New Mature Runners Thread

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  • I did the Fleetwood prom park run today.
    I hit some good pbs in September and then I got some new trainers and the times were not too great.Today I put my old trainers on again and yep I got another PB.
    The conditions were really great this morning with a 5mph wind and raining which suited me fine.
    Have any of you guys ever found that a change of shoes has slowed you down?

  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Afternoon everyone (aka. HS, Aquarius, Damien),

    HS - last Thursday we were lighting up the streets as almost without fail, everyone had some sort of illumination. As well as keeping us safe, it helps pedestrians see us coming towards them. Everyone's also very good at shouting 'keep left!' or whatever is appropriate rather then blundering into them. Well done re your Didben Doddlers run. Re your comment after Aquarius's post re the Garmin's optical heart-rate monitor, I read the 'small print' at the time which said not to trust the readings as they're only a 'guide' .. so I saved my money and bought the cheaper model that sync's with my heart-rate monitor on a chest strap.

    Aquarius - shame Windermere was busy because of half-term .. as I don't have any day-to-day contact with anyone with school-children, the holidays they have always come as a surprise to me. The sweeper last Thu (who was a she rather than a he) tends to chat the whole way round so I'd imagine she was totally unaware of me getting left behind, let alone getting annoyed .. she was probably busy gassing to someone! :) I must have a big head then because my new head torch stayed firmly put all the way round ;) Did sound a sensible decision to give the XC a miss because of the warnings about it being tough and the logistics of getting there, even though it was subsequently cancelled. I record my heart-rate for info but have never tried training using it as a guide. I'm probably wrong but it seems factors other than the effort being put in can affect the heart-rate and I've never been convinced it's a reliable enough indicator to use as a guide to training.

    Damien - well done re another PB. I'm fairly slow anyway (compared to most in my club) so I've never felt any new shoes were slowing me down - the opposite in fact, I sometimes think the new 'bouncy' feeling of new shoes helps me run a bit faster than usual.

    I didn't manage to run over the weekend - went to see my son on Saturday and we had friends for lunch yesterday. However, I did get out for a 4.5ml run this morning. I'm getting slightly quicker - Fetch informed me that was my 17th fastest of 20 attempts ;) (the last run on the same route was the slowest ever). I'll be planning to run again on Wed at the club's evening session. 

    One of the members of my nuddy swim is a qualified swim teacher. Last night she did a free ad-hoc 'improvers' lesson for seven of us. As I'm happy with my breaststroke I asked her to help me with my front crawl which I've always struggled with. The first thing she said before we even started (which seems obvious now she's mentioned it) was to work out how often we need to breathe and work our stroke around that (I breathe every two strokes; some every three). So she said do what feels best personally rather than doing what we think we 'should' be doing and consequently, struggling to catch our breath. Her initial assessment of me was my lower body is too low in the water and I'm swimming at an angle, which is probably why I seem to make such slow progress. She advised me to look down most of the time rather than ahead which will help lift my legs and bum higher in the water. She said if I can practise being flatter in the water, just below the surface, then we can start working on my breathing and stroke technique. She'll be doing another ad-hoc lesson in November so I need to do my 'homework' before next time.

  • Evening all,

    Damien, well done for another pb. I haven't noticed that wearing new trainers makes me run quicker or slower, but they do take a few runs "to break in."

    WtnMel, I had a chest strap with my previous Garmin, but very seldom bothered to wear it. They can be erratic also. They can be too tight or too loose, and don't make good contact if the contact pads aren't damp. Wetting them before putting on the belt usually works, but sometimes not until you have worked up a bit of a sweat. The optical doesn't need moisture, but I think the accuracy depends on the tightness of the watch strap. Not too tight, or too loose.
    Good to see that you are getting quicker. The fetch comparison of routes isn't very useful, as I find when I click on the other attempts, the routes are hardly ever the same. Just the distance perhaps.
    I'm proficient with the breaststroke, having twice swum the BT challenge 5k non stop, but have never mastered the front crawl. 

