Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Options
New Mature Runners Thread
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
Molly, our posts crossed, so I will attempt to reply to yours.
Wow, those samples are very impressive.
Glad to hear that you are feeling lighter, now that your work load is back to normal. It's always a great relief when targets etc have been met!
A few short runs in a step back week is fine. Helps to recharge the batteries!
No run for me today, I've been shopping and walked back with another 3 heavy shopping bags.
This afternoon there will probably be 17 of us in the street celebrating the 75th Anniversary of VE Day. We will, of course, be keeping the 2 metre distance between us.
A photo of the half-mile long goods train that I mentioned follows ..
And, Happy VE Day (one day late)
HS, It is really nice to hear that you are able to continue with your mileage in the forest. Are you running early in the day, or are there less people out on the paths lately?
I find it very funny that Mr. Motivator is mirroring your life workouts by using grocery bags. If it catches on, you may start seeing the streets full of people hoisting their food in the air as they walk home.
Apparently Trump's skeptical stance on the virus may be coming home to roost. As of today, one of his staff has the virus, the press secretary for the vice president has the virus, and Trump's daughter's personal assistant has the virus. It might get interesting in the capital in the near future.
WtnMel, You must be taking really good vitamins! You always seem to have energy for a new challenge. It's very inspiring.
I had no idea that our 'math' is your 'maths'. Though, when I think about it, I can see that shortening mathematics (as in 'majored in mathematics') to maths makes more sense. We do tend to truncate words in odd places. The Learn to Learn course does sound as if it was on the painful side of patronizing, I'm glad that you are finding more enjoyment in the new course.
There is going to be a fairly large Zoom chat/meeting in a couple of weeks that I am supposed to participate in. I'm hoping that there are going to be ground rules such as you described as working for your U3A meeting. I have to say that I haven't really become comfortable with Zoom, as of yet. I've been avoiding several zoom offers and opting for phone or email.
Your train photo is really impressive, and the diagram was very helpful. As you noted, I would never have fully realized what I was looking at without the diagram.
Damien Nagle, When I saw WtnMel's photo the first thing I thought was that it was a picture of your snake, Noodle, laying in the grass!
Welp, we had a bunch of snow this morning, and the winds have been at gale force level since last night. The high winds are supposed to continue through tomorrow. The good news is that, after next weekend, the weather is forecast to finally behave in a manner appropriate to the season.
Yesterday was scheduled to be an easy 5 miles. However, after the first mile, I received a phone call that I needed to take, which broke up the run. After the call, I returned to the treadmill, but I had lost my mojo (so to speak), and every plodding step brought me a little lower on the motivation scale. In order to bring the run to a merciful end, I picked up my pace quite a bit for the last mile and half, and ended up feeling much better for it. I'm beginning to think that 'easy', slow paced runs are really hard on my moods/enjoyment levels. I know that they have an important place in training, but sometimes I just need to move a little more. Today was cross training on the bike, and tomorrow is a pace run. That should be much more fun!
WtnMel, thanks for that photo of the goods train. It's amazing to be pulling half a mile worth of wagons.
Good that your U3A Zoom meeting went ok. I'm imagining that this could be the future for meetings, obviating the necessity for miles of travelling, and thus helping the environment. It seems that Zoom is more reliable than Skype. I was never very impressed with it. I haven't tried the WhatsApp video facility.
Sorry to hear about the soreness behind your right knee, but good that it appears to be ok now, as your run this morning was the fastest ever on that route, well done😃
Molly, there was a lot of celebrating the 75th Anniversary of VE Day yesterday, but tinged with a certain amount of sadness for all the loved ones that gave their lives during the war to secure our freedom.
I was only running on the pavements yesterday as I was doing the virtual isolation 5k challenge. My time was 27.00 minutes, which was very frustrating, as without having to dodge on and off the road, I would have been several seconds quicker and met my target of sub 27 minutes. The fetcheveryone WAVA calculator has been updated to reflect current 100% times, meaning that our WAVAS are lower, even for a quicker time. This will make my target of attaining 70% even harder.
I ran in the forest this morning leaving home about the same time as yesterday, 8.30am, and ran 8.26 miles. this is my furthest run for some while, and was quite tough as my legs were still feeling the effects of yesterdays 5k.
It would be amusing to see the shoppers raising their bags up and down as they walked home😁
Trumps chickens are certainly coming home to roost. Apparently he is having daily tests and so far is clear.
