New Mature Runners Thread

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  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    No fog here, but drizzly rain again. Can't remember what the sun looks like :)
    Another hilly parkrun today (there's no escape from hills around here) this time at Blackhill. The first hill is at the start and takes you up through the park, then down back to the beginning. After that we went halfway up the first hill then we left the park to ascend another hill up through some allotments, then back into the park and downhill to the start, then repeated the hill/allotment route another two times. When I got back home I had a shower and set out - walking - for the newspaper (15 mins uphill and 5 downhill to Tesco, then back again, thank goodness the return journey is mainly downhill). I think the local residents must be amongst the fittest in the North East! 

    I hope you enjoy your visit to your daughter HS, you've certainly earned some downtime! Your 9 minute out and back session sounds exhausting! How many repeats do you manage to fit into the 9 minute period?

    Still nothing from DBI or Red. In DBI's case we know its due to technical problems and hopefully she'll get back online soon. It's worrying about Red though. Has anyone heard anything from her, possibly on other forums?
  • Arrived safely!
    Aquarius, sounds like another tough parkrun. I haven't done the 9 minutes session for ages, so can't remember how many reps. Quite a few I think. Still nothing from Red. I haven't checked her extreme knitting blog lately though.
  • glo2glo2 ✭✭✭
    Afternoon all, HS wow that was a great time well done! i can see i have a long way to go yet, still little acorns lol. had my shorter long run yesterday, 11 miles was doing well until i got to 10 miles then struggled so i am maybe thinking of have a gel about 8 miles in the Coventry half next week, been reading load about nutrition, however i have just come across a chapter on caffeine, as i do not really do coffee the author has wrote about caffeine pills, not sure whether to try one before my half or not, have any of you tried these or am i just being silly even considering them? it some how feels like a cheat. My taper is now on for the week and i really want to harness everything i can to improve on last years time, however if i don't then i am not going to beat myself up about it, but it would be nice to see improvement.

    You all seem so very good with mileage, i am sure i could never do over 14 miles, but perhaps i should make this a goal for next year. i have signed up for the Richmond park 10 mile in June and this week signed up for the Southend half in July, so i should be able to relax my training for a couple of weeks after |Coventry and then back on a plan, one improvement is my hills, so my goal is to do them with ease in the race!

    Have a good Sunday everyone
  • Been for a morning walk with daughter and dog.

    glo2 I see that you have two stars now, promotion or demotion? I have never been keen on caffeine before a race as it can cause upset stomachs, although many swear by it. I'm sure that you will do well in your races and there is no reason why you couldn't go over 14 miles, as long as you take it easy. Working on hills is good and will give you the edge over other runners.
  • john bateman 6john bateman 6 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2017
    Decided on a whim to run a 10k today. There was also a 5k at the same time which is more my cup of tea but I felt it was more 'pukka' to do the 10K and that the 5K might really be for non-runners. Funny how things turn out as the leading women 5k runners were far quicker than the 10k ones (around 20 mins for the 5k whereas the 10k winner was 46ish). However, the men's 10k field was as expected stronger.
    I weighed in with a 45:51 which was a tad slower than I hoped for - I faded over the 2nd 5k. However, I managed to win my category and won a trophy.
    Next week I'll be back to parkruns and all being well I plan to have a crack at the one that HS does just outside Ringwood as I'll be travelling back from the west country and this looks like a nice way (and place) to break the journey. It might also make a change from slogging along my local windswept prom!
    Glo 2 - I've always fancied doing an event in Richmond park (not sure why). Your racing diary sounds pretty full. Which event do you fancy the most in terms of PB/performance? 
    Aquarius - that session sounds tough. Not sure I'd fancy that. It sounds like the sort of thing HS would do 10 times before breakfast as a warm-up!
  • JB congratulations on winning your age category and trophy.
  • Thanks HS. Seems to be a general consensus that the race was 'long' which is a bit annoying. Even more annoying for a runner who was in front of me and who ran past a turning even though there was a race official posted there for that very reason and who managed to ignore him. As he disappeared into the distance I wondered how his mood would be at the end of the race. In fact he took it very well, reminding me again that runners are nice people!
    Any tips on the Moor Park parkrun?
  • JB, I've never run the More Park.
  • john bateman 6john bateman 6 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2017
    Apologies HS. I meant Moors Valley. I know it's in your neck of the woods (or Forest!) so I must have jumped to an erroneous conclusion. It looks like a lovely venue.
  • I've never run Moors Valley, sorry.
  • glo2glo2 ✭✭✭
    Hi JB, i took part in last years Coventry run i managed to get a PB i was thrilled 2.13.31 so even if i get 10 seconds off this i will be thrilled, i have upped my training since October last year so i hope it all works out ok, although now it seems we may get the end of the NY weather but hey ho. i have been working on my hills so hopefully i will conquer these. i would also like to get a PB in the Southend on. i think my time last year was 2.14 so my goal this year is just to improve. iI have never done a 10 mile race before so i will treat this as a pre race for thee southend half. This will be my 6th Half marathon so i am a real novice as you may have noticed from my posts, eventually in the future i would like to get a sub 2 hour however i am not sure if i am capable of this.