    I ran 10 miles in the forest on Monday with the two Sarah's, Jane and Danii. It was very muddy and we did a fair amount of walking/wading.
    Today was a spinning session, and with a different instructor, who was standing in for the usual one. She was very good and made us work very hard.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Morning,

    HS - I've not noticed the chest strap hrm to be erratic. I wear mine reasonably tight and usually dampen the pads before putting it on and it's usually synced with my Garmin by the time I've stretched a bit before my run and stays synced. I must admit I take the Fetch comparisons with a pinch of salt - but its useful nonetheless and saves me searching back through my own spreadsheet running log! I 'conked out' halfway up the length when attempting front crawl - I'm hoping with the expert advice the swim teacher gives me (35 yrs of experience) I'll be able to make enough improvements to manage a few lengths and not feel like I'm floundering. Re breaststroke, I think the furthest I've ever managed was 55 lengths - so nowhere near your 5k challenge distance. As you're a buddy on Fetch I saw you'd done a 10ml run on Monday and have been for an 8ml run this morning - well done for both of those.


    I'll be running with the club this evening. Last week we got soaked but it looks like we'll stay dry tonight - although we'll be needing our thermal tops to keep warm.
  • Afternoon all,

    WtnMel, good luck with your front crawl training, I hope you persevere, as it will be worth it.
    You saw todays run on fetch before me. I've only just edited it with more details.
    You will definitely need thermal tops this evening. I wore mine under my t shirt this morning.
  • Good morning 

    Damien - I always buy the same make and style when I need new running shoes and I’ve never noticed a change in my pace. Did you stick to your usual make or were you trying out a new one? (Congratulations on your new pb)


    WtnMel you are lucky to have the opportunity to benefit from swimming coaching by a qualified teacher. I think I’ve mentioned before that I’ve had lots of lessons at various stages of my life and I’m still rubbish. I just can’t coordinate my breathing with the swim stroke. As a result I can only manage a few strokes before I have to stop to catch my breath.

    Hope your club run went well last night It’s been really cold here too, the last couple of mornings have been frosty but we’ve had a bit of sunshine through the day. I’m into long sleeve warm tops and leggings now.

    HS I use a chest strap HRM with my Garmin, it seems to be fairly accurate as far as I can tell. Although as WtnMel says you need to make sure you dampen it in a couple of places before putting it on and it does have to be pretty tight around your chest.

    I’m still doing the 80/20 training method and have been for a couple of runs this week, both just 4 miles as it’s quite tiring on my calves. I find when running slowly I don’t lift my legs as much as I would normally do so my calves do more of the work. I’m keeping up with the yoga though to stretch out any tight niggles before they become a problem.

    I’m not running again until Saturday when I’ll be doing the local parkrun, rather than the one at Gibside that I’ve been doing recently.

  • Good afternoon everyone,

    Aquarius, they do say that chest straps are more accurate than the optical in the Garmin. I did find it a bit of a bother when I had the chest strap, having to moisten it, and then rinse it after the run. The optical needs little maintenance and is "always there," don't have to look for the strap, or perhaps forget to wear it. I find that slow running produces a higher average heart rate than when running at a much faster pace. Others have found the same, although I don't know whether or not they were using the optical or strap.
    Good luck with Saturdays parkrun. I enjoyed mine last week, which was my 46th. I'm not sure whether or not I will be doing another this Saturday. Sarah might not be doing it, as she is thinking she might be watching the rugby.

    Very cold today with an icy wind. I ran 6.6 miles over a hilly road run course.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Afternoon all,
     
    HS - on Thu evening I ran with the 'fartlek' group again which has regular loop-backs. This week I was able to keep up with them more easily and in the 2nd half of the run, wasn't actually tail-end charlie. I was glad of my new Ron Hill thermal top which has thumb hooks and wrap-over cuffs on the sleeves to keep my hands warm. One lady is obviously made of sterner stuff than me as I noticed halfway round, she'd taken her top off and was running in her sports bra! Brrrrr ..

