New Mature Runners Thread

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  • Good afternoon everyone, 

    WtnMel, I haven't got BT Sport or Amazon Prime either, and have no intention to either. 
    I see that you have had some snow, but we are still snow free. 
    Good that you recognised the Sarah's. 
    Well done for sorting your utility transfers.
    Good luck with your dealings with the Leisure Centre.

    Nothing much to report, much milder today, typical for a rest day. 
  • Mel/HS, I've got BT Sport, Sky Sport and Amazon. I write off the (exorbitant, rip off cost) as just about my only indulgence.

    I too remember the Bonzos - Viv Stanshall (spelling?) and Neil Innes, the latter formed the spoof Beatle band (The Ruttles?) and if I'm right toured with the Monty Python live show in the early 70s which I was lucky enough to catch.

    No run today but an interval session on the rower - 8 x250 metres @1 minute reps with a rest of 1 minute in between. Tomorrow I aim to do exactly the same workout as a run. I'd give myself a 50/50 chance of hitting that target.

    Then on my bike to meet up with some ex-colleagues, one of whom I've not seen for 17 years. Amazing that we went straight back into relaxed chat mode and it was a highly enjoyable 2 hours.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Evening all,

    HS - luckily the new company (Octopus) did most of the transfer work .. all I've had to do is cancel my old direct debit with Avro and set a new one up with Octopus. 

    JB - indulgences don't count as you can always justify the expense. My indulgence is golf and spending £lots on new clubs and the electric trolley. Apart from resenting having to pay for sport I was previously able to watch on Freeview (Premiership Rugby for instance) I would never keep up with everything on those extra platforms. I already struggle keeping up with stuff I record and occasionally have to have a cull. I remember The Rutles - but have no idea if they toured with Monty Python or not. Glad to hear you easily managed to drop back into relaxed chat mode with some of your ex-colleagues. Btw I watched the Alan Hull programme last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I agree the comparison with DYlan was a bit over-done. Having said that, I had forgotten some of the good songs he wrote and that Lindisfarne performed.

    We had an electrician round this morning to put up the light fitting we had re-wired (our recent trip to Ross-on-Wye). When we switched it on one of the bulbs was flickering - the reason for the re-wire being various bulbs did that. But we swapped two bulbs over and the flickering bulb moved, thereby proving it was the bulb at fault. So a bit of an anti-climax but at least we can easily get a replacement.

    After the electrician had finished we went to Charlecote Park NT which is E of Stratford-on-Avon. We had a walk around the grounds and a coffee and quick bite afterwards. Sadly, no cheese & onion pasties on offer today so the bacon panini was a very poor substitute! :)
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    edited December 2021
    Afternoon all,

    As it's garden waste collection on Fri, I've been out this morning cutting back the buddleia and I also pruned some height off one of the apple trees which had become too tall. That should mean we'll be able to actually reach any fruit that appears next year. There were also a lot of leaves down after the strong winds from a few days ago so another black dustbin liner has been filled up with them ready for storing behind the shed.

    Nothing else to report apart from the fact I've been sneezing a bit today. I may be coming down with something? - or it may just be from the pruning and dealing with the leaves. Hopefully the latter! :)
  • Good afternoon everyone,

    JB, I don't remember any of the Bonzo's bands names. All I remember of their performance is a lot of pyrotechnics.

    I hope you managed to equal yesterdays rowing with todays run?

    It's amazing isn't it how easy it is to get chatting with people you hadn't seen for many years, as if it was yesterday.


    WtnMel, interesting the story of your flickering light bulbs, as I'm wondering if that's the problem with my torch. The light had become very dim, so I replaced the 2 batteries. The light flickered, and then went out altogether.

    Sounds nice, your walk round the NT park, but a shame that they didn't have any cheese and onion pasties.

    I see that you've been busy in your garden again. It definitely counts as cross training.

    I hope you haven't got a cold or the flu coming.


    This morning was a hill rep session in the forest with Sarah H and Mike. It was 6 reps starting each gradually, and increasing the pace to the top, and then sprinting about 50 metres on the flat. 

    Now for some great news, Sarah F has been awarded the Pride of Portsmouth for the NHS for her fund raising etc.
  • HS, what great news about Sarah's recognition; I'm sure it was fully earned.  That sounds like a nice little workout. Do you run to all your workouts - i.e. for a hill session, I'm assuming the hill is near enough for it to be part of a longer running session, rather than needing you to drive?

    Mel, regarding apple trees, we've got three (plus one pear) and they are old and large. Mrs JB tells me that apple trees to have have a lot of fruit one year and then the following year the harvest is often rather disappointing. But maybe that's just our apple trees!

    My running session yesterday pretty much exactly mirrored my rowing one - i.e. 8 x 250 metres at 4k pace and with a minute's rest between each interval. All of the downwind intervals were better than that pace, and the upwind ones just about on the button. I also started with a 4.03 km and then finished with a 4.10 km (by which time the tiredness set in). So 4k in all. And I actually enjoyed every minute.

    In the afternoon, I was nabbed for some dog walking. I targeted a hill that nearly killed me last time I did it and ran up it with the dog on the lead. Well this is how I started but after about 20 metres I was running with the lead and harness in my hand but the pup was elsewhere - she'd slipped the lead. Luckily she didn't run far...and I called off my silly hill run attempt.