    HS i do not normally have caffeine at all at home as coffee gives me a headache, i guess it may not be a good idea, just feel excited and anxious to get a good outcome. i also have a friend who will be running with me, (this is a first) and he said he will worry about times for me and i know he will encourage me.

    Rest day today for me may have a nice walk later in this lovely spring weather.

    have a good Tuesday everyone
  • Just learned the great Ed Whitlock has passed away. He was suffering from prostate cancer. Article here:
    http://www.trackie.com/track-and-field/Articles/canadian-running-icon-ed-whitlock-dies-at-86-by-paul-gains/15807/
    RIP Ed.
  • john bateman 6john bateman 6 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2017
    glo2 - I don't write from a wealth of experience but I would hazard a guess that one of the keys to a PB performance is to choose the course wisely - which (in my case at least) means an absence of hills and a nice firm surface. To take this to an extreme, as I was lining up for the 10k on Sunday one of the more ambitious runners was moaning that the course was advertised a 'fast and road' and yet had about 1 mile on grass (which was as flat as a pancake) and that his time would suffer (in the event, I noticed he won his over 50 category). Of course weather on the day is a variable we can't anticipate although experience tells me that anywhere near the sea (Southend?) is prone to windy conditions. However you sound as if you have a great attitude and with your friends support will enjoy your run(s). Looking forward to hearing of the outcome.

    HS - have finally resolved my confusion about your New Forest parkrun. It was in Brockenhurst not Ringwood (I get them mixed up.) I'm toying with the idea of switching to that one - it looks lovely but perhaps a bit hard to locate for a non-local?


    Rf - am rather ashamed to admit but the name wasn't familiar to me. I'll read the article and find out more..................I guess to some extent we all tend to reference a particular era and I'm a contemporary of Coe and Ovett (the latter being also a near neighbour who competed in local schools' races - but not against me, I'm sad to say).
  • Morning all,

    Returned yesterday afternoon from a weekend with my daughter. I ran 9 miles in the forest later, as I hadn't run for three days.

    glo2, your training seems to be going well and I can see no reason why you couldn't go sub 2 hours.

    Rf, thanks for the link to the great Ed Whitlock. He was an inspiration to me and one of the reasons why I keep running and racing, although I will never reach his heights. RIP

    JB, I think you are referring to the Brockenhurst parkrun, which during the winter is held at Wilverley Inclosure. It is due to return to Brockenhurst College shortly, but I will check and post back to confirm. If you google Wilverley Inclosure you should find sufficient information to be able to locate it. Unfortunately, there is no post code. I thought for a minute that you were going to say that you beat Ovett when you were school boys.:D

    I'm not going to club this evening, as I'm not keen to do a speed session, but will do a steady run later.


