Thursday 31 October 2013

bushwhacked

Posted by speedygeoff on Thursday, October 31, 2013 with
Have you ever got completely lost on a run? Or felt so exhausted you have stumbled and fallen, while walking with hands on thighs uphill? I have, on a run in an unfamiliar location, this year on the 6th of August. We stayed overnight at Undara in Queensland, after a visit to the lava tubes there, and next morning there were a couple of free hours so I decided to go for a run on a 12k track, after checking it was runnable ("Yes" - no it wasn't) and after telling everyone where I was going and how long it would take ("90 minutes" - it took me 110 minutes including getting totally lost and including struggling to climb up and down the rocky hills the path went on). The first 2k and last 2k were a good forest road, good enough to drive along in fact. The middle section however was at times indistinct track with occasional arrows tacked to trees and ribbon in places where walkers presumably had decided more signs were needed.


The large loop on the LHS of the map is the 12k track. I ran it clockwise. The text about getting lost I found today on the website! The mind boggles whether I would have been found if I had "waited where I was".

Here is where I actually ran.


Here is detail of where I was lost


When I looked at where I went, I see that after I had backtracked I was actually on the right track without knowing it, heading in the opposite direction. Then a little anti-clockwise loop brought me back on the actual track. Up and over the same hill, all rocks, where I had first gone wrong, and bearing hard right instead of left, finally I did see the track again. Phewwwww!

Where in the world was I? A rapidly heating up outback Queensland.



It was all guess work. All directions looked the same. Initially I panicked for several minutes, not recommended, then I calmed myself down and made a decision as to what I would do. Backtrack. when I did finally recognise the track, I had no idea which way to go. I wanted to continue on, whichever direction that was. Returning the way I had come would involve scaling three hills again, spending much more time out in the heat of the day, and getting back after the coach was due to leave. I had already stumbled and fallen, I was not very fit as I had been sick for a couple of months too.

But I guessed right (actually, "left") again, and got back before I was missed, I even had time to do another 500m to make the distance up to 16k on the Garmin! As you do.

And just for interest, here is a photo of the very large python we saw on our walk at the lava tubes the previous afternoon!

Wednesday 30 October 2013

Should I be running right now?

Posted by speedygeoff on Wednesday, October 30, 2013 with
Speedygeese Training sessions:
On Sunday 27 October at Stromlo Forest Park I started training at 7:00am along with 1400+ cyclists on the road but no runners. Joel, Andrew arrived late to run 3 x 1k but they will change their tune when summer arrives.

On Monday 28 October at Parliament House there were no early starters; I arrived at 5:30pm to join Andy, Bronwyn, Craig, Garry, Jen, Maria, Mick, and Tori. I forgot the chin-ups but never mind I have started practising them, assisted. The group (including me) ran 15 x 100m on 2 minutes (240m recovery) and to train our brain, ran in reverse numbers 6-10 and 12 and 13. Christopher arrived late and ran the last couple of loops.

Also on Saturday 26 October I met the speedyducks for running easy... this beginners' group will continue each Saturday, 9:00am, Acton Ferry Terminal.




Yesterday's question has been answered! Go Ruth, Go CJ!



Tuesday 29 October 2013

swiftly and with style

Posted by speedygeoff on Tuesday, October 29, 2013 with
Kenneth Connor as Monsieur Alfonse in 'Allo 'Allo.

Recent Race Results
Wednesday 23 October BBQ Stakes 6k Handicap
2. Kerrie Tanner 42:05
14. Jennifer Bright 25:47
35. Andrew Matthews 31:47
44 finishers

Thursday 24 October ACTVAC Track and Field
One Hour Run
W50 Helen Larmour 13757.9
M55 Ewen Thompson 8817.4
M65 Geoff Moore 5200

Friday 25 October Customs 5k Handicap
17 Bronwyn Calver 24:08
23 finishers

Saturday 26 October Ginninderra Parkrun #79
22 Jen BRIGHT 22:11 W35 First Timer!
75 Ruth BAUSSMANN 27:59 W60
131 finishers

Saturday 26 October Tuggeranong Parkrun #36
63 Catherine MONTALTO 25:50 W60
70 Ewen THOMPSON 26:33 M55
160 finishers

Saturday 26 October Gungahlin Parkrun #2
67 finishers

Saturday 26 October Yass Half Marathon
34 Elizabeth BENNETT 01:49:39 (first W50)
159 finishers