    Today I have a treat. My mate has offered me a go on his treadmill. I've not run on a TM for at least 20 years and when I used to use them, they fitted my running style - especially the lack of any wind. So I have a fond memory of a 17.59 3 miler. I've no chance of doing that this evening, but I'd like to see how near I get..............
  • Afternoon all,

    HS: Thanks for the birthday greetings to Steve, we had a nice evening at our sons’s, but believe it or not despite the fact he only lives about a couple of hundred yards from us we managed en route to be on the receiving end of the attentions of an over excited large dog that kept jumping up at us, and it almost succeeded in knocking our granddaughter over. It was a bit awkward because the owner, who had let it off the lead and was walking further back, turned out to be our next door neighbour. So we had to try to turn it into a “it’s ok, no harm done” situation, after we’d just cursed it from here to hell and back. 
    I had that same Kinks EP, my favourite track on it being Louie Louie. I think my favourite all-time Kinks song is See My Friend, I really like the guitar intro.  I remember seeing the Kinks at Newcastle City Hall in the late 60s. My friend and I saw quite a few groups there including Jimi Hendrix, the Who and Bonzo Dog. I can still see Viv Stanshall singing Canyons of your Mind, with those hilarious lyrics. He was definitely a one-off. The only other band member I can recall was Neil Innes. I see you have been having icy weather too, although you all look remarkably cheerful in that photo. Good job Sarah H was running with you and saved you from falling. Great news about Sarah F getting that award - you’ll have to pass on our congratulations to her.

    JB: Poor Mrs JB getting pressed up against the crash barriers at Twickenham, I’m not surprised she hasn’t been to another game since then. I see that you have some very impressive stats from Saturday’s parkrun, well done. I can understand you getting bored with your one hour run, I get like that with anything over 10k. I don’t think I could ever do a marathon (even supposing I had the ability). That sounds like an excellent run you did yesterday and with the added bonus of enjoying it! I’m looking forward to hearing how your treadmill session went (remember to stop it before you stop running ;) ).

    WtnMel: Thanks for Steve’s birthday wishes. As mentioned above we had a nice night at our son’s. I’m pleased, although a little surprised, to hear that the Beeb have the rights to show the Six Nations, they always seem to be outbid by the other broadcasters lately. I have to admit that we have Amazon Prime and BT Sport. I took out Prime membership some years ago when it was cheap because we order a lot of things from Amazon and it paid for itself in saved postage costs, plus next day delivery was an incentive. I’ve kept renewing it despite the cost increasing, but we’d never used the Prime TV channel until this year’s autumn internationals, and now we’ve found there are lots of programmes available that are free to Prime members, although I doubt we’ll watch them as, like you, we never seem to have the time. Steve has been a life long fan of rugby, having played it himself from school age to mid 40s so BT sport has been a must for us since they started showing the premiership games.
    I’m very jealous of your NT outings, I’ve often toyed with the idea of taking our membership, but somehow have never got around to it. Our garden waste collections finished a couple of weeks ago, you are lucky to still have collections. I hope your sneezing hasn’t developed into anything nasty and was just as a result of clearing up dead leaves etc.

    I decided against a run on Monday because it was so cold and frosty. Tuesday was a better option so I went out early, but had to negotiate fallen trees and branches, plus piles of leaves and twigs that broken off in the storm, so it was a rather slow run. Annoyingly my Garmin didn’t pick up the satellites until the last half mile or so. I’m wondering if there was some IT issue with Garmin on Monday as Steve had the same problem on his run. I’d bought Steve the same Garmin model as mine (Forerunner 45) for his birthday, having told him it would be much better at locating satellites than his old model which had become a bit hit and miss in that respect. So it was rather frustrating to find the GPS didn’t appear to be working at all on his, however when he got home and downloaded his run it showed he averaged 8.5 minute miles, which was a joke, but had no pace readout or map of his route. So we’re guessing it was just performing like a stopwatch, and possibly worked out his pace from the number of steps he took - does that make any sense or sound feasible? Later that day he had a short walk around the estate and it picked up the satellites no bother so we’re not really sure what the problem was earlier in the day. After our run I had my Pilates class then after a quick lunch it was over to the coast for another physio session, which was excruciatingly painful. I think the physio used a lighter touch last time but on Tuesday it was no holds barred and took my breath away. I like to think I can put up with a lot of pain, particularly when I think it is going to do me good in the long run, but I was near my limit on Tuesday. I can’t really blame her for inflicting that much pain because I could tell by where she was working that there was a tight knotty bit that needed to be broken up. I’m back under orders to return to the tennis ball self massage, or better still a golf ball. Yesterday, after some strength work for abs, arms and legs, followed by some yoga, I dutifully lay on my side with a tennis ball under my calf and put my other leg on top of the bottom leg for added pressure. It wasn’t too bad until I manoeuvred the ball on to the tight area, then it took a lot of deep breaths to maintain the position for about 30 seconds. Considering my physio appointment lasted 40 mins I’m not sure how much use 30 seconds was, but in my mind it was better than nothing. Today we went for another run, but this time on a different part of the Derwent Walk. Steve intended to do 3 miles, me 5 or 6 depending on how I felt. However it was so cold I was ready to give up after three quarters of a mile, the back of my throat and the inside of my nose were aching with the cold air and throughout the run (we both ended up doing 3.3 miles) we never warmed up at all. (Rather similar to HS’s 5k on Saturday) The pace was of necessity rather slow due to the hard frost (and ice in places) making it slippery, plus there were lots of twigs and branches underfoot that had come down in the storm which kept catching at our feet and almost tripping us. At one point we came across a tree which had fallen right across the path so we had to make a detour which took us down a steep bank. I gave up at this point and walked a bit as running downhill on loose gravel was too dangerous in the icy conditions. On Saturday we are hoping to do our first parkrun since the pandemic arrived. Steve would like to go to the coast to do the one we used to do when we lived there. It means an early start, and will depend on the weather conditions on Saturday, but that’s the plan at the moment.
  • john bateman 6john bateman 6 ✭✭✭
    edited December 2021
    Aqua, you (and Steve) should get a medal for running in those conditions - and another one for tolerating the pain of the treatment you received. It reminded me of when I went to see an osteopath for a frozen shoulder. She touched me once and I nearly hit the ceiling. She  said she wouldn't see am until I'd been to a remedial masseur. So every Saturday morning I went to get a 2 hour (!) session. This was 2 hours of walking a line between pain and bliss. I remember that afterwards I'd be a bit high! In short in worked!

