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As he is returning to running after a three year lay off (due to atrial fibrillation, hopefully now corrected by an op last Christmas) he’s just taking it easy on his comeback. Although we think the AF may be better now Steve is still experiencing symptoms, although slightly different ones. He hasn’t been able to get a follow up appointment with the hospital due to Covid so we’re not sure how much he can attempt, however the hospital have told him to try exercising again to see how he manages, hence the C to 5k programme.
You’re not turning into Victor Meldrew, btw, you’re turning into my husband. (Although that’s probably the same thing). 😄
RM, that's an unusual workout. However, as a general principle I think it's good to 'shock' the body with non-standard training (within reason!). I've never fully bought into the very long, very slow run regime (cursed with a low boredom threshold!) and I found that my 5k time benefitted (more) from short sharp sessions.
The Achilles (see above) is sore today just to illustrate that I don't really know what I'm talking about when it comes to training and injury prevention (or rather, management).
Going to try a continuous 30 minute row for the first time (I'm not one for long rows either!) this evening while watching the draw for the next round of the FA Cup. I know how to have a good time.
JB, thanks! I'm pleased with that, the highest since I've been looking at that stat. I want to improve my WAVA now; I've just scraped up to 71%, but when I reach age 75 next month this should improve.
You've definitely slowed for that 6 mile, I think I can run at that pace for that distance. You need to do some LSD runs if you want to run faster at the longer distances.
WtnMel, I'm glad to hear that your waistline isn't expanding, just a different sizing. I haven't worn my cap, or woolly hat these last few days as it has turned much milder. I won't wear a cap in the rain in future, as if you remember, the last time the heavy rain ran down the peak and into my eyes, giving me glue eyes. I suppose I could wear it back to front, but I don't fancy that.
On the subject of jumping down stairs, I used to do that as a youngster. I'd start with one stair, and get higher one step at a time, to see how many I could jump. I can't remember now how many I managed, but I think it was probably about half a dozen. It's a wonder I didn't go through the floor, but I didn't weigh much then, of course.
I've just checked the Vo2max tables and your 41 in the 60+ category is classed as excellent. The range for excellent is 36.5 - 44.2. The superior category is + 44.2. There is no 70+ category.
Good to hear that your knee is feeling better now, so no more jumping down stairs🤣
I hope things aren't too chaotic tomorrow and Wednesday whilst the decorators are at work!
Hi Aquarius, I think we are all "ticking along nicely," thank you!
Glad to hear that you and Steve are still doing the couch to 5k programme, and that Steve is making good progress. Hope Steve successfully manages week 7 again, so that you can move on to week 8.
I think that those that enjoy "the hunt" are in the Donald Trump mould, need I say more!
It's weird how contracts seem to expire at round about the same time, and bills also arrive within a few days of each other.
I'm afraid that Trump is going to be a pain in the backside, until he is forcibly removed from the Whitehouse by the FBI. He is like a spoilt brat, always wants his own way, and won't listen to anyone.
Redmist, your treadmill speed sessions are really impressive. Do you allow the same recovery time between each distance, or are they all the same? I'm sure that these sessions will lead to improvement on the road. You are probably seeing improvements to you aerobic and anaerobic status.
JB again, sorry to hear that your Achilles is still sore, but that area can take quite a while to recover. Too much speed work won't help. I know that you don't like long slow distance LSD runs, but once a week might help, as you won't be stressing it.
Good luck with your 30 minutes row this evening, I would find that boring😁
Havant and Waterlooville have got through the first round of the FA Cup. It's 12 years since they got to, I think, the 4th round where they were knocked out by Liverpool, having scored first.
Sarah F and I have entered the virtual Oakhaven 10 mile off road race, which has to be run on Sunday 15th. I ran 10 miles in the forest this morning with Andy to attempt to plot a suitable course for us. I will have to tweak it though, as "my cunning plan" backfired. I had decided that miles 7,8 and 9 would be on the Saturday 5k course, but I hadn't realised that much of it had been turned into a mud bath, plus lots of deep puddles etc. so will have to think again.
