New Mature Runners Thread

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  • Hello all, been another manic week and not much chance to check in here!
    Red- so pleased to see you back here, hope things progress well for you now. 
    HS - great milage for you..I did misread one post..thought you had done 20 miles if Hill reps. :open_mouth:
    Grumpygit- welcome, sounds like you will be back to it in no time!

    I have been quite tired but did manage a 21 mile lsr the last weekend. A bit of a sore achillies after though. Two sessions completed this week, intervals on Monday and a 10 mile tempo run this morning. Planning 20-22 on Saturday before scaling it back a bit for taper  :p

  • grumpygit said:
    Reluctant to use the word "mature runner", but that's what I am now  my weight is at least 15 Lb over a good running weight for me and I am now 55.
    I am hoping if I at last put the work in and take a stone off weight I can start feeling a little better about myself after a tough and upsetting past five years.
    It was five years of trauma (redundancy, divorce, financial problems, etc.) that prompted me to take up running at the age of 54.  I couldn't have wished for a better antidote to all the negativity that had built up over the years.  Overweight and out of shape I just had to reverse the trend before it was too late.  Running was all I could afford to do, having no money for a bicycle, gym membership, swimming or whatever.  All I had to do was step out the door in my old trainers, preferably when the neighbours weren't looking, and jog around the wonderful countryside around my home in the Pennines.
    Now, coming up 85, I can look back over 30 wonderful years. Those 5 traumatic years way back in the 80's mysteriously opened the door to events, achievements, travels and friendships beyond my wildest dreams.  Running was my saviour from the deep pit of despondency in those dark days.  I'm sure it can do the same for you.
    https://oldrunningfox.blogspot.co.uk
  • Morning all,

    Bright and sunny and forecast to be the hottest day of the year. Not decided yet whether or not to do the hill session with the club this evening, or to go for a forest run in the sunshine.

    MWW, well done on your 21 miler, but take care with the Achilles. Do you have a race target time in mind? I had to laugh that you thought at first than I had done 20 mile of hill reps. I do love hill running, but 20 miles of hill reps would be mind blowing, as well as leg shattering. :D

    Rf, it's great that you are still running and enjoying it at 85. I hope that I'm still running at that age, if I'm lucky enough to reach it.
  • MWW - sounds as if you are spot-on in your training schedule. Hope Achilles behave themselves.

    Rf - a highly inspirational posting.


    HS- I'd chose the forest run in the sunshine...............


    I'm having a week of short sharp sessions. Yesterday it was 'let's run some fast 1k intervals'. This turned into 'let's run one mediocre 1k interval and walk 3 miles home'. Managed a 4:08 but I should be below 4. Undulating session this evening then rest day (including a funeral, just to put things into their proper perspective), followed by a parkrun on Saturday.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Hi everyone

    I went over on my left ankle during Tuesday's run (tripped over a large stone left after some recent roadworks - saw the stone but misjudged my footing while crossing the road). So I've spent the last couple of days with my feet up and an ice-pack on my ankle. It's definitely getting better but I don't think I'll be running again until the middle of next week.

    HS - I have an arm strap somewhere that my old phone will fit into so any photos I take will involve digging that out from wherever I have 'filed' it ;) I've tried ten-pin bowling and skittles in the past - I like to think bowls is more difficult because you can't send it in a straight line.

    Columba - good to hear you are still making progress and lucky you re the massage (reminds me I haven't had one for a while). That sounds like my sort of ski-ing holiday (the non-ski aspect I mean).

    Aquarius - I'm tempted to buy another new pair of the same shoes to keep in reserve .. I just checked my usual supplier (Sportshoes.com) but they don't have my size anymore so I'll have to have a look around before other suppliers run out of stock as well.

    JB6 - I always assumed my previous club were an offshoot of the other local club. My club were called 'Running Somewhere Else' but that was a reference to the bar where they met rather than taking a pop at where they used to run! I keep track of my shoe mileage via my spreadsheet and by logging runs on Fetcheveryone and find mine need changing after 500mls or so.

    Grumpygit - welcome along to the forum .. impressive times there from your younger running days (I managed a 1h 47m HM in my youth .. struggle to break 2h 30m these days). I turn 65 on Monday but think there's a few more years of running in me yet (especially judging by some of the other runners on this forum).

    MWW - hope things aren't quite so manic in future. Enjoy your tapering (or 'tapir' as one of my friends refers to it).

