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Aquarius - yes, I was a bit fed up yesterday .. mostly at my own stupidity. I've written at length below the current state of play regarding my back & glutes so won't repeat it here. Re the touch-typing I guess I reached some sort of plateau of 12wpm and needed to improve a bit. However, the course has been programmed to note that as well as improving my speed, I was much more accurate (97%) than the limit being suggested (80%). I guess the thinking is, work on speed to begin with and make the touch-typing feel second nature and then later on in the course, work on ironing out any inaccuracies. Good news that you have an appointment booked for your covid jab. With no Grandma school here (or even Grandad Mel school) we sometime lapse into unstructured days. But with various zoom chats scheduled, self-study subjects, training courses and the like, we've not succumbed yet to watching tv for hours because we've no idea what else to do.
JB - thankfully, my knee feels better today. And I'm also thankful I don't get migraines - in fact, I think I've only had one in my life. You mentioning your tax bill and that reminds me I must get around to checking my 2019-20 tax. When I checked online last week, the HMRC website said I had paid the correct amount. But I'm sure when I checked my P60's against the tax code I'd been assigned, I had overpaid. It will be a pain to go back through my P60's yet again but I have the idea HMRC may have had the wrong figures supplied to them (I think I had some revised P60's sent to me). I can see a 40 mile round trip would be do-able if you wanted to get your jab sooner rather than later. In fact, in these current circumstances, a trip to get your jabs probably counts as a day out
HS - the physio appointment went well (see below). Glad to hear the calf is better today. As I mentioned to Aquarius, by not concentrating on being so accurate, I've been able to increase my typing speed enough to move on with the course.
The appt at the physio this morning was good. She sympathised with my knee hurting after trying to run but agreed, I shouldn't have, since I hadn't been doing any strengthening exercises to protect my knee. My back/glutes are still a bit 'tight' and after getting me to do various stretches/bending said my lumbar spine is still not as mobile as it should be, especially the left side. So she's recommended I forget about running for the time being. She worked on my back and it feels much freer now. I have some new exercises to do each day to loosen my lumbar spine, to add to the other stretching I am already doing. I'll see her again next week and all being well, I'll be able to slowly re-introduce some strengthening exercises in the coming weeks. Then who knows, I might be able to try running again sometime later in March. I'm resigned to the fact that being older, and not having stretched properly for years, this is a long process that can't be rushed. I've told Margaret I'm going to have to 'nick' some time on her exercise bike as well as trying to walk most days to get me mout of breath and to work up a sweat. That'll please her - more washing!
However, to cheer us all up, I've had notification of the rise in the state pension today, as will we all.
On a more general point, I used to be a real worrier about money. Perhaps it was because we were poor when I was a kid, or that when we had a young family it was - as for most - a real struggle. But now it isn't. If I'd have known then what I know now , I wouldn't have wasted my time worrying myself sick.
So - no running for a bit longer. That's your Olympic dream dashed!
I too did some knee exercises yesterday and I won't say they were a miracle cure but they've helped greatly. he weather forecast here was fab for the weekend - up to 16 degrees and sunshine. When we drew the curtains it was about 8 and about to rain. When we reached the prom there was a very strong cross-wind. Massive anti-climax! I even got cross with the cross-wind which is a bit pointless.
Anyway, managed a 22.52 5K, 74.03% WAVA and can't complain. No 6 Nations rugby today, which is bad news.
*waves* hello to HS and Aquarius for when they pop along again ..
WtnMel, hello, glad to hear that your appointment with the physio went well, and that she has been working on your back freeing it up. You are certainly right in that you can't rush the healing process. Think how long it has taken me to get back into some sort of racing mode.
Good that you have moved on to the next stage of your typing course.
I've been lucky that for many years I hadn't had to submit a tax return. What a performance, when several years ago when a policy expired, I had to declare the interest to the tax man. I used the Gateway and answered all the questions etc but it wasn't straight forward and was very stressful. The following year, they asked me to submit another return, but I was able to convince them that I didn't need to. I have sympathy with the employees that deal with the returns, as I understand that they are lowly paid clerical staff, and the turnover of staff is rapid.
JB, that's good news that our pensions have gone up. I haven't had my notification yet.
