New Mature Runners Thread

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  • Good afternoon everyone,

    WtnMel, I wore my buff several times when it was really cold, but not as a face covering. I do, however, wear it as a face covering when shopping. I wash it after wearing each time. I don't think that I have seen any runners in my neck of the woods wearing masks. We all seem to give way to pedestrians, and most of them acknowledge with thanks. I mentioned in a previous post that Sarah H and I passed the new ACSO's as we were running back from the forest. Well, there was an article in the local paper advising that they had been patrolling in the forest! We will have to ensure that we stick to running in pairs, and some way away from others. 
    I drove into the village this morning for my shopping, and the car was fine. I think that when I had my car serviced in December, that they had been "playing around" with my sound system. They hadn't changed the channel that I was on, but had retuned the traffic alerts, so that it was local. Also I think that they had adjusted the balance between the front and back speakers, giving a much more, all around sound.
    The RAC engineer advised that there was still "some life" left in the battery, and should be ok for some time, as long as I drove it for about 20 minutes once a fortnight. I think what I will do is to drive into the village on Fridays, and walk to the local supermarket on Tuesdays.

    I've got used to the pace minute per k, rather than minute per mile. I know that 8 minute miling is approximately 5 minute per k.

    Your science and technology zoom group sessions seem to cover some very interesting subjects, and must be great for discussions.


    JB, my days of 80%+ WAVAS are long gone, unfortunately. I did manage to achieve 71.4%, I think in a recent forest 5k, but don't think that I can improve much on that. Tomorrow is our 50th successive Isolation 5k forest challenge, and I will endeavouring to run it in 26 minutes. The closest I have got in the previous 49 is 26.08, which was early last year, and I'm a year older. so it will be tough.
    Do you know what time the "old git" will have to run the mile to achieve an 80% WAVA? I will attempt to calculate it and will post it on here.
  • At age 61 he would have to run the mile in 5.49, this is exactly 80% and based on the 2015 factors which are the latest used for these calculations.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Evening all,

    JB - I think I'd have been tempted to say something if it had been me bumped into those five guys out running together. I expect when I start running again I'll be setting the alarm for 5:45am so I'm out before too many people are out and about. At least with all the new footpaths and roads on the new estates I've discovered on my walks, I can add a lot more less busy places to my running routes instead of sticking to the main roads.

    HS - I use to have the buff round my neck and would bring it up over my nose and mouth as I passed people (then it would be straight back down again). Glad to hear the car was okay when you used it. How strange the engineers had been fiddling with your sound system when it was serviced. Music while they worked? I've had to re-tune Margaret's radio after it's been serviced in the past as it loses the settings when the battery is disconnected. The only 'k' calculation I can do easily is that 6 mins per k is approximately 10 mins per ml.

    I think I know what I'll be doing over the weekend :smile: The lawnmower I ordered on Tue arrived at Currys today so I drove over and got it this afternoon. They had a very efficient 'click & collect' system in place. When you arrive you click on a link in the email to let them know you are in the car park and it gets brought out to the car - I was only standing around for 5 mins. I've assembled the lawnmower, made sure it works (and wasn't DOA) so am looking forward to trying it out tomorrow or Sunday.
  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    Morning everyone, 

    Many thanks for all your kind words about my vaccine experience. I’m back to full health now (or what passes for full health at 67 yrs old :) ) but it did take a full week to get here. 

    WtnMel: Like you I wear a buff around my neck when running and pull it up to cover my mouth and nose when I pass people. Admittedly it probably doesn’t give either party much protection, but it shows I’m doing what I can to minimise the risk of infection. If I’m not wearing my buff and pass people who make no effort to maintain social distancing then, like you and JB, I take a deep breath and hold it until I pass them. It’s disappointing that at this stage of the pandemic there are still people who refuse to stick to the rules, but there are always some folk who have the attitude of “no one is going to tell me what to do”.
    You are lucky to have such interesting topics in your U3A sessions, do you have a lot of members taking part? I remember looking up the details of the meetings for our local U3a group, but there was very little of interest for me, however if we ever move back to the coast (which we still intend to do once this pandemic is under control and we feel happier about house viewings etc) there is a good one there that I would like to join.
    I feel for Margaret regarding those 5 idiots, I think we’ve all had similar experiences and it’s definitely a “hold your breath” moment.
    Steve has been saying our grass will need to be cut soon, but as we are still having frosts (and even snow the last couple of days) he may need to wait a few weeks yet.
    Good to see that the strengthening exercises you’ve restarted aren’t giving you any problems, it sounds like you’ll be back running (or at least walk/jogging) soon. Quantum physics is fascinating, but quite difficult to get to grips with. I’ve tried a couple of times to get a basic understanding of it, but have always given up (usually with a headache!) During this latest lockdown I’ve been reading New Scientist, some of the articles are more interesting than others but in general they are written for the layman and easy to understand. 

