New Mature Runners Thread

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  • AquariusAquarius ✭✭✭
    Afternoon all,

    More miserable cold wet weather here today. Glad I’m not running, unfortunately the forecast for tomorrow evening is similar - windy and only 14 degrees, so I may need to resort to leggings for the 10k.

    JB: I like the idea of A-Z parkrun tourism, I think I’ll have to check out the parkruns in this area to see which “letters” are close to home and which ones we’ll have to travel further afield to. Perhaps when I’ve got this training schedule out of the way I could try to fit some park runs in. Are there any rules (or recommendations) for how to complete the challenge? Do you have to start at A and work your way through the alphabet, or just collect the letters as and when you can? Do previous park runs count? (I’m thinking of our now defunct parkrun at Gibside, it’s no longer operational but I’ve done it a few times so could that count for “G”?) Hmm, I’ve just checked the parkrun site, and our nearest “A” would be at Alnwick Castle, which is over an hour’s drive away. An alternative would be Albert Parkrun in Middlesborough, but that is Covid Central at the moment, and also over an hour’s drive away so not really a viable option. I think this is going to take some careful planning. 
    Well done for your excellent performance at RTW parkrun, particularly at being the third fastest ever in your age group on what sounds like a challenging course. 
    I agree about grandchildren being super spreaders of germs, I think this particular bug was picked up at a birthday party last weekend so no doubt most of the attendees will have passed it on to their families. 

    WtnMel: I have a couple of those long sleeve running tops with the “baby-go” sleeves (love that description) but they don’t help much. I often have to resort to two sets of gloves and still get very painful hands. Oh the joys of winter running! (But compensated by the fact I don’t get hay fever in winter). You and Alan seem to have worked out a good way to share the costs of your golf expenses. I think we’re all going to have to send you “Get up now!!!” vibes around 6 am each day until you get yourself back into your early morning walking routine (lucky about your back btw). 
    I’m sitting here agog - what happened to the plaster? Did it end up in someone’s dinner? :o

    HS: I’m hoping the hill repeats will be introduced soon, this is a 12 week plan with next week being week 4. Next week’s training sessions seem similar to the previous three weeks, so I’ve decided if the plan doesn’t pick up in intensity soon I’ll have to think about ditching it.
    I hope your headache has gone now, and you had a good 16 mile run today. Were the 5 other people training with you on Friday (including both Sarahs?) training for marathons too? 


  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Evening all,

    HS - I'm looking forward to finding out about Plonk too :) Good to hear you had a good turn-out for Saturday's training session. And good luck with your planned 16ml run (and hope the headache has gone!).

    Aquarius - I'd have thought you could make up your own rules about how to do an A-Z parkrun. I've always found the long-sleeved tops with wrap-over sleeves sufficient for me although I sometimes had to keep my hands clenched to keep the fingers warm. I didn't manage to get up for a walk this morning despite having set the alarm - blame trouble getting off to sleep. However, I did finally do my stretching exercises this morning. The plaster didn't end up in anyone's dinner! After preparing the vegetables, it had become wet and fell off when I dried my hands. I was going to take it off anyway before I went to my swim club - had visions of it falling off while I was ploughing up and down the pool.

    I mentioned I did my stretching this morning plus some strengthening exercises (squats, shoulder bridge). I did a bit more stretching this afternoon as I decided to get rid of the weeds in our back garden path. It's made from bricks laid on sand so because there's no barrier underneath, the weeds have a tendency to grow up between the bricks. I didn't get to the end of the path as my back started 'grumbling' after a while - so I'll finish it off tomorrow.

    I've spoken to my Mum and sister and have arranged to go and see them in a couple of week's time - it's been too long since I saw my Mum so looking forward to that.

    As Aquarius knows, I usually have a road-trip to Druridge Bay pencilled in for the end of September to take part in the North East Skinny Dip (to raise money for MIND). I'm still keeping a beady eye on infection rates and am in two minds whether to bother this year. Instead of making a holiday of it like we usually do, it may be a solo trip (Margaret is much more wary than me about staying anywhere). So I may just travel up by myself and will stop off in Sheffield on the way up and on the way back (rooms booked with Premier Inn so I can cancel without losing any money).
  • Good afternoon everyone,

    Aquarius, I don't blame you for considering ditching your training plan if it's not giving you what you want.

    My headache cleared up after Sunday, and Mondays 16.31miles went really well. There were actually 6 others on Saturday doing the tempo session, I forgot to count one of them. The two Sarah's and Mike are training for the Marathon, Sarah F the London, Sarah H the virtual, and Mike and I doing the virtual with Sarah, although we haven't officially entered it.

