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I'll try to catch up again tomorrow. I don't know why it disappears sometimes. It's usually when I've nearly finished.
Today was a solo 10 miles on roads. My legs were a bit heavy after yesterdays hill reps so I took it fairly easily for the first 3 miles, and then upped the pace. I was pleasantly surprised when a teenager on a bike overtook me and said "Respect, well done for keeping going!" I thanked him, having expected abuse and not praise😀
JB6, the runners that gate crashed our hill reps session, were definitely much younger than 76. I don't think that they were up to our standard😅
Good that you decided to join a running club, and hopefully you will find it beneficial. That was a very tough first session on your first appearance. I hope yesterdays hill session went well?
WtnMel, thanks for applying your spam killing talents again. Those posts really annoy me, and I can't imagine that anyone responds to them.
Thanks, the new shoes were really good, but as they are the same model as my old pair, I didn't expect any problems.
If you ever had the time whilst driving through Waddesden, it would be worth while paying a visit to the Manor.
Sorry to hear that you didn't beat Alan in your last golf match, but hitting the ball into the water 3 times was quite impressive😀
Well done for your early morning run walk. I'm glad to hear that your knees were ok. It was lucky that you were walking when you happened to notice a lady dressing in her brightly lit bedroom. If you were running, you might not have noticed. Will you be doing the same route again🤣
Today is a rest day, but I have done the usual walk with 4 bags of heavy shopping. Tomorrow will be another interval session.
It always helps when people give encouragement when we are running.
I've been using those little interdental brushes for several years. It was the Hygienist that got me started on them.
My club has always done drills before sessions, but they can be a bit OTT at times. There is one Coach in particular who does drill after drill, and just when you think she's finished, she will always have one more "up her sleeve!" This does put some members off, and they tend to avoid her sessions. This is a shame as she gives so much of her time to the Club.
That's a shame that your house viewing was a waste of time.
Good that you managed to run 6 miles before the winds got up.
Fingers crossed 🤞 that your x country won't be cancelled.
HS, agree about the drills but I'm just used to doing a couple of perfunctory stretches, a couple of 20 metre shuttle runs and then I'm off! But I guess you just have 'buy in' to what the coach says. On the issue of encouragement I remember a mate - who used to run back in the 70s when there were fewer of us - saying that one day a bunch of kids starting chanting 'marathon, marathon' at him, which was then the advertising jingle for what are now called Snickers. (I actually still call them Marathons -am I alone in this?)
Aqua, sorry to hear that the house was such a let down. Are you under time pressure to vacate your present one? That could be a problem. Prices around here are still mental. I'm so glad my 2 boys have got rooves over their heads, but what about their kids?? (I blame Kirsty and Phil from the TV!)
So to the hill session. Pleasantly surprised as the hills were actually pretty gentle slopes. Again it was the 2 x 10 min blocks (our coach is a man of habit!). In the first block I was put in the slow group. By the 2nd block I was in the fast one and the competitive juices began to flow. I came third and lapped most of the field. I did enjoy it and got to know one or two names. It's funny being the 'new boy' when you are 67!
Off to Southsea tomorrow. Another prom parkrun - flat and with just one turn. It's exactly like my home course other than on this one you get the wind behind you on the 'out' leg. I've a sister living nearby so it's a chance to catch up with her. Not to mention my competitors in the run!
JB Well done for being promoted to the fast group for your hill repeats, and even better to come third and lap most of the field. I bet that felt good. I hope your parkrun goes well tomorrow and you have a good catch up with your sister.
Re the house - our purchaser is renting his house and was happy that we were still looking for somewhere ourselves when he made his offer. However he is understandably getting a bit frustrated with the lack of progress and has warned he may look around for somewhere else. I've said I fully understand and wouldn't blame him if he dropped out, I'd probably feel the same in his place. We'll just have to see how this pans out, we've another viewing at the end of next week, but again it's not looking very promising.
Aqua, many thanks. I did the Southsea run. It's potentially a fast course but today there was a fair old wind blowing and not a PB opportunity. There were 400 runners and I came 25th (21.34). As I was sitting having a coffee afterwards the email came through telling me that my 79% age grade was the best in the field with the next nearest being 73%. I was very pleasantly surprised , as in 220 or so parkruns that is only the 2nd time this has happened.