That's a bit of a surprise you having snow, but we have been known to have it in April in the past.
I'm not surprised that the phone call during your run, made you lose your mojo for the treadmill. That's one reason I very seldom carry my phone whilst running.
I find slow recovery runs harder than shorter but faster runs and with a higher average heart rate. You would think that it would be the other way round. Enjoy your pace run tomorrow.
WtnMel, The Everyday Excel course sounds very useful, and probably something that I should look at. The program that I use to keep my business accounts is very out of date (years out of date), and I don't like the updated versions. I can't install the program, in the same format that I prefer, onto my laptop. As a result, I keep a big clunky computer in my office taking up space that could be better utilized. I suspect that I could set up Excel to do what I want if I had a better grip on it. Now, you have me thinking...
For some reason I thought that your mother was leaving the hospital this past weekend? Am I confused, or are they keeping her longer for some reason? I'm sure that a video chat would be very reassuring for you, and a boost for her.
I think that you are right about having the correct mindset for the slow easy runs. I am an impatient person by nature, and I tend to find the slow runs a little frustrating. I like your description of minding your mind, so to speak, during your run. Congratulations! on your time. What a nice accomplishment. Excellent job
HS, Ugh! how frustrating to be so close to your time goal. Still it was an excellent effort, and, now, you know that you will go sub 27 very soon.
I really hate it when goal posts change. And, the WAVA update sounds like it definitely changed that goal post. But, I think it is clear from watching your pace improvements over the last year that you will reach the 70% goal this summer.
The 8.26 miles back-to-back with a hard 5k run must have been tough. I hope that today is a rest day
Our snow was short lived. Yay! And the winds died down to a reasonable level. We are just having an unseasonably cold spring. I have a bunch of my dye plants that I still haven't been able to plant in my raised beds because of the weather. I am a little worried about how long I can nurse them along in their starter pots.
Yesterday's pace run was much more enjoyable! Today is a rest day, which my legs are very much appreciating. At the moment, I'm trying to figure out whether I should try to run the nine miles outside tomorrow, or just grit my teeth and stick it out on the treadmill. I don't fancy darting into the busy roads, but the treadmill is beginning to feel like slow torture. I'll probably make up my mind just as I'm lacing up my shoes.
WtnMel, that's an amazing photo and almost unbelievable, an half mile long train!
I sent an fmail to Ian (fetch) asking why the WAVA's had changed and that's how I found out.
Thanks I enjoyed the long forest run, but my legs were starting to ache during the last couple of miles, as that was my longest for several weeks, and the day after my hard 5k.
Those challenges thought up by your club are a good way to motivate everyone and report back with their findings. The Virtual Isolation 5k challenge which our club has been operating in lieu of the parkruns, is a great success and there are 27 of us who post our times and WAVA's on facebook messenger, which are then inserted into a grid by one of our runners. It's very competitive as most of us are vets, and it's great to get higher WAVA's than some of the younger runners who times may be 10 minutes of more quicker than ours.
That's very impressive, a 60 mile week by one of your lady runners. There aren't many club runners these days that do that sort of mileage.
I hope the weather your way is conducive for gardening? It's been freezing cold all day today, mainly due to the very strong icy winds. I only ran 3.6 miles on roads because it was such hard going, and I was chilled to the bone, despite wearing a long sleeved thermal top under my t shirt. I didn't wear my cap, as the wind would have blown it away.
On Fetch I've started playing Fetchpoint again as it's good for getting me running different routes. So tomorrow's run route has been sorted out and I'm hoping to squish the four bugs on my map which have been losing me points each day.
I'll read through properly later, but for now....
In contrast yesterday morning I went out at 5.15am and was found it really cold, so much so I couldn’t open our side gate when I got back because my hands were numb, despite wearing gloves. I think the weather must also have numbed Garmin as I’d run a mile to our local park, then did my first hill repeat before Garmin thawed out and found the satellites. I did my usual 6 sets of hill repeats and when I got home I found the repeats that Garmin did record were slightly quicker than normal, so I was a bit frustrated that I missed the first one. I was glad to finish though because of the cold, and ran back home fairly briskly. Strangely, although it was early, and very cold, I noticed more people out and about than normal for that time of day. Possibly something to do with Boris’s confusing announcement the previous evening regarding people being allowed to exercise more? I saw a great clip on Facebook yesterday of Matt Lucas as Boris explaining what the latest government advice is. I wish I knew how, or even if, I could post it on here. If you get the chance it’s still available if you do a search for Matt Lucas and select the clip called The Rewind.
