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New Mature Runners Thread
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Aquarius, I think it would be a good idea for you to purchase a new Garmin. Jane has just ordered a Forerunner 645, which has had great reviews, from Argus for £199 plus £3.95 postage. That it is a very good price, although I expect Amazon may be cheaper.
It's certainly been very hot these last few days, so I'm not surprised that you have been feeling tired after Saturdays 6 mile walk and run. That does sound a bit hard core.
I can't believe that it's 3 years since my knee injury either, but its been worth taking things steadily, instead of trying to get up to speed too soon.
Sarah F and I ran past the Leisure Centre on our way to the forest this morning, and there were two separate queues outside, with everyone standing 2 metres behind each other. I'm afraid that it will be a long time until I'm tempted to book a spin session again.
Dan, our organiser of the virtual 5k challenges, has now set a new challenge, which can be done whenever we want, no time limits. It is a "Hardley-a-Round" marker point challenge of approx 13-14 miles. There are eight markers to navigate. We can start at whichever point we want, but must then complete them in order. I've been studying my O@S maps, and Sarah and I did a recce of a couple of points during this mornings run.
It's good that your Zoom pilates is proving beneficial, but sorry to hear that you had to cut short your afternoon run. I hope that you are feeling better today.
jb, I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed your evening at the local athletics track. It's good that there were so many PB's; it proves that the pandemic hasn't prevented the athletes from training hard. I hope that the 12 year old girl doesn't "burn out" by running so competitively and such an early age. There have been so many very talented youngsters over the years that haven't made it in the seniors.
I've marshalled at parkruns on a number of occasions, but that doesn't take a lot of effort. I believe that there is activity behind the scenes looking into possible ways of bringing the parkruns back.
This morning was the hottest yet, and Sarah and I found it heavy going. We ran 11k, which was far enough in the conditions.
We've been having a walk/run up on the moor before all the shooting starts for the so-called Glorious Twelfth. My latest blog may well upset a few friends but I don't care. It's a subject I feel quite strongly about.
HS, 11k in these conditions is impressive. A bit cooler here on the Sussex coast with some precious overnight rain, with more to come. I hope it doesn’t interfere with the cricket in Southampton.
Manage to shave a few seconds of my 7k recent times with a 33.44. This was achieved with a final km of 4.40 chasing another runner.
On the prom a lady very deliberately stepped aside as I passed by. I raised my hand , nodded and mumbled an inaudible thanks, whereupon she called out that I should have said thank you. She now probably thinks that runners are ill mannered, but perhaps didn’t appreciate that runners get out of breath at times!
I’ve e never looked forward so much to cooler weather, although perhaps I did in 1976. But I wasn’t a runner then!
jb, well done with your 7k, a 4.40k is very good, and a bit out of my compass at present.
Luckily, most pedestrians my way, especially those with dogs, do appreciate it when I move onto the road to give them a wide birth. I always acknowledge pedestrians when they move out of the way for me. A smile and a hello seem to work wonders.
Todays run was 13k in the forest, which included a structured hill rep session. We did 4 sets of 4 reps recovering on the downhills, with 2 minutes recovery between each set. No pain no gain does seem appropriate.
Hill repeats can be brutal. Funnily enough I’ve always preferred running up a hill than down it. My technique is terrible, like driving with your brakes on!
Aquarius, I hope that you are able to sort out the Garmin problems, and then decide to purchase a later model. It must be so frustrating, with the connection to the satellites being so hit and miss. Well done for your hill session.
jb, I also prefer uphill to down, hence my user name! Yesterdays was tough because it was a very uneven and tree rooty grass hill. It was difficult to maintain an even pace, with all "the obstacles making us break our strides.
A rest day today but quite eventful. This morning was the annual gas boiler service, which was ok. This afternoon, the fridge decided to give up the ghost. The constant heat had worn it out, as it couldn't cope. Luckily a local domestic appliance shop had fridges in stock, and will deliver later this afternoon. The contents should be ok as today is cooler, and it will only have been out of action for a few hours.