Saturday 26 October Tallangatta Half Marathon
4 Sarah-Jayne Miller 1:25.11 (first female)

Sunday 27 October ACTVAC Handicap Arboretum 7k
9 Ruth Baussmann W60 43:53 69.3% **silver**
15 Helen Larmour W50 33:01 82.8
22 Rod Lynch M50 29:02 81.2
49 Mick Charlton M60 45:18 56.3
55 Jennifer Bright W35 32:13 72.3
71 Mick Horan M50 36:21 65.3
85 finishers

Sunday 27 October ACTVAC Handicap Arboretum 3.5k
1 Christopher Lang M60 23:06 52.7%
19 Jill Pearson W55 20:02 65.1
32 Cathy Montalto W60 20:26 69.3
44 finishers

Best wishes to CJ and Ruth as they head off tomorrow to the New York City Marathon
Cathy Newman (CJ) with Ruth Baussmann and Liz Bennett. I wonder what colour coordinated gear CJ & Ruth will wear in the marathon, as they run "swiftly, and with style"?

Monday 28 October 2013

young

Posted by speedygeoff on Monday, October 28, 2013 with
Song of the Week: "Young", by The Paper Kites
from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF8PSGl-aIY

Sunday 27 October 2013

“please subscribe to continue”

Posted by speedygeoff on Sunday, October 27, 2013 with
Viewing the Australian Newspaper website, on the third view got a “please subscribe to continue” message. Golly, if I had $1 for every view of this blog, I would have made over $300,000 by now, and counting.

Saturday 26 October 2013

pace judgement

Posted by speedygeoff on Saturday, October 26, 2013 with
Track season is upon us. Here is an interesting question. What is the perfect pace for a middle to long distance race?
There are a variety of opinions, and a variety of practices too.

Let’s guess some of the answers.
• Even pace makes for faster times.
• Drop the others at the start and hang on in front trying not to slow down.
• Run with the pack and let them drag you through.
• Throw in long surges to test out the other runners.
• Sit for as long as possible and sprint away at the end.

There is no wrong answer. Or the wrong answer would be the suggestion that only one of the guesses is correct.
So be flexible enough, as circumstances dictate, to adopt any one of the approaches listed above.
Are you a runner who has only one approach? Do you always go out hard? Or perhaps you always sit? Or are you someone known for your even pace?
Then here is what you can do. Learn to employ any of the range of tactics listed above.
How do you learn? Practise practise practise. In training, in race simulations, and in races themselves.

A similar interesting question might be; what is the perfect pace for a handicap race?
Many of us compete in the Adler series or in the Monthly Handicaps on offer. Here we start in groups where in theory the runners/walkers are evenly matched. But we have the added challenge of dealing with faster runners behind who might catch us, and slower runners ahead whom we might catch.

What do we do when we catch someone? In a scratch race it usually means we are going better and might sit on them before accelerating to pass them. In a handicap race we should probably just sail on by and focus on catching the next competitor. But not always! I know by experience that sailing past Tony Booth, for example, in the last 150m of a handicap race just does not happen, however many groups I have caught up,

What do we do when someone catches us? Well unless it is Bruce Graham at full throttle, one can try to hang on to them for a while to get some speed up. The same applies in a track race when being lapped.

• How does one practise even pace? Answer, the stopwatch, particularly in interval training where you should target the same time for each repetition of a distance, as close as possible.
• How does one practise front running? Do it! Decide that today is not “tag along” day. Believe in yourself and go for it.
• How does one practise sitting in the pack? If you are a natural leader it is well worth getting out on the road and being disciplined enough to just follow behind for whole training sessions.
• How does one practise throwing in long surges? Do it in training; it is great for fitness and good tactics in a race if you can do it.
• How does one practise the kick at the end? Not everyone has speed, but working some anaerobic conditioning into your training, i.e. very short recoveries during an interval session, might just give you an advantage over natural sprinters at the end of a long race.

Each of these very different racing strategies have a place depending on who you are racing, how fit you are, and which is more important on the day: a fast time, or a victory.
So practise each style of racing. Additionally you will have a big advantage if you can adapt your racing style to the circumstances. You will not be predictable, which will make it harder for your opponents to plan or to execute a plan of how to defeat you!
I look forward to watching or participating in the battles that ensue.
I haven’t mentioned “employ a pacer” which can sometimes be useful but is often quite the opposite. And limits your options during a race. Build self-reliance instead!

