Maids When Your Young

Thurs 10.00am 10.55KM Roo+Lake 44m55 (4m16 K's)

Couldn't get moving today, sore knee and sore right hammy.

Cooler day and very windy!

Just the weather to take the kids camping overnight at Mount Mee !

Hope it doesn't rain!

It is Natalie's birthday today so this one is for her

Whole Lotta Love - Led Zepplin

4.00pm Roo+Lake 10.72km 42m47

Being off work and not getting up at 5.00am does rather upset my routine!

I got out late again today around 4.00pm and again decided Roo+Lake was all I'd do.

Today the Garmin had it at 10.72km though with the grass again saturated by yet another Summer Storm I stuck to the pathway except at one point where a dog chased after me and basically ran me for a KM so I stopped the watch and doubled back on myself to try to the lead the dog back towards its owners (perhaps in future the wont let it off the leash) . 4m00 K's

Haven't been able to load the ANT+ stick software as first go it corrupted the computer.

49 TODAY! Kids online no time to post! Garmin 405 did 16.2k yesterday 69mins sore!

Treading On Toads

10.66km Roo+Lake 40m51

I managed to get out on a run shortly after sunset which followed a storm. The wet conditions brought out the toads onto the pathway in great numbers and the inevitable happened! Normally they are quite good a t sensing my approach and hop off out of the way but some of those big suckers have no sense and head for my footfall!!! Scrunch! Yuk I hate it! Makes me wretch at the thought! Anyhow, I don't like running and the dark so decided to cut my run down to Roo+Lake which according to Garmin 405 is 10.66km. Also because I was reducing the run I sped up after 1.5K and finished off with 40m51 for 3m50'ks.

Relax Frankie Goes To Hollywood

Sun 28k 2:04;20, Sat 18X400 71/72, Fri 16K 64:28, Thur 16K 63:02

Saturday's track session was a good workout. I did the concentrate on relaxing upper body thing and noticed about 1.5secs improvement per 400m! I split the session up in my mind to 3 X 6 X 400m in order to keep the middle sets good quality. Remarkably managed a 68.xx mid session as well as a few 69's and 70's, if anything the average was probably closer to 71. Now I have got a proper watch I will be able to keep a proper record.

Sunday's run was along the coastal path from Pelican Park near Hornibrook Bridge (Now called Ted Smoult Bridge) to Scarborough and back. I didn't have to try to hard to keep things slow!

Photo shows me in 2007 straining to a 9m08 3000m when I should have been running sub 9m now I know why!

World Masters Track & Field Championships Sacramento

Tues 5.00am 16km Cadel+Roo 67m14
Wed 5.00am 16km Cadel+Roo 63m32

Don't ask me why running in the rain on Tues should take so much longer than running in the dry today! On Tues I would have looked like a drowned rat so at the 2/3rds mark (home) I stripped off my long sleeved top and felt liberated running bare chested for final 6km!
No one to offend in the rain at that time of the morning!
Further to comments about Pete Magill, I was saying he was fortunate to be turning 50 just before the World Masters Championships in Sacramento next year (youngest in Age Group) where as I would not be going as at 49.9 , I'd be oldest in age group : (
However, Pete said he was going to give the World Champs a miss ! !
I couldn't believe he'd miss the opportunity for a World Crown but he said the organisers of this Summers USA Masters Champs made no allowance for the temperature in the distance events! The World Champs organisers were not going to make any allowances and that means running distance races in 90 to 100 O F which is (32 to 37 O C).
Here in Brisbane at Masters at least we have a policy which is to run the distance events first thing = 7.00am in the morning and no distance events if the temp gets above 27 O C (80 O F)
Though we do have the added difficulty of high humidity!
Pete said he doesn't want to run a slow race at the World's, his goal is to set a new WORLD RECORD 5000m in the M50 Cat which is currently 14m53.2 by David Rees in 2003.
Pete wants to do this early in the Summer (he turns 50 in June) and spend the rest of the Summer enjoying life with family.
Finally the Spuds got smashed by the Gooners ( 1 - 4) this morning at Shite Hart Lane!!! SWEET

Pete Magill Update

Mon 12.00noon 12/13KM Go Betweens 50m44

Done in teeming rain! They say it is going to rain all week! My course was blocked off in the Botanical due to 'Parklife' so had to double back on myself and ran longer than my standard course.

