Club News

Good luck to everyone running this weekend. Murray Quad, Carmans Women’s Fun Run, & parkrun

Mathieu, Melanie, Tara and the team are busy doing the final preparation for the SRC presentation night. Below I have a request from Mathieu for nomination to be sent to him for club person. Also we have a link for tickets to presentation night.

🏆🎉CLUB PERSON OF THE YEAR NOMINEE🏆🎉
Do you know a club member who has gone above and beyond to provide value and / or input into the betterment of the Shepparton Runners Club. Someone who has gone potentially over and above normal roles of committee.

Please send your nominations to mathieujohnryan@gmail.com before Tuesday 26th November.

Tickets to presentation night can be found here

Runner Profile – Amanda Heard

PBs:3km: 11:58, 5km: 20:01,10km: 45:31

Half: 1:49:26

What got me into running?

My family has been heavily involved with athletics for many years stemming from my older brother who was born extremely premature. It was recommended that he got more involved with sport to help his motor skill development (running, jumping throwing etc). So Mum and Dad put my brother through Little Athletics and when I came along I also joined and since then its been hard to stop! Over the years i’ve trialled many sports including, badminton, gymnastics, soccer, netball, basketball, triathlons, cross country and athletics. I completed my younger years at Shepparton Athletics Club before moving to Bendigo Little Athletics and Bendigo Senior Athletics. I continued race walking at an elite level for 6 years travelling to Nationals at Canberra, Perth, Hobart, Brisbane, Adelaide, Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne. Although plagued with injuries I decided in 2017 to take a break and find new enjoyment in running. I joined the SRC this year making new friends, keeping fit, healthy and happy. 

Favourite Food:

Cookies and Cream ice cream with smashed timtams

What activities do you get up to outside of running?

Snowboarding/snowskiing 

Hiking

Bike riding 

Swimming

Do you have any tips for SRC members that you’ve learnt.

Hill and 1/4. A very important tip I learnt over the years, always push hard up the hill and a 1/4 of the way down. Most competitors will slow down at the top of the hill, push a little harder until a 1/4 of the way down and get ahead! 

What goals do you have over the upcoming year?

Sub 20min for 5km

Gold Coast 10km

Melbourne Marathon (42.2km)

Favourite quote:

Greatness is a lot of small things done well: Eric Thomas

Race Report – By Chris Nicholson.

Goldfields Trail Run Half Marathon, 24^th November 2019

An account of the adventures of Chris Nicholson (Aka The Trail Running Bunny) accompanied by Sam Daniel (Aka The Mountain Goat)

I have been contemplating running a Trail Run for some time.  The thought of getting off the bitumen and running through the bush has a lot of appeal, however having ankles that have the flex of brittle twigs had always put doubts in mind about whether I would come out unscathed.  So, when Sam asked whether I would join him in having a go at the Goldfields Half Marathon trail event on the edge of Bendigo, a relatively easy trail run according to Sam i.e. there was no ropes and you could actually run a fair chunk of the way, I thought it was now or never.

Being a complete novice at trail running on the early morning trip across to Bendigo I asked Sam “So what’s the race plan?”.  Sam’s response was simple, “Run the Flats, walk the steep hills, and have fun”.   I liked the sound of that.  I wasn’t going there to race this event I was going there to enjoy the experience.

We arrived at just on 7 am at Crusoe Reservoir Reserve, a picturesque 210 hectare bush reserve surrounding the Crusoe Reservoir. On walking up to the registration tent were immediately asked to show the contents of our hydration packs to ensure we had all the mandatory items, phone, bandage, survival blanket, whistle and at least 500 ml of water.  If you didn’t have these, you didn’t run.    Gee these Trail running guys take things seriously!  Having past the inspection we were given our race numbers and we went for a warmup.

We started the race bang on 8 am, a feat that impressed Sam immensely (Mental note to get in Sam’s good book be punctual!).  Two kms in and the field had already spread out into smaller subgroups.  Sam and I found ourselves about mid pack running with a group of 4 others. The front runners had disappeared into the bush ahead and the slower runners had dropped behind. We were following a small earthen channel that seemed to be snaking its way through the bush taking water away from the reservoir. The strange thing was no matter whether were going up or down in elevation the water kept flowing in the same direction beside us (I don’t know what sort of black magic was at play, but it was doing my head in!)

