New Mature Runners Thread

1162163165167168254

Comments

  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    Evening all,

    Just popping in to say hello. I hope I’ll have more time to post properly tomorrow, but things are still rather hectic at the moment.
    I keep dipping into the Olympics when I can, and really loved the triathlon events, especially the mixed relay. I love to see Alex Yee run, he just bounces along so effortlessly. Really pleased that Jonny got his gold at last and Jess got her first Olympic medal. Also enjoying the track cycling when I get the chance to watch it, but it’s a pity about all the injuries in athletics - Dina, KJT and Adam Gemili, they must be so disappointed. Talking of injuries I’m having problems with my knee again, but now it includes my calf and hamstrings. I have a physio appointment next week so fingers crossed I can get it sorted out soon as the trail 10k I’ve signed up for is next weekend.

    I think I have another 10k at the end of the month - but that’s another story.

    Sorry I haven’t responded to your posts, but hopefully will be able to do so tomorrow.
  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭

    Hello again,

    I’m typing this from the spare bedroom as Steve has to isolate due to going into hospital on Friday for some tests, so I’ve taken myself off to the spare room and thought I’d catch up with your posts to take my mind off how uncomfortable this bed is😒
    WtnMel: Well done for beating Alan at golf, your game definitely seems to be improving. I’m quite jealous of your U3A activities, our local one seems to be mainly talks, and they stopped with the first lockdown. Oh dear regarding your soggy paper, we used to buy a daily newspaper but switched to the digital version when lockdown arrived, and we‘ve never got around to changing back. I must admit I miss it when I have wet trainers which I need to pack with newspaper. Hope you have a nice time with your sons. (How did Monday’s golf match go?)

    HS:  Great photos of you and Sarah in last Wednesdays 10k race, and a good result for you in your clubs 10k challenge. Your “resurrected” training session sounded a good one but very challenging. You and Sarah are both working hard on your marathon training. 

    JB: Great result for you in parkrun and an awesome WAVA too, and to think that was before your new shoes arrived! I must say your new Saucony shoes sound amazing, I’ve always been a bit sceptical about the advertising claims of these sort of shoes so it’s good to hear from an actual runner that they really do deliver. 
    Three cheers for Lily, she doesn’t give up does she? Good for her.
    I remember you telling us about your footballing neighbour, that’s a crazy sum of money for one so young. I hope he has someone (family?) to take care of his finances.  
    I can’t imagine how anyone can do an ultra, marathons must be hard enough without voluntarily putting yourself through even more pain.
    (Question- Does anyone know when ultra running started?)

    I’m probably my own worst enemy as it tends to be a feast or a famine with me as regards exercise, and lately I’ve been cramming in running, Pilates, strength work and yoga, so I suppose I’ve only myself to blame for my dodgy knee.
    It’s a shame because I had a good run on Tuesday and actually had to hold back on the 3 x 8 minute goal pace repeats which felt really easy.
    Our club run a GP series of races over the winter months with a number of teams taking part. I’ve been in one of those teams for the last few years (until Covid hit) but I found out yesterday that our team isn’t being entered this year so I’ve joined the scramble to find a new team, so far without success. Still keeping my fingers crossed though🤞

    I was just about to post this when I got a message to say I’ve managed to get a place on a GP team 🙂
  • Good afternoon everyone, 

    Aquarius,  I'm sorry to hear that you are still having trouble with your knee, and now calf and hamstrings. I hope the physio can sort it out, in time for your trail 10k!

    I hope Steve's hospital tests have good results. 

    Glad that you liked the photos from the RR10  off road race last Wednesday. It wasn't a 10k, but was 4.56 miles. 

    We are all working hard on our marathon training,  and feeling the benefits. 

    You have definitely upped your training, and are reaping the results, but unfortunately seem to aggravated your niggles. This unfortunately is a price we seem to pay when we up the ante. 

    Glad to hear that you have got a place on a GP team!


    Had an appointment with the Hygienist yesterday afternoon, but she was on maternity leave, so the Dentist had to perform. The Receptionist told me as I was making future appointments that the Dentists wife was expecting the next day. He must have been very on edge, wondering if he would get a message advising that she had gone into labour. He will be on maternity leave for two weeks after the birth, so the Practice will be closed during that time. 