I heard from Pete Magill today. He was putting me in the picture regarding his historic defeat in this years USA Masters 5000m. He was just coming back from a knee injury that had seen him put on weight over a couple of months of inactivity and then a crash course in get fit quick and lose weight and hadn't raced in 7 months. He was happy just to be running and to manage a 15m26 2nd place was probably beyond expectation. The experience of that defeat and some of the older boys suggesting they might take him on age graded results has spurred him on in his training this US Fall. He is back to his best and ran a 5mile XC in 25m26 last weekend and is gearing up for the USA Masters 5KM road Champs in two weeks. Depending on the course I would not put another Sub 15min beyond his reach! Pete is 49 years old.

Monna's Smashes another record or does he?

Sun 1.00pm 22km 2 X Roo+Lake 90m10 - went through halfway 45m19

Nice and easy run today.

This morning at the Sydney Blackmore's Marathon Festival Monna's ran what would be a Australian record M45 Half Marathon in 67m53 however as Monna's is probably not registered with a Victorian Masters it probably wont go down in the record books. The official Australian record is 70m17 by Hank Stoffers in 1988. It was good to see my neighbour Helen Stanton take out the Ladies Marathon in 2h49m53 . I also noted that a 'Nick Drayton' ran the Marathon in 2h27m49 as a M50-54 which would smash the listed M50 record of Peter Kallio by some distance - his current recognised record is 2h30m52! Looking at the net results and finish time results suggests something fishy was going on! Also two Draytons running so close, Father and Son!! ?? Something is wrong!

# Bib # Name Finish Time Net Time Place Gender G/Place Division D/Place
1 00002 ISAAC SEREM 02:25:17 02:25:18 1 M 1 M30-34 1
2 15454 SHIGEAKI HIRATA 02:26:00 02:26:00 2 M 2 M30-34 2
3 15470 DAVID CRINITI 02:27:01 02:27:02 3 M 3 M30-34 3
4 15390 TSUTOMU SAEKI 02:30:06 02:30:06 4 M 4 M30-34 4
5 00028 DARREN MOYLE 02:30:14 02:30:15 5 M 5 M35-39 1
6 15276 ANDY DRAYTON 02:34:53 02:28:06 6 M 6 M18-24 1
7 20603 NICK DRAYTON 02:34:54 02:27:49 7 M 7 M50-54 1

The Referee's a Wanker

I can't watch Football anymore!

Every game is like 1989 Liverpool V Arsenal where we get towards the end of the match and the tension is too much to cope with ,(like in Fever Pitch) this morning I couldn't watch the last 10 mins of the game - Sunderland V Arsenal.

We'd gone 0 - 1 up due to a lucky deflection off Cesc's boot in the 13minute. Sunderland had outplayed us to that point. Uncharacteristically we were not in the game for the first half. The second half was not a great deal better but things improved after Song was sent off for a second yellow card. Unbelievably he was carded for not getting out of the way of a Sunderland player who ran into him! Arsenal showed much much more spirit when reduced to 10 men! I am never happy when the Russian magician is substituted but the team needed to find balance, and he went off for Denilson.

As I said we played better with 10 men, but it got to the point where you could see it was going to be a testing last 10 mins when we missed a penalty!

I had to go out for a walk!

Yes it was 4.00am and I could not bear to watch the last 10 mins.!!

Out I go, along the footpath I normally run.

As expected the roos were out there to keep me company, I stopped at one point to just observe them. I had 10 mins+ to kill off so I did some dips at an exercise station ( only did X 5 because I'm worried about over straining myself), Decided I'd killed enough time and headed home. A Cop car cruised by and I thought I hope he doesn't pull me up to ask me what I'm doing at 4.00am in the morning! I got back to within wifi distance of home switched on the Apple ipod Touch and read from the BBC live football score that we had conceded in the 5th minute of the 4 minutes of extra time allowed!

Where the hell did he even get 4 mins of extra time? Bastard!

Did 5 X 1000m at Nudgee with 200m jog recovery; 3m02, 3m06,3m05, 3m10, 3m05

Happy with first interval but unhappy I copped out of doing 6 X 1K because I was weak!

Save a Prayer

Fri 5.00am 16km Cadel+Roo 66m46

Slow going with knee pain. Going to the Docs again this arvo to get some anti inflams to see if I can get it under control, and ask about alternative remedies.

