Bob Mallows

Sat. 6.00pm Race Q.A. Meet. S.A.F. Nathan 28 O C Windy!3000m 2nd 9m09.13


1000m - 2m59,1400m-4m12, 1800m - ?, 2200m - 6m42, 2600m - 7m56, 3000m 9m09
I'm not sure how mentally switched on I was for this race! I warmed up for a race I thought started at 5.00pm. Seeing no other runners by the start line I checked the timetable to find it was meant to start at 5.15pm. However, I then could see that things were running pretty late, I sat about trying to conserve energy but was losing mental agility (race plan / commitment).

The race was combined with a 5000m race and that meant the 5K runners got the official lap counter whilst us 3k's had a man with a note board where the numbers were obscured as we ran past. Sure you can work out laps to go from time but that was distracting and you wonder if they are recording you and your laps!
When the gun went I got boxed in !! It wasn't until 200m (the finish line) that I managed to get unblocked behind a slow moving phalanx of probably 5K runners. I lost about two seconds on eventual race winner Hintha. Too large a gap on a talented guy for me to close.
Hintha is a 24 y.o. who finished second in the Q'Land 10K Champs in 31m48 where he lapped me in my "Comfort Zone" 4th place 33m25 earlier this season!
I was running with another guy who turned out to be racing the 5K!
It took a while for me get past him and I was feeling exposed in the wind.
After reaching 1K in 2m59 I knew sub 9m was off the agenda and in reality went through the motions.
I felt pretty good all things considered and wasn't too far off the pace at 2K but I was only trying to maintain momentum.
I hit the bell (and thank goodness the officials did manage to ring it for me) in 7m56 ( some 8 secs off 9min pace) so I just brought it home.
I was happy to have brought down my 3K time from the shocking 9m22 season opener and the subsequent 9m15 run last time out.
I need to be just 6 seconds quicker at the bell (7m50) to break 9mins as I know that I WILL pick up my game given that kind of momentum (when it, IS ON) and run a sub 70 sec last lap, unlike the 73s I did today to " bringing it home"!
I am reasonably confident now that given the right conditions I can do it!

The photo above is from earth science photo of the day:Provided and copyright by:
Lisa Gonnelli, On Sunday afternoon, July 22, 2007, a cold front was crossing our area after several very humid and hot days. I could tell by the upper atmosphere that it would be a great day to observe halo phenomena. Still, I was surprised when the splendid circumhorizontal arc, shown above, appeared and remained in place for approximately 35 minutes. It was spectacular! The arc was first noticeable about 12:45 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time). It was very hard to take my eyes off this beautifully colored strip of sky. I followed it with my camera, taking a shot about every three minutes.

In order for a circumhorizontal arc to form, the Sun has to be at least 58 degrees above the horizon. In mid-latitude locations this means that these lovely arcs are most often observed near noon during the summer months. Sunlight enters the vertical side faces of atmospheric ice crystals and exits through their lower horizontal basal face. At times the circumhorizontal arc can be nearly as brilliant as the more common circumzenithal arc, but it tends to be a bit more washed out because it's always seen at a greater distance (the horizon is further than is the zenith), and thus there's more intervening air light.