'Mature' runners.

TE - it certainly seems that whoever makes the rules is quite viciously ageist.

Columba, I believe it is England Athletics who make the rules. They are very unpopular with running clubs as they have increased the subscriptions without any consultations.

England Athletics? - Then I'm glad I live in Wales!

Just over 8 miles this afternoon. It was sunny though the wind was cold, until about 10 minutes before I got home, when it clouded over, turned very chilly, blew hard and then began to rain when I was about 2 minutes from my front door.

Evening all,

Just popping in to wish TE good luck for tomorrow.  I really want you to get a prize!  Run strong, be proud and beat as many of those pesky 60yos that you can! xxx 

Red, thanks! I'll certainly beat as many of the young 60s as possible. The forecast is for heavy showers tomorrow morning, clearing in the afternoon. This race appears to be cursed with bad weather, as it has rained nearly every year. There is a stretch of road on the course that always seems to be flooded, so tomorrow won't be any exception. I'll do a write up in the evening, if I'm not too shattered.

Afternoon all,

Been thinking of you this morning TE as it's been ghastly here!  Torrential rain and gale-force winds.  We were supposed to be getting our hay delivery but that was cancelled for obvious reasons.  The sun is out now but the wind is vicious.

Cold here too (frost overnight) but not raining. I have been in the garden raking up leaves and demolishing the remains of the runner bean plants. Am now indoors thawing my frozen toes.

My right calf, which had been hurting all week, let me down at about half a mile. I stopped and contemplated walking back to the start, as it felt like it had been hit with a cricket ball. I continued, however, and finished in 1.27.25 by my Garmin and was 4th V65. Despite the very disappointing time, I was pleased with my position, as I had struggled with the painful calf, throughout the race. I will post a fuller account later, if I am still awake.

Masses of overnight rain here which continued well into this morning. Lots of standing water in the fields and the Medway is a raging muddy torrent right at thee top of its banks. Won't be long before it floods.

TE
Not a bad result given the wrecked calf. Hope you didn't make the injury too severe by carrying on.
JJ

JJ thanks. I will rest it for a few days. You will be interested to know that the first male 70 was 1.13.08. More later.

Redhead, I sympathize - I too am lurgified. My assistant had a bad cold last week and I came down with it on Friday - If my legs could only run as fast as my nose I'd be Olympic and world champ! I've been taking DayMed capsules and today my nose isn't running any more, but it's totally blocked so I can't breathe properly. John hasn't shown any signs of it yet but I'm guessing it's only a matter of time. Hope you and Mike are feeling a bit better now.

TE  - well done anyway to finish the race. 1st M70 in 1:13???? That's a stonking good time for 10 miles - is he well known in your area?

BIW, thanks. The 70 year old is not local, his name is John Gardener and his Club is Pembroke.

Red, the weather has been ghastly here also. A full write up of my race will be tomorrow, as I am suffering from racing 10 miles "on one leg."

Morning all,

Hurrah, I'm virtually lurgy-free (just a bit chesty still).  Poor Mike is still suffering though.

TE, well, a time like that with a sore calf and coming in 4th V65 is pretty darned brilliant in my book!  Hats off to the M70 but of course you will have to beat him next time   Hope your calk isn't as sore today.

IW, hope your lurgy clears quickly and that JOhn doesn't succomb, although it is probably inevitable that he gets it too.

JJ, the ground here is sodden.  I'm not looking forward to the winter months if we get much more of this as the fields will be trashed.

We're still waiting for DEFRA to contact us about the latest tree problems - an infection in Ash trees, in case you haven't heard.  We already have to watch out for signs of infection in Oak (of which we have many) & Chestnut trees (only a few) but now the poor Ash trees (again, we have many) have got a similar problem and there have been outbreaks in Kent, the county next to us.  I dread to think what our hedgerows and woodland would look like if they all have to be destroyed as in the case of Dutch Elm disease   

At the moment they are saying that the cost of felling and removal must be met by the landowner which works out around at least £1000 per tree.  A quick glance out of the window and I can count 15 Ash trees without trying too hard, yikes!  The problem is that if they don't offer any compensation then people will be discouraged from reporting it.  I expect this is going to be in the News for some time.

