limitless

World Masters Games at Sacramento: I have added Keith Bateman's blog to my blog list on the sidebar, not the least because he will have a day by day description of his Sacramento experiences. Well worth a read.

Jet lag: If you read down Keith's blog you will see a post on how he dealt with potential jet lag. Simply, he adjusted before he departed, rather than on arrival with a cross country race looming.

Running at ****son: It's definitely on, see you there today. Antill St at 4:00pm for a long run, and 5:30pm for whatever we can do in the cold.

Racing at Mt Ainslie

Roger, Maria, Nadine, Graham, Kerrie B.

Overcome self imposed limits

Too old, too slow, too cold, too sore? Naaaah, forget it, just run.

blewitts

I tried out the new Blewitts course yesterday as conditions are unlikely to be any worse on the 31st when we race it. Loved the course! The hills will sort a few people out. But the surface is very good, no rocks or ravines. It's very different now, some long hard uphills in the second half, especially the last kilometer. The start/finish 2k up Uriarra Road from Coppins Crossing road intersection, and it loops right down near the river at Coppins Crossing itself. You heard it first yesterday on Facebook.

The course (cf the map in Vetrunner, at http://actvac.com.au/Vetrunner/2011/201107.pdf)

Course elevation

I plan to run it again Tue lunchtimes 12 July and 19 July. Weather permitting, although even with yesterday's blizzard conditions there was little difficulty running it, as exposed as it is out there these days without the forest.

Looking forward to the race on the 31st, bring it on.

Today is Cathy Montalto's birthday. Happy birthday Cathy, 59 today!

Cathy at Mt Ainslie. The Ainslie course will be considered flat once runners have experienced Blewitts!

crowsong

Song of the week. Haven’t heard this one for a while. From http://youtu.be/FzJm9l4FjKA



Training at Parliament House: another session of 200m runs next to the eastern road, with recovery jogs via the rose garden. Running early were Ewen, Craig, Nadine & I, then for the main session we were joined by Andrew, Andy, Cathy, Colin, Neil, Warrick & Yelena. Another great day for running. I managed all twelve intervals running strongly with no soreness, a first! Helped by the medical report I just received which not only cleared me of any problems but showed a very good cholesterol level, 3.2, well below any kind of risk level. So, in my fiftieth year as a competitive runner, I can declare it's well worth it.

Andrew has just turned 40. Happy Birthday!

Nadine running at Mt Ainslie

Family news: My eldest daughter Loani (39 this month) recently sent an email about her children's feats:

Hi everyone just want to share with you some of our latest achievements.

Kayleigh- Gymnastics IDP6 State champion on Beam, 3rd overall at state and 1st overall at National Trials gaining selected in the NSW squad, leaving on the 12th of July to Perth.
After coming 3rd at district ran 23rd in regional cross country out of 74 competitors.
Triple equal 4th in High jump in District Athletics. Unknown placing in Long jump.

Jarod- School champion for Athletics 1st place in all events except high jump 2nd. At district came 3rd in 100 meters, 2nd in 200 meters, 2nd in High jump, 2nd in Long jump, 3rd in 800 meters and our relay team came first. Coming to Canberra in September for regional Athletics.
After placing 4th in district cross country ran 30th in regional cross country out of 66 competitors.

Alex- Got my 1st banner!
Started a boys class at gym.
Looking forward to building with the 1600 piece lego kit mum just bought from the toy sale at Kmart.

Olivia- Celebrating 100 days of kindergarten on Fri.
Very excited about doing her first prep level 1 gym comp on this sat! Accepted the fact that mum was not going to buy her a new comp leo with super sparkly pink stripes, when she could wear her sisters old one with only slightly faded pink stripes.

Will- Regularly climbs onto the kitchen table (we have to hide the chairs). Loves running laps of the hallway either pushing things, pulling things, being chased by other siblings (not recommended) or just for pure fun and to build up speed. Could also come in handy for making train rides go faster (If you haven't read "going to grandpa bears" I recommend it.)

Subsequently we received the news that Olivia in her first ever gym comp was 1st on floor, 2nd on bars, 2nd on vault, 3rd on beam, 3rd overall. She received a special certificate and a medal.