By the way, even pace, or starting a little faster and dropping into even pace, will, often, give you the fastest time. But it may not give you the win.

Friday 25 October 2013

catnap

Posted by speedygeoff on Friday, October 25, 2013 with
I had a good work-out in the gym today ... now it's time for a catnap.

Picture c/o Steve Appleby

Thursday 24 October 2013

half marathon ranking list

Posted by speedygeoff on Thursday, October 24, 2013 with
This is the Australia all-comers half marathon ranking list, compiled by the folk at https://www.facebook.com/ausrunning.

1:01:11, Pat Carroll (AUS), Sydney Morning Herald 1994
1:01:16, Benson Masya (KEN), Gold Coast 1992
1:01:48, Steve Moneghetti (AUS), Gold Coast 1993
1:01:48, Tadesse Gebre (ETH), Gold Coast 1993
1:01:57, Wilfred Murgor (KEN), Melbourne Marathon 2013
1:01:58, Stephen Mayaka (KEN), Gold Coast 1994
1:02:03, William Kiptum (KEN), Sydney Morning Herald 1998
1:02:04, Godfrey Kiprotich (KEN), Sydney Morning Herald 1998
1:02:09, Dickson Marwa (TAN), Gold Coast 2009
1:02:10, Michael Shelley (AUS), Gold Coast 2009

Pat Carroll now runs the Pat Carroll Running Group (PCRG).
Check out http://www.patcarroll.com.au/.

1:09:00, Lisa Weightman (AUS), Gold Coast 2010
1:09:38, Midori Fumoto (JPN), Gold Coast 1992
1:09:43, Lisa Ondieki (AUS), Gold Coast 1988
1:10:03, Takako Kotorida (JPN), Gold Coast 2002
1:10:21, Izumi Maki (JPN), Gold Coast 1994
1:10:26, Hiromi Fujii (JPN), Gold Coast 2003
1:10:37, Ikumi Nagayama (JPN), Gold Coast 1997
1:10:40, Kaori Kumura (JPN), Gold Coast 1993
1:10:42, Lisa Weightman (AUS), Gold Coast 2009
1:10:55, Nikki Chapple (AUS), AthsVic Burnley 2010

Lisa Weightman after her 2:26.05 marathon PB at Melbourne, just last week.
Check out http://www.lisaweightman.com/.

Wednesday 23 October 2013

can you spot the geese?

Posted by speedygeoff on Wednesday, October 23, 2013 with
 Goorooyaroo Half Marathon - Kym, Bronwyn, Craig


Goorooyaroo Half Marathon - rear view. We are all there. Can you spot (from left to right) me, Bronwyn, Kym, Craig, Jen? Of course you can.


 Goorooyaroo Half Marathon - Jen


 Goorooyaroo Half Marathon - me, Craig


Goorooyaroo Half Marathon - Bronwyn


O'Connor Ridge ACTVAC handicap - Caroline


O'Connor Ridge ACTVAC handicap - Mick

Training: last Sunday it was just me of the speedygeese at Stromlo Forest Park, running four easy km intervals after having raced five times in twelve days. Glenn and Elaine were there too and it was good to catch up with them. Then on Monday I decided to scratch from the early run for the time being; Mick and Cathy ran early all the same and Cathy plans to continue to do that for anyone wanting to join her. For the main session I took the group down to the "tunnel" at the lake and we ran 12 x ~140m on two minutes up through the tunnel and up the hill, Participating were Ruth, Cookie, Garry, Bronwyn, Craig, Jen, Warrick, Andy & me. We were adjacent to a boot camp at the tunnel; they pay to huff and puff, good luck to them.

Tuesday 22 October 2013

how to win friends and influence people

Posted by speedygeoff on Tuesday, October 22, 2013 with
...start a Parkrun!
The inaugural Gungahlin Parkrun attracted 138 starters, plus officials.
At this rate every park in Canberra will have a Parkrun!

