New Mature Runners Thread

1188189191193194254

Comments

  • HS, well done for your Parkrun performance. It must be idyllic in the NF today.

    Aqua, gently does it for you and Steve. I guess you've lost some edge in terms of fitness, but it'll be nice to feel it come back.

    Feeling a bit rough today. Migraine this morning but not a bad one.
    Went to collect a load of horse manure and took it to the allotment.
    Then broke up a wardrobe for onward transmission to the tip. Modern furniture is so flimsy it only took about 10 minutes to reduce it to a pile of sticks!
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    edited May 2022
    Morning everyone,

    See below for a brief write-up about the swim gala ..

    Aquarius - ah .. confession time I see ;) We went for a walk at Croome (NT) last Wed and I couldn't resist the lure of a cheese & onion pasty with my coffee. The M&S biscuits were described as very chocolatey - that means low fat and sugar doesn't it? Margaret is still getting over her knee problems so no walk on the Malvern Hills for us. Sorry - I've read back and seen I didn't describe the journey to Malvern very well. Our direction was running smoothly - the 1.5mls of stationary traffic was the poor b*****s trying to leave the RHS Malvern show. I keep telling myself that if I can keep playing well at golf, Alan's run of good luck is bound to finish some time. Glad to hear you've finally tested negative despite not feeling 100% - reading through your post, sounds like the lack of logging tests may account for the downturn in numbers! I saw on Strava that you've managed a few short walks. Good advice re returning to running - better to be cautious (look away now JB!).

    JB - as mentioned to Aquarius, see below re the gala. Well done to Mrs JB for her Parkrun SB (obviously accomplished due to your excellent coaching?). Had a chuckle at that flimsy wardrobe you were able to easily smash to bits :)

    HS - like you, I don't like eating late at night .. the meal in Malvern which finished around 9pm was the exception rather than the rule. Glad to hear that mark on your leg has faded. I saw your photos of the wildlife in the forest on Strava. Well done re your parkrun result and your 7ml run.

    The swim gala in Watford was good fun. I have no idea where I came in my heat of the 50mtrs breaststroke so I'll have to wait for the official results to be published - suffice to say I wasn't in the first three so no medal for me. However, my clubmates did us proud winning (by our reckoning) 28 medals between them for the various races they took part in. Our club also won all three relay events (family breaststroke relay, medley relay, freestyle relay). I've determined that before next year's event I'm going to try and master some different strokes - backstroke and front crawl - and to learn how to do a 'racing' dive off the side without doing a belly flop. I started my race in the water and pushed myself off the wall, thereby putting myself at an instant disadvantage. I think butterfly may be a step too far so I'm not planning to try learning to do that any time soon.

    I've been out for a pre-breakfast walk this morning. I did 3.5mls and was pleased to see afterwards I'd managed 16mm pace (or just under) all the way round - helped by not getting held up at any road junctions!

    And despite the pasty on Wed and those M&S biscuits, when I did my weekly weigh-in this morning, I'd managed to lose some weight since last week.

    Coffee in a bit when Margaret returns from her errands and then I gather there's some weeding needs to be done this afternoon ;) I mentioned we've decided to have a 'wild' bit of our back lawn - there an interesting looking thistle developing that we think may end up looking quite dramatic.
  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    Good afternoon everyone,

    WtnMel, I didn't sleep very well after Fridays late meal, so I wasn't on top form for Saturdays parkrun.
    I'm glad that you enjoyed the swim gala, and that your club mates earned a lot of medals between them.
    I never completely mastered the backstroke, but I could swim many lengths on my back, by just scissor kicking with my legs, and my arms by my sides.
    Well done for this mornings good pace walk, which I saw on Strava, and for losing weight last week.
    Good luck with the weeding, and don't strain your back.


    This mornings forest run was quite eventful. The schedule was to run to the Monkswell, about 6.7 miles, which we had run before, and I had the course on my garmin. It didn't go to plan! We arrived at a gate which had a private sign, and which we had ignored before. However, they had tightened security and fixed barbed wire on the top and bottom of the gate, and on top of the fence each side. The Sarah's and Jane managed to negotiate the gate, but I'm afraid I didn't. They had to climb back again, and we had to find an alternative route. We eventually arrived and took some photos. We also got a bit disoriented on the return, and ran a total of 16k (9.94 miles). It was hard going, as very hilly, and hard rutted mud underfoot.
     