That's good to hear the your knee exercises are helping.
Very well done for your 5k this morning, that is an excellent WAVA.
I ran a very easy pace 5.75k on a hilly road course this morning, testing my calf. It was ok, but both legs felt heavy. This seems to be fairly common after rest days. I suppose it is the after effects of the micro tears repairing themselves whilst resting.
Bright, sunny and warm; typical when I decide to take a rest day. I would have run, but tomorrow is a virtual 10k challenge. I won't run it at race pace, as I'm still being cautious about the calf, but knowing me, I will probably push myself.😅
HS - after my problem with having to pay back tax, I had to fill out tax returns for a few years (back in the days when it was a multi-page paper form). But once things had settled down I didn't have to. The only hiccough was when I retired a few years ago and things were a bit up in the air for a while before they settled down again. Glad to hear your calf was okay on yesterday's run. Obviously different weather here than "darn 'sarf" where you are. It was milder when I was out for my walk this morning but it was also drizzling. I'd tell you not to push yourself for tomorrow's virtual 10K challenge but I expect it'll fall on deaf ears 😂
WtnMel, I remember the days when tax returns were by filling in multi paper pages. I think the pages were green, but I may be wrong.
You will be pleased to note that I didn't push myself this morning during the virtual 10k challenge. I ran with Sarah H, who asked me to pace her at 10 minute miling. We averaged 9.56 pace, so she was very pleased with that.
I think you're right about the tax returns being green (or green shading in parts anyway). Because of my tax problems in the past I was in the habit of keeping tax paperwork going back many years in case the taxman decided he'd found something else wrong. But last year I had a de-clutter and only keep the last 7 year's worth nowadays so it will have to continue to be a dim, distant memory.
My car is in the garage today for a full service. You'll remember the problem I had a week or so ago when the offside rear brake had locked on and the brakes generally just didn't feel quite right and were obviously not working 100%. I've just had a call from the garage confirming my suspicions - the rear brakes are a bit dirty and just need cleaning up. But the front discs are badly corroded and the front disc pads are very worn. So I've just given them the okay to replace the discs and pads. That work would need doing next month anyway because the MOT is due and it's unlikely the brakes would pass in theor current condition.
Talking of which, the 'roadmap' (why can't they just say 'plan'?) seems quite sensible to me and not moving too fast. I might not feel the same if I owned a pub, I suppose.
I had a rare go at 10k this morning. 50 minutes is a kind of personal benchmark for this but when I got to the prom with its usual blustery conditions, I nearly had a re-think. Anyway, battled through to do 48.51.
Will sleep well tonight!
Physio tomorrow morning and I'm feeling heaps better than last week - the exercises to get my lumbar spine mobile again have really helped. Obviously I'll be guided by what my physio thinks but my personal plan is to keep up these stretching exercises I've been doing (I have quite a collection now so can ring the changes a bit), gradually re-introduce some leg and core strengthening exercises and perhaps have another go at running again at the end of March.
I'm watching the cricket, England all out for 112! They won the toss and elected to bat. I bet they regret it!
WtnMel, take it easy when you do start running again, and don't be in too much of a hurry to get your speed back.
I often have shredding sessions, as I don't want to leave mountains of paperwork for others to sort out after "I've popped my clogs!" I think I might have said before that a friend of mine died a few months ago, and his wife told me that he had kept 40 years of paperwork. What a nightmare for her.
Good that the garage is replacing the discs and pads, which should ensure that it passes its MoT next month. I have my MoT and service at the same time, so it kills two birds with one stone.
Glad that you are feeling much better now, so hopefully tomorrows session with the physio will be the last.
JB, thanks I didn't have any adverse reactions after the 10k, but did ache a bit yesterday. Today was 5 x two minute hill reps, with recoveries jogging back down. My calf was fine, but I've got a bit of an ache now at the top of my left glute. I think I will try a gentle run tomorrow, to see if it eases it off.
I haven't used my car for about a month, so must try to find an excuse to give it a short run.
Well done for that 10k, 48.51 is excellent. I think that the best I could do now is 55 minutes.