    Ran a good pace forest 6 miles this morning which felt relatively easy. I've attached a couple of photos which I hope you like. 

  • I meant to say, whilst I was parked in the Surgery car park, a bird, or birds had messed all over the cars roof. I didn't notice until I got home, but luckily was able to wipe it off before it hardened. 
  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    That’s supposed to be good luck HS 🙂🐥
    I always enjoy your forest photos. 
    Bad timing for both the hygienist and the dentist’s wife to be pregnant at the same time! You were lucky to get your appointment in before they closed.
  • They say it's meant to be lucky. I suppose I was lucky to have my appointment, just in time! 😁
  • john bateman 6john bateman 6 ✭✭✭
    edited August 2021
    Aquarius, I hope Steve's test go well i.e. the tests might be nasty but the results (hopefully) good. Good to get into a GP team. when I see club athletes training together I wonder if I should have taken the plunge years ago. I'm quite sociable so I probably should have. Do you socialise with your running group - or just run? Sorry to hear about the knee. almost certainly a simple case of overdoing it? I'm in the same club - overworked my body trying to squeeze extra seconds out of the new trainers. No running for me Wed-Fri then, especially as I hope to do a bit of Parkrun tourism on Saturday. (However, the weather forecast is grim.) Re Team GB at the Olympics, it's been a real mixed bag.  I just hope overall that we beat the Aussies on the medal table - because we sure ain't going to beat them over the winter in the Ashes! (And let's not talk about the Lions. eh?)

    HS, that was an interesting little running drill you mentioned. I've never been one for intervals really - I think they rather invite injury. One that I have tried - and I now do on the rower - is 30 seconds easy, 20 seconds medium, 10 seconds very hard. Then repeat until totally knackered. On the bird mess issue, bad luck. We live in a area heavily populated by seagulls - enough said!

    Mel, hope you enjoyed your time with you 2 sons. A bit of male bonding maybe? 

  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    JB - what about that Women’s Madison?
  • Good morning everyone, 

    JB, I'm looking forward to your report on Saturday of your 5k in the new trainers. I'm anticipating a WAVA of 80% 🤞
    That drill was from back in the eighties, and seems to have dropped off the radar nowadays, as is never seen in training schedules. 
    Today is a rest day, except for the usual stretches etc. 
  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    Good morning all,

    JB: Although I am still in the same club I was before we moved I very rarely train with them now (it takes a good hour by car or a couple of hours by public transport to get there from where we live now). I do however take part in some club events (notably the GP) and also XC (when rugby internationals permit. Sometimes I get to go to XC, sometimes we stay at home to watch the television. I wish the people who schedule the XC and the people who schedule the rugby would get their heads together, very inconsiderate.) I also run in club colours when doing other events. I’ve never been a sociable sort of runner, I prefer to run on my own so don’t feel the need to join a new club here, although I think the structured training you get in a club is a big bonus. There have often been times when I’ve found a club training session quite hard, and know I wouldn’t have pushed myself that hard if I was training on my own, so the feeling you get when you’ve completed it is quite empowering. There is a lot to say for being in a club, but it’s not for everyone. In fairness I should say that I’ve always found fellow club members very friendly and supportive, which is a big help when you are struggling around a cold muddy XC course. Also, perhaps a little surprisingly, supporters of other clubs watching on will often give you encouragement as you pass.
    Sorry to hear you too have been pushing a bit too hard. Good idea to rest until Saturday. We all have great hopes for those new shoes! (no pressure ;) )

    Morning HS, enjoy your rest day.