My new fridge was delivered and installed around 6.30pm yesterday, and thankfully the contents of the old fridge hadn't defrosted. I will be requesting the Council to collect the old fridge, which hopefully will be on Wednesday, which is the usual day for my area.
Ran a different 5k route this morning with Mike, to try to find a "quicker route." We weren't bothered about the pace, and took the first 3k steady and increased the pace for the last 2k. Next week we will put it to the test. Sarah F didn't run with us, as she was racing "The Maverick," an off road 10 miler.
Rest for me today following a 22:50 5k yesterday. Only 10 minutes plus outside the new world record which in old money was 3.1 miles at 4.01 pace. Astonishing!
A general well done for all the training that has been going on while I've been absent.
HS - I'll find out tomorrow where I am in the handicap race results after week 2. As you say, the 235 doesn't have the virtual partner feature so I'm glad I kept my old 305 handy so I could use it for the race .. will do the same this coming week. Reading about your "Hardley-a-Round" challenge I tried to think of a version my club could do .. "Almost-at-the-limit" was the best I could come up with. Sorry to hear your fridge gave up the ghost but glad to hear you've got a replacement quickly.
Aquarius - no doubt the models Garmin sell have changed over the last few years. I seem to recall eventually picking the 235 as it gave the most features for the price (and I didn't want to pay what they were asking for more expensive models!). I prefer the 'real' handicap race where the slower people set off first and are chased down by the faster ones but this virtual version is the best that can be done in the circumstances. I'm still pondering whether to get a motorized golf trolley - after Fri's game (see below) I think I need to improve drastically to warrant spending so much. Sorry to read you had to cut your run short due to the heat. When you mentioned your pins and needles in your leg I was going to suggest a trapped nerve but see the chiropractor has suggested the same (I had pins and needles in my arm from a trapped nerve in my neck). Wi-fi can be a pain when the signal is weak in certain rooms - look up powerline adapters for the rooms in question as that may be a solution (may have mentioned them before?).
JB - glad you enjoyed your athletics meet and am impressed by that 12yr old beating older athletes. I obviously don't run fast enough as I usually have enough breath to shout out a thank you for anyone I pass who makes an effort to move out of each other's way (I may mumble rude words under my breath at them when they don't). Sorry to hear you have a mouse - guess you need a friend with a cat now?
RF - I had a look at that blog entry for Jun 2012 .. as you say, looked great fun.
The new boiler is in. The two guys from the local company were very efficient and they installed the boiler and replaced the pump and a leaky radiator valve and were all done shortly before 2pm. My son reports the new boiler is much quieter. He also got a surprise as without adjusting any of the temperature controls or thermostats, he found the water is hotter. The new one is obviously far more efficient than the old.
The less said about Fri's golf the better. I gave up in disgust after 13 holes as despite starting well, my game degenerated drastically and after an 11 and a 12 on two holes I decided I was wasting my time. I apologised to Alan and when I checked later he'd put down some scores for me. Turns out he played with a yellow ball as well as his own white one and posted my scores as the 'other' ball. I went to the driving range yesterday to recover my sanity and prove Fri was just a 'bad day at the office' where the golf was concerned. We're playing again on Wed.
After Tue's 5k run (Handicap Race #2) it took until this morning before I had a chance to run again. Just 4mls this morning and briefly enlivened by my passing my friend Iris and her husband on the bypass with a perfectly executed, SD'd swoosh past each other.
Re the handicap race, I did notice one lady who originally estimated 39mins for the 5K and logged 35:52 has subsequently managed 32:35 in week 2! I think she's definitely playing the system!!
jb, When I first read your post I thought that you had run 22.5k's and then realised that was your time for 5k. An excellent time indeed! I watched the Wold Record being set, and was amazed by the time, superhuman in my opinion. I remember many years ago Dave Moorcroft running sub 13 minutes, which I believe was a WR at the time.
How is the mouse getting on, or has it departed?