HS - re cricket, I'm afraid my response is .. Zzzzzz. Considering I played cricket as a youngster and later on, was scorer for the local 3rd XI (Tring Park CC), I'm surprised how little interest I have in cricket these days. I won't be rushing back (boom boom!) to starting to run again (see below for an update). I really should be doing shredding more regularly. If you remember the cardboard boxes that photocopier paper came in (they held 5 reams of paper if you remember that too), mine is almost full of financial papers again. When I managed to empty it last year, I vowed I wouldn't let it build up - and look what's happened. I can't imagine wading through 40 years worth of paperwork - I wonder why your friend kept papers for so long? At least with the service this month and the MOT next month, I'm spreading the costs
I saw the physio this morning and she got me to do some stretches (forward, backward, sideways) to check my lumbar spine was more mobile than last week (which it was). Then she did some more work on the muscles in that area and afterwards, could see (and I could feel) an improvement in my mobility. She said she doesn't need to see me again unless I have any further problems. She urged me to take things slowly (I had already decided that for myself) and suggested I keep up the stretching (daily for now; 2/3 times a week longer-term) and maybe re-introduce the gentler strengthening exercises in a week or so. Later on, when I feel ready, I can re-introduce the slightly harder strengthening exercises. She suggested I do the strengthening exercises for at least four weeks before I think of embarking on a C25K run/walk routine to break myself in gently. SO I don't think I'll be trying to run again until the start of April. I need to be patient - trying to undo many years' of not looking after myself takes a while to put right!
WtnMel, I've no idea why my friend kept his paperwork for so many years. Perhaps he didn't have a shredder😁
I did a recce forest run this morning with Sarah F, for Sundays 5 mile off road challenge. It was our first run back in the forest for a week or two, so we were surprised how wet and muddy it was. We had to resort to walking/wading at times, and finally decided that we would use an alternative course for Sunday's virtual race.
Good that you won't have to see the physio again, unless things worsen. In my opinion, it is essential that you persist with all the various stretches that have been advised. As I've said many times before, I still do the stretches every day that my physio gave me 3.5 years ago. Sorry that you won't be walking/running again until the start of April, but if that is the physio's advice, then you would be wise to take it.
I'm feeling quite pleased with myself, as yesterday I set up my Garmin for trail running, with alerts for minimum/maximum pace, and every k and mile. It didn't make me run any quicker though.🏃♀️🏃♂️🤣
Were there a spectrum on keeping stuff v. throwing it out, I'd be very much on the throwing it out side of it.
By another coincidence I've just this minute re-discovered some diaries from 2003-11. They are definitely staying. I've just found out that I'm running faster than I was 15 years ago! Now that's worth keeping! (I was about a stone heavier back then.)
Re injuries, I've got to start nursing my knee and not overdoing it. I'm back doing rowing sessions instead of some runs and I'd be happy if I could run twice a week, with one of the runs being half decent. I reckon that races/events will be back around late June so I'd like to be fit for that.
Get my jab tomorrow. My older son, who was terribly ill back around 2009 (that's one of the diaries I've just been looking at - it's a very painful read) and is consequently 'vulnerable' had a bad reaction his jab. He's a lot better now.
As I've got to 'go west' to lovely Chichester (where I ran my best ever half marathon, although I didn't know it at the time) to get the vaccination, I'll pop into see my big sister. she's in her mid 70s and has been leading a pretty isolated life of late. I could tell she's gone downhill a bit when I spoke to her on the phone. The very sad thing is that 15 years ago, she was noticing the same thing about our mum.
As for that cricket game: oh my word! Not seen a test match like it in my time. As my footie team suffered a total travesty of a result earlier this week I can only imagine it will be 3 bad results in a row with the Welsh beating us on Saturday.
I dipped my toe back into the world of work this week. Got in a right old state and saved from melt-down by the infinite patience of Mrs JB who acted as my admin support. I hope she doesn't sting me for a pay rise!
JB, the oldest diary I could find was 2005; I'm definitely not faster nowadays, far from it. I ran the New Forest 10 miles in 1.21, and 1.33 in 2019. I hope that you are right in your thinking that races/events will be back around the end of June. I'm keeping myself motivated by doing virtual races, which have the advantage of being able to run them locally, without having to drive for miles.