  • JB, it seems to still be at Wilverley Inclosure. If you log onto Brockenhurst parkrun and click the "course" link, you will see directions by road from Bournemouth or Southampton. There is also a map of the run route. I'm hoping to do it so if you also run will see you there. I'm not sure if I will recognise you, as we finished in a sprint, and I didn't really take much in until I had recovered.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Hi everyone

    HS - apologies from me too. I liked your photo but omitted to pass comment on it (and strangely, telepathy doesn't work). It reminded me of when I've driven through the area on my way to Studland or Swanage. Well done for 'rescuing' your trail shoe!

    Aquarius - I was going to make a corny joke about 7 more stars and you having to spend a penny but thought better of it ;) The hearing aids were very easy to get used to - and now I am hearing all the high-frequency sounds, things sound very 'flat' without them. Sounds like it was a bit of a palaver getting to the club run - hope things work out a bit better next time.

    *waves* to everyone else

    I hadn't managed to run since last Wed but have been out this morning and run 4mls.
    I've been wearing my hearing aids since last Thursday and the initial 'tinniness' (due to all the higher-frequency sounds I had been missing hearing) soon wore off just as the guy I saw said it would. Margaret thinks they are wonderful as she isn't having to repeat herself all the time! :)

    I'll just finish by saying Cheltenham Races (2 mls down the road from us) are on this week. The bypass wasn't too busy when I ran - it will be a lot busier by now. And the skies are full of helicopters ferrying the (rich!) race-goers to the meeting.
  • Rf - am rather ashamed to admit but the name wasn't familiar to me. I'll read the article and find out more..................I guess to some extent we all tend to reference a particular era and I'm a contemporary of Coe and Ovett (the latter being also a near neighbour who competed in local schools' races - but not against me, I'm sad to say).
    Ed Whitlock was a contemporary of mine, just over a year older, and a great source of inspiration when I started running at the tender age of 54. Until then I'd always regarded athletes as youngsters in the prime of life but Ed, and the legendary Derek Turnbull, were living proof you're never too old to run, and win. Their 'never say die' attitude rubbed off to the extent I too was running sub 3 hour marathons in my 60's and picking up age category prizes well into my 80's.  I owe them a lot....
    I like to think of them, along with others like the great Emil Zatopek, chewing the fat up there on that celestial running track, reminiscing on past glories, forever young. 
  • john bateman 6john bateman 6 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2017
    Rf - A lovely tribute if I may say. That's an awesome set of achievements by Ed - and you too. Yes - heaven has now got a formidable stable of celestial runners; their legacy is their inspiration to others.

    Wtmel - I'm not a racing enthusiast and know very little about it (not that this will ever stop me from forming an opinion!) but it seems to me as though Cheltenham has got almost too big? There's blanket coverage on R5 so I sought refuge in Talksport (forgive me) - and they were there too. It looks like every freeloading sport journo heads west in March (and as much for the drinking as the sport). Perhaps I'm just a jealous boots.

    HS - that's very kind of you; I didn't mean for you to go to all that trouble. As I said I'm split between the 2 New Forest venues but if I go to Brockenhurst I'll recognise you - or at least your back! As for the Steve Ovett story I'd love that to be true too; the best I can do is that my closest friend was in the race remembers Steve O leaving the whole field in his wake. Mind you, had I turned up................... ! 
  • Morning all,

    Today is a rest day and I'm going for an evening meal with two club mates. Iran 8 miles in the forest yesterday afternoon at a good pace. I had battery problems with the camera again and only managed to take one photo, which I hope will appear below.

  • The picture turned out ok. I'll make sure the batteries are fully charged now.
  • glo2glo2 ✭✭✭
    HS lovely picture, my husband bought motor home last year and we got out to a few places, hoping to do more this year, looking forward to running and exploring different parts of Britain, we are planning a short trip in April to Pembrokeshire, so i am sure i will have a few nice routes to train through.

    JB i wanted to redo the Coventry one to prove to myself i can do the hills without stopping, last year on three occasions i walked for about 45 seconds-1 minute, but now i am familiar with the course i will have them in my sights, so if i don't get a PB last year was (2.13.31) at least i can console myself with the fact that i will manage the hills lol. Fortunately the Southend one is fairly flat and although you run back and forth by the promenade it is another one that i feel i need to get a PB on, sometimes the see breeze is welcome, although last year it was raining and was quite chilly.