    You really don't seem to have much luck with dogs. Are dogs in the north harder than the ones down here? Do they all drink 3 pints of Newcastle Brown before going out?

    I'm most impressed with your track record on going to great gigs. Indeed, of the 4 of us regulars I seem to be the least qualified. I can throw in David Bowie (brilliant!) and Leonard Cohen (I know it's not a popular view but it was one of the dullest gigs I've ever been to). I think it's largely down to living in a town rather than a city - the A listers didn't not to come here. (Mrs JB saw Van Morrison a few years back and said he was a miserable sod!)

    So the treadmill. I was immediately thrown by my pal (he's quite a recent pal) asking me to sign a disclaimer indemnifying him against any injury. I still can't workout whether it was a spoof or he really meant it! He's a civil servant and very 'straight' so I had to assume it might have been genuine especially as his wife (an accountant, not that it matters) gave me a rather odd look as I arrived.

    Anyway, I was also thrown by
    a) the unfamiliar running style required - so started cautiously;
    b) the read-out was in mph (speed) - and I had no clue what pace (minutes per mile) that was.

    Anyway I ramped up the speed until I reached 8.9mph and eventually did 21.05. Not bad but I think I could knock a minute off that (or more likely die trying). However, until I can confirm that my friend was genuinely comfortable with my using it, I won't have another crack at it. (If I had a garage I'd get one of my own.)

    Parkrun tomorrow - but the weather looks like it could make it a slow one. And good luck to Aqua and Steve for yours - race report keenly anticipated.
  • JB: I think the dog problem is worse here because we live in an area that is semi rural, so a lot of residents (more so since Covid) have chosen to get a dog, probably because there are lots of traffic-free places to walk them. Unfortunately most owners appear to think their dog owning responsibilities are limited to feeding and exercising. Very few take the effort to train their pet to respond to commands which is why runners and cyclists have so many unpleasant encounters (although some dogs seem happy to have a go at anyone in the vicinity whether runners, cyclists or pedestrians). Another problem we've noticed is that owners can see no wrong in anything their dogs do, and reward good and bad behaviour just the same, so it's hardly any wonder that the dog thinks its alright to behave as it likes.

    Ouch to that frozen shoulder, at least my "torture" sessions are of shorter duration. 

    You'll excuse me for saying so, but your new pal sounds a bit odd. I'm a retired civil servant, and while I like order and following rules I don't think I'd go as far as getting a disclaimer signed by anyone I invited to use gym equipment on my premises. However, he does sound like an interesting character, so do let us know if you come across any of his other foibles. (Incidentally, I wouldn't read too much into the look his wife gave you, women can be like that).
    I haven't used a treadmill for a number of years now, but I seem to remember finding it quite different to running outside. With outdoor running you are constantly making minor adjustments as the terrain changes, but once on a treadmill the mind switches off after a while because running becomes a mechanical repetition of one foot in front of the other, all in a straight line with little variance in stride length. I predict you'll become bored with treadmill running after a few sessions (always providing you do decide to have another crack at it, which from a selfish point of view I hope you do as I want to hear the next instalment.) Well done for your 21.05, I'll look forward to hearing whether you've managed to improve on that. Also looking forward to your parkrun report, we've checked the weather report for tomorrow and it looks like our parkrun return is definitely on.
  • Aqua, I take your points about your local hounds. Must be very annoying/infuriating. My civil servant friend works at the big HMR&C in our town. The only slightly odd thing about him is that he joined them at 18 upon leaving college and not only still works there but is still on the same grade (the Executive Officer  grade or similar) - and he's 54. He's now counting down the years until early retirement. I don't think he's very ambitious!

    Parkrun went quite well: 21.01. This gave me a relatively high placing of 19th out of 290 and an age category win. The WAVA was 80.57% which was the 2nd best of the day. I actually ran it quite badly having gone off too fast (1st km in 4.05) into a stiff breeze.
     I paid for this later. But very pleased overall and celebrated with a 6 mile bike ride home!
  • JB: Well done for your 21.05 parkrun time today, in fact that was quite similar to your treadmill time wasn’t it? I’m assuming they were both over the same distance, and if so then you’re bound to be able to cut a few more seconds off that treadmill time. Great WAVA too, and well done for being 19th out of 290 plus an age category win.