    JB: You know some speedy people don’t you, for myself I think that rather than being motivated by their abilities I’d be a bit overawed but I can tell from your previous posts that you are a competitive chap, so good luck to you (and your dodgy knee). Whilst I’m glad the schools are going back next week I’m also a little concerned that this will inevitably increase the R rate across the country. Time will tell. 

    HS: A mile in 5.49 at any age sounds good to me, I’d be happy with 8.59 (or even 9.59 at the moment). It’s reassuring to see you have ACSOs patrolling the forest, but sad in a way that this is necessary. I hope you enjoyed your “not a parkrun” run today, you are running really well these days, as are your club mates. I’m looking forward to your run report today. I’ve always been a bit of a solo runner by choice but I can see it must be quite motivating to have other people to run with.  
    Incidentally I did manage that yoga session and also a run the following day, although my Garmin couldn’t locate the satellites yet again which may have been due to the weather conditions (thick mist) or perhaps because it’s some time since I last used it. Fortunately when we went for a 5 mile walk yesterday it behaved perfectly. It was only supposed to be a 3 mile walk, but at a set of crossroads Steve decided that instead of our usual route we could try an alternative road that shouldn’t add much on to our planned distance. Hmm, only another couple of miles (and it was bitterly cold with piles of snow still lying around) so I was glad to get back home for a hot cup of tea. I did a bit of yoga before bed as my legs were a bit sore, and hopefully I’ll get out for another short run tomorrow.

    If Damien, Redmist, Columba, Runningfox (and any other previous "regulars") are reading this I hope you are all well and staying safe.


  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Evening all,

    Aquarius - given the side effects, are you concerned about the 2nd jab (but will have it anyway for the protection it gives?). The Science & Technology group usually has around 20 people online (the meetings at the village hall used to have around 30 so not a bad percentage). As I've said before, I don't want to rush things so am being patient about not attempting to run until the end of the month.

    On my walk today I met one of my clubmates. We stopped and chatted for five minutes or so - she told me how unfit she had got through lockdown and had been doing yoga while not running. When I looked on Strava later on I saw she'd just got back from an 8ml run (quite slow pace - but I'd got the impression she was doing C25K or something like that!). I'd also be happy with a mile at 10 min per mile pace once I'm back running. Good to hear you were able to get out for a 5ml walk and your Garmin behaved itself (it may have misbehaved because you'd not used it for a while).

    With it being a sunny dry day, I've been out and given the lawns their first cut of the year. The new wheeled mower is so much easier to manoeuvre and use than the hover one which I used to have to lug around. The lawns look a bit rough and ready right now but I'm sure the look of them will improve when I lower the blade and give them their 2nd cut next time.
  • Good evening all,

    WtnMel, it wouldn't be wise to respond to the idiots that make offensive remarks etc, as they would probably beat you up, or worse.

    With the car service, I think it was a case of music whilst they worked. On a previous service, one of the staff had commented on a CD I had, so obviously had been listening to it!

    Good to hear that you have your new lawn mower, and that it was easier to manoeuvre than your previous hover one.


    Aquarius, I'm glad to hear that you are now back to full health, and at 67 are still a youngster!

    On Wednesday, the two Sarah's, Mike and I, will be doing the one mile challenge, and I will be hoping to go sub 8 minutes. I'll let you know how we all got on. 

