Waterslide Weather

Newspaper headline of the day: "Official: Only Rain Will Cure Drought"

speedygeese results from Thursday
3000m early
W45 Helen Larmour 12:38.95
W55 Kathy Sims 14:25.67
W55 Margaret McSpadden 15:05.56
W55 Barbara Tucker 15:08.65
W55 Ruth Baussmann 15:08.67

3000m late
M45 Roger Pilkington 11:54.58
M50 Ken White 11:47.00
M55 Neil Boden 13:27.78
W40 Katie Forestier 11:54.31 pb

5000m
M45 Ewen Thompson 22:32.41
M55 Geoff Moore 19:27.98
W35 Amanda Walker 21:32.92 pb

1500m relay W45 Australian record
Kerry Boden, Helen Larmour, Debbie Cowell, Maria O'Reilly
25:21.80

1500m Relay Splits
M45 Gary Bowen 5:24
M55 Neil Boden 6:10
W50 Maria O'Reilly 5:55
W45 Helen Larmour 5:59
W55 Kathy Sims 7:02
W55 Maureen Rossiter 7:06

Other new national relay records
It grieves me to report that the Australian W50 4x1500m record is now held by Queensland in 23.24.5, we had the old record of 24.27. And the M50 4x800m record has also been taken by a Queensland team in 9:14.4, Victoria had the record in 9.59. We should be able to reclaim both of them soon!

so hot running today. this would be more fun!

"Beta" blog improvement phase 1

Inline ("peek-a-boo") comments - done. Next, I will try and implement inline comment forms. Because the html changes to make this improvement have been extensive, if anyone has problems commenting or reading comments, please report to me! (via comments?!)

By the way, when I was browsing at JB Hi Fi (Belconnen) yesterday they were playing "Oh! Gravity". I stayed longer than planned! What a great new album by Switchfoot.

Fitness Basics for Couch Potatoes

Newspaper Headline of the day: "Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge"

We live in a world charactised by the Audience and Spectator Mentality. Few are in the arena; most are in the stands. But even with a great event like the A-Series Athletics Meet which was on recently, I was quite happy about missing it and doing other things. I would much rather be the performer than be the audience.

Sometimes I forget that most people don't know the basics of why action is better than observation!

"Why can a trained athlete run a marathon, but a couch potato cannot run half a mile?" - from http://www.howstuffworks.com:

If you are out of shape, you know it. Even climbing a flight of stairs can leave you out of breath! If you haven't been exercising regularly, even a little exercise, like going up steps, can put a strain on your body.

Your body responds to exercise with a coordinated effort from many systems, including working muscles, the heart, lungs, blood vessels, skin, brain and others. Here are what the different parts of your body do when you exercise:

The muscles provide the strength, power, and endurance to do the exercise.
Enzymes within the muscles mobilize various fuels to provide ATP to meet the energy demands of working muscle.
The heart and blood vessels increase the blood flow to deliver more oxygen to the working muscle.
The lungs increase the rate of breathing to deliver more oxygen to the muscle.
All of these systems can be improved by training. Lack of training causes them to atrophy.

Let's compare the couch potato with the trained athlete. The couch potato has these problems:
weakened or atrophied muscles
weakened or atrophied heart muscle
decreased metabolic enzymes in the muscles
diminished lung capacity
the wrong metabolic fuels

If muscles are not used regularly, then their mass decreases. The muscle proteins and fibers that develop the force diminish. Therefore, the couch potato simply cannot generate the force required for the physical activity involved in running a marathon.

The heart is a muscle like skeletal muscle. It also adapts to a less active state by losing muscle mass. While this does not affect the couch potato's ability to pump blood to his/her tissues, it limits the ability to increase in blood flow during exercise. The heart will not be able to stretch as far or develop the pressure required to increase the cardiac output. That's why doctors tell you that you need to exercise regularly to keep your heart in shape.

The enzymes involved in anaerobic (without oxygen) and aerobic (with oxygen) metabolism help provide the energy to working muscle. In the couch potato, however, the levels of these enzymes go down. So the inactive person's body cannot metabolize fuel as well.

The fuels used in the body during exercise mainly come from carbohydrates (glucose, muscle glycogen) and some fat. However, the couch potato has mostly fat and probably little glycogen. It takes longer to mobilize fat as a fuel than glycogen. That means that the breakdown of fat cannot keep pace with the energy demands of working muscle.

All of these factors combine to limit the ability of the couch potato to exercise.

The good news is that, with a moderate exercise program, the couch potato or anyone else can improve their fitness and their body's response to exercise. At least enough to do a 10 km run!

FOOTNOTES
1. At track last night, strong performances by Ken and Katie in the 3000m, with Ken getting under 12 mins for the first time this season, ~11:47; and Katie improving her pb by ~20 seconds and breaking 12 mins for the first time, ~11:55. In the 5000m, a good run by Amanda to knock ~10secs or so from her pb [edit: the "or so" is 50 seconds. It was a 1 minute pb, Awesome! Sorry to devalue it!], running ~21:32; Ewen achieving a bet-motivated goal and ducking under 23 mins. And I ran ~19:27, getting well under the 20min barrier in my first real attempt since last April, with splits of 3:50, 3:49, 3:57, 3:56 and 3:55. This equals my time in the Nationals last year. And means I still might get that sub 40 10k; the next challenge.

