Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Calendar Updates & Monday 5 Training

Easter Monday 5 April 2010 - No formal BRS training
Previously we mentioned that we would be available for training this Monday 5th April (Easter Monday). Our arrangements have changed, meaning we will not arrive back in Brisbane until after 7pm. Therefore we will be unavailable on Monday. Apologies.

A few BRSers have mentioned they will still be running. So if you are keen for a group run, please meet at the usual spot at 6pm.

Apologies again and have a GREAT Easter break. See you back at training on Wednesday 7 April.

Calendar
Please note we have updated our BRS calendar to include most of the running events coming up between May and July. There is pretty much an event a week, so please choose wisely and don't try to compete in them all! http://calendar.yahoo.com/brisbanerunsquad

As a club, we are aiming and training for 1 event per month, commencing in May, 2010.
Here are the club events including extra BRS sessions over the next few months (more information is available on the calendar):

17/04/2010 7:00 am Core Strength Session

26/04/2010 4:00 pm Public Holiday Session (earlier & longer 1.5hrs)

2/05/2010 4:30 pm Event Specific - Red Run 10k Rec

16/05/2010 6:00 am BRS Club Event : Red Run Classic 5k/10k

6/06/2010 6:00 am BRS Club Event : Qld Half Marathon 10k/5k

3/72010 6:00 am BRS Club Event : Gold Coast 10km Run (as part of Marathon Festival)

4/7/2010 6:00 am BRS Club Event : Gold Coast 5km, 21km, 42km Marathon Festival

1/8/2010 6:00 am BRS Club Event : Brisbane Marathon Festival 10k/21k/42k (Kids 1k - 3k)
20% discount for BRS Members

29/8/2010 6:00 am BRS Club Event : BRIDGE TO BRISBANE 5K/10K

Happy Running
Renae & Matt

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Twilight Wrap-Up

The Twilight Run Wrap UP

A big congratulations to everybody who took part in the Twilight events last Sunday. We won the 'biggest' team award with 25 BRSers competing in the 21km, 10km, 3km, 1km events, beating our closest rival by 8 runners! Well done and a sensational kick off to the running season.

Here is a wrap up of the results:

1/2 Marathon
6 BRSers took part in the 21km event and for 4 of them it was their first ever 1/2 Marathon. Darrell hit his goal time coming in at 1hr36mins, great stuff. Matt Shepherd competing in his first 21km, after a PB for the first 10km, he finished strongly recording a 1hr 42mins time. According to the official results, this gave him 6th place in the 18-29 FEMALE category (what the?) well done Matt.
Melissa competing in her first distance run of the season finished well. Peter, Andrew and Michael all finished their first 1/2 marathon in style. A sign of things to come!

10km
13 BRSers competed in the 10km event. There were many personal bests recorded on the day and even a first 10km event for many.
Special mentions to:
Matt Cooper who finished 1st in his category and 8th overall finishing in 38.34, sensational effort!
Scott was aiming to finish the event in under 50mins, smashing it - 48.30mins
Ben and Bill also came in under 50mins, recording faster than 5min/km pace, well done
Steve returning from injury finished strong well under 1hr - 57.13.
Shelley was aiming for under 1hr, she smashed this coming in at 54.51!
Deanne, Cindy, Cathy, Katrina, and Eireann competed in their first 10km event since B2B and all recorded fantastic times. Claire recorded another personal best, with a 1.03min run

3km
4 BRSers participated in the 3km sprint. Sam smashed it, running under 5min/km, with 14.28.
Michelle and Lisa recorded some great times and with both wanting to run under 20mins, they clocked in at 17 and 18 mins respectively! James also finished well under 20mins, 17.20 run.
Great stuff!

1km
2 of our mini BRSers, Maddison and Noah, competed in the 1km kids super sprint! After a fast start, Noah finished 7th in his age group with a 5.42min run! Maddison finished strong gaining her 11th in her age group with a time of 6.17! Great running Kids!