    We ran the 50th not a parkrun 5k in the forest this morning, and I ran with Sarah F and Mike with Alice. My run was going really well, with Sarah about 10 metres ahead of me, and probably 150 metres to go, when a dog started chasing Sarah and then turned and jumped up at me , causing me to stop. It kept circling me until the owner called it off. Consequently Sarah finished further ahead of me that she would have otherwise. I had the imprints of the dog's muddy paws on the front of my tracksters, proving that I wasn't making excuses for falling behind.😁. However, I was still pleased with my 26.23, a WAVA of 71.83%

    Strange that you are still having problems locating the satellites with your Garmin, but good that "it behaved" during yesterdays 5 mile walk! 

    Well done persisting with the yoga, and I hope you enjoy your short run tomorrow.
  • HS, My 61 year old friend managed a 6.03. Very respectable if not quite what he was after. He's got those new Vapor Flies (spelling?) and says that these make a big difference.
    Given that he ran on a cold March day and with relatively little training, I think he's pretty confident of going under the 6.00 mark.

    That dog incident would have made me see red, I'm afraid. Well done for keeping your temper and completing your run. Good luck on the 1 mile challenge. I did a few last summer and got around 6.25. I'd be pushed to do that now. 

    Aquarius, you are right - I'm a competitive little devil. Small man syndrome perhaps! Good to hear that you've got your legs turning over again. Yoga is tough isn't it? I just haven't got the patience let alone the flexibility for it. My son, a pretty fit 33 year old, tried a session last week and said it was agony.

    Mel. re your mower do you remember the Qualcast advert  'a lot less bother than a hover', voiced by the great  John Arlott? Sounds like he was right!

    We didn't do our usual Saturday morning time trial, but a gentler 25.30 5k today. This is because we are saving ourselves for the ex-superstar's appearance tomorrow. This will be very competitive. Of course I won't beat him (even if he's lost a leg) but my two younger training partners are in with a chance. With a bit of luck this will stimulate them to season's bests. 

    Still waiting for the warmer weather down here. I borrowed Mrs B's bike yesterday. This is a heavy old thing (that's the bike by the way!) with pretty flat tyres. Cycling into that mean easterly wind on this machine was great training if distinctly in the 'this is not fun' category. 

    Has anyone else been watching the indoor athletics? The middle distances races are very physical. I've never run indoors. Indeed we as a country as distinctly short of these facilities. (Sadly predictable.) Quite a few very good performances by the Brits. 

    My football team is about to feature on TV. I am a football fan but when you think of the £££s involved - compared with sports like athletics - it does make you think.

     Right, goals please lads................... 




  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    Afternoon all,

    JB: Well done to your friend for that 6.03 mile, although aiming for a slightly quicker run he must nevertheless by delighted with that. I’m never sure whether to believe the hype about all these new styles of running shoes, but it’s interesting that your friend thought the Vaporfly shoes helped him achieve that time, so perhaps there’s something in it after all.
    Yoga can be demanding, but as with all these things you take it to the level your own body is comfortable with. That’s the good thing about yoga (and Pilates) it’s totally non-competitive, it’s just about gradual improvements and respecting what your own body can manage. I’ve been doing yoga fairly regularly this last 12 months or so and can definitely see the difference in my strength and to an extent my flexibility. I try to aim for approx 20-30 minutes a day, but sometimes do an hour if I can find the time.  During lockdowns, when I haven’t been able to run as much as I used to, it’s helped me feel I’m keeping in touch with some form of exercise.
    How did your run go today?

    HS: How annoying to be stopped in your tracks by that dog during your 5k run on Saturday. You may remember in the past I’ve complained about similar experiences myself, although in my case it’s never been when I’ve been going for a fast time. Considering your enforced delay you still came out of it with a good time luckily.
    Good luck for your 1 mile challenge on Wednesday, I’m sure you can get under 8 minutes ( thanks btw for referring to me as a “youngster” - it made my day! :) )

    WtnMel: Yes, I am concerned about how my body will react to the second Covid jab, but at the same time I know it’s necessary so I’ll be going ahead with it and hoping I cope with it a bit better next time. I heard someone being interviewed a week or so ago on the television and he was being asked about side effects and whether they are likely to be worse or better second time around. After going around the houses and waffling for a few minutes the gist of his reply was no one can say for certain at this time. The thought I clung on to while my body was freezing cold and shaking like a leaf, then burning hot, was that this wasn’t Covid, and I wasn’t ill. It was just my body reacting to the vaccination. I’m still amazed at how much it took out of me, but I’m feeling fine now, which is more than can be said for the poor souls who catch Covid.
    Well done for getting your lawns cut, the first cut of the year is a sure sign that spring is finally on it’s way. 