Hope your jab went ok today. Which one did you have? That was good, being able to see your older sister, whilst at Chichester.
The cricket was diabolical, but the pitch was a disgrace. I don't think the pink ball helped either. Apparently it has a waxy coating which would help it spin more than with the old ball. I was a slow bowler and my speciality was the googly. I used to practice bowling in my back garden, and could make the ball turn.
I hope your work experience this week doesn't put you off any future jobs.
A rest day today and typically bright and sunny.
My jab was very efficiently administered as is everyone's it appears. I had the AZ one. One of my neighbours had a bit of a reaction to hers, so I've only provisionally booked a 5k tomorrow. No point running if you feel rough.
The work I pick up nowadays is very occasional. It's a quality assurance role for HE institutions. They requite external advisors to check that they are in line with sector expectations. Don't get the idea that I pick up the phone and it's Oxford or Harvard begging me for my expertise! The places I visit (these days, virtually) are well down the league table - more Huddersfield than Harvard. I quite like the work, partly because when I was full time I was on the other side of the desk and saw it done very badly. I could write a short book on this stuff, but I'll leave it there! (The thing that phases me is that universities' systems: no two are the same and every place thinks that I am fully conversant with theirs, which of course I'm not. I have had several sense of humour outages on this matter!)
But now the big news. I've heard - not officially but from a source I trust - that Parkruns are back from 5th June. That is just such good news. I only hope it's true!
PS watched the latest health broadcast. I'm a big fan of JVT's.
It was bright and sunny this morning, but a very cold wind. I wish that I had worn my gloves. A nice easy pace forest 5k with Sarah F, pre tomorrow's CC6 off road 5 mile virtual challenge.
JB, good that you had a nice day yesterday, and having the will power not to chase a running neighbour.
If you didn't run today, it was probably a wise decision. I had a rest day, the day after my jab.
I imagine the occasional work that you do now, is helping to keep your brain active.
That parkrun news is correct, and the junior parkruns are scheduled to commence 11th April. I think that is for ages 4 to 10. I'm not that confident returning in June, even though I would have had my second jab by then. The Southampton parkrun has over 1,000 runners, so I can't really see how it can be safe, unless somehow, they can limit the numbers of runners.
HS - your friend may not have had a shredder as you can't be too careful these days with identity theft which can come from people throwing away papers with personal details on. I see it was still wet and muddy in the forest a couple of days ago despite the recent drier weather. Glad to hear you 'beat the technology' and were able to set your Garmin up for trail running - I expect the next model will help you run faster.
JB - I can imagine your friend finding it difficult to throw away lecture notes if they have an emotional attachment. Marie Kondo would no doubt say do they bring him joy? If so, maybe he needs to just keep some of them (one or two pages to represent what they stood for) and dump the rest. I've got some old diaries which I'm slowly working through and discarding. All of my details of my running are on spreadsheets and the info has been added to Fetch (www.fetcheveryone.com). The other info (holidays, places visited etc.) I have been transferring to OneNote (a piece of software from Microsoft that can be likened to a scrapbook). I've created a journal with a page per year where I've made notes of various holidays etc. I've definitely become more ruthless about throwing things out lately but there's still lots of stuff hanging around though that shouldn't be. Hope doing some rowing instead of running helps with the knee. Glad to hear your son is better after the bad reaction to the jab and sorry to hear about your sister going downhill a bit. Glad to hear Mrs JB was there to help with the admin re your return to work. I can see you won't be alone in being pleased about parkrun possibly returning in June - but I can't be the only person thinking it's too much, too soon. If I was a park-runner (which I'm not) I would be steering clear for a while yet.
Having said I'm not a park-runner, I did a not parkrun this morning - because I didn't run and I was only briefly near a park 😉😁 Joking aside, it was a lovely walk in the sunshine and my avg pace was faster than previous efforts. I'm continuing with the daily stretching as mentioned last time and I think I may introduce some of the gentler strengthening exercises in a few days time .. but I'll be leaving the bridge exercise for a while yet.
The recent sunshine showed up how dirty the windows were inside (we have someone round to do the outside and he came last week). So I've been round the house cleaning all the windows and needless to say, everything is now sparkling clean. I wouldn't have been able to do that a couple of weeks ago when my back was bad.
