25 November 2016

3000m 9;43.54

This race open meet is put on by the University of Southern Queensland Athletics Club the track is at Sippy Downs about 50mins North from my home. I saw a 3000m advertised with an 8.00pm start the hope was for calm benign conditions and fast open age runners to drag me around to a sub 9;30. I'd rather race than do a track session by myself.
The day was really really hot. Where I was working in the city and Caboolture the temperature had got to 34 O C early so I was a little concerned that heat was going to be a factor. However a wind blew up in the arvo that cooled things down unfortunately the wind didn't die down and at start time was blowing at 32kmph with gusts to 41kmph (according to BOM). The field comprised Sam Blake (a hugely talented kid) who was aiming for sub 9;00 Adam Hulme (Phd student doing doctorate on running injuries) aiming for 9;30, myself and Zac (goal high 11;00).
Just before we started John Lean (age 20 who had run  a 1;56 800m earlier - in that wind!) agreed to jump in to pace us for a KM which was fantastic especially as he stayed on track for 2km.
Sam disappeared off the front after 400m (about 70) John Lean led me and Adam sat on my tail. Unfortunately John was always a touch too far ahead to provide any wind break and besides the wind was coming diagonally (Adam was able to position himself on my right shoulder every time we hit the wind in the finishing straight). We ran 3;08 first Km 5;44 at 1.8km. With 600m to go Adam rounded me and offered wind protection for the last two laps but I was gone and he gaped me a massive 15 secs by the finish! Adam ran about 9;26 and as I crossed the line they called 9;41 'highs' but not sure what my official time is yet. I stopped the Garmin past the finish.
My glute/hamstring that has been given me gip  since the winter was quite sore during the race. I am using the hand held roller on it and get it worked upon when I get massage.
I'm going to run a 1500m on Saturday which should be interesting.
I have done no appropriate speed work at all and expect to suffer horribly. My goal is to run close to 4;30 but would like to under 4;27 this summer with a little appropriate training.

3 comments:

Ode to Sippy Downs said...

Following a tip off that there was a big news story in the offering I packed my bags and headed for Sippy Downs , a quiet rural community on the edge of , well , nowhere . Sippy Downs is one of those places you drive through heading for somewhere else . It's glory days , when it once boasted five pubs , are now a faded memory . Once the gold mine gave up its last rich vein of ore , the town fell into decline . When I drove through its decayed ruins it was like stepping back into a time warp . In a town where time stand stills few are interested in whether it passes faster elsewhere . Conversations in Sippy Downs follow the movement of the shadows across the pavement . I was told the Garmin Lama would be a star attraction at a sporting event down at the Sippy Downs Sporting Reseve . Well I knew who the Garmin Lama was . Everyone in my unit block knew he had single handedly won as much gold as could be mined in a month when Sippy Downs was at the height of its Gold Rush . So down to the reserve I went , nearly running into a mob of wallabies grazing on what little grass there was left following a drought stretching back as long as anyone could remember . The oval itself was bare earth . AFL posts bent at grotesque angles . An old ute was circumnavigating the 'oval' . In the tray a 44 gallon drum of chalk was leaving a white trail roughly circular but avoiding the termite mounds and rabbit burrows . I went up to a group of locals and asked what was up . " The Sippy Downs Memorial 3k challenge , " someone quipped as if I should have known , " the Garmin Lama is running ." At this point I should digress and raise a sensitive topic which is alcohol or moonshine . It's what the locals brew here to deaden the senses and help pass the time . It's what Sippy Downs is infamous for . Fermented Cane Toads ,its alleged , make up a portion of this toxic brew but no scientific studies have confirmed it . There was a keg of it up for grabs. "For the winner ?" I asked someone looking like an official . "Yes" they confirmed , "age graded of course ." So this is what had drawn the Garm Lama out to this remote post in Australia's desolate outback . When you've won fame and applause before a world wide audience at a world championship why wouldn't you be looking for another challenge . Maybe Alexander cried too soon fearing there were no new worlds left to conquer . I'd never actually seen the Garmin Lama run before . I'd read of his exploits , and who quite frankly hadn't ? But to see him in the flesh as it were was a rare treat . He looked amazingly young and I'd have guessed him to be 55 years old at best . The entry list was read out and I watched as the Garmin lama signed autographs as the a feeble PA system was drowned out by a flock of Galahs that took up position in the nearby eucalypts looking I thought to gain the best vantage to watch this human spectacle . It was hot . It was windy . Most of all it was riveting . 7 laps were estimated to be 3k . The gun sounded . The Galahs departed . A large crowd had seemingly emerged as if from nowhere at the last minute and cheered the competitors on . The loudest applause wasn't for the locals but the outsider . The athletes finished but the excitement was in listening to the age gradings being called out . Starting from lowest to highest . 52% sent the parrots into a flutter and they took off to find a roost for the night . 65% came and went and a son's back was patted by a proud father and congragulations offered . Finally the Garmin Lama's age grading was read out . 112.9% . Incredible . Someone whispered his time was 8:33 but perhaps deviating to miss those termite mounds had shortened the distance ? No one cared as it was the same for everybody . The GL was declared the winner and I had my news story . My editor ( a staunch Garminite) would be appeased . The keg of Sippy Downs moonshine was presented . The stray dogs were still barking as the Garmin Lama moved on .

David said...

Nice one Pete! I want to know how the story ends???

Ronnie said...

Just had read of your Perth experiences. Congrats David. Good to see.
Catch ya' later, Ron.