2. And the W45 4x1500m relay team set an Australian record last night; the team included Helen and Maria, both running just under six minutes.

3. Soon I will have a go at my first “new-blogger” html hacks for this blog, which will be to try and re-introduce peek-a-boo comments as were in the previous version. Once that is done, the plan is to change to an inline form for comment creation, and after that I will try asynchronous peek-a-boo comments, if I think they are needed. These changes involve a fair bit of html. I may do it this afternoon if the cricket is slow and if I haven't fallen asleep on the couch. And after all that is implemented, I will see what I can do about colour scheme and general appearance.

not speedy

Have you had your inoculattions?

Newspaper headline of the day: Physicist Recommends Bigger Balls To Slow Down Male Tennis Players

Neologisms Part 3 (do you like these?)
21. Inoculatte (v) To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
22. Hipatitis (n) Terminal coolness.
23. Osteopornosis (n) A degenerate disease.
24. Karmageddon (n) It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
25. Decafalon (n.) The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
26. Glibido (v) All talk and no action.
27. Dopelar effect (n) The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
28. Arachnoleptic fit (n.) The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally jogged through a spider web.
29. Beelzebug (n.) Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
30. Caterpallor (n.) The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating.

Would you like to be a Canberra Marathon pacer? I was last year. Go to this website to check out a photo of me with my four hour group in 2006. What a bunch! And at the website you can apply to be a pacer this year if you want.

Speedygeese in the ACTCCC Summer Series
Race 1 at Weston Park:
Women 5k
8. Cathy Newman W45 22:02
13. Annette Sugden W40 23:16

Men 5k
22. Mick Horan M45 19:02
25. Richard Faulks M45 19:23
40. Roger Pilkington M45 20:55
67. Neil Boden M55 24:45
71. Mick Charlton M55 26:00

All My Friends Are Turning Sixty

Newspaper headline of the day: Grandmother Of Eight Makes Hole In One

On grandparenthood: Have you noticed how condescending young journalists can be? A "grandmother" is a curiosity, and accompanying pictures often show someone wrinkled and frail enough to be a great-great-grandmother! Enough! In the 21st century, grandparents are still young and active and don't just sit around marking time!

Thursday night preview
6.00pm 3000m
Will Paul Considine run away with the men's division of the "Moore Series"? In the women's section, will anyone get their eight races up? Yes, it looks as if Margaret may win it for the second time. She who is about to turn 60.

7.00 4x1500m Relay
There are still some records up for grabs, eg W35. I am in the record books in the old 55s and will only run if needed, to defend my record! Is that cheating I wonder?

7.30 400m
Possibly the only sensible race on a hot night?

8.00 4x200m Relay
Yet another relay! This one for those who are too bored to be sitting around for another 15 minutes.

8.15 3000/5000m
A 5k might be the go if the weather is kind.

9.15 I am off to Taj Agra for some real food.

The fun run boom
My peers and I were in our mid twenties when the Fun Run boom hit Australia. We were just the right age to take the lead in participation, organisation and promotion of same. Now we are on the verge of turning sixty; some are already there, some have a little way to go. But it is noticeable as this generation starts to turn sixty, there is an enormous gulf between that segment of the population who got hooked on fun running, and that segment who never got interested in maintaining their health and fitness in that way. For instance; at reunions, the inactive set look terrible. For instance; when one of us falls ill, needs an operation, whatever, the active ones recover very quickly. Time and tide happens to all; but those who have practised a health and fitness lifestyle seem to have far better coping mechanisms than those who have not.

I was "shocked" when I saw in the ACT triathlon results in the 60-64 category Bob Harlow, Peter Clarke and Margaret McSpadden. Then I realised that Triathlon Australia calculates age groups from age at the end of the year. But it does mean that three super-fit athletes will be having their 60th birthdays this year. The sixties have never looked better!

Fly goose fly!

Last year's Terry Fox Fun Run

jumping out of my skins

Newspaper headline of the day: "Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead"
At Monday night training the speedygeese Al, Amanda, Barbara, Christopher, Emma, Ewen, Helen, Jeni, Kathy, Katie, Ken, Margaret, Maria, Mick C, Mick H, Neil, Peter, Ruth - and Michael Freer new to the training group at age 77! - ran five by 350 with 350 jog (teams of three), then five by 350 with a short jog (teams of two). By the second set of five, there was very little talking going on!

Tried wearing skins for the first time yesterday. Guarded approval. Will continue the experiment.

And you thought last night's training was chaotic with people running in all directions!

Vets Handicap 149

quote of the week: "Success is largely a matter of holding on after others have let go."

My training progress
last week's target: 110k
achieved: 112k
year total to date: 418k in 4 weeks
this week’s target: 120k
weight: 63kg, down 1kg & staying there.

song of the week: Thom Yorke - Harrowdown Hill, from "The Eraser"

"We think the same things at the same time
We just can't do anything about it...

