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New Mature Runners Thread
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Aquarius, the relay suggestion for a triathlon is a good one. My husband and I are signed up as a relay team for a cycling/running duathlon this spring-assuming that my husband has recovered enough to race after Friday's ablation.
It's too bad that you missed the master's XC signup deadline. But, your running plans for the weekend sound really fun. It's wonderful that you and your son can run together. My son is completely and unapologetically anti-running, though he's pretty wonderful in all other respects. And, he had the good sense to find a partner who likes to run, and will occasionally with me
Great job on your intervals this morning. You and HS are inspiring me. For some reason intervals are my most dreaded workout, and I tend to avoid them. You are really good about taking care of your body by stretching and incorporating yoga into your training. I really need to follow your lead on that.
RunningFox, I had to chuckle at your wondering how people stay motivated to run in less picturesque areas. Picture me cutting out your beautiful photos from your blog out, along with WtnMel's walkabout photos, and taping them to the wall in front of my treadmill
I wish you luck on your next run. Waving back from across the pond.
Does your watch have a 'race' option? I think HS and WtnMel mentioned it before. I don't use it much because I tend to get a little obsessive, but it can be a really good motivating factor. It lets you know how your current run is stacking up to a previous performance while you are running.
WtnMel, When I said "have you been watching it on TV," I meant to say "the bowls!" I don't have Sky Sports either, just Freeview. The BBC will be discontinuing the "red button" fairly soon which will be very sad, as a lot of sport is shown on it.
Hope the exercises you are doing for your shoulder are helping. My physio who I saw for my knee charged £35 per half hour, and that was with a 10% discount for my club membership. I only had 4 appointments, as he said that I could do all the stretches etc myself, and there was no point paying unnecessarily.
Your golf match must have been tough in those muddy conditions.
Good luck with your club run tomorrow.
Molly, thanks, I'm really lucky having the forest to train in, even though it can be challenging with the mud and water.
Hope you are able to incorporate interval training into your schedule soon. Tempo and fartleks are also great for improving pace.
Aquarius, I think that you would find "Trail Running" a better magazine than "Runners World," so if you see it in your newsagent, I would give it a try.
A shame that you weren't able to sign up in time for the Masters cross country, as I'm sure that you would have found it a great experience. Good luck with the parkrun with your son, and also the Gibside Great Run 5k. Glad you agree that off road is preferable to tarmac. Falls don't hurt as much.
Well done for the yoga and intervals. I'm not surprised that your legs were sore after the yoga. Good luck for tomorrows longer run.
Runningfox, glad to hear that you enjoyed Sunday's run, and hope to gradually build on the mileage. I've always enjoyed my running, and the same as you, even when training for specific races.
That parkrun where I did my 50th has 3 hills and is quite tough. Especially now that the tree fellers lorries have churned up the mud. Well done for running a hilly parkrun aged 85. I hope I can do the same if I live that long.
Damien, I agree that a gut feeling is an accurate way of gauging your performance. I don't rely too much on my Garmins readings except for distance, mile splits and total time. I find the heart rate readings to be very inaccurate. Slow runs often registering an higher average rate than those where I have pushed the pace. It's good that the garmin syncs with Strava. Mine also syncs with fetcheveryone.
I did a very tough spin session yesterday morning. It was mainly hill climbs, but the sting in the tail was that we finished with 2 sets of 8 x 20 second sprints with 8 second recoveries. A killer after the hills.
In the afternoon, I met up with Alice and baby Rosie in the lovely little tea shop in the village, for tea/coffee and cake. Rosie sat on Alice's lap and was smiling all the time. When we had finished. Alice put Rosie in the buggy and we went for a lovely walk round the Marina. Rosie soon went off to sleep.
This morning I ran 5 miles on roads with Sarah H. She had only returned a couple of days ago from skiing in Italy, so her legs were tired. Mine were too, after the spin, so a steady pace suited us both.
This afternoon I had an appointment with the Hygienist.
HS, Your description of tea with Alice and baby Rosie is lovely. I can't wait for my son and his partner to have kids
Your spin class really sounds like a worthwhile training endeavor. I can imagine that your legs were tired today. Good job on holding a steady pace!