Aquarius, there are certainly many different Garmin's available these days. Many have functions that most of us would never use. The 645 music which I mentioned before requires "special earphones" which cost nearly as much as the Garmin to listen to music. There is also a 645 without music which should be cheaper. Jane is pleased with hers and I will be running with her tomorrow, so will find out more about it.
We think the new route for the 5k will be quicker and give it another try on Saturday. Sarah F did very well in her 10 mile off road yesterday, and ran the Lepe Loop, an 8.33 mile multi terrain run with me and Sara H and the "Saga Boys," and "Half Arsed Ladies!" this morning. A very challenging run, but we resisted the temptation to paddle in the Southampton Water as we ran along the shore on the pebbles.
Good news that your chiropractor may be able to sort out your long standing problems with your hip and tight hamstrings.
I've seen the BT adverts advising that they are the only provider guaranteed to provide a signal to every room in the house. I live in a bungalow, so don't have any such problems with BT.
That was a good idea using the first 5 k of your run for the not a parkrun. Sarah F is using the first 5k of this morning run for the same purpose. That was a very respectable time, especially considering that the previous day you had treatment by the chiropractor, yoga and pilates.
Hope you enjoy your rest day today and have a good interval session tomorrow.
It will probably be just Jane and I running tomorrow, so it will be a hard run, especially as she will be showing off her new Garmin. I've probably said before that her 5k WAVA is in the 80's percents, which is International level.
HS, my advice to anyone on the best way to improve their 5k time is to find a quicker course. My home course is very quick......unless the wind is blowing.
Aquarius, great training routine. As for our mouse he or she is very sweet but has not been formally invited.
2 rest days for me, but grandkids today means it’s a funny sort of rest!
HS - I tried installing the Windows 10 Feature update 2004 yesterday - big mistake! After 5-6hrs mine failed to install properly and took several more hours to recover back to where it had been before the update started. A quick search online shows the 2004 feature update is full of bugs at present so steer clear of it for as long as possible. It's a feature update rather than bug fixes so can be safely ignored for now.
JB - I've been down the driving range again this morning and done some more practise. Having identified what I think was my problem (not keeping my arms straight), my shot accuracy improved this morning so I'm hoping I'll play better on Wed (assuming, having seen the forecast this morning, we don't get rained off!). My scores would drop dramatically if I could only putt better. Thank goodness for Stableford scoring - it means your round doesn't get ruined by one bad hole (didn't stop me walking off the course on Fri though!)
Still waiting for the current standings for the handicap race (apparently someone had some bad gps info). But for week 2 itself, I was in 25th place with a score of -44 (44 secs better than estimate). Yet again, I think there's some 'gaming' of the system going on. The lady in 1st place for instance estimated 38:03 and managed 33:46 (-257 secs). And the first 10 places are all people whose performance were over 110 secs better than their handicap time.
WtnMel, your yesterday post crossed with mine. I was very lucky to get a replacement fridge the same day that the old one gave up the ghost. They came on their way home, and removed the old one and installed the new. I rang the council this morning and they will collect the old fridge on Wednesday. The £30 charge is well worth it, as it is a right pain trying to take stuff to the landfill site. You have to book in advance and register the car for identification. Also the hassle of getting someone to help you as I couldn't lift the fridge into the car and take it out at the tip by myself. Goodness knows why people dump stuff, risking a £1,000 fine!
Glad to hear that you are happy with your new boiler. The service of mine was uneventful, and passed all the checks. I've noticed that the water seems to be hotter too. I suppose that could also be because the water is warmer at the outset, because of the much higher temperatures.
Sorry to hear that Friday's golf was a bit of a write off. Never mind, we all have days like that when nothing seems to go right. Better luck on Wednesday🤞
There are always "dodgy runners" in Handicap Races😒
I installed the Windows 10 features update 2004 successfully, several weeks ago.