    Another slow 2 mile run for me today, slowly trying to build up my running fitness again. I’ve been recording the European Indoor athletics over the last few days and hopefully today I’ll get the chance to catch up with the action. 
  • Good afternoon everyone,

    JB, great running by your old friend. I'm surprise that he thought the "magic shoes" helped him to his time. I thought that they were only beneficial for the longer distance races.

    I had to exert great self control to avoid swearing and kicking out at the dog. I wouldn't have minded ordinarily, but I was after a target time, and also catching Sarah who was about 10 metres ahead. 

    I won't get anywhere near your 1 mile times, but I will be aiming for 8 minutes. When I think back to my competitive days, that would be like "a stroll in the park."

    Hope you did well today against the ex superstar, and look forward to your report.

    I've never run on an indoor track, and despite training twice a week on an outdoor one when I was with Team Solent, I've never raced on one. I have raced on a grass track years ago, on a civil service sports day, and it was a 5k. I've no idea now what time I ran, but I didn't win.

    I'm afraid that I have more or less lost interest in football these days. I haven't been to a match since I left Liverpool 35 years ago.

    Aquarius, yes I was very annoyed by the dog stopping me in my tracks, especially as I had a target in mind. I do hope that I will go sub 8 minutes on Wednesday, but I will be running with Sarah F, so that should help both of us to achieve it. We will have to find somewhere in the forest where we won't be tripped up by dogs.☹

    On the subject of covid jabs, there is a post on FB re the Oxford vaccine, asking about after effects. It seems that quite a few had adverse effects, but luckily I didn't. It seems that the upper age bracket that I'm in, didn't get affected so much. They all say though that they will have the second jab, as what is a week or so discomfort, compared with the possibility of long term covid.

    Well done for running 2 miles today, gradually building up your fitness again.

    I've been watching the indoor athletics which is good, but a shame that there are so few British athletes.

    I ran a recovery pace road 10k this morning, with occasional efforts.
  • HS/Aquarius - my 'miler mate' reckons that the swish trainers were part of the reason for his excellent time. (TBH I think he had a bit of a following wind too!) But HS is right in that the received wisdom is that they are even better over longer distances. One thing that I'm beginning to understand is that they don't have much durability. This and the price of them mean that people tend to save them for races/PB attempts.

    Just this minute seen GB getting a gold and bronze in the women and men's 800 respectively. Brilliant!

    So as planned we welcomed the local (ex) superstar into our little running group this morning. Mrs JB ran her usual 3.6km and the three lads and I ran a 5K. For 3 of us this was a competitive race and I wasn't one of them! Matt (the newbie) came 3rd of the three lads and clocked just under 21. My son and his pal both did SBs lifted by the company they were keeping. I managed a 22.09 - I went off too fast and suffered a little.

    One interesting thing. When Matt was winning events all over the shop he weighed less than 9 stone. He's now north of 13! He has become a bit of a gym monster and transformed his physique. An old injury means he'll never 'compete' again, other than, we hope. with a 66 year old man. his 64 year old wife and two guys his own age who he would have lapped a few years ago!

    And as for football, if my team keeps losing I'm going to adopt the HS approach to the game!

    (PS one for Aquarius - did you notice that the mighty Saracens lost to the Cornish Pirates? How the mighty are fallen?)

  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Evening all,

    HS -  you're right about those five guys .. in reality, I'd probably just glare daggers at them and swear under my breath ;) Good luck with that 1ml challenge on Wed - unfortunately, I think it will be wet by then (maybe bring it forward to Mon or Tue?). Well done also for the 50th not-a-parkrun but annoying about the dog. I hate dogs anyway, let alone those who jump at me and given the chance, would probably have tried kicking it. Like you, my days of running on an outside track were many moons ago. The only time I might have run on an indoor track was a 'Fetch Mile' that was held in Cardiff. I was planning to go but had a stinker of a cold so it didn't happen after all. Well done also re the 10K recovery run (no doubt at a speed I would consider a sprint!).