    I’m afraid our parkrun was rather different. This was the first organised event Steve has done since getting over his problems with AF. He’s only just managed to complete the couch to 5k so I wasn’t expecting anything fast from him today. It was a rather chilly run on a course that was new to us (council works on the prom having resulted in a course change) and Steve had to walk a couple of times. We ran it together and finished on 34.21 which Steve was a little disappointed with, but he came around to agreeing that at least he finished it, and that’s the first one out of the way now. We’ll have to try to make it a regular Saturday morning thing again, weather permitting, but I don't think we'll be going over to the coast parkrun again as it was a one hour trip each way. Speaking of the weather we have just had a heavy fall of snow, which wasn’t forecast, so the run I was going to do (myself) tomorrow may have to be postponed.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Afternoon all,

    Glad to say the sneezing from a few days ago didn't turn out to be the forerunner of anything ..

    HS - I missed the fact you almost had a fall but Sarah H was there to keep you upright. And that Sarah F has been awarded for her NHS fund-raising exploits. 

    JB - re apple trees, I've always understood there'll often be a glut one year and hardly any the year after. I see you did an interval training session that went well and you had a go on your friend's treadmill. But you had to sign a disclaimer first?? If you were running at 8.9mph I now have a vision of you like one of those cartoon characters with the legs whizzing around in a blur :) As you know, I have a treadmill gathering dust in my garage as I STILL haven't got round to getting a quote to see if it's worth trying to mend and attempting a run on it (to see if my knee behaves itself or not). I'm getting back into my strengthening exercises and if I DO decide to mend the treadmill and CAN run on it, I have a tv on the wall nearby so I can watch that (and there's always music available on my ipod). I was never ambitious re work and was quite happy to beaver away .. being a manager was never on my radar. However, I did move around a bit (mostly due to redundancy situations and the like). Glad to hear the parkrun went well.

    Aquarius - neighbour's or not, I think I'd still make my feelings known if their dog persisted in jumping up at me. I've no idea if BBC coverage of the 6 Nations will be live games or just highlights (probably the latter!). I'm trying to wean myself off Amazon and don't plan to get Prime (despite their best attempts to trick me into getting it by pre-filling the option of a free trial when I occasionally buy something). I'm a relative newbie to Premiership Rugby and call it a pointless protest, but the way tv programmes of all sorts have been carved up and split onto various streaming platforms which all cost more, makes me more determined to not fill the pockets of any of the companies and let them get away with making people pay through the nose. Our garden waste collections continue all year round. There was a Garmin issue a few days ago but that wouldn't have affected the Garmin's ability to pick up the gps satellite signals. Sorry to hear your physio session was so painful but it does sound like something needed to be sorted (no pain, no gain?). It might be worth thinking of getting a buff to slip over your nose and mouth in this cold weather to stop you being affected by it? Sorry to hear your parkrun didn't go as planned but Steve needs to remember he's got to start somewhere and as you told him, at least he finished it. I hope you can get into the habit of going to parkrun regularly.

    Unfortunately, this week's golf didn't go as well as last week. I started well and was ahead for a few holes - then I had a d-i-s-a-a-ster (as I believe they say on Strictly) and was in a bunker and then a ditch. And after that it was downhill all the way with more bunkers/ditches/ponds and I ended up 14 shots adrift. Never mind, I'll try again next time.

    Yesterday I finally got round to de-cluttering my wardrobe, mainly my trousers. I ended up with 6 pairs destined for the recycling charity bin. They were all pairs that no longer fit me - and I do wonder why they've been cluttering up the wardrobe for so long.

    Right - off to cook Margaret's Sunday roast now ..
  • Mel, golf: oh dear! But it's that sort of game isn't it? I'm sure you'll bounce back. what is it they say: 'you don't become a bad player overnight'? (No, sometimes it takes a lifetime!)
    You are right about the legs whizzing around on the treadmill - it felt that I was running crazily fast, but in fact it was slower than my 5k pace outside. Re the subscription model of watching sport on TV, I was an early adopter of Sky Sports (1990) - and felt terribly guilty. (I didn't admit it to my friends at work for months!) I wonder how much (time/money) it would cost to get your TM back in service - shame that it's just gathering dust right now. Those trousers: too tight or too loose?? Let me guess.........

    Aqua, great that you and Steve both did the parkrun and finished together, although  suspect you had to slow right down for that to happen. Mrs JB always feels too intimidated to run with me, which is a sorry reflection of our relationship! But she does virtually everything else better than me (the list is too long), so I'm happy to be able to show her a clean pair of heels. If I finished with Mrs JB, I'd feel like I was donating a kidney or something >:)

    Today: after watching Lily get a PB (dipping down below 14 mins for 2k for the first time) and freezing despite wearing 4 layers, I then went for a longish (1 hour) run involving one long hill and then repeats of a shorter. nastier hill by which time I was very hot.

    We've both got our booster jabs this week. A 40 mile round trip (not as bad as for many, I know) but on two separate days, which is a bit annoying. However, we're getting them in Chichester which is a delightful place, so no hardship there.

    Everything has gone very Christmassy. I guess it's no earlier than usual, but I do just wonder if the retailers are so desperate that they are banging the Xmas drum even harder than usual.

    As it's also my birthday on the 27th my most eagerly awaited 'present' is the more favourable WAVA weighting that will come with it. I am a very sad case.