    The Sarah's are holding another charity breakfast on Sunday 12th in Sarah F's garden again. The proceeds will be split between their charities.


    WtnMel, thanks, the headache cleared up and Mondays long run went really well.

    There are no rules re the order of runs for the A to Z challenge. We've just been informed that our local parkrun will resume on Saturday, but only 100 cars will be permitted. That's hopeless really, as there is nowhere near to park, and even with car sharing, cycling etc it will be chaos. I don't know how they will monitor the numbers, as it will be even more complicated, as the run is in an Inclosure, so dog walkers etc will also be wanting to park. It's definitely off our radar unfortunately, but we had been considering not returning anyway.

    I'm glad to hear that your plaster didn't end up in anyone's dinner! Well done for doing your stretches and weeding. I'm not surprised that your back is grumbling. I've got some weeding to do also.

    That will be nice, visiting your Mum and Sister.

    It does seem a bit iffy going anywhere where there are crowds. I'm more cautious than ever now, as more and more people have stopped wearing face coverings. I've also heard that supermarkets will be removing the protective shields from the check outs. Seems crazy to me, as some of the checkout staff have stopped wearing masks, and they won't all have  been double jabbed!


    The conditions were ideal for yesterdays long run which was actually 16.31miles. We were nearly 10 minutes quicker than on the same course 2 weeks ago. Today is a rest day, but I have done my usual stretches, press ups, front plank etc.
  • Just the one photo from yesterday's run. 

  • Aquarius, good luck with the A-Z. My view on this is that it would be (strategically) better to live in the Midlands rather than being stuck in the deep south like me or in the north east like you. We had lots of opportunities to pick up bugs from our g'children over the bank holiday but seem to have escaped (so far).

    Mel, good luck on planning your travels especially for the purposes of seeing relatives or doing the event for such a worthy charitable cause. I'm planning to see my sister on Saturday a few miles along the coast in Bognor and (you won't be surprised to hear) there's a parkrun nearby. (A slow, twisty course as it happens.)

    HS, that 10 minute improvement is excellent. What a confidence-booster for the marathons. Nice smiley photo.

    I tried a rare 10k yesterday. I'm pleased to say that I found a bit of form and knocked out 46.32. Pleased with this. I've got a race on 10th October but have no great aspirations. The 5ks are my main focus. 
  • Afternoon all,

    HS - well done re that 16ml run in a faster time and thanks for posting the photo. Are you expecting to be chief entertainments officer again at the charity breakfast run by the Sarah's? It does sound a wise choice to steer clear of the local parkrun for now. 

    JB - good to hear you've escaped (so far!) from catching bugs from your grandchildren. As I said, I'm not sure I'll be making the trip "oop North" to Aquarius's neck of the woods - it's an awful long way to go for a very cold early-morning dip in the sea! Well done re that 10k in a good time.

    I finished off weeding the path yesterday - no after-effects with my back today. 

    We're 'out out' after lunch as we're meeting Alan and his partner Diana at a hotel about midway between us for "Afternoon Tea" at 3pm.

    Our local friendly plumber - the one who remodelled our bathroom and fitted our new bathroom suite a while back - is here at the moment installing a replacement shower in the en-suite.

    I had my hair cut this morning. The lady who cuts my hair was wearing some sort of low-cut playsuit with a lot of cleavage on show and patently, no bra 😳  Not exactly what I'd call practical but it did mean I got an eyeful when she bent over to write out the details of my next appointment  🙄
  • Good afternoon everyone,

    JB, thanks, we all felt pleased with Mondays run. Next Monday is 18 miles.

    Well done for your 10k, that was an excellent time. My quickest this year is 55 minutes, and that was tough going! Good luck for the October race, I'm sure that you will run even quicker, in a competitive environment.


    WtnMel, thanks, we seem to be benefiting from the marathon training.

    I don't think that Chief Entertainment Duties will be relevant at the Charity Breakfast. It was at the afternoon tea party that "I performed!"

    Good to hear that your back is ok after the weeding. That can be counted as cross training😁

    I hope that you are enjoying the afternoon tea with Alan and Diana!

    That sounds good, having a replacement shower fitted in the en-suite.

    I hope you were wearing a face mask whilst you were having your hair cut, so that the hairdresser couldn't see the big grin🤣

    This mornings session was warm up, 5 x 3 minutes tempo with 2 minutes recoveries, warm down.
  • Popped back to say afternoon tea was very pleasant and it made such a nice change to be 'out out' .. 