Molly, our posts crossed. I'm hoping to go sub 27 minutes on Saturday, and should manage it if I don't have to dodge round pedestrians and dog walkers. The downgrading of our WAVAS is frustrating, but to be accurate, must reflect percentages of current 100% times. The only good thing is that PB's set years ago were based on records set then, so valid. I didn't have a rest day yesterday, but ran a very slow 3.6 miles, as my legs were tired, and I was battling a very strong and icy cold wind. Did you run 9 miles on the road today, or resort to the treadmill?
WtnMel, I don't see how the fetch tables can be altered, as to get the WAVAS we use the calculator by inserting distance, age, male or female and press enter. The WAVA is then displayed at the top of the calculator.
I haven't heard of the Ross Barkley 5k challenge, but sprinting down hill for 5k should produce a much faster time than an uphill one.
I've never done the fetchpoint game, which I imagine is similar to the circles, which I pointed out to you quite a while ago. I still look after each run, but have only managed 1,000 in a month once.
Aquarius, a good precis of our posts!
Well done for your runs on Saturday and yesterday. It was very cold and windy here too yesterday as I mentioned above. The increase in people out and about was probably due to Boris's usual waffle. He's as bad as Trump! I imagine the clip to which your refer was Mat Lucas "taking the mickey?"
I didn't run today, but walked home with my usual 3 shopping bags. I must be getting used to it, as they didn't feel as heavy.
I did 6 x 10 second front planks, 21 press ups and the Mr Motivator workout when I got home.
I'm running with Sarah H tomorrow with the 2 metre gap, as that will be allowed. We are concerned that the forest and Lepe Beach will be swamped tomorrow , now that there will be no limit to how far people can drive for recreation, or even sun bathing. Additionally, they have just released stallions into the forest which are fiercely protective of the females and their calves. Dogs running freely off their leads are likely to be trampled, so the owners should beware, as they could be attacked too.
Wanderer returning here. I sort of got out of the habit of posting. I also tend to flit between this thread and the Over 60s guys and girls. (Whoever will have me!) I recognise some names having been absent for over a year. It's good to see so many regulars still posting and encouraging others.
My running news. Now in the 65 Age Category since Xmas and was looking forward to upping my age grade and getting some parkrun category 1st places. Battling with a dodgy knee. Some form: a 6.24 mile latterly. Am in a kind of virtual running challenge with other guys from a football club (Brighton) forum. All younger than me and some better than me even with Age Grade - two are sub 5 minute milers. Great motivation!
I'm still the least structured runner I know in terms of training, but I have at long last got a Garmin. Have got a 5k and a 3k 'challenge' on at the moment, but after the mile they seem to be very long distances!
All the best,
Welcome to the dodgy knee club
(and I've just noticed it's now 12:30pm - doesn't time fly when you're having fun)
We have a hedgehog in our suburban garden. This was such a joyous discovery that my wife splashed out n a special hedgehog house (complete with a 25 year mortgage). Since we put it in the garden we've not seen the hedgehog. Bloody snob - obviously not good enough for him/her.
Welcome back John! It's been a very long time since we last heard from you! 6.24 for the mile is amazing for a 65 year old. I'm 74 and wouldn't be able to get anywhere near that time. My knee injury 3 years ago prevented me from doing any speed work, so I was working on building up a good mileage base, and ran nearly 1,800 miles last year. I'm doing shorter runs now, and participating in virtual 5k solo challenges with other club members.
I hope your dodgy knee soon heals up, but it doesn't seem to have slowed you down. I still remember the Hayling 10 mile a few years ago, where you out sprinted me on the line. Good luck with your attempts to run 12.30 for 3k.
Had to laugh at the hedgehog moving out of your garden, after your wife purchased a house for him/her😃
Aquarius, I'm not keeping up with all the new apps that everyone seems to be using. I don't stream any music, for example, and since my ipod "died" I have run without music.
I remember station waiting rooms, some with coal fires and some with no heating. I can remember shivering in unheated waiting rooms, when I have just missed a train and the next wasn't for another hour. It's many years since now since I have been on a train, or the tube.
Steve's HR Monitor does appear to be rather erratic, a bit like the optical monitor on Garmins. I hope the NHS monitor arrives soon, so that you can get reliable readings.