Cookie runs Gungahlin


all the recent results for the speedygeese
Thursday 17 October ACTVAC Track and Field
3000m
M50 Rod Lynch 10:56.21 78.6%
M65 Geoff Moore 12:42.23 75.1
W30 Kym Chisholm 12:45.10 65.8
W50 Helen Larmour 12:54.91 80.0
W30 Thea Zimpel 14:07.37 59.3
W60 Ruth Baussmann 15:42.83 74.8
I was first M65 by 0.64 seconds. That's cutting it fine!

1500m handicap
3 Kathy Sims W60 6:28
4 Rod Lynch M50 5:18
9 Helen Larmour W50 6:24
13 Kym Chisholm W30 6:11
16 finishers

Spiral 5
5 Ruth Baussmann W60 10:42
10 Helen Larmour W50 9:05
11 Rod Lynch M50 7:58
13 Kathy Sims W60 9:11
16 Kym Chisholm W30 8:50
20 finishers

Friday 18 October Customs 5k Handicap
Bronwyn Calver 23:58

Saturday 19 October Ginninderra Parkrun #78
114 runners

Saturday 19 October Tuggeranong Parkrun #35
21 Ewen THOMPSON 23:10 M55 New PB!
137 runners

Saturday 19 October Gungahlin Parkrun #1
60 Amanda COOK 25:40 W35 (first Parkrun)
138 runners!!!

Saturday 19 October YCRC Goorooyaroo Half Marathon
16. Jennifer Bright W35 1:39:42
17. Kym Chisholm W30 1:41:08
22. Craig Davis M45 1:44:21
23. Geoff Moore M65 1:44:59
35. Bronwyn Calver W40 1:53:33
56 finishers

Monday 21 October 2013

free

Posted by speedygeoff on Monday, October 21, 2013 with
There are some good freedom songs:
Newer ones include "Free" by Switchfoot; "Free" by Pete Murray.

Song of the week: The Who, "I’m Free", from the movie "Tommy".
Running is featured.
Tommy is a very loud movie. A very old movie, too.

From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGa70tVYVKo

Sunday 20 October 2013

see where I run x 3

Posted by speedygeoff on Sunday, October 20, 2013 with
Exploring Eastern Park, Geelong, on Sunday 6 October prior to racing in the Australian Masters Games.



This week - Friday's 6.66k run from CIT Bruce after a one hour gym session there.



Yesterday's Goorooyaroo Half Marathon.

Saturday 19 October 2013

muscle cramps

Posted by speedygeoff on Saturday, October 19, 2013 with
Muscle cramps are caused by .... put simply, lack of fitness.
Or by suddenly running a lot faster and harder than you are fit enough to.
Here's an article for further reading.
http://running.competitor.com/2013/09/news/got-cramps-heres-how-to-stop-them_83661

Regardless, just to make sure:
Get enough sleep and rest.
Hydrate.

Friday 18 October 2013

YCRC Coming Events

Posted by speedygeoff on Friday, October 18, 2013 with
Goorooyaroo/Mulligan’s Flat Half Marathon – Saturday 19th Oct [map in previous post]

This great off road half marathon will start at 7am. The start and finish line is off Horse Park Drive at Gungahlin near the junction with the Federal Highway. The turn off Horse Park Drive to this event can be very dangerous. Please ensure that you drive safely and indicate your intentions early when turning off Horse Park Drive.

The half starts at 7am and caters for individuals and teams of two or three runners.

Relay Team members will need to walk in 2.2k from the Mulligans Flat end on ‘Old Coach Road’. We will have a drink station at the 7km mark. At this point runners do a 3.55km loop. If you do not walk in on ‘Old Coach Road’ you will not find the changeover point.

This event is free to club members and day registrations are just $10. Club memberships for the remainder of 2013 and for 2014 can now be made online at https://www.registernow.com.au/secure/Register.aspx?ID=10621 Fees have been retained at the 2013 prices. You only need to run a few events with the club over the period to recoup your membership fees.

YCRC Annual Meeting – Monday 28th Oct 2013

The club’s Annual Meeting will be held at the YMCA Sailing Club, Alexandrina Drive, Yarralumla at 7pm. We have received a lot of expressions of interest from members to join the committee, if you cannot attend the meeting and want a ‘Nomination Form’ please email Ken Eynon.

Thursday 17 October 2013

huffin and puffin

Posted by speedygeoff on Thursday, October 17, 2013 with
Postcard from Miranda, currently in Scotland. She gives her regards to the geese.

