New Mature Runners Thread

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  • What a crazy week that was on the morning (3am)of the 5k race I had to take my wife to hospital with an infected gallbladder  which was removed and she only got out of hospital yesterday.
    I managed to finish the race 110 out of 247 timed@26:09 but they had changed the course from last year slightly with more hills.I was quite pleased with the time etc.
  • jag1jag1 ✭✭
    Morning everyone - managed a 6km steady run last night out with the club. through trails on the North Downs in Surrey - perfect running evening. Circuits this morning with my PT. Making the most of the sunshine today!
  • Hello. I'm new here. How old are you when toy become a "mature runner"? I'm 53 so I guess I qualify?
  • RedheadRedhead ✭✭✭
    Afternoon peeps old and new and welcome to Anthony, you are indeed eligible to be here :smiley: 

    Jag1, it's glorious here too and I'm just taking  a break from gardening. I bet the NDowns were fabulous this morning. Which section did you do? I've done the NDowns marathon which covered lots of the Downs (oh those steps we had to go down then back up on the return and the stepping stones across the stream - we needed an ice cream after that!).



    Damien, hope your wife is recovering now. Well done on your 5k time especially on a more hilly course.

    I'm still doing RED May (run every day, in case you don't know) and did a nice 5k trail at 5:30am before it started to get hot.
  • jag1jag1 ✭✭
    Hi Redhead - we ran across Ranmore Common then turned left to join the North Downs way to get back to the car park up near the viewpoint. Nice and flattish when you run along the top. I know those steps well! If you want an even more killer version head to the Eiger Steps that go up from near Juniper Hall on Headley lane - roughly here https://goo.gl/maps/DnYLi549VJoMiWZMA

    They form part of the Knacker Cracker route on New Years day - we marshalled last year and I hope to run it in 2020. It's a killer!!
  • RedheadRedhead ✭✭✭
    Jag1 Box Hill, I know it well as hubby and I used to go walking there when we lived in Surrey a couple of decades ago! You'll have to wear fancy dress.
  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    Afternoon all, and welcome Anthony, you fit the bill well!

    Thanks Red, it's great that some of the old pace is returning. I like the picture, the ice cream was definitely deserved. Well done maintaining the RED May, and a good idea doing this mornings run before it got too hot. 

    Damien, hope your wife is making a good recovery from her operation. Well done for your 5k race on a hilly course.

    Jag1, your morning run sounds great, running on the North Downs. I used to live in Waterlooville and run to the South Downs. It was a 6 mile run there and 6 miles back. I used Butser Hill for my hill reps which was quite hard core. I was younger then! When I was a teenager, I used to cycle to and up and down box hill with some friends. I lived in Surrey then, and hadn't started running.

    I set off for my run in the forest at 9.30 this morning, and was glad that I had decided it would be a recovery run, as it was really hot on the outward leg. However, on the return, I was running into a cold wind which made me work a bit harder. I ran 8.6 miles which was my intention.
  • RedheadRedhead ✭✭✭
    Morning all, busy day today with running, taking hubby to the dentist, gardening, hospital for my eye check part 1 then Garden Society this evening. I've been up since 5am and feel rather like the Duracell Bunny already!

    Anthony, tell us a bit about your running please ('cos we're nosy!)

    Have a wonderful day.

    Oh and I forgot the reason I included that photo of me with the lovely James; it was because he's just become the youngest person to complete 300 marathons (I think he's 27 now) and got himself a Guinness World Record. Such a lovely young man and he takes good care of his mum who's quite ill and often keeps old biddys like me company (and I'm even older than his mum!!!).
  • jag1jag1 ✭✭
    Running Club tonight. Yesterday I did an easy 2.5 miles with my PT then some core work when we got home. Plus a few cycles to and from the shops etc.