  • Morning all,

    WtnMel: That was good of you to purposely throw the golf match, or were you just lulling Alan into a false sense of security? ;) Either way it’s time to get back to winning ways, which I have great faith in you doing at your next match.
    I agree with you about the disappointing sports coverage on terrestrial channels, it doesn’t seem that long ago when you could rely on athletics, rugby, triathlons, F1 and many other events being shown either by BBC or ITV. Now unless you want to see football or snooker (neither of which appeal to me) it’s necessary to subscribe to the likes of BT Sport, Sky Sports, Amazon Prime and the like. In order to watch rugby we have BT Sport and Amazon Prime. Currently athletics is still being shown by the BBC, but often split between BBC1, BBC2 and the red button channel, as is Triathlon, but in both cases not all the scheduled events are covered. I also subscribe to Triathlon TV as they cover all the main events and it’s relatively cheap at £27 a year. Our normal TV package includes Eurosport, which has all the cycling coverage you could want, including all the Grand Tours. We find very little worth watching otherwise on television, there’s the occasional serial, or documentary, but usually it’s repeats or rubbish. 
    Glad to hear your sneezing didn’t develop into anything worse. You are lucky to have garden collections all year round, we’ve never had that either when living here or when we were at the coast.
    I do have a buff, and was just thinking the same thing!

    JB: You are very kind to suggest I had to slow down quite a bit to finish with Steve, but honesty compels me to admit I couldn’t have run very much faster on Saturday, whether it was the cold or the new course I’m not sure. I think we probably scuppered our chances of a faster finish by starting the run at the back of the pack (trying to socially distance a bit), this also meant we started with the dog runners, all of which were using waist harnesses. I know I moan on quite a bit about dogs but I really don’t think dogs and running events are a good combination. As most of this parkrun route is quite narrow (a max of two abreast in places) it’s a problem if you are running beside a dog on a longish lead attached to someone’s waist. For safety you have to try to get ahead of them or linger behind. At a wider part of the course Steve was running past a dog and owner when the dog (on his right) suddenly ran across him to sniff a bin (on Steve’s left) causing Steve to pull up quickly. Words were said, I’ll leave it at that. 
    Three cheers for Lily! What a star she is, and well done to you for tackling a one hour run in the freezing cold, and with hills too! 
    I hope your booster jabs go well, I’m sure they will, this Pfizer booster seems pretty free from side effects.

    We woke up yesterday to quite a heavy coverage of snow. By late afternoon it had melted sufficiently to go for a run if I felt like it, but by then I couldn’t be bothered. Today is another rest day because tomorrow is our next Grand Prix 5k, but looking at the forecast I’m half expecting it to be cancelled due to Storm Barra. If it is, and we get sufficiently early notification, I’ll go for a run tomorrow morning before the worst of the predicted weather arrives.

  • Good afternoon everyone and sorry for being absent without leave. There's a heck of a lot to catch up with,  but I'll hopefully get down to it tomorrow. 
    It was my birthday run this morning and there were 7 of us running in the forest. We ran 9.8 miles at an average pace of 10.29 minute miling. Jane took several photos and I'll attempt to add it to this post. I don't know how it will turn out as I took a screenshot. 
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Afternoon all,

    JB - yes, golf is a "funny old game" as Alan and I often remind each other whenever we fluff shots and hit balls into *long grass/ponds/ditches/bunkers (*delete as appropriate). At the driving range there is a quote from Arnold Palmer - "the more I practise, the luckier I get" which I always remember. I have the name/phone no somewhere of a local(ish) company who maintain Treo treadmills .. just need to find it and phone them for an estimate of some sort. Well done re your longish run with hills.

    Aquarius - I only discovered recently I could record things on the red button as its on Freeview Ch 601. I used to enjoy Eurosport as it had slightly more unusual sports like biathlon. However, as we don't have satellite either I miss out on that too. I agree about dog runners - like mobile chicanes and totally unpredictable. I think you're right about storm Barra .. they're forecasting snow at low levels for Scotland and "The North" ie. you!

    HS -  nice to see you all looking so happy in the screenshot you posted of your birthday run.

    I'm having a sort of 'useful' day rather than too much sitting around which is very easy to do at the moment. I got up and walked 3mls before breakfast. That included a quick jog across a road junction to get out of the way of a bus. Afterwards I thought to myself .. "that didn't feel too bad" and gives me hope I can get back running eventually. Then after breakfast and a shower, I took Margaret to the electrical place we'd been recommended by the electrician to get the 'golf ball' led lights for the new living room light fitting. Thankfully, when we switched it on after fitting them, there was no flickering! (hooray!). After our shopping trip, I went to the u3a coffee and chat group. The usual hour or so of talking nonsense ensued and at one point someone mentioned the annual u3a lunch and a chance to dress up. Someone else piped up that maybe when the covid pandemic finally appears to be over, maybe we can have a party to celebrate and the men can wear DJ's and the ladies their 'posh frocks'. Then before lunch I did all my stretching and strengthening exercises.

    Here's something funny that was on BBC Breakfast this morning. Sally Nugent was doing the paper's review and pointed out a warning she'd been given about something on the same page as a story she wanted to mention ..



    She then started reading the story at the top of the page ..


  • Mel, that's a good 'blooper' (is that what they are called?) you've uncovered there. There are some jobs that look great: well paid and easy - anyone could do them etc. However, I think the role of the presenters of breakfast TV must be harder it they looks. Another one is sport commentary  - looks like a dream job bit I bet it's really tricky. That's not to say I agree with the silly amounts of money they are paid.

