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Mel, a day spent trying to fix a washing machine is my idea of hell. For instance: a couple of days ago I had a flat tyre. I made a token attempt to fix it, gave up and took it to the bike shop this morning where the guy did it in about 2 minutes. (I was going to say 2 minutes flat!). I suppose I injected £18 in the local economy and both parties were happy.
Watched the big match v. Germany. I like my football very much, but looking at the manic over-reaction of the guys on the terraces and in the pubs took some of the enjoyment out of it.
I've got one eye on the weather for the weekend..............
JB, congratulations for your "rest day!" You are probably right that having a training partner, makes up for not joining a club.
I've never been much good at do it yourself, but was always able to mend a puncture. I remember putting the inner tube into a bowl of water, and looking for the air bubbles. I had the patches and white chalk etc.
I also watched the England v Germany match, but am not as interested as I once was. I've never understood how some fans are so fanatical. I remember many years ago whilst living in Liverpool, watching the Liverpool v Everton Cup Final in a local pub, on the small TV on the wall. Everyone was well behaved, and fans of both teams were very friendly towards each other, with no animosity. It could be that Liverpudlians can "take their ale!"
I ran a solo hilly road 10k this morning in my new Asics1000's. It won't be my official entry for the July challenge, as I will run it on a flatter course. I was very pleased with my run, as it was the quickest I had run that course. My time was 1.01.49, a WAVA of 63.8%, and the jackpot, my highest ever Vo2 max of 49! Even my heart rate was good, average 130, max 143. I must try not to get carried away now, or else I might get injured. Tomorrow is a rest day, so I should be on form for Saturdays 5k. This will be the 67th that the club is recording, and the 74th that Sarah F and I will have run since the parkruns were shut down. I think we should have virtual t shirts😁
HS - that money raised seems to keep growing and growing. Run at the speed of chat was always the mantra I remembered .. just a shame there was hardly ever anyone to chat to. Plastic wood was a filler I used to use years ago .. it may not be made any longer? Well done re the 5ml off-road challenge - good luck with working out a route for the 10k challenge. I remember the days of an inner tube in a bowl of water and looking for air bubbles then trying to stick the patch on the hole without sticking the inner tube to the tyre (grating chalk on if I remember correctly). I see you ran a 10k in your new Asics 1000's - sounds like the new shoes have increased your pace
JB - I guess a 'sort of' rest day is the best we're going to manage where you are concerned
Nothing much to report here ..
My son updated me to say the waste pipe appears to still be unblocked so that's good news.
Playing golf with Alan tomorrow at a course new to both of us. It's near the Cotswold Water Park so if it's anything other than dead flat I'll be amazed. But I'll still have my electric trolley battery charged up and ready to go
WtnMel, that's a good running mantra, one that I haven't heard before.
We will probably use the road course that we used for the last 10k challenge, as it can be on or off road. It is also fairly flat, and with no roads to cross.
A red light in your garage, nudge nudge, you know what I mean 😁
Good news that the waste pipe appears to be clear now.
I hope you enjoyed the golf on a course new to you and Alan today, and that you beat him.
Today is a rest day except for the usual stretches, and an hour's gardening this afternoon. I'll probably ache in the morning.
Mel. totally agree that the coverage was well OTT. What will it be like if we win the tournament? I'm assuming that a win for you against Alan will not produce anywhere near the same degree of national hysteria! (It will make a big splash on this thread, though.)
Well, a tiny bit of bad (or frustrating) news here. The race that I was due to run tomorrow has closed to entries on the day. (I'm glad I checked.) I'm a teeny bit annoyed as I took the trouble to contact the organisers and they were pretty confident that they'd have places still open. And I was really looking forward to it. It is due to rain in biblical amounts tomorrow, so at least I don't have to get checking the weather forecast, plus it will save me £15 which I have spent on a rather good book so every cloud............
As it is, I've got the England game to look forward to watch, plus the first Lions tour game.....plus my new book to read.
HS - that mantra is one I've always remembered since my early days of running. No .. not a RED light (nudge, nudge, wink, wink - say no more). An LED light in the garage!