    I dropped a line to my physio yesterday to update her on how I was progressing with this knee problem and she replied that I’m doing all the right things, but reminded me to include foam rollering and tennis ball massage for my glutes and calves. So yesterday afternoon I had a good session with the roller and decided to try today’s scheduled training session (2 mile warm up, then 3 x 1 fast mile with a 5 minute recovery, then 1 mile cool down.) I struggled with the 2 mile warm up as my knee was slowly tightening up. I decided to try to do the first of the fast miles and again struggled a bit, I felt I was going faster than Garmin said which was a bit disappointing. The 5 minute walk/jog recoveries between the miles was the part I was dreading, because I’ve found when I stop running that is when the stiffness and pain really kick in, but it was okay for the first one. However I was still in two minds about aborting the session as I was sure my knee was getting worse, but decided to go for another of the fast miles (I expect I’m going to get told off from HS now :p ) and managed to increase the pace slightly. I used the 5 minute recovery to walk and stretch, then ran the last mile faster again, and once more stretched in the recovery period. I thought I’d got away with it until I started the return mile home. I had been running on an athletics track on the top of a hill, so now had to go down the muddy hill to get back home. It was too dangerous to run down (overgrown with grass and weeds) so I walked, and sure enough the knee complained. Loudly. Once off the hill I managed to jog back home and did a lot of stretching. I don’t like to tempt fate, but so far so good. The knee is a bit stiff, but I’m not walking with a peg leg, which is what usually happens after sitting for a while. (I should say that my third fast mile was the fastest because some other runners had turned up at the track by then and pride wouldn’t let me ease up :) )
  • Good afternoon everyone,

    Aquarius, Good afternoon,

    Not a good idea to do another fast mile when your knee is aching. We've all done it though, so I can't criticise. I also find that if I stop for any reason, during a run, my legs ache momentarily until I get going again.
    Pride also makes me want to chase other runners, and Sarah F is always saying that I can't help it, as I'm so competitive. 
  • Aquarius, well done for battling through that session. I love that 3rd mile fuelled by pride! I can see why you are no longer fully active in your club: I've got 4 or 5 within a few miles and can't be motivated to get involved. I do like the idea of running in a club vest, though. I think that's a bit special. Good luck with the knee!

    Absolutely love the Madison: it's bonkers but great drama. 

    HS, I'm going to disappoint your expectations of my performance with the new trainers.........

    Guildford Parkrun today, simply because I've (we've) not done it before and it's not too far away (under 40 miles). Well the heavens opened up en route and many roads were getting close to impassable but we made it OK. The heavens remained open for the duration of the event so not a great day to tackle a mainly grassy course with some mean little slopes.

    I managed a slightly disappointing 22.36 but it was fast enough to win my category.
    The difficulty of the conditions and perhaps an indication of the size/quality of the field (an absence of really quick younger guys) meant that my WAVA of 74.93% was the 2nd best in the field so I was please with that. Mrs JB did really well and her WAVA was well within the top half of the field of 248 runners.

    So all in all a good trip and we returned  soaking wet to our home town which looked dry as the proverbial bone!

    Now to watch the British Lions snatch an improbable victory..........

     


  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Afternoon all,

    Lots of posts to catch up on I see - I'll do my best.

    Aquarius - sorry to hear about your problems with your knee, calf & hamstrings. Hope the physio can help. Hope Steve's hospital stay/tests go okay. Based on number of strokes, it appeared Alan won the golf on Monday - but using the scoring system, I beat him by one point. As far as I know, ultra running has been practised by a tribe called the Tarahumara from Mexico for many years - they had to run long distances out of necessity due to the canyons where they live and getting from one place to another. So maybe ultra runners got the idea from them? Glad to hear you've got a place in one of the GP teams. Nothing like other runners turning up to motivate you to keep going and not suffer the 'shame' of walking ;)

    HS - it sounds like your dentist would have been on tenterhooks in case he got a call. Lucky he wasn't called halfway through your appointment! 

    JB - I'm sociable myself. But as I mentioned, I've given up on my running club as despite my best efforts, no-one appears to be interested in buddying-up or similar (and that was the case before the pandemic and lockdowns). Well done for that parkrun time in less than ideal conditions.

    Margaret's son Ed has been over today to help me move the furniture from the study into the spare bedroom. Some stuff has ended up on the landing but we've managed to make enough room for Margaret to be able to use her laptop/monitor in her 'new' study aka. spare room. Once that was done, we had to move the living room furniture into the dining room and conservatory. That's all done apart from a couple of armchairs which can be wheeled in there on Tue morning when the decorating ladies arrive. Ed is due back next Saturday to help me put everything back where it was.