    Last Sunday I managed to scald my wrist quite nastily - that'll teach me to have an old classic car :| so that has curtailed any weight or resistance training for a week or so while it heals. Had to have the practice nurse redress it this morning as it's all a bit raw :/

    But at least running doesn't hurt so I suspect there might be a few training runs this next fortnight while it settles down. And I can still garden thankfully as there is a lot to do - though it is looking lovely at the moment - everything is in flower, and the foliage is vibrant from the combination of rain last week and now some sunshine.
  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭

    Welcome Anthony, we’re a friendly bunch on here, and we’ll look forward to hearing about your running exploits over the coming weeks.

    Jag1 great idea to join a beginners running course, it’ll keep you motivated and hopefully teach you about running form and injury prevention. Parkruns are a wonderful invention, regular, free, timed 5ks with likeminded runners and nobody cares whether you are just out for a trot or chasing the course record. Hope your wrist improves soon, that sounds painful.

    So sorry to hear about your wife’s sudden illness Damien, I hope she’s feeling a lot better now. Well done on your race result. 

    Red, hope your eye appointment went ok, and hubby’s dental appointment, I’m full of admiration as ever for the amount of things you fit into a day, not to mention the amazing feats of running you so modestly mention. If I ever did one marathon, let alone 169, I’d be shouting it from the rooftops! I think you’ve mentioned your friend James before, he sounds a very nice lad, and a very talented runner.

    HS, 7 min miling, that’s amazing at any time, but particularly so when done during a longish run. I don’t know how you do it. Well I suppose I do really, it must be down to your consistent training and spinning, so you richly deserve it!

    WtnMel glad to hear your mum’s settling into her new place. Hope your back improves soon. Congratulations on another golf victory. Look out Bude.


    I had an eventful 5 mile run yesterday. Eventful in that for the second time this week I was accosted by a dog while running along our local waggonway. A couple of days ago an over enthusiastic dog (off the lead and owner nowhere in sight) decided to run with me, or rather at me and around me so progress was almost impossible. I shouted back along the track in the hope that the owner might appear but no one did. Eventually the dog latched on to a couple of runners going the other way and I could continue. No harm done, but a rather aggravating (and increasingly common) experience. However yesterday a large dog, with owner but off the lead, jumped up at me repeatedly snapping at my face, fortunately it didn’t manage to bite me but it’s claws raked across my stomach and, as I later discovered, drew blood (although strangely my T-shirt wasn’t torn, but was pretty muddy from his paws). The owner didn’t seem too concerned, limiting his help to half hearted calls of “come here”. I’m pretty slim and only 5ft tall and on his hind legs this dog’s face was level with mine and the force of him jumping at me almost had me off my feet. I dread to think what would have happened if it had attacked a small child. The only way the owner managed to get the dog off me was to offer it a treat - what sort of message does that teach the dog for goodness sake??

    Needless to say I was pretty annoyed and shaken when I got home and saw my stomach, but rather depressingly I find this sort of incident is becoming more and more common along this route. Dog walkers are the main users and almost everyone lets their dog(s) off the lead. Not only is this irresponsible when runners and cyclists also use the waggonway but it also results in piles of dog dirt everywhere. When we moved here a year or so ago and found that right outside our front door we had access to a traffic free route that runs for miles and miles through woods and fields I thought we were so lucky, but now I don’t enjoy using it at all. 

    The day really didn’t improve much after that, I managed to cut my finger quite badly, then Steve, (obviously not wanting to be outdone) cut his finger on a DIY job which then had to be abandoned. We decided the best thing to do would be to relax in the garden with a cup of coffee, but that was ruined by a neighbour with a blaring radio. 

    Steve had an 8am appointment this morning for a cataract op, and as the hospital is quite a distance from where we live we stayed overnight at a nearby Premier Inn. On the way there a squirrel ran across the road and the car three in front of us braked to a dead stop, there was nearly a pile up as the two cars between us and him had been travelling too close. Fortunately we had time to brake, but once we arrived at the Premier Inn we shut our room door, lay on the bed and refused to move in case some other disaster overtook us. 

  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    Evening all,

    Red, hope everything went well with your eye test, and that your hubby didn't need any treatment by the dentist. 300 marathons by James who is about 27 is amazing, he must have started whilst still a toddler lol.