    Aquarius - yes, we consider ourselves very lucky the teacher has volunteered to give us some free coaching. Her advice of fitting the stroke around how we need to breathe makes perfect sense - putting it into practise is another matter though! Some members were still in shorts on Thu night (and a sports bra in one case as mentioned above) but like you, I'm into my leggings and long-sleeved tops now as well. I think when I run slowly I tend to shuffle along a lot more and not pick my feet up much, if at all. 

    I went for a golf lesson yesterday and like with the swimming, an expert eye quickly identified the causes of my problems. I'm a bit erratic with a number of different strokes and the teacher identified the same errors causing various problems. They all boil down to not keeping my wrists straight (I have a tendency to bend my wrists to try and 'flick' the ball into the air) and that, coupled with not transferring my weight properly onto my left foot (I have a tendency to shift my weight to my right as I 'flick' with my wrists) is the cause. When I didn't do either of those things, I could immediately see the improvement. But like with the swimming coaching, easy to know the theory but harder to put it into practise.

    I've just been out for a 4.5ml run -instead of doing my 'usual' route around town, I did part of the route we did on Thu evening. But definitely harder to keep up the momentum when running solo ..
  • Afternoon all,

    WtnMel, that sounds very positive being able to keep up with the fartlek group. Very wise wearing a thermal top, as it was very cold on Thursday.
    Sounds as if your golf lessons are beginning to produce results. It all sounds very technical to me. Pitch and put is my limit 😣
    I agree that it is more difficult to keep up the momentum when running solo. It takes a lot of concentration. Since my ipod shuffle "gave up the ghost" I have been able to run more constructively without it.

    Today is a rest day. Very strong winds are forecast for tomorrow, so I don't know yet what sort of run I will do. If Sarah wants to do another park run, I will do that, but if she decides to watch the rugby, I might do something different.
  • Afternoon all,

    Atrocious weather this morning, 80 mph winds and torrential winds. I'm glad that we decided not to do the parkrun as it was cancelled at 8.50am. I bet those that turned up were well pixxed off. Will have to put in a few extra miles tomorrow to make up for it.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Afternoon all,

    HS - the fastest ones in the fartlek group got just as far ahead as last week. But I was able to keep up with some of the slightly slower ones and as the run progressed, some of them started to slow down and I was even able to overtake one or two by the end. And the best thing is obviously that they are looping back to me and when it works properly, no-one actually stops running at any point. Yes, this golf lark is very technical. But my tutor Richard has a knack of breaking it down into simple steps which bring improvements. I'm playing my friend Alan on Tuesday and hoping the lessons will mean I can get a lower score and be a bit more competitive. I've never been one who needs music to run with - much prefer to be able to hear what's around me. I saw how strong the winds were on the south coast yesterday - over 100mph winds recorded at The Needles! 

    I've been out this morning and run my 4.5ml route - time was nothing to write home about but it was a bit faster than recent runs and I'll persevere as it would be nice to get back to the pace I was running back in May.

    On a totally unconnected note, my son and I have purchased an Office 365 licence between us and I've installed the latest Office software and started using them instead of my 'old' Office 2010 software. So far, so good and my laptop seems to be managing to cope (sometimes the new versions run slower because of all the added features).
  • Afternoon all,

    WtnMel, I'm hoping that with your golfing tuition you will beat Alan on Tuesday!
    Keep up the good work with your running and you will soon be back to the level you were at in May, or hopefully even quicker.
    I'm still using Microsoft Office Word 2007 which is ok for me, as I very seldom use it these days.

