Bowen's Back

Bowen's back and running again today. Now to see him getting back into training and building winter fitness, and getting his pc back working so he can resume blogging.

The green shoes go well.

Certain geese out-ran him today.

Quote of the week "Somewhere in the world someone is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win." - Tom Fleming

Good to see a few other people at today's 5k/10k handicap I haven't seen for a while.

funny cartoon eh?

footnote - just watched St Kilda v Fremantle, which the umpires contrived to make a draw. If the AFL don't award the match to Fremantle, the AFL will be judged incompetent as well. I hope we don't have those umpires at a Crows match!

End of Track

Stu Mac has a great photo of the start of the young guy's 1500m at Easter in Canberra.
Wasn't it a fantastic weekend?
I will advertise our end-of-track-season training group dinner on 15 May here soon.

What is a bilby anyway?

We trained at Dickson mostly "off track" last night. There were bilbies everywhere and soccer players galore but bilbies and soccer balls were no obstacle to us completing three intervals of about 1.2km each around the outside of the sports fields, with up to 800m recovery in between.

Running there instead of on the 400m track seems to make it easier to push the pace, so we might repeat that session a few times in the coming months.

The Bilbies are of course the triathlon training group which meets at the track 30 minutes after we do.

Winners are Grinners

The latest Vetrunner has a very nice photo of our victorious women's 40+ relay team after setting a new Australian record in the 4 x 1500m.

Helen, Katie, Charlie & Gabe.

The Life and Times of the Booths

Does running make you ten years older?
After Chris had all those articles in the Canberra Times, now it's her husband Tony's turn.

Can't believe Tony had his 50th birthday in 1998 though, given that he was born in 1938. Either all the running has aged him an extra ten years since then, or conversely has youthened his appearance so much that the journalist did not believe he would be over sixty now.

Hip Flexors

I do hip flexor exercises at the gym by bringing knees to chest on the apparatus shown above. Usually three sets of twenty to thirty repetitions, with visits to a couple of other stations in between each set. (That's not me in the picture). Bent legs. Some people do it with straight legs but not me. Or alternating straight, bent, straight, bent etc. But not me, because of my lower back. I find it a very easy exercise; being a runner my hip flexors are strong to begin with. Does work the lower abdomen a bit as well though and I feel it there afterwards.

Lake and Lawn

Vicki enjoying the long jump

Tour-de-lawn

We had a "lake and lawn" day on Monday at Parliament House. The 4:30 group ran down to Lake Burley Griffin and ran a lap, totalling 7.5km. Then the main group at 5:30pm trained around Parliament House by running one loop which included a sprint up each of the eight grassy slopes. Altogether I ran 16km.

Such a beautiful sunny day on Tuesday that in the afternoon a group of us ran the wetlands loop, starting from Black Mountain Peninsula. Total estimated at 19km.

Then today I ran around the Ginninderra Handicap 7km course, the first time for eight months. I ran 28:33, which is reasonably OK. And again, it was such a perfect day. Did 18km in total.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to a 4:30pm leafy 7km run prior to Dickson oval training. The weather at this time of year is the best!

So at least I am keeping the distance up so far this week, right on target in fact.

gogo the green tiger

..please play with me. I can purr, I enjoy a mouse, and I have developed a liking for t-bone steak.

Beautiful Swan

Engagement Notice!
Congratulations Scott & Ruth who became engaged yesterday at the top of Mount Kosciuszko!

My progress
last week’s target 90km achieved 70km
I also did two hard gym sessions, each including 45 minutes exertion on the stepper, plus chins, lat pulldowns, and 60 hip flexor exercises.

weight 65 kg weight loss -1 kg total weight loss 2 kg
My weight has swung into reversal after the marathon. A return to longer weeks should arrest that and bring my weight back down again fairly quickly.
this week’s target 100km plus 2 gym sessions

song of the week
You see the world in black and white
No colour or light
You think you'll never get it right
But-you're wrong you might

The sky could fall could fall on me
The parting of the seas
But-you mean more mean more to me
Than any colour I can see

All you ever wanted was love
But you never looked hard enough
It's never gonna give itself up
All you ever wanted to be
Living in perfect symmetry
Nothing is as down or as up as us

You see the world in black and white
No paint to write
You see no meaning to your life
You should try
You should try

And all you ever wanted was love
But you never looked hard enough
It's never gonna give itself up

All you ever wanted to be
Living in perfect symmetry
Nothing is as down or as up
Don't you want to see it come soon
Floating in a big white balloon
Oh, given your own silver spoon

Don't you want to see it come down
There for throwing your arms around
and saying "you're a moment too soon"

Cause I feel low
Cause i feel low
Oh oh oh oh oh
Yeah I feel low
Oh no

Ohh

Ohh
Cause I feel low
Cause i feel low
Oh oh oh oh oh
Yeah I feel low
Oh no

Ohh

Low- Coldplay – just another great track off X&Y

quote of the week (The ugly duckling principle). If you are afraid of looking bad, then you will never get to look good – speedygeoff , form principle #11. You too can become a beautiful swan, if you dare!