    HS - good luck with the 18ml run .. not sure I could even walk that far these days. Ahh .. my mistake mixing up charity breakfast with the tea party. We were aware that there's no access behind the wall of the en-suite where the new shower needed to be fitted - but as it was the same make there was no problem as all the wiring points/water access points matched the old one. I'm allowed to take my mask off at the hairdressers nowadays .. but I managed to keep a poker face.
  • Mel, I suspect that there might well be quite a long queue at your hairdressers.

    HS, that session sounds exactly the same as my friend's running group uses. They had a meet-up due yesterday evening. Their coach was on holiday but they were still going to do the session...........But when my pal turned up he was the only one there. I think he was a tad miffed - and he did the session, finishing it on the moral high ground!

    I did my improvised interval session today (I'd be very difficult to coach). 2k (at 4.30 pace), 1 minute rest, 20 x 30 second sprints, 1km (4.36). 5k in all and done in 24.36. 

    Will spend quite a lot of the day following the test match........and booking an appointment at Mel's hairdressers.
  • Good afternoon everyone,

    WtnMel, glad that you enjoyed the afternoon tea!

    Thanks, 18 miles will be a challenge. The furthest we have run this year is 17, when we got hopelessly lost. That was a few months ago!

    Well done keeping a poker face. I presume you gave her a bigger tip than usual🤣

    As a matter of interest, I accumulated1422 circles last month on fetch. The first over 1000 for several months 


    JB, well done to your friend for turning up and doing the session solo!

    That's a very impressive interval session. Your speed work certainly seems to be  paying off, as your 5 and 10k times are consistently excellent!

    I think Mel will keep the location of his hairdresser secret😁


    This mornings run was a hilly road 10k with Karen. She is quicker than me, but "dragged me round!" I was very pleased with 1.00.49, just missing the 1.00😅
  • Afternoon all,

    HS: Glad to hear that Sunday’s 16.31 mile run went well, great to knock 10 minutes off your previous time (and another lovely photo of some happy people!). I hope the charity breakfast on the 12th raises lots of money for the Sarahs’ charities. I know a lot of people have been looking forward to the return of parkrun, but I do wonder about the numbers taking part. Admittedly these are outdoor events, but with Covid figures steadily rising, and winter on the way with warnings of a flu epidemic, I can’t bring myself to take part just yet. I’ve even been worried about the 10k events I’ve done, or am planning to do, despite Covid restrictions being in place. The trail race I did a couple of weeks ago had a rolling start, which made you feel fairly comfortable, but I didn’t hang around at the finish because of the usual congestion. Tuesday night’s 10k (more of this below) had plenty of space for runners to congregate before the race quite safely, and the numbers allowed to run was a lot lower than in previous years, but again there was congestion at the end. On Sunday my son and I are doing another 10k and I notice the course has been changed this year to start the race on the beach, presumably to allow plenty of space, and the numbers are down on previous years but I think this is mainly due to the fact there are other popular races that have been rescheduled for the same day. I do feel though that as time goes on people are relaxing their own behaviour in respect to the virus, and you often hear interviewees on the television talking about “now the pandemic is over…” when it clearly isn’t. We popped into the supermarket for a couple of items on Tuesday and found very few people were wearing face masks. It’ll be interesting to see what happens now children are returning to school, it’s bound to have an effect on the infection rates.

    WtnMel: It will be a shame if you can’t get up to Druridge Bay for your skinny dip this year (actually that’s where our 10k on Sunday is), but I’m with Margaret on feeling wary regarding staying somewhere overnight. On the one hand I think we can’t go on hiding away from everything and everyone for ever, but then I think how much I’d regret it if we did take a chance and ended up catching Covid. I think I’d need to see the infection rates drop considerably for me to “take the plunge”. I bet your mum and sister are looking forward to seeing you, and you them. Good to hear that you are back to your stretching and strengthening exercises, but take care of that back! Reading on I see you did some further weeding on Tuesday with no ill effects. I see there’s nothing wrong with your eyes either - no doubt you’ve made another appointment for a haircut next week? ;) Glad to hear you enjoyed your afternoon tea. 

    JB: My goodness, I wish I could run a 10k in 46.32, or even 56.32, you certainly are a speedy fellow. Is your race on 10th October a road race? What a shame that your friend had to do his training session on his own, but well done to him for going ahead with it anyway, it would have been easy to have given it a miss given the circumstances. 
    Are there no hairdressers where you live? :)

