'Mature' runners.

Three weeks of major house refurbishment nearly finished. Hall still to be tiled and about another half day's work for one guy.

OT
We've had a lot of rain here but the ground has been so dry it has soaked up the rain without too much bother.

TE
I think a lot of folks get their training wrong for a 1/2m. It's a difficult distance because you need a speed/endurance combination to run it quickly. You need a lot of tempo runs at threshold pace to train fast twitch fibres (type 2A?) to help the type 1s when the going gets tough.
JJ

Redhead
Tacca are very difficult as you know. Anything under about 15C and they get distressed.
Still, at £9 instead of £29 I had to give it a go didn't I.
JJ

JJ - "bat plant" doesn't mean anything to me either, nor does Red's description of "black dangly bits", - will google it and find a pic. 

TE - well done on racing in atrocious conditions, especially getting an AG of nearly 70.

OT - you must be really keen on mud to drive 240 miles for it . Bet you felt you'd had a narrow escape when you discovered you'd just driven along a road which is now impassable.

Went swimming last night. Had a very active day today. Had a plant to install, which a friend of mine had unexpectedly brought round (wish I could remember its name, but I can't. It's a ground-covery thing with narrow pointed leaves and spikes of flowers in shades of red and pink - JJ or Red may be able to identify it from that. It's quite a common thing, often see it around). Idecided I'd better do that early since it wasn't raining but rain was forecast. Having not been forewarned of the plant's arrival, I hadn't prepared a place for it but took up some weed suppressant to reveal some nice bare ground, added some compost which in turn involved me in digging the compost out of the older of my two composters, and installed the plant. After that it obligingly came on to rain, so I didn't have to water it. Next thing was to reorganise furniture in living-room, since the bookshelf which I'd painted was now dry (took ages, - considerably longer than it said on the tin) and decided on a major reshuffle, including moving another bookcase which in turn meant taking all the books off it, which in turn meant dusting them before moving the bookcase and replacing the books. Pleased with the final result; room seems bigger even though there are two additional items in it. Can't understand that. Newly-painted bookshelf has 3 separate shelves which will have to be painted one at a time as I haven't space to do two or all three simultaneously, and given the long drying time it will be at least the weekend before they will all be done and the books can finally come off the floor and back on the shelves. So I painted one of the shelves. Then went out to meet the running club for hill sprints. 

Columba, its not so much the mud but the rough natural terrain that does it for me, out of 320 runners there was 4 of us in the over 60s section, and whilst i came 3rd out of the 4 of us, i was in 254th place overall. I'm not keen on  these modern man made obstacle races that are getting popular, just natural outdoor stuff.

I see from your post you are quite handy in the diy dept.

Football tonight and no ill effects with the knee and ankle strange really when you consider the hammering they've had.

Morning all,

Off out for a 5.5 mile hilly plod soon.  I expect I'll get wet but don't care.

Columba, sounds as if it could be http://www.google.co.uk/images?client=safari&rls=en&q=persicaria&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&hl=en&sa=X&oi=image_result_group (persicaria in case the link doesn't work!).  It's good to have a reshuffle isn't it.

OT, I have a knitting chum whose hubby is a keen off-roader and they live up in Edinburgh and often travel to amazing looking places for his races.  He's a speedy boy (marathon about 3.5 hours) but some of the 1/2's he does take him nearly as long as that so they must be tough.

JJ, well you'll have to have an open day to show off your updated home  Batty was a right bargain and I'd probably have done the same and bought it at that price!  Good luck with keeping it alive - it's a good challenge. 

Red - persicaria, yes that is definitely it, thank you very much. It is looking quite perky in the rain, so hopefully it will settle in.

That tacca / bat plant looks quite alarming, though I can quite see why JJ is keen. I wouldn't want to stroll past it on a dark night; I might never be seen again.

Columba, thanks, conditions couldn't have been much worse. I'm aiming to get my WAVA into the seventies in the Solent Half. You seem to be a regular swimmer these days; do you do continuous lenghts?

OT, good that your knee and ankle held up for your football, after the tough 10k.

Red, hope you don't get drenched during your morning run. The rain is absolutely hammering down at present. I hope it has eased up a bit, when I go for my run after shopping. I intend an easy 6 miles on roads. No chance of going in the forest in these conditions.

Last night was a good session, and we did 6 hilly circuits on the road, comprising 0.33 mile with 60 sec recoveries between each. I did my first circuit much too fast, and sensibly (how boring) did the next 5 a little slower, but fairly consistent. My splits were :- 2.15, 2.25, 2.22, 2.25, 2.24, 2.27. 

TE - that looks very consistent. Estimating my pace is something I'm very bad at.

Yes, I do go swimming regularly, and I do swim continuous lengths (usually 30 of them), but I'm actually not much of a swimmer. Couldn't swim at all until I was in my early teens, and have a dislike to having my head underwater. However, I am battling against this dislike with the help of a pair of pretty good goggles, and have improved to some extent. I'd like to be able to swim front crawl, for which head-underwater is essential. At present I alternate breast-stroke with back crawl.  