The other job I've not been able to do until today is to crawl inside the under-stairs cupboard, stashing away the marmalade that Mrs WM made a few weeks ago.
HS - I did venture out today and tired a flat out 5k - 22,28 in good conditions. About right. Now I'll have 2 or 3 days off to give the knee a rest. Good luck for your run tomorrow. Our local parkrun is 600 on a busy day and I take your point.
Mel - you are very well organised! Like you we've noticed how the bright sunshine makes everything look a bit grubby. Regular visits from grandchildren don't help; indeed we are hanging on to our ancient sofas safe in the knowledge that they can take the punishment! Mrs JB gave the lawn a mow and it makes such a difference. I was too knackered after my run to do any more than stand there dishing out praise!
I have to share with you that my football team were robbed for the second time this week and are now in a relegation dogfight. After watching their latest disaster, I tuned into the rugby only to see another one. I don't turn into a hooligan or anything but I do take my sport far too seriously and always have. Isn't age supposed to bring perspective?
It's funny, as one of my sons (who ran a 20.25 5k this morning with his dad) is a total sporting anorak, The other takes no interest at all. Luckily his line of work interests me greatly, so I can talk about different things with him than with the other one. They had pretty much exactly the same upbringing but are so different. (My own brother is just like me regarding sport, but at the opposite end of the political spectrum.)
Families eh?
Just booked my car for it's MOT - they're doing it on Wed 17th (St Patrick's Day). Am thinking I should get some Guinness in to celebrate it passing (or to drown my sorrows at yet more expenditure to get it through).
WtnMel, I'm very careful to shred or cut up anything with my name, address etc on.
I was really pleased with myself, programming the Garmin for trail running, with all the associated "bells and whistles" It's very helpful when it bleeps to indicate that I'm running below or above the max and minimum paces.
I've found an even older diary, 1993. That was the year that I ran 3 marathons, the third being my all time PB. I was running 50+ miles per week, most weeks, and 60 one week. That's the highest I've ever managed, and nowadays, it's around mid thirties, with the occasional 40+.
It's good that you are now walking quicker and persisting with your stretching. It will pay dividends.
I'm not at all happy about parkruns starting up again in June, and nor are most of my running buddies. We are of the opinion that we will persist with our not a parkruns, for the foreseeable future. Saturday will be our 50th successive run.
Have you tried using damp newspapers to clean your windows, and dry with dry paper. It was my ex father in law that taught me that trick, and I find it especially good on the car windows. Doesn't leave any streaks.
Fingers crossed that your car passes its MoT. I'm going to drive into the village tomorrow to do my shopping. When I ran with Alice on Saturday, she told me that where she hadn't used the car for a while, her battery was flat. Luckily her husband had jump leads, so was able to sort it out.
JB, good to hear that you and Mrs JB had no adverse effects after your jabs.
Well done for another excellent 5k run. That was a great time by one of your sons too.
The virtual CC6 5 mile off road challenge went well yesterday, and I was pleased with 49.28, as my target was sub 50 minutes. I ran with Sarah F, who outsprinted me in the final 100 metres.
This week is going to be a recovery week, as last week was too intense, and we are feeling the effects. I ran a very easy pace 5 miles in the forest this morning with Sarah H.
Mel - Guinness eh? I remember that a bottle of Guinness was my first 'proper' drink. I must have been 15 or 16. The flavour stayed with me for days afterwards but not in a pleasant way. The first time I ever got really drunk was on sweet cider and blackcurrant. I've never had it since!
No run for me today. I'm trying to turn my rowing sessions into something a bit more intense. The 'standard' race distance for all rowing (Olympic to indoor championships) is 2k. My PB since I got my rower is 8.24, Today I managed 8.45. That's quite a variance, but as I was thinking that if I hadn't really run properly for 6 months, I'd expect my running times to have declined, so no surprises that it's happened to my rowing times.
Funnily enough, I reckon I'd run 2k in about the same time. Most rowers would have have far quicker rowing than running times, thus indicating that I'm either
a) a fast runner or
b) a slow rower
Probably a bit of both but TBH mainly the latter.
