Song of the week.
From http://youtu.be/AP2NkCkQGhQ
We were there! Along with more than a few other people.
From http://youtu.be/AP2NkCkQGhQ
We were there! Along with more than a few other people.
So this is Christmas
1 year ago
Monday, 26 August 2013
Sunday, 25 August 2013
With minor variations from week to week, here is a plan:
Running:
Mondays I will jog in the morning and run at Parliament House in the afternoon, 4:30pm for an early run and 5:30pm to meet the speedygeese for a training session.
Tuesdays I will run long at Dickson at 4:00pm then meet the speedygeese for a training session at 5:30pm again.
Wednesdays I will spend an hour in the gym and then go for an easy run.
Thursdays I will meet the speedygeese at Aranda at 5:30pm. In due course that will morph into Vets track.
Fridays I will spend an hour in the gym doing circuit work, then go on another easy run.
Saturdays from next week I hope to resume running at Acton Ferry Terminal, a long run. This Saturday is a 16k race instead.
Sundays I will continue meeting the speedygeese at Stromlo Forest Park and run intervals. From 22 September this will probably be moved from 8:00am to 7:00am.
Other gym attendances are also a possibility as summer approaches.
Blogging, trying to organise better, a rough plan:
Mondays I have been saving time by posting a "song of the week".
Tuesdays I will attempt to list new race results that have come to hand.
Wednesdays I intend giving an update on our training sessions.
Thursdays I might write something.
Fridays is a chance to publicise future events.
Saturdays could be a day for linking interesting articles and posts from other sources.
Sundays could be a day to post photographs and to summarise the week.
In addition I intend developing a blog describing what we encountered during this month's holiday in FNQ!
Let's trust that injury and illness will stay away.
Running:
Mondays I will jog in the morning and run at Parliament House in the afternoon, 4:30pm for an early run and 5:30pm to meet the speedygeese for a training session.
Tuesdays I will run long at Dickson at 4:00pm then meet the speedygeese for a training session at 5:30pm again.
Wednesdays I will spend an hour in the gym and then go for an easy run.
Thursdays I will meet the speedygeese at Aranda at 5:30pm. In due course that will morph into Vets track.
Fridays I will spend an hour in the gym doing circuit work, then go on another easy run.
Saturdays from next week I hope to resume running at Acton Ferry Terminal, a long run. This Saturday is a 16k race instead.
Sundays I will continue meeting the speedygeese at Stromlo Forest Park and run intervals. From 22 September this will probably be moved from 8:00am to 7:00am.
Other gym attendances are also a possibility as summer approaches.
Blogging, trying to organise better, a rough plan:
Mondays I have been saving time by posting a "song of the week".
Tuesdays I will attempt to list new race results that have come to hand.
Wednesdays I intend giving an update on our training sessions.
Thursdays I might write something.
Fridays is a chance to publicise future events.
Saturdays could be a day for linking interesting articles and posts from other sources.
Sundays could be a day to post photographs and to summarise the week.
In addition I intend developing a blog describing what we encountered during this month's holiday in FNQ!
Let's trust that injury and illness will stay away.
Saturday, 24 August 2013
A highlight - there is now a 14k event as well as the 5k and 10k.
The cost - the 14k costs more than the 10k. Naturally.
Entries at http://canberratimesfunrun.com.au/default.asp?PageID=21892
Apparently we have missed the early bird entry.
A chance to be silly.
The cost - the 14k costs more than the 10k. Naturally.
Entries at http://canberratimesfunrun.com.au/default.asp?PageID=21892
Apparently we have missed the early bird entry.
Thursday, 22 August 2013
Just another palindrome.
Hamlet's last lines, early draft:
Rot, cadets! I - oh - drat!
Epitaph; pat?
I, petard hoisted actor ...
[dies]
Another early draft
On that note, hopefully I am alive and well and celebrating our 43rd wedding anniversary at the Gold Coast with Jenny. Always a risk, a series of advance posts. We fly back tomorrow!
Hamlet's last lines, early draft:
Rot, cadets! I - oh - drat!
Epitaph; pat?
I, petard hoisted actor ...
[dies]
Another early draft
On that note, hopefully I am alive and well and celebrating our 43rd wedding anniversary at the Gold Coast with Jenny. Always a risk, a series of advance posts. We fly back tomorrow!
Wednesday, 21 August 2013
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
Apparently exercise helps you think.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-do-you-think-better-after-walk-exercise
Although have you noticed, people who frequently exercise think mostly about exercise?
Think about it.
