Ernie Leseberg blog » Running

Back In Training

Ernie — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 05:54:13 +0000

Well it has been 12 weeks since Masters Nationals in Perth, and since then the spikes have been gathering dust under the bed. With Sacramento World masters, now just over 1 year away its time to get back on the training track. Not 100% sure I will be able to make the trip across the Pacific, but if there is a chance, I want to be as prepared as possible.
So traffic fighting trips back to Sylvania and Team Dooley are back on.

Getting ready for World Masters Games

Australian Masters Nationals 2010

Ernie — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:29:31 +0000

The AMA championships are over for another year. This year was Perth, the weather was great, the track was fast and the meet ran smoothly.
Already this season, some fast 100m times had been run at the new WA Athletics Stadium, by Patrick Johnson 10.18 and Aaron Rouge-Serrett in 10.17. So I was looking forward to this. I have been told it is a form of Mondo, but the track only has a 3 year life span.

Not a great preparation for the first day of comp, with a 4am wake up for a 6am flight out of Sydney to Perth. But hey, thats the way it goes.
Well the wind gods were with us all 4 days for the sprints. Sometimes a little too much.
The tail wind was 4.1 in the 60m, so the 7.06 will not count as a national age group record. 3rd time that has happened this season. That time is a tenth of a second faster than I have ever been electronically timed over the 60m.
My 100m time of 11.17 (w+1.3) was a season best, and felt really good. I was starting to really like this track.
Day 2 and the 200m was late in the afternoon. I was hoping for better than 22.68 (w+2.0).
Day 3 and the 400m. Well a strong home straight tail wind means a nasty back straight. And given I had qualified for the Champion of Champions sprint 30 minutes later, I decided to drop the 400m. This was the first time I had made the Champions race in 4 years of AMA Championships, and it was a real honour to be there. The Champion of Champions race is a handicap race, where the handicap is based on the runners age, and for the 10 best age graded results from the 100m. Off 3.3m, and giving the front marker nearly 20 metres I had no real hope to win. With the front market in the outside lane, and myself in lane 1, it was only in the last few metres that I could clearly see the outside three still clearly in front of me. Very happy with 4th. 10.71 (+3.2) for 96.7m.
My squad mate Kylie Strong was second in the female champions race, after also being the back marker.
For once we put in a good relays performance. Comfortably winning the M170 4 * 100m, but well beaten into second by a strong Victoria team in the 4 * 400m.
Full results are up at the AMA site.
Had a great time at the track, and met more of the organisers who I previously only communicated with by phone and email. A number of people were complimentary of the entry system that I had created for AMA.
The only downside of the meet, was the lack of numbers in the M35 sprints. Hopefully that will improve next year in Brisbane, but unlikely.
Some photos below. The sprint champions photos come from the MAWA gallery by David Cane on day 3.

Hunter Track Classic 2010

Ernie — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:36:01 +0000

Packed the family in the car last Saturday for a night stay in Newcastle, and a couple of races at the Hunter Track Classic.

Hunter Track Classic

This was the first time I had run on the Glendale track, which they built just after I finished uni in Newcastle. The track is fine, but with no warm up track, all the warming up athletes are crammed into the back straight. 2 masters events on the programme (60m & 1500m), along with a numerous open, junior and 1 pro race over 300m.
I have been thinking about doing pro races for a while, so I decide to enter the 300m. Give I run all my races in lanes, it was unusual to be out of lanes, and I only just scrapped into the final after being 3 wide around the bend. With another runner on the same mark, and another 2m ahead, I decide to take the conservative approach in the final. In the end I finished 4th or 5th, but not far behind the winner. Another few metres and it would have been a much better place. But hey, $70 more than cover the petrol money, and I will definitely give the professional running scene another go. Congrats to Andrew for winning the big money.
The masters 60m was half an hour after the 300m heats, and my head was still pounding. Unfortunately only 3 of us entered, and only 2 started. We masters often complain about lack of races at these types of meets, well with such a small start list, I would be surprised if ANSW put masters sprints on a future program.

Newcastle

The next day I took the opportunity to drive the family around the old haunts from my uni days. Some places have improved, while others have been neglected since. Newcastle still has a bad reputation, based on coal and the old BHP iron works, but I think it still has great potential. Big enough to have most services anyone could want, and close enough to Sydney for the rest. Beaches, good transport, space, lower traffic. If the right employment opportunity ever came up, I will give it very serious consideration.

Photos

Photos from just after the finish of the 300m, from the Runners Tribe site. I am in yellow.

WMG 2009 Wrap Up

WMG 2009 Wrap Up

Ernie — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:18:22 +0000

Well the World Masters Games is over, and sadly for myself I finished with no medals. At least I made the 100m and 200m finals, but in both cases finished 4th. Lack of preparation told in both finals. But hey, others put in the work and got the result. Because of the event timetabling, most of the short sprinters (including myself) dropped out of the 400m. Maybe this was a mistake.

Organisation of the meet was a bit chaotic. Communication between officals and non English speakers caused trouble, and some groups of athletes seemed to have difficulty understanding the need to queue at check in.

My Results

100m.
Heat: 11.35 (+1.0) 2nd.
Final: 11.49 (+0.5) 4th.
200m.
Heat: 23.58 (+0.5) 3rd.
Final: 23.32 (NWI) 4th.
400m.
Heat: DNS.

YouTube has video of the 200m final. I am 2nd from the inside.

I am inspired to give it a real shot over the coming summer.

Getting ready for World Masters Games

Accreditation done for WMG

Ernie — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:14:04 +0000

I made the trip this morning to Sydney Olympic Park to pick up my accreditation for the World Masters Games. A reasonably quick process though by the time I left the lines had lengthened considerably, and I am told there was a significant waiting time yesterday evening.

So what is in the goody bag (back pack)? The expected guide to Sydney, a guide to the games and some of the social events planned around the WMG. Interesting the bag contained a tube of toothpaste. Where is the toothbrush??

There has been some minor adjustment to my competition schedule with the 100m heats now on 12:12 this Sunday. The check in times are interesting. For an scheduled event before midday, check in is the previous day, or Tuesday for Thursday events (Wednesday is a rest day). After midday then check in is 2 hours prior. A call room is operating and the time is 25 minutes prior for most track events.
Competition is a bit of an unknown, as of the almost 30 Australians listed for the 100m, I only recognise about 5 names, and there are half a dozen from overseas.

The weather in Sydney has not improved. Still very windy and cooler than expected this time of year. Expected to improve from Saturday according to forecasts.

Let’s see what happens on Sunday.

Getting ready for World Masters Games

Ernie — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:13:30 +0000

Track & Field at the World Masters Games in Sydney starts in a few days. My first event is on Sunday with the 100m. The field sizes are quite reasonable with around 35 entered for the sprints in my age group (M35). This means that the 100, 200 & 400m are all scheduled for heats, semis and finals. Multiple rounds of the 100m is ok, but 3 400′s within 24 hours is not something I am looking forward to. Back in April I was fit and running really well, but work commitments and excessive traveling time to my training group, has meant I have done very little training since then.

Hopefully the weather improves from the rain we have had in the last few days.

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