Congratulations grandma

Sandgate run, bye bye sun.

Our Brisbane holiday has reached its last full day.

We spent the morning and lunch time at Bribie Island, but the wind was too strong to attempt a picnic lunch on the beach as planned, so we sheltered in a park instead, and were hassled by eight white ibises for food scraps.

Mid afternoon I ran 12k from the top of Shorncliffe along the coast cycle path through Sandgate and Brighton to the Houghton Highway Bridge and back, while Jenny walked to the end of the Sandgate Pier and a couple of grumpy old fishermen, before following me along as far as a quaint old Baptist church by the sea.

"Perfect the next"? They must have been kidding. Cool and cloudy and windy today! With all the smoke around, a glorious sunset, but!

Vale Jim Sawkins

Just read this on allrounder's blog - another dear friend departed. Jim was recently, amongst other things, a regular with the Vets "Tuesday group". And very fit and fast.

Redcliffe Run (but no cliffs)

Today I ran along the shore line from Suttons Beach to Albatross Canal and back at lunch time, a total of 17km. This is around the Redcliffe/Scarborough area. There is a 15km cycle track marked every 100 metres! No hills (hurrah!) and the 17k took a comfortable 90 minutes. Obviously I am completely recovered from yesterday's race. Next time I might head south instead of north and do the other half of the track. It was very warm, clear and sunny, with a light easterly breeze off the sea. While we were there at Suttons, men were pulling in, with the aid of two cars, a huge net which contained truckloads of large mullet. We bought six off them for $4.00 altogether. We know they are fresh as they were still kicking! Fresh fish for dinner tonight, yummmm.

Cutting It Fine

.......so I went out at 4:10 pace in the Queensland Half Marathon today knowing I was nowhere near fit enough to maintain it on current performances but interested in how long I could keep it up for assuming that I could get on the pace to start with!

.......and the first four km were on pace, then reaching 5km in 21 mins flat which was perfectly satisfactory, halfway in 44 mins or so; well up on the time in Canberra three weeks ago and well on target for a sub 90.

......not sure what happened after that but just like Canberra the left hamstring seized up after 15k, however unlike Canberra the lower back was alright. And it was getting rather hot.

......at 17k was running about 4:35 pace, up and down a bit, and realised that I needed 4:25s exactly, from that point, to crack the 90 minute mark. So I tried to ignore the pain and make a race of it with the other runners as they continued to pass me.

......and I finished in a time of 1:29:55. Phew!!!!

.... silver in the M55.

Ron Vines (silver in the M60s) and John Diamond were also running, and also I enjoyed meeting (how's my memory?) Eddie, Tesso, Lady Jove, Cato, ILikeToast (resplendent in psychedelic tights), IHateToast, Robert Song, Beagle, Karisma, Run67, Digger, and a few more whose names elude me now.... meeting them all for the very first time. And many other coolrunners I didn't get to meet including a cool cheer squad of two (Davo and Cirque). Thanks to all of you guys!

postscript - I was 88th out of 499 official finishers. An M55 pb at the age of 58, and my second best time since the early 1990s. Can do better!

Old Photographs #5

I like this one because of the good view of the main stadium which is now obscured by pesky trees.

Note the 'tucked in' singlets - very neat.

I'm guessing this was a 1500 metre race. The bearded runner is Andrew S, who, for many seasons had the ambition of running sub 4 minutes for 1500 metres. He eventually achieved this goal due in no small part to his single-minded focus on the event.

Andrew used to 'double' and run the 3k steelechase for Interclub points. His technique was so bad that even a slow wombat could beat him and that was before the said wombat was coached by Geoff to run under 11 minutes for the event.

This is my last post for a while as I have to pack my bags for our trip to THE BIG ONE. Geoff will be back soon to report on his fabulous, fast and hot half marathon.

Old Photographs #4

This one is at the Warm-up track at Bruce when we still had another track in the main stadium - February 1985. Note the lack of a grandstand in the background.

I think everyone wore club uniforms in 'the old days' because they were so trendy. You've got to love those vertical stripes. Very footy-like. There were a lot of female middle distance runners in the 1980s. I'm not sure who the Weston Creek runner leading in this race is but I know the other two.

Woden had heaps of female runners because the maron and blue vertical stripes looked so good. Crop tops hadn't been invented back then.

Old Photographs #3

This is an interesting one. It's from the winter season of 1984. I'm not sure of the race - perhaps the ACT 25k road championships. Yes, for some strange reason, half a marathon wasn't long enough back then.

