Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
As my standard training run is more or less on the course of our local Parkrun, and thus a 23.19 yesterday gives me a pretty good indication of my likely result, although I'm hoping that the white heat of competition (irony - I think) will sharpen me up a bit.
Hazel, you seem to be getting in some very decent sessions. Are you injury free? Have you got a specific event (or events) that you are currently training for? As for 10ks I know some guys who run 5Ks and also run much longer distance who really detest running a 10k race ('the devil's distance'!). I can sort of see this.
Swittle, an hour long steady run is admirable. Do you ever mix it up?
Here's a little story which shows how all sports draw on the dedication of volunteers. My friend, who is just getting into officiating, had a 50 mile round trip last night to attend a county schools meet. He was allocated the discus event. Only one contestant turned up!
swittle, I'm getting my runs done early when it's a bit fresher. I could definitely do with my room being cooler, though - being west facing, I get the heat at the end of the day so the temperature maxes out when I'm ready for bed. Ugh.
Well done Hazel...you are really knocking them out.
Two days off for me - a 45 minute elliptical session (plus some rehab) on Thursday and then yesterday I wasn't feeling great, plus it was grey and muggy, so decided I'd move that run to today.
Today was sunny and a bit fresher (still warm, just not as muggy) so it was a good decision. I did 5 miles - a slow plod to start and then I did a bit of light speed work - basically using the block behind my house and running faster down the long roads and recovering at the top and bottom. Hit sub-9 pace on six of the seven reps (first was a little slower) which is just below MP. Still got a way to go before I can hit parkrun paces, though.
Could feel my right knee a little and it's definitely down to a tight ITB so need to get on top of that, smartish.
Cal, the heat's rising this weekend, I hear, but I'm under orders to rest from exercise for a week after two hours of dental work in preparation for implants yesterday. Although the work is eyewateringly expensive, I'll have a smile that I will no longer try to hide, and better eating function too.
Hazel - another good range of sessions. I think terms for coat colour are quite unusual, similar to bay and roan with horses. The Rottweiler was about half grown but a good armful!
Swittle, I know Formby a little and parts of Liverpool pretty well, but (forgive me) I always seemed to bypass Crosby. I know they have a decent non-league footie team and that's about it. If you ever do the Croxteth Park PR then my back garden used to back onto that - but many, many years before PR (1984).
Talking of which I now am pessimistic on its return as the Covid briefing on Monday will (with good reason) put back 'Freedom Day' (a stupid term) and with it, I think, will go the Parkruns. Shame but a couple more weeks won't make much difference. Although Mrs JB would have rather heard this prediction before she went out to run 5k this morning just to see if she could still do it prior to PR's return!
Good luck with the teeth implants and the Hollywood smile!
I meant to have a rest day today and just do a short bike ride. But the bike ride took me to the the top of a local hill and it was just too tempting to get my leg over (as it were) and run up and down some short and rather sharp slopes. I have to confess that this is my favourite sort of training: a quick route to exhaustion followed by a bit of a recovery and then here we go again....and again. The best bit is passing the odd walker who does a double-take as an old git labours (I'd like to say 'glides') past them. I even get the odd word of encouragement.
Hazel - yeah, just tight from sitting on my arse playing Planet Coaster on my PC.
I don't enjoy the heat, no. Summer is my least favourite season. Well done for getting out on a muggy day.
John, I like runs like that too and look forward to getting back to that point soon.
I managed to get out at 6:15am for today's run despite new neighbours keeping me awake longer than I wanted by having all their mates round to their garden yesterday - my window looks over it so I could hear them even with earplugs in (I'll cut them some slack as people have been missing socialising for the last year and a half, but I hope they don't make a habit of it).
I had 10 miles as a goal so decided to go back to the section of the Wandle that runs from Colliers Wood to Mitcham and includes Morden Hall Park and a lovely nature reserve. I've not run that since last summer and was missing it.
While I was in the park, a couple approached me and warned me of a guy in red who was a flasher. I saw him further along the path lurking between two trees, and told him "don't even think about it!" as I ran past. Fortunately he kept Percy in his pants.
It was already very warm and I was definitely feeling it by the time I got to the road that goes through Mitcham Common - I hadn't taken water with me, which I started to regret by that point. I decided to go straight home from there but took the wrong road in Mitcham which added some distance to my run (I knew how to get back from where I was as I'd done a walk there during my time out, but it added a chunk on). I was still a couple of miles from home when I hit 10 miles but I decided to press on, even though I was pretty knackered. In the end it was 12 miles which is the longest I've done since I got benched. HR got pretty high according to my watch but I'm not surprised given the likely dehydration and lack of sleep. Anyway, happy I've managed 12, I should be good for that half next month, though it'll be a slow one no doubt.
Managed a 22.40 5K, which equates to a WAVA of 74.46%, my best for a few weeks.
I then went to see my granddaughter in her Junior Parkrun. She seems to avoided the ultra-competitive gene (no bad thing) that comes from my side of her lineage and is quite happy to skip around chatting to her little friends. She managed a PW today (disinheritance time!).
Seriously, it's a lovely way of getting really little 'uns into running and she always finishes with a smile on her face (unlike her granddad!)
Cal - I suspect your available routes don't feature views quite as spectacular as Hazel's, but you do seem to have access to some lovely green spaces. That flasher should be getting a visit by the local constabulary: that's disgraceful behaviour. Just as a matter of interest, what is your optimal HR zone? (I genuinely have no clue about HR training but I know some people swear by it.)