Aquarius - lovely to 'see' you and thanks for popping in to let us know how you are. Glad to hear the C25K thing is going well, despite Steve having to step back a week. I've been caught up in a hunt before now - you're right about the cacophony of noise from the dogs. I know what you mean about the boring, but necessary, job of getting quotes for car and house insurance. For what it's worth, last time I checked around, Churchill were the most competitive. We have to have our broadband from BT as we don't have any alternatives - but I was able to beat them down by comparing what they were quoting me to renew to what they offer new customers. As regards gas and electric, a couple of years ago I got fed up with British Gas - I shopped around and eventually settled on Avro Energy who seemed the best value at the time. I was wondering how Molly was feeling now that Biden has won (bigly?)
Redmist - well done re the speedwork session (my last tempo run was probably the club's 5k challenge). We find plenty to watch on tv - so much so, we are currently using up all 32 recording slots on the main recorder. Some of them are things for Mrs Wm - some for both of us. Luckily I have a spare recorder we were given when we renewed with BT - which I uses for 'my' stuff (athletics, Moto GP, fly-on-the wall documentaries and the like). Mrs Wm sometimes comments on what's being said on tv - trouble is, I can't often hear her over the tv so have to pause the recording!
JB - good luck with the 30min rowing session. Watching the draw for the FA Cup eh? Footie isn't something I follow. So as an ex-resident of Swindon with no interest in their exploits (though work colleagues were always complaining about how useless they were), I couldn't suppress a smirk when I heard they had been knocked out by lowly opposition. On the other hand, I gathered from the local news this morning that Cheltenham had gone through to the next round.
We've been continuing to move stuff out of the kitchen and dining room today in readiness for the decorators who arrive at 8:30am tomorrow. Mrs Wm is 'pottering' about in the kitchen, emptying the stand-alone fridge (moving stuff herself so she knows where to find it!). I've been doing my bit by moving other stuff upstairs out of the way. Case in point - the wine rack in the under-stairs larder. That was 'interesting' as it is a very tight fit (less than an inch clear either side). At first I couldn't work out how I had manoeuvred it in there in the first place - then I realised I needed to lift it clear of the skirting boards and that was enough to let me swivel it out. We're going to stay upstairs out of the way while the decorators are here - we've bought a 2nd kettle so we can make ourselves tea and coffee without needing the kitchen. And will probably need to make a 'packed lunch' to have upstairs too!
Planning to run early tomorrow morning - 10% chance of rain so hopefully it will stay dry while I'm out.
RM: I don't actually follow any published training regime. It's normally something I make up myself, the main aim being to vary the training and thus maintain interest and motivation. For example, this evening I'll be trying out a couple of neat forearm exercises I discovered on YouTube, using a golf club. Should at least keep me away from the pull-up bar for a day or so. I'm with you on the slow runs. I know it's supposed to be good to incorporate these runs into a training regime but it just feels counter intuitive. I've always had this, 'If it's not hurting, it's not doing you any good' approach to training.
hillstrider: Yes, all of my rests between runs are the same; approximately 2 minutes. I will keep doing the sessions until the gains stop or I get bored and find another pain inducing variant.
Good luck with the Oakhaven 10 miler, although, going off your training, I doubt you'll need it.
WtnMel: I tend to spend more time on YouTube than TV these days, as I can find any music I want to listen to or ideas/inspiration for new exercises/training and, more recently, listening to hilarious clips of Count Arthur Strong.
Hope the decorating goes well and speedily, so that you can get back to something that resembles normality.
I didn't get out for my early run as there were a few things left to move out of the dining room before the decorators arrived. They're here now - and are beavering away as I type - so I can head out for my run now. They're only supposed to be here today and tomorrow - there's two of them so things will get done a lot quicker than if it was just me doing it.
Will reply to yours and others later.
Just seen my last post and spotted a senior moment. I've started messaging myself by the looks of it. Think that should be read JB 😋
Good that you were able to get out for a run.