Ragged Rascals

From Ken Eynon

The Canberra Half Marathon will be held on Sunday 14th May with a 5k Fun Run and a 1k Mini Jog on the Saturday afternoon. Entry forms are available now with online entry/pdf file download on our website www.canberrarunner.com.au.

I am looking for helpers and volunteers for both events. I know a lot of you have been very busy volunteering your services with events in the ACT over the past months and must be wondering where does it all end? When do we get a rest? Unfortunately this is one more request for your help. If you can afford the time to help on this weekend please let me know.

Half Marathon Helpers - required on the Sunday. Will receive free entry to the Saturday 5k Fun Run, a long sleeve half marathon t-shirt and the chance to win one of two $50 Gift Vouchers from the Runners Shop.

5K Fun Run and 1k Mini Jog Helpers - required Saturday afternoon. Will be in the draw to win one of two $50 gift vouchers from the Runners Shop.

If you can help please contact me Ken Eynon on email kene@incanberra.com.au or phone 02 62546548 ASAP. I would like to finalise the helpers lists quickly.

Cheers and thank you all,
Ken Eynon
Race Director

Mill Creek results from yesterday
Hmmm. One more run to add to my ever growing list of courses to "never race". Not that I cannot do the water crossing, but the ground is too unpredictable to trust my vulnerable calves and ankles to. I jogged around the course beforehand and watched from the sidelines instead of running. Beatiful area for training though.

Mill Creek 6k
14. David Webster M50 26:23
27. John Alcock M60 30:25
29. Geoff Barker M60 31:28

Around and Around the Rugged Rocks...
We ran raggedly around the Majura 10k course this morning, on a beautiful crisp clear morning in Canberra. Jeni Greenland, Kent Williams, Lynn Williams, Barbara Williams (no relation), Barbara Tucker (still no relation), Ken White, Graeme Small and me. Too many New Zealand connections present to avoid mentioning Rugby, but not a word about any "reality" television show. Hurrah.

An hour of intense gym work afterwards, at UC and in the company of Craig Edwards, and my day was done.

"Fun Runner" Article from 1990

15th ANNUAL CANBERRA MARATHON
New sponsor, familiar faces

by BRIAN LENTON

PHIL GARVIN (2), PAUL ARTHUR (575) and GEOFF MOORE head the field on the climb up to the new Parliament House. (Lothar Riess)

THE 15TH CANBERRA MARATHON had a new sponsor-the ACT Academy of Sport-and a modified course. It incorporated, as usual, the Australian Veterans Championships, and in addition the 16th National Wheelchair Games Marathon.

Kiwi Derek Froude easily won his 27th marathon in 2:22.24, having previously won the event in 1982. In the early '80s Froude lived in the ACT and was the first member of the ACT Cross Country Club to become an Olympian, representing New Zealand in the Los Angeles marathon.

Mary Silver sliced 28 seconds off her best to take the women's event in 2:58. Surprisingly the local newspaper resisted the caption 'Gold to Silver'.

The marathon attracted 500 entries, but the warm, humid conditions made PB's hard to come by. In fact the only race records came from the wheelies, who were given a specially designed course within the boundaries of the existing marathon course.

Two creditable comebacks were Fiona Macleod's 3rd placing in only her second marathon and Geoff Moore's 5th (2nd over-40). In 1978 Fiona, at 17 years, was first ACT female finisher and 2nd overall in 3:03.41 in her debut. Geoff, who incidentally coaches Mary Silver, won in 1978 in his PB of2:26.58.

RESULTS
D. Froude (NZ) 2.22.24; R. Kent (Qld) 2.27.46; P. Garvin 2.29.27; G. Ryan 2.30.49; G. Moore 2.32.55; A. Towill 2.36.21; R. Burns (Vic) 2.37.31; G. Alexander (NZ) 2.38.57; T. Moore (Vic) 2.44.38; M. Thomas (NSW) 2.46.04. Female M. Silver 2.58.00; M. Griee (SA) 3:03.14; F. Macleod 3.09.11.