My son knows a local lad who he was at school with (they are now 33) and who has expressed an interest in joining in our Saturday morning 5k runs. This chap happens to be an ex local elite athlete who was running 30 minute 10Ks at his best and was offered an athletics scholarship in the US! Unfortunately a knee problem ended his serious athletics career - but I'm not sure how he'll feel about pootling along the seafront with an old geezer like me!
PS just checked his best 5k time. 14.27! My goodness me.
HS - carry on being successful programming your Garmin like that and you'll be getting a name at your club as a 'techie guru'. I see you found an old diary from 1993 (28 years ago) and how fast and how far you were running then. I don't have any diaries that old but my running log goes back to 1998 and I see from that, I managed a couple of 5ml runs in just under 45mins (so around 8:45mm pace?). I've not seen much discussion about park-runs re-starting on my club's FB page so don't know what the general feeling is about it. I've not tried the trick of using damp newspapers to clean windows - it seems counter-intuitive but I gather it works and my car windscreen is sometimes a bit murky so probably worth trying it on that. Good that Alice's husband had some jump leads - we have a battery charger that occasionally needs to be used to top our batteries up. Well done re the time for the off-road challenge - shame Sarah F out-sprinted you at the end.
JB - I 'discovered' Guinness many years ago. We'd had a party and I'd got some in and there were some bottles left over. I'd been working in the garden and was desperate for a cold beer - tried the Guinness and thought how nice it was. Prefer the draught version though. I think you're right about the rowing time being a bit slower because you've not done it for a while. Not sure which you are (slow rower/fast runner). That 5k time for the chap that wants to join you is phenomenal - but with the current restrictions he won't be able to join you both at the moment anyway will he?
I walked 2.7mls at 17:36mm pace this morning - think that's the fastest I've managed since I started walking regularly in Jan (for comparison, in Jan when I was suffering with my back, it was taking me around 25 mins per mile). As I was walking I was aware how much free-er and flexible my body felt - so as we've discussed, this regular stretching is paying dividends.
I've been out in the garden this afternoon moving the nestbox. I put it facing south (facing the house) last year so we could keep an eye on any activity but it didn't get used. On checking the RSPB website, it seems birds don't like nest boxes facing south as the sun makes them too warm. So I've put it the other side of the trunk and will keep an eye out for any activity nearby (or when I'm down the garden).
Keeping to the spring-like theme, I've ordered a new lawnmower this afternoon. Having waded through the various models and decided which one, I then trawled through the various websites and eventually, found it was cheapest from Currys PC World! It should be arriving in 4-7 days, to be collected from our local store.
Last thing to mention - took my car for a short drive around the village earlier to stop it from seizing up like last time.
Edited: To add that I hope its just 'grandma school' that is keeping Aquarius busy and not posting lately and nothing else. We seem to be a very small band of regular posters on here lately ..
There's been quite a bit of discussion about runners needing to wear face masks. This is not directly related to the chat about Parkruns returning but I can see how that would fit in.
I'm not a particularly heavy breather when I run but I am aware that when I pass people there is a risk for both parties, but mainly them. I try to weave around folk but on a busy day on the prom that is really tricky. I've even tried to hold my breath on occasions. But I'm not sure I could run wearing a mask. I could imagine that if PRs came back the might require runners to wear masks at the line-up and at the finish, but I've not heard anything along those lines yet.
It is a tricky one. On a proper event (with runner wearing chips) you could have staggered starts but you simply can't do that with PRs. You can't really even limit the numbers. I can see that either fewer folk might turn up (risk factor as with HS) or the complete opposite with people who have started running during lockdown flocking to them. Either way, I can see that they are going to need more marshals.
Talking of 5k, when I got up this morning I thought 'there's no wind'. And indeed even our prom only managed a gentle breeze. So it was a no brainer to try and do something fast and I managed a 22.04 season's best. I even out-sprinted Mrs JB this time! Revenge is sweet.
With the schools back next week, Aquarius should be free of grandma duties, perhaps. If so she'll have earned a rest!
JB, we do try to have recovery weeks, ie every 4th week, but often run how we feel.