    I ran 6 miles on roads this morning and got caught in a torrential downpour during the 6th mile. The rain was pouring into my eyes, off of my cap, and I had difficulty in seeing ahead of me. I sensibly called it a day. 
  • Good afternoon all, apologies for absence, I’ve been busy trying to get our fire problem sorted out. 
    I don’t know if I’ve already told you about our fire fiasco. In April we received a letter from the developer who built our house advising us not to use our gas fire until further notice as they had discovered a potential safety issue. They were very vague and assured us it was unlikely that it was a widespread problem but they were erring on the side of caution and so advising home owners on all their developments not to use their fires until they (the developers) had got their contractor out to check and repair any faulty ones. Well that was 6 months ago, and after losing patience a couple of weeks ago we contacted Gas Safe, they came out to inspect the fire and as a result we’ve finally got an appointment for the developer’s sub-contractor to repair ours next week. When Gas Safe came out they told us they’d visited a number of properties on our estate and it seems the developer didn’t line the flue with fire proof materials as they were required to do. I can’t wait to get it fixed so we can use it again, but in the meantime we are relying on an electric heater which is so noisy we have to turn up the volume on the television in order to hear it over the heater.
     
    I didn’t get to the parkrun on Saturday because both my knees were aching, and as it’s a hilly course it seemed like it would be inviting trouble to run it. I’ve occasionally had a running related ache in one or the other knee but never both. So I don’t think my knees were aching on Saturday as a result of any running or exercising I’ve been doing, instead I’m wondering if it was the weather. There was a bitterly cold wind that seemed to cut right through you, and when I went to the supermarket I couldn’t wait to get home and get warm again. Once I’d warmed through my knees felt a lot better and I managed my yoga session in the afternoon without any problems. I decided to wait until today before running again just to be on the safe side. I’ve just got back from a 5 mile run and my knees seem fine. Unfortunately it was raining heavily by the end of my run and I got soaked, however a hot shower soon warmed me up again. 

    WtnMel Your golf tuition seems to be proving worthwhile. Having an expert eye point out where you are going wrong is really helpful, but isn’t it surprising how slight adjustments, such as wrist action and weight distribution, can make such a difference to your stroke. As you say though it’s one thing knowing what to do, quite another remembering to put it into practice on the day! Good luck for tomorrow. I’m glad to hear your running group are remembering to loop back for stragglers, you’re probably not the only runner who has benefited from this. 

    HS if you were a plant you’d have probably grown an extra foot with all the soakings you’ve had recently! :) Sorry to hear your parkrun was cancelled on Saturday, it seems we’re getting into that time of year when strong winds and frost make race cancellations more common. I’ve got a 10k on Sunday so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will be kind. I think you were very wise to cut your run short today with conditions being so bad.
  • Good afternoon all,
    It's a rest day for me today, for which I'm glad in view of the weather. I'm hoping to do some hill repeats tomorrow, providing I don't get washed away down the hill :) 

    WtnMel I hope the weather where you are hasn't spoiled your golf match with Alan (which you will have won of course ;))
  • Morning all,

    Brrrr, another chilly day but not raining luckily. I did my hill repeats today still trying to keep to the 80/20 principle, so took it as easy as I could to try to keep my heart rate down. As I started my run I found my HR was higher than usual for my pace. I also noticed this last week on one of my runs. Each time the weather was particularly cold, so I'm wondering whether this has any bearing on it. Once my body felt warmer the HR came down. However it did fluctuate a bit, but I think I know why - once I reached the main road through the village I saw it was blocked off to traffic by a police car. A little bit further on I saw a number of other police cars and lots of police milling around. I needed to turn right up a side street beside them to get to the park, and as I asked their permission I notice a lot of other police cars and officers a bit further down the road blocking access from that end. As I turned into the side street I saw two ambulances and further policemen and road blocks. It appeared to be a major incident, which shook me a little. However I was able to pass by and get to the park and start my hill repeats. After the my second lap of the park I heard a really loud engine starting up, the noise increased considerably, reminding me of a trip to Duxford where I had seen a Harrier jump jet getting ready for take off. I followed the noise and on the football field next to the park I saw an air ambulance getting ready for take off. It was all a bit upsetting and when I got home I checked on the police facebook page, expecting to see a report of a major incident, however it turned out to be a single pedestrian who had been hit by a van. Obviously it's an awful thing to have happened, irrespective of how many people were injured, but I can't understand why on earth they needed so many ambulances and policemen and women for one person? 
  • Afternoon all,