JB - beating Alan at golf (sadly, not very often) would be headline news in the Harris household .. but unlikely to trouble the national media. Shame about the race you planned on being full so you couldn't enter on the day. Enjoy the game tonight - needless to say, I won't be bothering to watch (and will no doubt have to fast-forward through the OTT coverage on tv tomorrow - win or lose?). Speaking of which - I presume Andy Murray has reverted to being Scottish now he's been knocked out of Wimbledon
Golf yesterday was a case of what might have been. I was keeping pace with Alan most of the way round and was only a few shots adrift. My higher handicap meant that points-wise I was probably leading. But with the hot sun beating down, I faded badly towards the end and messed up the 18th hole and allowed him to sneak a win.
I felt washed out after the golf (despite a reviving pint of Doom Bar afterwards). And when the alarm went off this morning for my early walk, I switched it off and turned over
JB, thanks! I believe the new trainers did make a difference.
That's bad news that your race has been cancelled, although on the plus side, you have been able to purchase a book with the £15 you saved.
Well done for the PB on the rowing machine. Very close to the running time.
WtnMel, I thought the red light comment would amuse you.
Sorry to hear that Alan beat you in the golf match, but it seemed like a fairly close thing. I'm sure the Doom Bar must have helped afterwards, it's a good pint.
I don't blame you turning off the alarm and turning over this morning.
This morning's forest 5k went well and my time was 28.52. The rain has held off, but a thunder storm is forecast for this evening.
I actually watched all of the match last night. A great performance by England!
I remember in the past that many drivers would have England flags sticking out from their cars. I haven't seen any this time.
Another humid morning and I ran a hilly road 11k's.
I'm watching the Tour de France at the moment, but will switch over to the Diamond League at 3PM.
HS, Am I right in thinking that you tend to be a morning runner? If so then we are in the same camp as I generally prefer mornings myself.
Surprisingly dry here given the forecasts over the weekend. Watched Lily in the junior parkrun (don't ask). Watched England put in a very authoritative performance against the 24th best team in the world (or so my friend tells me).
Knocked out a 49.28 10k on the prom this morning. My best for a while but still a tad disappointing. Faded again on the 2nd half.
JB I do prefer running in the mornings, as this leaves the rest of the day free. However, until my knee injury in June 2017, I went to club sessions every Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
Good that Lily is still running, irrespective of where she finishes in the Junior parkruns.
I also watched the England match and thought they played well.
Well done for another excellent 10k!
I ran 15k in the forest this morning with 3 running friends. Just a steady pace, getting the k's/miles in.
HS - your red light comment did make me smile. The golf was a lot closer than usual and if only I hadn't faded badly on the last hole. Well done re your forest 5K. You're right - there haven't been England flags flying from cars this time and I've not noticed that many flags draped on people's houses either. Well done re the later 15k forest run which I've just read on and have seen you did.
JB - when I did enter races, I always saved a bit for the end so I had the enjoyment of passing people in the last few hundred yards or just before the line. Unfortunately, golf doesn't work like that. Well done re your 10k - shame you faded a bit in the 2nd half.
Aquarius - You're obviously a bit busy but I've seen a couple of longer runs on Strava that you've completed so well done re those.
An eventful u3a ramble yesterday! About a mile from the end, our Chairman Alan, who has recently had back problems, slipped on a path in some woods and hurt his back. It took him 10-15 minutes to recover and get upright again and he had to borrow someone's walking poles to get to the end. Some of us stayed on for a meal afterwards and a lady on a other table called Marjorie stopped responding to the people she was with and slumped in her chair. They had only just got her onto the floor in a recovery position when my friend Rose, who had been sat beside her on the same table, also came over faint and I saw her crawling on all fours trying to get away from where she had been sat in a corner before she also fainted and slumped on the floor. The owners of the pub called the paramedics for Marjorie who eventually was able to sit up in a chair. Rose also revived after her faint having had a fan to cool her down and some iced water. She was also able to sit in a chair and said she felt fine but we wouldn't let her drive herself home. So I took her home and I'm collecting her at 2pm today so we can go back to the pub to collect her car which we had to leave there overnight. I haven't heard how Alan and Marjorie are yet so will check later. We think Marjorie and Rose just got a bit dehydrated with being in a slightly stuffy corner of the room and having a hot meal, brought on their fainting.
Doing a bit more small diy later. Margaret has bought some hooks to hang the ironing board on and needless to say, with it being a plasterboard wall, I didn't have any of the correct type of rawlplugs when I checked. So I had to pop to our local hardware store earlier to stock up on some. That'll be a job for later once I've transported Rose back to the pub to get her car.