When I'm in a better mood, hopefully tomorrow, I'll try to catch up again. It's so frustrating having to do things twice🤬
HS - sorry to hear that post you had been writing a few days ago disappeared. Well done re that solo 10ml run last Thu. Nice to have a teenager respect you rather than scowl , hurl abuse or worse. I'm sure you're right about the spammers - rwspamkillers 1 and 2 will continue to help out as and when needed. Re golf - I was very impressed with my ineptitude (but was really annoyed as up to then, I'd had a chance of winning, especially as Alan went into a bunker on the last hole!). I see you were getting very frustrated with posting on here from your phone/laptop. And sorry to hear you were having problems with your printer too. If only I was closer, I might be able to advise. Anyway, nice to have your maintenance man Andy to call on and hope you've been able to calm down a bit now.
Aquarius - always nice for a fellow runner to give you a bit of encouragement. My club had a few LIRF's (leaders in running fitness) who would lead groups and always had us 'prancing around' (technical term) to warm up, before heading off on the route for the session. Sorry to hear that house viewing turned out to be a waste of time - hope the next one proves more useful and your own buyer doesn't get frustrated by the lack of progress.
JB6 - if you think the drive up to Gloucs might be worth it to join me for a walk .... I still think of Snickers as Marathon like you. And Cif as Jif. Glad to hear the 'hills' in that session were just gentle slopes (the opposite of races, where if it's advertised as 'undulating', you just know its going to be hilly!). Well done re that parkrun result.
Yesterday we went to see Margaret's son and his family. Before lunch, Sarah said they'd got tickets for the Commonwealth Games later this year - and it was tickets for finals day in the athletics stadium. I asked his daughters how much it would cost for them to stay at home and for me go in their place
Pleased to report I've been out this morning. I walked the first 2 miles then managed to run most of the last 1.5mls with just a few walk breaks. I left the house about 7:15am and it was noticeably lighter than a week or two ago and I didn't really need my head-torch. My knees feel fine so far - I'll report back later this week and hopefully, there'll be no after-effects.
It included some of the same route as a few days ago but no topless ladies on view this morning - very disappointing 🤣🤣🤣
Mel, a 'mixed grill' is a term I've not hear since the 1960s! Shows you how often I get out for a meal. Were you the guy that went up and down that by-pass 40 times in one day by any chance? Pleased to hear the the knees are behaving themselves.
No run for me yesterday but a trip to the hospital for a endoscopy. It was pouring with rain, but I think on balance I'd have preferred to be out running than having a camera shoved down my gullet. more seriously and in the light of the huge issue involving NS backlogs, I'm pleased to say that it went very smoothly, efficiently and promptly. Thank goodness for the NHS.
I feel a bit rough today but I don't think it has anything much to do with the procedure in the hospital. I think the reason is that I wasn't 'allowed' alcohol last night and it's extremely rare for me to go without a drink (and I mean ''a drink in the singular - well most evenings) and so I've had a bit of a reaction.(Like people do when they give up caffeine.) So I'm going to keep at it. Or more correctly keep off it..........
WtnMel I hope you don't get any adverse effects from your run today, and hopefully you will be able to build up that mileage bit by bit over the next few weeks. Pity about the lack of topless ladies though.
The XC Championships on Saturday went fairly well. Not that I was particularly fast, but the course wasn't too tough for once. Just three inclines per lap, and only one of those was steep (but short). The main problem was, once again, the wind. At the highest point I was almost blown sideways, but it was the same for everyone I suppose. I'll be glad when the weather gets a bit warmer, or at least less windy. Next Saturday's XC is forecast to be wet and windy, but I'm hoping by then the forecast may have improved. If not I may need to borrow Mel's hat.
Today's run was a 7 mile "steady run" on the Garmin training plan, and I struggled in the last mile due to lack of energy. It was another windy and very cold morning (frost and ice) so I'm blaming the conditions
HS I hope your IT problems have been resolved?
I'm not writing much in case it tells me again that I don't have permission to send the post!
WtnMel, Andy my contract maintenance man came round this afternoon, see post to Aquarius below.
I don't know why they changed "Marathon" to "Snickers," I'm sure that the original was more attractive, but they must have thought that the change would be more appealing to younger chocolate eaters. Jif more or less says what's in the tin, whereas Cif doesn't really signify anything.
A mixed grill, I didn't know that they still did those. Sounds rather unhealthy these days.
Well done for your walking and running, and good that your knees seemed ok.