    JB - well done to your 61yr old friend .. a very (very!) respectable time. I'd be happy to get anywhere near 9mins for a mile myself these days. Afraid I don't remember that Qualcast advert but I do remember John Arlott. Incidentally, I noticed the Flymo is actually manufactured by Husqvarna. That name took me back and made me remember the motorbike scrambling in the mud that used to be shown on tv (I'm sure Husqvarna was one of the main manufacturers at the time). Hope yesterday's time trial went well. I've not bothered with the indoor athletics .. there's no highlights programme, I don't have hours to waste listening to Messrs. Cram and Co prattling on, and some of the best athletes and better-known names appear to be saving themselves for the Olympics. So overall, it had no appeal to me.

    Aquarius - Glad to hear you'll have your second jab, despite the possibility of more side-effects. Well done re the 2ml run. Reading about the various side-effects, I consider myself very lucky to have had none.

    Another sunny day so after I'd cooked our Sunday roast (polishes halo) I went out into the back garden. There's a lot of moss amongst the grass on the back lawn so I got our lawn rake out and scarified it (I think that's the correct term?) to remove the moss and some of the 'thatch' (again, I think that's the correct term!). Our neighbour was out cutting his front lawn and I noticed the guy across the road was busy removing some small trees from his front lawn. The guy who lived there before only moved two doors away so I expect he'll be miffed 'his' trees have been dug up.

    In other news, as well as my stretching I did four of the gentler strengthening exercises today. From tomorrow, I'll try re-introducing some of the other strengthening exercises like wall squats and see how that goes. 
  • john bateman 6john bateman 6 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2021
    Mel, our lawn is also beset by moss. Whenever I rake it I get absolutely shattered and have to give up after about 10 minutes. Perhaps I attack it with too much gusto. But it's not just our lawn that has the moss problem - our roof does too and this morning a couple of magpies had great fun pecking away at it. This created a bit of noise, and while I'm happy for them to have it, I would prefer it if they took it directly from the lawn and saved me a job! 
    And always sad to see trees being dug up. They might help save the planet one day........

    Rest day for me today.......but I might try a mere 2k row this evening. Come to think of it, raking the lawn would be a better workout.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    John -  I managed to rake about one-third of our back lawn and after 20 mins or so I'd had enough. Also, for my troubles, I had a patch on my left thumb where the handle of the rake had rubbed my skin away, despite me wearing gloves. I stand corrected re my neighbour across the road - the largest tree (10' high) has gone but I noticed this morning the two smaller ones (6' high) have been moved across to the side of the lawn and re-planted. I presume he wanted an open aspect on his front lawn with trees down the side.

    We took advantage of the sunshine to drive up to Cleeve hill and have a walk. We obviously timed it right and the smallish car park near the golf club had some spaces left (on busy days, it gets full very quickly). By the time we returned to the car, people were beginning to arrive and find no spaces were left (I say spaces - it's an old quarry and there's no asphalt or cinders anywhere near it)

    Have had an email to let me know the rucksack I ordered from Cotswold Outdoor has arrived at the local post office so I know what I'll be doing tomorrow morning.
  • Mel, we also took advantage of the sunshine and had a walk along the prom. Now I don't want to come across as Mr Angry of Sussex, but in one little car park I noticed

    a) a coffee van taking up two spaces;

    b) a personal trainer, with an enormous array of kit (weights. kettle-bells etc) taking up two spaces.

    We didn't park there anyway, so I wasn't inconvenienced in any way but it did make me think that these are two businesses, using a public space at no cost and denying others access to it. Just a bit naughty?

    Meanwhile I tried a 5k on my rower. The funny thing is that 6 months ago I was rowing 5k in 22.04 and running it in 23.10 but now the times of have reversed almost to the second. But fine: I'm a runner not a rower.

    This looks like the last of the decent days weather-wise for a while so I'll either

    a) take a couple of rest days or b) make sure that if I run I do so with a 60mph wind behind my back and get a 'cheap' season's best!
  • Good afternoon everyone,

    You've all been busy posting, too much time on your hands🤣

    JB, some super fast 5k's on Sunday! I'm still trying to go sub 26 minutes☹
    Matt has certainly gained a lot of weight. My racing weight back in the day was 9 stone 7lbs, and I'm now just under 10 stone, so happy with that. I did go up to 11 stone for a while after my knee injury, when I couldn't run properly, despite spinning twice a week.