I think that there will be some cheats in our "Hardley-a-Round" Challenge. One couple who are new to the area were the first to "complete it", but it is rather suspicious as their mileage was sub 13, and Dan who has organised it, said that it would be between 13 and more likely 14 plus. We think they may have missed out one or more of the check points. Our Monday runners are working hard with maps and doing recce's of various segments. Jane, with her shiny new Garmin 645 has plotted a route, which she will transfer to her phone, which should be a big help in navigating. We are planning to do the challenge on the Monday in the middle of September.
jb, yes I certainly agree with you about finding the quickest course. We did the first few on different road routes, but got bored with that, and the last few weeks have all been in the forest on different routes. I don't know whether you saw my post a couple of weeks or so ago, where I tried running continuous laps round a field, but it wasn't a success. I set off as if I was running 100 metres, and of course, "blew up." We will try last Saturdays again, as we didn't push the pace, being that it was a recce.
Enjoy your rest days, albeit with the Grandchildren today, which will be very tiring. Where do they get their energy from!
It rained very heavily during the night, and I woke about 4.20 to the sound of thunder.
I ran 9 miles in the forest with Jane this morning, and the forest was really wet and muddy. We had to turn round near the end of the run, as the ground ahead was waterlogged, and there was no way that we would have attempted to wade through it. The bonus was that it added a little bit more distance to our run.
Zoom Pilates tomorrow, then another trip to the Chiropractor.
Our grandkids would scare a rhino away so no chance of an encounter with the mouse!
I beat my 5k PB yesterday by 10 seconds! OK it was my rowing PB not my running one. But when you get to 65 a new PB in anything is not to be sneezed at! I’m now down to 22.28 on the rower and right now I’d happily settle for that for a run.
Aquarius, regarding our Hardley-a-Round challenge, we haven't been advised that we will need to provide proof of our achievements, but I imagine most of the contributions will be captured on strava, so will be fairly straightforward to check.
You do seem to be having an unreasonable amount of bad luck with your Garmin connections to the satellites, and the amount of people walking, dog walking,cycling etc. hindering your interval sessions.
The forerunner 45 is probably a good choice as it is reasonably priced, and why pay for "all the bells and whistles" that you are unlikely to use.
I hope todays Zoom pilates went well and also your session with the chiropractor .
jb, well done for your rowing PB. A pb is a pb, no matter what its for. When I was 65, I managed a 22.08 parkrun at the Brockenhurst parkrun. I'm now nearly 75 and trying to go sub 26 minutes. Perhaps this Saturday in our forest 5k on last weeks new route.🤞
Today was a rest day, except for the usual walk back from the supermarket with 4 heavy shopping bags, and then the front plank and press ups.
HS - I agree about it being worth spending the money to have large items collected rather than struggle yourself in the car. Glad to hear you were able to install that Windows feature update without problems - I did wonder afterwards whether leaving my external disk drive plugged in might have slowed things down (possibly grasping at straws but wouldn't put anything past stupid computers being dim-witted). Sounds from your "Hardley-A-Round" comment you have people 'gaming' the system too - I'd have suggested proof (like Strava) would be needed to show the route followed so glad to see that will be the case. Well done re your 9ml (muddy) forest run.
Aquarius - I've given some examples below of some (cough) 'outstanding' running in these handicap races. Sorry to hear about your continuing problems with satellite reception on your Garmin - and that it was busy again on your route. The Forerunner 45 looks good - though as I don't carry a phone with me those particular features would be lost on me! Hope you enjoyed your zoom pilates session today and the chiropractor session was worthwhile.
JB - well done for beating your 5K PB by 10 seconds (your rowing one anyway!
Re the handicap race series, sorry to keep wittering on about it. I'm 12th in the overall standings but I don't think I'll bother with any more races. Some people have wildly over-estimated how 'bad' they would be and with some, they are using a runner's 'bad' time as a new handicap time. In cases where someone doesn't meet their estimate, I'd have expected them to keep the handicap time the same and say "Better luck next time".