    RF - an inspirational post and as someone just turning 65 and with a gammy ankle and feeling stupid for tripping over a stone there's hope for me yet (another 20 years running maybe?).
  • Morning all,

    Today is a rest day.

    JB, I opted for a run in the forest in the sunshine. It was actually a gentle jog and I jogged 6.56 miles. Hope you soon manage a sub 4 minute K.

    WtnMel, hope your ankle is soon back to normal. Agree bowls is more difficult, especially crown bowls.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Hi everyone,


    HS - you jogged gently! (gasp)  ;)  I have enough problems with 'normal' bowls at the moment and wonder how much more difficult the crown green variety would be.

    My ankle seems much improved today. I'm still doing bugger all on instructions from Margaret (I've been told to pack my walking boots for our little trip away on Mon so I can see why she wants me 100% again asap).
  • Hallo everyone, at last I'm back on the thread! It was a big headache, I had to buy a new computer and screen because the old one no longer worked properly, then we had a huge problem getting it hooked up and working correctly, plus converting it to English language, couldn't figure out how to find everything on the new keyboard so I chucked it and plugged the old one back in, I had converted that to English years ago. Our TV conked out too, cannot complain as it was about 40 years old! Hope you are all fit and well and enjoying the nice spring weather. I am going to meet John at the pool in a while, we have both registered for the Cologne swim in June, me for the 6km event and John for the 3rd time in the 12km race. He is also registered for the 14km Thames Marathon swim, would love to do it too but will have to look after the dogs. Some of you may know I have a place in the Great North Run, I've already booked my flights and hotel (it has a pool and sauna, just right for relaxing after the race). Tomorrow we have our dog club's own exam trials, I am competing with Charlie, fingers crossed for a successful day - he has to perform tracking, obedience and security dog work and score 70 or more in each one, fail one and you fail all three! I know he's capable of it but it all depends on the day - I am already nervous so hope I don't pass it on to him tomorrow.
  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    Well, I've just had an email saying DBI had posted on here, but when I checked - nothing! How frustrating for her, I thought she'd finally managed to get on here.

    WtnMel - happy birthday for Monday, a "milestone" birthday too! I hope your ankle gets better soon and doesn't spoil your forthcoming trip (sorry, no pun intended).

    Grumpygit - welcome. You've obviously been a speedy runner in the past and no doubt will get back to posting good times again, especially if you manage to get your weight down to where you want. Keep motivated and let us know how you get on. This is a very friendly and supportive forum and you'll always find encouragement and advice here if you need it.

    Runningfox. I really enjoyed reading your blog, and as the others have already said, it's very inspirational. You must be very proud of everything you've achieved. 

    Enjoy your rest day HS.

    Good luck for your parkrun tomorrow JB. Hope the weather will be ok for you, it's blowing a gale here at the moment (made my modest 3 miler today feel like 6) hope it dies down for tomorrow's parkrun - hills and wind are not a good combination. 
  • Aquarius, I also received a notification that DBIW had posted on here, but again nothing. She has been on the forum the longest, together with Red. It seems that for some reason, DBIW has been blocked, despite saying that she has posted.
  • Aquarius: I got that email too, to say DBI had posted, but couldn't find anything.  Thankyou for the kind words about my blog.  Thought it might inspire Grumpygit, seeing how he's starting out again at round about the age I took up running.   Just wanted to show him, or anyone else, what can be achieved in later life.
    Happy running all....

  • glo2glo2 ✭✭✭
    Hi everyone and thank you all for your comments on my Coventry half, i am now looking forward again, had a nice few days rest but Tuesday decided to do a few miles 6.5 to ease back in, and i would have liked to have gone out again but i have assessments and an interview this week, interview was yesterday and i left about 6.10 in the morning, all organised to give me time to arrive change into my suit, do make up and be ready have a coffee etc and relax before hand, was all going well until i arrived at barton Mills and realised that my suit was still hanging in the wardrobe, well i just had to come clean as i was in my casual clothes, but they seemed to take it with a joke or two. well i am to do a long run tomorrow, of course it is now dark again at 6 am so i will have to dress up suitably, i was getting used to lighter mornings, never mind. you are all doing so well, HS you are going great guns, i need to get back to 5 days a week starting from Monday, and i need to be effective 14 weeks now until Southend Half so i need to get on it. Although god knows how i intend to fit running in should i get the job, as i only really like early morning running i may have to change my mind set.