There are a couple of interstate runners competing. The blue singlet on the left is from the Victorian Glenhuntly club. Who is the runner? How many of this crowd are still running in 2006? Looks like a typical Canberra day - no gloves or beanies and plenty of sun. The race must have been in April or March! Also on the front line are a couple of classy 1500 metre runners.

Old Photographs #2

Speedygeoff is migrating north for some mid-winter sun so I thought I'd post these two old photographs. They're from the 1980's.

Does any reader recognise the athlete on the left? Or any of the other athletes? One of them is from South Australia! The occassion was a track meeting at Sydney Athletic Field. The athlete on the left was better known as a marathon runner but on this occassion she won the 1500 metres in a time of around 4:10.

She commenced her career as a track runner and moved from 1500 up to 3000 metres because she couldn't 'sprint' and win international 1500s. At this time there was no 5000 metre race for women at the Olympics so she tried marathon running and did very well. I think this shows that being fast at shorter distances is helpful even for marathon runners.

Come on, back!

ACTVAC handicap results

Oakey Hill 7.5k
3 Barbara Williams W60 42:12
10 Helen Larmour W45 35:32
17 Roger Pilkington M45 32:08
19 Caroline Campbell W60 41:06
20 Rod Lynch M45 30:34
26 Christopher Lang M55 40:02
27 David Baussman M45 35:58
33 Alan Duus M60 37:35
39 Geoff Moore M55 32:57
40 Barbara Tucker W55 43:09
43 John Alcock M60 37:49
57 Ruth Baussmann W55 44:34
70 David Webster M50 32:54
75 Geoff Barker M60 40:17
78 Graeme Small M60 45:14
83 Mick Saunders M55 37:24
84 Cathy Newman W45 38:13
85 John Kennedy M55 34:36
90 Margaret McSpadden W55 45:23
93 Charmaine Knobel W50 40:52
94 Tony Booth M65 40:21
95 Rae Palmer W55 43:03
103 Mick Charlton M50 42:31

Oakey Hill 3.5k
10 Ken Gordon M40 14:11
12 Gary Bowen M45 14:34
13 Kerry Boden W45 20:44
21 Neil Boden M55 16:37
22 Katie Forestier W40 15:43

My training progress

last week's target 80k actual 86k

this week’s target 80k? (whatever I can fit in when travelling)
quote of the week “ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put”
weight 65kg
song of the week

Come on Back To Me – Third Day, from "Wire"

You’ve been hiding now for so long

Never understanding why

Running far away from the truth

And all along chasing after lies

I have loved you from the beginning

Long before you knew my name

Even though you’ve broken my heart

I’ll love you just the same

I’ll love you anyway

Never mind your worries

Never mind your fears

They can only take you far from me

When you feel there’s nowhere

Left for you to turn

Well, I got all you want

And everything you need

Come on back to me

Do you believe in second chances

Or in a love that never fades

Put your faith in what you can’t see

Just put your hand in mine

And I’ll show you the way

My back is great, I came through the Oakey Hill effort with flying colours. Now for the big one next week. The Queensland Half. Something to which to look forward.

News Wrap

Saturday's Carillon 6k results
Women
11. Caroline Campbell W60 34:28
12. Barbara Tucker W55 35:18


Men
35. Ewen Thompson M45 30:29
37. Ken Eynon M60 30:44
38. Mick Saunders M55 30:57
39. Neil Boden M55 31:28
41. Geoff Barker M60 33:10

Sale. Don’t forget to get to the runners shop for their June shoe sale.

Trail. The perfect running trail..

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

I managed a long run yesterday. Mr Flibble told me it was 18.1 km and 104 minutes. I haven't had time to try downloading and analysing the data yet.

This is a ten minute pb for the course - probably because I was listening to a new music list. I don't think I am suddenly that much fitter!

Hearts of the Innocent – Kutless
Lonely Nation – Switchfoot
Roots in Stereo – P.O.D.
Square One – Coldplay
Tunnel – Third Day
Eagles – Third Day
Lights Out – P.O.D.
Shut Me Out – Kutless
Stars – Switchfoot
What If – Coldplay
Beyond the Surface – Kutless
Cry Out to Jesus – Third Day
Happy is a Yuppy Word – Switchfoot
If You Could See Me Now – P.O.D.
White Shadows – Coldplay
Fix You – Coldplay
Goodbye For Now – P.O.D.
I Can Feel It – Third Day
Smile – Kutless
The Shadow Proves The Sunshine – Switchfoot
Easier Than Love – Switchfoot
Keep On Shinin’ – Third Day
Promise of a Lifetime – Kutless
Sounds Like War – P.O.D.
Talk – Coldplay
Communion – Third Day
On the Grind – P.O.D.