    Jag1, I presume your classic car is a Jag, hence your user name. Is it an e type? I once had a Triumph Vitesse. Hope your wrist doesn't take too long to heal. Thankfully, it doesn't stop you from running.

    Aquarius, thanks! They say that muscles etc have a memory, so I suppose my recovery and gradual increase in pace is partly down to that. Endurance lasts longer as we age than pace, which is why most of my training runs now are medium long.
    I sympathise with you regarding dogs off  leads and owners having virtually no control over them. Now the weather has improved, I encounter dogs wherever I run in the forest. I always slow down and stop, which usually works. What annoys me though, is that some dog owners let their dogs run loose in fields containing cows and ponies. They don't seem concerned that they frighten the animals. It would serve them right if they turned on the dogs and flattened them.
    Oh dear, what a day you had, cutting your finger, after being attacked by a dog, and  then Steve cutting his finger too.
    Things going from bad to worse for you, with the cars ahead of you crashing into each other. Thankfully, you managed to stop in time. It does annoy me, cars driving too close, or tail gating as it is commonly known. This happens to me when I'm sticking to the speed limits, but I usually accelerate away from them when out of restricted areas. My Volkswagen Up is quite speedy.
    Hope Steve's cataract operation went ok.?

    I ran 8.77 miles in the forest this morning as a fartlek session.
  • RedheadRedhead ✭✭✭
    Morning all,

    Trying to be good and post more regularly! Yesterday's run was a surprise as I trotted around one of the hilly routes I do much quicker than usual and I wasn't pushing hard at all. It's 5.35 miles and I've never done it below 63 minutes doing it this way round (the opposite way I've managed 58 minutes but this way round is more UP than down) so yesterdays 57:34 was a a complete shock :smiley: Off out for a trot later this morning.

    Jag1, sorry to hear about your hand but glad you can still keep busy. Please tell me you have a 60s Jag like the one Jerry Lewis drove in a film (can't rmember the name of course!) - red, rag roof and spoke wheels. Hadn't seen one for years until the Classic Car Show in a local village last year and it still made me swoon!

    Aquarius, oh my goodness what a hideous day you both had. I've lost count of the number of times we've all talked about dog problems on here. Sad to hear about the problems you have on the waggonway (I hadn't heard that term before) and can sympathise as we've now got people using electric bikes on a marked route using of our footpaths through the woods. I've actually reported this to the Rights of Way team because cyclists and horses are not allowed on the public RoW footpaths! I hope Steve's cataract op went well (that's in my future too) and that you have a much better day today xxx

    TE, get you with your forest fartlekking. Excellent mileage too. What's your next event? I think we need an age category win now you've got your speed back! xxx

    I'm not marathoing this weekend but will be out doing a recce on another part of the 1066 route.
  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    Afternoon all,

    Red, well done for yesterdays hilly run, you are definitely getting quicker. Hope this mornings trot was good. 
    Thanks, incorporating fartlek into my medium/long runs seems to be producing results. My next event is the New Forest 10 miles on 7th July, which is mainly on good trails. It starts at 11.15 which always makes it "a scorcher!" I will attempt to get back into the top age category bracket for this race, but will be up against "youngsters" just arriving into the 70 to 75 age category.

    Today was a rest day and I had a hair cut this morning :) 
  • jag1jag1 ✭✭
    Redhead and Hillstrider it is indeed an E Type in pale primrose with a black soft top which is arguably the best colour. 

    Speed work last last night at running club. I can feel a few aches today! Great fun though. The coaches base everything around games which gets everyone laughing and enjoying themselves. We’ve got a real range of age and ability so having fun is the order of the evening. 

    An invite to a 5 mile run down at Goodwood popped into my inbox today so I might have to enter that! Not until August 14th but it’s an evening run so should be nice temps. Will have to find something else in between now and then I think. June is hectic with travelling though so we will see. 
  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    Jag1, your classic car sounds amazing. I hope you keep it securely garaged at night. My ex wife's cousin, who lived in Liverpool, had a white e type, but was afraid to drive it very often, as he was afraid it would get vandalised when he parked it.
    Your club sounds good, with everyone enjoying themselves. It definitely motivates runners when they enjoy what they are doing. The 5 mile race in August is a good incentive to keep up the good work.