    Aqua, got a feeling your grand prix will be cancelled. But another day's rest is perhaps no bad thing. I agree about parkrun and dogs - they don't mix. I'd be tempted to extend that to buggies TBH.

    HS, happy birthday - and well done to celebrate with a run. Nice picture: is it before, during or after?

    No run for me either Monday or today. Monday I went on the rower for an interval session. Today it was off to Chichester for the booster jab. Unfortunately we arrived just as the storm did. We'd hopes to have a mooch around the city (it's a very small city!) but it was just too  horrible. I had to queue for a bit outside in the rain and gale before getting my jab. The jab itself was quick and painless - and with no after-effects yet.

    Well it's a big day in my sporting calendar: The Ashes begin at midnight. Typical of the Aussies to make an Englishman's life difficult by having such ridiculous hours of play! They'll stop at nothing...............

    The other HUGE news is that Xmas officially started today in the JB household: we got the Xmas Radio Times (with the aid of a small mortgage) .................
  • Afternoon all,

    Sorry I just  can't win.I had intended to catch up this afternoon,  but the Internet is down, probably the wind.

    That picture was taken during the run. There are several, but I thought one was enough.

    I'll try and get back on line tomorrow.🤞
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Evening all,

    JB - re the Breakfast 'blooper', I saw it for myself but someone had kindly done some screen-grabs and posted them on Twitter, which I 'borrowed' as I thought you all might enjoy it too. They did get someone who thought sports commentating was easy to have a go once - predictably, they were rubbish. I don't blame you for not mooching around post-jab .. as I think I mentioned at the time, my only after-effects were two sore biceps (I had covid and flu jabs at the same time - one in each arm). Even if I wasn't already aware xmas is approaching, my suspicions would have been aroused as the weekly deliveries have begun arriving earlier than usual, ready for the two-week xmas special to land on our doormat.

    HS - sorry to hear you've got internet troubles. Hope it's sorted by tomorrow.

    JB mentioned feeling Aquarius's grand prix might be cancelled. I've just got off the phone with Alan and we've decided to be "boring & sensible" rather than "well 'ard" and to cancel our planned golf for tomorrow. He had already checked and the course we planned to go to had a notice on their website saying the course is waterlogged and they weren't allowing trolleys.

    I managed to get out for a pre-breakfast walk again this morning. Last night I watched a programme I recorded months ago about getting fit at home. The presenter's running style was analysed (she runs landing on her heels and with a lot of wiggling about of her upper body). An ex GB runner gave her some tips about standing upright, 'lifting' the hips and feeling her body lengthen, leaning slightly forward and then moving off and running while maintaining that position and trying to land on her mid-foot instead. I like to think that's what I used to do before. Anyway, after two miles of walking, I had to jog across a road junction as a bus was coming and I decided to keep jogging for a bit and tried to remember the ex-athlete's advice. I spent the next mile doing some short jogging sections then walked the rest of the way home. I've also done all my stretching & strengthening exercises for the second day and my knees feel fine. So I'll try some short jogging sections again next time I'm out walking and all being well, I can gradually build up the jogging without any after-effects.

    I had a dentist appointment this afternoon. A bit of one of my upper teeth broke away a while back - the dentist confirmed my suspicions that a bit more has broken away since the last time I saw him. So I'm off there again next Wed to have the old filling removed and a new, bigger one added that will replace the missing part of the tooth as well.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    edited December 2021
    I popped back to see what you've been up to but I see no-one else has posted yet ..

    Having decided to cancel our planned golf, Alan and I could have played today as we had some rain at breakfast time but it's been dry (and occasionally sunny) all day and has only just started raining again.

    I stayed up a bit late last night so didn't go for a pre-breakfast walk this morning. My knees feel okay today after yesterday's jogging exploits. I plan to walk again tomorrow morning and have done my S&S exercises again (that's a 3-day streak .. whatever next!).

    Speaking of which .. I have a spreadsheet checklist I use with days of the week along the top (5 week's worth) and exercises down the side. It helps me keep track of when I exercise and seeing the blanks when I decide to do the exercises "tomorrow", it concentrates the mind and stops me kidding myself. As I just need to make a small mark each day, I use each square four times (top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right) so it lasts for 20 weeks. The one I've been using since the end of August will take me through to mid-Jan. But because I'm a bit of a nerd, I've moved the order of the exercises around on the new checklist I've just printed, so that they follow the order I actually do them in. It's a more logical order as I move from standing to sitting to floor-based ones and it will be easier to follow.
  • Mel, that's a mightily impressive fitness programme you've devised. You are a self confessed nerd and this is I suspect a bit of a baked-in advantage to matters of training. Good to hear that you are back to a run/jog combo: if you kick-on in the next few weeks then it will help with the extra Xmas poundage (if applicable). On this point I recall some 'research' (approach with caution!) that the 'average calorific intake on Xmas day is 5000+.   Shame about the tooth; hope it's a quick fix.

    I too have had no-after effects from the booster and the sore arm only bothered me for a day. It's Mrs JB's turn today, again involving a 40 mile round trip. At least this time I will pop in and see my sister, so it's two birds with one stone. (Not that I intend to stone my sister.)

    I hauled myself out of the house yesterday and did a run. I'm totally at the opposite opened of the spectrum to Mel. My training is pretty random, unplanned and subject to change at any point. I headed for the cemetery (well, we all are I guess!) where there are some nasty little slopes. So I did a 30 minute session - until I got bored......... and walked home.