    Cars irresponsibly parking in the New Forest is a pet hate of mine. When the car parks are full, they park all along the roads on the grass verges, sometimes parking in front of gates which are clearly marked "no parking, access is required for emergency vehicles."

    I bet that you will take the option to run with the wind at your back.


    WtnMel, it's definitely very unwise to make remarks to other people, as these days they are likely to "put the boot in!"

    I remember the motor bike scrambling on the TV many years ago. The star rider was Arthur Lampkin. My next door neighbour when I lived in Surbiton, had a scramble bike, but I don't know whether he ever raced it. 

    Glad to hear that you are doing your stretching exercises. How did the wall squats go? Hope you were pleased with your new rucksack.


    Today is a lovely, dry sunny day, typical for a rest day. Tomorrow is forecast heavy rain and strong winds. Perfect for my 1 mile off road challenge if it is a tail wind.

    Can't remember whether I said in a previous post that I drove into the village for my shopping on Friday, and the car was fine. I think I did, and will again this Friday.

    Now for some good news, Sarah F has got a London Marathon place through the Portsmouth Hospitals, which had 1 charity place, like winning the lottery! Will have to start appropriate training now. I'm looking forward to upping the mileage😁
  • KellerKeller ✭✭✭
    edited March 2021
    What constitutes 'mature' in this group then?  Please don't make me trawl 149 pages to find out :smiley:
  • Hi Keller, I don't think there's an age limit or even guidelines. It just so happens that the regulars (of which there are few) all happen to be over 60 right now. But a couple of us still compete (when allowed). I'm sure you'd be very welcome. Why, if you're under 50, you could be our very own 'youth squad'!

    HS, brilliant news that you are in the London. What a focus that will give to your training.
  • Hi John, I'm not in the London, it's Sarah that has got the charity place. 
    I entered the New Forest Half Marathon last year which has been deferred to September this year.  I'm intending to upgrade to the Marathon when the joining instructions are issued. We can both train together, and she is thinking of doing the NF Half Marathon in her taper for London. Unfortunately, the age categories for the NF only go to 70+ so I won't have much chance of a prize.☹
  • Sorry HS - misread your post and got the wrong end of the stick. But the NF marathon is a good consolation prize, even though you'll be up against those young lads of 70!
    (I know it's almost taboo to say this on a running thread but I think the London is overrated; personally I'd prefer the NF, not that I could do it. I've done the and that was enough for me.)

    You were right. I couldn't resist going out this morning and running with that wind behind me. I was aiming at a time that would give me  an 80% WAVA on a 5K, even though I'd be the first to admit that it wasn't a pukka one.

    Good news: my km pace was bang on target.

    Bad news: I didn't run enough of them! I was fading and ducked out after 3k @ 12.37. When I checked this was a mere 76.28% WAVA - and not as good as a 5k (no wind!) a couple of weeks ago. (At my age, an 80% WAVA over 3k is 12.00 - so it was a big miss.)

    There's a moral here about not gaming the system and I'm suitably ashamed!

    PS looking forward to hearing your training schedule as you step up those miles.

      
  • Good evening all,

    JB, I agree about the London Marathon, I have no desire whatsoever to run it. I did apply for entry in the first 3 marathons, when runners were mainly good club runners, but without success.  Sarah is really pleased though that she has got a place.

    You paid the price for setting off too fast, it would appear, but 76.28% is still an excellent WAVA.


    I didn't quite achieve the 8 minute target this morning in the 1 mile off road challenge. I ran with Sarah and we finished in a dead heat. Time was 8.13 an average of 5.06 min/km. Not far off the required 5 min/km. The last 50 metres was 4.18 min/km or 6.36 minute miling, which sounds quicker😁
    Still a bit of speed in the old legs😅. The WAVA was a disappointing 66.63% so definitely more to come!
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Afternoon all,

    (Have flagged the spammer - just need one more person to do so)

    JB - I'd agree that those are two businesses taking up car park spaces .. I'd probably have a quiet word with the council as I think they're taking the p**s setting up there. I presume the rowing/running time reversal is down to what you are concentrating on? To take advantage of the strong wind you would need to find a route where it isn't in your face on the way back - good luck with that! having read on further, I see you couldn't resist going out for a run but your 'cunning plan' didn't work out! You've let yourself down, you've let the group down .. :);)