  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    I'll try and post some photos, it doesn't always work. 

  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Morning everyone,

    HS - I've not tried backstroke for years either and there were certainly a few variations on show on Saturday. As I think I mentioned, I'll look on YouTube for some pointers to how to do it right. I managed to do the weeding without straining my back. Gosh - that run was eventful wasn't it? Shame you couldn't negotiate that gate yourself and had to do a detour. Still, I'm glad you made it and lovely photos too.

    I managed to get out for another 3.5ml brisk walk this morning. Slightly slower than yesterday's effort.

    The results of the swim gala have been published. I came 4th in my category (50M breaststroke - men's 70-74 age group) in a time of 1:23 - the winner's time was 56:38; the slowest swimmer was 2:42 and it turns out my clubmate Duncan was 10s quicker than me to get the bronze medal. I've logged the race on Fetch and it equates to 1.30 mph .. my usual speed is 1.07mph so it just shows you what a race situation and adrenaline can do for your pace.

    I've been along to the mobile bank to pay in the swim takings - only one person in front of me this time which was good.

    Book group this afternoon and we're at Rose's house in Tewkesbury this time. The rest of us live in Bishops Cleeve but one lady is in Tewkesbury anyway, so is going straight there. So to save hassle with parking (as the roads are quite narrow outside Rose's house) I'm giving the other three a lift in my car.
  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    Good afternoon everyone,

    WtnMel, good luck with your search on YouTube for tips on the correct technique for backstroke.
    Good that weeding didn't give you the back ache.

    Mondays run had a bit of everything! It was rather embarrassing that the 3 ladies successfully negotiated the gate, and I didn't. Glad that you liked the photos.

    Well done for getting out for another brisk walk this morning, albeit slightly slower than yesterday.

    Well done also for your achievement in the swim gala. Race conditions certainly make for faster swimming, running etc. 

    Glad you were able to pay in the swim takings without being mugged on the way!

    Hope the Book Group meeting this afternoon goes well.


    Today is a rest day, except for the usual Tuesdays "Farmers Walk." I'm definitely getting quicker!




  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    Afternoon all

    JB sorry to hear about your migraine, I briefly suffered from migraines in my twenties, the first one apparently being the result of something I’d eaten. I remember they could be very debilitating and unpleasant. I’ve never heard of horse manure being used as a palliative though, seems a bit extreme to me. Still it must have worked if you were able to smash up a wardrobe afterwards.

    HS I’m another one of the “early to bed” gang, and also avoid late meals. We haven’t been out for a meal since the pandemic arrived, but when we did go I liked to eat by 7pm at the latest, any later and I found it difficult to sleep due to not having fully digested my meal. I see now where your good running ability stems from, your parents obviously enjoyed their sports. Wasn’t it a bit unusual for your mum to do cross country way back then? I would have imagined it would have been mainly a male sport then, but I really don’t know anything about it, that’s just a guess. The post Covid exercise advice was shared by a club member, who probably had noticed (like me) that one or two club members were posting on Facebook about events they had done immediately after recovering from Covid. I think she was concerned that they probably hadn’t considered the possible consequences of returning to competitive exercise so soon. I see you returned to parkrun on Saturday, how did you find it? Our local ones rarely get more than 80 or 100 runners attending, so it’s quite easy to keep a safe distance from each other, but I imagine it must be difficult to do that at the bigger events. Good result for you (definitely not what I would call average), do you intend to do that one again? I’ve just read about your run yesterday and the last minute route change. I wouldn’t want to tackle a barbed wire fence either. Well done for finding an alternative route, shame about the underfoot conditions though. Having turned my ankle more than once on rutted ground I know how unpleasant that sort of terrain is. Super photos (I’m very jealous, it looks like you had a lovely day with perfect weather for running).

