'Mature' runners.

If he's still saying the same things when sober as when he's been drinking, I would be concerned that he is (or ought to be) under some sort of supervision.

Last nights club session totalled 8 miles. The 7 mile main session was a proper fartlek, and not 7 x 1 mile as scheduled. We made it a bit more interesting in the latter miles by taking it in turn for one runner to sprint ahead for as far as they wished, run back to the pack and another runner sprint off etc. The rain held off, although the roads were very wet underfoot.

Living in the Peak District, the ground drains pretty quickly here so not too much of a problem though the mud is pretty thick in the fields at the moment sticking to the Monsal Trail and other paths. Have a good weekend all.

An easy pace 8 miler this morning.

Rain again today. Everywhere is swamp like.

mcs
We have Wealden clay which doesn't drain very well.

Columba
Maybe he is permanently under the influence?
JJ

A bright sunny morning, which is always the way on my rest days. Aiming for a 15 miler tomorrow, which will be my last long run, prior to the Bramley 20 mile, which is on Sunday 17th February.

JJ - maybe he is, - that thought had not occurred to me.

Heavy clay here too, - ground almost permanently soggy, and grows reeds and other marsh-loving plants very readily.

Not long back from an interval session. 1.6 miles warm-up to the lake, then 10 times along one straight side of it - Garmin measured it variously as anything from 481' to 502', probably depending on exactly when I pressed the lap button. Times varied from 51 seconds to 54 seconds, speeds (in minute miling) from 9:04 to 9:59. Walk breaks between intervals varied from 1 minute to 2 minutes. 

Sunshine but cold wind.

Great rugby this afgternoon. I would have enjoyed playing in that one.

Columba
You can "standardise" intervals and do an accurate comparison by dividing the number of seconds by the distance then multiplying by the, say, average distance. In the case above you could work out your pace for each rep as though it were maybe 500'.

TE
Make sure it's an easy 15 miler.
JJ

Red - have you seen that scary man again?  Not a pleasant experience.

B.I - Thank you for the swimming advice. I am going to phone the centre and ask when their quietest sessions are, and hopefully they won't be when I am at work. Then I can practise. I would love to be able to swim properly. All my children can swim like fish and they are completely foxed that I can't do the same.

mcs - Hope you are over feeling poorly.  Best of luck with the interviews. 

As for me, I have been busy, pilates Wednesday, zumba dance on Thursday. The first dance class I went to left me aching like a little old lady ( Hang on a minute... I AM a little old lady! ) but this time I am more or less okay. Quite a bit of running - 6 miles today through icy wind, sleet, snow and hail. I have been using the treadmill the rest of the time and it's great now that it is working. We have a house in Spain which is 7km up on the top of a mountain. There is a circular mountain path that goes one mile down one side and then one mile up the other.  I love to run it when I am there. And now I can run it on the treadmill, with map and photos from Google earth. It's brilliant.  13 miles tomorrow, but outside, not on the tready.

It's lovely that sunrise is happening a little earlier. I was out by 7.30 this morning. Roll on Spring.

Little K is now running for the county and has been in Linconshire today (a 3 hour coach journey away ) competing. 

Columba, sounds like an interesting session.

Matsmum, good luck with your 13 miler today. Hope the conditions are better than you described yesterday, and that little K did well in her race.

JJ, yes the 15 miles will be slow, as approximately 10 of them will be in the forest. It is one degree at the moment, with a forecast of a high of nine.

Supposed to be 8C today but it doesn't feel anywhere near that.

matsmum
The moree exercise you get the better but don't overdo the leg work. You don't need an injury.
If you're using the tready set the gradient at 1.5 and you will get fairly close to replicating road running.
JJ

Matsmum - if I had one of those treadies I would be having fun running in unlikely places such as Antarctica and the Gobi desert.

My children are the same, - they all swam early and competently, and are a bit amazed that I am such a non-fish. I don't know about you, but in my childhood swimming pools were often closed because of polio, and i didn't start going regularly until I was in my teens.

JJ - thanks for the calculation info.