Can you see me when I'm running?"

The first of the Monthly Vets Handicaps was run on Sunday at Campbell Park. There are eleven of these each year, but we can run only ten, as we help out for one of the runs.

Here are the results for the speedy geese
Campbell Park 6k
13 Peter McDonald M50 28:53
15 Mick Horan M45 24:40
17 Christopher Lang M55 30:47
19 Annette Sugden W40 32:27
20 Amanda Walker W35 28:16
22 Charmaine Knobel W50 29:58
29 Jeni Greenland W30 30:27
31 Roger Pilkington M45 25:39
32 Richard Faulks M45 24:35
66 Margaret McSpadden W55 33:56
71 John Alcock M60 30:47
74 Ruth Baussmann W55 33:03
78 Mick Charlton M55 32:35
87 Peter Hogan M55 31:36
88 Gabrielle Brown W40 34:30

Campbell Park 3k
3 Ken White M50 13:01 - gold medal!
18 Carol Baird W55 14:00
20 Geoff Moore M55 12:13
21 Gary Bowen M45 12:31
23 Katie Forestier W40 12:50
39 Neil Boden M55 14:40

FOOTNOTES
1. I have now completed 149 Vets handicaps.

2. Ken said he was "embarrassed" to win the Frylink trophy. I wouldn't be!

3. The human race has progressed SO far ....

Happy Monday!

Nutritious Snacks

Newspaper Headline: "Kids Make Nutritious Snacks".

How they ran at the A-Series meet.
1. Mick Horan 2:08.91 (outstanding run)
2. John Lamb 2:20.14
3. John Morton 2:11.69
4. Ken White 2:25.31
5. Bryan Thomas 2:57.61
6. Dave Carter 2:29.65
7. Jim White 2:43.44
8. Roger the Kt Pacer 2:38.68
9. Kt - first girl - 2:47.19

Scott and Ruth McTaggart



Guests at the Wedding


My 2007 distance racing plans
11 March Weston Creek Half Marathon
15 April Canberra Marathon
13 May Canberra Half Marathon
3 June Queensland Half Marathon
26 August ACT Veterans Half Marathon
14 October Australasian Masters Half Marathon

Neologisms Part 2
11. Testicle (n.) a humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude (n.) the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon (n) a Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster (n.) a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism (n.) (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent (n.) an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.
17. Bozone (n.) The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
18. Cashtration (n.) The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
19. Giraffiti (n) Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
20. Sarchasm (n) The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

FOOTNOTES
1. Ken White won gold in the short handicap race today. Otherwise the speedy geese were without a place in the first of the year's monthly handicaps races put on by the ACTVAC. Campbell Park was uncharacteristically cool and dust free.

2. And it looks like there will be a good turn out this Monday night for training at Parliament House. With a new face or two, again.

3. I don't know how they manage it, but the coaching contact section of Vetrunner has reverted to an old version, again! The ghost of the former editor lives on. No we do NOT meet on Thursdays at Dickson!!!

Slow and Steady wins the Race? What race?

Newspaper headline of the day: "Smokers Are Productive, But Death Cuts Efficiency".

speedygeese results from Thursday night
3000m
M45 Rod Lynch 11:08.56
M45 Richard Faulks 11:15.25
M55 Geoff Moore 11:37.18
M45 Roger Pilkington 12:11.36
W30 Jeni Greenland 12:35.12

Pennington 800
1 Mick Horan M45 2:12
2 Colin Farlow M45 2:14
3 Kevin Chamberlain M60 2:26
5 Ken White M50 2:26
10 Rod Lynch M45 2:34
11 Geoff Sims M55 2:42
12 Maria O'Reilly W50 2:54
17 Katie Forestier W40 2:49
22 Amanda Walker W35 2:58
23 Neil Boden M55 3:09
24 Roger Pilkington M45 3:04
27 Tony Booth M65 3:36

FOOTNOTES
1. ACTCCC Summer Series, 6:00pm Tuesdays.
Tue 30 Jan Weston Park 2/5k Weston Park Yarralumla
Tue 6 Feb Eddison Park 2/5.3k Justinian St Phillip
Tue 13 Feb National Library 2/5k Reconciliation Place
Tue 20 Feb Lake Ginninderra 2/7.1k Macdermott Pl Belconnen
Tue 27 Feb South Curtin Oval 2/5k Carruthers St Curtin
Tue 6 Mar Boat House 2/5k Menindee Dr Parkes
Tue 13 Mar Stage 88 2/5k Commonwealth Park
Tue 20 Mar Acton Ferry Terminal 2/5k Barrine Dr Acton

2. If you are not already doing speed work in training, the Summer Series is an excellent way to pick up the pace. And this year there is a shorter race option, starting a few minutes after the longer race.

3. And remember, tomorrow's handicap run by the Vets starts at 8:30am at Campbell Park, not 9am.

Appearance can be deceiving...but not always.