    1. Aquarius, you've been busy posting  :) On the subject of gas fire safety, a similar problem was discovered in my bungalow and others on the Estate. It turned out that the flues were partly blocked. The properties were built in 1978, so shoddy workmanship isn't something new. The gas fires were unsafe to use, and the blockages have never been rectified. The bungalow was my parents, and they used the central heating and never the gas fire. A few years ago I had a flue less gas fire installed which is only used very occasionally as background heating. 
            Sounds like your knee seems ok now. It could have been the cold                  weather causing the problem.  I hope the weather is better for your 10k on Sunday. Well done with the hill reps. My heart rate is usually higher at the start of a run and then settles down. 
    Your heart rate would certainly have been affected by all the police and ambulances charging around. It does seem ridiculous so many turning up for a one person accident, especially with the shortage of police and medics.

    I ran 6 miles on roads yesterday and 8.6 miles in the forest this morning with Sarah F. It was very chilly first thing, but soon warmed up. We were surprised that there were so few dog walkers around.

    I don't know what happened during my writing this post as it started numbering the pargraphs and indenting them. I think I've resolved the problem, but not sure how.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Evening all,
     
    HS - I wasn't having any problems with Office 2010 but my son needed a new licence as his old software wasn't up to scratch (he used the free Open Office software aka. Libra) and was finding it a bit limiting so I volunteered to upgrade as well so we could share the cost. Sorry to hear about the torrential rain on that 6ml run of yours. Re the indenting in your last post - there's a couple of bullet list icons above where we type our text so perhaps you clicked on one of them inadvertently?

    Aquarius - I do seem to recall you mentioning the fire problems before but I guess I assumed it had all been sorted out. I know people who suffer with rheumatism say the weather affects them so I don't know if that's the cause of your knee problems too? Sorry (as in HS's case) to hear you got caught in a downpour too. Glad to hear it stayed dry for your hill repeats but how sobering to get caught up in that incident. Being an avid watcher of various police fly-on-the-wall programmes I would expect they put out an appeal for any local police units to make their way there and some of the others were probably later to the scene than those actually dealing with the incident?

    For info .. a local race (Guy Fawkes 5 in Tewkesbury) had to be re-routed last weekend due to flooding on part of the course.

    I joined Bishops Cleeve U3A last week and went for a walk with the rambling group this morning. It was a 4ml circular walk starting in Beckford (actually from Beckford Silk's factory/shop/cafe buildings) and we were lucky with the weather - it was dry while we were out walking but didn't rain until we were in the cafe having our lunch.

    I originally planned to run with the club this evening but as there were some hills to climb today and some muddy patches to wade through, my legs are feeling it a bit so I've postponed my run until the morning. I've also joined the local U3A Science & Technology group and have my first meeting with them tomorrow afternoon.

    I played golf with Alan yesterday (despite the wind and rain) and (drum roll ..) I beat him! :) Not only that, but on the par 3 hole I scored a birdie 2 shots. I managed to hit the ball to just off the green - tapped the ball onto the green and watched in amazement as it kept carrying on towards the hole and then disappeared into it. We were both gobsmacked. I've managed to par holes at various courses we've played - but that is definitely the first time I've ever scored a birdie.