I think I will stick with the updated WAVA Tables, because as standards improve, we must improve accordingly. The only reservation I have, is whether the new records were set by the runners wearing those Nike shoes, which are supposed to give a 4% increase in performance.
It was really good running yesterday with Sarah in the forest. It was easy to keep 2 metres apart, but more difficult where we had to run on the pavements, especially when other runners or walkers were approaching us. Lots of on and off the pavements.
I hope you were able to have your walk at the coast yesterday ? Hope your interval session went well this morning. I'm taking today and tomorrow as rest days, as I developed an ache on the top of my right foot, towards the end of yesterdays run. I want to be able to do Saturdays 5k, but won't if it still aches.
WtnMel, thanks for your fmail yesterday. I was surprised how straight forward ot would be to make the change. I've passed the info on to Dan, who is maintaining the 5k results table, but he hasn't responded yet. To be fair, we should all be working on the same tables, the new, or the 2010.
I like your senior moment, spooning the ground coffee into the cups, instead of the percolator. I've done similar spooning instant coffee into a mug, instead of Ovaltine.
Good news that your mum may be back home today or tomorrow! A shame that you won't be able to greet her on her return.
Hope you were able to get out for your early morning run this morning.
I ran just over 6 miles yesterday with Sarah, who actually ran further than me, as she ran from home to our meet up point, and had further to run than me to get home.
I thought that my schedule would lighten up when the samples were completed. However, new work came in, which is wonderful but exhausting. I am going to make a spirited attempt to catch on the posts.
WtnMel, Thank you for the information about Coursera. Once I started poking around on the site, I realized that there are a number of courses that I would like to take. I am very excited by some of the offerings, assuming I ever find the time to take advantage of them. I may have to give up sleeping.
Nice time on your runs! And, good for you for continuing your early morning times. It sounds like you are a bit of night owl, which makes getting up so early even more impressive.
How nice to hear that your mother is almost ready to be released from the hospital. I hope that the home help care that is put place works out well for her.
I looked out the window this morning and saw that my asparagus has had a surprising growth spurt. I need to get back on top of my gardening. Especially as I had a mad moment and purchased a pear tree for our garden, and I'm not sure there is anywhere to put it!
Aquarius, It sounds like you have a really solid running routine developing. I'm sure it will pay off in some great times when the ParkRuns safely resume. My fingers are crossed for a safe vaccine in our relatively near future.
The course on endurance running at FutureLearn sounds really interesting. Thank you for the information. I really need to carve out some time to take advantage of some of the courses. I can completely understand your attraction for the Citizen Science program. It sounds fascinating. However, I can also understand having too much on your plate to take on something else on. In a way, I suppose that being busy is a luxury problem, but it would be nice to be able to fit everything in.
Your description of the device that Steve is using to monitor his heart sounds very similar to one that Brian was using. For what it is worth, Brian had a fair amount of faith in that monitor because it was so highly recommended by his heart doctors. It is definitely unnerving when there are 'off' readings, I feel for you guys. I hate that powerless feeling.
I'm glad that you opted for some extra sleep the other morning. Trying to balance self care with running, pandemic, worry about AF issues, other interests, and general life activities can be really tough.
HS, My fingers are crossed that you will have a clear path for your run on Saturday, a strong wind at your back, and super fresh legs
The stallions in the forest sound very scary. I really hate the idea of dogs, or anything else being trampled. Please be careful.
I am very happy to hear that your pandemic restrictions have eased enough for you to run with Sarah again, even if you have to maintain a distance of 2 meters between you. I would imagine that it makes your runs feel more enjoyable again.
JohnBateman6, Hello from across the pond. It's very nice to meet you!
Tomorrow starts week 5 of marathon training. I ended up running 10 miles, instead of 9, on the treadmill for my long run. Ugh! We have an unfortunate influx of 'summer people' arriving. As the beaches are completely closed, the normal beach congestion has moved to the roads and sidewalks, resulting in a state of chaos. For the foreseeable future, I am afraid that I am stuck in a treadmill purgatory. And, because I am not convinced that the miles on the treadmill will translate to the same amount of training outside, I am adding an extra mile onto my treadmill long runs. At this point, the only thing sustaining the effort is that I have faith that a vaccine will be developed and marathons will be resumed. If that happens, I will be grateful for the effort I am making now. However, once I can run outside again, I may have a treadmill burning ceremony!