When I had my bungalow decorated a few years ago, I was living in my main bedroom for one day. They very kindly moved the TV into the bedroom so I had something to look at.
I find YouTube handy for the "how do you" videos.
Redmist, I agree with you, no pain, no gain! This seems to be "out of fashion" nowadays, but it has served me well over the years.
Thanks re the Oakhaven 10 miles. We won't be going for any particular time, but will run it hard. Conditions will be tough, as I discovered during Monday's recce. I think we will navigate as we go along, trying to avoid the worse terrain.
Today is a rest day, but I did my Tuesday "strong man" walk back from the supermarket with two heavy shopping bags in each hand. This is getting easier now, so I must be getting stronger.
RM, no pain no gain indeed! If I look at You Tube I always seem to end up watching crime documentaries. Talking of which, I watched the Trials of Oscar Pistorius on BBC. Extraordinary stuff and worth checking out if anyone has got a gap to fill in their day.
Mel. good luck with the decorators. Do we get to see the before and after pictures?
So today, went out to rescue my reputation with a 'respectable' 6 miles. No chatting to a training partner and used the nice, flat (if windswept!) prom. 48.48 was better than Sunday and under my 50 minute target, Mrs JB did 5K too. Quite busy along the prom including quite a few runners and one nutter telling everyone we live in a 'fascist state', and haranguing a couple for wearing their poppies.
HS - yes, I'm afraid I didn't see your post which crossed with mine. I guess if you did wear your baseball cap backwards it would make you look younger 😆 I think I may have managed six steps when I was younger. Good to know my Vo2 max score puts me in the excellent category (polishes halo). Sorry to hear that route you plotted had turned into a mud bath. Glad to hear you are still doing your solo efforts of World's Strongest Man with your 'shopping bags' challenge.
Redmist - I'm the opposite to you regards the licence fee .. I can't bear the thought of adverts on all channels and would consider that 'dumbing down' and it mutating to an American-style of tv. But I do get equally fed up with the inane fillers and trails. My particular gripes are some of the 'Oneness' short-films between programmes and the (to me!) moronic sounding continuity announcers .. I don't want to know what they think, just to tell us what's coming next (not that I need that of course because I've already been through the Radio Times and worked out what I want to record to watch later (sorry! - rant over!). I think I fall somewhere in the middle re training - I enjoy pushing myself on occasions but am equally happy plodding around building up the mileage.
JB - I vaguely remember when I lived in Swindon, a big match taking place. We lived in 'Old Town' which is approx. 1ml from the football ground and could hear the Swindon fans singing "Come on you reds" when we stood outside. I was lucky regards the 'Magic Roundabout (as it's known locally) - they had created one in Hemel Hempstead where I worked at the time so I was used to being able to drive the 'wrong' way round one. The trick is to remember to give way to the right at all ties - but driving around it anti-clockwise certainly feels odd the first few times. I can certainly post some before/after photos of the dining room if anyone is interested. And I'll try and post some photos of the Magic Roundabout for anyone who has no idea what we're talking about.
The decorators aren't causing too much disruption and we're quite enjoying 'camping out' upstairs. They are a couple of 'mature' ladies (40-50's) who have been doing it for years so just come in and get on with it. They did the ceilings in the dining room and kitchen yesterday as well as the white paintwork and dining room walls. Today they're doing the kitchen (less walls, more cupboards - so not as long a job) .. and another coat in the dining room so they are confident they'll be finished on time today. There are one or two 'splashes' of paint on the ceiling lights in the kitchen but nothing that wouldn't be there if I was doing it myself. Margaret is going to see if she can persuade her son to come over to help me shift some of the heavier furniture back into position.
One of my clubmates is coming over tomorrow morning so we can have a SD'd run and he can help me get over the psychological barrier of 6mls. I've devised a 6.2ml route from my house and he's planning to get to me at 6:30am so we can run without too many other people around. I may be returning the favour next week (weather permitting).
