'Mature' runners.

Sunny but cool enough to have a nice 4.5 miler; mostly off road and a bit hilly.

TE
I was a competitive M60 up to your age but it has been a steady decline since. As an M70 I have been either injured or under trained but still managed some  wins and places but they haven't been very satisfying because of the lack of competition.

Redhead
There's a good girl!   

JJ

Red - what will you do with the sloes, - sloe gin?

Out with the club tonight; on the road, for a change. Once round the lake to warm up, then a succession of short circular runs on hilly bits of road. The fast ones went 3 times round each mini-route, the slower ones twice, and I went once, and filled in the time either running up and down short bits or reversed direction and ran until I met the others coming back.

The knee appears to be okay however my left ankle is now complaining and i'm just beginning to think it could be arthiritis, for the record i did'nt play footie, i have a 10k race at the weekend and i'm hoping i can still make it 

Redhead, i don't do sensible either !

Seems to me you both do sensible. You just don't like doing sensible.

I think Columba has got the measure of both of us, OT!

Morning all,

It's a glorious autumnal day here with mists and mellow fruitfulness (thanks Mr Keats, that sums it up nicely!).  I really can't bear to stay indoors on such a lovely day so I'll get my paperwork chores out of the way this morning and then just potter outside this afternoon.

OT, you were very sensible in missing football and I'm very impressed!  Now, with regard to your ankle/knee.  Get yourself off to the quack and get it x-rayed then you can see if there's any deterioration.  If there is, then you can work on strengthening the muscles supporting the ankle/knee.  I say that because for many years I had a gammy left knee from an old riding accident and it caused me to limp when the weather was wet.  When I first started running it caused me problems so I trotted off to the quack who told me I'd have to stop running.  I had it x-rayed and saw the very slight deterioration and spoke to my Physio about it.  She gave me loads of exercises to strengthen the muscles supporting the knee and I haven't had any problems since (touch wood) - and that was nearly 10 years ago!  Undoubtedly it will catch up with me eventually but I believe you can ward off these things for a while at least. 

I have a 10k this weekend too but I think I'm going to give it a miss as it's a classified as 'hilly' (it had to be reclassified as such even though we locals consider it to be just undulating!).  It will be  a case of how I'm feeling on the morning as I don't see any point in doing it if I'm not going to do it well.

Columba, yep, sloe gin.  I'm not a gin lover but I quite like this occasionally as do my friends who often get samples for Christmas 

JJ, it is perfect weather for off-roading now isn't it.

I've been eyeing up the hawthorn berries which are plentiful and looking a beautiful deep red.  I found an old recipe for haw jelly but I'm not sure it's worth the effort as they don't taste especially nice raw.  Maybe there's some magic when they're cooked or maybe it's just that in the olden days people just used whatever was around and free!

We had a hill session in the forest last night, which was slightly different from the previous figures of 8 which we normally did. We were split into 3 groups and each group concentrated on one hill for 5 minutes, and after 2 minutes recovery moved on to the next hill, and then on to the third. I took a nasty tumble running down the third hill and luckily was able to get up and carry on. This morning, I have a slight ache in my left shoulder, which took the main impact. It would probably have been worse if it had been on tarmac.

Red, I think you are very wise giving the 10k a miss in the circumstances.

A lovely sunny morning, although quite cold at the moment. I will be doing an easy run later. The forecast for Sunday is a 60% chance of rain, with a temperature of 16 degrees. This would be ideal conditions for me.

TE - ouch, ouch, - falling while running downhill is no joke. Lucky to get away with no more than a slight ache.

Red - Richard Maybe ("Food for free") says haws "make a moderate jelly, but being a dry fruit need long simmering with a few crab-apples to bring out all the juices and provide the necessary pectin. Otherwise the jelly will be sticky or rubbery. It makes a good accompaniment to cream cheese".

I made sloe gin once; it was lovely. No reason why I shouldn't make it now, I suppose, - plenty of sloes around.

Redhead, i'm going to  give it a few days, before i see the doc. and whislt i can say to you it would make sense to miss your 10k this weekend, i'm daft enough to run mine so watch this space.....

The other thing i'm bothered about is that if i go to see the doc. i know what she will say, she tell me once again to pack football and marathons in, like she did 8 years ago. I'll have to react with me my stock reply " i'll have plenty of time to rest and recover when i'm dead "  

OT
An ankle would be a slightly unusual place for arthritis to start. There's a lot of connectivity tissue around the ankle and it takes a lot of strain so hopefully it will be damage that can be fixed with rest and remedial exercises. Maybe try a physio?

TE
Sounds like Tom Daly would would have been proud of the dive!. Hope it's just superficial damage.

Redhead
When you have a mind like mine it reacts very oddly to a sound like haw jelly.
A quick sloe gin sounds odd too.
JJ

Columba, it was quite scary at the time, but luckily no harm done. I think I must have rolled as I fell, which saved me from injury.

JJ, yes it was quite spectacular and I was given five 10s and an 6.5 from the Russian Judge. There doesn't seem to be any damage, and I spent a couple of hours digging this afternoon. I will probably ache from that!  A quick sloe gin sounds like something from Strictly come Dancing i.e slow, slow, quick quick slow.

