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Aquarius, probably a good idea not doing your cross country race, not worth the risk.
I couldn't believe it when the Health Secretary mentioned the possibility of over 70's being required to self isolate for possibly several months. How are they going to enforce it. Redeploy the under resourced police to round up those that dared to step foot outside their front doors. Employ bouncers in supermarkets to stop the oap's that are perfectly fit and healthy from going in to buy food etc. Presume the government want the elderly to die from starvation and boredom, as they won't be allowed any visitors. I'm 74 and they won't stop me going out whilst I'm still virus free. I can run faster than an overweight policeman trying to catch me. This is all a bit tongue in cheek, but I hope you can see my frustration with this way of Government thinking😠
WtnMel, hope you enjoy your 4 night walking holiday.
I agree with you that those buying multi packs of toilet rolls are morons. He was obviously very proud of his selfish purchase by putting it on facebook, which was even more stupid, as so many people will now know his identity.
Well done for your 20 foot putt and the first lawn mow of the year.
A pity you are having to cancel your proposed get together's, but it makes sense in the current climate.
Molly, Sarah's 5k challenge went really well and we were exactly one minute quicker than the week before. There were only the two us, so it was unlikely that we would cancel it. We never managed to get our pace below 7 minute miling, but kept up a hard pace the whole way.
The Eastleigh 10k scheduled for next Sunday has been postponed to later in the year, date to be advised. The Bath Half Marathon went ahead today as planned, as the organisers said that they didn't have time to cancel it. A large number of runners didn't turn up anyway as they believed it should have been cancelled, or postponed.
The forest doesn't usually flood to the extent it has this year. February had record rainfall.
Very sensible to walk during the strong windy bursts. Hope your legs are back to normal for Tuesdays run.
Damien, congratulations for your new 10k pb. That is a big improvement. I don't blame you for not entering any more races at the moment, with the possibility that they might be cancelled.
I ran a steady pace 7.1 miles this morning with Tracy who is a fairly new club member.
A lovely bright sunny morning and I ran 7 miles with Sarah F and Jane.
Panic buying continues at the supermarkets with many shelves completely bare. I'm impressed with the polite and cheerful check out staff, working under great pressure. It's not their fault that morons are stripping the shelves.
Damien Nagle, Awesome job on your 10k! It must be fun to improve in such a rapid progression. Most of our races are cancelling here, as well.
Aquarius, Do you guys have Lyme Disease transmitted by ticks? Or, are they just annoyances. It sounds like they come out early there!
I am sorry that you missed the XC if it was a nice course, but it was a sensible choice. I think a lot of us are going to be staging our own personal 5ks and 10ks for a while!
HS, somehow I completely missed that Sarah's 5k challenge wasn't a staged 5k race. My mind seems to be missing things lately. It sounds like the two of you had a great run, and were able to spur each other on nicely.
I have to say that I am a little relieved that your new club member isn't named Sarah
As usual our country is divided. There are those who are taking the pandemic seriously and those that are still clinging to the conspiracy theory that it is just a nepharious plot to keep our current president from getting re-elected. Though, with each day more people are coming around to the realization that there is a legitimate health concern going on. For our part, Brian and I are hunkered down in our home. It doesn't change too much for me, as my studio is attached to the house.
We had some very sunny weather, yesterday. So, instead of sitting on the bike, I decided to undertake our annual rite of spring: The Great Poop Scoop. Because our yard is fairly large, it is hard to clean up after the dogs in the winter with snow, ice, and freezing temperatures. However, with a winter coat and the bright sun, it felt very pleasant to be outside for a couple of hours.
Tomorrow, I am planning on a 4 mile tempo run. The forecast is calling for a mixture of snow and rain so I will probably be on the treadmill.
Please stay safe and healthy on your side of the pond, and we will endeavor to do so on ours.
Molly, poop scooping is great cross training.
Good luck with your 4 mile tempo run today.
Our running club has suspended training sessions with immediate effect. I hope this won't stop our runners from still carrying on with their training, albeit independently. I'm hoping to carry on with my little group of runners, providing that we remain virus free.
Keep safe everyone and hopefully carry on running.
HS, I'm sorry about your running club. There is a certain pleasure in solitary running. Or, at least, I enjoy it a great deal. But, I can imagine that it might not be as fun for you.