For those who remember her, I had a message from Molly. They are relieved that Biden has won but are anxious that he's not going to go quietly and she mentioned 'crazies' who are stockpiling food, guns & ammo and turning up to protests with guns & rifles. I think she and the rest of the US are just holding their breath until Joe takes over in January.
It's never really bothered me and certainly never interferred with my running/racing. I take a blood thinner - Apixaban - and wear a medical alert on my wrist to warn anyone in case I have an accident. The only time I'm aware of it is sometimes when I lay on my left side in bed. I become conscious of my heart missing beats, then racing to catch up! I turn over rather quickly!
I’ve tried to post a link here to the British Heart Foundation regarding AF and the ablation procedure. Hope the link works🙂
https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/treatments/ablation
Thanks, our time will be much slower than our epic Hayling Island 10 miler. It will be all off road, and heavy rain is forecast.
Well done for this mornings 6 miles, that time was very respectable. Well done also to Mrs JB for her 5k.
There are some real dick heads out there. A couple of days ago, one of our lady runners was reduced to tears by an ignoramus calling her a fat cow and that she was making a groove in the road. If any us had been with her, we would probably have given him a good seeing to.
WtnMel, talking about wearing my cap back to front making me look younger, I haven't shaved for a couple of days, and will see what it looks like in a few days time. I had a moustache for several years, back in the days when they were fashionable, and let it "sprout" into a beard. I didn't keep the beard for very long as people said I looked like a policeman.🤔
I'm afraid Monday's 10 mile was a bit of a damp squib. Sarah and I will have to work out the course as we go along. We are quite familiar with the forest in the region we will be running, so will work something out.
I remember the magic roundabout in Hemel Hemstead. I drove round it several times when I lived in Aylesbury. It certainly was a bit confusing the first time.
I hope you will be happy with the end result when the decorator's have finished. I presume, being that they had years of experience, that they used dust sheets etc.
Good luck with tomorrows 6.2 mile run with a club mate. I'm sure that running with someone will help you to run quicker.
Yes, I remember Molly. It must be awful living in the States. The orange man is going to cause chaos before he is dragged kicking and screaming out of the White House by the FBI. He is calling for rallies by his supporters, who will no doubt take to the streets with their guns and rifles. It could turn into a blood bath.🤬
Aquarius, there are always nutters that refuse to respect the 2 minutes silence. I remember when I was a youngster, that cars and buses used to stop, and pedestrians would stand still. I know the traffic was much lighter in those days, but people had more respect. I have memories in recent years of motor cyclists deliberately revving up their engines. Both of my grandfathers were in the first world war, and my mum and dad in the army in the second world war. My maternal grandfather lied about his age and signed up for the marines aged 15, or so he said. I'm afraid that todays teenagers aren't made of the same stuff.
"Going forward," I agree with you about peoples responses. Have you noticed that people are saying two times, instead of twice! Another saying I hate is "at this moment in time" instead of "now."
Thanks for your comments re the shopping and the rather wet and muddy 10 mile reconnaissance on Monday. I probably won't see Sarah until Sunday, as she has had to work more days due to a colleague being off work due to an ankle injury. She is a midwife, and the NHS need all the staff that they can get. We won't find it too difficult to find a course as we go along. It won't be quick, as the forecast is heavy rain, which will make conditions worse than Mondays.
We will be giving Saturday's 5k a miss, but will note the time we pass 5k on Sunday, and submit that. A few of our runners have been doing this, as they are finding 5k every week to be getting boring.
Todays' Club isolation training session was 6 x 400 metres with 30 seconds recovery. This was my best session since my injury in 2017. My quickest rep was at an average pace of 7.28 minute miling, so I'm very pleased with that. Wednesdays structured training and Saturdays 5k's seem to be paying dividends.
Glad that you are still keeping an eye on us Runningfox! I hope that you are not finding life boring now that you are not running, but I'm sure that you are finding plenty to keep you occupied.