JB, I agree that modern technology is really frustrating. It's great when it's working ok, but when its not, it's a pain in the arse.
I've only tried to contact HMRC once by phone, many years ago, but after hanging on for at least 45 minutes I hung up. It sounds like it is just as bad nowadays, if not worse.
That endoscopy sounds very uncomfortable, and possibly painful. I hope that you are feeling ok today?
Aquarius, Andy came round this afternoon, and firstly confirmed that the printer was out of ink. He said that printers these days came with the minimum of ink in the cartridges, just enough for a few sheets. Whilst he was here, he attempted to ascertain whether there were any other problems. He was about an hour, tapping away on the laptop, and said that it was registering as being offline, and he couldn't understand why. I thought of you, and that you were having similar problems. The way he left it was for me to get new ink cartridges, and then he would come back and try again.
I'm glad that your x country on Saturday went ok, although the wind was a bit of a problem. Fingers crossed that the weather forecast for next Saturday is wrong🤞
Well done for yesterdays 7 mile run. It was cold here, but not that cold.
I agree that it's typical that the weather is always good on rest days. It's the same here today.
On Saturday we did 3 sets of 400 metres with 60 second recoveries in the forest. On Sunday I ran a solo 10 k on roads, and yesterday ran 8.5 miles in the forest with the Monday Group.
Tomorrow will be 1k x 5 with 2.5 minutes recoveries between each. I've programmed it onto my Garmin, so it will take all the guess work out of it.
And today it is a gorgeous, almost spring-like morning so I should shut up!
HS, well your post worked this time, so hopefully the blood pressure is down. Another good set of training runs. I recall you are working towards a 10 mile event? Is everything on target training wise? That Saturday session sounds very similar to..........
Club night yesterday. Still getting to know people. There are now 4 separate training groups, which is impressive. There are two designated evenings and then Wednesday and Sunday morning casual sessions. Plus events, of course - although we are not affiliated to the county league structure.
As stated above the session was very much like HS's: about 400-500 metres with a 100 metre recovery jog, for 20 minutes. No rest and lots of chasing and being chased involved. Plus one of the slower groups were using the same part of the prom so quite a lot of overtaking too. Good fun - and I ended up feeling a bit sick. (Note to self - don't eat before a club night.) Someone told me that one of the young guns is a Scottish international who runs mountain events. Quite what he was doing at the opposite end of the country, running at sea level on a flat surface, I'm not sure.
* historical point. It's a Canadian flag. Why? Many Canadians were stationed here in the war (this is not the place to discuss the particularly warm welcome my Auntie gave them!). Many died in the disastrous Dieppe raid - a kind of practice run for D-Day - which was launched from Newhaven along the coast. Very sad but also very touching that there is a memorial for them.
JB, yes, I've calmed down, but still have the printer 🖨 problem. Hopefully, I will be able to get the ink cartridges on Friday, and then Andy will, fingers crossed 🤞 get it fully operational again.
Yes, I'm tailoring the training towards the Salisbury 10 mile road race on 3rd April. I'm also hoping sometime to get a sub 26 minute 5k.
Your running club sounds really good, and you may be wondering why you didn't join one before. I'm sure your race times will improve even more, and your parkruns will soon reflect this.
Your club session last night sounded tough, but there again, they are meant to be 🥵
Nice that there is a memorial flag to the Canadians who died in the disastrous Dieppe raid.
There were just 3 of us this morning for our training session, Sarah F, Mike and me. It was 5 x 1k with 2.5 minutes walk recoveries between each. It was a tough session, but slightly spoilt by "friendly 🐕 " that wanted to run with us. This probably knocked a few seconds off the times. I've taken a screenshot of the session which I will attempt to post on here🤞 Surprise, surprise, it didn't work 😖
HS I see your IT issues haven't completely gone away
Your session this morning sounded quite hard, and not helped by dogs. It really is annoying when that happens, why can't dog owners appreciate that? I see you have had a busy few days, running wise. As I've said before I don't know where you get your energy from! If you've any spare could you send it up here please?
JB I'm very impressed with your club training sessions. They sound pretty gruelling though, so well done for sticking with it. I imagine your club mates are pleasantly surprised at getting such a speedy "oldie" joining up. They'll have you signed up for club events before you know it.