Lesson learned today: Garmin RdPods are not machine washable
I managed a 4 mile tempo run, today. Tomorrow is crosstraining, and then, I'm going for the my least favorite workout (intervals) on Thursday.
Stay healthy!
Molly: RdPod - oh dear, I imagine it’s easily done and I don’t suppose you are the first to do it, but as you say it’s a lesson learned.
We do get Lyme Disease here too, but the general consensus now is that those bites were more probably horsefly bites, still pretty nasty though. Well done on your 4 mile tempo session today, enjoy tomorrow’s cross training - what will that consist of?
HS: Our club has also suspended training sessions and closed the clubhouse. Details of sessions are however being sent via social media so everyone can still train as individuals or maybe small groups. More and more local races are being postponed until the autumn. Looks like October is going to be very busy!
Went to the supermarket today. All the bread shelves were empty, as were the fish, chicken, beef, pork and lamb shelves, not to mention eggs, toilet rolls, rice, pasta, flour, soap, etc etc etc.......
The whole world has gone mad.
Molly, I believe that every running club in the UK has suspended training sessions until further notice. Our local Health and Leisure Centre is closing for two weeks initially, but will probably be for longer. All parkruns have also been suspended until further notice. The fall out from this will be more obese, overweight people. The local Academy is still open, but is likely to close shortly as the PM is expected to make a decision today whether to make school closures compulsory.
I don't mind running alone, especially in the forest, but prefer road running in company.
Rather unfortunate your pod not being washable. That should have been mentioned in the instructions.
Good luck with your training, especially tomorrows interval session.
Aquarius, the New Forest is noted for the tics which infect with Lyme Disease. They are not all infectious, but bites should be treated with caution. They are unable to fly, so lurk mainly in long grass.
It's sad that all our clubs are unable to continue with training sessions. Our chairman has forbidden the use of the club's facebook page to advertise locally organised runs, but as you say, other social media will be used. We will not be allowed to run wearing club vests or t shirts.
The supermarkets here are exactly the same. I was at my local supermarket at 7.30am this morning and it was already "heaving!" Apart from the items you mentioned, the shelves for pet food were empty, and wine and beer shelves are emptying rapidly. I imagine self isolation for up to 14 days warrants alcohol to stop everyone going mad from boredom. Couples have started arguing with each other, and one man used very inappropriate language in the check out queue to his wife who was protesting "I know what I'm doing."
I had intended to do just an easy jog this morning, but after a slow first mile, I was feeling good and averaging around 9.10 minute miling. Only a short run though, total 3.76 miles.
Damien, I agree with you that it is difficult to motivate now that club training is no longer permitted and the majority of road races and all park runs have been cancelled or postponed. I don't know what I will do, if and when we are not even permitted to run solo. This is all happening as I have been upping my pace.
I ran 5.6 miles fartlek this morning with Sarah F and Jane. The weather was pretty awful, windy with light rain. Jane really put us through the wringer on the efforts. She is now in the semi elite category, having recently achieved a WAVA of 83.6% in the Southampton parkrun. Our best pace was 6.38 minute miling during one of the efforts. I've got to up my game to keep up!
Hi Molly and WtnMel
Hope everyone on the forum is keeping safe and well. Take care and nil desperandum.
I'm sorry I haven't posted for a couple of days. Despite the coronavirus I am still crazy busy with work stuff.
Aquarius, I hope you are feeling better. No cough is good! Please take care of yourself. I am glad that you and Steve were able to get out for a walk. It must be a challenge to stay optimistic, if you are feeling lousy. Hang in there! Since Brian is working at home, we've been trying to get out to walk the dogs a couple times a day. It seems to help all of us, including the dogs, who seem to know something is wrong, but are unsure of exactly what.
Brian was scheduled for a followup appointment and ECG from his ablation procedure, today. However, all appointments have now morphed into phone consultations. So, no ECG, and a really bad connection. All we can do is wait and see what happens.
I am sure that once you are feeling better and are able to work out a running routine, you will feel more motivated. But it is true that motivation can be a tough thing to maintain over the long haul, when you are running by yourself. Long range goals and clear training plans help me quite a bit in that department. My fingers are crossed that you don't get a shelter in place order passed down, and that you can at least enjoy some pleasant runs as the spring weather warms up.