And subsequently we also heard that Loani is expecting child number six, due in six months time. Which will make grandchild number 13 for us.

Fitness, health and sport; you can't beat it.

to boldly blog...

Coming Events, week 27 of year 2011:

Mon 4 July	4:30pm	Parliament House 8k jog
	5:30pm	Parliament House speedygeese training
Wed 6 July	12:15pm	BBQ Stakes 6k handicap
Thu 7 July	4:00pm	Dickson Oval long run
	5:30pm	Dickson Oval speedygeese training
Fri 8 July	12:15pm	Customs Joggers 5k handicap
Sat 9 July	8:00am	Metro Runners Acton Ferry Terminal
	1:00pm	YCRC, Cooleman Ridge
Sun 10 July	12:00	AACT High Noon meet (with a 3000m)

speedygeese at YCRC Symonston 9k Saturday 2 July
16. Katie Forestier W45 39:02
20. Ken White M55 42:58
23. Kelley Flood W50 44:40
28. Caroline Campbell W65 55:29
31 finishers

Maria at Mt Ainslie

Maria scored an impressive 85% in June's ACTVAC monthly handicap at Mt Ainslie

Mt Ainslie elevation map

The Mt Ainslie course is my favourite handicap course despite the hills. I ran around it again on Saturday and then did a long hilly run at Mt Stromlo/Stromlo West again on Sunday. To boldly run where I have never run before. Perhaps I am starting to like hills after all?

gold coast

Here are some of this weekend's results for speedygeese and friends at the Gold Coast marathon events.
10k (Saturday)
Stuart Grey 35.27
Liz Bennett 42.59

Half Marathon (Sunday)
Liz Bennett 1:30.10
Bob Harlow 1:33.45
Mary Ann Busteed 1:59.59
Graeme Small 2:46.16

Marathon (Sunday)
Lance Purdon 3:01.15
Jeff Grey 3:05.26
Roger Pilkington 3:48.50
Colleen Koh 3:51,16
Tori Hennig 3:54.47

Liz running in Canberra

She's running the Townsville marathon in 4 weeks' time.

Colleen running in Canberra

the meaning of life

On the first day, God created the dog and said: "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past.. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years."

The dog said: "That’s a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I’ll give you back the other ten?" So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said: "Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I’ll give you a twenty-year life span"

The monkey said: "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That’s a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the Dog did?" And God agreed..

On the third day, God created the cow and said: "You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer’s family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years."

The cow said: "That’s kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I’ll give back the other forty?" And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man and said: "Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I’ll give you twenty years."

But man said: "Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?" "Okay," said God, "You asked for it."

So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you.

Caroline Campbell at Mt Ainslie

Caroline didn't run the Customs 5k yesterday, she did the timing. I managed a 21:01, with the distance coming out at 5.1k, slightly longer than usual because we had to run around all the Floriade works at the start. As well, that's a small improvement on recent times.

My youngest offspring, Mon Hall, is 35 today! Happy Birthday Mon!

water resistant

Happy Birthday Tim Calver 40 years old today!

Last night's training at Dickson, Amanda, Bronwyn, Colin, Craig, me, Nadine, Neil & Yelena. The session was 5 x 660m on about 6 minutes, the first a scratch run, the other four handicapped.

Before the training I ran my customary long run with the new diversion, back up through the trees to the top of Antill Street which makes the last couple of kms downhill on a nice surface instead of uphill next to roads. I was interested to see Garmin's elevation map, here it is.

which shows that the last uphill is nothing like the earlier ones.

Gary & Ken at Mt Ainslie

“The capital of Paraguay” Clarke&Dawe from http://youtu.be/f7ofddkmpvg

longevity

Here's a hint that will extend your running career: when you are in the process of building up distance, or trying to build up distance, don't worry too much about speed. Once distance is built up and established, then you can think about speed, some of the time anyway.

Cathy at Mt Ainslie

cold gold

Good luck to all the speedygeese running at the Gold Coast this Sunday

marathon Tori Hennig

marathon Roger Pilkington 

marathon Bronia Rowe

half marathon Bob Harlow

half marathon Elizabeth Bennett warming up for a marathon a month later

and to other Canberra Runners there including

marathon Jeff Grey

marathon Lance Purdon  

half marathon Graeme Small who turns 70 on the day.