Today's blast from the past was a toss up between The Clash - Rock the Casbah and Duran Duran's - Save a Prayer. In the end I decided Duran Duran was the winner as the Rio album singles were promoted by videos from the Caribbean and Sri Lanka.(Not to forget every boys favourite 'Girls on Film'!) It inspired my mates and me to go on holidays in successive Summers to Barbados and then to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. It also got me to thinking that today's kids will get none of the joy from the artwork of the Album and Singles covers as they all download their music digitally and a lot less thought and money is spent on this.

Some girls mothers are bigger than other girls mothers.

Thurs 5.00am 16km Cadel+Roo 65m51

I recorded Arsenal's 6 -0 win over Braga in the Champions League - not much of a contest! Some classy /Arsenal style goals. It gave me the chance to get out and run. Todays classic on the Random playlist was

Some Girls are Bigger than Others- by The Smiths.

What am I Gooner do?

Tues 5.00am 16km Cadel+Roo 65m20

Wed 5.00am 16km Cadel+Roo 63m38

It was warm this morning, about 20 O C when I left the house. I wore a vest (singlet) for a morning run for the first time since Autumn. This was only a day after running in a Tee Shirt for the first time on Tues. Thursday I have to decide if I'm going to watch the Gooners who kick off in the Champions League at 5.00am or go for my normal run ! Hmmm tough one....... I don't like to change my routine!

George St Brisbane

Sun 10.00am 17km Roo+Lake+Roo 68m41

Mon 12.00noon 12/13Km GoBetweens 49m31

I didn't have much time to fit in any longer a run and besides my left knee tendinitis was more apparent following on from Saturdays track session. Stayed up late to watch F1 so lunchtime run today. Man it was hot out there today! 26 O C with humidity. Springtime!

North Lakes Mustangs 40's

5.00pm Nudgee 18 X 400m> 72secs 120m jog recovery

It is a tough old session!

Conditions were warm and still.The Sun was setting about half way through session.

The early intervals were 72,73,74 but like last time once I'd settled into them, got the rhythm of the recovery, concentrated on relaxing the upper torso, starting fast, high cadence,finishing hard,controlled breathing - the times came down to 71's and 72's, I even finished off with a 68 though I felt like I was running to my grave! I was happy with that session.

Nat's team North Lakes Mustangs (40's) lost their Grand Final today 0 -2 against the Red Foxes but I was proud of the whole team and coach for achieving amazing results through the season. ( photo from 2009 the 40's against sister Mustang team)

The law of the jungle

5.00am 16km Cadel+Roo 65m02

"Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle - when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."

Well I am running when the sun comes up! Though here in Australia things are generally a lot more relaxed! This morning I ran by a huge family of roos on the grass verge next to the path I was running along. No more than two meters away from me, they didn't flinch an inch! Walking home from the bus on Wednesday night a little white Scotty dog sauntered out of its owners garage across the road to greet me - at least I thought it was going to greet me! at the last moment it started running and chomped into my calves!! both of them!! Drew blood! It's owner came out telling me to kick it, but in my shock and surprise I only fended it off with my bag! Is Rabies in Oz? I'm not foaming at the mouth yet!

fitting it in

Wed 5.00am 16km Cadel+roo 65m35

Thurs 5.00am 16km Cadel+roo 65m40

Yesterday I was went through Cadel in 41m30 so made a deliberate attempt to lift the pace a little for respectability. This morning I went through Cadel in 41m10 and felt less inclined to lift pace. I shall attempt some interval work at the weekend but family stuff could get in the way = Sat is; Soccer break up for Max, Soccer finals for Natalie, friends birthday party for Lily.

I got this email from MacMillan this morning - I really do need to do more pace variation in my training but sometimes you just don't get enough time in the day to fit it all in!

My Favorite
Half-Marathon Workouts






In March 2009, Martin Fagan (pictured above) was running shoulder to shoulder with the great Haile Gebrselassie in the Fortis City-Pier-City Half Marathon in the Netherlands. They were racing along at a pace that would bring them to the finish line in just over an hour. For Gebrselassie, with his 58:55 PR, this pace was old hat. For Fagan, however, this was new territory, and his finish time of 1:00:57 not only brought him a personal best but also the Irish national record. Fagan was able to run such a fast time because we focused his training on a few specialized workouts for the half marathon in the last six weeks before the race. Here's what we did and what you can do to achieve success in the fastest-growing race distance on the roads.