    Had a couple of nights in Wootton Bassett with my son while my other son was down from Leeds. On the first day, we went to the driving range because they both fancied having a go - while I was there I was able to go into American Golf and get the scorecard holder for my new trolley and a new umbrella too (the old umbrella has seen better days and is falling apart). On the second day we decided on a walk at the Cotswold Water Park - unfortunately, it started raining earlier than we expected and although we had our waterproofs, we got a bit wet. While I was there I popped in to Cotswold Outdoor and got myself a new small (11ltr) rucksack to replace the current small one that is also falling apart.
  • Good afternoon everyone,

    JB, that's unfortunate about the conditions today for your 5k! That's still an excellent time, especially on wet grass, and well done for being first in your age category. Well done also to Mrs JB finishing well inside the top half of the field. You must be quite competitive between each other.


    I got soaked this morning in torrential rain, having decided not to run in the forest, but on roads. I had hoped to do my session round the 800 metre trail course, but as I said, I switched to the roads. It was a tough session, of 47 minutes duration, comprising 10 minutes warm up, 2 x 12 minutes tempo with 3 minutes recovery, and 10 minutes recovery. It was tougher than it sounds. Ironically, the rain stopped during the last 10 minutes and the sun came out, sods law they call it🌧🌞🏃‍♂️
  • Mel, I've always had the impression that golf is a sport/hobby that has a lot of kit. This means you must be relatively easy to buy presents for (not that I'm planning to!). Good luck with the decorating; your narrative has just reminded me how disruptive it can be. (Is Wootton Bassett now 'Royal'?)

    HS, yesterday was clearly a day for getting soaked to the skin and not a day for trails so sensible for you to stay on the road. My flash new trainers were of little help yesterday when flogging around a water-logged course. That's a tough little session you did there - hopefully it will pay off when the next race comes around.

    Back to the concrete delights of the prom this morning, but confronted by a 40mph wind. Avoided the (yet more) torrential rain though which is falling as I type this. Had a little handicap race with 2 friends: one running 5k, me running 5.5k and the other running 6k. We all finished within 30 seconds of each ther, so quite close and competitive.

    Will miss the Olympics now it's finished. One of the thing about being retired is that you can dip in and out as suits.
  • Update: we bought an exercise bike yesterday (2nd hand). It has two really useful features

    1. it folds up and takes up very little space
    2. it's totally silent in operation 

    It complements the rower - but, alas. no room for a treadmill. (Mel: did you ever get yours working again?)
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Evening everyone,

    HS - sorry to hear you got soaked in the rain because it didn't wait until you had finished your training.

    JB - golf seems to be a 'hobby' where you can spend as much or as little as you want. Alan and I are too tight-fisted to join any fancy clubs so we mostly use 'pay & play' courses. And when we do play at 'proper' clubs, we've agreed £25 per round is about our limit. And where equipment is concerned, we buy what we need without going overboard and buying kit with big-sponsor names on it in the mistaken belief it will make any difference to how well we can play. We're all ready for the decorating ladies who will be turning up tomorrow - I have a couple of chairs to move out of the living room and the venetian blind to take down but that's it. Yes - Wootton Bassett is more correctly Royal Wootton Bassett since it was given that moniker after the response to the funeral processions that used to go through the town. Sorry to hear about the torrential rain (like HS had to contend with) and the wind. Mrs Wm bought an exercise bike when the initial lockdown started - but it hasn't seen much use lately. I've never got round to getting my treadmill fixed because I've never got round yet to clearing the junk in the garage - oops :( 

    Went to the U3A coffee & chat group this morning and it's the U3A book group meeting tomorrow. Then golf with Alan on Wed - and if I have any energy left, there's a U3A ramble on Thu. But having played golf on Wed and in the knowledge there'll be furniture etc to be moved back after the decorating ladies are finished, I might give the ramble a miss.

  • Good afternoon everyone,

    JB, we aren't doing as much speed work now, but those that we do will hopefully help in future races. 
    Well done for your handicap race with 2 friends. It sounds like you are all very competitive.
    Will miss the Olympics, now that they have finished, but we did really well, medal wise.
    Good luck with your exercise bike. I'm expecting you to set records for 5k on it, to compare with your running and rowing 5k's.🚴‍♂️

    WtnMel, thanks it always seems to be the same, getting soaked and then the rain stops.🌧
    Golf does seem to be an expensive hobby, probably why I've never taken it up!
    I hope the decorating ladies have been hard at work today!
    Sounds like you have a very busy week ahead.