Sad to hear the Ash story Redhead, I have a friend who is a tree surgeon as is my son in law they are going to be very busy......
Just back from the lakes and catching up. NIce running TE hope the calf recovers.
Entered 26.2 but probably too old for that now.....
Had a great time up the Lakes, did Scafell Pike and Great Gable and had rain, snow and hail amongst beautiful colours and thankfully we were in a pod, unlike the daughter and hubby in a tent, it rained and rained every night though we managed to get up the mountains in dry weather before snow on the tops forced us off quickly having reached the tops. It was a compass reading and get off quick on Scafell Pike as our tracks were being covered very quickly.
Six miler to work in lovely sunshine though cold this morning. TIme to do some work. Have a happy week all.

MCS, sounds wonderful - I love the lakes, one of my favourite parts of England.

Good to hear you're feeling better Redhead. I'm now using Japanese mint oil to clear my head,seems to be working. As luck would have it, I'm on holiday from work this week, need to get better in a hurry so I can enjoy my time off! John is working about 400km away this week and the dogs are both fast asleep after their morning play time - I think I shall have a good long soak in a hot scented bubble bath, doesn't that sound nice? Probably a bit too early though to be really decadent and take a glass of wine with me........

Thanks everyone for your kind comments, which are much appreciated. As promised, here is a fuller write up of my race. Owing to torrential rain Saturday night, it was touch and go whether the race would go ahead, owing to extensive flooding of roads on the route. Some of the flooded areas were 50 metres or more, and ankle deep. Thankfully the race went ahead, and I car shared with two club mates to the venue. Car parking was at the new Ordnance Survey premises, with a 15 minute walk to the new Oasis Academy to collect our race numbers. We walked back to the car to pick up our bags, and walked back to the Academy to pin on our numbers and change into our race gear. It was then a two minute walk to the race start, and it was still raining heavily. My calf had been no problem with all the walking, and I set off running easily at around 7.30 pace. It was too good to be true, and at about 1/2 mile, my right calf felt as if it had been hit by a cricket ball. I had to stop, and when the other two came by I said that I would probably give up and walk back to the finish. I then, probably foolishly, decided to carry on and caught them up. We ran together until just after 2 miles, when I started to slow badly, and they went ahead and vanished into the distance. I struggled along, being overtaken by runner after runner. I was wading through ankle deep, freezing cold water, wary of the hidden potholes, and cursing ignorant car drivers going to fast through the water, causing waves. As I approached half way, I decided to ignore the pain and dig in to attempt to catch my colleagues. They must have been a very long way ahead, as no matter how hard I was running, they were nowhere to be seen. Eventually, at around 8 miles, I saw them in the distance in the Industrial Estate, and this gave me the incentive to dig in even harder to try and catch them. I caught one of them with about 400 metres to go, and the other just beat me by a couple of steps. Another few metres and I would have caught her. My splits were :- 8.59 9.02 9.28 9.35 8.41 8.30 8.47 8.29 8.19 7.31. A negative split of 4.09 minutes.

Well done TE. I have had a calf pull it feels like you have been shot in the leg or hit by a cricket ball as you describe it, I did mine last May playing footie and thought someone had kicked me in the calf. HObbled for a few days, you did amazingly to finish hope no long term injury result. Rest up this week. All the best.

MCS, thanks. I don't think I have done any long term damage, as the calf isn't too painful, and just gives nasty twinges now and again. I will certainly have a few rest days to help the recovery.

Oooh, I love your negative split!  Ice and rest should sort you out.

Mcs, tree surgery is a good business to be in at the moment.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that our trees are OK but apparently it's a wind-borne pathogen so we can't be certain yet.  The colours in the Lakes must have been beautiful.  Rain is almost a given at this time of year I suppose.

I shall be out for  a plod tomorrow 

Red - I had heard of the problem with ash trees on the BBC news, - it sounds quite dire. We lost all our elms to Dutch Elm disease, and now this.

BIW - there are few things so pleasurably decadent as soaking in a scented bath with a glass of wine to hand! But as you say,  11.00 a.m. is a bit early for wine. You could have just stayed in the bath until it was late enough?

TE - full marks for determination and fortitude, and I hope the calf recovers quickly.

No rain here today. Sunny but cold. Will almost certainly freeze overnight.

Been swimming.