    I ran 8.1 miles this morning, the first 1.5 miles on roads and the rest in the forest. I will be having a rest day tomorrow watching the Manchester Marathon on BBC2 with my feet up and a glass of red wine in hand!!
  • RedheadRedhead ✭✭✭
    Evening all,

    Fab run this morning on a round route to collect the newspaper form the next village. It's only just over a mile away but I stretched it out to 6.5 by running through some fields and the woods.

    Nice running TE. Methinks you need to get another marathon under your belt...........

    Jag1, love the sound of your club, what fun! Your Jag sounds lovely and I remember that colour. I grew up with 2 car-mad lads living nearby and they both had all sorts of sporty numbers which I got to try when I'd passed my test. My faves at the time were a Daimler Dart SP250 and a TR6. When I had my own first car, a Ford Escort RS, they souped it up for me and I got snazzy wheels from a place called Demon Tweaks :smiley: I love my soft tops these days, and have been driving Saab convertibles for decades, but sadly there won't be any more once this one gets too old or priced off the road (it's a turbo diesel!).
  • RedheadRedhead ✭✭✭
    Morning all,

    We've got rain again, boo and hoorah in equal measures as the ground is like rock and the ponds are all low but I need to get out there and do some digging!!! Just off for a recovery trot after a pleasant 17 miles yesterday doing a recce on another section of the 1066 route. I got drenched first thing and then it got quite warm. The oil-seed Rape was hideous and taller than me in some places, hateful stuff. Delighted to hear that the race organisers have been and checked the parts I said were dangerous/impossible to navigate safely and have re-routed to the lanes for that section. Unbeknown to others, the lanes we'll be using instead are UP in a lung-busting sort of UP :wink:


  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    Afternoon all,

    Red, you are a running machine :smiley: You've certainly owned some impressive cars over the years. A girl racer :astonished:  Your car insurance must have been sky high :cold_sweat:
    That oil-seed Rape looks awful. Good that the race organisers have re routed the lanes in the dangerous sections. Sounds like it will make things tougher going up instead of down. Remember, hills are your friends.
    I probably will do another marathon, but not this year. I've got the New Forest 10 mile coming up in July, and the Salisbury 54321 and New Forest Half Marathons later in the year. 

    I ran the Solent Half Marathon route again this morning with Sarah H. We ran it quite slowly, chatting all the way :smiley:  
  • jag1jag1 ✭✭
    No running today, instead I had a weights session. I did enter two more trail races though. Hardasnails 10k in July and the Goodwood 5 mile run in August. I’ll also aim for the Surrey Hills 10k in September so that’s a few goals.

    Redhead it’s nice to hear from another lady who likes her cars. I was a redhead when I was younger too!
  • RedheadRedhead ✭✭✭
    Morning all,

    I'm later than a late thing today as I didn't get up until 6am, which is an hour later than usual, so my whole morning is topsy-turvy! I think it was hayfever that zonked me out, boo. Heading out for a run later but not sure how far yet.

    TE, haha at me being a petrol-head! With friends like Mick and Marky it was hard not to get into cars and motorbikes (only riding pillion though). Chatting is a great way to pass the miles isn't it. You've got some good events coming up and I know you're going to perform well as your recovery has been amazing xxx

    Jag1 those are good target races. I still enjoy the odd 10k but still prefer my marathons/ultras whilst I'm still able to bimble around them. Oh and I'm only still a redhead thanks to the powers of henna :wink:

    Have a lovely day everyone whatever you're doing :smiley:
  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭

    Afternoon everyone, 

    Red, I had to laugh at your ‘sleeping in” until 6am, I’m usually not up until 6.30. I’m beginning to see how you fit so much into your day if you rise at 5am every morning. Is that a habit you’ve developed so you can get your run in first thing, then the rest of the day is yours to devote to your knitting, charity work, gardening, baking etc? Well done for alerting the 1066 race organisers to the issues and getting the route altered. I hate oilseed rape too. I believe some people have allergic reactions to the spores, could that have been what set your hay fever off?