I agree that it's nice that there is a memorial to those brave Canadians who died in the Dieppe raid (and it was very commendable of your auntie to be so hospitable to young men who were far from home
Today was a 4 mile run incorporating a 1 mile time trial. It went okay, apart from my new trainers which felt rather tight on my left foot. When they arrived I wore them around the house for an hour or so and they felt fine then. Today however, once I got running, it was a different story. I've not had this make before so it's probably my own fault for changing makes. I'll try them again tomorrow and see if they feel any better.
I've only been following my Garmin training plan spasmodically these last few weeks as the sessions often clash with actual events (XC, 5k etc), in which case I ditch the Garmin session in favour of the event. When you miss a session Garmin adjusts the training plan to take account of that, which can result in a subsequent session being set at a pace that is too easy (the "training coach" seems unable to take account of any running except it's own training sessions, so ignores my 5k runs and XC). Today's training run was set at a much slower pace than seemed useful, so instead I went to the park and ran 4 hilly laps in preparation for Saturday's XC. The run went well but again it was very windy and the ground was white with frost. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the snow forecast for Scotland doesn't make it this far south, but it's certainly cold enough for snow. I ran in my old Brooks, rather than the new Mizuno Wave shoes I had on yesterday. My left sole was feeling a bit tight and sore so I thought it would be wise to stick to my usual shoes today.
JB6 - I've spent ages on the phone to HMRC before. The best phase I ever experienced was when my tax office was close by rather than the other end of the country. It meant you could go and speak to someone face-to-face and things got sorted a lot quicker. The Beefeater mixed grill is probably what they'd term a 'classic' meal, beloved by customers. Like I said though, too much for me these days (you get chicken, steak, gammon, sausages, onion rings and chips). Glad to hear your endoscopy went off without a hitch. First time I've heard of someone saying they feel rough for NOT having a drink - but I think you're right to keep off the nightly drink habit. I limit myself to a glass of wine 2 or 3 times a week in the evenings and a can of beer at the weekend. The only flags I keep an eye on are the ones on the golf course - but Alan and I don't need strong winds for the ball to fly off in the wrong direction. Glad to hear the club sessions are working out well. Thanks for explaining the significance of the Canadian flag.
Aquarius - ha-ha .. chuckling at your very polite wireless printer thanking you for inserting a non-existent replacement cartridge. Re drinking - I always remember my old doctor's comment about "Everything in moderation" (by which he meant drinking, eating rich food, doing too much hard exercise etc.). I can stay motivated to keep up with this walking/running despite the lack of topless ladies
HS - glad to hear Andy turned up and diagnosed the empty printer cartridge .. but a shame he's going to have to return again to finish his diagnostics.
Just got off the phone to Tesco. I've had a 'delivery saver' contract that I haven't used much this last 12 months. I knew it was up for renewal and should have got on and cancelled the auto-renewal - but I forgot! The lady I spoke to said it's easily done and as it was the day after, she'd arrange for the renewal to be reversed and I'll get my £72 refunded. Also, because I've not used the delivery saver much, I'll get some e-coupons sent to me for the difference between the £72 and what it would have cost for the couple of orders we did have delivered. Result!
I went out before breakfast and did the same as a couple of days ago - I walked the first two miles. Then I broke into a run and today, I managed to run most of the remaining 1.5mls with just one short walk break. Definitely making progress!
One funny thing while I was out. The bypass is always busy that time of day and a bus was waiting patiently at a roundabout. There was a break in the traffic so the bus pulled out - and the bloke (I assume it was a bloke!) at the head of the next bunch of cars sped up, braked sharply and blasted the bus with his car horn. So the bus driver slowed right down and crawled along at 5mph for a bit to really piss of the dumb car driver.
Just thought I'd pass this on .. at book group on Tue the ladies were busy discussing the platinum jubilee celebrations they're planning. Basically an afternoon tea and one of them said they should try and do something 'different' and suggested they should shock everyone by doing a naked 'calendar girls' type of photo of them in their fancy hats. It won't actually happen - but needless to say, I've volunteered to be the 'official' photographer
Mel, you are very sensible in your approach to alcohol. I've noticed that I've slept better since missing my nightly tipple - for one thing there's less need to get up in the middle of the night for a wee. Your running is coming back. I think the timing should be good - i.e. you will hopefully be fitter for the spring and the warmer weather. Something to look forward to.
Well done on your negotiations. I think I've mentioned in the past that I'm a bit of a mug and pay silly money for my various TV packages. Well we bit the bullet the the day and ditched the sport channels, thus saving about £50 a month.