    WtnMel I think I’ll have to Google “chocolatey” I didn’t think it meant low fat and low sugar. ;) You learn something new every day…… However one thing I am sure of though is that while cheese and onion pasties may be low sugar they are definitely not low fat! Tch tch. (Reading on I see you’ve lost weight on this unusual regime, so what do I know?)
    Sorry to hear Margaret is still having knee problems (I’m sure it’s something to do with this forum). Excellent results for your swimming club, you must be very proud of them. I see your competitive instincts are pushing you on to improve your own swimming techniques, so we’ll be expecting great things from you at next year’s event (I agree that it’s probably best to give the butterfly stroke a miss, it always looks to me to be inviting injury, and not very elegant either).  I've just seen today's post - congratulations for coming 4th in your age group, and so nearly third. You'll be medal contender next year for sure. Well done for your brisk walks yesterday and today.
    Are you sure that’s a thistle in your back garden and not a triffid?
    Enjoy your book group meeting (what's the book?)

    We had another walk on Saturday, and a slightly longer one on Sunday. Neither were very far (1.4 and 1.7 miles) but included hills, so I decided that I was ready to try a walk/run on Monday. I had intended attempting 40 minutes, keeping my heart rate to 80% of my max, with 80% being roughly 120 bpm. I was very disappointed to find that as soon as I started jogging slowly my HR hit 120 quite quickly, and even after changing to a walk it took a while to go down again. I’m hoping that part of the problem was because I’d slept very little the previous evening (after some very spicy food). I’d probably have done better to have put the experiment off to another day, but I was keen to try it, even though I knew I was very tired through lack of sleep. I was very tired for the remainder of the day too and just sat around reading (which I’ve been doing a lot of lately). I’m not sure when I’ll try another walk/run, I’ll have to see how I feel. I have been managing to fit in a few minutes of yoga the last few days and after a 3 week absence I returned to my zoom Pilates class today and found it okay. I think I just need to be a bit more patient regarding returning to running, but it’s hard.


  • Hi all, been a bit distracted the last couple of days. My son was admitted to hospital with an abscess that was so painful that they admitted him as an emergency. He has had life threatening auto immune problems in the past and that rather ups the stakes too.
    After a bit of panic and a great of deal of anxiety the operation went well and has now recuperating in the bosom of his 'own' family after staying with us for a couple of nights as we live closer to the hospital.
    Thank god for the NHS!

    Mel, well done for that Mark Spitz-like performance!
    Talking of weeds (I.e. garden ones, certainly not you!) Out lawn has been overrun by dandelions which can't even be bothered to flower! They are rampant. MrsJB wont use chemicals but is mixing her own more eco friendly solution.
    Well done on the weight loss.

    Aqua, clearly that bout of illness has really taken it out of you. But you are sensible and experienced enough to navigate your way back to full fitness, I'm sure.

    HS I think I'll put in a claim as the earliest to eat  we eat at 5.00 pm habitually. And I'm another non backstroke swimmer. Indeed almost a non swimmer. The photos worked!

    Running is getting a bit easier although am still a bit suspicious of the hamstring. A slow run with Mrs JB of 6k on Monday, a gentle 20 minute solo Tuesday and today an 8k mostly with my protege who did 7k in about the same.
  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    JB Oh dear, I'm so sorry to read about your son's illness. What a horribly stressful time it must have been for you and Mrs JB, and of course other family members. I'm glad to see his op went well and he is now back home. As you say - Thank god for the NHS. 

    I was just saying yesterday that I can't ever remember seeing as many dandelions as there are this year, the grass opposite our house was a carpet of yellow until the grass cutters came today. Now it looks like Wimbledon.

    Good news that running is getting a bit easier for you. Keep an eye on that hamstring though, it sounds a pesky little thing.

    A quiet day today, no walking or other exercise attempted. I was surprised when I woke this morning to find I am rather stiff from yesterday's Pilates, I must be more unfit than I realised.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Afternoon everyone,

    HS - I've found some really good videos on YouTube courtesy of GTN (Global Triathlon Network). I mentioned a week or two ago how I'd watched others doing breaststroke and had realised I could kick differently to how I had been. Having watched the video, I've seen I've still not been kicking or pulling my arms properly so I'll try and put the correct technique into practise next few time I'm at the pool and will report back. I also watched some videos about front crawl and back stroke technique - plenty of scope for learning how to do them and perfecting the technique. You not managing to negotiate the gate reminded me (when there wasn't barbed wire on them) of how in my youth, I used to be able to approach a five-bar gate, pull my stomach onto the top bar with my arms and then swing my legs over all in one smooth movement. Well done for your improved times on your weekly "Farmer's Walk". I've just remembered being on a ramble when we encountered a stile with barbed wire - despite being ultra-careful on account of wearing my new walking trousers, I managed to snag them and rip a small hole in the leg .. annoying at the time but they were worn for years afterwards and I treated it as a badge of honour.