  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Just back from a 4.5ml run - the golf & walking over the last couple of days must be catching up with me as it was harder work than it ought to have been despite my average pace being the same as usual ..
  • I knew you would beat Alan WtnMel - well done😀 I’m not up on golf terms but to only take two shots on any hole sounds good to me!🏌️‍♂️
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    edited November 2019
    Thanks Aquarius :) 

    Ahh, the modern world eh? I've just written the last of the 20 cheques from a book I started using in Oct 2018 so have just ordered a replacement - that used to happen automatically but not any more. And because my local branch closed earlier this year, I'm going to pop into Cheltenham to pay in a cheque and might (might!) start my xmas shopping as our pre-xmas family get-together is on 1st December so I have to be organised earlier than usual.

    Having my last golf lesson this afternoon - 30 mins on the driving range trying to (cough) perfect my swing ;)
  • Afternoon all,

    WtnMel, I tried Libra a year or so ago, but didn't like it. Hence still using the old Word 2007. I think that you are right that I accidentally clicked  an alignment icon.
    That's interesting that you have joined a couple of new groups. You've certainly got "lots of irons in the fire!"
    Good that you managed to beat Alan at golf. Your lessons are certainly paying off. Congratulations on your first birdie!
    I'm still using a cheque book and do get replacements in good time. I only use cheques to pay for my milk deliveries. The milkman leaves a bill with his deliveries, weekly, or sometimes fortnightly, and I pay by cheque which I insert in an empty bottle. It's a bit of a pain really, as otherwise I would hardly ever need one.
    Make the most of your final golf lesson this evening.

    I only did a short run yesterday, 3.6 miles on road. As it was so short, I ran it really hard. There was an accident between two cars on the road that I had run along in the morning, and driven along at lunchtime. One car ended up on the grass verge. I could have been run over if I had been at that point at the instant of the crash. The old saying "There but for the grace of God, go I!" springs to mind.
    Today is a rest day.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    HS - must admit, I've never tried Libra as I was lucky enough to have Office 2007 (and then Office 2010) via work. It's a relief these local (Bishops Cleeve) U3A groups have vacancies as every Cheltenham one I approached was full. A lady on the ramble asked if I was interested in the Country Dancing group. As someone who did modern jive for years, I'm a little tempted. The golf lesson went well - but just when I was thinking I might have 'got it' he mentioned something else that isn't quite right. He has a gadget that videos you and tracks the club movement (he's sent me copies of the recordings). It shows my swing is approximately 7 degrees out of line. Not much .. but enough to make the ball spin and fade to the right instead of going straight. 

    Well done re your hard, short run - as you say, you never quite know what's going to happen - and another reason why I would never wear headphones as in that scenario, you probably wouldn't hear the cars. No running for me this morning as we went into town to organise some blinds for the en-suite and bathroom. So all being well, I'll get out tomorrow morning and then will go for a swim/sauna in the evening.
  • I went out and did the cold park run this morning and I was 3 seconds slower than my pb.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Damien - we had to go into town yesterday morning to look for new blinds for our bathroom and en-suite. I must admit I felt a bit of a fraud seeing the park-runners out in the cold & rain as I drove past in the car with the heater going full blast!

    Two changes of plans here: (1) as the weather was lovely this morning, decided to go for a walk with Margaret instead of running as originally planned (2) as I'm heading out this evening, I'll cook our Sunday roast tomorrow 
  • Good afternoon everyone,

     HS I’ve just realised the mileage you do over a couple of days (e.g. Tuesday’s 6.0 and Wednesday’s 8.6 ) are almost the same as my weekly mileage. I must make an effort to increase mine by a few miles, ideally I’d like to be doing around 20 miles a week. On the subject  of cheques I find that lately I only use one cheque a year, and that is to pay my annual subs to the local masters association (which lets me enter some track and road relay events for oldies). You were lucky to miss that accident on Thursday, quite a coincidence after the accident I passed on Wednesday. They say these things come in threes, so keep your eyes peeled if you are doing any road running. At this time of the year, when the sun is low in the sky and can dazzle drivers, it’s always a bit dodgy if you are running along a road that has no pavements.