The first time that I was really drunk was at a friends 21st birthday party, and I was drinking rum and blackcurrant. His father was manning "the bar" and was pouring out large measures. I never touched rum again for many, many years.
Sounds a bit technical, your comparison of running with rowing, but a bit of each sounds par for the course. That time by your son's friend back in the day was truly amazing. It's not really surprising that he ended up with a knee injury curtailing his serious running career.
There was a FB page where someone had posted the quote saying that joggers should wear masks. As you can imagine there were a lot of comments disagreeing, but I commented "what about runners?" This got lots of likes and smiley emoticons.
I don't think that I could run with a mask, but don't see the need as I always run on the road when approaching others, and give others a wide berth when running in the forest.
On the run back from this morning run with Sara H, we were running down the hill and saw two men in yellow tops walking up it. I immediately thought ACSOs as we have recently had two recruited to our local areas. We were running apart, as per regulations and when they were close to us, I recognised them from their picture in the Parish Picture news letter. We said good morning to them and they responded accordingly with smiles. I said to Sarah that they probably thought that she was my daughter.😁
Reference the return of the parkruns, I was rather disconcerted by a FB post by the chap that has been setting us all the virtual challenges etc suggesting that as many of us as possible should run the first one at the same venue, wearing our club vests. I think that is a terrible idea, and I have no intention of joining in. I don't know what the general opinions of other members are, but I know some think it is a good plan. I agree that you can't have staggered starts, as everyone has their own bar card which is scanned at the finish, and would record very slow times for those that didn't start in the first wave. The timekeepers keep their stop watches working from the moment the run starts.
Well done for your amazing 5k seasons best, outsprinting Mrs JB🏃♀️🏃♂️
I hope Aquarius will be back soon!
WtnMel, I have been recording all my runs and races on fetch for many years now, and it is always good looking back at race times over the years and seeing the times and WAVAS.
It's worth a try with wet newspaper on your car windows, it works on mine.
Talking of flat batteries, guess what, mine was flat yesterday morning! Thankfully I have home start in my policy with the RAC, and an engineer arrived in less than an hour. I had been told that it would be within 2 or 3 hours, so I was well pleased. I attempted to book the visit on line as instructed in my initial phone call, but when I got to page 5, the "send page," it came up with "error RAC unable to comply," or words to that effect. I imagine it had crashed with so many trying to get through. I had no alternative but to get back on the phone, and only had to hold on for about 5 minutes before a very friendly lady answered. I explained that I was unsuccessful attempting to book on the web, and she said that was ok and took all my details. The engineer recharged the battery, but advised that it was nearly at the end of its life as it was over 5 years old, and that was the usual battery life.
Well done for your walk yesterday, you are definitely making good progress.
Hope you will be pleased with your new lawnmower.
On the subject of sticking wheels, the RAC engineer said that his first call that morning was to a lady who had exactly the same problem.
Ran 8.46 miles this morning in the wet, muddy forest.
Aquarius, our posts crossed! Good to hear from you again, but sorry to hear that you have had unpleasant after effects from your jab. I also had the Oxford one on 28th January, and thankfully had no after effects, except feeling a bit cold the next day.
You will see from my previous post that I had a flat battery through not using the car for over a month, even though it was in the garage.
I agree with you that the 5th June is too soon to resume the parkruns, and I, for one, won't be going back for quite some time after that.
I've enjoyed experimenting with my Garmin, and tinkering is helping to keep my brain active. The settings are now all in k's, but the miles alert every 1.6k, so I get the alerts every k and mile. This is useful, and the alerts I have set for minimum and maximum pace, are very helpful when aiming for a particular time in the challenges at different distances. I have also, now, reset fetch to register in k's. I'm getting used now to my pace in k's rather than miles.
Thanks re Mondays CC6 5 miles (8k) off road challenge with Sarah F. We were happy with our times, as the course was quite wet and muddy in places, and we had to proceed with caution.
I hope that you managed to get out for a short run today.
This morning was an easy pace 10k run in the forest with Sarah F.