    Sunday was meant to be an easy pace recovery run, but at 1 mile I "bumped into" Giuliana who was running in the opposite direction, doing a 5k. Needless to say, I ran with her until she had completed her run. I ran a bit further afterwards to bring my distance up to5k.
    Yesterday was the start of week 9 of our marathon training and it was an LSD run. It was scheduled for 14 miles, but as I started my watch on leaving home, and keeping it running until I got back, I ran 15 miles. It was about 90% off road, and required some navigation. The forest was much wetter and muddier than we expected, so there was a lot of walking and wading. There were a couple of nearly knee deep stretches to wade through. The second was actually a fast moving stream which was a bit scary. Sarah H took a couple of photos of me in the middle of the first one, and I'll post it on my next post.
    Today is a rest day, and surprisingly, I don't have any aches or pains. They will probably surface tomorrow.☹
  • john bateman 6john bateman 6 ✭✭✭
    edited August 2021
    Mel, I think there must be a heck of a lot of exercise equipment gathering dust in homes across the nation. I like your very pragmatic (let's not say tight fisted) approach to golf. 

    HR, that run sounds like my idea of hell! Wading! Knee deep! Are you training for the SAS or something? I realise I am a total softy by comparison.

    For example, today I had a gentle 20 mile round cycle ride to our neighbouring coastal town of Shoreham. Result: so tired that I've cancelled the run I was planning to do tonight. 

    However, it was a nice ride - part of it is along coastal path (no cars) which has the sea on one side and a sort of lagoon on the other - and a splendid view along the coast to Brighton. It also made me realise that although I've lived in the area most of my life, it's never really clicked that the town must be very rare (perhaps unique) in having its own commercial harbour (and quite a big one at that), an airport (not so big) and a direct railway line to London (75 minutes).

    Apologies for sounding like an estate agent. I don't get out much!
  • Gave the new trainers their first 5k time trial today: 21:18. Went off like a train, but ran the 2nd half into a stiff breeze which blew away (literally) any chance of a PB. However, happy with a solo run which netted a 79.48% WAVA - and treated myself to a large bar of nut chocolate, thus restoring the calories burned off in the run!
  • It's gone a bit quiet here of late. I do hope all are well.
    20.59 5k = 80.70% WAVA so finally made it!
  • Good afternoon everyone,

    Sorry for my absence, but I've been catching up on jobs that I've been putting off for ages.

    JB, I'm not training for the SAS, but the virtual London Marathon😃

    Wow, that's an amazing 5k time, those new trainers were certainly a good buy. I don't suppose they will last as long as your previous pair though.


    We've has a set back with our marathon training. Sarah F has broken the little toe on her left foot, and can't run at the moment. She is determined though to resume running asap so that she can still run the London Marathon. In the meantime, Sarah H and I are continuing with the schedule. Wednesday was 6 x 4 minutes at tempo pace with 2 minute jog recoveries; Thursday an easy pace 5.4 miles in the rain on roads, and this morning, 20 minutes tempo pace with a warm up and down, with Sarah H and Giuliana. 

  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    edited August 2021
    Afternoon all,

    You're quite right JB - it has been quiet lately.

    I can see from Strava that HS and Aquarius have been out there doing training runs. I'd imagine Aquarius is busy with grandma duties again .. don't know what HS's excuse is ;) 

    As for myself, I'm taking a break at the moment from putting the living room and study furniture back in their respective places and emptying boxes and filling up bookshelves, draws and cupboards.

    HS - the decorating ladies were super-efficient again and had the living room, utility room and study done within two days. As mentioned above, we're only just getting things straight again as we had to wait for Margaret's son to come over today to help me with some of the heavier furniture. The 'ladies' will be back again twice in September - once to do the main bedroom - and again later in the month to do the hall, stairs and landing. Well done re that 15ml run - I think I saw the photos on Strava of you stood in the middle of a stream.