    Aquarius - I've only ever had a migraine once in my life .. that was horrible so I'm glad I don't suffer from them. Margaret and I went to Croome (NT) earlier on as the rain seemed to have blown through. We didn't get wet as it stayed dry and Margaret had mentioned "walk" and "lunch" in quick succession beforehand so I'll leave you to guess what I chose for mine. As mentioned to HS, the videos on YouTube for various strokes are really useful and tbh, the butterfly did look quite smooth (but not exactly elegant) when being done properly as opposed to the large amounts of splashing usually evident. As far as we know it's a thistle - we'll see as it develops ;) I've mentioned below the book we discussed yesterday at book group choice as well as the next one we'll be reaidng.

    JB - sorry to hear abut your son's problems .. and glad to hear the op went well and he's now recovering. The closest to Mark Spitz were my clubmates Sharon, who came away with 5 medals (not all gold) and Meghan who did win 4 gold medals as she was first in all four of her races using different strokes. Our evening meal is a move-able event .. sometimes 6pm, sometimes a bit later and at some time before 7pm but hardly ever as early as 5pm. Glad to hear the hamstring is slowly improving and you've been able to manage a few short runs.

    My Garmin Forerunner decided to update itself yesterday - and being Garmin and a bit useless where software is concerned, there was no warning that all the activities stored on it would be deleted. So I've had to manually add yesterday morning's walk on Fetch.

    At book group yesterday we had a lively and interesting discussion about "Exit West" by Moshin Hamid. We all liked it - apart from one lady called Val (no surprise there!). She complained she didn't like the writing style and the way the book moved locations in the storyline. Whereas the rest of liked it because it WAS written differently to most books and moved about to various locations. I do sometimes wonder if Val would prefer a group where they read pot-boilers and Aga sagas! :) We already have a book lined up for June ("Once Upon A River" by Diana Setterfield) and we've come up with a few more for the coming months. I need to check which (if any) are available at the library. And there's a new series of "Between The Covers" starting this week, which should give us a few more ideas.

    I ordered some new membership cards for my swim club and they arrived this morning. I was on the verge of running out so I was impressed with the speedy turnaround. The 250 new membership cards mean I have plenty for the next few years.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Have just booked myself in for the "Older Adults" swim session at 11:15 so off to the pool shortly. There were 27 spaces available so 13 had already been booked in - so hopefully it won't be too busy. I'm going to have another quick look on YouTube in a moment to remind myself of the correct breaststroke technique to see if I can speed up a bit.
  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    Good afternoon everyone,

    Aquarius, I don't think that it was a "proper cross country" race that my mum ran, but probably a local village sports day.  I know that she said it was run on grass, and that she "won" a salad bowl.

    I did enjoy the parkrun, which had the most runners since it started several weeks ago, 173. Having said that, I wasn't too keen on the course. It was crowded at the start, narrow twisting paths, 2 laps involving turning round a bollard twice. It was difficult to overtake in places which made it difficult to maintain a steady pace. I was pleased that Sarah F finished ahead of me. She ran very well, but had run the course several times before, so was familiar with all the twists and turns. I probably will run it again, but we aren't doing it this Saturday.

    I'm glad that you liked the photos. That run was definitely very challenging, but we kept each other going.

    Sorry to hear that you and Steve are still feeling the after effects of Covid, which accounts, I believe, for the tiredness. Quite a few of our club runners have had covid, and most have taken some time to regain their fitness. A few rest days will hopefully, do the trick!


    JB, sorry to hear about your son's illness; you and Mrs JB must have been very worried. Good to hear that "The NHS came to the rescue!" 

    I have my main meal around midday, and have tea around 5.30. I think that is why I didn't sleep very well Friday evening, after such a late, for me, cooked meal. That was my excuse for Sarah finishing ahead of me at the parkrun.😁

    Good to hear that your hamstring is starting to ease, and hopefully will soon be ok.


    WtnMel, glad that you have been able to find some good you tube videos to help you with your swimming technique. When I was a twice a week swimmer, I used to get books from the library to assist me in "getting it right." The breast stroke is much more technical than people think. I didn't really bother with the crawl, butterfly or backstroke, but concentrated on the breast stroke, as that was my strongest. I could also negotiate gates with ease in my younger days, but I think I have mentioned before that I fell off a gate during a club run hurting my right arm and side. Ever since, I've been very apprehensive, and even with no barbed wire, they are still a challenge.