    My 10k on Tuesday went better than I expected as I never have much energy or inclination for evening running. The forecast was for grey skies with a cold wind off the North Sea, and as the run was through the sand dunes along on the coast I wasn’t looking forward to it. But as it happens the sun was shining for the start of the run (although it was cold and windy) and I made a point of starting right at the back of the pack, just beside the tail runner, so I could keep a bit of a distance from the others. We still ended up bunching up once the race had started but I tried to keep a gap before and behind me whenever I could. Apart from the trail 10k I did a couple of weeks ago I hadn’t run a 10k for almost 2 years so I had no idea of what my time would be, but I hoped I could finish in 1.02 or 1.03, so when I checked my watch at the end I was pleased to see 1.00.38*. Funnily enough the 10k training plan I did recently was based on a finishing time of 1 hr, so I suppose it must have worked. I think the reason I pushed myself so hard was because I knew it was all club runners taking part, so although I knew I was bound to finish right down the results I was determined to give the best showing I could. Actually, that wasn’t a smart move because the results of this race are used to set our 5k handicap times for the 5k GP series of runs over winter, so I didn’t do myself any favours. 
    I was going to go for a run today but I managed to turn awkwardly and felt a twinge in my dodgy knee, so I think I’ll give it a rest until Sunday’s 10k.

    * I hope this time is accurate. Garmin had a 60 minute workout scheduled for me that day so I “skipped” the session when I turned my watch on, but while waiting for the race to start my watch timed out and I had to start it again. I didn’t notice that it had gone back to the 60 minute training session, so when the 60 minutes were up I had to press resume, which might have added a few more seconds on to the total time. It was also frustrating while running because the session was split up into time segments, so I rarely got a chance to check the pace I was doing. Technology and me don’t really get on.

    HS: I was about to post this when I saw you’d posted ahead of me, well done for your !.00.49 hilly 10k today! Isn’t it frustrating to miss that 1hr time? I was checking back on Garmin and found in 2016 I managed to do a 10k in 59.55 - just under !
  • HS, how frustrating to just miss that 1 hour benchmark. You can always blame Karen for not 'dragging you round' jut that bit quicker!

    Aquarius, well done on that 10k and best of luck for the next one. Your race time suggests a vote of confidence for that training regimen. The handicapping system is a bit of a perverse incentive, but it's inevitable. I remember  Mel being very irate at someone gaming the handicap system at his club and this undermines its credibility to some extent. A shame.
    (BTW, for the record, Mrs JB cuts my hair. I'll not add any more.)

    Rest day for me today. I'm running the Bognor Regis Parkrun tomorrow. Last week Royal Tunbridge Wells, this week Bognor Regis - I must be going up in the world. I know the course very well and it isn't fast. No hills as such but very twisty narrow, so I'll settle for 22.00 quite happily. It's Mrs JB's debut on this course. 
  • Good afternoon everyone,

    Aquarius, well done for your 10k, the training programme may be working after all. I hope your knee will be ok for Sundays 10k. Your 2016 time was very impressive.

    Karen and I hadn't set a particular target for our 10k ,which was on the hilly road course, so were pleased with the result. My quickest 10k this year was a solo 55 minutes, twice round the fairly flat 5k road course. That was a Club challenge, so I pushed the pace.


    JB, I can't really blame Karen, as we ran much quicker than I would have solo. I was "under orders" from Sarah F not to run too quickly, as we have the 5k Challenge on Saturday, and the 18 miler on Monday.

    Good luck with the Bognor Regis parkrun tomorrow. I'm confident that you will achieve the 22 minutes. I hope Mrs JB does well on her debut at that course. I'm sure that you will do your utmost to finish ahead of her.


    Today was a rest day, except for the usual walk back from the supermarket with 4 heavy bags of shopping.
  • Afternoon all,

    JB - the hairdressers never seems that busy when I'm there. I live in dread it may close down  - but if it did there are various alternatives (another hairdresser, the lady who comes to the house to do Margaret's hair) so all would not be lost. Good for your friend to do that session by himself rather then buggering off home again. You're correct - there was a woman I got really p****d off with during the handicap races who posted a slow time then made ridiculous improvements in races 2 and 3 which made the whole series a waste of time.

    HS - good luck with that 18ml run. No tip for my hairdresser despite the unintended eyeful - given it costs me £10 for a 10 min haircut, I think they're already on a pretty good hourly rate! :) I've not looked at my Fetch Circles for many months - for obvious reasons.

    Aquarius - I'm on the verge of cancelling the Premier Inn rooms I had booked for the skinny-dip. I had wondered about doing a solo up-and-back trip to Druridge, but the more I think about it, the more I think it's an awfully long way to go in a short time and I think I'm going to give it a miss and wait until we can have a longer, safer holiday built around next year's dip. Yes - it will be great to see my Mum and sister after such a long time. Not sure I'd get away with another trip to the hairdressers so quickly ;) That was a good time for that 10K, considering you were running in sand dunes and on the beach (not the best terrain for fast running). However, as you say, that time means you'll have to try even harder when the 5K GP series of runs rolls round. Hope that knee isn't giving you any problems. My best-ever 10k time was also 59:55 - but that was a long time ago now and more recent 'best times' were around 1hr 3mins. 