    JB - I'm sure you're right that 'most' home exercise equipment gathers dust (yours being the honourable exception of course). Alan was accused of being 'parsimonious' (aka. tight-fisted) in his divorce papers so it's a running joke where he's concerned. He had very good reason to be parsimonious re his ex-wife but his new partner seems to have persuaded him to free up that wallet a bit! I'd never been to Brighton before 2019 when we went there for the day while staying nearby visiting a friend who lives in Bexhill. Sounds like those new trainers are helping and well done for breaking the 80% barrier with that 5K time.

    My walking and stretching/strengthening exercises have petered out completely lately. The work needed to clear the rooms to be decorated meant it wasn't really feasible this last week or so but that's not really a good excuse. We have our grand-daughters staying next week (Wed to Sat) so maybe I'll be able to get back into the habit once that's over and done with.

    One thing to mention. We thought we'd wash the carpets in the living room and study while they were clear. Margaret has a carpet cleaner which has been in the garage for at least 10 years (probably more!). It worked, in the sense it started up - but the important bit of spraying water/detergent onto the carpet didn't. Possible a broken connection or something? It wasn't a major problem as our local Homebase hire carpet cleaners so we got one from there and I did them both on Friday. You wouldn't believe (actually, you probably would!) how dirty the water was each time I had to refill the machine. And the carpets look so much better now. Margaret thinks she'll put the broken carpet cleaner on Freecycle to see if anyone wants to take it away. If we want to wash any more carpets, we'll either get a new one or hire one again.
  • john bateman 6john bateman 6 ✭✭✭
    edited August 2021
    HS, sorry to hear that one of your Sarahs has been crocked. What's the outlook in terms of time off from training? I wonder what sort of impact there'll be on her marathon performance. (Did she sustain the injury while running?)

    Mel, you've done it again i.e. you've reminded me of a domestic task that we should be attending to: the carpets! We do ours about twice a year and we have got a (working) carpet cleaner. They are definitely overdue a clean.

    We have some relatives living in Bexhill. All I can remember of the place is that I once did a 10k there. 

    We had a visit from our d-i-l with the puppy yesterday. Goodness me she is adorable (and so's the puppy!). The visit has reminded me just how much of a commitment a dog requires - but she's worth it.

    A gentle 6k from me today.
  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    Another week or so has passed since I last posted, so another quick catch up with you all. (Just noticed a message along the top of the RW page - “ this webpage is using significant memory. Closing it may improve the responsiveness of your MAC” I hope this doesn’t mean my laptop isn’t on the way out, it has been getting really slow of late when I first log in. Another problem to note, store away, and consider more fully when time permits I think).

    HS: I’m waiting with bated breath for those photos of you that Sarah H took on last Monday’s 14/15 mile forest run where you were battling with the wet stretches. That sounds like a rather unpleasant run (at least the conditions sound awful) so well done to you both for battling on. So sorry to hear that Sarah F has broken her little toe, that must have been quite a set-back for her. How long does she think it will be until she is able to resume her marathon training? 

    JB: A new toy for you to play with (exercise bike), what fun. Even more scope for some crazy training challenges. I see you have finally broken through that 80% WAVA ceiling, that’s brilliant! Well done, I think your new trainers gave you the physiological push you needed to get there, and admittedly they may have helped your performance a bit, but it’s your own ability and commitment that finally achieved your goal.

    WtnMel: Glad to hear your decorating ladies did a good job again. I expect all the furniture moving you’ve been doing will count as cross training, as also perhaps entertaining your grand-daughters will be? I’m sure once things get back to normal you’ll be able to find time to fit in your stretching and strengthening exercises, as well as your walking. I echo JB’s remarks on the need to get some carpet cleaning done. :/