    WtnMel Your U3A ramble sounded enjoyable, just a nice distance and nice to finish it with lunch. How did your Science and Technology meeting go? I’ll have to investigate where our nearest U3A is and see what’s on offer. You must give the Country Dancing a go, I bet that’s loads of fun, if rather energetic. You’ve certainly had some useful feedback from your golf lessons, they’ve obviously been worthwhile. Enjoy your swim/sauna this evening. Skinny dipping, golf, rambling/walking, running, swimming, (have I missed anything?) - you are quite the multi-athlete!

    Damien, how frustrating to be 3 seconds off your pb, but well done for a speedy run in cold conditions.

    I didn’t think I was going to get to my 10k this morning as I had to get an emergency appointment at the dentist on Friday after a sudden onset of toothache. It seems the nerve in one of my teeth is dying, or has died, so I need some root canal work doing. Unfortunately the earliest appointment isn’t until 3rd December so I have to manage on painkillers in the meantime. I was worried that running might aggravate the situation so I took a couple of painkillers yesterday and tried a “test mile”. All seemed ok so I decided to go ahead with today’s 10k. I took a couple of painkillers an hour before the run and luckily didn’t have any problems. It was bitterly cold so I thought that might have set the pain off, but fortunately it didn’t. I was 3 minutes slower than when I did this race a couple of years ago, which seems to be the pattern for my runs this year. 
  • Good morning all,

    A rest day today, then over to the coast tomorrow night  for our next Grand Prix (5k). I think I’ll need my thermals on for that one, the weather is forecast for rain and only 5 degrees, brrrr.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Afternoon all,

    Aquarius - the Science & Technology meeting was good. We had a presentation on aircraft automatic control systems from someone who has retired but used to work at a local firm (GE Aviation). I use cheques for charity lottery entries and my window cleaner but that's about it. The country dancing was this afternoon but I gave it a miss as I ran earlier and am cooking our Sunday roast a bit later. Nope .. I think that list of my activities about covers things! :) Sorry to hear about your toothache .. shame you can't get an earlier appointment (my dentist schedules in 'emergency' time each day so there's time to treat people suffering like yourself). Brrrr indeed re the weather for your Grand Prix tomorrow evening - wrap up warm and good luck.

    I ran 5.4 mls this morning - a nice steady run with a bit more pace over the last half-mile - and notable because it was the longest run I've managed since the Cirencester 10K in June. I'm not actively training for any races at the moment so I'm happy to (very) slowly build up my mileage. The steadier than usual start to my run meant I didn't have to stop and walk anywhere (apart from crossing roads).

    I'm waiting for a call from downstairs to let me know the kitchen is free so I can start preparing our dinner. Margaret has invited friends for lunch tomorrow so she's busy doing preparatory 'stuff' down there so there's less for her to do tomorrow morning.

  • Afternoon all,

    Damien, that was good being so close to your parkrun pb on Saturday, as it was so cold. 

    WtnMel, good luck if you do go to country dancing. I remember we used to do that in Primary School in the playground. To be honest, I didn't like it much, but it got us out of the classroom. When I was a teenager, I used to go to ballroom dancing lessons. My favourites were the waltz and quickstep. I stopped going to lessons soon after I left school and started work.
    Well done for you longest run since June. It was cold this morning, but not quite as cold as yesterday.

    Aquarius, hope you are not in too much pain with your toothache. I used to suffer a lot with it when I was a youngster. My Dentist also fits in emergency appointments, which is very handy.
    Good luck with your Grand Prix tomorrow evening. We look forward to your race report.