Monday, 19 August 2013
Song of the week: "We are the free", by Matt Redman
from http://youtu.be/lweUGdKRFeI
We’re the forgiven, singing redemption's song
There's a fire that burns inside
A fire that burns inside
Nothing can stop us
We’ll be running through the night
With a fire that burns inside
A fire that burns inside
from http://youtu.be/lweUGdKRFeI
We’re the forgiven, singing redemption's song
There's a fire that burns inside
A fire that burns inside
Nothing can stop us
We’ll be running through the night
With a fire that burns inside
A fire that burns inside
Sunday, 18 August 2013
Saturday, 17 August 2013
I totally fail the hamstring flexibilty test. New decade resolution: fix that! See...
http://running.competitor.com/2013/05/training/flexibility-tests-for-runners_72760
How about you?
Thursday, 15 August 2013
Wednesday, 14 August 2013
Tuesday, 13 August 2013
There are many conflicting opinions about “how to breathe” when you run.
“Just breathe naturally”
“Breathe in for four, out for two”
“Breathe in for two, out for four”
“Breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth”
“Breathe deeply to maximise oxygen intake”
“Breathe from the diaphragm, not the chest”
.... and so on.
An article which fails to “clear the air”:
http://running.competitor.com/2013/06/training/how-should-i-breathe-when-i-run_75131
Here is what I know.
1. If you are training properly, most of your running is at talking pace. Just breathe naturally!
2. Whenever you think of it, practise expelling air for as long as possible. Relax the vocal cords when you do so. Use both the abdomen and the chest. Most of the air is expelled from the mouth. Then inhale as quickly as possible. You don't have to inhale for as long a time as you exhale. The reason is quoted in the above article... “the atmospheric pressure is greater than the pressure in your lungs, which means you need to push the air out to let it rush back in.” Finally, inhalation takes place via the diaphragm, which rises, and the chest, which expands; it's both,
3. If you are running hard with relaxed vocal cords you will make a lot of noise! As people tell me when we are racing. If I could talk, my response would be, “golly, you don't make any noise, are you running hard enough?”
And when I think of it, I practise “in for two, out for six .” The more bad air exhaled, the more good air you can inhale.
“Just breathe naturally”
“Breathe in for four, out for two”
“Breathe in for two, out for four”
“Breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth”
“Breathe deeply to maximise oxygen intake”
“Breathe from the diaphragm, not the chest”
.... and so on.
An article which fails to “clear the air”:
http://running.competitor.com/2013/06/training/how-should-i-breathe-when-i-run_75131
Here is what I know.
1. If you are training properly, most of your running is at talking pace. Just breathe naturally!
2. Whenever you think of it, practise expelling air for as long as possible. Relax the vocal cords when you do so. Use both the abdomen and the chest. Most of the air is expelled from the mouth. Then inhale as quickly as possible. You don't have to inhale for as long a time as you exhale. The reason is quoted in the above article... “the atmospheric pressure is greater than the pressure in your lungs, which means you need to push the air out to let it rush back in.” Finally, inhalation takes place via the diaphragm, which rises, and the chest, which expands; it's both,
3. If you are running hard with relaxed vocal cords you will make a lot of noise! As people tell me when we are racing. If I could talk, my response would be, “golly, you don't make any noise, are you running hard enough?”
And when I think of it, I practise “in for two, out for six .” The more bad air exhaled, the more good air you can inhale.
Sunday, 11 August 2013
Saturday, 10 August 2013
Goal Setting and Delayed Gratification.
If you want to motivate yourself to train, you need to set some goals. These goals need to be realistic and achievable.
Case 1. An unrealistic goal.
A runner wishes to run a 20 minutes 6k. Maybe her friend can run that time and she has decided to get as fast as this friend. She wants to stretch herself, good, but the goal time she has chosen is well beyond her capabilities, bad. So every time she trains, if she feels strong enough, she pushes far too hard. When she competes in a race, she starts off way too fast. Because of her hard training, she makes some initial progress. But because she works so hard, her rest and recovery cycles are compromised, which means her times stop improving and it takes more and more effort to sustain what little improvement she has made. In due course, the inevitable outcome is exhaustion, burn-out, injury, and disillusionment.
On the other hand, if the goal isn’t much of a challenge, there may be reasons for the coach to suggest something a bit more difficult and long term. Perhaps the runner races all the time and has come to expect their plateau to continue indefinitely. A bit of a focus might help the runner to be training more consistently and more to a plan.
Or perhaps the runner simply has a short term outlook, without terribly much commitment.
Case 2. A realistic goal achievable straight away.
Here we have a second runner who has not broken 45 minutes for 10k and is set on achieving this. It has become her life goal. She sets out on a 16 week plan to build a decent base and to get fitness levels up; the plan is to make a sub 45 minute 10k relatively easy for her. However 4 weeks in her first time trial – which for this runner just has to be 10k – she achieves her goal, and celebrates, and promptly gives up training.
The problem here was that the runner couldn’t see that she had much more potential for improvement. If that didn’t interest her, at the very least she could have gone into maintenance mode to keep her fitness levels up until a new goal comes to mind.