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS again to all who participated and a BIG THANK-YOU to the family members who were there in support!

Bill's New Adventure
On Monday night we had a dinner to say farewell and good luck to Bill, one of our favourite BRSers. He has improved out of sight over the last 5months and we hope he continues smashing out the KMs in steamy North QLD. Best of luck to Bill and his family.

So Whats Next
The Twilight run was the kick event for the Running Season, with lots more to come. Matt and I will be working on the calendar of events and the new 12 week program over the weekend. So keep an eye on the blog and calendar link for more information.
If there are any runs you would like us to mention and add to the calendar, please send them through info@brisbanerunsquad.com.au

Happy Running
Renae & Matt

Friday, March 19, 2010

Uniform Collection

Great news everyone - the unioforms have arrived!

For those who have ordered uniforms and want to pick them up Matt will be at the Rue De Paris cafe opposite Intraining from 12:30pm to 1:30pm with them. We have some spares aswell, so, if you want to have a look you are welcome.

See you there!!!

Matt phone 0447578205

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Twilight Event Sunday & Uniforms

Twilight Event This Sunday

The last 12 weeks of BRS training has been focused on the event this Sunday, the Twilight 3km, 10km, and 21km at UQ at St Lucia.

A detailed timetable is below and for more information see their website: http://www.twilightrun.com.au/info.asp

Meeting Point
We will be meeting at the Netball Courts (which are behind the athletics track at UQ, in front of the Rowing Sheds on Sir William MacGregor Drive) at 4pm. This will give us plenty of time to warm up and watch the Kids race at 4:30pm as there are a few mini BRSers doing the 1km and it would be good to cheer them on.

Hydration
There are 3 hydration stations on the way out and 3 on the way back, so you shouldn't need to carry water. Please ensure you hydrate well for the rest of the week.

Race Pack Collection
Pre-Race Day Pack Collection
Where: intraining Running Centre, 33 Park Road Milton
When:19-20 March (Friday and Saturday)
Time: 9am - 5pm
Race Day Collection
Time: 3.00pm – 20mins prior to race start at the Running & Fitness Expo on the athletics track

Timetable
Running and Fitness Expo 3.00 pm - 8.00 pm
Kids Activities and Games 4.00 pm - 7.30 pm
1km Active Kids Run 4.30 pm -4.45 pm
Half Marathon Race Start 5.00 pm - 8.00 pm
10km Race Start - 5.00 pm - 8.00 pm
3km Race Start - 5.15 pm - 6.30 pm
Presentations - 7.00 pm - 7.30 pm

If you need to contact us on Sunday, our number are Renae 0447 578 200, Matt 0447 578 205

Uniforms
Many of you ordered uniforms from us at the end of January. Champ Systems apologises that they have been unable to meet the 5 week turnaround due to National Holidays in Hong Kong where the uniforms are manufactured. They have been shipped and are expected to get to us on Friday 19 March.
Many apologies as we were expecting to be able to give them out to you this week at training.

If we receive the uniform delivery on Friday, Matt will base himself at Rue de Paris cafe (30 Park Road) opposite Inn Training between 12:30 and 1:30pm on Saturday. So for those of you who are going to collect your race packs on Saturday and wish to collect your uniforms this is an option. Matt's number is 0447 578 205. PLEASE NOTE: this is only an option if the uniforms arrive on Friday. We will post a blog Friday night to let you know.

Ship Inn Dinner & Drinks
When: Monday 22 March 2010
Time: 7pm after training
What: dinner & drinks, a get together and celebrate Twilight Run successes and to say good luck and good-bye to one of our favourite BRSers Bill who is moving north.