    The new shower was installed without any problem. I was a bit concerned there might be a problem as there's no access behind the wall where the plumbing/electrics are but because it was the same make and had a 'universal' fitting (according to Stu the plumber) he was able to fit it without having to make any new holes in the tiled wall (which would no doubt have meant a return visit to fix that too!).

    I've just booked a slot at our recycling centre on Tue afternoon to dispose of the bedroom carpet that we're ripping up before the bedroom is decorated on Wed. It was very easy - don't know why I didn't get round to booking a trip to the HRC before as the garage has slowly been filling up with old boxes, broken lawnmowers etc. Last time I had to get rid of a carpet I rolled it up and used the saw to cut it into slices like a swiss roll - made it much easier to manoeuvre so will do the same again this time and then see what else I can cram into the back of the car.

    The other 'job' that needs looking at before Wed is to move the bedroom furniture out into the spare room and somehow make room for a bed in there as well - it's a king-size bed but not a king-size room so we may have to 'slum it' and use a double-bed instead. But there's also the other bedroom furniture to fit in somewhere as well. Still a work-in-progress.

    I've not been doing any regular early-morning walks recently but ever the optimist, I've just downloaded the BBC Couch To 5K app  to my phone in the hope that may motivate me to get back to walking .. and then a week or two later, start following the app and get back to run-walking and who know (gasp!) running. Whether my knees will allow me to is the problem - anyway, we'll see.
  • HS, many thanks for the good wishes. Looking forward to hearing your reports of upcoming runs, especially the 5k challenge.

    Bognor is a really nice course and takes place in a lovely park just over the road from the (unlovely) Butlins. The organisers have slightly changed the course and it seemed to be quicker (fewer pinch points and a faster start*). So my 21.48 was just about right. It earned me a 77.68% age grade (3rd best of the day) and I was the 18 finisher out of 200. 
    Mrs JB won her age category and crossed the 60% threshold.
    2 happy bunnies!

    *they made a real effort to start the faster runners at the front and this worked really well. Without in any way criticising the good folk who volunteer at Parkruns, I'm surprised that more places don't do this. It's actually safer for one thing. I think a lot of folk who line up at the start and aren't fast are doing so simply because they don't realise that it doesn't work well that way.
  • Good afternoon all,

    WtnMel, my hairdresser men's and ladies always seem to be empty when I go, but I'm, always very early, about 8.30am, so they may get busier later on. If they did close down, one of out lady club runners is a self employed hairdresser, and does my next door neighbour and the lady nearly opposite. I'm sure that she would cut my hair; I don't have much. 

    Thanks ,it's forecast to be hot on Monday, which will make the 18miles even harder. Sarah H is away for a long weekend, so won't be running on Monday with us. She is intending to do 10 miles on Saturday and Sunday.

    Good news that your new shower was fitted without any problems. I've got an electrician coming Friday morning to fit a new extractor fan in the kitchen. You may remember the wasp nest in the loft, and the exterminator having to cut through the flexible flue to remove the whole nest? I decided that I might as well have a new fan as well as the flue.

    I've got an old lawnmower in the garage, but not worth booking a slot at the waste disposal just for that.

    Good luck with the manoeuvring of the bedroom furniture, and the Couch to 5k Programme.


    JB, thanks! Todays End to End 5k world record challenge went really well, and there were about 9 of us doing it on our favourite forest trail. There would have been more, but tomorrow is the Southampton 10k, Half Marathon, and Marathon, and also the Overton 5 miles. I was pleased with my 27.15, a WAVA of 69.54%, considering it was the first 5k for several weeks since commencing the marathon training.

    Very well done to you and Mrs JB for your excellent 5k's.

    We did the same this morning with the faster runners setting off first. This gave us the incentive to chase them, and perhaps run faster than we would have otherwise.
  • HS, good running/strong WAVA. That 18 miler in the likely heat on Monday will be a real challenge and could leave you feeling rather drained. Good luck with the electrician's visit - it sounds a pretty straightforward job. (Not that I could dream of doing it!)

    Mel, you are ticking off the domestic jobs systematically. I like getting rid of rubbish. My dream is to hire a skip, but we've not got enough stuff to justify it. We've not got a garage so have not had the capacity for stuff to build up in it. The loft is another matter...... Good luck to the Couch to 5k - a lot of people swear by it (and some might swear at it!).

    Meant to run 10k this morning and went through 5k in exactly my target time. But I then turned into the wind and.....simply gave up. Not like me but I just didn't feel up to it. Felt a bit low but then thought that the time for the 5k (23.10) wasn't a bad workout in itself.