    After my (somewhat foolish) run last Friday where I pushed on with a sore knee, and topped it off with a fast mile because some other runners had turned up, I followed this up with a 9 mile run on Sunday which actually wasn’t too bad as regards the knee. Then on Tuesday I had a 4 mile easy run scheduled but decided to change this for hill repeats in the local park. I was a bit later setting out than I’d planned and there were a number of dog walkers in the park when I got there. I’ve probably mentioned before that this is a very small park, basically a path up a hill, turn at the top and come down the hill on a parallel path. Between the two paths is a grassy area and a children’s playground. On one of my circuits up the hill I came across a “playful” dog which was off the lead. The owner was about 50 yards away calling for it, but the dog got its eye on me and decided I wasn’t going anywhere. It charged up to me and virtually stopped me in my tracks as it got in front and jumped up at me every time I tried to move. This went on for some time with me standing quite still until it lost interest, then when it ran off I started to run again, only for the dratted thing to come charging back and we started the whole business again. I toyed with the idea of just running on anyway in the hopes it might lose interest after a while, but I was worried this might just antagonise it even more. Eventually I turned to the dog owner (who was still some distance away, screaming abuse at the dog for not returning to her) and had a few words of my own. It looked like we were going to be there all day, as whenever she made any move herself towards the dog it just ran far enough off to evade her. I took advantage of the dog dancing around her and got going again, but I did wonder what would happen when I came around again to do my next circuit of the hill. Fortunately both dog and owner were on the grassy area and she managed to distract it until I got past. On my next circuit I noticed them leaving the park, dog now back on the lead, however….another dog was waiting in the wings to come on stage for its own 5 minutes of fame. I couldn’t believe it when this dog chased me and jumped up, this time though the owner was quick to pull it off and hang on to it until I’d got away. These two incidents made me seethe and put me in a foul mood for the rest of the run, not surprisingly I later noticed on Garmin that my heart rate shot up after my encounter with the first dog, and stayed high for the rest of my run. After a shower and breakfast it was an unusually tough Pilates session then a very busy day with a trip to Newcastle to pick up our numbers for Saturday’s 10k trail race, then a visit to the physio for a good pummelling and some ultra sound on my knee, then B&Q, then the supermarket, then calling in at my club to pick up a new (free) t shirt, and finally home to make a belated evening meal. unsurprisingly the following day I felt wiped out, and continued feeling under the weather for the rest of the week. I was keeping my fingers crossed that I would be feeling on top form again for yesterday’s 10k trail, but in the event I was sluggish and lacking energy. I had hoped to finish it around 63 minutes, but ended up being 3 minutes slower. It was particularly disappointing because it was on trail paths that I often train on so I knew what to expect and had been confident leading up to the race. I struggled with hills I normally can run up and was glad to be able to take advantage of the two water stations (it was a hot day) to take a breather while getting a drink. Never mind, onwards and upwards as they say, and one positive I can take from it is that I was able to pick up the pace for the last half mile and sprint past a few in the run up to the finish. Bizarrely I feel much better today, and could even fancy going for a run (although obviously I won’t).
    As my training plan has now finished I’m going to start another one, but this time I think I’ll pick a 5k because our club 5k races will start again in October and I need to spend some time before then on improving my speed. Having said that, I have another 10k in a couple of weeks which will set my handicap for these 5k runs over winter. I normally do quite well in this particular 10k, but that is usually on the back of a spring and summer of 10k races, and thanks to Covid my last 10k race must be almost 2 years ago.


  • Good afternoon everyone, 

    WtnMel, our posts crossed yet again. 
    I'm posting this on my phone, as my laptop has decided to do a lot of updates. I'll try and catch up tomorrow. 

    Aquarius, I'm not sure whether I will be able to post those photos, as they are not in my photo gallery, but the WhatsApp one. They are on Strava and Mel has seen them. 
  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    Morning all,

    Well done for managing to post that photo HS, you definitely look a bit soggy there :D . I imagine the rest of the run must have been done with squelching feet, yuk!

    Today was the start of a new plan, this time for a 5k, and I picked a different coach to see how their approaches differ. So far so easy, a Benchmark Run today to set up the rest of the plan, consisting of a 2 minute warm up, a 5 minute run then a 2 minute warm down. I was surprised at how autumnal it felt at 6.40 this morning.

    Can't hang about today I'm afraid, we've promised to take our grand-daughter over to the coast so I'd better get on.

    (Forgot to say in relation to Saturday's 10k that Covid precautions had been taken by splitting the field of 2000 into 4 groups, each group setting off with a rolling start every 5 minutes. It seemed to work quite well, although there was the inevitable mass of bodies wandering around at the finish.)
  • Just a very brief visit I'm afraid, but just to say that we are now in week 10 of our Marathon training schedule, and Sarah H and I ran 16.4 miles in the forest this morning. I took some photos which are attached. I will catch up with you all tomorrow as it's a rest day and I'll have more time. 

Sign In or Register to comment.