'Mature' runners.

JJ - of course they do, I'd forgotten.

Maybe some garlic would help?

Anyone know anything about butterflies? Yesterday, there were dozens which were black with a broad red band near the back. They were clinging onto the windows and front door. They have all gone today. I wish I had taken some photo's which I could have put on here.

The theme of the fest was the middle ages, all the stallholders were dressed in period costumes and there was straw all over the floor - mostly food and drink on offer but some pretty jewelery too. I didn't buy any but I did get a kilo of Dornfelder grapes - they are a very deep purple colour and make my favourite wine.

John and I went swimming this morning, I did 1600m crawl and John swam 2000m, enough for a Sunday! Tuesday evening winter swim training begins, hopefully Kathrin will go really easy on us for the first session. I am still not allowed to swim breaststroke but that's no hardship as I don't like it anyway.

7 miles done today in perfect conditions and the old knee came through okay. I'm beginning to feel good about my fitness again and there are signs especially on the weighing scales that the weight is coming off.  

Evening all,

10 miles this morning and felt reasonably OK although slow on the hills.  Lots of gardening this afternoon.

TE, Red Admiral?  If not they were probably foreign visitors.  Can't think of any other natives but will consult my book to check,

Red, I thought they might have been Red Admirals, but know nothing about butterflies at all. They struck me as being very bright, in fact I don't recall seeing anything like them before.

It seems I am the only one not running or swimming today, and the weather has been fine. Always seems the way!

My first thought was Red Admirals too, but it sounded from the description that the  ones TE saw had too much black - red admirals are primarily red with some black markings.

.

Been in darkest Essex today to see No.2 daughter. Baby is now a week overdue.

They don't sound at all like red admiral butterflies. They sound more like moths to me.
JJ

Morning all,

We have rain, which is good as I want some to settle in the plants I planted yesterday 

TE, I've scoured my flutterby book and there aren't any other natives that fit your description.  You didn't mention any spots but if it had spots and stripes of red then there a couple day-flying moths such as the Cinnabar moth (never seen one but would love to!) or the 5-spot Burnet (one of my favourites and often seen on thistles).

JJ, hope baby arrives soon.

Hi Jim!

Where have you been all this time, Jim? Good to hear from you.

Thanks all for your buttefly/moth inputs. I have googled British butterflies and moths and there was nothing like the ones I saw. I have come to the conclusion that they must have been foreign visitors. There was a recent programme on TV which had a feature on butterflies and moths, and I think it was Chris Packham who explained the way to differentiate between them. I believe it was to do with the shape of the wings. I only brought up the subject as they were so attractive, and brighter than any other specimens that I had seen previously.

Ran a steady 6 miles this morning in heavy rain, and when I got home, it stopped. It has been bright and sunny all afternoon.

On the butterfly subject we get plenty of red admirals taking refuge in our garage for some reason, some at the time of year when you don't expect to see them.

No running today, resting.

2 doodle walks but no runs.

Jim
Thanks.
Nice to hear from you again.
JJ

Morning all,

Awwh Jim, we missed you to xxx

OT. we've still got Red Admirals in the garden but the Peacocks (butterflies not birdies!) are starting to take refuge in the garage.  Have the waters subsided in York yet?

I'm just off to do some intervals on the treddy.  Let's see if I can breathe through them..........

Can't help on the butterfiles/moths. Used to see a lot of smallish black moths with crimson spots on wings, when I was living in London. Forgotten the name but in caterpillar form they are yellow and black striped and live on ragwort plants.

TE - no, you were not the only one neither running nor swimming on 30th. I ran on the 29th and swam on 1st, but had a restful day on 30th.

Hello again Jim. Stick with us, even if only to say Hi from time to time.

OT - well done on weight loss and improving fitness.

Hello Jim, long time no hear.

Columba, glad that I wasn't the only one resting on the 30th.

Weather horrible today with very strong winds and heavy showers. We have a hill session this evening, and it will be interesting to see how many turn up.

Hmmm, treddy session was just about acceptable.  1 mile warm-up then 6 x (400m @ 8.5 min miling with 1 min recs), 1 mile cool-down.  Didn't push for 10 reps as breathing a bit laboured when running, although I recovered quickly during the recs.  Tomorrow will be a longer road run as conditions off-road are bad after the recent deluges.

Weather's been a nuisance all day - rain one minute then dry the next with strong winds.

TE, hope your session was OK.

Carp day weatherwise.

The moth is the 5 spot burnet.
JJ