Physiologically, the half marathon for competitive runners is run at a pace just below the lactate threshold -- the point where the buildup of lactic acid exceeds the ability to remove it. Psychologically, the half marathon requires more restraint than the fast-from-the-gun effort of a 10K but more aggressiveness than the run-easy-until-20- miles strategy of the marathon. It's a delicate balance that needs to be practiced in training to prepare both mind and body.

In Martin's training plan, we focused on key workouts that were slightly slower than lactate threshold pace (steady state runs); were right at lactate threshold pace (tempo runs); and built his lactic acid tolerance and aerobic capacity (hill repeats).

STEADY STATE RUNS

After warming up for 20-30 minutes, run the workout at a continuous marathon effort. This intensity is somewhere between an easy run and a tempo run. Most runners run the steady state run too hard. It's designed to be an aerobic workout, not a heavy breathing workout, and to fatigue you with the duration of the run, not the speed. Cool down for 20-30 minutes to make the total run last 90 minutes to 2 hours. Start with 3-4 miles at steady state pace and build to 8-10 miles by adding 2 miles to the steady state run each week. Psychologically, the steady state run develops the mental toughness to stay engaged in the half marathon as you reach the later miles.

TEMPO RUNS AND TEMPO INTERVALS

Following the same warm-up as for a steady state run, you can run continuously at your half marathon pace (a tempo run) or break the run up into repetitions with a short recovery interval (tempo intervals). As the tempo run progresses, increase the pace to current 10K pace. On tempo intervals, increase the pace to 10K pace as you reach the final few repetitions. Start with 2-3 miles worth of tempo running and build to 5-6 miles. Since you're running most of the workout at half marathon pace, these two workouts help you dial in race pace -- something you will need to do on race day. For Martin, I used a combination of tempo runs and tempo interval workouts. I even combined a steady state run and a tempo run into one workout to match the ever-increasing effort demand that the race requires.

HILL REPEATS

I can't say enough about hill repeats for half marathoners. With all the steady, continuous running in the half marathon training, hill repeats are the best workout for building aerobic capacity and lactic acid tolerance (the ability to clear lactic acid from the blood). These adaptations can come from standard track repetitions but I find that using hill repeats keeps the legs fresher and avoids injury from too much fast running too often. After a thorough warm-up, run either short hill repeats (6-10 percent grade lasting 45-60 seconds) or medium hill repeats (4-6 percent grade lasting 90-120 seconds). Run hard but controlled up the hill, and jog back down as recovery. If there's a flat area at the top and/or bottom of the hill, do a short stride to build in some leg speed training. In Martin's training, hill workouts were a constant, and since these are intense sessions (especially at 7,000 feet of elevation where we train!), they provided him the "gut check" he needed to get ready to go head to head with Gebrselassie.

LONG RUNS

Martin includes a weekly long run of around two to two and a half hours throughout the year. For him, this provides him with 18-20 miles of easy running. As the race neared, however, I had him increase the pace the last few miles of every other long run to add to his stamina training.

PREPARATORY TRAINING

It's important to note that, before his specific half marathon training, Martin completed 13 weeks of the base phase I've described before in my column for Running Times magazine: building his mileage, aerobic threshold and leg speed. He also prefaced his half marathon block with five weeks of speed-building workouts at 5K to 10K race pace. (These were workouts like mile repeats at 10K race pace and other traditional "speed" workouts.) This preparatory training was essential to allow him to complete his demanding half marathon plan.

Here are the key workouts that Martin Fagan did in the six weeks before setting the Irish half marathon record of 1:00:57.

Week Workout #1 Workout #2 Long Run
1 Steady State: 8 mi Short Hills 18-20 miles

2 Tempo Intervals: 3 mi, 3:00 jog, Medium Hills 18-20m - last 4-6m faster
2 miles, 3:00 jog, 1 mile

3 Steady State: 8-10 miles Short Hills 18-20 miles

4 Steady State: 2 miles + Medium Hills 18-20m - last 4-6m faster
Tempo Run: 4 miles

5 Steady State: 10 miles Tempo Run: 3-5 miles 12-14 - last 2-4m faster

6 Cruise Intervals: 4-5 x 1K @ Fartlek: 5-6 x 1:00 @ Race: Half Marathon
10K effort with 200m jog half mara effort w/ 1:00 jog


Visit www.runningtimes.com for more of my articles.