Happy Australia Day

Newspaper headline of the day: "Foot Heads Arms Body" -- Daily Mirror. (sounds like a Wiggles song the grandchildren sing)

Neologisms Pt 1 (Results of the Washington Post's Neologism contest):
1. Coffee (n.) the person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted (adj.) appalled over how much weight you have gained.

3. Abdicate (v.) to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade (v.) to attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly (adj.) impotent.

6. Negligent (adj.) describes a condition in which you absent-mindedly answer the door in your nightgown.

7. Lymph (v.) to walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle (n.) olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash (n.) a rapidly receding hairline.


Go the Gosling!

It was good to see Jeni at the track last night.
Here she is running in the Nationals last year.
Note the very low number!

FOOTNOTES
1. All you workers and lurkers, have a great holiday today. Celebrate Australia Day. (And while you are at it, bring back multiculturalism)

2. Colin ran second in the Pennington 800m last night, a usually reliable source says he has the series sown [edit: sewn!] up, but he will have to finish ahead of Kevin in the 1500m yet to be run. Nevertheless, speedy geese (Mick, Col & Kev) were 1 2 3, continuing our dominance in aged handicapped events. Go the Geese!

3. Aranda training is still going ahead tomorrow, despite distractions which mean numbers will be low. An easy session, because 8:30am Sunday is the next Vets handicap run.

Once was Kiwi but now a fair dinkum Aussi,
Strewth finishing the 50km last April.
Well worth a celebration!

Fitness First

"How we feel about ourselves is the core of self-esteem, says author"

Stranger Than Truth
Dear Diary:
For my fortieth birthday this year, my wife (the dear) purchased a week of personal training at the local health club for me. Although I am still in great shape since playing on my school football team 25 yrs ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try. I called the club and made my reservation with a personal trainer named Belinda, who identified herself as a 26 yr old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swim wear.

My wife seemed pleased with my enthusiasm to get started! The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress.

MONDAY:
Started my day at 6:00 am. Tough to get out of bed, but it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Belinda waiting for me. She is something of a Greek goddess - with blonde hair, dancing eyes and a dazzling white smile. Woo Hoo!!!!! She took my pulse after 5 minutes on the treadmill. She was alarmed that my pulse was so fast, but I attributed it to standing next to her in her Lycra aerobics outfit. I enjoyed watching the skilful way in which she conducted her aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring, Belinda was encouraging as I did my sit-ups, although my gut was already aching from holding it in the whole time she was around. This is going to be a FANTASTIC week!!

TUESDAY:
I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door. Belinda made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air, and then she put weights on it! My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile. Belinda's rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel GREAT!! It's a whole new life for me.

WEDNESDAY:
The only way I can brush my teeth is by lying on the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in both pectorals. Driving was OK as long as I didn't try to steer or stop. I parked on top of a GEO in the club parking lot. Belinda was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered the other club members. Her voice is a little too perky for early in the morning and when she scolds, she gets this nasally whine that is VERY annoying. My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Belinda put me on the stair monster.
Why the hell would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators? Belinda told me it would help me get in shape and enjoy life. She said some other shit too.

THURSDAY:
Belinda was waiting for me with her vampire-like teeth exposed as her thin, cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl. I couldn't help being a half an hour late; it took me that long to tie my shoes. Belinda took me to workout with dumbbells. When she was not looking, I ran and hid in the men's room. She sent Lars to find me, then, as punishment, put me on the rowing machine - which I sank.

FRIDAY:
I hate that bitch Belinda more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world. Stupid, skinny, anaemic little cheerleading bitch. If there were a part of my body I could move without unbearable pain, I would beat her with it. Belinda wanted me to work on my triceps. I don't have any triceps! And if you don't want dents in the floor don't hand me the f&%#(#* barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich. The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher. Why couldn't it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director?

SATURDAY:
Belinda left a message on my answering machine in her grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today. Just hearing her made me want to smash the machine with my planner. However, I lacked the strength to even use the TV remote and ended up catching eleven straight hours of the Weather Channel.

SUNDAY:
I'm having the Church van pick me up for services today so I can go and thank GOD that this week is over. I will also pray that next year, my wife (the other bitch), will choose a gift for me that is fun - like a root canal or a vasectomy.

FOOTNOTES
1. How many people join gyms (or running groups) with a burst of enthusiasm, which evaporates after a few days? I wonder why many who join us are seen only once or twice and then disappear again?

2. The key "C" words are Consistency and Commitment

3. To be a winner, all you need to give is all you have!



And many who join us do stay on, and get stronger!

Feeling Flash

quote of the day: "Car Lost In Untended Garden" (that could be ours!)

Music is my passion
I notice in the aria charts that the standard of popular music seems to be improving. Well, it goes in cycles. One year I like the new music you hear on commercial radio, and the next year I do not. So either good music comes round every couple of years, or I tire of pop every once in a while, then get to like it again.

Great to see my favourite song, "Light Surrounding you", has this week climbed to number one in the singles chart, after 14 weeks in the charts; it is also number one in the digital track chart after 18 weeks in, displacing "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol, another good song.