The first 6 kms were relatively easy running along a fire track.  I joked with Sam that if we kept our current pace we would get him a PB for a half marathon.  That pace wasn’t going to last for much longer however.  At about 7 kms we turned onto a single line goat track hurdling logs and trying not to trip as we ran up and down through dry creek beds all the while watching out for low hanging branches.  I discovered it’s a bit of an art form following someone in this type of terrain because if you get too close they obscure your view and that log or large rock you need to negotiate appears out of nowhere. 

As the run progressed we started to climb until we reached a point that it just made more sense to walk as the gradient became ever steeper and the single track became more like a narrow gully cut in the side of the hill by past rain events.  For the next 4 kms it was a series of rises which we walked and then a flat or area of slightly less incline which we ran.  I noted that everyone around us was taking the exact same strategy as they were neither dropping off or gaining on us.  A slight roll of an ankle when I didn’t land quite right on a rock quickly reminded me to look down and watch where I was placing my feet rather than looking up to take in the scenery.

At about 11 kms we reached the top of the appropriately named Big Hill which was covered in wildflowers and had a great southerly view looking over the neighbouring valley towards Maldon. We were met by a photographer who was encouraging us to jump, not something that is easy to do after running and scrambling up hills for an hour.  Great I thought as we crossed the crest finally we will get some downhill running, however on doing so we were immediately faced with a decline so steep that we had to go down sideways to avoid slipping over, then up another steep climb that recovered most of the elevation lost.

This up and down continued for another 5 kms before we finally found ourselves on a gentle decline for the remaining 5 kms.  This is where Sam & I (Both flat track bullies) came into our own as we gradually caught and passed runners that had passed us going up the hill.  

At 18 kms, sensing an oncoming hamstring cramp, I dosed up on Crampfix and immediately felt my leg relax again (I don’t know what is in that stuff but it works.  More black magic). Even though I wasn’t racing this event the climbs had obviously taken something out of me.   A slight mishap at 19 kms saw Sam lose a bit of skin off one knee where he slightly misjudged the size of a tree root, but a quick check for no major injuries a dusting off and we powered towards home.

The final 600 m to the finish line was along the top of the Reservoir wall, a stretch that never seemed to end. Despite being able to see the Finishing Arch it seemed to not be getting any larger no matter how much or how fast we ran.  Eventually after what seemed like an eternity of running along that wall, we crossed the line in a respectable time of just over 2 hours.

So, thankyou Sam, it was done I survived my first trail run with both ankles in working order and as a bonus I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Will I run more trails? Well based on this experience maybe.

Triathlon news

Challenge Family is excited to announce that we are bringing back one of Australia’s iconic and longest-running triathlon events on the 5th of April 2020. We have reloaded and repositioned the event to align with the end of Melbourne’s Summer of Triathlon (while it’s still a bit warmer in Shep). Challenge Shepparton will now be the Grand Finale of triathlons for the Victorian summer featuring Half, Olympic and Sprint Distance, what a way to get your club, family or friends together and finish the 19/20 summer!

Challenge Family sees the importance of this regionally significant event and has partnered with the Greater Shepparton City Council to guarantee its immediate and long term future.

In celebration of our relaunch, we have special ‘We’re BACK!’ pricing, that will see you save $70 on full-price entry, with the best value Middle Distance/Half Distance Triathlon pricing at $300 and just 2 hours from Melbourne. Click below to find out more.

Find out more and enter early > http://bit.ly/ChallShepp

How to maintain your speed through the run
Your race is going great, you’re on track to hit your goal time, and then the run slows you down. What can you do to stay strong-and fast_throughout the entire race? Active takes a look in this article. It’s based on triathletes, but the most of the tips also work for those of us who just run.

SRC NEWS

• Our final handicap for 2019 is next Sunday 17th November at Princess Park over 5km. First runner starts at 8:15am, details below.

Register here – https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSdJ0QpStzYAl80eqf…/viewform

When – Sunday November 17th
Where – Princess Park, Shepparton
Distance – 5km
Cost – SRC Members $0, Non-Members $Gold Coin
Time – First runner starts at 8:15am
BBQ afterwards, prizes for top 3 male and female provided by the legends at Intersport Shepparton and SRC

• SRC Bunnings BBQ November 23, 8 – 4 pm

Presentation Night Saturday, December 7, 2019 at 5 PM – 11:30 PM – W.B. Hunter Pavilion Princess Park – Link to Tickets Here

Safe on the run and the latest apps.