WtnMel, I'm just popping to say how much I hope that your mom continues to be asymptomatic! And, is out of the hospital Covid free very soon.
I'll do a real catch up post tomorrow.
Molly, I spent yesterday afternoon in the front garden trimming the bushes. I don't have an electric strimmer, so do it with shears. Slow but I prefer it to the strimmers that just rip through the foliage and are noisy.
I didn't do the 5k challenge today, as I didn't want to risk my foot, so instead I walked 3.5 miles. I don't walk very much, except to and from the supermarket, so it was quite a nice change. I walked into the village and around the Marina which is now open to the public. I took a couple of photos, which I will post later. I hope to do the 5k tomorrow, all being well. Thanks for reminding me about the wings, which I think may make all the difference. They are now mark 3, so should be more effective.
The stallions are scary, and we are warned to steer well clear of them. I enjoyed running with Sarah H and we intend running together again on Tuesday.
Well done running 10 miles on the treadmill; as I've said before, I just can't get on with them. Your President seems convinced that they will be able to develop an efficient vaccine by the end of the year, and in the meantime is busy lifting the lock downs, despite the increasing number of victims.
WtnMel, I hope your mum is allowed home asap. Apparently there is a high proportion of the population that have had the infection, without any symptoms. That's why it is so important for the tests to be stepped up.
The club is proceeding with the new WAVA tables, so we know where we stand now.
Well done getting out so early for your 5 miles run at a good pace, especially as you were Fetchpoint-ing.
I spoke to my Mum yesterday - she's still fine, if a little bored stuck in a ward at the hospital with just one other person nearby, but she's waiting to hear what the hospital plan to do (she thinks they'll probably re-test her next week before deciding whether or not she can be discharged.
Aquarius - I know we only know each other from on here, but if you wanted to have a 'play' with Zoom sometime to see what it's like I'd be happy to do that with you (send me a PM if you're interested). Glad you agree re Maggie A-P .. it is her 'breathless' style of speaking that puts me off too. I saw that the North-East has a high R number at the moment, whereas London seems to be getting lower - don't blame you continuing to be very wary. Must be frustrating re the hrm and whether or not the AF is due to spurious readings and the delay getting hold of a new one. I can see you're getting very frustrated about your Garmin not picking up satellites properly - I've had a quick check online and found out if you do something called a 'auto-locate' that might help (see below). The step after that is to do some sort of complete reset which means you lose all your stats stored on your device so try auto-locate first and see if that helps. Those interval stats do look a bit odd but remember that gps readings are only usually accurate to within 5 metres, sometimes a bit more. So although your interval times are within 2 seconds, its probably extrapolating the 'distance' it thinks you covered to a mile to give you those spurious pace readings. I've calculated that .2 of a mile in 1m 40s is 8m 19s pace so I'd go with that! Well done re your circuit training and yoga.
HS - my extendable pole-trimmer is like one of those old hedge-trimmers so it leaves a reasonably clean cut but when doing the (much smaller!) hedge in the front garden, I always use the hand-shears. Must be nice to be able to walk new places like the Marina - I've not ventured up on Cleeve Hill lately but I expect that has been busier than it had been since the lockdown was lifted slightly.
Aquarius - as promised, here's the advice I found online about helping the Garmin Forerunner 610 to obtain satellites more quickly ..
To perform the AutoLocate:
Turn device on, or take it out of power save mode
Touch System
Touch GPS
Touch Satellites
Press and hold Lap/Reset button
Release button once satellite bars disappear
The Forerunner 610 will now be able to acquire accurate satellite data, providing you with a good satellite lock.
I ran this morning at 6:15am and managed 4.5mls @ 10:28mm pace and my Garmin told me I had a new (running outside) record of doing a mile in 10:02 - I know it was 6:15am on a Sunday morning, but even so I was surprised that all I saw was one dog-walker and two pedestrians. I managed to squish all the bugs on my Fetchpoint map - but found another one had appeared when I logged my run. I've asked what time the maps are updated each morning as if you manage to clear all the bugs you get an extra 200 points.
Margaret needed me to trim her hair again this morning - I took about 1" off, including doing the layers and it appears I managed okay - must admit, I was slightly uneasy about doing more than trimming the length at the back.
Feeling a bit tired after my early start and faster-than-usual run - but I haven't succumbed to a power nap just yet. But I'm about to try and finish off my 5G presentation so that may have a soporific effect - we'll see!