    That must have been very annoying, your garmin deciding to upgrade itself during your walk. Mine did that once, just as I was about to set off, so I was able to wait for it to finish, before I started.

    There always seems to be someone at meetings etc that disagrees with everyone else.

    That was lucky that the new swim club membership cards arrived, just in time! I hope this mornings adult swim session went ok, and you were able to "show off" your new technique!


    I did an interval session on grass yesterday with Mike. It comprised 3 sets of 4 x 400 metres with 60 seconds recoveries. I ordered a pair of Asics 1000 v11 trainers Tuesday afternoon from SportsShoes.com, and they arrived at 11am Wednesday morning. Amazing Service!
    I wore the new trainers this morning for a solo road 10k, and they were fine.
  • HS, I've used that website for new trainers and have also been impressed. Good that you've had no problem with them. Glad you enjoyed the Parkrun. My local course has no issues with overtaking - which just makes it even more frustrating when I come across one that has!

    Mel, great that you are fine tuning your swimming technique. I know that You Tube channel and it looks excellent. There are some really good things on You Tube, including some useful ones on injuries....eg hamstrings!

    Aquarius, I thought the meek would inherit the earth, but the dandelions have beaten them to it!

    Went to my zig zag path today which gives a short and brutal workout. Ran up and down it 12 times, taking nearly 30 minutes.
    Quite tired by the end of it, but no physical problems. (But given the looks I was getting, quite a few mental ones!)

    Thanks for all the good wishes for our son.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Afternoon everyone,

    HS - you're right about the breaststroke being more technical than people think. I tried to use the techniques I saw on the Youtube videos into practise this morning and I was a little bit faster than last week .. but I knew I still wasn't doing it quite right so there's still plenty of room for improvement. Well done re your interval session. I always use Sportsshoes.com when I but my new running shoes (or more correctly these days, 'fast walking' shoes!). Glad to hear the new shoes were okay for this morning's 10k.

    JB - I'd not looked on Youtube for advice about hamstrings, not having needed to. But glad you've found some that have helped with your injury. Well done re your zig-zag intervals.

    The pool was busier than I was expecting this morning - there must be quite a few last-minute people who don't book ahead very far.

    Cards was fun this afternoon. One lady called Jane on my table kept trying to play out of turn and apologised each time. But we lost count of how many times she did it.

    Golf tomorrow and this time I've remembered to charge my trolley battery. I was lucky that last week, it still had enough 'juice' to get me round.
  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    Good afternoon everyone,

    JB, I see that sportsshoes.com have their advert at the bottom of this page. Those wretched cookies, can hardly access anything without accepting them. They say it's to protect your privacy, or words to that effect.

    I've got daisies in my lawn.

    30minutes running up and down a zigzag path sounds rather hard core to me! I'm not surprised that you got some funny looks.


    WtnMel, good that by following the swimming techniques in you tube videos, you were able to swim a bit quicker. It will take you a while to master it. As I mentioned before, I perused books from the library, which I studied, reading all the text and looking at the swimming pictures. It really worked, and I was rather pleased when I sometimes overtook swimmers doing the front crawl, whilst doing the breast stroke. Is it a 25 metre pool that you use? When I was living in Liverpool, I swam in the University pool which was 50 metres. There aren't many of those about.

    Your card games sounded fun. Do you think that the lady that kept playing out of turn was doing it deliberately?

    Hope you enjoy todays golf match, presumably with Alan, and hope that you beat him.


    This mornings farmers walk was really tough, as the bags were heavier than usual, and I didn't think that I would be able to walk home without stopping a few times. I thought though about the fact that the brain is in two halves, one saying to give up and the other to keep going. I listened to the keep going side, and I did. A bit of hard core cross training, I think😬
  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    The New Forest Forest Commission lumberjacks have cut off all the branches of the oak tree that was next to the one that was blown down by the gale force winds a few weeks ago. I presume they thought it was unsafe, and may return to cut the trunk up. I've taken a picture.

