'Mature' runners.

Last night's hill session was run in heavy rain. We did 4 sets of 4x45 secs with jogs back down, and 60 seconds recovery between sets. After a longer recovery, we did 1 set of 3 jogs uphill, with fast downhills. Our total mileage was 7.12. Today is dry so far, but very cold. No run today, but a long run planned for tomorrow.

Red, you really are a busy bee I don't know how you fit so many activities into your life!

Had a stressful morning here so sod it left the office and went for a nice four mile run i in the sun, did 4 miles in 32 mins........feeling speedy at the moment love the winter training especially with a tail wind..........and the sun is out cold but lovely day here in Derbyshire after a wild night of rain............have agood weekend all. 14 miles hopefully for me on Sunday according to my schedule that I am following at the moment.

"Cold but lovely" here too this morning, but didn't run as I felt very tired. Put it down to having run two days in succession, something I don't usually do.

JJ - on the subject of cash dispensing machines, I went to one I often use, next to a Co-op, and found myself face to face with a blank wall!  I think perhaps they're upgrading them to make them harder to tamper with, as the one I next went to had been changed, now more like the ones they seem to have in London.

A lovely bright morning and nearly tropical at 2 degrees. Off for a long forest run later.

I set off at around 11.00 this morning for my run. It was still very cold, but warmed up as the morning went on. I ran 12 miles through the forest, mainly on grass, on the toughest training run I have done for years. It was all up and down hill. My time of 2.07 hours, compared with my recent Solent Half Marathon time of 1.49, reflects the difficulty.

There were lots of horse riders in the forest, who I believe were partaking in the annual pony round up. They are worried about inter- breeding, and want less foals to be born. Sale prices for ponies have been as low as £10.

Evening all
Ran 4.7 road miles yesterday with a couple of miles at sub-10 minute pace then did 4.1 miles off road today. A streak!

Christmas lunch tomorrow at younger son's place in Oxford. It's the only date between now and mid-Jan when we can get the whole family togther. We will be at home on Christmas day and will have to see who turns up for lunch. All very unusual!

Columba
The cash dispenser has probably been sold on Ebay by now.

TE
Your run would be excellent 1/2m training. It suggests you could be better than 1:49 for a race on a decent course.
JJ

JJ, your fitness seems to be coming back. Hope you enjoy your lunch tomorrow with your family. It's not very often that you can get the whole family together. My run was certainly chosen with longer distance races in mind. I do think that I can improve on my 1.49, as I ran that after taking the first few miles really steadily, as I was still afraid of my hamstring pulling again. I now believe that my hamstring and right calf are ok, and have started putting more effort into club sessions.

I believe I have already mentioned that a club runner has a place in the VLM and I intend doing long runs with her. If these go well, I will be comtemplating the Southdowns Marathon which is in June.

Afternoon all,

What a glorious day it was yesterday and I succombed and did 3 mile xc before we went out to visit Rye (they had lots of things going on as it was the official turning-on of the lights that afternoon).  Today the weather was bright but with a strong wind and I did an undulating/hilly 10 miles comfortably with only a few wheezy bits on the really steep hills 

TE, you'll need to do some really steep hills in prep for the SDM as there are some real crackers along that route!  Fabulous scenery though and well worth it.  That's a ridiculous price for a pony.  The Blue Cross are full to bursting with rescue horses at the moment as people can't afford to keep them any more.

JJ, steady on, that almost sounds like training   Hope you had a nice lunch.

hello everyone 

not done much running last week due to bad weather but went out today and did 10 miles, certainly didn't feel as easy as as last weeks 9 miles, legs felt heavy right from the start not like last week where i felt strong, having tomorrow off but back to running 3 on tues, 4 wednes and 4 thurs, and a long run sat or sun, gonna stick at 10 miles untill i find it not so hard as today

No frost when I woke this morning, so I ran 4.14 miles before breakfast. Rather slow and came back feeling vaguely unwell; probably the effect of no breakfast.  Feeling fine since.