AMA Thanks

TO EACH AND EVERY VOLUNTEER AT THE AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS IN CANBERRA EASTER 2006

G'day, G'day

YOU helped the ACTVAC put on a great AMA National Championships competition in Canberra through your exceptional efforts over Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the Easter weekend 2006!!

Well done!!

The ACTVAC Committee discussed the National Championships at its meeting on Wednesday 19 April and congratulated the volunteers for their sterling efforts in making the Championships such a success.

Geoff Sims, ACTVAC President, said proudly that it is a real credit to everyone on the administrative side that so many people were able to do so many things they had never done before, and do them so well. He said that it showed the strength of ACTVAC and its supporters. They showed great team spirit in working so well with each other, and with members of other clubs from around Australia. Everyone made a significant contribution. Fellowship through fitness proved its worth once again!!

The feedback from visitors - competitors and their support teams, officials, and onlookers - and from local participants has been extremely positive. Their comments emphasised how well the 'red shirts' did their job.

Feel proud to have been a 'red shirt' at the AMA National Championships Easter 2006 in Canberra!!

All the best in your sporting endeavours!!


David Mackenzie, Manager - Volunteers
Neil Boden and Christopher Lang - Volunteer Coordinators

Sunburnt Apples & Quintessential Quinces

Two weeks ago the Canberra Times featured Chris Booth twice in the same issue - once as she discussed sunburnt apples and the second time as she promoted quinces.

Sunburnt apples because of climate change, meaning new varieties would have to be tried.

Quinces - i just loooove quinces. I eat them raw, I eat them cooked, the recipe below is just yummilicious.

Save this article and zoom in to read it properly.

For those who do not know Chris, she is also (a) wife of the famous Tony Booth who is our brillliant M65 runner, and (b) the person who looks after the walking group which trains with us at Parliament House each Monday afternoon.

What I Said

At the coaches forum at the AMA Championships I spoke on "Coaching in the 21st Century".

"The 21st century athlete has little club loyalty, little training group loyalty, compared with the 20th century athlete.”......... read the full text here

No X Goose

Now that Easter is over, let's get into some training!

There is no x goose. Be there.

This Thursday remember track training starts at Dickson.
Next Monday remember interval training continues at Parliament House.
Both Days you have an option of arriving an hour early, 4:30 pm, for a longish jog before the bulk of the training group arrives at 5:30 pm.

Please be on time if at all possible.

My progress (cont)
I forgot to weigh myself Monday, as it felt like Sunday, so here is the weight update from today instead.
weight 64 kg weight loss zero total weight loss 3 kg.

DAY FOUR. Those Still Standing.

400m
W35 1 Karen Davis 65.67 gold
W55 3 Maureen Rossiter 70.78 bronze
M55 6 Geoff Sims 62.32

8km Cross Country
W30 1 Jeni Greenland 38.59 gold
W45 1 Kathy Southgate 32.00 gold
W50 2 Maria O'Reilly 35.55 silver
W55 3 Margaret McSpadden 44.47 bronze
M55 3 Geoff Moore 34.37 bronze

10km walk
W55 2 Barbara Tucker 1:05.57 silver

4x400m Relay
W200+ 1 ACT 'A' 4:51.07 gold
( Sue Bourke, Karen Davis, Constance Larmour, Maureen Rossiter )

Highlight - Maureen just missing the ACT 400m record. Bad luck, you will have to keep training for next season!

New Week already

My progress
last week’s target 60km achieved 71km

this week’s target 90km

song of the week

Coldplay - The Hardest Part

And the hardest part
Was letting go not taking part
Was the hardest part

And the strangest thing
was waiting for that bell to ring
It was the strangest start

I could feel it go down
It is sweet I could taste in my mouth
Silver lining the clouds
Oh and I
I wish that I could work it out

And the hardest part
Was letting go not taking part
You really broke my heart

And I tried to sing
But I couldn't think of anything
That was the hardest part

I could feel it go down
You left the sweetest taste in my mouth
Your silver lining the clouds
Oh and I
Oh and I
I wonder what it's all about

I wonder what it's all about

Everything I know is wrong
Everything I do just comes undone
And everything is torn apart

Oh and it's the hardest part
That's the hardest part
Yeah that's the hardest part
That's the hardest part