There are more than the usual number of other good singles in the charts at present. "How to Save a Life" by the Fray is at 13 and the same group's "Over my Head (Cable Car)" is at 29. "Running" by Evermore is still in, at 40. And there are at least a dozen other good artists in the singles chart this week.

The album chart features Snow Patrol, U2, Wolfmother, Evermore, Coldplay's X&Y for the 69th week; standouts in what would be an extensive list.

I don't really know why the standard is suddenly better. Perhaps access to songs on the internet has resulted in a demand for quality?

FOOTNOTES
1. 800m handicaps: there are two "Higgins"-style 800m handicap races on the horizon; the first is this Thursday at Vets, and the second is a Vets exhibition event at the Grand Prix on Saturday, before the main events. As I won't be there on Saturday; the "wedding of the year" (so far) is happening at the same time; I wish good luck to all or any of the training group competing in that event.

2. Comet Watch – I went out and watched Comet McNaught descend to the horizon last night. It was a real community get together; four years since last such when we assembled at the same location on Drake Brockman Drive and watched the fires. The comet is far more impressive than photos in the paper have indicated; the long tail especially. I would include a photo, but as I say, photos do not do it justice.

3. Ran 25:54 at lunch time today in the BBQ Stakes; third place on handicap. I should be encouraged, as the run in high temperatures felt very comfortable and was a good minute faster than I have achieved up to now in similar conditions. I did not deliberately push the pace; so that is my best run by far in recent times. We are getting there! Helen had a very good run too, feeling good on a hot day and running much faster than last week. And this is after we both had very long training runs yesterday, again in the heat.

Yup. That's me. Feeling flash.

“…and the heat goes on”

quote of the day: "Something went wrong in jet crash, experts say"

Monday night's training had a solid turn out of Alan, Amanda, Annette, Charlie, Christopher, Dennis, Emma, Ewen, Helen, Joel, Katie, Ken, Maria, Mick C, Peter, Ruth, Trevor, Yelena, Chantelle, James and I running 20 intervals of 100m up a steepish hill, in 30 minutes. But before training, Ewen & I ran long and encountered a large group of inexperienced runners, one of whom we saw collapsed on the ground. I spoke later last night to the ambulance officer who treated him, coincidentally the officer was at a house where I was attending a comitteee meeting; the officer said the runner had suffered heat stroke and was lapsing into and out of consciousness, but was OK.

Those runners had been jogging at a very slow pace, slow enough that our six minute kms breezed past them. But why didn't their supervisor impress upon them the need to hydrate?

This morning I had no petrol and could not be bothered to fill up, so I ran an old training run from the eighties, the "Pipe Flat West" run from home.

Unfortunately at around 17km there was a sign "NO ENTRY" in large unfriendly letters. That wasn't there twenty years ago! The shortest return trip home was exactly the 17km I had just run. A bit far on a hot day: and it was 10:30am. So I kept going. Then at 21km a car pulled up next to me and I was roundly told off by a round woman for trespassing on her property. What a shame; the run along the Molonglo is a pleasant one with views of cliffs and natives pines which have survived the ravages of time, pollution, vandalism, and fires. And while it is twenty years since I ran that track, it was unchanged, still flat! and this time all my favourite radiohead songs were helping me enjoy it all the more.

I lost two kilos of fluid during that run as well. Good thing I am fit and don't need medical attention on hot days. Although come to think of it, the north-west Belconnen runs are safer; there are people around, I might get distressed one day.

FOOTNOTES
1. Thursday's Vets T&F program
6.00 pm 3000m
6.15 pm 60m
7.00 pm 800m (this one's a "pennington")
8.00 pm 4 x 100m relay
8.15 pm spiral 5

2. I think I will run, sorry, shuffle the 6pm 3000m come hell, high water, or 37.5 degree heat.

3. Sunday's monthly handicaps resume on the 28th at Campbell Park. Note the earlier start time: 8:30am.

if you ignore NO ENTRY signs, who knows where you will end up?

...pipe flat west ...

the vertical lines are where there were gates to climb
the flat bit is from 9k to 16k
the 17k NO ENTRY sign was well past the point of no return!

flashNeil

quote of the week: "Shell Found on Beach"

My training progress
last week's target: 100k
achieved: 103k
year total to date: 306k in 3 weeks
this week’s target: 110k
weight: forever 64kg and steady

song of the week: Radiohead - Bones, from "The Bends":

"i don't wanna a be krippled kracked
shoulders wrists knees and back
ground to dust and ash
crawling on all fours.
when you've got to feel it in your bones.
now i can't climb the stairs
pieces missing everywhere
prozak painkillersss.
when you've got to feel it in your bones.
and i used to fly like peter pan
all the children flew when i touched their hands"

FOOTNOTES
1. The quote "Shell found on Beach" is a classic of its kind. Simple and to the point, a headline writer's dream.

2. Half Marathon Training Group
The ACT Cross Country Club is again organising a half marathon training group to prepare participants for the Instant Colour Press Canberra Half Marathon on Sunday 13 May. It is aimed at novices – those runners and joggers who have not completed this distance before and are attracted by the challenge! This will be the fourth year of the program and we hope to build on the success of the earlier ones.