    Mrs JB and I finally gave in to a nagging problem (well Mrs JB nags and I listen) and got round to setting the ball rolling to completely revamp our dreadful central heating
    system. This is about 10 years overdue as it is an old back boiler that has been dodgy for along while. Good news: the estimate is less than I feared.

    So I celebrated by going to see my local footie team (which I've supported on and off for nearly 60 years!) in their FA Cup game. They were playing the historically significant team Corinthian Casuals. Amazingly their players still don't get  a match fee such is the Corinthian spirit in which they play.

    Tomorrow yet more live sport - off to see Sussex CCC. Will cycle (25 mile round trip) so as to make it a cross training session. I only get to see the odd day's play these days - but when I was a lad I seemed to live over there.


  • Good morning everyone, 

    JB, thanks. The 18 miles yesterday was really, really tough. The heat really got to us, necessitating frequent walk breaks. We were concerned that our water supplies were running out, but thankfully, as we ran through a Camp Site, we spotted a tap labelled "drinking water," so were able to top up our bottles. Our run/walk took just under 4 hours, so proves how brutal the conditions were. The terrain was rock hard which didn't help. Very rutted and plenty of roots threatening to trip us up. 

    I wish I could run a 5k in 23.10

    Good to hear that you will be revamping your central heating at a cost lower than expected. 

    Did your local footie team win? I hope you enjoyed the cricket watching Sussex CCC. Unfortunately England lost their match, so must win the last run to draw the series. 

    Today is a rest day, and thankfully, I'm not feeling any after effects from yesterday. They will probably kick in tomorrow. 
  • Thanks HS. It's funny that you mention the potential hydration issues that arose during your long run............

    I did cycle over to watch the cricket and sat around in the baking hot sun for a few hours watching Sussex getting totally hammered by Middx (who scored north of 600!). It was quite windy and when I ride I tend to go at a decent lick - or as much as the traffic allows. The net effect was 2 x 1 hour quite intensive bike rides (no shade) with the log sit in the sun in between (no shade). I was woefully under-hydrated and suffered a bit as a consequence. My own fault.

    Then yesterday on the bike again (this time a mere 14 mile round trip) to have a 5 mile very slow walk (with ex-colleagues) in exactly the same conditions (no shade) as the day before. Consequently Mrs JB has (rightly) had a go at me not to go out in the midday sun for my planed run today (mad dogs and Englishman?).

    In the past running in the hot sun has never really bothered me, so I think I was a bit over-confident about the bike ride; so that's a lesson learned. I'm now planning my next Parkrun, in the knowledge that 

    a) it's only 20 minutes or so; b) it's relatively early in the morning; c) the hot spell is due to end anyway! (It's suddenly clicked with me that running/cycling/walking along a prom offers zero shade.)
  • JB, I was going to say "Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun," but you've already said it!🥵

    I'm not usually bothered by the heat, but it seems different somehow this year. Perhaps it's more humid.

    Good luck with Saturdays parkrun. It's forecast to be cooler.


    Very hot again this morning, and I did a solo interval session. Warm up, 5 x 5 minutes with 2 minute recoveries, warm down.
  • Afternoon all,

    Things are a bit hectic at the moment because a) we’ve taken the plunge and put our house back on the market and we’ve been inundated with viewing requests (and even some offers!), b) we picked up our new car on Wednesday and are still getting to grips with how it works (the communications console is like a computer, and just as complicated) c) the son who is staying with us while looking for a house has finally been successful in having one of his offers accepted, so it’s all go at Aquarius Towers. All of which means I haven’t had time to read your recent posts I’m afraid, but thought I’d just drop in to say everything is fine here, and hopefully I’ll post further on Friday with details of last Sunday’s trail run and comments on your posts (we’ve 5 more viewings arranged for tomorrow so won’t have time then). It should also give me time to look at the photos Steve took at my 10ks on Tuesday and Sunday, and if they have come out ok I’ll get him to download them off the camera and send to me so I can post them on here.

    Hope you are all well and injury free, and that HS’s marathon training is going well, JB hasn’t further injured himself in some extreme exercise and WtnMel is taking the golfing world by storm.  :)
  • Aquarius, good to hear from you. It's certainly a sellers' market right now which is great.......until you also become a buyer. Good luck! 

    HS, yes, the temperature has dropped and it's much more runner-friendly today. I confess to have lost a bit of motivation this week. I've used the weather and the extra cycling as a bit of a pretext for ducking out of runs. As I type this I'm trying to man-up enough to go out for my weekly interval session which I usually enjoy. (I can't imagine you ever losing motivation for running - but perhaps you have at times?)