I get out very little now, hardly ever leave the house other than for numerous hospital appointments (if they remember to book transport for me). Plus a wee bit of gardening and feeding the birds! Shopping and medication are all delivered to my door. My next door neighbours have been isolating with the dreaded virus. Dunno where they caught it, they don't talk to me!
My partner lives 45 miles away. We were together for a few days every fortnight until the latest lockdown began. She still runs 4 miles or so most mornings, weather permitting , and sends me beautiful sunrise pictures from the Yorkshire Dales. She's only 75!
Aquarius, that's great news that Steve managed to run for the entire 25 minutes yesterday and again today. Hopefully he will now be able to move on to the next weeks schedule.
Good that you are still doing the yoga sessions. I'm doing some of the exercises from the RW magazine, as well as press-ups and the front plank.
It's surprising that we see so few birds and squirrels in the forest. Plenty of ponies, cows and donkeys, although we haven't seen any donkeys lately. There haven't been any pigs in our neck of the woods either, but we did see some on the drive back through Brockenhurst the other week.
Thankfully, the runner that was abused seems ok, as we saw her running towards us in the forest the other day with another lady who I didn't recognise, and she was smiling and said hello. Unfortunately we couldn't stop to speak because of the covid restrictions. That is the problem running with our garmins, because on Strava it records who we were running with, and we have to keep well away from anyone but the person we are running with.
We won't be too worried about our times on Sunday, but will enjoy the run, despite the expected conditions. I wore my new Salomons for Mondays 10 mile recce which I probably mentioned in a previous post, and they didn't let any water in. I will be wearing them again on Sunday, as I am anticipating lots of mud, water and hidden roots.
I ran a recovery pace road run this morning with Sarah H for 5.2 miles.
She is off work again as she is a beautician, and had to shut the salon down again during this lockdown.
I will take Friday and Saturday as rest days from running.
Take care everyone!
Aquarius - I'm with you regarding people who start their sentences "So .." - really irritating! Hadn't noticed the prevalence of "Look .." but expect I will now
RF - I don't have any heart problems to speak of but I do notice I can feel my heartbeats when laying on my left side in bed. Luckily for me, I find it easier and prefer to sleep on my right side - where the same thing doesn't happen. Margaret and I only lived 12 miles apart when we were LATties (living apart together) before I was invited to move in with her.
HS - think I'd have been the same .. if I was with any of our lady runners and they got abused I think we'd be over there to sort out the idiot calling her names. My son asked me last week if I ever tried growing a beard. I did when I was younger but it didn't amount to much and was patchy. He said now would be an ideal time (Movember) if only to see if I could grow one now and whether it would be silver/grey like my hair. I was there when the Hemel Hempstead magic roundabout opened - lots of men in white coats holding back the traffic and then letting us all go at the same time. Needless to say, we were 40 mins late for work that morning. Yes, the decorators used lots of dust sheets - they were very efficient but today we've found a few paint splashes (they must have been rushing to finish!). Well done re your recent intervals session and this morning's recovery run - enjoy your rest days before Sunday's planned run.
Can't remember now if I mentioned we got a new bird feeder? With this new one, we've fitted a baffle that's supposed to stop squirrels (a dome shaped plastic device below the feeders that they're not supposed to be able to be able to get around). Since I posted a photo of it on Facebook, my late brother's 'ex' who I'm still in vaguely in touch with, has been posting various links to videos including a squirrel completing an assault course (I bet he drinks Carling Black Label remarks an owl watching him). Not too many birds using it yet but I believe it usually takes a week or two for them to realise and visit it regularly .. but I've not noticed any squirrels on it either.
My clubmate Forrest drove over to my house this morning and we set off for a SD'd run at 6:30am. The idea was for me to get over the psychological 5ml limit I seem to have set myself this year. Anyway, with his company, and being able to chat on the way round, the miles flew by and we managed just over 6mls. That's the furthest I've run since 2nd Jan. I know it's not a 'long' run by any means but it did me good to have him there encouraging me on and we even managed a little 'sprint' at the end. Parking is difficult where he lives so all being well, he'll drive over again next week and I'll see if I can devise an 11k route. We may be getting ahead of ourselves but were talking about me gradually building up the mileage and after xmas, maybe put together a plan to do the Cheltenham HM next year if it is able to take place. So - tired but happy best sums up my run.