    I spent the afternoon following PMQs and the fall-out. 

    I spent the night listening to England get hammered by Australia.

    One of the above was depressing and one was utterly infuriating. I'll let you choose which was which.
  • WtnMelWtnMel ✭✭✭
    Morning everyone,

    JB - its actually kudos to the physio for devising a set of exercises for me to easily follow to strengthen my quads and sort out the tightness in my hips due to lack of stretching. After I stopped seeing her I've managed to have long periods where I missed a few days (and sometimes weeks). But having this checklist concentrates the mind and it's nice to see lots of tick marks on various days rather than areas of blank space. I'm carrying extra poundage regardless of xmas. But being able to do some jogging as well as the walking will burn off a few more calories each time. Glad to hear you've no after-effects from the booster jab .. and always good to be able to combine a trip you need to do (jab) with one you want to do (visiting family). Well done for hauling yourself out for a run. I heard about PMQ's earlier yesterday and watched it (with relish) on the 10pm news. As you know I have no interest in the cricket - but I'm kept up-to-date with what's going on via the sports report on BBC Breakfast that I record each day and watch while I have mine (breakfast). Recording it means I can skip over any boring/uninteresting bits.

    No update yet from HS I see so maybe he still has internet problems? And Aquarius is no doubt be busy with grandma duties ..

    I walked 3.5mls this morning. Although to be more accurate, I walked 2mls then jogged/walked the 3rd mile and walked the rest. My knees feel fine so far and today I was able to jog further and for longer than the day before. I'll keep on doing this run/walk lark for a week or two and see how things go.

    BTW, it's officially xmas in the wtnmel household as the xmas Radio Times has turned up with the post this morning ..
  • Good morning all, 

    I'm still having problems accessing the Internet, although it did come back online the next day. The laptop is now with my maintenance contract man who is doing a service and then an upgrade which could take up to 8 hours, so I probably won't get it back until tomorrow. 
    The car is away for a service and MoT and they have advised that the wipers motor isn't working and will have to be replaced.
    Yesterday I had the roof scrubbed of moss etc and treated with a protective substance. So much going on that I don't know whether I'm coming or going. 
    I can't even go for a run today in case the garage phones to advise the car is ready. 

    Hope everyone is OK, I have read back, but there is too much to take in. Hopefully, when I get the laptop back, I'll be able to get "up to speed"😁
  • Afternoon all, 
    It's officially Christmas here too, Christmas wreath bought and put on door yesterday, Christmas Radio Times arrived today.
    Our GP was cancelled, but only at the last minute on advice from the council and a course inspection. I'd already decided against going as the weather here, although not snowy, was very wet and windy, also very cold and TBH I just couldn't face going. Having got over our grandson's birthday party germs we (Steve and I) now appear to have swapped them for a portion of our granddaughter's germs. They say a change is as good as a rest, but I would have been just as happy if she'd kept them to herself. Tired, sneezy and shivery as we are neither of us have ventured out for a run since the parkrun on Saturday (hmm - maybe that is where we picked up the bug?) although we intend to make the effort in a day or two if we feel a bit better. 
    Glad to hear you had no side effects from the booster JB (or queuing in horrible weather), hope the same applies to Mrs JB. Enjoy your visit to your sister. I'm afraid I'm like WtnMel in that I'm not a fan of cricket but from what I gather it's not going well for England, hopefully there is still plenty of time to turn that around.
    HS - A very happy belated birthday and thank you for another lovely photo. I hope you get your internet access back soon and your car service etc goes ok.
    WtnMel - So pleased to read about your return to walk/jog sessions without any ill effects for your knees. All these S&S sessions are paying off for you it seems. Pity about the golf, but better safe than sorry.
    What can I say about Boris and Co that hasn't already been said? Maybe a song could sum up my feelings -
     "So long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu. Adieu, Adieu to you and you and you......"
  • Just popping in briefly to say hi to everyone.
    Neither of us feel like running yet, so today will be a day of getting some jobs done, such as - writing Christmas cards, defrosting the fridge freezer in the garage, looking for documents the purchaser's solicitor wants in relation to the house sale, and shopping around for a cheap Christmas tree.
    If you are running, walking, cycling, golfing or whatever today I hope you enjoy it (and it's less chilly than it is here!) 
  • Good afternoon everyone, I'm going to try to catch up now!

    JB, Sarah F really does deserve her award. We run to most of our training sessions, and run back afterwards. This is most effective, as it gives us a warm up and warm down. 

    That's very impressive recording the same time on a treadmill as running on the road. I'm afraid that I have never been able to master them. I'm sure that your mate must have been pulling your leg regarding the disclaimer against any injury on the treadmill. I'm also an ex civil servant and would never dream of saying such a thing.

    Well done for maintaining 80+ WAVAS for your 5k's, and also for Millies PB. She seems to be getting quicker each week.

    Good that you didn't have any after effects from your booster, except for a sore arm, which we all seemed to get.


    Aquarius, I'm glad that you had a nice evening at your son's, but a shame that your granddaughter nearly got knocked over by your neighbour's dog. You do seem to have a knack of attracting excitable dogs.

    I wonder why you seem to have problems with your Garmin picking up the satellite. It may be when you run through areas where trees could be disrupting the signal. I don't seem to have those problems, although on longer runs, Sarah F's garmin sometimes turns itself off.
    Your physio sessions do sound painful, but if they are doing the trick, then it's worth putting up with the discomfort.