I am forever reviewing my training program. It occurred to me a few days ago that there are ACT M65 records not entirely out of range if I train for them. The records are all faster than I am running but slower than I want to be running.

Current ACT M65 records
800 2:41.2
1500 5:32.0
Mile 5:59.9
3000 11.43.8
5000 20.23.21
Hour 13266
10000 40.54.9

Yesterday I looked at my training pattern, again, and decided to continue for 6 or 7 weeks with what I am doing, then switch to a program in the new year specifically for 800/1500 and see what can be achieved. The new track should help.

I simply haven’t been within cooee of records since my M35 days, except in the odd relay. Now at last the individual times look achievable. Don’t you wish you were an M65 like me?

Goorooyaroo
This Saturday I plan to run the Gooroyaroo Half Marathon if the weather is reasonable. (If the weather is not reasonable I may turn up at the inaugural Gungahlin Parkrun). I love the course: after the first 800m it is all downhill!! (Not really).

I raced a half only last Saturday. If I try to race this one I will certainly be huffin and puffin, especially up the steep climb at the start. Instead, it will be an easy run. And scenic.

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

Posted by speedygeoff on Wednesday, October 16, 2013 with
"Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia" - the fear of long words. I try to keep the words in my blog short and simple.

Speaking of long words, I saw this today at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/24121242/
"Talking Yourself out of Exhaustion: The Effects of Self-Talk on Endurance Performance".
I think all athletes know that self talk enhances performance.
"The findings support the psychobiological model of endurance performance and illustrate that psychobiological interventions designed to specifically target favorable changes in perception of effort are beneficial to endurance performance." I am not sure there is such a word as "psychobiological". Or "Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia" for that matter. What do you think?!

While I was away
The Parliament House training group met on Monday 7th but as it was also a holiday, four people came. Without my gentle suggestions of what session to do, they went for a run around the lake. There was Ruth, Rae, Andy & Peter.

This Monday I returned
And arrived at 5:30pm to find that Ruth & Jen had been for an early run. Then we did our warm-up and ran our loop x 15 of 100m uphill and 240m recovery on 2 minutes: Jen, Warrick, Cookie, Bronwyn, Craig, Ruth & me doing all 15 and Andy doing a few at the start.

I am planning to do an easy half marathon on Saturday, we will see. Regardless, this coming Sunday I resume at Stromlo at 7:00am.

Then next Monday
Parliament House training sessions continue at 5:30pm unless and until such time as we have to pay for parking, which might be from 1 July 2014, that's the threat. If paid parking does come in, maybe from 5:30pm it will be free?

Who remembers...
Australian Ralph Doubell's World Record in the 800m at the Mexico Olympics? I do. It was 45 years ago.



From http://youtu.be/xFxmloerZIo

Tuesday 15 October 2013

race results

Posted by speedygeoff on Tuesday, October 15, 2013 with
Speedygeese in the Australian Masters Games, Geelong
Garry Maher M65
60m 9.07 silver
100m 14.57 bronze
200m 29.71 bronze
400m DNF
800m 2:53.50 gold
300m hurdles 62.30 gold
Pentathlon 2685 pts gold
(LJ 3.58, JT 24.40, 200m 28.99, DT 23.50, 1500m 6:23.54)

Geoff Moore M65
5000m 21:58.33 gold
8k cross country 37:57.5 silver
Half Marathon 1:43.03 gold

Mick Horan M50
Half Marathon 1:38.08 bronze

Kelley Flood W50
Half Marathon 1:45.00 gold

Wednesday 25 September BBQ Stakes 6k Handicap
20. Andrew Matthews 29:22
31. Jennifer Bright 26:06
44. Kerrie Tanner 31:12
49. Caroline Campbell 38:28
61. Helen Larmour 32:41
65 finishers

Wednesday 2 October BBQ Stakes 6k Handicap
3. Jennifer Bright 26:32
21. Kerrie Tanner 29:25
34. Caroline Campbell 37:05
46. Helen Larmour 28:28
51. Andrew Matthews 31:47
55 finishers

Friday 4 October Customs 5k Handicap
6. Bronwyn Calver 23:49
10. Caroline Campbell 30:31
29 finishers

Saturday 5 October Ginninderra Parkrun #76
13 Andrew SIMPSON 20:13 M40
74 Jill PEARSON 26:18 W55
108 Ruth BAUSSMANN 29:05 W60
187 finishers