I am going to be off the thread for a few days. Brian's heart procedure is on Friday in Boston, and there are a lot of details to sort out. I hope everyone has some really fun runs and lots of sunshine. I'm looking forward to reading about everyone's adventures when I'm back on Sunday or Monday.
This morning's club run went well. It's a 'social' run so there's a fair bit of looping back and jogging with the slower runners. But I was feeling strong today and was pleased to see on Fetch & Garmin Connect that I was managing close to 10:0mm pace a few times and even had the energy for a finish 'sprint' at nearer 9:00mm pace.
WtnMel, glad that your club run went well today. That's very impressive, how you have improved your pace. You said earlier that you wanted to lose some weight, so you are going the right way about it. I imagine your Garmin showed that you had burned off a respectable number of calories.
Weather was miserable this morning. Heavy rain, strong biting winds and very cold. I did 6 miles fartlek which I didn't enjoy in the conditions.
Aquarius: You echo my thoughts beautifully. I couldn't keep running into my upper 80's through built up areas with all the traffic fumes and noise. We have a saying - "Give me the hills" - for it's there we feel alive, where running is natural, to be enjoyed without having to have any reason for doing it, to feel the wind in our faces and sing without folk looking at us as if we're mad, to breathe the pure air of wide open spaces. And as you say, to feel young again.
We've often enjoyed running by the sea at sunrise, on holidays abroad, but our next trip is to the Lake District where we'll be watching the morning sun lighting up Ullswater, looking for aconites blooming at Dalemain, saying 'hello' to the fallow deer and giving the stone bears a friendly pat in the churchyard at Dacre.
Hope the high winds didn't cause any structural damage, or fallen trees.
I never seem to have any problems with my Garmin picking up the signals. I do wonder sometimes though whether it has lost it briefly, as my pace can occasionally drop quite a bit, whilst I'm maintaining a steady pace, or even increasing it.
I hope your parkrun tomorrow won't be cancelled. Two of my local parkruns have been cancelled. I was intending to do the Brockenhurst parkrun at Wilverley Inclosure, but probably won't as runners that would have done the cancelled ones will turn up. We can't really handle more than 300, due to limited parking, narrow trails and the fact that the Inclosure is also used by dog walkers, horse riders etc. The Southampton parkrun usually has over 1,500 runners but isn't normally cancelled.
Columba, a similar thing happened to me a few years ago during the Brockenhurst parkrun in the summer when it is run round the college playing fields. It is 4 laps and I miscounted. After 3 laps I turned off to the finish funnel, but thankfully they called out that I had another lap to go.
It is Emil Zatopek.
Runningfox, as you would have gathered from my user name, I also enjoy the hills, and run on roads as infrequently as possible. I used to work in the Naval Base in Portsmouth and was able to run along the sea front in Southsea, part of the Great South run. That was fairly flat, but there was always a brisk wind, either on the way out, or return. This was quite good resistance work running into the wind. It wasn't very often that we were able to run along the beach because it was very stony, and the tide had to go out a long way before the sand was available.
Today is a rest day which is just as well as it has been another wet and windy one, and I'm fed up with it.😬
Aquarius, happy birthday🎉🍰 A nice way to celebrate your birthday running a parkrun with your son.
My parkrun wasn't cancelled, there were two other local runs cancelled, which is why I decided not to Brockenhurst, as it would have been very over crowded. The weather was fine today, sunny, dry, but a cold wind. I decided to do a longer run, but at an easy pace. I ran 7.5 miles, not looking at my Garmin, except at each mile. The heart rate monitor was accurate, must have read my post saying it was always higher for slow runs, as it recorded an average heart rate of 122😃 I haven't checked the Brockenhurst web yet to see how many ran. We've never have any pacers at Brockenhurst which is a pity. Probably because the number of runners is low, compared with the bigger fields.