    My son has a place booked in a local 10k in late September but can't do it. He's trying to register me in his place. It's a testing course which I've done before. It's one of those runs that combines a 5k and a 10k. When I last did it I entered for the 5k but got badly misdirected by a steward and ended up actually running about 13k! It was a boiling hot day and I had an acute sense of humour failure and actually had a bit of a go at the volunteer on the finish line. (Confession: I was actually hoping to win the 5k and I'm sure that was part of my frustration.) I was totally in the wrong - and apologised profusely. I suspect that if they remember my name it might be rather tricky for Bateman junior to transfer his entry!
  • Good afternoon everyone,

    Aquarius, good to hear from you again! You certainly have a lot going on at the moment. I hope you get a good price for your house. It sounds like there is plenty of interest in it. Good luck getting used to your new car. One needs to be a computer expert these to understand all the functions. The days of doing our own servicing are long gone😬


    JB, it was a bit cooler here too, but with a short spell of rain. It's also been raining on and off this afternoon.

    I don't think that I have ever lost my motivation for running. 

    How frustrating for you getting misdirected in a 5k race and running 13k instead. I think that I would have been very angry too. In the days when I was nearer the front in races, a marshal  misdirected us and we had run some way before the mistake was discovered. In the meantime, the slower runners had been directed onto the correct course, and we had to retrace our steps and try to catch them up. Very frustrating😖


    This morning was a solo hilly 6 mile road run. I decided to do a slight variation to the intended course, which meant I ran back up a hill, I had earlier run down. I hadn't recognised it, as things always look different in reverse direction. I had to run down it again to get back onto my intended course😆  
  • Very late evening everyone,

    I thought I'd better stop by as I've been AWOL for a few days and didn't want to leave it any longer. I've skimmed through your latest posts to get an idea of what's been going on.

    'Life' has been a bit hectic for the last few days and it's not stopped yet. We're heading off to Tring tomorrow afternoon and staying overnight at the Premier Inn - that's because we're meeting my Mum and sister and having lunch on Sat and it saves me driving there and back on the same day. Then on Sunday, I need to put the light fitting and blind back up in the front bedroom that was decorated yesterday - those jobs should be fairly easy. The main job however, will be removing the stair carpet. Hopefully I'll be able to book a slot at the recycling centre for early next week and take the old stair carpet plus anything else I can quickly lay my hands on.

    On Monday, the new front bedroom carpet is being laid. Once that's done I have to move the bedroom furniture temporarily residing in the spare bedroom, back into the front bedroom. That will clear some space in the spare room so that I'm able to clear stuff from the landing as on Tuesday the decorating ladies are back to decorate the hall, stairs and landing.

    I've also got book group on Tuesday afternoon, we're meeting friends for lunch on Wed and on Thu morning I've got a meeting with the manager of the local leisure centre, to discuss re-starting 'normal' sessions for my swimming club (they're currently 45 mins only but we want to get back to 90min sessions using both pools). I 'might' be playing golf on Friday - but I 'might' decide I fancy a rest!! :)

    Speaking of which, as part of our 'Summer Tour', Alan and I played another new (to us) course on Wed. He only beat me by 1 stroke - but as I have a larger handicap and get 4 extra strokes, it was a moral victory for me.


  • Good afternoon everyone,

    WtnMel, you've certainly "got a lot on your plate!"

    Well done for Wednesdays golf match against Alan! It seems like you are equally matched now.


    You may remember a few weeks ago that I had a wasp nest in my loft, which was removed by a Council Pest Controller, who had to cut away part of the flue of the kitchen extractor fan, to remove it all. I decided to contact an electrician, who had installed it back in 2008, to supply and fit a replacement fan and flexible flue. He came this morning to fit it, and connect the new flue, which entailed pulling down the loft ladder and climbing into the loft to connect it to the grill on the outside wall. Certainly not a job I could have done myself. It is much quieter than the old one, and at first we didn't think it was working.

    Today is a rest day.
  • Mel, not sure how you ever found the time (and energy) to run! Sounds like you are getting a lot of upper body work ripping up carpets and moving furniture. I worked on removals during my holidays at uni. It was very hard graft for a slip of a lad weighting in at under 9 stone! Your house will look like a palace at then end of all this work.

    HS, when you think of all the events you must have ran, I guess one misdirection would be par for the course. It happened to me twice. You deserve a rest day! Glad the fan replacement worked.

    I did the Woking PR today. 90 mile round trip, so was it worth it? Answer: yes. A lovely park. The course was tough. Quite flat and no wind (the good news), but very many turns (a local told me 45 'corners'!), some mud, narrow paths and lots of overtaking. So my 21.42 was a good return. 78.03% age grade which was the 3rd best (out of 290) on the day. 