JB - I hope I'm on the way back to running. A couple of times while out walking I've been tempted to break into a jog, but have resisted so far. At a guess I'd say our back lawn is 90' by 30' and the front one is 45' by 15' - not huge, but big enough to take an hour or so to do including the edges and around various trees. When I was running regularly early in the morning I used to wear my buff. It is quite thin so didn't do that much good - it was more to make the few people I met realise I was at least trying to protect them and myself. Somehow I can't imagine running in a mask and someone from my club mentioned a story of someone who had breathing problems from doing that. Well done for your fast prom run - and for out-sprinting Mrs JB. Incidentally, when I'm out walking and some mask-less person comes towards me that I can't avoid (and they don't bother moving) I take a deep breath just before I get to them and hold it as long as possible before breathing again once I'm well past them. People like that I tend to categorise as fuckwits.
Aquarius - lovely to see you back .. we've missed you! Sorry to hear you were suffering after your jab. The U3A sessions are continuing .. there are monthly meetings of the whole membership, science & technology was this afternoon, our next book circle meeting is on Tue and there's a fortnightly 'coffee & chat' group every other Monday I attend (as the lone male - the other participants are all ladies). No feedback so far but I'd imagine everyone has enjoyed Atonement more than the thriller I chose. I figure a quick drive around our village to keep the car ticking over isn't doing any harm to anyone else. Having swivelled the nest-box to face North, I hope it isn't now too close to the adjoining tree trunk (but I'm fairly sure small birds like blue tits will be able to come and go without any problems). Hope the planned yoga session went well and that you got out for a short run.
HS - I don't think I've had rum for many a year (seem to recall I used to drink mine with Coca-Cola .. but it might have been Pepsi-Cola). Good to hear the ACSO's were friendly towards you and appreciated you sticking to the rules. Margaret told me of a group of five men out running early yesterday morning who made no attempt to make room for her - more fuckwits!! I agree about it being a terrible idea for a lot of club members to run the first parkrun together so pleased to hear you won't be joining in. Sorry to hear you had a flat battery but pleased to hear the RAC sorted things for you - but suggested it's time to get a new battery (oh dear - more expense). I can see I'll be able to ask you for advice re Garmin's soon - but I'm 'old school' and still can't think in k's so mine is staying set to imperial for the foreseeable future.
I've started re-introducing the strengthening exercises to my daily routine - no unexpected aches and pains yet!
The science & technology group zoom call this afternoon was about the space shuttle - as a complete contrast, next month's talk will be about Edwardian communications and technology (because the speaker recently discovered one of his forebears was in the Edwardian navy). In the question and answer session at the end of the meeting I mentioned I'd recently watched a Horizon programme about quantum entanglement and followed most of it and some others agreed it's a really difficult subject to get your head around. I had prefaced that mention by saying I wasn't planning to give a talk on that subject. I've not mentioned it to the group leader but there's a good book by Bill Bryson called "A Short History Of Nearly Everything" which follows technological advances over the years where people think they've discovered everything there is to know - then someone comes up with the next advancement in knowledge. I've thought that would probably make a good starting point for creating a talk.
Mel, I think the onus is on us as runners to show consideration (clearly not shown by those 5 guys). On the prom where I run - which is nice and wide - it should be easier to steer clear of folk but what with pushchairs, bikes, folk with dogs on long leads and (my personal bugbear) people walking in groups of 5 or more spreading out, it's not always possible. BUT, the windy conditions I'm always moaning about are ideal for the dispersal of droplets!
That's a petty big lawn (x2) you've got yourself there. But that hour mowing must burn a few calories.
HS, still notching up impressive distances and not always in great underfoot conditions I see. I'm not a club member but am part of a network of runners who all support the same football team. We bump into each other occasionally but as far as I know none of us train together - for one thing we are pretty geographically dispersed (eg Toronto!). Some of the young guns are very rapid and others are into ultras. I'm the oldest so I keep translating my times into AGs. Luckily the guy who coordinates things is also 60+ and is in full agreement (surprise, surprise). So far we've only had one runner (like you) exceed to 80% threshold (I was 79%, never to return, I fear) but this weekend the other 'old git' (who once beat Steve Ovett's local schools' record back in the mid 70s) is having a go at 1 mile and, at 61, is going for the 80% target.
It's that sort of competition that keeps me running, despite the knee twinges!