I hope the weather stays cold for you.

And in Brisbane, not far from the Gold Coast, Grandson #8 (Grandchild #12): Samuel

Samuel Moore and Ethan Choi - first cousins

Baby Samuel with his brothers Jackson, Tyler and Charlie Moore

referencing the self-referential

Training at Parliament House last night were Andy, Cathy, Colin, Craig, David W, Ewen, me, Helen, Joel, Mick C, Nadine, Neil, Rae & Yelena. We repeated last week's session, 12 x 200m in 30 mins on the Rose Garden loop. Four of us ran 8k first and although it wasn't fast, it did (some of) us in. Actually I am off to the Doctor's tomorrow because I may have a problem, let's hope it is just tiredness.

Song of the week: Coldplay's Major Minus (http://youtu.be/n1O9X0_WNTY)

.

you didn't have to be there

Coming Events, week 26 of year 2011:

Mon 27 Jun	4:30pm	Parliament House 8k jog
	5:30pm	Parliament House speedygeese training
Tue 28 Jun	12:15pm	Ginninderra 7k handicap
Wed 29 Jun	12:15pm	BBQ Stakes 6k handicap
Thu 30 Jun	4:00pm	Dickson Oval long run
	5:30pm	Dickson Oval speedygeese training
Fri 1 July	12:15pm	Customs Joggers 5k handicap
Sat 2 July	8:00am	Metro Runners Acton Ferry Terminal
	1:00pm	YCRC, Symonston
Sun 3 July	9:00am	YCRC Women’s 6k Jogalong Weston Park

This is supposedly a true account recorded in the police log in Sarasota FL.
An elderly Florida lady did her shopping and, upon returning to her car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle.
She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at the top of her lungs, I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of the car!
The four men didn't wait for a second threat. They got out and ran like mad.
The lady, somewhat shaken, then proceeded to load her shopping bags into the back of the car and got into the driver's seat. She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition. She tried and tried, and then realised why. It was for the same reason she had wondered why there was a football, a Frisbee and two 12-packs of beer in the front seat.
A few minutes later, she found her own car parked four or five spaces farther down. She loaded her bags into the car and drove to the police station to report her mistake.
The sergeant to whom she told the story couldn't stop laughing. He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four pale men were reporting a car jacking by a mad, elderly woman described as white, less than five feet tall, curly white hair and carrying a large handgun.
No charges were filed.
Moral of the story? If you’re going to have a senior moment make it memorable.

Mt Ainslie conquered

26/06/11 - Mt Ainslie 9.3k
11 Roger Pilkington M50 43:54 72.5%
17 Jeni Greenland W35 52:53 59.6
18 Maria O'Reilly W55 44:29 85.0
25 Alan Duus M65 49:57 70.1
31 Geoff Moore M60 41:36 83.6
32 Kathy Southgate W55 40:49 91.7
35 Christopher Lang M60 50:14 68.7
43 David Webster M55 43:12 79.0
45 Kerrie Bremner W45 46:00 71.4
50 Rae Palmer W60 55:34 75.3
52 Michelle Wells W35 43:07 73.7
64 Janene Kingston W45 49:16 69.2
66 Nadine Morrison W40 47:54 67.0
68 Brett Morrison M40 56:45 51.7
79 Andrew Matthews M50 47:05 67.6
86 Caroline Campbell W65 61:35 74.0
92 finishers

26/06/11 - Mt Ainslie 4.5k
2 Peter McDonald M55 24:31 61.8% **gold**
7 Jill Pearson W50 23:44 70.2 **bronze**
9 Katie Forestier W45 18:44 81.3
10 Graeme Patrick M55 21:23 71.4
13 Noeline Burden W55 25:32 68.3
16 Cathy Montalto W55 24:59 70.6
25 Ken White M55 20:05 75.4
28 Amanda Walker W40 22:33 66.6
29 Peter Hogan M60 23:25 67.7
32 Gary Bowen M50 20:44 71.2
38 Heidi Johnston W40 21:34 68.2
45 Tony Booth M70 31:07 58.1
46 Garry Maher M60 28:34 55.5
48 Margaret McSpadden W60 49:53 38.7
48 finishers

I hadn't been feeling the best all week - walked in some training runs, spat the dummy in others - but I made myself go and run this thing and felt OK. 90 seconds faster than last year can't be bad. Mt Ainslie is my favourite ACTVAC handicap course and I actually enjoyed the hills again this year. So, train on, a breakthrough is due.

motivation

Running in the recent Rex Foulkes Half Marathon

My next Half Marathon will, I expect, be the ACTVAC one on 21 August. Apparently I have competed in 16 of them in the 29 years they have been held. Haven't won an age group gold yet though. Maybe this year?