The program will start on 10 February and finish with a celebratory recovery run on 15 May. Group training will take place on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings at various venues around Canberra. Members will also be encouraged to participate in the CCC events where possible as part of their training. Any additional training suggested will need to be undertaken by participants in their own time.

A brief information session will be held at 6pm on Wednesday 31 January at the Canberra Southern Cross Club, Phillip. The full program for the Group will be available on that day with the first run scheduled for 7am on Saturday 10 February at Lennox Gardens.

3. Results from ACTA Interclub athletics - Kathy Southgate ran the mile in 5:29.49. That is yet another ACT W50 record, breaking ..... I don't know whose nor by how much! The darned ACTVAC records page has already been updated! Neil you are too speedy by far!

flashNeil at Parliament House.
Be at Parliament House tonight for some solid training!

random thoughts

quote of the day: Economist uses theory to explain economy - Collinsville Herald-Journal

After several 100k weeks
1) 5k is a nice, short race.
2) Any run that is less than 3k does not count.
3) Races motivate me to train regularly. Does that mean I race to train?
4) I feel that it is important to include more hills in my runs. I can't even believe I'm saying this!
5) The half marathon distance is easy.
6) Still my weight does not change!
7) Where do the days go?
8) Friends don't let friends run alone.
9) I will never plan to run on a track only six foot wide.
10) Every list should have ten points.

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quote of the day: "Britain Inches Grudgingly Towards Metric System"


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Speedygeese track results Thursday 18 January
1500m
M45 Colin Farlow 4:42.86
M50 Ken White 5:09.19
M55 Geoff Moore 5:41.97
M55 Neil Boden 6:24.60
M60 Kevin Chamberlain 5:05.11
W40 Katie Forestier 5:41.02
W45 Helen Larmour 6:03.15

3000m
M45 Roger Pilkington 12:14.12
M50 Ken White 12:33.44
M55 Geoff Moore 12:44.15
M55 Neil Boden 13:50.80
W35 Amanda Walker 12:32.97 **pb
W40 Katie Forestier 12:13.87
W45 Helen Larmour 12:47.32
W55 Margaret McSpadden 15:30.23
W55 Barbara Tucker 15:35.61

non-running on Australia Day

quote of the day: "Lack of brains hinders research" - The Columbus Dispatch

THURSDAY 25 JANUARY - AUSTRALIA DAY LIVE 07
A FREE concert on the lawns of Parliament House features the announcement of the Australians of the Year. The concert line up includes: Guy Sebastian, The Whitlams, TV Rock, The Audreys, Bobby Flynn, Renee Geyer, Sick Puppies, Deborah Conway, Kate Miller-Heidke, Mia Dyson, Damien Leith and Priscilla Queen of the Desert the Musical.

FRIDAY 26 JANUARY - AUSTRALIA DAY CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL
At Stage 88, Commonwealth Park, featuring high energy performances by ACTIVE KIDZ, as soon on ABC TV, plus loads of other activities for the family including TRICKY NICK's magical show, GECKO GANG games, story telling, face painting and a farmyard animal petting pen.

Programme:
10.00am - 1.00pm : Paint the Backyard Fence
12noon - 6.00pm : Farmyard animal petting pen
12noon - 6.00pm : Aussie playground and Gecko games
12.30 - 4.30pm : Backyard Cricket
1.00 - 2.00pm : Royal Military College Band
2.00 - 3.00pm : Canberra City Band
3.00 - 5.30pm : ABC Active Kidz and Tricky Nick the Magician

Happy Birthday Australia!

FOOTNOTES
1. We had 9mm of rain last night and it all fell during Vets track. Makes for a change, racing in the wet! I am sorry for those who missed it because they thought it would be hot. The change was a big surprise.

2. Speedygeese have webbed feet. In particular, Amanda ran a great pb, taking nearly 20 seconds off her previous best for the 3000m.

3. Katie was in top form too running a fast 1500m AND a fast 3000m soon after, both right on her pbs. Through water and rain and humidity and wind, that 'aint bad!

happy geese after the rain...

My lesser known career highlights

I joined an athletic club in 1962. My career really started in 1961 when I invented a game. If my mother wanted to post a letter, I always volunteered. I timed myself by the kitchen clock. Out the back door, down the side path, through the front gate, down to the letterbox at the end of the street, post letter, and back. I wish I had started my running diary then. I could be owed a 50-letter t-shirt.

In 1963 I was undefeated over 800m in D grade at Interclub. My father George Moore, no relation to the jockey, only came out to watch me once. Before the race he thought for a while and came up with this advice. “Make sure your shoelaces are tied properly”. I have never forgotten this advice. All the 800s were just on 2 minutes but the second lap was usually 5 seconds slower than the first. I don’t recall my father having any thoughts about that.