A shame that your pacer didn't maintain the required pace throughout, meaning she had to up her pace to achieve the required finishing time. More speed work should enable you to "eat into the 2 minutes" for your parkruns and other events. I've been working on my speed lately, and hoping to improve my recent parkrun times next week. I will be running it again with Sarah F, all being well, as she returns from 2 weeks cruising in South Africa on Monday.
WtnMel, "Highly Impacting," that's impressive, you must be pleased with that.
I had a couple of holidays in the Lake District many years ago.
Hope you enjoyed today's walk, and that the weather was kind.
You've certainly got a busy week coming up!
I ran a steady 8.76 miles this morning. It was sunny and warmer than yesterday, but still a "bit of a nip in the air."
> My trainers had seen me through nine 10ks and a half marathon plus the training, plus possibly contributing to my archilles issues, so i bought a new pair today. They are Adidas Solarglides. Half price at Sweatshop. I'm doing a 4k in the morning , I'll report back!
Hi there
I'd be interested to know how you are getting on with the Solarglides. I used to get calf and achilles problems using another brand's shoes, then converted to Supanova and loved them. So was seriously disappointed when I heard they had been replaced with the Solarglide. The new shoe got good reviews so I gave them a go and to me they feel stiffer and less cushioned and after 6 or 7 runs, my calf issues returned. I've emailed Addidas for a full spec comparison and am waiting to hear.
I tried to read through everyone's posts to catch up, but there were a lot of them. I hope that I didn't miss anything important.
WtnMel, Congratulations on your strong run. Your pace seems to be picking up quite nicely this winter. Great job on the strong finish. I have no doubt that you will soon be averaging a 9 min pace on your parkruns
I sounds like you will be having a very busy week. I hope that your Ramblers' walk takes you through some more lovely spots, and that your runs continue to feel strong.
HS, I completely commiserate with your dislike of winter winds, and I am glad to read that your last couple of runs were in more pleasant conditions. I am looking forward to some warm air, as well. I had to chuckle at your mention of the Portsmouth Naval Base. I live approximately 30 minutes from the Portsmouth Naval Yard on this side of the pond.
I have my fingers crossed that your speed work will pay off, and that you and Sarah H. will have really strong and fast parkruns this week.
Aquarius, Happy Birthday! And, great job on finishing your run into the head wind. As much as I don't enjoy strong winds, they do offer an opportunity for training.
Depending on traffic, Boston is a 1-2 hour drive from our house. Brian had to stay overnight at the hospital. They went up both legs this time around. He has to stay very quiet for a week, and, then, is restricted to nothing more than walking for 6 weeks. After that, he will have a stress test and an evaluation to see if the arrhythmia was taken care of this time around.
Your Gibson parkrun sounds a bit frustrating. I am sorry that your pacer had to start out with a sprint. I have a friend that volunteers as a pacer for some of the local half marathons. She says that she tries to time her miles so that the first mile comes in at a little under pace so that the runners can ease into the race, and are more likely to finish in the time they hope for. The fact that you could keep going after the initial sprint, shows that you are really strong. I'm sure that if you keep the initial pace reasonable, you will hit your PB on your next run.
Colomba, Sorry about the confusion. When I introduced myself to the group, I signed with my name 'Molly'.
RunningFox, this may be a purely American concern, but is your area safe for women who are out running alone? It is a fairly serious concern over here. I love the idea of running in solitude through your beautiful hills, but I'm not sure that I would be able to relax, which is kind of sad.
Brian's hospital stay had it's ups and downs. We brought him home Saturday afternoon, and we hope that he is now on his way to recovery. I had played with the idea of trying to run a local 5K yesterday. However, that turned out to be a wildly optimistic projection of how I would feeling after his two days in the hospital. But, I did manage a really easy 3 mile run in the afternoon that helped my mood a great deal. I tend to get a little cranky when I'm tired.
Today is a rest day, and I am hoping that it will give me the recovery I need to get in several fairly hard training sessions this week. I have a 6 mile hill workout planned for tomorrow; a 50 minute tempo run planned for Thursday; and, a 10 mile long run on the half marathon course planned for the weekend, with cross training on the bike scheduled for two of the days.