ACTVAC is calling for members to fill some vacancies:
(1) Sixth Committee member
Members are invited to nominate for the remaining sixth committee member position not filled at the AGM. Please contact a member of the committee for more information.

(2) Member Services Sub-committee
Members are also invited to join the Member Services Sub-committee to assist in providing club services to members.

Happy Birthday Rae Palmer, 64 today!

 The big cats were roaring quite loudly as I ran past Canberra Zoo this morning.

planning ahead

Having entered the Australian Masters Games 5k track in October, I have to start some track 3k runs in July. So I intend running the High Noon Meet's 3000m on 10 July, 1:10pm. Fields are very small for the High Noon 3ks so it might turn out to be like a solo time trial but I still need to run it. However, if some of the speedygeese would like to join me and make a bit of a race of it, or so we can work together at a quickish pace, that would be great. Details of the day's program and entry processes are at this link. Think about coming along.

I also entered the 8k cross country so am running some 8k tempo runs at Stromlo Tuesday lunchtimes in July and on. However the last Tuesday of the month is the Lake Ginninderra handicap over 7k which I will run next week before starting out at Stromlo. That suits because my third and main race at the Games will be the road half marathon.

Please join me for training if you like because company helps with these time trials/tempo runs.

By the way, I am still collecting ideas for accommodation in Adelaide during the Games. Thank you to those who have already suggested where I might stay. I will have to make up my mind soon.

Stand Up the Boy Who Did That: at http://youtu.be/2f8XDwq3KyI



speedygeese Dickson Training last night: Abi, Bronwyn, Craig, me, Janene, Maria, Nadine, Neil, Rod, Roger & Tori participated. The main session was a set of five handicapped 400m runs preceded by a 400m to see how fast everyone was going to be on the night. Handicap runs are ideal because they pressure runners to maintain their best training pace throughout the session. Better probably than the continuous relays we often run, which have the extra pressure that comes with being part of a team.

fences will drift

Song of the week: Home is a Fire, By Death Cab for Cutie, from Codes and Keys. video at http://youtu.be/CVErSWseFf



we will awake
only to find
nothing's the same

I am enjoying my gym sessions Monday and Wednesday, sometimes Friday, not the least because they are inside out of the cold. There is a risk however ...

So far this hasn't happened.

standard of debate

"Argument is an intellectual process. Contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of any statement the other person makes". from http://youtu.be/teMlv3ripSM

hidden treasure

A new Simon's cat, a short one. Similarly our place after 40 years in the one house would have tons of hidden treasure.... from http://youtu.be/HYlD0KXujAk



No run for me. I had planned a cross country run today, but Canberra is cold, wet, windy, and promises volcanic ash pollution. Indeed, the planes aren't flying this afternoon. Despite my resolve to keep running, I won't compromise my health for the sake of fitness!

It's boys week again! The same day my son Nathan turned 40 - yesterday - he became an uncle again. Another son was born to Nathan's wife's sister. A cousin for Nathan's new little boy who is 3 weeks old tomorrow.

And at Parliament House last night the two girls who trained, Rae & Nadine, were out-numbered by the boys, Andrew, Andy, Christopher, Craig, David W, Ewen, me, Joel, Mick C & Neil. We ran 12x200m on 2:30, down the east-side sandy stretch, with the "rose garden" loop as recovery.

Results from the Customs Joggers 5k Friday 17 June: Yili Zhu 22.57, Caroline Campbell 28.12; Geoff Barker 35.23

On-line Vetrunner. I have finally made the switch to the on-line  version of "Vetrunner" magazine, i.e. cancelling my printed copy. Saves the club printing and postage, and anyway the photos are in colour on-line. If you would like to do the same, Vetrunners are downloaded from http://www.actvac.com.au, and the email address to advise that you want toe be taken off the Vetrunner mailing list is vetrunner@actvac.com. July's Vetrunner will appear on-line very soon if it is not already there.