We've started putting the kitchen and dining room back together. Margaret had to paint the radiators this afternoon (they looked a bit grubby against the new white paintwork!) and I've been putting shelves back in the under-stairs larder and re-fitting the roller blinds. I'll have my energy back tomorrow when I can do the 'real work' of putting the large rug back on the floor and start moving the furniture back in (chest of draws, table & chairs etc.).
Outcomes are that the head injury wasn't as bad as first thought and the Covid test returned a negative but he's got some other sort of nasty bug and is recovering.
Well done on your long run Mel. I find the upside of a running partner is that as you say the miles just fly by; the downside is that the chat makes for a slow run.
HS - your training schedule is exemplary! Yes, the weather and conditions this weekend look grim. Stick to tarmac is my strategy.
Aquarius, good to hear that progress is being made by Steve.
I bought an support bandage for my Achilles yesterday. I wanted a nice tight one. Well I certainly got what I wanted. It was literally a fight to put in on and I think I slightly pulled/tweaked a muscle in the process!
Might get out for a short run tomorrow..................
WtnMel, I'm thinking along the same lines as to whether a beard would be grey now and make me look older, or if it would even suit me. I chickened out and shaved after 3 days, but am going to give it another go. I shaved Thursday morning and will see what it's like Monday morning. I find it difficult to take it easy on non running days and am persevering with all the various stretches etc. I won't do any tomorrow though, as I don't want to risk pulling a muscle.
I believe that you did mention the new bird feeder. I used to have a bird table in the back garden, but over the years the wood rotted and I broke it up. I've never replaced it, but may do one day.
Glad to hear that you had a good run with Forrest, and agree that the miles do seem to go quicker when running with others. Good luck building up the mileage, and hope that the Cheltenham Half Marathon will be held so that you can run it next year.
Be careful that you don't strain your back, moving furniture etc.
JB, oh dear, your grandchildren "do seem to be in the wars!" Thankfully the head injury wasn't as bad as first thought, and the other grandchild's test proved negative, and is recovering from a different bug.
I think the idea of a chatty run is to run slower. LSD runs are essential in my opinion, although not every one agrees. It depends what ones objectives are. Times have changed since the late seventies and eighties, when most runners were "serious runners," whose aims were to beat targets such as sub 60 minutes for 10 miles, and 3 hours for the marathon.
Thanks for your comments re my training. I try to get a balance of speed work and LSD runs. I'm afraid I find road running rather boring except for road races. I do run once or twice a week on roads though, as otherwise, road racing would "be foreign" to the legs.
I hope the support bandage for your Achilles helps. You will soon find out if you do run tomorrow!
JB - sorry to hear about one grandchild hitting her head and the other having to have a covid test .. but pleased to hear both are okay. We purposely set off slower than my usual pace on Thu so that I wouldn't 'blow up' after a few miles. It certainly did the trick and like HS, I'm a firm believer in doing LSR's and building up the mileage without taking much notice of how 'slow' I am running. Hope that tweaked muscle from putting on a support bandage isn't anything too bad.
HS - I don't think I'll be trying to grow a beard again .. found it so itchy when I did try all those years ago! I wish I had your motivation to do stretching and other exercises on my non-running days.
Chatting to my friend Forrest as we ran on Thu, I mentioned about getting calf cramps whenever I did the Bath HM. He suggested I get some compression socks and try running in them. Which reminded me I do have a pair in the dark recesses of my 'running gear' drawer. I'll have to root them out and give them a go.
Talking of tweaked muscles - moving the tall fridge back into position caused me to stretch a bit more than intended when the weight took over. One of my left hamstrings was a bit sore this morning.