Golf tomorrow - and again on Friday - so I'll let you know how I get on. I must be able to beat Alan sometime - surely!
WtnMel, I'm very confident that you will beat Alan at golf very soon. On the subject of golf, one of our club members was saying that there were different grades of golf balls, is that correct? I know that there are different grades of table tennis balls, so probably golf ones too?
Thanks that 15k forest run was a steady one with no pressure, and in our marathon training schedule.
Your u3a ramble certainly was eventful, with your Chairman slipping and hurting his back, and two ladies collapsing during the pub meal.
I hope you have successfully fitted the rawplugs so that you could insert the hooks to hang the ironing board on.
Good luck with your golf tomorrow and Friday. We will be expecting you say that you were able to beat Alan!
I've nothing to report, as today is a rest day.
HS, when is your next race? Are you on course in your training? You seem to be logging the miles/kms. My friend is in an event in a couple of weeks time where a team of 5 have to run for 24 hours. They take it in turns and the 'norm' is a lap of 5 miles with each runner doing 4 of them and the team doing 100 miles (or more of course). It sounds good fun, although the camping bit (in a single large tent) wouldn't appeal to me. He's the only male in his team of 5, so maybe it might appeal a little more given that!
My rowing still goes well, with very small marginal gains. Of course this doesn't involve the wind - unlike running. So today's 5k was 11.02 out ....and 12.36 back into a beast of a wind.
JB, I haven't entered any races, except pacing Sarah H for the virtual London Marathon. We are well up on our Marathon training.
Several weeks ago, quite a few of our running club members, including the Sarah's took part in a similar event called Conquer. Sarah F ran 4 x 5 miles, And Sarah H 3 x5. Needless to say, yours truly didn't partake. My days of trying to sleep in a tent and run during the night are long gone ☹
Good to hear that your rowing is still going well.
This morning I ran 6 miles fartlek in the forest with the Sarah's. We included several hills in the efforts.
HS - I almost beat Alan today but didn't lose (see below). There are definitely different grades of golf balls which no doubt are sold as going further, faster (and the same goes for expensive golf clubs). But at the level I play, I don't think it makes that much difference which ball it is. And I'd be bothered about losing expensive balls in ponds and ditches! And as I can hit the ball 170 yards with a good drive, I'm happy with the balls I play with. I managed to fit those hooks for the ironing board yesterday and so far it hasn't fallen down
JB - my game is getting a bit more consistent .. let's just say the fluffed balls and topped balls are becoming a rarer occurrence now (thank goodness). Those lessons definitely helped. Alan already plays several times a week .. that's why I'm thinking of joining the seniors at my local club to get more regular practise. I think you're right about your friend probably enjoying being the only man in the team. A bit like me with my book club harem (4 ladies) and the coffee and chat harem (8 ladies). Well done re the rowing and running.
Happy to report I didn't lose at golf today .. but I didn't win either! It was all square at the 18th (102 shots each) but it was touch and go because I was ahead after the 12th, then lost a few shots and had to fight my way back and got the one shot I needed on the 18th to finish equal. Because I have a bigger handicap and equalled Alan for the number of strokes, I won 38 pts to 32 pts using the stableford scoring system. So a moral victory I feel ..
Morning all, I haven’t had time to read back over posts so I hope everyone’s well. I’m typing this on my phone while waiting for my physio appointment. I thought I’d take advantage of a few spare minutes to pop in and say hi.
Training is going well, but a big step up in mileage this week. I think last week was 23 miles and this one should be 33, but I’ll probably give Sunday’s 8 mile run a miss. On Monday I did 9 miles, then 8.5 yesterday, tomorrow will be a 6 mile session including 8x400 hill repeats so I think that’s quite enough for one week! It looks though as if next week is much lighter mileage (from the sessions showing so far). My physio appointment is a routine one for my dodgy left hamstring. Steve is also having physio today for his Achilles, which is still preventing him from running although he does manage to get out on his bike.
I’m thoroughly fed up with every television and radio programme banging on about football, and was particularly annoyed to find a couple of weeks ago that the British Athletics Championship were relegated to BBC Iplayer, as, reportedly, the Beeb wouldn’t pay the fee to televise them live. Also, despite the amazing performance by Mark Cavendish at the Tour de France, there is rarely any mention of this.