For instance .. the overall leader estimated 39:17 and has posted 35:52 & 32:27 (approx. 21% improvement). The 2nd place lady estimated 40:26 and has posted 36:03 & 33.52 (19% improvement). The lady who 'won' the week 2 race estimated 34 min but posted 38:03 for week 1 - her handicap was adjusted to 38:03 for week 2 and she posted 33:46! They seem to be rewarding mediocre performances so I'm seriously hacked off. I'm tempted to jog round this week and have a 'bad' run about 5 mins slower than last time - then I'll be nailed on to win the last week's race.
Mel, I can see why you’d be fed up. I would be too! People doing that make the whole exercise pointless. I’d be tempted but I hope wouldn’t stoop to it.
Damien, it’s very frustrating isn’t it? I had great hopes of this season as a freshly minted 65 year old. Hopes dashed by Virus, but of course it could be far worse.....
To try and breakthrough my current plateau in performance I mixed up my training yesterday and threw in some little hills and then finished my 7k with 8 150 metre sprints with 15 seconds rest between each one.
Another good night of athletics at my local track. A national record was broken: 300 metres for a 48 year old Male. I spoke to a family who driven down from Wales and were returning late that evening. They were with their son who rewarded them with a time that gave him number 1 ranking for a 15 year old in the100 metres. This served to remind me of the dedication required to get anywhere near the top. Hard yards indeed!
Rest day for today. No bad thing as the heavens have opened even on the sunny south coast. Good for the allotment anyway.
As an O/70 I was lucky to win the F.R.A. English Fell Running Championship. I hadn't raced on the fells for seven years and there was some formidable and experienced opposition. After winning the first two races I tore a calf muscle badly two miles from the finish of the Kentmere Horseshoe race. I finished 2nd but luckily had amassed enough points to win the series without having to compete in the fourth race. It's a medal I treasure most of all.
Reaching 75 I found a race on my actual birthday for another good start to a new category. It was a 10K road race round the streets of Kings Lynn where I'd to run extra fast to beat all the O/70's. There was no O/75 category! Shortly after, I went on to take the B.M.A.F 5K champiuonship at Chorley, the only 5K race I've ever run. I never considered it my distance, a thought perhaps endorsed when the O/80 winner finished just a few seconds behind me!
Needless to say, I'd the O/80 category almost to myself and was never beaten, often being the oldest person to compete in various races on road, Track or fells. The secret is to out-live all the opposition!
At 85 I'd become embarrassingly slow so called it a day as far as racing was concerned, but still get out into the hills for fun and fitness. You can't beat the great outdoors with all the sights, sounds and smells of flora and fauna, sunrise and sunsets, sea and mountains.
I'll count myself exceedingly lucky to see a Mens O/90 category. But watch this space...
WtnMel, yes, I think that we will all be submitting our Strava results as evidence for the Hardley-a-Round Challenge. We intend to recce the first few "check points" on Monday.
Sounds like you are fighting a losing battle with your handicap races, so probably a good idea to "drop out"
Damien, its been a right pain this year with all the races being cancelled or postponed. The New Forest Marathon organisers are still trying to find an alternative venue where the public won't be allowed.
jb, I'm sure that you will be able to beat my 22.08; it's always good to have a target to aim for and then better. I'm 75 in December and will then be aiming for 1st in the new age categories, if and when there are races again. Good to see that you are doing some structured training, it is the quickest way to improve race pace. This year is the first that I've done any speed work since June 2017, and it's paying dividends. Last year I concentrated on building up my mileage and completed just under 1,900 miles.
It's good that track athletics is taking place and local to you. It's true that dedication and hard work are necessary to get to the top. The achievements of our elite athletes back in the seventies and eighties are even more remarkable when you think that most of them had full time jobs and had to train before and after work.
Probably a wise choice to have a rest day today, because as you say, the heavens opened down here in the South.
Runningfox, you have achieved some amazing results during your racing years, and I believe, If I remember rightly, that you didn't take up running until you were in your fifties? I hope that I can keep running and remain competitive as long as you have.