However, it didn't stop me running early today and I did just under 4.5mls at a faster pace than Thu. Thankfully there was just a bit of drizzle while I was out - and you could tell it was the weekend as there was hardly anyone else about at 6:45am. And it was only after I got back from my run that the rain started pouring down.
I ordered a book and network cable from Amazon and collected them from the post office this lunchtime. Cue an amusing conversation as follows:
1st Postie: "What's the name please?"
.. which prompted a conversation with the other postie as the first one went to find my parcel about the Roy Chubby Brown version of "Living Next Door To Alice" (Alice? Who the **** is Alice?)
Did you manage to get out for a run yesterday using your Achilles support bandage? I use compression sleeves (as mentioned below) and although they are a bit of a struggle to get on, they feel very supportive once in place. I hope your Achilles bandage does the trick for you.
I’m glad your tweaked muscle didn’t stop you running yesterday, and congratulations for breaking your psychological 6 mile barrier on Thursday. I was recommended to wear compression socks some years ago after a persistent calf injury, but as I have small feet it was decided compression leg sleeves would be better, as the small size in compression socks would probably be too big for me. I wear my compression sleeves most of the time on my runs, particularly if I’m doing trail runs or XC. Whether they actually help or not I don’t know, but I haven’t had a return of that injury since.
WtnMel, I don't remember the beard being itchy all those years ago, but I did find it very fiddly keeping it trimmed. Eventually I decided that it was easier to shave it off, and have a quick shave each morning. I'll see what it's like in the morning, to decide whether to shave it off.
I've never worn compression socks, but some of our club runners do and say that they help.
Good to hear that your slightly tweaked hamstring didn't prevent you from running yesterday, and at a faster pace than Thursday.
I think that was a classic, you and the postie, Alice, who the xxxx is Alice. I'm impressed that you remembered it was Roy Chubby Brown that sang it.
Aquarius, sorry to disappoint, but we didn't do the virtual Oakhaven 10 miles in the forest this morning. Sarah F decided that she wanted to do the 5k on Saturday after all, and as the forecast for Sunday was dire, that we should do it on Monday. We did the 5k on an earlier, hilly road route, meaning that Sunday would be a rest day. We are now committed to the 10 mile in the forest, irrespective of the weather, and state of the forest tomorrow.
Sorry to hear that both your grandchildren had similar injuries, but nothing serious.
Well done with your negotiating skills. I believe that Insurance Companies these days, expect a bit of haggling. It's the same with car dealers, they always put a high price on the windscreens, in the knowledge that potential buyers will negotiate. I learnt negotiation skills during my years in the civil service, which were mainly in procurement departments, where I had to obtain value for money, not necessarily the cheapest price.
That's good to hear that Steve is now ready to proceed to week 8 of the couch to 5k programme, and that you are still doing the Pilates classes.
I've made the most of my rest day today, by firstly doing a series of stretches, including the front plank and 20 press ups, and then a thorough clean in the kitchen, included the cooker hob and oven.
I'm looking forward now to running the 10 miler with Sarah tomorrow, and will do a report.
Aquarius - sorry to hear your grandchildren have been in the wars too. Yay! \o/ .. to the umming and ahhing doing the trick and making the customer services person speak first and make a better offer so they hit their target. It's a good tip isn't it? Yes - that BT 'special deal' sounds like mine. BT are buggers for making things more complicated on purpose to confuse you. I will try out those compression socks when I run on Tue - I'm used to slightly more padded socks so hope they work out okay. I saw on Strava you'd been out again and glad to hear Steve managed it without stopping.
HS - I struggled to remember Smokie .. once I'd remembered them, Roy Chubby Brown came to mind quite quickly. I don't blame you not doing the Oakhaven 10 with the way the weather was. You mentioning car dealers expecting you to haggle reminds me of when I bought my Fiesta .. I stuck to my guns, kept pulling a face whenever they mentioned an improved price and eventually we got to something closer to what I expected to pay and got almost £2000 of the original 'best price'. Ummm .. I've not run today but haven't done any exercising either
We've got our kitchen and dining room straight again after the decorating and have now started looking at emptying the conservatory whenever we can arrange to get the decorators back. The main thing will be emptying the bookcase and moving it .. everything else should be fairly easy to shift.