    What have you all got in store running wise this spring summer?

    happy running to you all
  • Morning all,

    Bright and sunny, but rain forecast later. Another rest day today, as tomorrow is the Ringwood Rabbit 10k off road race, and I want to do well.

    glo2, I was rather amused that you arrived for an interview in casual clothes, having left your business suit at home.  I do hope that you will be successful in getting the job. It might be possible for you to run in the lunch hour if you get the job. I was very lucky in that for much of my career I was able to do that, and several Establishment where I worked had their own running clubs.

    WtnMel, glad to hear that your ankle is improving. Off road running does help to strengthen the joints.
  • john bateman 6john bateman 6 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2017
    WtnMel - sorry to hear about the ankle; the best birthday pressie would be a total and quick recovery followed by a PB in the 65-69 category - which of course your next run will be!

    Aquarius - thanks for the kind thoughts. Some runners are more affected by winds than others. I'm quite small and like to tuck in behind a big guy if possible.


    glo2 - hope you get the job! Remembering some of my interviews there was never a correlation between how I thought I performed and whether or not I got the job. One thing about running - at least there are performance metrics.............


    Talking of which. Parkrun (moderate wind): 21:29. Really pleased as I was 'after' a 21:30. However for the first time this year I didn't  win my category and settled for a poor 2nd. Fair enough - it was always going to happen. 75.95% WAVA put me in 7th place (out of 336) on age grading. This is one performance metric I'm coming to really like! Feel that I'm picking up a bit of form now - my best time of 2017. On glo2's query, I'd love to get back under 21 for 5k and pick up some top 3 (60+) placings in a few 10ks.
  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    glo2 - I laughed at your interview story. It reminded me of story a tutor told me years ago about an exam disaster he suffered. He couldn't find anywhere to park and as a result arrived late for his exam. He rushed into the exam hall in a state of panic, however once he'd gathered his breath and settled down he found he was able to really concentrate on the questions because he had no pre-exam nerves - his rush to get there hadn't allowed him the time to dwell on the forthcoming exam, and it turned out he got really good marks when the results were published. I hope you have a similar outcome, the unusual circumstances will have broken the ice for you all and hopefully will have relaxed you. Fingers crossed anyway! As regards events this spring/summer I've just checked the calendar and so far I have 9 10ks, 6 track and field meetings and 3 road relays. The last of our Grand Prix races is this coming Tuesday.

    I managed to improve on my parkrun time again this week, to my great surprise, as it was fuelled by a meal of curry and wine last night, (and followed that hilly windy run yesterday) so I really didn't expect to run at all well. I was therefore delighted to improve by 53 seconds. Perhaps I should stick to this pre-race fuelling in future?

    HS - good luck in the Ringwood Rabbit off road race tomorrow. Have you done this one before? Have you a target time in mind?

    JB - how was your parkrun today?




  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    JB - I see our posts crossed. Well done on an excellent parkrun result today!
  • I am so frustrated, from here  it seems that the post was accepted but from what I read nobody is able to read what I posted.
  • Dog trials, failed suchen, scored 177 in obedience and 88 in security dog work.
  • Should be 77 in obedience,not 177
  • I've had 3 more notifications that DBIW had tried to post here.
    JB, another excellent parkrun. Getting closer to the elusive 80% WAVA!
    Aquarius, a few years ago I missed the turning off the A34 on the way to a promotion board and arrived at the last minute, hot and bothered. Needless to say, I was unsuccessful. Well done for your parkrun improvement, and good luck with your future races. I haven't done the Rabbit Run before. It was last held in 2013. I haven't really got any idea as to time, as I don't know how hilly, muddy etc the course will be. I hope for around 52 minutes, but could be more, or hopefully less.
  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    HS I've also had those notifications. Well done to DBIW for persisting! It's really mystifying how she is apparently able to post, but the posts don't appear on the thread. Looking forward to hearing about your Rabbit Run today.

    I took advantage of this morning's fair weather to go for a 6 mile slow out and back along the waggonway. The "out" bit was ok as it was slightly downhill, but it made the uphill "back" section tiring. Looking forward to a rest day tomorrow, then the club Grand Prix on Tuesday.
  • HS - good luck and thanks for the kind comment. Lovely day for a run.

    Aquarius - well done on the Parkrun improvement. I'd sell my soul for a 53 second improvement. Curry here I come. Your race schedule looks nice and full - is there one particular event you are aiming at?