    HS - I dream of getting anywhere near 13st these days let alone 11 or 12! I expect the scrambling still goes on somewhere (as I expect does the rally- cross which I also used to enjoy watching with Murray Walker commentating). I added some wall squats to the strengthening exercises today - I also added a front plank and managed a grand total of 20 secs before slowly collapsing back onto the floor - I told you I was unfit! That's good news for Sarah F - I gather my club is waiting to hear how many 'club' places they've been allocated then they'll hold a raffle for all those who entered but were 'rejects'.

    I've been stretching etc. but haven't walked for the last two days. I'm heading over to see my son on Fri so I'd better get out for a walk tomorrow, whatever the weather is doing!

    Managed to time my visit to the post office well again - there was just one person in front of me. I'm happy with the look and feel of the new rucksack but the acid test will be when I use it on a ramble sometime soon (lockdown easing permitting).

    PS: My web browser is now awash with adverts for Cotswold Outdoor thanks to those pesky cookies - I'd better run my Norton 360 to clear them up.
  • Good morning everyone, 

    WtnMel, our posts crossed yet again!

    Well done doing the wall squats and attempting the front plank. You will find that you will gradually be able to increase the time that you can hold it. They say that 60 seconds is long enough, as no further benefit is gained by holding for longer. 

    I don't know whether our club was allocated any London Marathon places this year or not.

    Hope it isn't too windy during your walk today. Good that your new rucksack appears to meet requirements, but the proof will be in the pudding when you try it out. 

    Thankfully I don't seem to get any adverts, except emails from companies that I have previously purchased from. I know that you can click to prevent any further ones, but have read that those links could possibly contain viruses. I just delete them as soon as they arrive. 


    Today and tomorrow are rest days, as Sarah and I are hoping to run a fast forest 5k on Saturday. 
  • HS a dead heat indicates the competitiveness between you. Great stuff. But did you run down-wind? That 8mm is there for the taking.

    Mel. you are totally right and I hang my head in shame about my effort yesterday. Which is why I had another go today and, needing 21.09, I smashed it with 20.57.
    This give me me a (fake) WAVA of 80.80% - my first time (and almost certainly the only time) I'll ever cross that threshold after some 35 years of running. So I'm going to allow myself a little smug smile.

    The reason for the improvement across the two days is simple: the wind is even stronger today. So finally after moaning about the wind in these parts routinely, I'd just like to finally thank it!
  • JB, yes we are very competitive with each other, but I get higher WAVAS as I'm 22 years older.  Yes we selected our 1 mile course very carefully to run mainly on gravel trail, and with wind at our backs. 

    Well done for your brilliant 80% WAVA. As I've mentioned before, mine were over 30 years ago, and there is absolutely no hope that I will ever "rise to those heights" again. You've earned that smug smile!

    Hopefully we will have a tailwind on Saturday. It definitely helped on Wednesday 😁
  • Submitted my Census form on line.
  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    Afternoon all,

    JB: I remember that Qualcast advert (I think WtnMel is just pretending to be too young to remember).Re Saracens, well they only have themselves to blame for cheating (i.e. breaking the salary cap). I’ve no doubt they will bounce back again in time, but I hope it’s a lesson learnt. I’d be annoyed too if I’d come across those selfish businesses taking up the parking spaces like that. I’ve always assumed that catering vans would have to have a permit for using multiple parking spaces, but perhaps not? Well done for your (wind assisted) 80.80% WAVA, I’m sure you wouldn’t have got too much of an advantage thanks to the wind so you’ve every right to feel smug. The trick will be to see how close you can get to that again when the wind isn’t as strong. 

    WtnMel: (I flagged that spammer a couple of days ago, still need one more person to flag it).
    Did you get out for your walk today? If you did I hope the weather isn’t as windy in Gloucestershire as it is here. Well done for the progression in your strength exercises, and for maintaining your stretching routine. As you add more exercises into your daily routine it becomes very time consuming and easy to skip a day when you are busy with other things, as I know only too well. Sorry to hear about your sore thumb, I hope it’s better now (and doesn’t prevent you from whizzing around with that vacuum cleaner :) ).

