'Mature' runners.

Back home from Liverpool and in need of some exercise after the wining and dining thats gone on in the last few days.

Columba, well done on your Pb, taking 14 minutes off is a great achievement.

JJ, it seems i belong to the group thats does not enjoy swimming, i actually glide like a brick !

Redhead, i met your superlambanana and had me photo taken at the side of it, i enjoyed my time in your native city, with the highlight for me being the tour round Liverpools Anfield Stadium.

Columba
Don't worry about it being 16 minutes. You can have 14 minutes next time.

IW
Clearly Charly knows he's good.
Interesting about alsatians growing into their ears. I thought perhaps one of his parents was a rabbit.
JJ

BIW, lovely picture of Charly. You'll have a job seeing him in the snow.

This evening, we did 4 sets of 5 minutes continuous up and down hill running, with 2 minute recoveries between sets. It was almost dark by the time we got back to base. We only have about one more week of forest evenings, and then back to road running again.

TE - everyone thinks that but actually snow is a brighter white, all our previous 3 have looked more cream coloured against snow.

JJ, definitely not rabbits, I've got a pic of his father Aaron vom Leininger Land and of course have made the acquaintance of mum Gyina of Country Roads.

Did you know the name "alsatian" was acquired during the war, much as German beer gardens became known as Swiss gardens, to avoid the name German Shepherd - nothing could be called German in those days. Our White Swiss Shepherds are so called to differentiate from the GSDs - for a long time the whites were banned in Germany because the colour white is not allowed in the  breed standard for a GSD. Only in about 1960 were the whites re-introduced into Europe from North American and Canada, and they've only been recognised by the FCI as a separate breed since summer 2011. Used to annoy me that my dogs were known as mongrels since they have pure lines going back generations. Charly's papers go back to his great-great-grandparents and I have pictures of most of them.

Incidentally Charly's bloodlines include some of the same kennels as Ozzy's did - Oz's grandfather is Charly's great-great grandpappy, so hopefully Charly will turn out to be as wonderful. He's made a great start.

Morning all,

7 miles off road run on this glorious morning.  The temperature is just right for me now it's cooled down a bit 

OT, glad you enjoyed your visit to L'pool.  It's Mike's native city, not mine.  The Scousers adopted me when I went to work there but I'm actually a woollyback which means I come from outside the city, in my case Lancashire   Are you going to share your photo with the superlambanana?  Hope so.

IW, that's a fascinating history of the nomenclature of the breed and how lovely that Charly is related to Oz.

TE, road running in the dark was one thing I didn't enjoy with the club.

Red, I'm not keen on road running in the dark either, but some of the runners prefer it. I think they believe that they can't be seen. I bet you enjoyed your off road run this morning.

I ran 6 miles at a steady pace this morning on roads, as I am breaking in my new trainers. I am hoping to wear them for my race a week on Sunday. Tomorrow is a track session, scheduled for 5 x 800 metres with 400 metre jog recoveries.

BIW - are they albinos or just white?

Apparently there are albino hedgehogs on one of the Hebridean islands.

I went out with the running club last night. Nearly all of them had done the same half-mara on Sunday, so were taking it easy. I came home with a blood-filled blister on the side of one toe, so will be taking it even easier for the next few days.

Columba - no, definitely not albinos, which have red eyes and pink skin. The breed standard calls for white coat and dark points - pads, nose and lips must be black, eyes brown, nails dark, skin under the coat gray rather than pink. Same as West Highland White terriers, which are also not albino.

Ran 4 miles very slowly today on legs that were still still after 5 miles two days ago.

IW
Interesting dog info.
JJ

Back onthis afternoon for 3miles in the pouring rain the road.

TE, a lot of my running is done in the dark during winter, because i work full time, i actually quitre enjoy it.

Redhead, i have asked my daughter for a lesson on how to download photos from the camera to the computer, so hopefully me picture with the superlambanana and others will appear for you to see.

Morning all,

OK, I've had to give in and start taking part of my medication again as the last week has been a breathing nightmare.  Poo, I really don't want to have to keep taking things that can lead to all the hereditary conditions within my family but it seems as if I shall have to!  Haven't been for a run yet as I've been waiting for the gunk to clear so I'll be heading over to Great Dixter later which is a lovely xc route if just over 5 miles.

