg, total weight loss 3 kg

As well as running my longest week for a long while, I also ran a couple of races well.
BBQ Stakes 6k 25:13 (pb by 1 second)
Customs 5k 19:43 (pb by 8 seconds)

My BBQ Stakes times for the last three weeks have been 25:15, 25:14 and 25:13. The first of these was a thirty second pb. Looks good!

My Customs run was the first time for ages I have strung a couple of sub 20s together. So it looks like things are going well. The only trouble I have had was pain across the bottom of my left foot - which went away completely when I loosened my shoelaces!

This week I will be easing off to race the Weston Creek Half Marathon.

Try Something Challenging

Sahara Run

The six foot track is on this coming Saturday? Ho hum, I will be pleased when it's over and we don't keep hearing about it all the time. Try something challenging! See http://www.raidsahara.com/.

Weston Creek Half Marathon

It is on this coming Sunday. Entries close tomorrow and you can enter on-line now at https://www.registernow.com.au/sports/SportsRegister.aspx?EventID=151. I told David Webster I would pace him for a 90 minute time. I hope he co-operates because he will run much faster if he can learn to run evenly. As for myself, somewhere between 90 and 95 minutes is the expectation, and I will give sub 90 a shot, but really I am just running it to see what I can do early in the year prior to getting fitter, and to try out the shoes I will be wearing in the marathon.

Canberra Marathon

It's official! I have just learned that I have been accepted into the 4 hour patcarrollpacers group. I will have the patcarroll singlet and helium balloon and will run an even 3:59 whatever the weather.

Women's Jogalong

Fantastic run from Helen today. And it was good to catch up with Michelle Wells, who is going very well indeed, into her fifth month of pregnancy.

Approximate times for today's jogalong
Helen Larmour 27:02
Katie Forestier 27.15
Sarah Pau 31.05
Caroline Campbell 35.20

Winter Track Training

When we return to track training on Thursdays after the marathon is over, we should go back to Dickson oval do you think, rather than the AIS? That's my thinking. Feedback welcome.

It doesn't get any easier

On CJ's 45th birthday, I have news for all Veteran athletes who are looking forward to changing age groups. It doesn't get any easier!

Why? Because as achievable as the times seem that older people are running, when you get there yourself, it's darned difficult to do anywhere near as well, let alone better.

Here's proof. On Thursday night at track, Merv Collins ran the 100m, 400m, and 800m races in new ACT records. The 800m was a record by 63 seconds. He ran 3:44 for the 800m, 91 for the 400m, and 19 for the 100m . Merv is a new M80. He was nowhere near last in each race.

Fifteen years ago I eyed the M50 and M55 records, thinking "I will break those". Ten to fifteen years later, the records are faster, and I am much slower.

My new plan is to wait until I am 85. But the problem is, Merv gets there first.

Thinks. "Merv was a 300m hurdler ten years ago." Hmmm.

What do you think of those times? You can say what you like; no-one of Merv's age would ever read this blog. Surely?

Track Thursday Night

Some Team Moore results

3000m
M40 Colin Farlow 10:13.81
M45 Rod Lynch 11:13.94
M45 Richard Faulks 11:25.87
M50 Neville Madden 12:20.86
M55 Mick Saunders 12:10.36
M60 Mike Worsley 13:42.36
M60 Geoff Barker 13:48.53
M65 Tony Booth 13:03.59
W45 Helen Larmour 12:09.16 **20 second pb
W55 Margaret McSpadden 14:52.92

800m
M40 Colin Farlow 2:12.12
M45 Rod Lynch 2:36.72
M60 Mike Worsley 3:25.92
M60 Geoff Barker 3:43.41
M65 Tony Booth 2:51.94
W40 Katie Forestier 2:47.19
W40 Gabrielle Brown 2:58.88
W45 Helen Larmour 2:57.26
W50 Maria O'Reilly 2:52.47
W55 Margaret McSpadden 3:40.93

3000m Turkey Handicap
M45 Roger Pilkington 13:22.74
M55 Mick Saunders 12:56.79
M60 Mike Worsley 14:12.04 ** turkey winner
M60 Geoff Barker 14:59.82
M65 Tony Booth 16:14.72
W40 Gabrielle Brown 14:47.36
W50 Maria O'Reilly 13:24.09
W55 Margaret McSpadden 16:08.71

400m Boag Event
M45 Rod Lynch 77.72
M45 Roger Pilkington 78.05
M55 Mick Saunders 74.46
M55 Geoff Sims 61.46
M60 Geoff Barker 105.81
M65 Tony Booth 76.32
W40 Katie Forestier 74.86
W40 Gabrielle Brown 80.18
W45 Vicki Matthews 72.10
W45 Alex Lloyd 82.98
W50 Maria O'Reilly 77.06
W50 Kathy Sims 79.18
W55 Jill Brown 80.91

100m
M60 Michael Roche 15.98
W40 Katie Forestier 16.29
W45 Vicki Matthews 15.44
W45 Alex Lloyd 16.10
W55 Jill Brown 17.23

When you're on a good thing ... stick to it!

Sticking to the plan

I wonder how many runners chop and change their training from month to month or even from week to week?

Assuming they even have a plan. The place where I worked had a whole lot of runners who trained most lunchtimes. In the change rooms it was commonly heard "where will we run today?" No plan. Just a wish to get out of the office and run. As a result, every run was the same; little variation in distance or intensity, and no progress made towards improving fitness.

In December I outlined a simple plan here which I have since been translating into monthly, weekly and daily goals. It was just to "build up to 110k per week and maintain all current speed sessions". This plan has been working really well as my times are finally starting to improve!

The key is (a) have a plan (b) make sure it is a good plan (c) stick to it.

It is often the stick-to-it part people have trouble with.

Give running close to the plan a reasonable priority. And don't get at all discouraged when you don't see results or when you plateau . That's normal, it's not just you! Stick to it and the results will come.

Even one bad day can discourage some people and they give up straight away. Hang in there! Put the bad days behind you and see what tomorrow brings.

Have a training plan – just ONE plan - with plenty of variety so you won't get bored – then stick to it.

Another hot 5k run

Summer Series Results

Tuesday at the National Library

Women
43. Margaret McSpadden W55 26:12
45. Ruth Baussmann W55 26:31

Men
47. David Webster M50 20:45
65. Mick Saunders M55 22:13
71. Bob Harlow M55 22:47
77. Mick Charlton M50 23:59
78. David Baussmann M55 24:03
82. Geoff Barker M60 24:57
98. Roy Jones M60 29:25

Why I wasn't there

Canberra Connect

Vets Stall at Canberra Connect last month.

Roger Pilkington writes:

"I would like to thank all those people who helped on the day at the Vets Stall on Canberra Connect day. Ken who helped me set up, Peter M, Jenny, Charmaine, Phil, Pam, Peter H, Katie and Gary attending at the stall and the last three who also helped pack up.

"I thought the stall looked good, we had a very good position by the Canberra Centre. Next time I won't worry about trying to sell any Vets clothes, but having some gear hanging up in the tent was good. I would be happy to hear from anybody with suggestions for next time.

"On the day we probably had about 30-40 people stop and have a chat at the stall, most people took a Vetrunner & Brochures about the Club, I felt myself and what others had said that most people seemed very interested in the club.

"It was good to see people were also getting info for relatives including sons, daughters, mums & dads. I would be hopeful that we get 4-5 members out this promotion. In the future I would like to have some stalls set up at different shopping centres including Dickson, Canberra Centre, Belconnen, Woden, Tuggers and Coolamon Court. It be great if we could get club support for this as well."

Roger