Saturday 5 October Tuggeranong Parkrun #33
27 Ewen THOMPSON 23:25 M55 New PB!
138 finishers

Sunday 6 October YCRC Women’s 6k Jogalong
36. Caroline Campbell W70 33:43
43. Kathy Sims W60 29:44
59 finishers

Thursday 10 October ACTVAC Track
800m
M50 Rod Lynch 2:29.46 79.8%

3000m
M50 Rod Lynch 11:05.10 77.5%
W50 Helen Larmour 12:46.22 80.9
W60 Kathy Sims 13:29.87 85.7
W60 Ruth Baussmann 15:54.56 73.8
W70 Caroline Campbell 15:52.82 84.3

Spiral 4 laps
4 Ruth Baussmann W60 8:27
9 Helen Larmour W50 6:53
10 Kathy Sims W60 7:17
17 Rod Lynch M50 6:14
23 finishers

Friday 11 October Customs 5k Handicap
3. Bronwyn Calver W40 23:17 4:39
27 finishers

Saturday 12 October Mt Majura Vineyard Two Peaks
20k run, women
6 Kym Chisholm 1.55.41
11 Kerrie Tanner 2.06.37

12k run, men
7 Ewen Thompson 1.14.40

Saturday 12 October Ginninderra Parkrun #77
112 finishers

Saturday 12 October Tuggeranong Parkrun #34
115 finishers

Sunday 13 October Melbourne Marathon
Anyone?

Sunday 13 October Melbourne Half Marathon
Maria O’Reilly 1:40.05
Tori Hennig 1:43.17

Sunday 13 October Melbourne 10k
Cathy Montalto 1:15.06

Photos from the Masters Games
Garry running the 1500m at the end of the Pentathlon

My silver medal in the cross country

Monday 14 October 2013

out of the woods

Posted by speedygeoff on Monday, October 14, 2013 with
Song of the week: Foals, Out Of The Woods

from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jniQfwJHKEM


Sunday 13 October 2013

murderous rage

Posted by speedygeoff on Sunday, October 13, 2013 with
Here are two things which are so true.

(1) appallingly bad drivers who tail-gate

I want this!

(2) appallingly bad web products

Ahhh I am not alone.

Saturday 12 October 2013

doubling up

Posted by speedygeoff on Saturday, October 12, 2013 with
Last week I wrote about back-to-back. (Actually it wasn't last week, it was 5 minutes ago; these are "advance posts"). This week the subject is "doubling up", splitting your long run day into two (or more?) parts.
When I was young and training for the marathon I could fit all my training in by doubling or tripling up on two of my three long days. Tuesday was a run to work and a run home again; Thursday was a triple: a run to work, a lunchtime run, and a run home again. And the Sunday morning was a single long run. For marathon training there must be a single long run one day each week, but on other long days a split is a good idea because the total weekly distance is just as important.

My recommendation now would be to do the one long run each week, and either double up or go back to back once in the same week, probably not both.

Watch out for leg fatigue though. Now that I am doing leg work in the gym, I am more aware than ever of the dangers of intense training when the legs are crying out for a rest/recovery day.

My leg work in the gym includes easy repeated lunges one side at a time; easy seated leg presses, and work on the hill climber/stepper. It does not include squats deep or otherwise; seated knee extensions, hamstring curls, even calf raises, because this old man knows he needs to get stronger before he can do these exercises without breaking. By the way, I do some upper body work as well.

A hard session in the gym, plus a run the same day, counts as "doubling up".

Cycling to work and cycling home the same day might count too; unless it's only a ten minute trip!

And I don't care what your Garmin says: this does not count at all!

Friday 11 October 2013

speedygeese

Posted by speedygeoff on Friday, October 11, 2013 with

Thursday 10 October 2013

various geese

Posted by speedygeoff on Thursday, October 10, 2013 with






None of us look like this. These might all be slowgeese.

Wednesday 9 October 2013

memory

Posted by speedygeoff on Wednesday, October 09, 2013 with
I frequently forget things. I put it down to having lots on my mind at once. Or having reached memory capacity limits and having to ditch certain memories to make room for new ones. And in my dreams at night I cannot find my parked car, or I lose the way when driving, or I cannot find my running shoes in time for a race. OK I am aware that this is all very normal. But I am also aware that every recent ancestor on my father's side of the family who lived long enough ended up with dementia. So I think a check is in order.