JJ, 4 miles is good.  Keep it up Coach 

OT, I look forward to seeing the photos.

I just have to mention the Hillsborough findings. OMG, what a shameful outcome for the Police and the ambulance services.  

I remember the day it happened clearly because Mike and I had been out for the day, he went back to his parents to get ready for the evening and I went to my mum's for tea and then we met up later at the Railway Club where Mike played the organ (a glamourous courtship hey!!!).  I hadn't heard the news on the radio or watched the TV but I knew something awful had happened as I walked through the door as people were wearing black or black armbands and some people were crying.  As the weeks went by I had to attend a funeral for the son of a colleague from a branch within my patch and various memorial services in my capacity as a 'Bank Official'.  It was a very dark time in Liverpool and then when the Sun printed that awful headline it made a lot of people believe that the fans were actually to blame. They may have made an apology for what they printed all those years ago but I doubt they'll sell many more papers in Liverpool.

So very sad.

No running today. Too tired.

Red
Sorry about the return of the breathing troubles. Very strange.

We now know that even  if the rescue services had acted properly  40+ people would still have died. I reckon that makes things worse for a large number of people who will never know who to blame
JJ

Oh Red, so sorry to hear about your breathing difficulties coming back. I do sympathise about not wanting to take medication, especially if it's steroid kind of stuff.

I could hardly believe it about the Hillsborogh news. It's not as though it was just a bit of a fudge, - it seems to have been a deliberate, thought-out, calculated attempt to deceive.

Despicable.

Red - I can only add to what others have said, bad news about your breathing problem.

So the Olympics is over - are we now reverting to the normal daily grubbiness with those pics of Kate?

Morning all,

Oh I know IW.  You'd have thought they'd leave Wills and Kate alone as they are such a lovely couple and doing good work, but no, they just couldn't help themselves.

No running today and glad of it.  Thanks for the good wishes about my increasingly annoying breathing issues.  I'm sure I'll get it under control eventually.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Red, so sorry to hear that your breathing problems have returned. I know I have said it before, but I still believe a few rest days would help.

I agree about the disgraceful state of affairs regarding the Hillsborough findings. The police were made to change their statements, and whole paragaphs of their reports were deleted. Ambulances were refused permission to go onto the pitch, and were informed that they would be arrested if they did. There was only one ambulance allowed, and that was a St. Johns. There was always a St Johns on duty. The PM has made a sincere apology, and I hope he follows it through with a thorough investigation into those responsible.

I feel really sorry for Kate, as she will be hounded 24/7 like Diana. The only positive is that she has a husband who loves her, and she is popular with the rest of the Royal Family who will give her support.

Had an excellent track session last night, and my efforts were faster than I was doing before my hammie pull. We did 5 sets of 800 metres, with 1.5 min jogs between each set. I ran the first 800 rather too quickly, as the last 4 were a bit slower, but consistent. Splits were :- 3.33 3.45 3.41 3.43 3.40.

Redhead, i hope everything gets sorted out for you soon.

5 miles this aft. and had to  battle against  the wind which took away some of  the  enjoyment.

On the Hillsborough issue, the authorities were aware of problems with their policing policy of Hillsborough as early as November 1982  when a similar incident took place at the Sheffield Weds. and Barnsley game, no one was killed, so no action was taken, it was a disaster waiting to happen and in 1988 it did. The reason i know this, is because i was there and subsequently submitted evidence to the taylor enquiry.

Nothing much to report really. Still lots of home improvements going on but things are beginning to look better.

Have a gfeat weekend each.
JJ

OT - You were there at the Hillsborough disaster? Or at the Sheffield Weds v. Barnsley game?

The Tour of Britain came through my home town this morning, passing very close to where I live, so of course i went out to watch. There was a breakaway group of 6, or more correctly of 5+1 (the 1 being a few yards behind the 5). Then all of 6 minutes gap before the main block of cyclists came through with a hiss of tyres before disappearing over the hill towards Builth Wells. Blink and you'd missed it.