Metropolitan League

Tues 5.00am 16KM Cadel+Roo 64m57s

When I last mentioned sunrise/sunset back in August, the Brisbane times were;

5th August 6;27am Sunrise 5;21pm Sunset 10h54m day length

7th Sept 5;55am Sunrise 5;37 sunset 11h41m day length

and for comparison here is Sydney

7th Sept 6;06am Sunrise 5;41pm Sunset 11h34m day length

and here is Melbourne

7 Sep 2010 6:34 AM Sunrise 6:04 PM Sunset 11h 29m 57s day length

I received an email from a Shaftesbury Harrier (Alan Weller) with a spreadsheet of all the clubs Met League performances (Juniors/Seniors/Vets Race) from back in the 1967 to the present day.A monumental task to collate all the performances. Unfortunately it's in a format that would be difficult to present a readable way of uploading it onto blogger! I was surprised that I had only competed 7 times in the Senior ranks.I recorded my best performance as a first year Junior (17y.o.) with a 3rd place in the Senior race at Ruislip back in 1979!

My buddy Ray Powell has had most performances for our Club having done 94 Met Leagues!!

Shame it didn't count my Boys or Youths race performances - one season running for London Irish, I won 4 of the 5 Boys races and finished 2nd in 5th and final race of the season - I got beaten by Lee Cockett of Woodford Green (He went on to win the Junior Boys English Schools 1500m).

Metropolitan League Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers Junior, Senior & Veteran Men Who Have Competed
From 1967 to 2009
Top 10
Races Completed
1Ray Powell V 94
2 Russell Devitt V 88
3John Kelly V 88
4 Phillip Cunningham V 78
5 Derek Surrey V 57
6 G.Elmore V 50
7 V.Gillick V 47
8 David Dougherty V 45
9 D.Lee V 39
10 K.Tollady V 37

Consecutive Races
John Kelly V 28
From 1985 to 1990

Years Competed
Russell Devitt V 31 From 1978 to 2010
John Kelly V 31 From 1978 to 2010
Ray Powell V 30 From 1979 to 2010
Phillip Cunningham V 29 From 1980 to 2010

Years Competed (Early Years)
G.Elmore V 27 From 1967 to 1994
V.Gillick V 22 From 1967 to 1989
K.Tollady V 19 From 1971 to 1990

50m00, 50m01 and 50m01

Sat 11km Roo+Lake
Sun Rest
Mon 12noon 12/13km GoBetweens 50m01
Saturday I had to abort an attempt to do a track session at Nudgee due to the track/in field being used for a rugby game. Sunday was a recovery day as I had family things to do for Fathers Day. Today was a steady run around the bridges. I think the last 3 times I've run this course I have run 50m00, 50m01 and 50m01 ! Yes I did find my watch.

Spring is definately in the air!

I nabbed these photos from the Bridge to Brisbane. Just got confirmation that no other M45's managed to sneak in front of me so I won the M45-49 Cat. In fact I was second over 40 to finish (behind Denis Fitzgerald).Results are here

Fri 5.00am 16km Cadel+Roo - steady

Summer Goals

Tues 5.00am 16km Cadel+Lake

Wed 5.00am 16km Cadel+Lake

Thurs 5.00am 16km Cadel+Lake

I've lost my watch!

Just taking things easy, getting over the recent spell of races and trying to settle down the niggles (left knee tendinitis and right [twice operated] ankle).

I looked at the results from Gold Coast and compared them to the Bridge to Brisbane , excluding myself of 9 runners who competed in both in the top 24 in B2B, the average time was 38 secs slower than on the Gold Coast, I ran 5 seconds quicker. Having had 18 months off injured and getting back into training as recently as March/April I am happy with the progress. I have concentrated mostly on just steady runs in an attempt to get back into shape. With Spring in the air I shall be attempting to mix things up a bit more and introduce twice weekly interval sessions. I fully intend to race track this Summer 1500m, 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m. Goals have not been clearly defined but I would hope to still be capable of running 4m20, sub 9m10, 15m50, and sub 33m.