Happy Running
Renae & Matt

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Beep Test Results & Weekend Training

Beep Test
Three months ago on 7th December, we did our first Beep Test. The beep test is designed to test your speed and endurance. It is a great measure to use to see improvements in your overall running fitness.
Big congratulations to everybody, especially Matt C and Melissa who completed a gruelling triathlon the day before. Some outstanding results and improvements:
Matt Shephard - proved his competitiveness being last man standing, improved from 12.3 to 12.7
Matt Cooper came a very close second with 12.6 - great stuff
Claire improved from 4.1 to 5.2, top effort!
Luke did his first ever beep test achieving 10.1! awesome
Michael Keetman from 8.1 to 9.1, massive improvement
Deanne showed some great beep test potential improving from 5.0 to 6.4!

Beep test results will be uploaded under the Time Trial page on our website soon. The 5km time trial link has been erroring, but is being fixed, thanks for your patience.

This Sunday 14th March - UQ Twilight 10km Run Practice
When: 5pm Sunday 14 March 2010
Meet: UQ Car park, opposite the entrance to the UQ athletics stadium
On Sir William Macgregor Drive, off Sir Fred Schonell Drive, St Lucia
What: run through the 10km Twilight course to familiarise you with the event route and get some more kms in the legs
Cost: $6 members, $8 non-members

Ship Inn Dinner & Drinks
When: Monday 22 March 2010
Time: 7pm after training
What: dinner & drinks, a get together and celebrate Twilight Run successes

Happy Running
Renae & Matt

Thursday, March 4, 2010

The week past....the weekend ahead!

This Week
Big Congratulations to all BRS Runners who completed the Clem7 10.5km run last Sunday. With the 5000 people I did struggle to find all of you for a ceremonial photo, but I got some great snaps of the start of the race. I have posted them on our home page slide show. Well done and I hope you enjoyed the experience!

With a rainy Sunday & Monday the conditions for were not ideal for a safe enjoyable run, so the session was cancelled. Matt and I replied to those people who sent an sms asking if the session was going ahead and were at the Ship Inn as usual in case other BRSers turned up for the session. It is rare that we will cancel a session, but if you have doubts, please sms us on
Renae 0447 578 200
Matt 0447 578 205

Wednesday's session saw everybody back after their recovery from Clem7 or a weekend Triathlon and finally the rain eased. Great effort on the threshold running and your improvements in pacing is certainly setting you up for success for your next running event.

Saturday 6 March CORE Session
This Saturday 6 March we are running our second Monthly CORE Session to guide you on the most effective techniques and exercises to develop a stable core for running.
When: This Sunday 8th February
Where: New Farm Park (next to the Rotunda)
Time: 7am - 8am
What to bring: a water bottle and towel or two if the ground is still wet
What ability: we will cater for all abilities and strengths
Cost: $8 members, $10 non-members

We look forward to seeing you there. Please bring along money if you would like to join us for a coffee after the session.

Some more information on Core Stability from our blog post on 31st Jan:

Strengthening your core is one of the key ways to avoid running injuries and to improve your running efficiency and performance. There are some common misconceptions about what is the 'core' and training for core stability.
First the core is simply your abs and lower back 'FALSE' -Core stability is the muscles that link the core-abdominal region (trunk or torso) to the shoulder girdle and pelvic region. This means: there are 3 key areas for core stability training.
1. Muscles that stabilise your shoulder blades (scapula)
2. Muscles that stabilise your torso (spine & pelvis)
3. Muscles that stabilise your pelvis

Second, core strength training is only for body builders and people who want six packs 'FALSE'" Most of the muscles are deep within your torso and start from the hip and go right up to the neck and shoulders. They connect the pelvis, spine and shoulders, when strong they can generate powerful movements with the arms and legs but when an imbalance occurs so can injury."

Core stability is for everyone, more importantly for endurance athletes who perform continuous repetitive movements over long periods of time. Exercising core muscles helps to stabilise the torso, providing a strong and stable base that allows the effective transfer of forces throughout the body.....for endurance running, this means quicker times, for less effort and lower chance of injury.

Happy Running & hopefully see you on Saturday

Renae & Matt