We had some disappointing news recently - our local parkrun at Gibside will not re-open. It’s been decided to close it permanently due to changes the National Trust have made to their operations due to Covid. The parkrun team are trying to find a new location, but this may take some time. It’s such a shame because it was a challenging hilly trail run, but very enjoyable.
Talking of Covid the local figures are getting really scary. Just over a month ago we had 15 cases per 100,000. Now we have well over 600 - and that idiot is going to relax restrictions !?
Moan over, time for some physio 😊
I’ll try to catch up with all your posts later on.
WtnMel, it was good to hear that you were all square with Alan in your golf match.
Glad that the ironing board hasn't fallen down yet, those raw plugs have obviously done the trick.
Aquarius, it's good to hear that your training is going well. Your mileage has certainly increased, and I see that you have hill reps tomorrow as part of a 6 mile run.
I hope todays physio's for you and Steve is productive.
I agree that football coverage has been a bit OTT lately, and that the BBC only showed athletics on the i player. The Tour de France is on ITV4 and I have been following it. I did watch all the England matches, but didn't bother with any of the others.
Sorry to hear that your local parkrun won't be reopening, and I believe that will be the case with mine also. I've run not a parkrun every Saturday since the close down, so won't really miss it too much.
I can't believe the stupidity of this Government, but I suppose with a buffoon as PM, it's not surprising.
I ran an easy pace 7 miles on the roads this morning and took some photos. I will post them later, probably tomorrow.
Here are some of the photos from yesterdays run.
Aquarius, sorry to hear bout the Parkrun. Not yet heard about my local one but we've got another one only a mile away in one direction and yet another 6 miles away in the other. We are spoilt.
Totally agree with your comments on athletics coverage, although last night BBC 4 did cover the Diamond League; the standard was awesome. As I'm in total agreement mode I'll chip in with another thumbs up with your Covid comments. We are due a very bad winter, I feel, and the cause will be the decisions made in the summer by You Know Who
HS, nice photos. I notice the very large ship. Regarding the cruises I know they are a big part of the Southampton economy but I understand that they are a bit of an environmental disaster. Notwithstanding this, I've never been tempted (though some of my friends have) - all that dressing up for the captain's table malarkey is just about my idea of ghastly.
Not much running from me in the last few days. A nasty set of short, sharp hill repeats has left the knee a bit sore, so gave todays usual 5k a miss (plus it's raining - wimp!). Will go out tomorrow.
Wimbledon, cricket and rugby (Lions and England) all on TV today. My cup runneth over. As for the football, the coverage is bizarre: there's hardly a schoolteacher in the country who happened to teach one of 'our boys' who has yet to be interviewed!
JB, I watched the athletics last night on BBC 4, and the standard was excellent. A bit of farce though when the bell went a lap early! I'm sure the runners must have been keeping count of the laps though.
Glad that you like the photos. I agree that the huge cruise ships anchored up are damaging the environment, but I have been advised that it is essential that the engines are kept running non stop.
Regarding sitting at the Captain's table; when I worked at the Naval Base, it was traditional when any of the officers retired, or were sent back to sea, there would be a meal, where the Captain attended, and presented a gift, usually a book. I was very honoured when on one occasion, he asked if he could sit at my table. He knew all about my running, and was keen to talk about it.
Hope your knee will be ok for tomorrow's run.
I'm watching the ladies final now which is nearly finished, and will then turn over to the Tour de France.
I ran this morning's 5k on roads solo in 27.05, so quite pleased with that.
HS, thanks: knee is still a bit sore but..back to the 5k routine this morning: 22.12, my best for a while.
Here's a funny thing. Went to the Junior parkrun and was chatting to someone about all the activities that youngsters can do these days. When it came to swimming, she said that her little girl isn't keen and that no-one of her family was. She then added that her dad can't swim at all. "Oh, that's not unusual for that generation", I said, and then realised her dad is a year younger than me! (I was thinking of my dad's generation.)
JB, very well done for this morning's 5k, especially with a sore knee!
It's easy to mix up generations as we get older. I sometimes talk about old people, and then remember that I'm one myself ☹
I ran solo a very easy pace 8 miles in the forest this morning, and didn't see another runner, or any dog walkers. It was quite refreshing really. I took some photos which I attach.