Something that I've noticed about recovering from my tendinitis is that my confidence in my ability to complete harder runs has been really shaken, and it is affecting my performance. I am hoping that the confidence returns over time.
Aquarius, your parkrun did sound rather chaotic. That is the problem with multi lap routes, the slower runners/walkers get lapped, and the lappers get annoyed by them impeding them. My summer Brockenhurst parkrun is 4 laps round the college playing fields, but there are no pinch points to contend with. The winter run is in Wilverley Inclosure and is just the one lap. It does allow buggies and runners with dogs to partake, and is open to the general public with their dogs, and also horse riders. The college run doesn't allow any of those.
Sorry to hear that you had to give the Gibside Great Run a miss. I think that it was a wise decision though. I hope the winds drop tomorrow, so that you are able to get out for a run. Your sore sole was quite likely to have been caused by running on concrete, after mainly running off road. That is why I try to run in the forest as often as possible.
Molly, that's a coincidence that you live near a Portsmouth Naval Base.
It's Sarah F that I do the parkruns with.
It sounds like Brian is having a tough time of it. I'm hoping that in 6 weeks, his treatment will have been found to have been successful.
I think that you definitely need today's rest day to help you cope with your planned hard training sessions. Your feelings of a lack of confidence to complete harder runs is perfectly natural. I didn't do any speed work for at least 12 months after my meniscus tear, and then only very gradually. I still haven't done any road races; they have all been multi terrain.
I ran 9.5 miles on roads this morning with the two Sarah's. I might be doing the Dibden Doddle on Thursday with Sarah F, and then we intend doing the Wilverley Inclosure parkrun on Saturday.
Wtnmel: Stepping stones frequently get tipped over or even washed away in a flood. I remember crossing the River Wharfe, in shorts, and finding one or two none negotiable, so finished up wading and hanging on to the sunken stones for support. It meant a long detour otherwise. It was January so my legs were a bit numb by the time I'd crossed.
Molly: My partner has been running alone in the Yorkshire Dales for over 30 years, still does, so far without incident. In the past she would run up to 10 miles in trackless places, often after work as it was coming dark, with no worries. I haven't heard of anyone being approached or abducted in her neck of the woods but, like me, she avoids roads and cars.
Hillstrider: Yes, I know you run the hills but didn't think your southern Parkruns could be as hilly as ours. Believe me, Cliff Castle in Keighley is a killer, one I'll avoid in future. Interested to hear you ran bits of the Great South Run in a resistant wind. You wouldn't have got my partner to run with you, she hates the wind and usually sings a little moany song. I don't mind it, so long as it's dry and isn't driving rain. It all adds to the great outdoor experience.
WtnMel, thanks. I take no notice of the Garmin Connect observations. For example, after an easy pace run, it will often read "this was harder than your usual efforts," and visa versa. I'm still not up to averaging 9 minute miling on training runs, but have in races.
Sounds like a nice long walk on Sunday, and for you, a disappointing garmin reading for your 5 mile run.
Hope your car service was straight forward, with no unexpected costs.
Runningfox, you are correct, the hills in the New Forest are like pimples compared with in your neck of the woods!
It was always windy along the sea front at Southsea, blowing in one direction or the other.
When it was high tide, the wind would sometimes blow the waves over the sea wall, which was a bit scary.
This morning was a spinning session which comprised mainly hill climbing, but concluded with 2 sets of 8 x 20 seconds flat out, with 10 seconds recoveries.
Thank you to everyone for your best wishes for Brian's recovery. He seems to be doing a better each day. But, keeping him quiet is a challenge.
HS, I apologize for confusing the Sarahs. I do like that you have different Sarahs for different types of runs.
I'm glad to know that the anxiety I am feeling around harder runs is natural at this point. Whenever my legs start feeling really fatigued in a run, I find that I am becoming somewhat irrationally concerned. Though, I am unclear as to what the specific concern is. After all, I am pretty sure that my legs won't actually fall off me, or give out completely. I suspect that I'll start trusting my legs again, as I start pushing them over time.
Great job on your 9.5 miler this morning. My fingers are crossed for your parkrun times this week.
