Friday 13 October 2017

Speedygeese training summary

Posted by speedygeoff on Friday, October 13, 2017 with
Speedygeese training summary: now moved to Fridays!

Sunday 8 October Speedygeese long run report [Dave}:
Previously on the long run report:
“Last week’s run was all about the romance…the subtle interplay of relationship dynamics and emotional nuance. Ewen anxiously waited helplessly in the carpark for an hour, after his 15k clayton's jog/walk, wondering where Dave could be and running through all the worst possible scenarious, while Dave was off having fun running a decent 32k with Martin. After Dave and Martin finished their coffees, and Dave was leaving, suddenly Ewen appeared, in an anguished state of jealously and elation. Then Dave’s guilt and Ewen’s relief culminated in a pleasant reconciliation, which was short lived as Dave snuck in 2k that night to beat Ewen on the Strava Speedygeese leaderboard (running to Ewen’s front door just to rub salt into the wound 😳).
“As was noted in last week’s comments, the Speedygeese run report is so much more than just runnning. It's about love-hate relationships and the essence of being human….(well actually, it’s really about the coffee).
“And now, a quick disclaimer. Due to constructive international feedback on last week’s report (thanks Carolyne), this week we have an action packed, tension filled blockbuster. No romance in this baby…(well, maybe just a little bit of bickering between Jen, Giles, Ewen and Brownie about who went the right way, but I’d describe that as drama rather than romance).
“Anyway, back to the report…Today we set a new benchmark for going off course. It seems we have redefined the meaning of getting lost. How can a simple 20k from Aranda shops to Mount Painter and Black Mountain go so wrong? How many different possible permutations are there? Let’s see…Jen’s group goes straight up Mt Painter while the rest stick to the route around the base then up the top; Jen’s group descends the way we went up while the other group sticks to the course down the other side of the Mountain; Jen’s group goes left to the Gungahlin Drive underpass while those sticking to the route go right; Jen’s group goes their own way up Black Mountain and find an interesting trail to descend; etc, etc. Looks like there’s one common denominator here. 😜 🤔
Actually the only thing worse than Jen's sense of direction and going the wrong way at every possible turn is the (foolish) people who followed her (oops, that would include me). At least Brownie had an excuse. Despite his best efforts to keep us on course, and his valiant attempts to ward off the bickering, he inevitable succumbed to Jen’s hen-pecking endurance - looks like he’s taken over my role (lucky I’m not there when Jen reads this). 😬
“Ewen and Giles are also claiming a moral victory, insisting that they stuck to the course, but conveniently there were no witnesses. The good news is that no one got lost in the first two kilometres and there were no injuries. Plus we had a lot of fun, including the customary hanging from the trig (or chin ups for those with biceps – I just wish the guy taking the photo didn’t take so long).
“Distances covered today were Jennie, Sarah and Jason 11k, Bron and Thommo 16k, Jen, Paul, Sandeep and Ewen 17k, Lisa, Giles and Brownie 20k, and I snuck in a lap of Lake Gindy beforehand to finish with 30k with 800 metres elevation. We were also privileged to have local Legend Jane Gordon run with us (but, I must add, there are a number of other legends, past and present, in our group). 😯
I should, however, mention that my last 5k, especially going up Black Mountain, was not one of my best performances. Jen was so excited about that she couldn’t help taking great delight in capturing my worst moments, which no doubt we will hear about over and over – definitely time for an easy week though. I did manage to get 30 cups on Strava however and, as Ewen cleverly pointed out, using his natural statistical genius, that’s one cup per kilometre. 🤣
“Several of us regrouped and stayed for coffee at 2 Before 10, and also caught up with Janine and Richard who turned up later.”

Monday 9 October there were at Parliament House … Andrew, Sandeep, Bronwyn, Jennie, Ewen, Ruth, Christopher, Rae, Colin, Jen, Isaac, Thomas, Warrick, Pieta and me. The western loop of 930m was used and runners were invited to use one of the convenient exercise stations on each loop. Monday is coming around too quickly and I have to consider how to modify/augment/supplement this session, by next Monday. I do like Mondays and I do like Daylight Saving.

On Thursday 12 October, meeting at Woden Athletic track for the first time, we jogged the cemetery lap, when some retired to the track to run a 3000m event (Brownie, me, Ruth, Ewen) and others continued their warm-up then ran a “Five on Five” session - From zero to five minutes, run at a comfortable, normal pace. At the five-minute mark, increase speed for one minute. Do this on the 5, 10, 15, 20, 25. (Colin, Bronwyn, Brendan, Jen, Isaac, Sandeep, Dave)
It all seemed to work; even with a full car-park at the track itself. So, see you at Woden Thursdays from now on (even when there’s no Masters track there). We continue at Parliament House on Mondays.

Sunday runners



With Jason Roberts, Lisa Charles, Peter Brown, Sarah Johnson, Bron Sparkes, Giles Lamb, Jen Bright, Ewen Thompson, Jennie Blake and Sandeep Chandra.