I stayed up last night to watch the match, and disappointed that we ended up with penalties again. I think the young team will do better in the World Cup.
I was tired this morning after a later than usual bedtime, but we are in the 5th week of marathon training, so ran 15k with Sarah F and Jane. Sara H couldn't make it as she had to collect her car from the garage. She will run this evening.
I'm enjoying your photos HS. It sounds like you had an enjoyable solo run yesterday, these days it's quite a novelty to be able to complete your run without seeing anyone else. I can't remember the last time that happened to me, although occasionally (rarely) the number of people I see can be counted on one hand. I made the effort to watch the first half of the football last night, but gave up at half time and opted for bed. Well done for running 15k this morning after your late night.
After my physiotherapy on Thursday I found my legs were still sore the following day, so I decided not to run on Friday and pushed back both my Friday and Saturday sessions by one day, or at least I thought I had. When I started my watch on Saturday I found that it was showing the original Saturday session, and I had completely lost my Friday hill repeats session which I thought I'd rescheduled to Saturday. I didn't notice this however until I was half a mile into my run so I decided to return home and try to retrieve the planned hill repeats session on my laptop, but when I accessed Garmin it was obvious that Friday's session was no longer available. Saturday's session was showing as an 8 mile one, which I really didn't feel like doing so I did a bit more rescheduling of the upcoming sessions and ran a 4 mile "easy" session, but included hills in it to try to balance things out. Today was the 8 mile session, 2 easy, 4 at race pace and 2 easy. By moving the various sessions around I've again ended up with high mileage for this week, I think it will be about 28 miles by the end of the week so I fully expect to be dropping one of these sessions, or my hamstrings will be requesting an explanation.
JB hope your sore knee is feeling better today
WtnMel hope all is well with you.
Oops .. I've been away from here longer than I thought so playing catch-up now!
HS - well done re your recent running and thanks for posting the photos. I saw the athletics where the bell went a lap early - poor old volunteer official. But I'm surprised the athletes couldn't keep count of the laps themselves and ignore it? Unusual not to see anyone on your run - that's never happened to me apart from once when the rest of a previous club all decided to do one less loop than had been agreed and I was billy-no-mates (I left them soon after that episode which was the final straw).
JB - I think the Ryder Cup team would need to be very desperate to sink to my level of golf player. I'm in agreement with you re cruises .. the Northern Lights one was our first and last (unless we ever decide to go on a much smaller boat on a river cruise which we've considered in the past). Well done re the recent 5k - sorry to hear about the sore knee.
Needless to say I didn't watch the Wimbledon finals or the Euros final so no late night for me.
Good news - Alan and I played golf again on Friday and (drum roll ..) I won by 5 strokes!!
Alan started badly but I didn't .. so I was never behind during the whole match. I had been in the lead by 7 strokes after 14 holes but made a couple of silly errors towards the end. Don't know if the winning was down to me keeping my concentration for longer .. or remembering my lessons better .. or not being as tired now I have my electric golf trolley. Anyway, whatever the reason, I'm not complaining. And we're not playing this week so 'battle' will be resumed next week and I expect Alan will be out for revenge
Are you still getting out for your walks, and are you still intending to add in a bit of jogging from time to time?
I rang the doctor earlier to ask if the nurse could syringe my ears (really high pollen counts this year causing problems) but was told they were too short staffed. The receptionist told me they were starting a new service where they referred such requests to a pharmacy and asked if I’d like her to refer me. I agreed and shortly after got a phone call from a local pharmacy. Believe it or not they offered to sell me a DIY ear syringing kit. I think you can probably guess my response.
Pilates for me this morning, now to tackle the ironing!
Aquarius, 28 miles (and challenging ones at that) is a good week's running. Can't remember the last time I did that much. Can see your point re the syringe issue.
HS, yes I too (of course) watched the game. It wasn't so much the result that disappointed me as the ghastly thuggish behaviour that went with it. Even those who don't care for football would acknowledge that the team did well on and off the pitch - but the foul racist abuse diminishes our standing in the world. Kiss goodbye to the hosting of the 2030 World Cup?
Just to show that there is life after football the BBC is covering the athletics tonight from Gateshead.
7k from me today in 33.12. I was aiming at getting under 33.20 so mission completed.