HS, I am sorry about all of your clubs being closed down. I agree that it is going to make it a lot harder for the population to stay fit, which will make more people susceptible to the virus. If a treadmill is in your future, I will happily share the games I use to make it palatable
I am embarrassed to say that the RdPod instructions make it very clear that it won't survive a washing. It even has a feature to remind you to take it off after a run. Oh well, at least it was the pod, not the watch, that I washed.
Nice job on your short run
Damien Nagle, I have complete faith that you will be able to continue your motivation. I really believe that if you take this time to keep training, you will be laying down some super impressive times when the races start again.
Running Fox, I am sorry to hear of both your's and your partner's health challenges. I get quite a bit of pleasure out of your blog, and the photos. I hope you both feel better soon, and our able to resume posting, running, and taking those lovely pictures.
Today was my first interval day in quite a long time. So, I decided to be conservative in my approach. I did an super easy .5 mile warm up at 12 min/mile pace, followed by 4 x .25 mile intervals at a 9:30 pace with a quarter mile recovery in between each, and 2 x .10 mile at a 8:30 min/mile pace with quarter mile recoveries in between. So, I ended up at just over 3 miles. Of course, without the RdPod the data is kind of skewed, but that's okay for right now. When I stopped, I felt like I could have kept going fairly easily, but a few hours later my quads were feeling quite tired, so I think I hit the sweet spot for my current condition. Tomorrow is a rest day
I hope everybody keeps up with their training/running. Time is going to pass during the virus regardless of what we do. The question is what do we want to be doing at the end of it. If we want to be running strong, and smashing records, then we need to stick it out now, when it's less fun. Even if that means resorting to...treadmills! Or, even, jump ropes.
Aquarius, sorry to hear that you have been under the weather since Tuesday, but glad that you are starting to feel better. A nice relaxing walk sounds an excellent way to aid recovery.
Yes Jane is very proud of her achievement and will continue to run with me and our little group as long as we are permitted, and virus free. We are determined to keep going whilst we are able.
Thanks, I've been gradually improving my pace over the last few months, so am determined not to let it go to waste.
RF, glad to hear that your persistent cough has now cleared up, but sorry that your partner is suffering with a bursa on her hip. It must be quite a blow to you both having to reduce your running, as it has been a big part of your lives.
Damien, it proves how ignorant teenagers can be, ignoring the advice to avoid close contact with others.
Molly, sorry to hear that Brian's ECG has been postponed. The same thing is happening in the UK. Routine operations etc have been postponed and everything is geared up to treating the virus. Dogs certainly seem to have the ability to sense when things are not right.
Thanks for your offer of treadmill games, but I'm very unlikely to purchase one, as I just don' get on with them.
My next workout tomorrow is Sarah's 5k challenge. I don't know whether we will be able to improve on last weeks time, as yesterdays fartlek with Jane, really pushed us to the limit.
Your interval session was very impressive, you certainly seem to be "getting up to speed" now. Hope you enjoy today's rest day.
Today is also a rest day for me. One of our supermarkets has prioritised the first opening hour for the elderly, which unfortunately is the category that I'm in. I arrived about 5 minutes before opening and there were about a dozen oldies with their trolleys in the queue. I joined in and we were welcomed as we entered. I was able to get most of what I needed, and no younger gatecrashers were evident, which was great. Service at the check outs was efficient with cheerful check out operators. All the shoppers were very polite, which makes me think that we are remembering the war time spirit, with rationing etc. Perhaps they should bring back ration books, to prevent the ignorant morons from hoarding. I'm sure that a lot of food is going to be thrown away as it will have gone out of date.
100% Approximately world record level
Over 90% World class level
Over 80% National class level
Over 70% Regional class level
Over 60% Local class level
Over 50% Basic competitor
Below 50% Novice competitor
Hope that clarifies the grading. I think that WAVAS are one of the reasons why parkruns are so popular, as by comparing, for example, a 70 year olds WAVA with that of a younger runner who might have been 10 minutes quicker, the older runner might have achieved a higher WAVA. This is a great incentive for older runners to keep competing, as it keeps them competitive.
Re WAVAs - I agree with you about how age grading is very motivational, I've often found that although I've finished a good way down the results for finishing time I'm up near the top if you sort the results by age grading.
Those elderly ladies are most likely to end up in intensive care, and will blame everyone or anything but themselves. All I can say is that they are ignorant and selfish.
At least those elderly ladies won’t be able to go for their coffee mornings now!