    Had a 6 mile run early this morning, slight mist as the sun came up, i do love a morning run it feels so special, very few people experience the dawn chorus and it is wonderful, on my return the mist had developed into fog, quite surprised how quickly it changed. Now the sun is shining (Essex) and all signs of fog have gone.

    Rest day tomorrow, i know tapering is good but i do worry that i am not keeping up my mileage, but hopefully it will have a great impact.

    Am i going on a bit? apologies if i am.

    have a good Wednesday everyone
  • john bateman 6john bateman 6 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2017
    HS - nice photo. I've plumped for the Moors Valley parkrun as it's a tad more convenient so I won't have the chance to meet with you on Saturday. We are staying in Wimborne Minster which looks like a lovely little town.

    glo2 - you have a clear strategy! The weather here (Sussex coast) is glorious - I hope you get the same in Essex. I like the idea of the motor home and the running Britain proposition. I lived in west Wales for a few years but shame on me never got further than Tenby (and that was at night!) so I missed out on all that lovely Pembrokeshire coastline. 


    So today I went down to the prom, lured by the lovely weather. Thought I'd do a bit of speed-work and we have km markers stencilled on the ground as this is the local parkrun course. Ran 2x 0.5km and 2x1km flat out hoping to get under 4min per km time. My best was 4 mins 9 seconds......a bit disappointing.
  • Morning all,

    It was very foggy last night with visibility probably no more than 20 metres.

    glo2, thanks. Tapering before a race is very important, and many runners make the mistake of trying to cram in last minute training which is counter productive. Hope you will post photos of your travels.

    jb, hope you enjoy the Moors Valley parkrun. I'll be interested to hear what it's like and of course, your finish time. A time of 4 minutes 9 seconds for 1km is very good at your age. It's many years since I've gone sub 4 minutes per k, but I've never actually timed a stand alone1km effort.

    We have a hill session with the club this evening, which is 4 x 5 minutes with steady run downs.
  • ExhaustedExhausted ✭✭✭
    Gosh. I've just decided to have a look at this new-old-new forum. It seems OK but, looking back, it looks as if you've all had teething troubles. I see that my default profile face will look pretty much as I generally look when I get back from a run. I haven't run since Christmas Day. I've enjoyed a complete break. I don't have any races planned. John Bateman 6. Wimborne Minster is very pleasant. Thomas Hardy wrote a poem about being in the churchyard drawing the architecture and the sound of the bells. I love the phrase " a double ding-dong." 

    http://www.poetrycat.com/thomas-hardy/copying-architecture-in-an-old-minster-wimborne



  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    Good morning all.

    Glo2 - good luck for Sunday's HM. Your training sounds like its been going well so I'm sure you'll get a good time. Fingers crossed for a PB!

    JB - belated congratulations for your 10k age category win, especially as you only entered on a whim. It makes you wonder what you might have achieved if you had been specifically training for it. I would love to be able to run a 4.09 km, I think my best efforts have been around 5 mins.

    HS - another lovely photo, very envious of your running environment, no cars, no crowds of people. 

    Went training at the coast again last night, but only after spending time sanding down Steve's boat at the sailing club first, so arrived at the running club cold and tired and not really in the mood for running. Not many turned up as it was a cold windy night although fortunately the rain had just stopped. I took some photos of the resulting rainbow but not sure if I'm clever enough to upload one (I'll give it a go later). I ended up having to run with a faster group as no-one from my group turned up. I hate it when this happens as it means I struggle with the pace and feel dispirited with my efforts. We were doing 1km reps (clockwise) at between 5.00 and 5.20 for each rep. As I expected, I struggled to keep up, so for the second rep the coach allowed me to run "gently" anticlockwise until I met my group coming from the opposite direction at which point I joined them and managed to stay with them to the end. The following rep was back to normal though, and back to falling off the back of the group! However I consoled myself with the thought that I was struggling because of our Grand Prix race on Tuesday. I think I've mentioned before this is a series of handicapped club races and I usually find I'm swamped by the faster runners as I'm finishing. This time though I actually managed to pass a few people and had only a handful of faster runners pass me a few yards before the finish line. I haven't seen the results yet, but I'm fairly sure it was my best GP so far, and for once I wasn't totally exhausted at the end. Perhaps all these hills I keep moaning about are starting to pay off? 