As for the calendar, I'm getting the impression that, what with the naked lady on the by-pass, the west of England is full of female exhibitionists of a certain age!
Not much to report here, but going to a hilly club session tonight. Yesterday was doing repeats up and down the steepest path in the area - one of those that is a zig-zag to make it a walkable for most. I had 2 encounters:
1. I passed a woman who was walking up as I was on the way down. She wasn't old but I could tell she was finding the gradient a bit of a struggle. When I got back up to the top she was having a rest and suddenly said - 'You are incredible! You are my inspiration!' I didn't know quite what to say, but I have to admit that I had a bit of a spring in my step afterwards. (Just occurred: maybe she thought I was about 80!)
2. When I finished I was just unlocking my bike and another cyclist came up the path - something I could never do or even attempt as it's just too steep. I was very impressed - and then I realised it was an e-bike so not quite so impressed. But I had a chat with its rider, who told me that he'd signed up for a 24km event in South Wales - the Brecon Beacons - which the Para regiment use for new recruits. I looked it up later and the first (of many) climbs is nearly 3000 feet! Now the crunch: he is 72, carrying about 3 stone overweight (his admission) and has not done any specific training yet. Good luck to the chap and huge respect for his fighting spirit (he's an ex-Para who did it 40 years ago) but goodness me, I'd be worried for him. (I'd fancy 75 year old HS's chances though!)
Aquarius, sorry to hear that you cut a finger with scissors, but good that with an Elastoplast in place, it's all systems go again.
Thankfully, all the dogs that we come into contact with are friendly, and just want to play. The trouble is, they are a bit of a nuisance when they interfere with our speed sessions. I'm sending you some energy, express delivery🤣
Your run yesterday incorporating a 1 mile time trial sounds tough! New trainers do take a while to "break in," but it's worth doing it gradually.
I think you were right for doing your own thing, when Garmin Connect adjusts to an unsuitable session. A good idea, wearing your "old" shoes for todays run.
WtnMel, your walk/runs seem to be productive, and giving your knee more time to recover completely.
Thanks, Andy confirmed that the ink cartridges were both empty, but couldn't understand why the laptop was saying the printer was off line. Hopefully when he comes back and inserts the new cartridges, he will be able to sort it all out.
That's amazing that Tesco are giving you a refund for your delivery saver contract which you hadn't used much. Every little helps certainly applies this time.
Good that you did another run/walk today, which definitely shows that you are making good progress.
Good on the bus driver for slowing right down and holding up the ignorant horn blaster. I tend to do the same thing when I'm being tail gated.
I hope that you will post the photos of the "naked calendar girls" on here😁
This morning was a solo 7 mile hilly road run. The wind was really cold and penetrative, so I was glad that I had decided to wear my "windproof top," which isn't wind proof, on top of my thermal top and t-shirt.
JB, our posts crossed! I didn't have a beer last night, but I still got up in the night as usual😖
I hope your hilly session went well last night! Your encounters the day before were interesting. I'm 76 by the way, and haven't cycled since I left Liverpool 36 years ago, so there is no way that I could tackle those hill climbs.
My electricity bill was £70 higher than the same quarter last year, and that's before the tariffs go up again.
Went for a haircut this morning. I couldn't believe that it was over 2 months since the last one.
The club session was a bit of an anti-climax as the quicker runners gave it a miss.
Today's parkrun was run into a bitterly cold, strong wind. Quite a few of the quicker runners were missing as there's a couple of club running events on over the weekend. It was just a very uninviting morning but we still got about 380.
21.25 was a tad disappointing - I ran too conservatively into the wind. But I beat all the MV65s, 60s and 55s and all but two of the 50s, so I guess others struggled too. Mrs JB dipped under35 for the first time in a white and was just short of a 60% WAVA as I was of the 80%.
JB, my hairdresser charges £10 for OAP's. I don't know what the charge is for seniors or juniors.
That was an amazing parkrun time into the wind, and well done Mrs JB.
I ran 5k with Sarah F and Mike yesterday, on the gravel track in the forest which we used last year. My first 5k since before Christmas, but Sarah has done a couple of runs at the new parkrun. I was pleased with 27.58, as the first couple of k's were into the wind.
Today was a solo hilly road 10k, and again very wind, especially up the hills.
I ran an enjoyable 8.5 miles in the forest this morning with the Monday Group. It was into a very strong headwind on the outward leg, but good on the return.