13 miles today then a cooldown mile on the tready. Sad dreams last night and my mind was tired with it all. Then I forgot to take any food with me!  Not wise to  run 13 miles with only a small banana for breakfast. Especially when it's windy. There was a lot of black ice on the lanes for the first half. But I did see a deer running across the fields, so that made the effort worthwhile.

JJ - Thanks for the advice about the incline - I will do that.  I am not running fast on the treadmill. I have not used one before and am not confident about keeping my balance yet. But I am using it quite a lot - it's very tempting when you can go round different routes!

Columba - I never even saw a swimming pool until I was 14. And when I did go I was petrified!   It was outdoor and not heated ofcourse, and being a very skinny child I went blue within minutes since I dared not let go of the side!  I didn't go again until I had children and wanted them to be confident in the water.  I learned to swim myself so as not to pass on my fears to my kids. I can jump in and do a reasonable breast stroke, but that is about it.

TE - Thank you, the 13 miler went as well as it could under the circumstances! And K had a lovely time in spite of the long journey and acquitted herself very well on all accounts. She loves her county t-shirt!

Really enjoyed today's forest run. It has dried out to a certain extent, and we were able to run more or less where we intended, without having to retrace our steps. I ran 15.25 miles, which included approximately 6.5 miles on roads.I'm really looking forward now to the 20 miler, as I have put in high mileage, and incorporated plenty of speed and hill work. It felt really cold the whole run, even though I was wearing three tops and a hat.

Tomorrow evening is the club's AGM, and there will be lots of changes, as many committee members are resigning. The aim is to elect a younger, dynamic committee with new ideas etc.

Haven't heard from Red for a couple of days, so hope she is ok!

Well done little K!

Been busy today - Sunday swim I did 2400m, then a 5 sets of core intervals exercises at home, and pedalled 1 hour on the turbo while watching Italy beat France at rugby. Super game, really enjoyed it like JJ did. Made a chicken curry for dinner, and am now relaxing with a glass of red wine.

I have always been told I first went in the sea when I was 2 years old, on holiday in Wales, that probably accounts for my love of swimming. Since then the only time I've been scared of swimming was my first race at Remagen (famous for an old war film about the bridge across the Rhine). You are ferried 2.8km up the Rhine river on a car ferry and then they drop the tail for everyone to dive into the river! Was really scared the first time but now that is my favourite triathlon of all, I just love swimming in the Rhine.

Matsmum, it sounds as though your childhood swimming was even more restricted than mine! I went a few times to a privately-run outdoor pool, but it didn't really lend itself to learning, - more of a funsplash thing. Also went in the sea on holidays to grandparents who lived in Bournemouth - liked splashing around in the waves but didn't learn to swim there either. From 11 years old I went swimming with a school group, summer terms only, and didn't learn to swim there either, but started going on my own on Saturday mornings and eventually one day just swam, - think I was 14 by then! BIW, I think perhaps you have mermaid genes. 

Been swimming this afternoon, rather warmer than I would have been running.

I was wondering about Red, too.

Bought a new pait of trainers yesterday. they were Asics 1000, which are the follow on to the 1170. The 2170 are replaced by 2000. The 1000 have a lower heel and are lighter than the previous model. I believe the lower heel is to cater for the current trend to more forefoot landing.

No run yesterday as it was our Club AGM. Lots of changes and exciting times ahead! Tonight is figure of 8 circuits, but I won't wear my new trainers. I will take an easy run in them tomorrow.

I do hope Red is ok, as it is now several days since we have heard from her.

Redhead put an entry on her blog on Sunday, which is one day more recently than she posted on here. It reports a 15-mile run battling with asthma, and includes several photos.

Hey come on Redhead you are an ever present, hugs and well wishes to you. Having a bad year myself........letter of Redundancy being delivered to this office by a Dutchman on Thursday am and allowed to leave immediately I think, dont have to work three months notice period.  Had an interview yesterday but the money is rubbish but better than dole money I suppose, though struggling to deal with all this stuff.  Windscreen cracked on the way up to Buxton too so a great day!!! Another interview tomorrow about half an hour away so not too bad.
Keep on running guys its the only thing that keeps me sane, a three mile blizzard run to work with daughter this am.

Chin up mcs - you know what they say, one door closes. another one opens.  Something better may be waiting for you down the road.