  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    Most of the branches have been cut up and taken away by drivers turning up and loading them into their cars. 
  • HS, a 50 metre pool is pretty rare in the UK, I'd think. That tree looks very bereft and rather sad. Well done on tour farmers walk. Any gradients?

    Mel, I've played in one or two card schools where that lady might have been a little unpopular! You are clearly a lovely lot out west.

    Glorious weather. We decided to run the Moors Vallèy parkrun, just outside Dorking. It's been on my to do list for a long time. It's stunning and mostly run through a vineyard. This also makes it rather hilly and it is a bit of a beast. They give you the elevations in the briefing which is a little scary.
    I was gambling that the hamstring could cope with the hills rather better than it's been coming with the local flat fast course.
    The gamble paid off.

    27th out of 257

    1st in my age category.

    Age grade = 76.38% which was the 2nd best of the day

    My time of 22.22 was the 2nd best ever for my category (65-69) at this event.

    Mrs JB would have settled for 40 minutes(she had to walk the steep bits) but came in well under 37.

    We then had a mooch around Dorking, which is an OK sort of place but with silly house prices.
  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    Good afternoon everyone, 

    JB, when I worked in the Portsmouth Naval Base, I had access to HMS Temeraire facilities. This enabled me use of the running track and 50 metres swimming pool. I suppose I have been lucky. 
    The Farmers Walk is fairly level thankfully. I don't think I could walk uphill without stopping. 

    Well done for yours and Mrs B's very impressive Moor Valley parkrun times. I've done several races in the Moor Valley, 10 milers if my memory serves me well, and they were very tough. 


    We didn't fancy a parkrun this morning, so Sarah F, Mike  and I decided to do a forest 10k that we had done during Covid lockdown. Sarah and I ran together, and after a couple of k's Mike ran on ahead as he is faster than us. Our times were 29.15, which was ok, as we weren't racing it. My Vo2 max improved to 48, and my WAVA was 65.95%. Very average compared with yours, but as we weren't racing, not bad.

    The FA Cup Final  and European Song Contest to look forward to later. 
  • HS, nice running.
    Yes a good day for big TV events or the Crown Jewels I believe they are called.

    Error on my behalf: not Moors Valley for me today but Mole Valley!
    The latter is a bit more of a challenge elevation wise.
  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    JB, I did wonder, as as far as I knew,  the Moor Valley didn't have a parkrun, and wasn't in Dorking 😁
  • Senior moment, HS! 
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Afternoon everyone,

    HS - I expect you were getting the Sportsshoes advert at the bottom of the page because you've been on the website recently and the tracking cookies have saved that info. I'm currently being followed around by Ford adverts because I downloaded a brochure for Fiesta models and prices (thinking about buying a new car). Yes, it's a 25 metre pool in Tewkesbury that I use. I've never been there but I believe the pool at the lido in Cheltenham is 50 metres. I think the lady who kept playing out of turn at cards is just a bit dotty and wasn't concentrating. See below re yesterday's golf. Well done for managing the farmer's walk without stopping. That tree is a very sad sight - I hope the lumberjacks knew what they were doing and it grows some new branches. Well done re your forest 10k and improved VO2 max and WAVA. The FA cup final and Eurovision hold no interest for me at all - but hope you enjoy them both.

    JB - well done for getting along to the Moors (aka. Mole) Valley parkrun and the resulting 1st place in your age category.

    At golf yesterday, I managed a PB of 48 for the 1st 9 holes (5 bogies aka 1 over par; and & 1 par) but my game fell apart a bit over the 2nd 9 (no bogies or pars) including messing up the 17th hole completely and hitting into the water three times in succession and not putting very well. However, despite that, I managed a new PB for the 18 holes of 105 (the previous best was 107 in Mar 2019). Unfortunately, Alan was playing well too and beat me by 5 shots. But I won on points - and managed to win one more hole than him - so a moral victory of sorts for me. No doubt, Alan will be hankering after me reducing my handicap if I continue like this :)

    I had a notification about updates on the forum discussing last weekend's swim gala. On investigating, I found someone from the Watford club was claiming they had won the medley relay rather than my club. Another club member and I have disagreed with him and pointed out his mistakes. For instance, he claimed one photo showed his team member and one of ours had finished their leg and that they were in the lead by almost a length. I diplomatically pointed out if that was the case, why were all three other members of our team on the poolside? And that if the race really were in progress, why were the time-keepers chatting to entrants and doing other things rather than concentrating on the 'race' he claimed was taking place at the time. I detect the faint whiff of sour grapes because a small team from Gloucestershire managed to beat a team from Watford with three times as many members.