This Sunday's Mt Ainslie handicap is the best of the monthly ACTVAC handicap courses. Everyone aged 30+ do come out. The running surface won’t be affected by this week's rain. The Mt Ainslie course starts at the end of Phillip Avenue, Dickson (Yellow Pages Map 50, C7). The long course is 9.3 kms and the shorter option is 4.5 kms.

Threatening storm hides Canberra sunset

At last we have some rain instead of the storm passing us by.

rainy days are Mondays

Coming Events, week 25 of year 2011:

Mon 20/6	4:30pm	Parliament House 8k jog
	5:30pm	Parliament House speedygeese training
Wed 22/6	12:15pm	BBQ Stakes 6k handicap
Thu 23/6	4:00pm	Dickson Oval long run
	5:30pm	Dickson Oval speedygeese training
Fri 24/6	12:15pm	Customs Joggers 5k handicap
Sat 25/6	8:00am	Metro Runners Acton Ferry Terminal
Sun 26/6	9:00am	ACTVAC Handicap Mt Ainslie

Speedygeese results
ACT 8k cross country championships (M60+ and all women)
Katie Forestier 33.33 gold W45
Geoff Moore 34.45 bronze M60
Helen Larmour 35.32 gold W50
Maria O’Reilly 35.39 gold W55
Caroline Campbell 43.06 gold W65

ACT 12k cross country championships (men under 60)
Roger Pilkington 56.31
Ken White 56.52 gold M55
Ewen Thompson 59.33

Conditions - awful (cold and windy).

Great run by Helen winner W50

Great run by Maria winner W55

Photos taken earlier in the year on a good day.

See you at Parliament House tonight, rain or (moon)shine!

age is no barrier

If someone wants to purchase Bryan Thomas's excellent book, "Age Is No Barrier", how do they go about it? Bryan brought back about fifty of the books from Brisbane and they have all been sold. But you can still purchase a copy, go to the AMA website, via this link

No barrier. Keep going.

Keep moving forward, never look back.

Happy Birthday Kym, 30 years old today!

And Happy Birthday Susan, 37 years old today!

I shall be at Stromlo tomorrow running off the 8k race we suffered there today. I did OK, achieved my main goal of getting an M60 medal (despite all the M60s with more than one leg also running). And I survived the icy wind off the snow which was falling on the ranges at the time. It was just one of those tough, tough racing days. If you want to join me there Sunday for some recovery running, it's 8am. Not too hard, obviously.

I thought you might be interested in seeing my bucket list which was published on Facebook in February.

1. Write a book
2. Learn to dance
3. Complete my family tree
4. Learn one new musical instrument
5. Play in a band
6. Attend an AFL grand final
7. Save a life again
8. Run an ultra marathon
9. Live in new Zealand for a year
10. Learn Japanese
11. Set a world record
12. Have a street named after me
13. Get 1000 hits per day on my blog
14. Enjoy the company of many great-grandchildren
15. See a live U2 concert in Europe
16. Visit London’s Natural History Museum
17. Compose a song
18. Fly over Lake Eyre
19. Revisit Singapore
20. Do a Western Australian wildflowers tour
21. Read every book written by China Miéville
22. Attend a Switchfoot concert DONE!
23. Collect every book written by Neil Gaiman
24. Watch every Coen Brothers movie
25. Run 100km per week indefinitely
26. Make the front page of the Canberra Times again
27. Mentor young people
28. Audition for a play
29. Be highly regarded by my peers DONE! or so they tell me.
30. Go on a second honeymoon
31. Develop discernment
32. Fly up the east coast of Australia
33. Hike south-western Tasmania rainforest
34. Run the Australian Outback Marathon at Uluru
35. Eat at a durian store in Singapore
36. Catch up on my reading
37. Meet people socially each week
38. Stay financially secure
39. Buy the best new car one day
40. See all my children, children-in-law, and grandchildren flourish.

And that's not all, I shall probably extend the list at year's end. After all, there is no finish line.