The following is from a longer article at http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/25-tips-improve-your-memory-1864549

What’s normal forgetfulness...?
? Forgetting what you went upstairs for. yes I do that
? Taking several minutes to recall where you left the car. or moments anyway
? Putting things down and being unable to find them soon after. often
? Forgetting something trivial a friend mentioned to you the day before. indeed
? Forgetting the name of someone you’ve just met. almost always. Takes ~3 meetings.
? Briefly forgetting the name for something –the ‘thingumabob’ moment. frequently, to my embarrassment, often halfway through a sentence

Our short-term memory is very distractible. The brain literally erases trivial information to make room for more important information that needs storing. That's what I thought.

And what’s cause for concern...?
? Multi-tasking becomes difficult – an able cook suddenly finds preparing a Sunday roast overwhelming. no such type of problem
? Problems negotiating familiar places, such as regularly not being able to find your car. it's rare, not regular
? Forgetting the names of close friends and relatives. doesn't happen. The birthdates of 13 grandchildren are a challenge though.
? Problems recognising faces, colours, shapes and words. never
? Repeating a question asked half an hour previously. only occasionally but always on purpose!

Many of these symptoms could be attributed to depression, grief, stress or lack of sleep. But they could be early signs of dementia. looks like I'm OK then

So it all checks out OK, but maybe I should give this list to an offspring for an assessment, say in 20 years time? If I can remember to.

Tuesday 8 October 2013

mirror mirror

Posted by speedygeoff on Tuesday, October 08, 2013 with
From http://youtu.be/G5FUH3eoizc

Monday 7 October 2013

not so hopeless after all

Posted by speedygeoff on Monday, October 07, 2013 with
Song of the week: Mumford & Sons: Hopeless Wanderer
from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rId6PKlDXeU


Sunday 6 October 2013

run with the elbows tucked in

Posted by speedygeoff on Sunday, October 06, 2013 with
New Parkruns are springing up every week.

Part of the Merimbula Parkrun course. I wonder if this is an out and back section? You wouldn't want a wobbly 65 year old (i.e. me) pottering along and a 15 minute runner coming the other way cutting the corners at speed... But at least I can swim.

Saturday 5 October 2013

Going back to back

Posted by speedygeoff on Saturday, October 05, 2013 with
The Crows won back-to-back premierships in 1997-1998. But that's not what I am talking about here.
Some think having back-to-back speed days is risky. The speedygeese train Sunday mornings at Stromlo (long intervals) and Monday evenings at Parliament House (short intervals or hill intervals) and some think that's too much. But I point out that there is a day and a half between those sessions. And they complement each other.
That's still not what I'm talking about. A day and a half is not really back-to-back.
Real back-to-back runs are closer than that and train the muscles to handle fatigue resistance.

Here are two forms of back-to-back running.
  1. Run 15k in the evening and 20k the next morning. This splits a long run into two parts, and you can eat and sleep in between.
  2. Run tempo or intervals in the evening, and a long run the next morning
I got back to fitness ten to fifteen years ago by running Parliament House hard on Monday evenings, then a long run on the next morning with the "Tuesday Group".It was a challenge for a while, but the body quickly adapted.

My next challenge along these lines will be a leg strength work-out in the gym, followed by a long run. The legs will start the run very tired, but it will be worth it.

Do it, and remember to recover properly afterwards!

Friday 4 October 2013

future

Posted by speedygeoff on Friday, October 04, 2013 with
Happy Birthday Sarah-Jayne! 30 years old today, a "Veteran" at last! A Master? Let's just say, a "W30" which has to be the easiest age-group until, perhaps, W70.

Sarah-Jayne and friends

Now everything on the Masters Calendar is available for you!

Coming up
Bendigo January 2014 (OAM Track and Field including AMA Half Marathon Championship) http://www.omabendigo2014.com.au/
Hobart March 2014 (AMA Track and Field) http://www.australianmastersathletics.org.au/system/wp-content/uploads/AMA-Champs-Entry-form-2014.pdf
Budapest March 2014 (World Masters Indoor Track and Field) http://www.australianmastersathletics.org.au/events/event/world-masters-athletics-indoor-championships/

Good luck!

Thursday 3 October 2013

history

Posted by speedygeoff on Thursday, October 03, 2013 with