Many of us run before the sun comes up or goes down when the natural light is not the greatest. While this can be picturesque, it also pays to exercises cation. Runner and self-defence instructor Julie Morrill (juliebarronmorrll.com) suggests 4 things we can do to make us less vulnerable.

Be prepared and aware – Have a plan for a uncomfortable interaction or attack. Think about how you would respond to aggression ahead of time. Keep your head up and shoulders back.

Run Away – If something does happen the best advice is to get out of there. We’re runners so run away from a situation you feel uncomfortable with.

Use your voice – If you are concerned and can’t run, scream and yell. Yell something unambiguous like ‘Back the F**k off. Or yell something odd like where is the peanut butter. Forcing the attacker to think harder.

Fight Back – This is the last resort. Hit them with your elbow, knee to the groin or even a hard slap to the face.

Words of wisdom app – What3words is an app that could save your life. The developers have divided the world into 57 trillion 3m by 3m squares, each with a unique 3 word address. The sequence pin points your location and can be used by emergency services if you are lost. It is free to download.

Still on the subject of apps

If you want to get a bit more out of your parkrun stats, the 5k app may be what you are looking for. Download the app and scan your barcode into it. You can also type in your barcode but don’t add the capital letter at the start of it.

Numbers are low for the Murray Quad and if entries don’t pick up it will be at risk of cancelation. At the moment we have about 10 SRC members participating in the Quarter marathon with Jacqui Noonan having an eye on the 25 km paddle on Saturday as well.

2 weeks until online entries close for the 2019 Murray Quad – Paddle – Spin – Run, there is cash on the day option but it will cost more and you may not get a bib or event keepsake.
So make sure you register via the website www.murrayquad.com.au.

Strength Training and Injury Prevention

Anecdotally, a lot of athletes will tell you that strength training helps them feel more durable. Now I cannot speak to the scientific community’s thoughts on defining durability, but there is research suggesting that traditional strength training can reduce sports injuries by an average of 66% (10). This is done by increasing your tissue’s ability to manage load (by progressively increasing the load via strength training) while modifying endurance-training volume and frequency.

For example, one study that replaced 30% of an athlete’s weekly running volume with strength training found that athletes remained injury free while improving their five-kilometer performances (1). Additionally, hard strength training has positive effects on circulating levels of testosterone and human growth hormone which can help the body repair muscular damage at faster rates post-hard-endurance and post-hard-strength-training efforts (18).

For many people, some form of maintenance strength training done diligently and frequently, administered by your physical therapist, might be enough to keep niggles at bay. However, what the research suggests is that the workload needed to statistically reduce rates of sports injury is more consistent with doing more significant strength work.

Maybe that’s what durability feels like? That is, creating enough physical change to more than manage your niggles and instead create more significant physiological adaptations that keep fatigue at bay longer and hold your form together longer because you increased your running economy. That is, you became physically stronger. I’m not certain we will ever have a perfect metric to measure durability, but if being stronger keeps you on the trail more consistently, that might be as close as we get to an answer.

Reference irunfar

Other stuff – The amasing Julie Thomas from Broadford has signed up 20 runners including 6 SRC runners to run a virtual run from Broken Hill to Sydney. The run starts on Nov 22 and finishes Dec 10. The runners mission is to raise awareness about domestic violence and get people talking about the steps they can take to make the violence stop.

parkrun – Getting all geared up for parkrun this week, and have found that we are missing 4 tokens from last week. Please check your pockets, and if you have accidentally taken one home, that’s ok, we would just like it back this week if we could. The numbers we are missing are 116, 142, 182 and 183. Please help them find their way back

Quiz time – What is the name of the audio book Tara recommends and how does Tara describe her drinking session in Tasmania? The answers are in her blog The road to NAGOYA WOMENS MARATHON 2020 Part Twelve – I would like some time for some consistent training please. 17 weeks to go.

Have a great weekend and don’t forget buy your ticket for SRC presentation night TICKETS HERE