Although I'm not an 'Apple' person Margaret says her ipad has been getting slower lately. She's had it a while (its an Ipad 2 from 2011) so I've done some searching and have a list of things to check/do that are supposed to help. With the 'nuclear' option of performing a factory reset at the bottom of the list. Mind you, she's saw an article in the weekend papers about the best tablets and although there are obviously more expensive, newer, better spec ipads around, she had her eyes on an ipad 8 which is a reasonable price at around £330 if the old one still seems slow after me tweaking a few things.
I saw on Strava that HS did his virtual Oakhaven 10 - look forward to hearing about that.
I've been doing some 'cross-training' today in the form of raking up leaves. The weekend wind and rain meant there were three more bag's worth of leaves which had come off the tree. They've been put behind the shed with the other three bags from last week to rot down over the Winter.
We've just had our local U3A AGM held using Zoom and it worked very well. Everyone stayed muted so there was no cacophony - and we were able to hear all the speakers clearly and they had even worked out how to let us vote on the various agenda points. Apparently, they are hoping to hold some open meetings in the new year with guest speakers - again, using Zoom until such time as we can get back together in person.
The laptop and the Garmin have now mended themselves (how does this happen?) and the Achilles has benefitted from a rest for a few days. Hoping to get out and give it a workout soon.
Thanks for all the good wishes for the grandkids especially from Aquarius who appears to have similar problems.
On the beard discussions, I grew one when I was about 21. I went to visit a mate who I'd not seen for a few months. When he saw me he just laughed. I told him that it would grow on him. He replied that it certainly wasn't growing on me! This rather put me off (I'm a fragile sort of chap) and I only got as far as a goatee for a few days and then it would come off. Eventually, I took the plunge and have 'owned' my beard for about 10 years. It does make me look a bit older (I think) and kind of grizzled. However, Mrs JB likes it (it has, er, grown on her) and I absolutely hate shaving. So it's staying.
The other day Mrs JB dragged am along to the allotment. I'm not a natural but enjoy it when I'm there. She doesn't trust me to do anything other than basic unskilled thing. This task: to clear a very small bed of grass, brambles and bracken. Out come the pickaxe. I thought I was quite fit. I can do silly amounts of upper body exercises. Forget it: an hour swinging a pick axe to far more of a workout. I was totally spent but.......... I felt like a man. (I could find one so had to make do wih a bag of chips on the way home.)
WtnMel, was it Smokie and the Miracles? I may have made that up, but it seemed to ring a bell.
You did very well with your haggling with the car dealer. I didn't haggle when I bought my current cat Volkswagen Up, because I was offered £200 more for my old Ford Fiesta than I expected, and the dealer showed me two price comparison sites for the model I was considering buying, so it seemed a good deal.
Good that you have got your kitchen and dining room straight now after the decoration.
I've had my Toshiba laptop for more than 3 years, probably 4 or 5 and it does take longer to fire up these days. Every week I delete visited history, temporary files etc but feel that it is time to get a new one. I believe Toshiba no longer manufacture laptops, so will probably have to get a different model. I must give my maintenance contract manager a ring, to see if he is on "the essential workers" list, and if so pay him a visit.
Raking the leaves must have been very hard work, as they must have been damp and therefore heavy.
Good to hear that your latest zoom meeting went well.
This mornings virtual Oakhaven 10 mile multi terrain run went really well, and we were pleased that we had decided to move it from Sunday. Conditions underfoot were not as bad as expected, although there was lots of mud and water to negotiate. We ran together all the way except for the last half k or so, where we decided to sprint to the finish. We dead heated! Our finish time was 1.51, which we thought in the conditions was very good.
Managed 3 miles today: 23.07 with half of it into a very stiff wind (which of course means that half of it was with a very stiff wind): hence 1st mile 7.17, last mile 8.06 which sums it up really. Quite pleased though.