Setting a specific goal like this is good, but training and racing with just the final goal as the focus is not. There is a problem if every run, just about every day, is an attempt to achieve the goal. Much better is the approach that sees each day’s run as part , an important part, of the process which will eventually lead to the goal being achieved.
Case 3. Step by step improvement.
A third runner has a goal in mind, but the focus is on what running or other training is to be achieved today. She is happy to keep on laying the foundation by following the plan day after day and being patient about achieving her ultimate goal in due course. She has faith that when the day comes it will all come together and the goal will be achieved. So she is content to work on her training and ensure that her recoveries are such that she keeps building her fitness from week to week until she is ready. And when she comes to the big test, she is fresh and confident.
I see all these behaviours in the athletes I coach. And we probably think and act like any one of these three from time to time. Try and be “Case 3”! Get a plan, check it out with and be accountable to a coach, stick to the plan, have infinite patience, and know that with good goals and a good process you can do it. Today is but a stepping stone in preparation for tomorrow.
If you want to motivate yourself to train, you need to set some goals. These goals need to be realistic and achievable.
Case 1. An unrealistic goal.
A runner wishes to run a 20 minutes 6k. Maybe her friend can run that time and she has decided to get as fast as this friend. She wants to stretch herself, good, but the goal time she has chosen is well beyond her capabilities, bad. So every time she trains, if she feels strong enough, she pushes far too hard. When she competes in a race, she starts off way too fast. Because of her hard training, she makes some initial progress. But because she works so hard, her rest and recovery cycles are compromised, which means her times stop improving and it takes more and more effort to sustain what little improvement she has made. In due course, the inevitable outcome is exhaustion, burn-out, injury, and disillusionment.
On the other hand, if the goal isn’t much of a challenge, there may be reasons for the coach to suggest something a bit more difficult and long term. Perhaps the runner races all the time and has come to expect their plateau to continue indefinitely. A bit of a focus might help the runner to be training more consistently and more to a plan.
Or perhaps the runner simply has a short term outlook, without terribly much commitment.
Case 2. A realistic goal achievable straight away.
Here we have a second runner who has not broken 45 minutes for 10k and is set on achieving this. It has become her life goal. She sets out on a 16 week plan to build a decent base and to get fitness levels up; the plan is to make a sub 45 minute 10k relatively easy for her. However 4 weeks in her first time trial – which for this runner just has to be 10k – she achieves her goal, and celebrates, and promptly gives up training.
The problem here was that the runner couldn’t see that she had much more potential for improvement. If that didn’t interest her, at the very least she could have gone into maintenance mode to keep her fitness levels up until a new goal comes to mind.
Setting a specific goal like this is good, but training and racing with just the final goal as the focus is not. There is a problem if every run, just about every day, is an attempt to achieve the goal. Much better is the approach that sees each day’s run as part , an important part, of the process which will eventually lead to the goal being achieved.
Case 3. Step by step improvement.
A third runner has a goal in mind, but the focus is on what running or other training is to be achieved today. She is happy to keep on laying the foundation by following the plan day after day and being patient about achieving her ultimate goal in due course. She has faith that when the day comes it will all come together and the goal will be achieved. So she is content to work on her training and ensure that her recoveries are such that she keeps building her fitness from week to week until she is ready. And when she comes to the big test, she is fresh and confident.
I see all these behaviours in the athletes I coach. And we probably think and act like any one of these three from time to time. Try and be “Case 3”! Get a plan, check it out with and be accountable to a coach, stick to the plan, have infinite patience, and know that with good goals and a good process you can do it. Today is but a stepping stone in preparation for tomorrow.
Thursday, 8 August 2013
Wednesday, 7 August 2013
Tuesday, 6 August 2013
I have been reading. This obsession with food? For goodness sake get over it. Compulsive over-eating, compulsive under-eating? Instead just eat normal nutritious food 3 times daily, don't snack much, don't worry over food at all, if you have allergies then eat sensible substitutes, make sure you use the calories you have taken in by exercising in a variety of ways. You are made to eat a little more sometimes, and a little less sometimes. Nature has designed us for hard work at times, and rest at times, in the same way that nature has designed us for feast and famine, but not for on-going gluttony nor for on-going starvation.
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
I do weigh myself regularly. Why? I like to monitor my weight because a sudden change in weight, up or down, can indicate that something is very wrong. Also I guess because I collect statistics about everything.... It's the mathematician in me.
Be careful about choices. Deciding it is always better to take one particular course of action. Remember, there are seasons.
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
I do weigh myself regularly. Why? I like to monitor my weight because a sudden change in weight, up or down, can indicate that something is very wrong. Also I guess because I collect statistics about everything.... It's the mathematician in me.
Be careful about choices. Deciding it is always better to take one particular course of action. Remember, there are seasons.
Monday, 5 August 2013
Song of the week: "Tessellate", by Mumford and Sons.
from http://youtu.be/fnEk9qa0yjY
That's a very different version!
Sunday, 4 August 2013
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