    I haven't been on here since Friday but there has been a lot going on. I had lunch with Alice on Thursday, three days before her second child was due. She gave birth to another girl on Sunday, right on time. She sent me a picture of the baby who is lovely, looks just like her mum ☺
    I had a disastrous parkrun on Saturday. I ran with Sarah, who I beat two weeks ago, and this time she finished ahead of me. We started right near the front, as we were impeded last time by starting too far back. I got "carried away" by the pace running much too quickly and "blew up!" The cold didn't help either, as where I was breathing heavily  my lungs were burning. I finished about a minute slower than the last run. Next time I will do my usual and start steadily and then speed up. We arrived fairly late so didn't have time to warm up. That is another excuse.
    I did a 7.1 mile road run on Sunday and 8.1 miles in a wet and muddy forest with Jane this morning.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    edited November 2019
    Afternoon all,

    HS - I think the last time I did country dancing was also at school. But I'm sure I'll enjoy it when I go along as I used to really enjoy the modern jive classes I did for a number of years. We had ballroom dancing lessons a few years ago (waltz & quickstep) but I doubt I'd be able to remember any of it now. Congratulations to your friend Alice - my niece recently had a little girl who she's called Delilah .. which just makes me think of Tom Jones! Shame about 'blowing up' at parkrun by setting off too fast - I usually start steadily when I go for a run but on the occasions I do set off too quickly, I really suffer later on. Well done re those two runs on Sun & Mon.

    Aquarius - hope your grand prix race went okay and your toothache didn't affect you too much.

    Much as I love running with my clubmates, having seen the forecast for wind & rain later on, I decided a run in the sunshine would be much more preferable. I did my 4.6ml route around town and although I've some way to go to get back to the 10:17mm pace I was managing in May this year, today's run was a bit faster (10:48mm) than others over the last couple of months. 

    Rest day tomorrow but then playing golf with my friend Alan on Fri (and obviously hoping to win again!). But with the rain forecast tomorrow, will be keeping an eye on the website in case the course has to be closed. The races are on at Cheltenham on Fri, Sat & Sun. I'll be okay driving out of town in the morning but I may have to use a different route on the way home if I'm likely to be driving past the racecourse as the punters are all leaving.
  • Evening all

    Warning, this post contains a non-running related rant!
    So, running chat first (then feel free to skip the rant)

    My 5k last night wasn’t great, there had been lots of rain beforehand, which fortunately cleared up about 10 minutes before the start, but it remained very cold and windy. Because it was an evening run I was wearing my chest light, but it conked out about 1 mile into the run, then the rain returned and I noticed a niggle in my hamstring, which turned into a bit of an ache, I think I had run the first mile too quickly and so paid the penalty on a cold night. Anyway I was pretty slow which was frustrating, but I stretched, rolled and iced my hamstring when I got home and it seems ok today. I might try a short run tomorrow.
    A post script to my 10k on Sunday - it seems I won a silver medal. Put your congratulations on hold, I really didn’t deserve it. No false modesty, there were three other ladies in my age category and I was the fourth, i.e. the slowest. The medal I won was a masters medal, awarded by our local masters association. Membership is voluntary, and it seems that only myself and one other V65 lady had taken out membership, therefore we were the only ones eligible for medals. It seems ludicrous to me that although two V65 ladies were quicker than me I ended up with the silver medal.

    Rant now - as I’ve previously mentioned our developer wrote to all home owners in April to advise there was a problem with the gas fires they’d installed and we were to stop using them until they could get a contractor to repair them. We were due to have our fire repaired today, but the engineer didn’t arrive at the specified time, so I twice rang the contractor and on the first occasion was assured our fire would be repaired today, the second time I was told everything was on hold as the developer had instructed them to cancel all appointments because Gas Safe had requested a meeting with the developer. (Various home owners, ourselves included, had arranged for Gas Safe to come out to our properties to check our appliances, as a result it appears they now need to discuss the issue with the developer.) So we are still without a fire until goodness knows when. 

    Apologies, I haven’t had time to read back over recent posts, I’ll do so tomorrow and catch up.

    P.S. I’ve also had an issue with British Athletics and the Ticket Factory over tickets for the Anniversary Games in London next year, but it’ll keep until my next post.

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