This morning was a pyramid session comprising two sets of 5,3,1,3,5 minutes. We ran 5.6 miles altogether, which included the run out and run back. The weather was dreadful, heavy rain, strong winds and a waterlogged forest. Great for training though, making us work even harder. I was really pleased to see that my pace for the second 1 minute effort was 5.13 minute miling. If only I could keep that up for longer.
Damien - I'm not surprised they wouldn't let the Fleetwood 10k take place but I presume they allowed the lights to be put on as most people were in cars to see them?
JB - I 'should' be mixing up my training a bit more like you with hills & sprints. The only good thing to come out of the handicap races was to find out I am capable of sub-10m pace over a few miles. Glad to hear you enjoyed another athletics meet and more good times were posted.
RF - never having capabilities that match yours, my move to the MV65 category didn't make any difference to my results at all!
HS - I can't remember if I mentioned it, but the one race I do most years and hoped to run in October, the 10ml Tring Ridgeway Run, also had to be cancelled. Well done re that pyramid session, especially considering the conditions. And 5:13mm pace, even for a minute - just wow!
Managed to crawl out of bed at 5:45am this morning to run. Resisted the temptation to run my handicap race route and post a (cough) 'bad' time. I've decided to give up on the handicap races - I did send a message on FB to the organiser pointing out what I thought was wrong with the way things were working - I could see he had been online but he's chosen to ignore me so to be honest, f**k him. So instead, I ran 4mls around town and was pleased to see miles 2,3 & 4 were all around 10:30mm pace. I felt comfortable and wasn't having to put in much effort at all (what my friend 'Girlie' who used to post on RW would call #buggeralleffort) - time was when I needed to be running at 11:00mm pace or slower to feel like that.
HS, well done. I couldn’t face running in that weather. I hopped on the rower and beasted myself.
Hope to get out later today.
Rf, that is some running CV you’ve got there. Inspirational.
No vacation for us this year so we are visiting various local villages, none more than 20 miles away. I continue to be amazed at how lovely my county is and ashamed that I don’t know it better.
WtnMel, you seem to be consistently improving your running pace this year, and becoming more competitive. This is very impressive as you expend quite a bit of energy with your golf practice, golf matches against Alan and not forgetting bowls!
I do remember you mentioning the Tring Ridgeway 10 mile race.
My legs certainly felt the effects of yesterdays pyramids during this mornings 10k.
That certainly was a very early start to your run this morning. I get up at 6am every morning, but the earliest I run is 8am, mostly 8.30am. This is because I never run without breakfast, and like to give it time to digest. One of the club's previous Coaches used to make similar comments to "Girlies!"
jb, thanks, it was a tough session, but as I often say "no pain, no gain!" I used to occasionally have a go on the rowing machines after spin sessions, but gave that up as I put all my efforts into the spin.
That sounds a good idea, visiting local villages, there is so much history in our County. I only discovered recently that there were ancient burial mounds in the New Forest. We have a lovely old church in Dibden, where my eldest Niece was married, and my parents are buried. It was bombed in the Second world War, but has been restored.
My 10k this morning was a recovery run, as my legs were as heavy as lead after yesterdays pyramids. It was a mixture of roads and grass. This included a few leisurely laps round the park, which is also Hythe and Dibdens Cricket ground. I've never got round to watching a match, but must sometime. The troops played cricket there before setting off to fight in the Second World War.
However we do have a lovely flat, wide prom to run along and that’s where I was this afternoon in lovely windless conditions. I set out to run 10k in less than 49 minutes and managed 48.57. I was pleased with the pacing. I’m even more pleased with doing it today and not in the gales tomorrow!
jb, that's a good 10k time, I'll be trying for a sub 50 minutes, next time we include one in a training session, but afraid that would be beyond me nowadays. It would be a 77% WAVA, and I'm only just managing 70% for a 5k. Its been blowing a gale all day today, so with a headwind may just have been possible. We will be doing another 5k in the forest tomorrow, with the target of sub 26 minutes. This would be a WAVA for me of 71.67% which I would be happy with.
Today is a rest day, so all systems go tomorrow.