    HS , no mention of spinning now for a week, are you having problems booking a place or are you just having a break from it? Your run with Sarah H yesterday sounded very pleasant, as Red says chatting is a good way to pass the miles.

    Jag1 good luck with your forthcoming races. 

    I haven’t done any running for almost a week now, first of all there was Steve’s cataract op (which seems to have been very successful, thanks for the good wishes everyone) and for the last few days I’ve been laid low with a tummy bug. Unless I start to feel better tomorrow it’s looking unlikely I’ll be fit enough for this weekend’s trail race🙁

  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    Afternoon all,

    Jag1, good luck with your future races.

    Red, hope you enjoyed yesterdays run, another long one I presume?
    My recovery is doing well now thanks, but it was a long time coming. xxx

    Aquarius, I'm still spinning every Tuesday, and attended the session yesterday. I don't do Wednesday's any longer, as I'm running 4 days a week now.
    Glad to hear that Steve's cataract operation appears to have been successful. Sorry to hear that you have a tummy bug. It must be doing the rounds, as I received a message this morning from Helen, who I was due to run with on Saturday, that she has been suffering, and hardly eaten anything for 3 days. Hope you will be well enough to do your trail race this weekend!

    It was very hot and sunny for this mornings forest run. I ran 8.77 miles, incorporating some efforts into an otherwise steady pace. I'm hoping to pass 600 miles during tomorrows run.
    Must remember to cast my vote early tomorrow morning for the European Parliament. Seems a waste of time really, but I always vote, as I think it is important to use it.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Hi everyone. Just passing the time while waiting for Margaret to emerge from the shower then I'll clean myself up before we head down for dinner.

    We're in Woolacombe still (3rd night) and heading home tomorrow. Prior to that, had a lovely 3 nights in Bude including the inaugural South West Skinny Dip which I mentioned previously. Around 150 dippers I've been told and at the last count, £2200 raised for MIND.

    I've not managed any running while we've been away (brought my running kit on the off-chance) but plenty of walking has been done including a glorious walk down the beach to Putsborough earlier today. 

    Will try and get back into the swing of posting here regularly again once I'm back home and settled back into the usual routine ..
  • RedheadRedhead ✭✭✭
    Morning all,

    Now where was I? Ah yes, Tuesday - a lovely 6 mile trot along the undulating lanes. Yesterday was eye hospital day and it was hideous from setting out at 8am, arriving at 9 for my 9:30 appointment and finding the waiting room crammed with old biddies and being told they had double-booked appointments and there would be a long wait - there was! To make matters worse the nurse put some different eye drops in before asking me if I was driving (which of course I was 'cos it's 30 miles away!) whereupon she told me I couldn't drive for 5 hours. That pleased me enormously but as I didn't get through my final checks until 12pm I only had 2.5 hours to kill (!!!!!) so I had 2 coffees which I made last for 45 minutes before I had a lightbulb moment - I have emergency running kit in the car with everything except a sports bra (which made things interesting and a tad bouncy :wink:) and socks so trotted off for and hour then turned round and went back, had a pot of tea and headed for home. No idea how far it was but my guess would be 9 miles. Thankfully I also had sunglasses and could wear my contact lenses as my pupils were still really wide until early evening and bright light really hurt.

    Today I'm going for a riparian run through the valley :smile:

    Aquarius, yep I'm usually a 5am girl. Early to bed, early to rise etc etc. I am indeed affected by oil-seed rape as that was how I discovered I have asthma and most likely had it all my life! When I first encountered the horrid stuff my throat closed right up, my chest tightened and I could only just breathe. Now I can tolerate it but my chest still gets gunky. Horrid, stinky stuff! Glad to hear Steve's cataract op went well and hope he continues to recover well but sorry to hear you've picked up a tummy bug and can't run again. You're having a tough time atm and I hope thing improve for you  very soon xxx

    WtnMel, glad to hear you've been skinny-dipping again and hope you have a safe journey home.
  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭

    Oh dear Redhead, what an awful time you had at the hospital. I sympathise fully, there’s nothing worse than arriving for an appointment on time then having to sit and twiddle your thumbs for hours, while all the time you’re just itching to be seen so you can get on with the rest of your day (and every time you look at the clock it says the same time it did the last time you looked). What a great idea though to fill the time in with a run. At least you made good use of your enforced delay. 