Good luck for Sarah’s 5k challenge tomorrow!
HS, Thank you for explaining the WAVA. Yes, I can see how that would keep all age groups competitive. It also seems that it would have the added benefit of encouraging people to compete against a pre-set time, instead of other people. I'm not sure that makes sense. However, I have witnessed runners that become competitive with one or two other people to exclusion of common sense, and, even at times, decency. It seems that if the emphasis of the race isn't so much about beating other people, as it is about improving your percentage compared to preset times, that sort of unhealthy competition might be lessened.
I am really glad that you had a civilized shopping session. The stores here have started setting aside the opening hours for senior citizens, as well. However, from what I have heard, people have been behaving in very uncivilized ways.
I wish you lots of luck on Sarah's 5k challenge! Wear the wings and hit those sub 7 minute paces
Aquarius, My husband always yells at me for going back to running too soon after I've been sick. And, he's usually right. I panic about losing fitness, try to run, and have a miserable run. My guess is that your body just wasn't fully recovered from whatever bug you were fighting off. You'll be back to full strength in no time. I've found chocolate to be really helpful after the miserable runs
Oh my gosh! I am glad that you avoided the sneezer! It's amazing that someone would openly sneeze with a pandemic going on.
Outside of walking the dogs, today was a rest day, and we covered several miles. One of my dogs is quite friendly, and is used to people petting her and making a fuss when they see here. At the moment, she is very confused as to why I keep calling her to heel whenever anyone is walking nearby, and why no one seems to want to approach us.
Overall, I am quite pleased that my legs don't have any fatigue or soreness after yesterday's intervals. Next week, I'll up the ante a bit.
The Governor of our state has mandated that all restaurants, bars and coffee shops be closed for all service, with the exception of takeout; that groups be limited to 10 people; and, that all schools be closed. Now, there are 3 people currently suing him for infringing on their freedom for 'false' reasons. They believe that the virus is just a hoax perpetrated by the media, and they should be able to resume all of their normal activities. This sort of thing used to make me angry. Now, it just makes me depressed and sad for my country.
Tomorrow is a cross training day on the bike, and Saturday will be a 5-6 mile super easy run.
HS - Margaret is over 70 but she plans to still go out to shop for food (during the 9am-10am slot for older people), albeit being more careful than before. As I mention below, the Thu club sessions now exist online on Strava but we're being encouraged to wear our club vests when we venture out alone.
Aquarius and Molly, thanks the 5k challenge went well and we pushed ourselves hard. I'm pleased to say that Sarah finished just ahead of me. she is running really well and getting quicker all the time. We didn't do any 7 minute miling, but our quickest pace was 8.20 minute miling. Our quickest mile was mile 3 which was exactly 9.0 minute mile average.
Molly, shopping wasn't as civilised this morning, but luckily I didn't have to shop. The local supermarket opened an hour earlier than usual for the exclusive use of NHS workers who were asked to produce their ID to prove that they were genuine . Unfortunately, there were many non NHS workers trying to gate crash, and the car park was full and over spilled into surrounding roads about 30 minutes before the doors opened. It must have been chaos, and I'm sure that the shelves would have have been stripped bare very quickly, leaving nothing for anyone else. The experiment would have been a success, if it wasn't for the greedy gatecrashers, who would have spoilt it for everybody.
It was Mother's Day today in the UK, but the PM urged nobody to visit their mothers, for fear of infecting them with the virus. A very tragic state of affairs. It's only a matter of time before we are even allowed to run outdoors solo😧
I did a solo 6 mile recovery run this morning. It was bright and sunny, but with an icy cold Easterly Wind. My twice a week speed sessions must be paying dividends, as my easy pace was sub 10 minute miling.
Damien Nagle, Good job on getting out for a solo 10k. It will pay off when were at the other end of this mess.
WtnMel, Welcome Back! Your walking holiday sounds very interesting. Do people ever bring their dogs? I could see that being a very enjoyable holiday for myself and Nikko (canine).
Great job on your daily walks! And, your run time for this morning's run is especially good considering that your legs are probably still recovering.
Our political situation in the states has gone so far off the rails that it is hard to imagine where it's going to stop. The most concerning aspect for me is that along side the rush on toilet paper, there has also been a rush on guns and ammunition purchases with huge lines at the gun stores. I'm not sure that anyone has told that population that it's difficult to shoot a virus.