Today I ran another 5k easy in preparation for racing tomorrow. I am not all that confident, as my back still feels sore.

A Message

Lake G Handicap (from Ian Clout)
"Just a reminder that the next Lake Ginninderra Handicap run is on Tuesday 30 May. As the bike path is still closed at the normal start line, the registration point is behind the Bella Vista in the car park.

"In line with their new corporate uniform initiative, runners from DIMA will be required to have shirts tucked in and shoes laces properly tied.

"As mentioned at the last run, one of the organisers, Michael Aylott, has transferred to Melbourne with work. The remaining organisers would therefore welcome offers of assistance so that they can do the occasional run themselves. It's not difficult, especially when a few people can share the load. So please email me back if you're prepared to help out, even if it's only a couple of times during the year.

"Finally, if you wish to donate a bit more than a gold coin to the Cancer Council and get a receipt for tax purposes, please bring your donation on Tuesday or contact me in the next couple of weeks."

I will add the handicap to my "coming events" list.

Dickson training
Over twenty runners were at Dickson last night to enjoy or endure a set of 600 metre runs with equal-time recovery. I had a good hard workout, that's two days in a row! It was great to see John Morton return to the training group.

If you want to see a really good write-up of this and other training sessions we do as they happen, Strewth usually attends both Monday and Thursday training at present and summarises each session very well in her blog.

A Message From God
One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the rascally behavior that was going on. He decided to send an angel down to Earth to check it out.

He called one of His angels and sent the angel to Earth for a time.

When he returned, he told God, "Yes, it is bad on Earth: 95% are misbehaving and 5% are not."

He thought for a moment and said, "Maybe I had better send down a second angel to get another opinion." So God called another angel and sent him to Earth for a time too.

When the angel returned he went to God and said, "Yes, the Earth is in decline; 95% are misbehaving and 5% are being good."

God was not pleased.

So God decided to E-mail the 5% that were good because He wanted to encourage them. Give them a little something to help them keep going.

Do you know what that E-mail said ? ? ?

No?



I didn't get one either.

Introducing Mr Flibble

Dark Mondays
A reminder to everyone who trains with me Mondays to bring a TORCH to Parliament House. Bring two!

The New Mr Flibble

Mr Flibble is my new Garmin 305 which arrived yesterday. So this is what the 21st century feels like.

And watch out for new technology like this! Change is faster and furiouser than ever.

Half Marathon

SMH half results can be found here. I see Don finished in the famous 666th place.

My running

In the BBQ Stakes yesterday I ran within three seconds of my course pb (one full clockwise lap, the normal direction). Does this mean I am suddenly, somehow, back on track despite being nowhere near recovered from injury?! Maybe I can run a sub 90 minute half next week?

The original Mr Flibble

Here he is. From the "Quarantine" episode of Red Dwarf V. The best episode of them all. "Mr Flibble is very cross."

10 cubic meters

A 10 cubic metre skip was sufficient for the debris from the demolition job done on our old kitchen plus some of the accumulated junk from 36 years of living in the same house, mostly from the garage. But wait there's more! There are still two room fulls of stuff we will want to throw out. We will have to order another skip down the track! Maybe not quite as big?

How you voted
speedygeoff's filter of the AGM of the ACT Veterans Athletic Club held last night at Wests leaves us with the following information

Great venue. Much better than the crappy places we have met in past years.

Great food too.

Great club. There is none better than the ACTVAC. The 45 or so people at the AGM - the low numbers in itself a sign that members are happy and don't want change - overwhelmingly approved the actions and directions of the club.

Our President's message focused on the challenge that we cannot just "carry on" with ongoing administrative business, but we also must contribute to keeping people active in our society at large. We are an organ through which people can deliver programs to help an aging society. We must protect that role and look to other activities and other collaborations to progress that.

Two new faces in a small turnover of committee members (not the 100% of last year!) saw Craig Wisdom elected to the committee, and Rosemary Parker, a former club secretary, rejoining the committee. The Secretary's position remained vacant and will be covered by the committee until a permanent secretary can be found.

Treasurer acclaimed as the finances were accepted with joy and a stamp of approval on the new budget. A very large surplus because of some one-off income means the club can repay members via holding membership fees as is, and reducing weekly track entry charges from $5 per person to $3 per person for 2006-07.

The new committee
Patron Jack Pennington
President Geoff Sims
Vice President Christopher Lang
Secretary vacant
Treasurer Will Foster
George Kubitzky
Peter McDonald
Roger Pilkington
Rosemary Parker
Craig Wisdom

Aki Installation

Our kitchen is being installed today and tomorrow with mostly everything completed by Friday. Painting and some flooring will wait. Aki (Australian Kitchen Industries) supplied the kitchen so I half expected a young slender jogger-lady with an ultra-long ponytail to do the installation but no, it was two young men doing the work. Competency with lego preferred but not essential.