    Mrs JB won her category.

    Not too impressed with Woking as a town (home of HG Wells and Paul Weller!).


  • Good afternoon everyone,

    JB, I'm sure that's not the only time that I have run "off the beaten track!"

    Thanks. When the electrician removed the old extractor fan, a lot of the remnants of the wasps nest came down! He has fitted a new grill in the outer wall which will prevent any wasps attempting to return.

    I'm very impressed that you did a 90 mile return trip to the Woking parkrun. There is no way that I would drive so far these days for a run, even for a marathon. Well done for your time and WAVA, and well done to Mrs JB for coming first in her age category.

    The only time that I have been to Woking, is when changing trains on the journey from Surbiton Station to Portsmouth Harbour for the IoW.


    This mornings run was 5.26 miles in the forest at marathon pace , with the Sarah's and Giuliana.
  • Good evening all,

    An easy pace 3.88 miles in the forest, pre the fundraising breakfast in Sarah F's garden. 

    Tomorrow is our furthest training run for the marathon, and scheduled for 20/22 miles. Hoping it will be several degrees cooler than last Monday 🤞
  • HS, thanks. You've got one heck of a run tomorrow. Hope it goes well - and that the weather is kind. Good luck!

    The big news down here is that the Brighton marathon was 500 metres too long! This is rather shambolic and there will be a great number of angry runners around. People might have ran PBs and not known it! But they ALL have now ran an ultra. This is small consolation. I don't think refunds are planned - but next year the numbers might well be down. A few years ago the Brighton HM was too short - and invalidated everyone's time.

    This year the men's and women's race winner both came form the same club - Tonbridge AC. That must be VERY unusual, esp as it isn't a big club.

    Even bigger news - Lily (now aged 6) did a PB in the JPR. And wasn't last!
  • Evening all,

    HS - I like to think Alan and I are more evenly matched these days playing golf. It won't be too long before he'll be suggesting we try re-calculate my handicap based on my recent results (and make it less) and then I'll have to try even harder. I remember your wasps nest and the extractor flexible flue needing to be cut away. We had a new extractor fan fitted in our kitchen last year, but as it is twice as powerful as the old one, needless to say, it's slightly noisier! :) Good luck with that planned 20/22ml run.

    JB - I think if I was still running, it would have had to take a back seat recently (whether through lack of time or lack of energy is debatable). Glad the 90ml round trip to Woking PR was worth it and well done for your WAVA score and to Mrs JB for winning her category. You mentioned Woking and Paul Weller - is it a town called Malice? I saw the story about the Brighton Marathon being 500yds too long - my friend Ruth says she doesn't feel too bad about her PW now. Well done to Lily for her PB.

    Our trip to Tring was good. We decided not to eat at the Beefeater next door - picked up some salads meals & assorted snacks for our evening meal at Oxford Services and Margaret had already got some instant porridge for breakfast. We had a nice meal with my Mum and Sister/BIL and then drove home afterwards.

    Yesterday, as mentioned, was spent taking up the stairs and landing carpet - that was hard work! I 'kept at it' and despite feeling tired, made myself put the light fitting back up and the supports for the venetian blind. Today, the guy came and fitted the new bedroom carpet. He mentioned the door needed some taking off the bottom as it was rubbing the carpet. I said I'd have a go but mentioned I find it fiddly - he said he does doors as well as carpet laying and did it for me in 15 mins for £20 (and saved me several hours of swearing and cussing). The blind is back up in the bedroom and we've moved the bed and furniture back in there from the spare room.

    The carpet guy advised the carpet grippers on the stairs weren't any good as they had been cut too short (does anyone remember how people only had carpet running up the middle of stairs to save money?). We called the carpet company and they said they'll get the fitter to fit new ones across the whole step so I had to spend time today taking up all the old grippers. And to round things off, I've had to moving furniture and 'stuff' off the landing and into the recently vacated spare room, ready to give a clear run to the decorating ladies who are back tomorrow to paint the hall, stairs and landing.

    Alan has gone ahead and booked golf for Friday so it doesn't look like I'll be getting the 'rest day' I thought I might have at the end of this week.

    Feeling worn out after all the work we've been having to do recently - I think I'd forgotten what hard physical work is ;) 

    Anyway, we get a rest from the physical work for a few days now until the decorating is done by Thu. So it's book club tomorrow afternoon, lunch with friends on Wed and a meeting at the leisure centre on Thu morning before golf on Fri. I don't know what Margaret has planned for the weekend - hopefully nothing! :)

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