Fast 5k / great wava JB. Plenty of time in the future for your granddaughter to get competitive if she wants to - sounds like she has fun!
My HRM (wrist based) often has wierd ideas - high rates on recovery runs and surprisingly low on tempos - I tend to ignore it.
swittle / cal - long term rw members! Running was a distant memory for me 2004. I restarted in 2006, rw since 2016.
Recovery 5 miles this morning pre-work to take advantage of the cool conditions. Not a bad idea to move the legs a bit prior to a day at my desk.
2 hours of gardening in 21 deg C of sunshine is likely to be my limit today. Absolutely glorious in Crosby.
I did my short, sharp, steepish, runs session. Brutal while it lasts but the actual running time is not much more that 12 minutes. I tend to walk the downhills which become an extended recovery. Not sure how much good it's doing me but I don't need an HRM to tell me it's hard. I cycle there and back as a warm up/warm down.
https://lancashirepast.com/2018/08/27/formby-lifeboat-station-a-world-first/
The pics show how little remains - it served as a cafe, before demolition in 1970.
Used to train on trails around Croxteth Park - the hall looks to be v impressive from photos but access is still restricted.
Hazel, my bike rides tend to be short and sweet. I don't really think of myself as a pukka cyclist. Nice that you could find some shade to run in. I tried a 10K on the shadeless prom today. Boy, it was hot - but the saving grace was a lovely little sea-breeze. Did 49.59 - which sounds impressively precise until I admit that I was going for a sub-49! However when I realised that I was fading, I did still have to dig a bit deep to get under 50. 'Relieved' is a better word here than 'satisfied' - although the heat did take its toll.
I felt OK enough to attempt a run this morning - 5 very ploddy miles at 6am. It as already warm and humid. Had some aches and twinges but I could run. I am, however, seeing my physio tomorrow (even though it's my birthday) so I hope he can loosen me up a bit.
Great weather still! 28c today in the south east!
Few runs to report;
Thursday; 4 miler, back really hurt, booked physio.
Sunday; 16 mile trail at super-easy pace, with walk breaks when back was at worst. Warm!, even starting at 8am.
Linton: sorry to hear back issues are still lurking. Still, you're getting some decent sessions done. What you say about driving makes good sense: I never covered anything like your weekly mileage but really felt scrunched when going by car more than 50 miles to an event. Hammys & back mostly.
Yes, Hazel, you're right about the sizes of squirrels - I've never seen red & grey in the same place - indeed, the conservation folk take active steps - including contraception for the greys - to keep the 'red' areas exclusive. Good wildlife count for you - not so good for the Swiss footballers
Sutures out of jaw tomorrow, so I'll start short & slowly on a return to running.
40-min. walk to the beach at 7am today, where I was reassured to meet this Masked Man>
Good luck with the physio treatment. Ditto Cal!
Nice wildlife updates from Swittle and Hazel. Red Squirrels Rule, OK?
Had a rest day from running so had a go on the rower. Managed a 5K which is long for me as I generally wimp out after 3k. My 5K row times are very close (30 seconds or so) to my running times. But I find the rowing much harder, especially in these hot, humid conditions.
On the injury front, My achilles are certainly no worse. Mrs JB can tell how they are by how stooped I am when we walk round to get the papers in the morning. My knee is a bit stiff. I've just worked out that I've not seen a physio/osteo for 20+ years. This is not a boast but probably more of an admission of stupidity. I tend to think of myself as injury prone but clearly I actually get off very lightly, especially given how many years I've been running.
PS happy birthday to Cal. May you have a painless and successful visit to the physio!
I ventured out for a run this morning around 6:30 and found police in the road. Checked the local news when I got back and apparently someone got shot! My area is pretty safe for the mostpart - most of the violent crime is young lads stabbing each other in Streatham (which is what happened outside the Lidl last week) but I've not encountered a shooting, let alone on my doorstep.
Anyway, got 6 miles done in the rain, which I quite enjoyed. Knee and hammy were a bit grumpy but I didn't move much yesterday so I'm quite stiff. (And also full of cake).
Hazel, a hare! What a thrill. I've not seen one for years. It's the sort of reflection that can make you feel really low about nature and the environment. Even grasshoppers seem to be rare these days and yet when I was a kid they seem to be in everyone's garden. We've noticed that the council is no longer cutting verges, roundabouts and hedges. Whether this is through budget cuts or a wish to encourage insects I'm not sure but it's really good to see the 'weeds' break through. (I declare an interest as something of a weed myself!) And then you get idiots writing to the local paper ranting that it makes the county look scruffy and unkempt.
Sorry, my rant over..........and just to balanace things out a bit, White Tailed Eagles have been spotted about 2 miles from our house - a species that has not visited these shores for many a year, I believe.
5k in 22.52 today. A few seconds slower than of late. Lots of runners out and about. Like weeds, they are good to see.
Glad you're logging miles again, Cal. Parts of most cities are well worth avoiding - I can name the ones in Liverpool. Fortunately, the beach & trails near me are too far off the beaten track for scallies to inhabit.
Bored with footie, so I broke my week's rest and managed 50:50 of v steady beach & trail at 10 last night. The rest has eased some aches & improved my breathing. :-) Recovery stroll to the coastal park, where bird breakfast had plenty of takers.