HS, Congratulations on another awesome 5k challenge. What a generous running partner you are! I am always impressed by how much you support the people you run with.
I am glad that you didn't get tied up in the morning's shopping mess. It is amazing how people will throw acceptable behavior out the window in times of stress.
Oh my, that is a sad mandate for Mother's Day. What a difficult time this is. I strongly suspect that our Government will have to put a federal stay-at-home edict out soon. We've had a huge shortage on tests for the virus (not to mention hospital supplies), so no one really knows how far it has spread. And, because a large portion of the population is only just coming around to the realization that the virus is in fact real, there has been very little containment. It truly is a crazy situation.
Excellent job on your 6 mile run this morning. It's very heartening to see your speedwork pay off. It's giving me hope.
Aquarius, I hope you are feeling better?
I received my new RdPod in the mail, and I tried it out on this morning's easy run on the treadmill. Sadly, it doesn't seem to be registering my pace correctly. Sigh! There was some starting and stopping to try different things, but I couldn't get it to work properly. I may have to send it back. As far as the run goes, I seem to have pulled a muscle in my left hip, so I kept it to 3.5 miles. I had planned on an easy pace so that worked well. Tomorrow is a rest day, and I plan to try some gentle stretching and ice to see if I can speed up the healing process.
HS - good pace on that 5k challenge and on yesterday's (cough) recovery run (at a pace I'd call a sprint!)
Molly - no, afraid they don't allow dogs on HF walks. Re the gun-buying spree .. they can now shoot the a*****e who got the last toilet roll before them
Taking my car for it's MOT shortly (assuming they are still open). It's only up the road so not much of a wasted journey if they are closed. I must check if the hairdressers I use is open for business too as I have an appointment there next week.
Molly, sorry to hear that you have sprained your hip, hope it soon recovers. That's scary, so many people buying guns and ammunition in the States.
That must be very annoying your replacement RdPod apparently also being faulty.
WtnMel, thanks, my training has been going really well, but unfortunately, it would seem that within a day or two, we might not be permitted to run at all. All the hard work will literally "go down the drain!" as at my age, fitness is lost much quicker than for younger people.
Hope your car passes its MoT without any costly work being necessary.
All the car parks in the New Forest are being closed because as you mentioned, we were inundated with moronic hordes ignoring the instruction to avoid crowding, and were letting their dogs run loose. They have no respect for the beautiful forest or its wild life.
Our lovely little Monday running group made the very sad decision this morning that we should no longer run together, even if obeying the 2 metre apart instruction. We agreed that health and safety for ourselves and others is paramount. We will obviously keep in touch by facebook messenger, WhatsApp etc. Strava will become redundant if and when we are instructed to stop running. I hope we will still be able to keep our Mature Runners thread on here going, even if we aren't running!
We were all gutted by our decision but will continue solo running as long as possible. I ran a miserable 5 miles this morning, as my heart wasn't in it.😢
WtnMel, I hope your car passed
How lovely of the supermarket to hand out the bouquets.
I really work hard not to judge other people's actions, but, at this point, I am so disgusted with my compatriots who are flooding the beaches and parks that it's hard to hold my temper. Even our beaches, despite ridiculously cold temperatures, were packed this weekend. And, now, our president is hinting that the social distancing ban will need to be lifted to preserve the economy. Of course, the social distancing ban was by and large useless, because it was simply ignored by large swaths of the population. At least, we have some sensible governors who are working hard to get a handle on the virus in individual states.
HS, I am so sorry to hear about the hordes in your lovely forest. As a responsible dog owner, I really shudder at the thought of people letting untrained dogs run loose. Or, even, trained dogs run loose. It is both irresponsible and dangerous.
It must be very sad to shut down your Monday running group. Happily, this is not a permanent situation. It is temporary. I have complete faith that you will find a way to do whatever is necessary to be in good shape to run with them, when, in the near future, we are through this thing.
Today was a rest day, and, happily, my hip is feeling much better! Yay! I laid on a tennis ball last night to work out the spasmed muscles and, then, iced the area.
At the moment, it seems to have worked. The forecast is calling for 6" of wet heavy snow tonight. With everyone working from home, including the children, I really hope that we don't lose electricity. I'm planning on a tempo run, but if we lose electricity and have 6" of snow on the ground, I may be back to running stairs!