My long run was a 3 mile circuit around Mile End and the west parklands near my High School. No one in the school training group had broken 17 minutes for this run, until a tall gangly youth who usually trailed off behind us announced he had run 16:55. No-one believed him and he went off quite sad. This came to mind when I ran the Bega-Tathra relay course solo in 1978 in a time well under the Cross Country Club’s team record of the previous year. No one believed me. What goes around, comes around. Well, I did go on to break the ACT marathon record a few weeks later. My best run that year was at Bega. Kohnke did run that time for 3 miles.

In 1964-65 David Looker of St Peters College beat me by 100m every time we raced 1500 at interclub. I got my revenge at the annual interschool carnival, where representing the ABHS (Adelaide Boys High School) I finished 0.2 secs ahead of David in the mile. My coach Robert Boomer was delirious. He had just won a rather large bet with the St Peters’ coach. Robert Boomer was also my English teacher and I topped the school at English that year, despite being in the science class.

In 1966 all my training was by myself at the new Flinders University. I ran 200m intervals where the footy side trained. One of their teams played in the lowest amateur grade, and were last in the comp. One day they asked me to boundary umpire. We lost 43 goals to nil. Usually boundary umpires run from one end of the ground to the other. Not in this game, it was mostly in one half. I needn’t have been training running 200m intervals; 100s would have sufficed. Even my boundary umpiring skills didn’t match their footy skills; they never asked again.

Later in 1966 I found a new coach, Bertrand Russell, no relation to the philosopher. His 16 year old son could run 1:56 for the 800m; I couldn’t. But he was impressed when I ran exactly the pace he advised in a 1500m run, so he took me on. Mondays we ran 20 x 400m with a 400m jog. Tuesdays the same. Wednesdays ditto; Thursdays ditto. Fridays we rested up for Saturday’s race. Sundays hill sprints. After his son retired in 1967 he stopped coaching runners and trained greyhounds. I would think these greyhounds always ran at the pace he advised.

I carried the habit of resting the day before a race into the 1970s. I didn’t carry the habit of running sessions of 20x400m into the 1970’s. Why one habit should persist and not the other is a mystery. The first athlete I encountered in Canberra was Nigel Crew. In January 1969 I arrived in Canberra from Adelaide to work at the CBCS (Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics). Looking for somewhere to run, I jogged along Northbourne Avenue, found Haig Park, then North Oval at the ANU. Nigel was training at North Oval, and after exchanging a few words, I asked him what athletic club I should join. “North Canberra is the best club” he suggested. As we all know, Nigel is colourful and eccentric and enthusiastic. In other words, no different from any other athlete you or I know. And he is MR NC, the man with the NC number plate which I have always been sure stands for Norths first and Nigel second.

My first cross country race was the 1 mile Corkwood. Before the race I met Jack Pennington and Peter Scott. During the race Peter and I ran neck and neck for the whole run – out to the Corkwood, 1 circuit, and back. Until, that is, I stepped in a hole and tripped and fell with the finish line in sight, bounced back up and successfully ran second. Peter presumably concluded from that one victory that he was the better runner, because I don’t think I ever headed him in any race after that.

It was interesting that the “one mile” Corkwood was “out, one circuit and back”; the 2 miles “out, two circuits and back”, and the 3 mile “out, 3 circuits and back”. This creative course measurement seems to have lost support nowadays; we measure everything precisely – distances to the metre, steps, km rate, heartbeats, altitude, wind velocity, calories burned, weight change, skin temperature, air pressure,…anything really. Were the old, simpler days better? Nah.

Jack Pennington (now our club Patron) organised the winter program - week after week we ran at the Corkwood, occasionally elsewhere. After many years of this the Cross Country Club was started, primarily as a response to the lack of variety in venues. Jack had done a magnificent job of organising the Corkwood races and in promoting distance running. Remember in those days there were no fun runners; no-one ran around the lake in the Canberra sunshine, the only runners there were, competed in athletics on the track except a hardy few who ran in the forest and the Corkwood.

Jack Pennington was regarded by some as eccentric even for a runner, and a favourite story I heard Jack tell was about an ex Prime Minister (John Gorton) who asked him why he was still playing silly buggers at his age. This silly old bugger named Jack was in his late forties then; everyone else involved in starting up the Cross Country Club were in their early or mid twenties. Jack was not only strange, he was unique and a fearless ground-breaker. Although I must say that his training methods were different too; even to me, a 400m and 800m runner from 1962 to 1974, I found Jack’s ideas on speed training extreme. Now everyone is older than Jack was then. We could do with some of the speed he had then.

I ran in everything on offer. There were very small fields on today’s standards, but great camaraderie. Everyone turned up to every race they could. These races served as my winter speed work. In summer it was interval work that got us fit but in winter we just ran at lunchtimes from work and raced on the weekend. All training runs were hard and fast however, until the mid seventies when the marathon started to appeal, but that’s another story.

Returning to 1966, I was a student at Flinders University. It was Flinders’ first year of operation. I remember my low student number, 660055. All clubs and societies started from scratch, including the Flinders Athletic Club, of which I was its first President. Hence I was pleased to see at Santos Stadium in Adelaide last year a Flinders banner; the club is still alive and well after all these years.