WtnMel I see you are thinking of dropping your club membership, and I can understand why if you were made to feel like a bit of an outsider. I know what you mean about running with others and finding everyone chatting in their own groups. I'm happy to be a solo runner myself so it doesn't bother me too much when that happens (which it can do at our club too). The main reason I keep my membership going, even though I rarely attend training these days, is because it enables me to take part in various events the club puts on, and also gives me access to things like XC where you have to be a club member in order to take part. I suppose that if your running is taking a back seat at the moment there's not much point renewing your membership, you could always rejoin at a later date if you change your mind.
JB well done for yesterdays 7k and hitting your target of getting under 33.20. As regards the syringe DIY thing I really didn't feel confident at "having a go" at sticking a syringe into my ear. I've never had my ears syringed before so I'm not sure of the process and what it should feel like, so I wouldn't know if I was doing right or not. Makes you wonder though doesn't it - what next? DIY vaccination kits?
Funny thing - despite recently hitting the training targets for my runs (whether pace or distance) the Garmin Coach "confidence meter" (which is supposed to be a measure of whether I will hit my target time for next month's 10k trail race) keeps going in the wrong direction. In previous weeks it showed quite a high level of confidence in me, but that's decreasing as my performance improves. Bit weird, but maybe it's due to missing some of the runs. As time goes on, and the rates of local Covid cases increase, I'm starting to think I may not bother doing the race next month after all, particularly as it takes place in an area with very high case numbers. I'll still follow the plan though, and may even do another one after this one is finished as it's making me do some structured training, which I hadn't bothered with for ages. Speaking of which, I did a 4.5 mile goal pace session today and exceeded the target pace quite easily, so I must be doing something right.
Aquarius - the golf lessons definitely helped, especially the last one. Understanding from Richard (the club professional) my problems were all due to not keeping my left arm straight and concentrating on that has helped no end. He also helped me improve my putting. Checking on Fetcheveryone, my daily walks petered out at the end of June and I've not got back into the habit yet. My daily stretching or strengthening exercises have also been hit and miss lately. But I did do them this morning and am hoping to get back into the routine. Once I'm walking regularly again and doing my exercises, I'll add in a few bits of jogging to my walks and will see what happens.
One of my ears was blocked with wax last year. I got some Otex from the chemist (only cost £5-6 I seem to recall) which came with a small rubber syringe but the pharmacist said I could get the same result by using cooking oil (like rapeseed oil) to soften the wax. I used a couple of drops in my ears for a few days (just laid on the bed while it did it's work each morning and evening) and after a few days, when I used warm water with the rubber syringe, the offending wax came out and I could hear properly again. I didn't usually go to the club's evening sessions and the Thu morning run was the only one I did regularly. And my club doesn't organise many events (I think it was just 2 races a year?). I was too late to get my membership money back so I am still 'officially' a member, but as I'm ignoring any emails from them and have left the Facebook page, I won't be keeping in touch. On Strava, I stopped following the club members I used to keep an eye on and stopped them from following me - and since no-one appears to have noticed or is following me again, that kind of proves my point about being an outsider. If I ever do get running regularly again, I'm still not sure I'll re-join. If I wanted to have EA affiliation to get cheaper race entries, I could always do that by joining the Fetcheveryone running club (FERC). I'd be inclined to ignore the Garmin Coach 'confidence meter' - you are managing to get in some regular training and have built up your mileage and maybe Garmin is less confident because you are plateau-ing a bit? Anyway, well done re that 4.5ml goal pace session you beat easily.
JB - I doubt I've broken Alan psychologically but he'll at least know on a good day I can make our golf more of a tight game. I recorded the athletics from Gateshead and watched it last night. I'm so glad I DO record everything because the fast-forward button was working overtime to get past the interminable boring chat from the double-act of Ennis Hill and Lewis. I think I'd have switched off if I'd been trying to watch that live. Well done re that 7k.
As mentioned above, trying to make this week the one where I get back into the exercise routine I was managing for a while. To motivate me, I've printed out a new exercise checklist and the page of white squares for each day, waiting to be ticked off should help motivate me.
We had a book group meeting yesterday (we've just read "The Midnight Library"). A lady called Chris had volunteered to host it but we got a WhatsApp message to say the water company had arrived to tell her the drains in her road were blocked and to get to an inspection point they needed to access, she had to empty the contents of her garage onto the back lawn. Yes - I wondered why someone had built a garage over a drain inspection point too!