    Reading your posts I’m often struck by your positivity and “can do” attitude, particularly so when you describe how ill oilseed rape made you the first time you came across it (which must have been very frightening at the time), but nevertheless you were quite prepared to run through chest high fields of it a few days ago. You have qualities that few others have, I can quite see how ARUK have made you an ambassador for their charity. 

  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    Afternoon all,

    WtnMel, hope you and Margaret enjoyed your meal last night. Sounds like you have had a very enjoyable break, including a skinny dip which raised a lot of money for MIND. 

    Red, that sounds horrendous, your hanging around for your appointment, and then having to wait 5 hours before being able to drive home. Good thinking, having running kit in the car. An excellent way to kill time by going for a run. Sort of killing two birds with one stone.

    It was even hotter than yesterday for my morning forest run. Thankfully, the pesky flies that had accompanied me yesterday, flying round my head, were nowhere to be seen :smiley: I ran 9.1 miles with the intention of maintaining a constant steady pace. My running is coming easier now, and I'm running more relaxed. 
    I cast my vote this morning for the European Parliament, and was the only voter there. I imagine turn out will be very low. I was surprised how many different Parties were listed on the ballot paper. We won't know the results until Monday.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Hi everyone,

    Still not quite settled back into my normal routine but as I was on my laptop anyway, just popped back to say I ran yesterday. As it was my first run for a couple of weeks it was only 4 miles and I had to stop and walk twice. I can see there'll be a few weeks of running needed to regain my previous fitness level.

    I'll be playing in the garden today as I can see the lawns (and the weeds!) have been busy growing while we've been away!

    Will read back properly over the next few days to see what you've all been up to ..
  • jag1jag1 ✭✭
    Morning everyone. Hope you’re all looking forward to a relaxing bank holiday. Tweaked a quad muscle on Thursday evening at running club so been a little sore. However I decided to do parkrun this morning and see how it felt. Didn’t feel it at all and set a new PB at 29.36 so very pleased. It’s a tough hilly course around our local vineyard and I’ve never managed below 30 mins before. A nice start to the weekend. 

    Now for some gardening. Enjoy the lovely weather everyone 😊
  • RedheadRedhead ✭✭✭
    edited May 2019
    Afternoon peeps,

    Just back from a bimble around an undulating trail course. Settled for marathon distance as it was HOT and I'm quite red despite smothering myself in sun cream and fly/tick repellent! The wine is calling to me.........
    oh and that was marathon 170 :smiley: Tomorrow I'm doing another recce on a different part of the 1066 route - I may be some time!
      
    Aquarius, thank you xxx

    WtnMel, 4 miles is jolly good considering you haven't run for 2 weeks. The weeds do that don't they!

    Jag1, excellent time for a hilly 5k, well done. Glad the quad didn't trouble you.

    TE, good running as always. Have you been paying in the forest today?
  • hillstriderhillstrider ✭✭✭
    Morning all,

    WtnMel, I'm afraid that it is a fact of life that as we get older, we lose our fitness quicker, and it takes longer to regain it. Well done for managing 4 miles.

    Jag1, well done for your parkrun PB. Now that you have cracked 30 minutes, you will find that your times will continue to improve.

    Red, I'm amazed that you managed to run the marathon distance yesterday in that heat. I struggled running 9.6 miles in the forest. 170 marathons is really impressive, and I presume that you now have 200 in your sights? I hope you enjoyed the wine yesterday, you really deserved it.

    Today is a rest day. I achieved 40.6 miles this week, Monday to Saturday, which is the furthest since my injury, way back in June 2017. Things are looking up :)
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