I remember getting my mother to type up the new Flinders constitution. I still redden with embarrassment at what a mishmash that first constitution was. We had no idea.

The club uniform I designed for Flinders was a white singlet with broad horizontal stripes in dark and light blue, identical to the ANU singlet which emerged many years later. Guess who ANU copied? The choice of colours was derived from a combination of the two SANFL footy teams, Sturt and South Adelaide, whose areas Flinders bordered. As the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Flinders wasn’t my only experience as a club President. I have managed to avoid the many rewards and pleasures of being ACTVAC President, but back in the seventies I was President of North Canberra Athletic Club for a short time. My “reign” saw a huge increase in senior athletes, particular men, joining the club. What happened was, I recruited a whole lot of fun runners from the ABS where I worked. At that time Athletics was mainly Track and Field, and there weren’t that many distance runners. So the influx of many extra members was a breath of fresh air, broadening the club.

Or – you would have thought so. But the response was chilly at best. ACT Athletics was ruled at the time by one particular difficult person, who ran a monopoly, controlling everything. This chap ran the Athletics Association, coached the junior athletes, organised and conducted all the track competition, wrote the newspaper articles, took the photos … did everything. My feeling was that he didn’t like me very much, and things came to a head when I went with some distance runners to a fun run in New South Wales where we competed as a North Canberra team. This was when Fun Runs were just starting to catch on.

We did well in the Fun Run, but that Monday the Canberra Times article reporting the result, penned by our afore-mentioned friend, instead of celebrating the outcome with us, criticised us for competing elsewhere on the same day that a track competition was programmed in Canberra. Not that we would have been competing in it had we stayed in Canberra. Anyway, the next ACT committee meeting was “interesting”. I expressed dismay at the tone of the article and got considerable support from the committee, but then we all backed down when our friend promptly resigned from every position he held. He was reinstated. I had been seriously out-maneuvered – it’s pretty hard winning a poker game against someone holding all the cards. I hope the gentleman concerned is enjoying his retirement up north, and reflecting on the rise of fun running everywhere, and of orienteering, triathlons, masters athletics, mountain running, marathons, etc, where entrants don’t have to belong to athletic clubs to compete.

Running belongs to the people and always will. I haven’t given up encouraging people of all kinds to get involved in this pleasurable and rewarding activity. Membership of clubs where one is continually controlled and managed by hostile others is not my idea of fun. But a whole lot of people of similar interests forming clubs so they can enjoy training and competing together in an atmosphere of fellowship and generosity and mutual encouragement. Let’s keep it that way! A minimum of bureaucracy; a maximum of enjoyment!

Find the goose

"Tomatoes come in big, little, medium sizes" - The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, Virginia

Change of training venue this Saturday

Selection trials for the Australian team to compete in Mombassa will be held at Weston Park in Canberra this weekend on Saturday 20 January 2007

The draft time table has been published with the following start times:
9:00am – U20 Women 6km
9:20am – Open Women 6km
9:40am – U20 Men 8km
10:10am – Open Men 8km

So instead of meeting at Aranda, we will meet at Weston Park at 8am for our training session, and watch the trials from 9am.

Find the goose.
Someone has been emailing me childish "puzzles" lately. So here's one for you, you know who you are.

Find the goose

Last Monday night
Mick C, Dennis, Alan, Amanda, Christopher, Ewen, Gary, Helen, Joel, Yelena, Katie, Ken, Mick H, Neil, Ruth & I ran 4 x 820m in teams of two, with a 400m jog in between. It was Joel and Yelena's first run with us since their wedding; and it was good to welcome back Mick and Dennis. Great to see Griffin back with us as well.

A goose with both feet on the ground. Related to me?

Avoiding pain

We live in a culture where most people go out of their way to avoid pain. (Also where a very small minority go out of their way to experience pain, but we won't go there). But a society which is driven by comfort and by pain avoidance is a boring, artificial, and ultimately destructive place to be in.

Have a headache? Take an Aspirin. Have marital issues? Get a divorce, or have an affair. Don’t like the way you look? Cosmetic surgery, or a new wardrobe. Hungry? Chocolate, or Kentucky Fried, await you day and night.

Well, don't let's cave in to the majority view. A huge benefit of distance running is, we learn life skills for enduring necessary pain. This is all very different from the majority, which prefers to avoid pain whenever possible. Let's not lose out to the pressures society puts on us, let us instead apply what we learn as runners and athletes, to all parts of our life.

Fly goose fly!

FOOTNOTES

1. On this Thursday evening's program
6.00 3000m
6.15 100m
7.00 1500m
7.30 400m
8.00 4x200m Relay
8.15 3000/5000m

2. There will be discussion on the success or otherwise of the joint Track and Field meetings of the last two weeks(and the desirability of us taking part). Please send feedback to Alice, who would like to hear from as many of you as attended. For or against (with reasons) - either would be useful.

3. I say the opportunity to run with different opponents is good, merging the two groups for a time can only benefit both groups, especially when numbers may be down, Mutual respect grows. And I enjoyed the change. Please send Alice your views.

speedyMaria