28 September 2013

16;12, 16;12, 16;12 - Déjà vu

parkrun North Lakes 16;12

There is something beautiful about leaving your house 20mins before a race and getting back home 20 mins after. That is the wonder of parkrun nice and local. 
Warm up 2km jog to the start from home. 
Conditions about 21 O C (70 O F) 80% humidity. We had cloud cover which was a blessing but just before the off, the wind picked up which might have affected the first KM. 

I started hard but was surprised to only go through the first KM in 3m15, I thought maybe the cloud cover had interfered with satellite reception because I was expecting faster. Unperturbed (no actually I was perturbed!) I continued the effort going through the first lap and completed the 2nd KM in 3;12 - which was more like it. Into the second half of the second lap I am lapping people and dancing around the path to pass and run the best tangent through to the end of the race. Occasionally runners ahead moved aside and let me through without me having to deviate ;-).
The 3rd KM was 3;22 - whats happening? ( I was really perturbed!) I know that the second lap is where you have to concentrate and hold your effort, so why did I let it slip so much? It gave me the kick up the backside to push on, I went through the second lap in 10;48 which I worked out meant that if I could do the third and final lap at the same average pace as the first two, it would give me a time of 16;12 by running 5;24. 
I worked really hard giving it everything to run through the funnel and stop my watch at 16;13.1 = "F@ck! Expletive Deleted  escaped my lips again when I looked at my watch! 
I  have to stop these  Tourette's like outbursts post race !
My hope is that the time might be taken from the front of the funnel and I could get rounded down to 16;12 which would make it an incredible  record of 3 parkruns at 16;12 on two different courses!! 
Update Official time 16;12 !!! 92.49% Age Graded
Though I am hoping for  Déjà vu in some respects I have outperformed my two other runs regardless of the end time as today I turned 52 and my age grade performance should increase to 92%.
I cant say I am totally happy to be stuck in a rut - we all want to run faster dont we? So I have to shake things up, do things a little differently if I am going to improve. The heat and humidity wont help times at parkrun through the Summer. I can pick up the workload in training and I can drop a little weight if I give up the beers for Summer ;-(
I warmed down with Dave Spence a classy M55. He was telling me about his ongoing series with Mountain Man Ian McKee (also Caboolture Road Runners) at the Bridge to Brisbane 10KM. They have raced each other 8 times and each have 4 victories over the other. I love those rivalries.
(Ian lives on Mount Mee hence 'Mountain Man').




Results here 

Where are you supposed to wear a headband?

Dave Spence insisted on praying at the start

The Global face of Garmin?

Cheers

7 comments:

Chicago Tribune said...

Disillusioned by the sub standard opposition offered by Queensland retirement villages , Dave Sweeney , the global face of Garmin, took his frustrations out on a local road race field of open athletes many barely half his age( most a third) and made a mockery of so called scientific calculations that seek to limit the performance potential of a masters' athlete. Sweeney answered his critics in the only way he knows how , by comprehensively smashing the field. Known to his league of younger fans as the GTrain or MrG , Sweeney is well on his way to rewriting the record books and showing age is a number not a sentence .

The robot said...

It's déjà vu all over again

New Delhi Post said...

Local police have smashed an illegal betting ring placing bets on Queensland Park Runs . Locals rioted and burned effigies of Dave Sweeney when he recorded the exact precise time on three consequtive occasions, a statistical million to one shot .Known on the sub continent as Bulla G , police have cleared Sweeney of any involvement but made a number of arrests in regards to persons with access to timing devices . It shows the extent organised crime has infiltrated not only low level soccer competition in Australia but now family fun runs . A disturbing development .

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday Dave. Good to see you back running regularly.

Maybe you should paste a beard on your gob like Robot has apparently had done at his last upgrade. Apparently, the Robot has had bushie-beard face follicles installed to enhance his appearance. Amongst the more bellicose beared ones there is a catch cry: "NO BEARD, NO GOOD".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDdIdr385tY

Or maybe Robot seeks to create a more manly and paternal ambience amongst his running mates. Then again it could be to escape the stigma of being a NONBEARD - to, perhaps, escape the two- mums syndrome that The Beards go on about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmFnarFSj_U

Anyway happy birthday. And remember we all at least three things in common: a love of running; birthdays; and face follicles - just like the more advanced robot models out there in cyberspace. Oh yes. I suppose we all like a good laugh too. Hope the videos of the Beards tickle your fancy.

Best wishes and happy birthday Dave.

Cheers,
Ronnie.

Anonymous said...

News of the World report said: Robot's identity has been confirmed. He is the son of Bender, an irascible but likeable cartoon character. Robot's identity was uncovered when inquisitive computer chip noticed Robot's shinny metal arse as he slipped through the running- masters firewall. Firewall said: "As yet, we are unable to recognise bearded robots. But the update will be available as soon as I finish watching the Futurama episode where Bender has an evil twin."

Anonymous said...

Thats weird I've never run the same time twice in my life !
3 times in a few weeks is spooky

QLD government Press Office said...

Sources close to the Queensland premier have revealed that Dave Sweeney, the Global Face of Garmin , will attempt to break his own world record mark for the over 50's 4x1500m relay at QE2 this Saturday October 12th. Sweeney was to have run all Four legs himself but in an attempt to rebuild his image following the Indian betting ring fiasco will team up with an as yet undisclosed but diverse team of billionaires , paupers and rehabilitated Mafia hit men and has promised to donate his new record to charity .
Sweeney is no stranger to controversy and a large crowd is expected to attend . Go G Train memorabilia will be for sale on the day and all proceeds will go to the Golden Years retirement village an institution close to Sweeney's heart .