    HS: That’s great news for Sarah F, and it’ll be nice for her to have you as a training partner as you begin training for your NF Marathon. Well done for finishing in a dead heat with Sarah in your one mile challenge, pity you missed out on your hoped for 8 minute target, but you were really close to it! Will you be doing less speed work when you start marathon training?

    Keller: Hi and welcome to the forum. As you can see we chat about all sorts of things on here as well as running! Feel free to join in and tell us about yourself and your running plans.

    Our club have announced they will be giving a 25% discount on membership fees again this year, although some races are due to go ahead in the next month or so I think it will be still be some time before I feel confident to run in a group again, whether in training or actual events. 
    We’ve just had a letter from BMW recalling our car for a safety issue (exhaust gas recirculation issue) but they will not give a courtesy car while the work is being carried out, which seems like poor customer service to me. 
    A question for WtnMel - (and apologies to everyone else for hijaking this forum with a non-running related matter)  as you probably know Adobe stopped supporting Flash Player at the end of last year, and users were advised to uninstall it. To the best of my recollection I did that, but I’m constantly getting prompts advising me to uninstall. This generally happens when I’m in the middle of my zoom Pilates session. I have the option to click on cancel or uninstall, neither option appears to work and I end up losing my Pilates class and getting redirected to Adobe’s site (I think). I’m now of the opinion that this is some malware or adware or whatever you call it, so I’ve been googling it and trying the various suggestions to ensure the program has been uninstalled completely. My last  attempt was yesterday, following the advice on a site called MacSecurity, but it consisted of about 20 steps and was too complicated for me so I’ve given up. In a nutshell what I wanted to ask you was this - do you think this is something I should be concerned about? I’ve never bothered with antivirus programs as the advice has always been that Mac’s don’t need them as they have an antivirus built in. 
    Back to running matters, I had another slow 2 mile run again yesterday, but didn’t particularly enjoy it. Windy and cold and my legs were sore from Pilates and yoga the previous day. I’ll try to get out tomorrow morning providing this gale force wind dies down by then. 
  • Aquarius, I don't know whether you have Microsoft, but if you have, flash should be deleted by the next Windows Update. 
    To see if you still have Flash Player 32, click on control panel and click on large icons in top right hand corner. If you can see the flash player 32 icon, it means flash player is still installed. Hope this helps?
  • HS and Aquarius, thanks for the kind words! Much  appreciated. Unfortunately there's a sting in the tail. Having hurtled along a busy prom driven by 50mph winds and survived I then went for a gentle walk with my pal and his dog. 
    I still don't know quite what happened but somehow I managed to trip over the dog. The dog was on the lead and we were moving at about 2mph- and suddenly I was on ground, with blood coming out of my thumb and my dodgy knee giving me a certain amount of pain. (I could just about hop!)
    It's so odd that when I fall over when running - often at some speed - I see it coming. But not this time.
    Anyway, I iced everything and bandaged where required. But no running for me for a while.
    I know that pride comes before a fall, but I didn't know it was literal. The god of running was obviously cross with me using the tailwind so brashly!

    PS the dog is totally OK.



     
  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    Thanks for the prompt advice HS but my operating system isn’t Microsoft, I have an Apple MacBook Pro laptop. I believe the MacOS is something called High Sierra.
    JB Ouch! I hope you have no lasting damage to your knee. I think you must be right about pride going before a fall. Who knew there was such a heavy price to pay!
  • JB, oh no, how ironic to trip and fall at such a pedestrian pace. Hope the damage to your knee isn't too bad. A few rest days are definitely required!


    Aquarius, I didn't think that you had Microsoft, but it is important for flash player 32 to be removed. I've still got it and awaiting the Windows Features update to remove it. I could download a tool to remove it, but it would be a bit of an hassle. The important first step for you is to ascertain whether or not you still have it. Hopefully Mel can help you in this respect. 

    Regarding the Marathon training, we will be upping the mileage and doing less intensive speed work. 

    Good that you were able to get out for a 2 mile run, and hope it's not too windy for your run tomorrow. 

    I'm looking forward to getting back to the 6 runners bubble at the end of the month, but like you am in no hurry to enter any races in the near future. We are quite happy with our Saturday Isolation 5k's. 
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