Ran 5.2 hilly miles early this morning. After 400m it started to rain. By 800m I was soaked to the skin and completed the run with the rain still coming down in stairrods. Flash floods everywhere and an additional soaking from every car that came past. Didn't check the time properly because I had long since lost interest but I would guess the average at just about 10 minute miling.

Columba
Persicaria is a lively little beast. You will have to be quite firm with it.
You've got me wondering if the bat plant flowers come out only at night.

TE
You certainly got the pace right after the first rush of youthfull enthusiasm. Very good judgement.

Redhead
Did you get as wet as me?

I may have to have the glossy mags round to take house pics. Can they afford the fee though?
JJ

Columba, I used to swim twice a week, and usually managed 100 lengths. I only swam breast stroke, as I have never mastered the crawl. I haven't swum now for at least 4 years, as I made the decision to concentrate 100% on my running.

JJ, well done for completing your run in what sounds like horrendous conditions. You are right about my first effort being a rush of youthful enthusiasm; I ran it with the fast group, forgetting that I was probably twice as old as most of them.

I managed to dodge the rain this morning and ran a steady 6 miles on roads. I ran the first 5 at a very easy pace, and upped it for the final mile which I did in 9.09. I always attempt to do the final mile of any training run at the fastest pace, as this reproduces the finish of a race.

1:50 for a half in bad weather is a splendid effort.

I'm finally feeling better although not eating much, I don't have any appetite but on the other hand, I've lost weight so not all bad. Good excuse to go and buy some new clothes today! We have been at the house in Bavaria since Friday, lovely weather and met up with some old friends we hadn't seen for a while. Came back today with a big box of pears from our one and only pear tree, it's obviously very hardy as it got blown down last spring in the high winds, we managed to prop it up in the hope it wouldn't die and it hasn't. Result!

BIW, thanks, it was a better result than I expected. Good news that you are feeling better. You should treat yourself to bran new running gear, in readiness for when you are allowed back on the road.

One glass of chablis and some crisps. Nice!

IW
I refuse to do any jokes about a box of fine pears.
JJ

Thank heavens for small mercies!

We have chaos tonight in our beautiful City of York with the worst flooding in living memory, the  river ouse is not expected to peak until 8 o clock in the morning,so it is just getting worse, the emergency services are on full alert. It took my daughter 2 hours to get out of the city and drive 10 miles home after work, thankfully we are miles away from the danger. 

No running today i'm having a rest.

I hope everyone is okay 

OT - that sounds grim. I think the north-east's got it worst.

Went to Shrewsbury today - by train - to get new running shoes, the old ones now being very worn. Replaced with exactly the same kind, nothing different except colour. Also got a few other things, and sauntered around a church which has a wonderful collection of stained glass windows. They were brought in from several different sources at widely differing times, and it shows; panels depicting the life of St. Bernard all mixed up with Biblical scenes. I had planned to walk back to the station along the path that runs beside the river, but couldn't because the river had got there first.

Morning all,

Oh what a ghastly day yesterday!  One minute it was torrential rain, then the gale-force winds came along and blew it away, the sun came out and then the rains came again - all in the space of 10 minutes.  This was repeated throughout the day.  I'm glad we live near the top of a hill.

JJ, I too got drowned on my run and I cut it short as it was hellish out there.  Ended up doing just under 4 miles.

OT, I thought of you when I saw the news!  OMG, glad your daughter got out OK and thank goodness you live far enough away from the Ouse for it not to worry you at home.  Did I ever mention that my aunt and uncle used to live in Sheriff Hutton? It was near a trainer of race horses and I loved visiting just for that.

IW, glad you're feeling a bit better and good news about the weight loss.  Our pear trees haven't cropped well this year 'cos of the grotty weather when they were flowering.

TE, lucky you for dodging the rain!

Columba, did you take any photos of the windows?  I love stained glass.  Have you ever been to Tudeley (about 15 miles or so from Hastings) to see the Chagall windows?  They are stunning (I wrote about them here http://extremeknittingredhead.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/of-chagall-running-and-some-knitting.html if you want to take a look).

Off out for the planned 5.5 from yesterday as soon as the bread has baked.  It isn't raining at the moment............

OT, hopefully conditions are improving now in your neck of the woods.

Today is bright and sunny, and we have a timed speed session this evening. I don't know what will be involved, but am looking forward to it.

Red, hope you didn't get soaked during todays run.

Tiler is having a grout in the hall. Nearly finished.

I reckon all this rain is coming through the hole in the ozone layer.
JJ

We had a little rain this evening and a little thunder too, but it's gone again. Forecast is for lovely bright autumn weather for the weekend and beginning of October, hope they are right.

Charly has spent several hours playing with all sorts of things, had to rescue a beer bottle top from him amongst other things but now he's stretched out under the coffee table, fast asleep.