More results

100

W45 6 Vicki Matthews 14.59

W55 3 Maureen Rossiter 15.34 bronze

W70 1 Constance Larmour 17.07 gold

M40 4 Michael Rutter 12.44

200

W45 6 Vicki Matthews 30.10

W55 2 Maureen Rossiter 31.22 silver

M55 6 Geoff Sims 27.72

Still to come - 400m and 8km cross country

Unbelievable

I am amazed, in disbelief, running around like a child (yes Ewen even more excited than usual). I cannnot believe that I just ran a 19:26 5000m. I cannnot believe that I just ran a 19:26 5000m at my age. I cannnot believe that I just ran a 19:26 5000m at my age only seven days after the marathon. I cannnot believe that I just ran a 19:26 5000m at my age only seven days after the marathon, AND raced all the way outkicking another M55 to grab the bronze medal. It feels so good to actually race a 5000m instead of just running it! I did a Booth, finishing eight seconds ahead of 4th after (re-)passing him with 120 metres to go.

But wait there's more. Some great times by the others in the training group including Maria running a fantastic pb, around 20 seconds. And Katie too, a pb by around 7 seconds.

Some details

5000m AMA Championships Easter Sunday
W30 2 Jeni Greenland 21:13.21 silver
W40 2 Katy Forestier 20:45.46 silver
W45 1 Kathy Southgate 18:49.06 gold
W50 2 Maria O'Reilly 20:24.92 silver
W55 2 Barbara Tucker 24:23.08 silver
W55 4 Margaret McSpadden 25:19.69
M55 3 Geoff Moore 19:26.71 bronze

RESULTS 1500m

Maria

Today's highlight would have to be Maria's gutsy surging into the strong wind and aggressive finish to hold off her rivals and grab gold. Many other runners also showed strength and determination to run the times and place as they did. Kevin, Tony, Katie, Colin, also John Morton, Dale Moore, Mick Horan battled brilliantly.

1500m

W45 1 Kathy Southgate 5:14.18 gold
W40 2 Katie Forestier 5:41.43 silver
W50 1 Maria O'Reilly 5:35.18 gold
W50 3 Kathy Sims 6:09.18 bronze
W55 1 Barbara Tucker 6:52.05 gold

M40 4 Colin Farlow 4:34.82
M55 3 Kevin Chamberlain 5:18.50 bronze
M65 3 Tony Booth 5:58.84 bronze

5000m walk

W55 2 Barbara Tucker 32.54.59 silver

You can order photos from http://www.sportographs.com.au/gallery/.

RESULTS Day 1

Tony

Friday April 14. A highlight was Tony Booth's bronze medal in the 800m. The guy who ran fourth passed Tony with 300m to go but Tony didn't let him get away. We who were watching knew what was going to happen, but the margin confounded all predictions. Tony passed him again with 100m to go and finished 11 seconds ahead! Talk about demoralising your opponents!

10000m
W30 1 Jeni Greenland 46:02.27 gold
W55 1 Margaret McSpadden 56:58.70 gold
M55 2 Geoff Moore 44:16.57 silver

800m
W40 4 Katie Forestier 2:45.89 pb
W45 1 Kathy Southgate 2:34.59 gold
W50 1 Maria O'Reilly 2:48.55 gold
W50 2 Kathy Sims 2:56.35 silver
W55 2 Maureen Rossiter 2:47.03 silver ACT record
M40 4 Colin Farlow 2:09.31
M55 6 Kevin Chamberlain 2:27.28
M65 3 Tony Booth 2:49.16 bronze

Long Jump
W45 4 Vicki Matthews 4.10m
M45 3 Kev Matthews 5.26m bronze

Fantastic Results. Well done everybody. Still three more days of competition to go!

I rounded off the day by giving a talk (which I will publish here later) at the coaches forum, and then attended the Easter Service which followed. All good! A special thanks to Kathy Southgate for being my support at the forum; one friendly face was better than none. Although of course Christopher was there but in an official capacity, and it was good to catch up with Dana whom we have known from when she was very little! Last night I didn't realise Dana was engaged; the notice is in today's Canberra Times newspaper. I will congratulate Dana's parents Kent and Lynn when I see them next.

You can order photos from http://www.sportographs.com.au/gallery/.

First 10000 of the year

I ran my first 10km race today for 2006; something I should find easy to better later on. After all it is only five days since the marathon!

It was 44:15 or so. No new injuries. I am hoping to improve on that in the Terry Fox; improve again in the Canberra Times Fun Run, and again around November on the track (see "my 2006 calendar" in the right hand column).

Hopefully one of these 10ks will be well under the 40 minute "barrier".

Shuffling along in 44.15 got me the silver medal! (Yah boo and sux to all those who didn't enter!) The 800s are later today, sometime down the track I will post official results for the group!

A national medal! A minor miracle.