Red, thanks for the tip regarding the SD Marathon. I used to do a lot of runs on the Downs, when I lived in Waterlooville. I ran the 6 miles to Queen Elizabeth Country Park on narrow, winding roads, ran up and down the hills, and then the 6 miles back. It was all uphill running to the Downs, and downhill coming back. I have only done one race there, and that was the Butser Hill Challenge, way back in 1999. It is still held every year, and is approximately 5 miles. I ran it in 41.42. Apart from a short run on the level at the start, the remainder was all up and down hills. The route was familiar to me as I had trained on the hills. Also, having driven to the start, I didn't have the 6 miles road uphills in my legs so was in good form for the race.

Well done on various long runs, people.

sarnie, it makes sense to stick with 10 for a while, and get accustomed.

We had our village Christmas Fun day on Saturday - seemed quieter than previous years, but still pleasant.

TE, it seems you know what you might be letting yourself in for! I did the Meon Valley Plod a few years back, as part of marathon preparation. It followed the wettest weather they had had during the years it's been going, so very tough with deep mud across the fields, and numbing floods in the lanes! It includes the climb up Butser Hill, and the drink station at the top offered hot coffee, with the option of a dash of brandy in it, which I have to say I accepted. The 20ish miles took me longer than the marathon later in the year!

Just 7 miles for me yesterday, which felt quite hard going, but it was lovely to be out.

Well done to the racers at the weekend. Had a busy weekend but got out Sunday am in the pouring rain and strong wind blowing into my face all the way our for 7 miles before I turned and ran back another 7 managed to keep going, though wanted to stop all the time, think the glass of red wine, which is rather a rarity for me on Friday night was in my legs. Anyway managed 14 miles in 1.58 which was too quick really, but hey done, so happy. Having a rest day today as the legs a touch sore.
Happy new week all and keep running.

'evening
Ran 4.5 road miles this afternoon on an uninteresting route. Splits were:
9;58 warming up and steep uphill
9:39 steep uphill
9:37 steep uphil
9:40 steep uphill
.5m 45 secs steep downhill.
I'm being economical with the truth. It's actually what it felt like.

Toying with the idea of running all the Kent Grand Prix races next year except the marathon.. That's one per month over 10 months in a season-long competition. Doesn't include an M70 age group though.
JJ

That definitely sounds like, dare I say it? Training, JJ! Got your mojo back eh?

9 more non-run days for me.......

JJ, that Kent Grand Prix sounds a good competition to do that gets you racing for most of the year. Even without the marathon, there is still a 20 miler in there.

Mcs, hate those runs where you have to talk yourself out of stopping all through it. I can manage it during hard bits in the middle or the bit at the end but not all through the run.

Found another santa sprint next sunday to do with the grandson. The last one was 1 k and this one will be 2 k which is a long way for a 4 year old. Be interesting to see if he can do it.

Thinking of trying a cross country in January. The last one I did was in school  45 years ago in the old white pumps. I am wondering whether I can get away without spikes as it may be the only one I do or, if not, how cheap I can get them.

derek
Check the course route before you buy spikes. Most courses have stretches where spikes don't work. Try "knobblies" - shoes with short rubber studs or you get away with trail shoes.
JJ

Diana,I remember the report about that race and the atrocious conditions. I had thought about entering it, and as it turned out, am glad I didn't. I can't remember the year, but it must have been at least 6 years ago?

Mark, an excellent time, especially in those adverse conditions!

JJ, definitely smacks of structured training.

BIW 9 days and counting until "lift off!"

Bright and sunny this morning but a very cold wind. I ran a very easy pace 5.25 miles in the forest.

Evening all,

No running day for me but I did manage to be a lady wot lunches in Tunbridge Wells and fitted in some Christmas shopping.  Back to the intervals tomorrow.

JJ, which 20 miler does it include?  I didn't know there was one in Kent.  Why isn't there an M70 age group?  That's just wrong.

IW, omg it's getting exciting now 

TE, I expect you'll shoot up those hills anyway so I shan't worry about you!

Redhead
Folkestone 20. Running it once killed my FLM performance because I hadn't recovered properly.
Kent has never had an M70 age group in its races, including the championship at each distance. I've been campaigning for one, and an M65 group ever since I stopped being a competitive M60.
JJ