Head for the Hills
On Monday night we reverted to a hill session we hadn't done for a year or so, not since the grassy slopes around Parliament House had been dug up and then left unattended for ages.

Trevor, Zel and I had an early run up Mugga Way and back down Flinders Way at 4:30pm, before we met everyone else for the main warm-up run at 5:30pm. Then after everyone had warmed up, the group's fast work consisted of six reps of a circuit on five minutes; the speedier runners took about 2:40 and the tailenders up to 3:40.

The circuit took in three sprints up a nice little hill and two loops joining the top of the hill to the bottom. On completion, runners jogged back down the hill to wait for the five minute whistle before starting again.

I was delighted to see Jennifer K turn up for her first Parliament House training session; another seriously fast Veteran Sprinter joins the group. We welcomed back CJ, I remember her excelling on these hills in the past. John A and Charmaine made welcome returns, and Annette rocked up the first time for a while. Altogether, 22 runners trained with us last night.

The new grass was soft and great to run on. There was no moon and the sky was clear of clouds which would have reflected the lights of Canberra, so it was very dark. Torches essential.

Over and Out

Progress?

last week target 80k actual 60k
this week’s target 80k plus?
song of the week – "The Blues" Switchfoot, from "Nothing is Sound"

Is this the New Year or just another night?
Is this the new fear or just another fright?
Is this the new tear or just another desperation?

Is this the finger or just another fist?
Is this the kingdom or just a hit n' miss?
A misdirection, most in all this desperation

Is this what they call freedom?
Is this what you call pain?
Is this what they call discontented fame?

It'll be a day like this one
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
When the world caves in

I'm singing this one like a broken piece of glass
From broken arms an' broken noses in the back
Is this the New Year or just another desperation?

You're pushing till you're shoving
You bend until you break
Till you stand on the broken fields where our fathers lay

It'll be a day like this one
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
When the world caves in

There's nothing here worth saving,
Is no one here at all?
Is there any net left that could break our fall?

It'll be a day like this one
When the sky falls down and the hungry and poor and deserted are found
Are you discontented? Have you been pushing hard?
Have you been throwing down this broken house of cards?

It'll be a day like this one
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
When the world caves in

Is there nothing left now?
Nothing left to sing
Are there any left who hasn't kiss the enemy?
Is this the New Year or just another desperation?

Does justice never find you? Do the wicked never lose?
Is there any honest song to sing besides these blues?

And nothing is okay
Till the world caves in
Till the world caves in
Till the world caves in
Till the world caves in
Till the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in

quote of the week “In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded.” - Terry Pratchett

Team Moore Results North Lyneham 6.2k
Women
7. Maria O'Reilly W50 28:12
13. Kathy Sims W50 32:28
14. Barbara Tucker W55 34:53
Men
14. Roger Pilkington M45 25:55
37. Peter McDonald M50 30:41
38. Neil Boden M55 30:50
45. Geoff Sims M55 34:00

Team Moore Results North Lyneham 3.1k
8. Roger Pilkington M45 12:26
21. Katie Forestier W40 13:48
31. Barbara Williams W60 17:33

SMH Half Marathon

Martin first Anthony second. Go ACT!
I haven't forgotten that Anthony trained with us for twelve months as he got his athletics career going.

Jogalong

I finally found the jogalong results from 2 weeks ago. And quite a few training group members ran. Including Michelle, expecting her second baby in a month or so. (OK, she walked)
21. Barbara Tucker 33:34
31. Michelle Wells 54:59
69. Amanda Walker 32:53
77. Helen Larmour 27:40
85. Katie Forestier 27:37
92. Pam Faulks 33:23
98. Barbara Williams 35:33
107. Charmaine Knobel 30:33
112. Caroline Campbell 32:17
152. Annemarie Calnan 34:01

IE7
I have just loaded IE7. It looks a bit different from IE6. Quite good, really. But the appearance of fonts on these pages is a bit strange to the eye. Interesting.

My kitchen's gone!

I am planning to run the Oakey Hill familiarisation run at 9:00 tomorrow, if people want to meet there.

We have completely dismantled our old kitchen in preparation for the new one to be installed next week.
Nothing's left, not even the kitchen sink.

Volunteer of the Year

Mr David Hobson, of the ACT Cross Country Club and occasional runner with the ACT Vets, accepting his award as 'Volunteer of the Year 2006' in the 'Sport and Recreation Category'.