    It's good to hear that Steve has done his first parkrun with you since his AF, and in 34.21. I consider that to be a very respectable time in the circumstances.

    Sorry to hear that you have both caught your granddaughter's germs. 

    Thanks for the birthday wishes. I've got my laptop back now, hence my catching up! I had to have a new windscreen wiper motor fitted to enable my car to pass its MoT. They said it wasn't working. I've never known that to happen before, even on the ancient cars I used to drive.

    I've written and posted all my Christmas Cards. Unfortunately the list gets shorter every year as relatives and friends "pass away."


    WtnMel, I was very lucky that Sarah H was able to prevent me from falling on the black ice. That could have resulted in a broken arm, or worse. We are all very proud of Sarah F for her award for her fund raising for the NHS.

    Sorry to hear about your golf disaster, but better luck next time.

    Glad that you liked the birthday screen shot. Unfortunately Sarah H was missing, as she had been pinged. She has since had negative flow tests. 

    Good that you have started jogging short distances now, and hopefully it won't be too long before you are running again.

    Hope your filling at the Dentist on Wednesday will be painless. My Dentist doesn't always give me an injection. If he doesn't think it will hit a nerve, he gives me the option to have one or not. 

    Your fitness programme looks very technical, but as long as it produces results, will be worth while.

    I enjoyed watching PM's Question Time, with Dozy Doris getting a battering from Sir Kier.


    I ran my quickest 5k since the Virtual London Marathon on Saturday with Mike in 28.23 a WAVA of 66.76%. If I had run it two days later on my birthday, it would have been 67.97%.
    I ran a solo 10k on Sunday at recovery pace, and 9.8 miles in the forest on Monday with the Monday Group. We had Prosecco and home made mince pies at the finish. 
    On Wednesday I ran a solo 6.17 miles in the forest at an easy pace, but with some efforts thrown in for good measure. Today was a rest day, but I did my usual range of stretches etc.
     
  • Aqua, sorry to hear about the bug. Wise to take it easy (in terms of running if not all the other jobs you've been doing) for a few days.

    HS, good to have you back. Well done on your quick 5k. How frustrating that it was the 'wrong side' of your birthday - but I'm sure you'll improve on it. Black ice is a nightmare, especially for walkers, runners and cyclists. It was a patch of the stuff that took me off my bike nearly 6 years ago and the knee has never been quite the same since. I'm impressed you've done your cards. The only one, so far, I've done is to my brother in Portugal. I thought I'd do it 'early' and was feeling smug, until I found out that it was 3 days after the correct date! Why does it need 20 days to get a card to Portugal, I wonder?
    Regarding Xmas trees, we bought a tiny one 3 years ago and popped it into a pot in the garden. Not only has it survived but it's grown each year and has become a member of the family (sort of).

    Anyway, Mrs JB was a bit woozy after her booster jab on Thursday but still did the parkrun today. It was our wedding anniversary yesterday - 44 years. The woman is a hero. 

    So I was a tad hungover today tackling the parkrun (Mrs JB doesn't get hangovers BTW). Conditions were perfect - no wind. And I delivered a season's best 20.38 and an all time best WAVA of 82.07%. However I didn't win my category as my local nemesis turned up. At first my heart sunk and then I thought that I'd simply shadow him in which case either I'd beat him in a sprint (I didn't) or maybe he'd pull me round for an SB (which he did). Also as he is 1 year younger than me, I beat his WAVA.

    So I'm a happy bunny!
  • Good afternoon everyone, I'm watching Bob Dylan in glorious black and white, with Joan Baez and Peter Paul and Mary. Halcyon days. On channel 11 now. 

    JB, I ran my first 5k this morning at my new age with Sarah F and Mike. I was really pleased and surprised to run my quickest since March, 26.41, a WAVA of 73%.

    I'm afraid that I don't bother with Christmas Trees, as I usually go to my daughter's in Aylesbury. I wasn't able to last year because of Covid restrictions, and this year she is working all day Christmas and Boxing Day,  so new Covid strain permitting will visit in January 🤞

    Well done Mrs JB doing a parkrun after her booster, and congratulations on your 44th Wedding Anniversary. 

    Congratulations also for your amazing seasons best parkrun with a hangover, achieving a lifetime best WAVA. Also bettering your nemesis WAVA. 

    Briefly returning to the folk singing, I've never seen Joan Baez live, but have seen Julie Felix who was popular around the same time. She was amazing and every bit as good as Joan.
  • Good afternoon everyone, 

    A nice steady 7 miles this morning, ploughing through mud and water in the forest. 
    I've been watching cross country on the red button since 10.30am. 
  • Hi All,

    I am new to this forum and was hoping someone can provide some advice.  I am a life long casual runner.  Currently 72 years old and have started entering 5k's after a long time away from racing.  My pace is 9:20 - 9:40 per mile and I have medaled in all 5 of my last races.  But my biggest weakest is leg endurance.  Hills wear out the legs fast.  I was in a 5k yesterday with slow rolling hills and for the last mile my legs were spent like never before in my life.  

    Does anyone have any advice to increase leg endurance in a senior runner?  I am running hills in training and doing some modest sprint work.  

    Also something that may be a factor, I am on a very low carb, no sugar diet.  Can I just be running out of fuel?

    Any help is appreciated and thanks in advance.
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