I ran a very easy pace 4 miles this morning and will do the same tomorrow. Friday and Saturday will be rest days, so I must keep out of the garden.

Afternoon all,

Still grotty here so am hoping to see the quack tomorrow as doing nothing for a whole week hasn't improved how I feel.  Grrrrr.  Defo not doing the 10k on Sunday and not really bothered as I was only doing it to support a local race.

(((TE))), ouch, poor you.  I hate falling downhill.  You take care now please ahead of your pb race as we're expecting great things from one of our able-bodied team!

JJ, LOL.  Silly boy 

Columba, have you tasted a raw hawthorn berry?  Not very inspiring and I'm not sure a jelly is worth the effort.

OT, I agree we're a long time dead so don't give up anything without a fight!  Might be adviseable to give the 10k a miss if your ankle is still sore - I want you fit to run Brighton next year please 

Red, I hope your visit to the quack produces positive results. It's really horrible when you are unable to run, and I know that when I had the 2 weeks off due to the hammie, I felt really down in the dumps. I feel really lucky that I was unhurt by my fall, as I was running in a narrow gulley, which had a series of depressions, and it was when stepping down into one that I lost my balance. I somehow twisted sideways and managed to get my hands and arms on the ground at the side and push myself back onto my feet. I was lucky not to have been trampled on by those following behind.

I did another 4 mile run this morning, which was nearly 4 minutes quicker than yesterdays. I hadn't intended to go faster, but I presume the tapering is having a positive effect. Tomorrow and Saturday will be rest days.

The weather forecast for Sunday is still very unpredictable, depending on whether a low front blows over the South. If it does, it will be very wet and windy, but there is a chance that it won't, and if so will stay dry.

OT - I'm not sure that doctors ought to tell you to "pack in" things like running or footie, nor even things like smoking. They ought to say "If you don't pack it in this is what I predict will happen to you..."

Red - hope your doctor can get things sorted for you.

I am going to be given a jar of apple and rowanberry jelly, - this is by a neighbour whom I invited to help herself to my crab apples. It seems it's like cranberry jelly, - good with meat, rather than a sweet jam. 

Ran to the lake this morning, then 5 times along one side of it which is 0.19 miles in length, with rest breaks between; then home. Speeds varied from 9:40mm to 10:12mm.

Redhead, i have every intention of going over that finish line at Brighton next year whatever the difficulties are. I suppose you with your problems, neither of us are able bodied at the moment but thankfully we have the leeway to get fit and well.

Columba, to be fair to the Doctor she knows i do excess, don't do as i'm told and a  a bad patient. In the past she has suggested i should consider getting on a bicycle as its less intense, perhaps one day. I have to be fair i've said that Brighton next year may be my swansong, because marathon training is punishing at my age. But don't tell Redhead i've said that  !!! 

I heard that!

I've had a poorly day today too, started with a dash to the loo at 4am and after an hour or so started throwing up as well - probably too much info there! Called my boss and told her I'd be late, took some Immodium and got to work about an hour late. Wouldn't have gone at all except that I had to finish a project that the manager wanted by Friday. Anyway, finished it and sent it off, then left for the day. Am feeling a lot better tonight, ate a bread roll at 3pm and have polished off almost a whole bottle of cola - something I almost never drink but it does seem to settle a dicky tummy. Still don't want to eat though. Luckily I have a short day tomorrow, only working the morning.  

Very sad to find so many folks under the weather.
Had a mad day today, including getting rid of the tiler who isn't doing enough work. Didn't run either so not very good.
JJ

BIW, sorry to hear that you have been feeling unwell. Hope you soon feel better.

No running today or tomorrow, so will have to do boring things indoors. Shredding must be one of the most boring things ever, but there always seems to be lots of paperwork to dispose of securely. I am thinking about having more utility bills etc submitted on line, but the only drawback is that for identity checks, they always ask for recent utility bills, and won't accept those printed off the internet.

The forecast for Sunday is still uncertain, but the chances are that there will be bitterly cold east winds, and 2 inches of heavy rain.

BIW - hope you soon recover completely. You did well to get into work at all. Cola is amazing at settling upset stomachs; I don't know why, but it always seemed to work for my children, once they'd turned the corner and were beginning to recover. Preferably opened in advance and allowed to go slightly flat before being drunk. 

JJ - hope tomorrow is a little more sane, and that you can replace the tiler (or will you be stuck with doing it yourself?)

OT - is marathon training inevitably punishing "at your age"? Or could you do it if you were prepared to take it gently and not run the mara particularly fast?  (I do realise that the trouble with running a marathon slowly is that you'd be there all day).

This morning I did the first proper road run of my comeback; run number 7. It was 4 fairly flat miles. Splits were:
9:35
9:33
9:43
10:25 Cream crackered and not really concentrating. Warming down over the last bit.
Total 39:17 and about 9:45 average miling.
Not too bad for a first attempt and still at least a stone overweight. Any conversation while running would not have been very intelligent.

TE
I only shred very confidential stuff. I accumulate other docs into a neat pile and put then in the sink for a couple of hours with some hot water and washing up liquid.  I then take them out, wring out the water and put the damp mess in the recycling bin. It's good enough and quick.

Columba
Tiler is already replaced. Starts next week. I try to avoid DIY. I believe it stands for "Don't Involve Yourself".
JJ