    WtnMel - I hear reports that your locality is overrun with bugs as you're neglecting your bug squishing duties - shame on you ;)

    Exhausted - welcome to the new forum (which everyone hates). It's nice to hear from you again, I hope you get your running mojo back soon and get back out there - you know you want to :p

    Rest day today, another hilly parkrun tomorrow.
  • Morning all,

    Bright and sunny and today is a rest day.

    Exhausted, welcome back and glad that you managed to find your way onto the new forums. It's not as user friendly as the former one, but I think we are finding our way round now. The event finder though, is a complete mess, in my opinion. It's not user friendly and is almost impossible to find races. This is despite RW no longer listing events in their magazine, due to the new, improved race finder on line. If that is an improvement, then I'll eat my hat :s .

    Aquarius, thanks, I'll try to keep the photos coming. Sounds like a tough training session, and well done in your handicap race. Keep up the hill work, it will pay dividends. If possible, maintain your pace over the hill top and beyond. Too many runners get to the top "and relax." This is where you get the advantage over them.

    On the subject of hills, we had a hill session with the club last night. It comprised 4 x 5 minutes continuously up and down the hill, with 2 minutes walk recoveries between each.
  • ExhaustedExhausted ✭✭✭
    Thank you for the welcome back. As it happens, just after posting I did venture out on a very short run. My face matched this green avatar when I got back. 
  • Morning all,

    Very dull and damp, not very inspiring. I'm off for a steady road run shortly. Good luck park runners.
  • Thanks for the kind comments. Just back from my trip including a bit of parkrun tourism. As Exhausted says Wimborne Minster is a delightful place and I'll check out the Hardy poem. And good luck to Aquarius for the hilly parkrun challenge - and well done in your club Grand Prix(a fun event!).

    I managed to locate the Moors Valley one (near Ringwood and deep in the New Forest). I've now done about 25 different courses and I'd have to put Moors Valley very near the top of the pile. Lovely, undulating course on firm paths with lots of room for overtaking (or being overtaken!). Well marshalled and friendly as they all are. A pretty large field (336) and thus a little congested at the start (a few buggies; a few dogs).


    Quite pleased with my performance - 21:45, which gave me 24th place and a 60-64 category win. But I'm cheating here as a very good 65-69 beat me by a good margin. He might just be one of HS's old sparring partners (Brian Long?), although I don't think he was a local. He cleaned up the Age Grading placings and I managed a 6th place - which is better than I usually do.

    Would definitely recommend this course to anyone passing through or of course living nearby.
  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    hello everyone

    Excellent parkrun time JB, and well done on your category win. You seem to be getting faster and faster at the moment, long may it continue!

    Dull and damp here too HS. Our plans changed this morning, so the parkrun was ditched in favour of a longer run on the Derwent Walk waggonway, which I hoped would be a flatter route. In the event I still had a mile of undulating roads to tackle to get to the old waggonway, which although it looks flat is slightly downhill on the "out" part of the run, and consequently slightly uphill on the return leg. I also forgot that the waggonway crosses farmers tracks and roads at various points where it has to steeply dip down to the level of the road, then back up again. It seems there's no escape from hills around here!
    I ran a total of 5 miles but although my Garmin beeped for each mile and showed the time taken there must have been some malfunction because I couldn't download the details to Garmin Connect. It appeared to download (going through the syncing process and transferring data etc) but when it had completed the sync and I clicked to view on Garmin Connect it took me to the run I did on Thursday. I repeated the sync process a few times, to no avail. When I checked "history" on my watch it showed the total distance and time for today's run, but when I went to the next screen which normally displays all the data about pace etc it just showed zeros for everything. Anyone have any suggestions about what may have happened? I've tried a short walk around the house since and that recorded and downloaded ok. It's really frustrating.

    Hope your race goes well this weekend glo2, good luck to you and anyone else who has runs planned.
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