    As we're expecting rain overnight and for the next few days, I've been busy cutting the lawns today and cutting back some ivy coming over the fence from next door. I carefully cut around our fledgling 'wildlife' garden and am hoping the rain will bring on the wildflower seeds I planted. Assuming the birds didn't eat all the seeds! :)
  • Mel, well done re your golf. Looking from a safe distance it seems that consistency is your big challenge. But golf is that sort of game; a bit like batting when some weeks you look like Gary Sobers and others you look like Gary the local drunk!
    As for that swimming issue,I think the term bad losers sums it up.
    Lots of rain here. Mrs JB, keen gardener, was expecting a deluge overnight and disappointed when we awoke to a bone dry garden. Indeed it didn't rain until 9.00, the precise time I turned up to cheer my granddaughter on in her junior park run, at which time the heavens opened and soaked the lot of us!

    Felt really tired today. I think the Surrey hills took more out of me than I thought.

    Watched Eurovision last night, the first time since Lulu was in it! I dont know why but it was strangely uplifting, even if 90% of the music was crap.

  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    edited May 2022
    Same here JB - I cut the lawns yesterday expecting thunderstorms and torrential downpours overnight but we appeared to have just had a bit of light rain. It's been drizzling off and on today but not enough to get excited about. Sod's law it decided to rain when you were at parkrun. As I mentioned, I don't watch Eurovision - but glad you enjoyed it all the same.

    You can tell I've had a lazy day (apart from cooking Margaret's Sunday roast earlier on). I've managed to read yesterday's and today's papers from cover to cover including all the supplements.

    Oh .. and I sorted out her problem with her external drive filling up by being aware the backup software we use just keeps backing up new versions of changed files without ever getting rid of the earlier versions. By deleting the 'old' backup and starting the backup again from scratch (backing up exactly the same set of files) I've cleared 230Gb of space! :)
  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    Evening all, 

    I got caught in a thunder storm halfway through a hilly road 10 miler. Never had such a battle with the elements before, had to struggle over the last 2 miles to even finish. Will post tomorrow to comment on your posts, and elucidate more on my run,struggle 😕
  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    Good afternoon everyone,

    WtnMel, those cookies are a right pain in the arse. It's almost impossible to access anything, without agreeing to accept them.

    I'm hoping that they will cut the tree down completely. I'm thinking that it is probably vulnerable to future gale force winds, and that is the reason for cutting off all the branches to start with. There are several more oak trees down the road, and they must be hundreds of years old. Where I live was all forest, before they built the Estate, Leisure Centre, Tesco etc. 

    Well done for your PB in Fridays golf match with Alan. You seem to be fairly evenly matched, as your results are never very far apart.

    Well done for taking the Watford rep to task. That club are definitely bad losers. 

    Very wise cutting the lawn in advance of the pending rain.

    Good that you have sorted out Margaret's hard drive problem.


    JB, it's sods law isn't it, the rain starting just as the junior parkrun started!

    I watched the Eurovision Song Contest until Ukraine had performed, and then turned over to the News Channel.


    I ran the usual 10 mile road course yesterday, the first 5k with Karen who then turned back, as she only wanted to run 10k. I continued and was running strongly until halfway, when there was a mighty rumble of thunder, and the heavens opened. From then on, it was a battle with the elements. The wind got up, and was blowing the rain into my eyes, making them sting, and restricting my vision. A lot of the pavements were flooded, and the cars were spraying water over them, including me! I was drenched from head to toe, and beginning to feel really cold. The last 2 miles were a real struggle, and I had to use all my will power to keep going. Character building I suppose! I've taken a very rare rest day for a Monday, as yesterdays last 5 miles took a lot out of me. Karen just got back to her car before the rain started.
  • HS, that sounded like rain of biblical proportions. No wonder you're knackered today.
    I did a modest little 20 minute run up and down a slope. I seem to have changed from a flat track bully to someone who seeks out elevation.
  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    JB, hills are your friend!
    Yesterdays rain was the heaviest I've experienced for years. Last night it was thundering for ages, but didn't see any lightning showing through the curtains.
Sign In or Register to comment.