WtnMel, Your walks with the Ramblers sound really delightful. Good job on mostly avoiding the mud.
It sounds like you are pretty close to gaining a consistent 10 min pace. I bet it will sneak up on you without your realizing it.
I always find it very irritating when my Garmin informs me that what I thought was a really tough workout only had a moderate impact on my fitness, or, even worse, only maintained it. Whether or not the algorithm for the workout impact is bunk, my dysfunctional dependency on my Garmin means that I really enjoy the affirmation of 'highly impacting'.
RunningFox, It is heartening to hear of lovely spots where it is safe to run alone. In a few years, we hope to be able to relocate for our winter months. I am already looking for that spot in the US that has the magical forests such as HillStrider runs in, and glorious countryside as is shown in your photos. However, I'm not sure that there is any spot in the US where I will feel comfortable running completely alone.
I saw in your bio that you had quite an achievement in the Fell Running Championship. I always wanted to try a fell race. I read about them a few years ago and they sound quite fun and quite difficult.
I did a six mile, hill training, treadmill run this morning. I didn't quite manage to run all of the percent increases as planned. I had to make it a little easier for the fifth mile. But, all in all, I'm pleased. It was a definite improvement from a year ago.
Molly, I suppose it must be a bit confusing with the two Sarah's. Lucky that their surnames don't begin with the same letter😁
Well done for your 6 mile hill training on the treadmill, which you say was a definite improvement from a month ago. It's always very satisfying when you are able to feel the improvements.
Aquarius, I also chuckled at Runningfox's remarks about 4 people changing in a steamed up car. It reminded me of the lunchtime runs we used to do when I worked in the Establishment at the top of Portsdown Hill. One of the runs passed a rather obscured lay by where sometimes a car would be parked that was rocking. Obviously not a married couple😮
Yes, I did the Dibden Doddle this morning with Sarah F and about a dozen other club mates. We ran 8.26 miles in the forest. It was bright and sunny , but 30 degrees Fahrenheit on my Garmin. The ground was still very muddy, with thin layers of ice in the many puddles, which cracked underfoot.
Hope you enjoy this evenings family meal, to celebrate your recent birthday.
Your training on Tuesday and today was very impressive and will certainly produce results. I don't know how you could forget the one minute recoveries between sets🤨 The recoveries are one thing that I never forget, as I need them!
As mentioned above, I ran the Dibden Doddle this morning, and yesterday ran an uneventful 6.6 miles on roads.
Aquarius, Brian goes back to work on Monday
Congratulations on your interval training session, though I'm not sure it counts as intervals if you skip the recovery periods. I'm pretty sure that you've graduated into an altogether harder level of training! How is your foot feeling?
I hope that you have a wonderful birthday dinner with your family this evening. I'm pretty sure that you deserve double helpings of cake after today's workout!
HS, Well done on the Dibden Doddle with a temperature of 30F. Now, I don't have any excuse to avoid my long run this weekend, when the temperature here is supposed to be about the same. When do you expect the temperature to start warming up where you are?
How was the book about Zatopek? Did you enjoy it as much as you had hoped? (Thanks to Columbo for making me realize my misspelling of his name.)
In my head I am now thinking of the two Sarahs as Marathon Sarah (H) and Parkrun Sarah (F)
We were snow free for a few days this week and I had hopes of getting outside for a tempo run this afternoon. However, It started snowing last night, followed by icy sleet for most of the morning. By the afternoon everything was covered with 6-12" of icy sludge. So, I chose the treadmill over the outdoors for my run. For the sake of my sanity, I converted the 50 minute run from a boring steady tempo pace into a progression run, where I increased my pace at 5 minute intervals for the first 30 minutes and then reversed the progression for the next 20 minutes. Halfway through the run I began to feel a little nauseous, and I had to stop running for a few seconds. I strongly suspect that the unwell feeling was due to my incredibly poor choice of choosing a really heavy and spicy bean stew for my lunch before I got on the treadmill.
Tomorrow is a rest day, and I hope to get outside for a 10 mile long run on either Saturday or Sunday.