    A 5 miler for me today in 36:50. Pleased with this. It's my young trainer partner's final run before the Brighton marathon. I thought he'd like a brisk 5 miler and hoped that he would keep me company. He went off at 7:05 minute miles which is not far off my 5K racing time and I was completely spent trying to keep up with him. Eventually we slowed down to a realistic pace. I'm very proud of him: 18 months ago it would have been him gasping in my wake. Now it's very much roles reversed.

  • Evening all,

    A lovely day for racing and training, but it was very chilly early this morning. The race went much better than expected and the course was a mixture of good trails, muddy trails, quite hilly, and one long hill comprising deep wet sand, with pockets of water. I made the best progress over the difficult sections, thanks to my year round training in the forest. My time was 48.45 and much quicker than expected. The official results aren't up yet, but only the first 3 men and women got a prize, there were no vets prizes.

    Aquarius, hope you enjoyed your 6 mile run in the sunshine. Good luck with the Grand Prix on Tuesday.

    JB, a very good pace 5 miles.
  • HS - well done. Sounds as though your technical expertise served you well. (In cycling 'technical' sections of a race always seem to simply mean 'very tricky'!)

    Rest day for me today.
  • Morning all,

    Thick fog first thing, but it has now cleared and the sun is out. I was woken up in the night with cramp in my right calf.

    Thanks jb, yes, there were some technical segments which were probably a bit daunting to those runners not familiar with those sort of conditions. I am going for a very easy pace recovery run later this morning.

    Race results still not up, which is a bit frustrating, as these days, we expect them the same day. Not like the good old days when they came through the post a week or two later.
  • Still trying to post on here so that  you can read me- does not seem to be working at all.
  • Morning all,

    Very heavy rain earlier, but has now stopped and the sun has come out.

    Another notification this morning from DBIW, but again it hasn't appeared.

    Results are now up for the Rabbit Run, but doesn't list age categories or club names. This is not surprising as it was a low key race, with many unattached runners. I came 25th in 48.45, and Steve 39th in 52.27. Steve would have been quicker than me, but unfortunately, he aggravated a groin strain in the first mile and had to slow down.

    I ran a very leisurely 6 miles yesterday, which eased my aching legs. Tonight is a hilly circuit session with the club.
  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    JB - a 53 second improvement on an already slow time isn't as impressive as it sounds. I'll never be able to get close to the times you run! My only aim this year is to enjoy my running, and if I do happen to improve as I go along then so much the better, but I'm not going to set myself targets. I just enjoy the challenge of trying out different distances and events, whether track, trail, cross country or road, club events, local league events, or local masters events. They all offer a different challenge. As you can see I tend to dip in and out of things, rather than specialising on one particular discipline. I think this is because I came to running later in life, so I know I'm unlikely to excel at anything, therefore just concentrate on enjoyment instead.

    HS - excellent result on Sunday, that long hill sounded particularly challenging, but as you say all your forest training paid off. Cramp is horrible, I sympathise. Hope your hilly club session tonight won't cause problems.

    I wonder if DBIW were to de-register with RW, then re-register she might then be able to access this thread? Perhaps her present account has become corrupted?
  • Aquarius - enjoyment is the goal after all. I tend to only enjoy my running when I've run a good time. If I couldn't compete I don't think I'd run. Sad but true!


    HS - in terms of results I too get very impatient. This is a clear case as you say of expectations changing. I remember waiting many days for the snail mail ones back in the day. To my eternal chagrin, I didn't supply the necessary SAE for the results of the race in which I did my 10K PB in 1989 - of course I didn't know at the time it was going to be my all time 10K PB and so I've got no record of it. But that's OK because in my head  I can knock a couple of minutes off it!

    In the words of Thomas Hobbes (philosopher) my hill run today was 'nasty, poor, brutish and short' and built on the principle espoused by John Major (not a philosopher but when he was Chancellor) - 'if it isn't hurting, it isn't working'. It hurt.
  • Morning all,

    Bright and sunny but a bit chilly. I'm doing a 10 mile forest run this evening with Alice.

    Aquarius, that's really good to partake in a variety of different events, on and off road, cross country, track etc. I'm the same really, and particularly enjoy the lower key events.

    jb, no pain, no gain! I sympathise with you not having a paper record of your 10k pb. I'm in the same position with my 10 mile pb. I know my time, but don't know my race position, or Vet placing.

    Last night's hilly circuits was good, but tough. We ran 5 x 0.4 mile circuits with walk recoveries between each.
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