Week 1, run 2, six months later. And no red kites.

[grumpyoldgirl]

Back to the start I go!

Got out on Monday for w1 run 1, then today for Week 1 run 2, which I last ran 6 months ago according to my app.

It was lovely and sunny, and a lot warmer than my run on Monday.

I had intended to amaze you all with a picture of four red kites which like to fly over my current running route. They were there when I started my run, soaring majestically overhead, but when I get my phone out they glide off quicker than I can point and shoot. They were probably sniggering.

So here's a photo of the empty sky where four red kites had just been.

What's that? Oh, the run! I took w1 r1 very slowly indeed and that was fine. But I'm aware that my glutes are not firing properly after so long on the couch.

Then today I had the brilliant idea (I say that now because it worked😜) of popping on an activator band around my legs to activate my glutes and wandered around the house for ten minutes, then took it off to do my run. Glutes all in working order from the start to the end.

It meant that I could pick up speed just a little from about half-way through the session, and legs felt fine. Very happy about that.

Added excitement in the form of three walkers who had stopped for a chat on the lane in the picture. When it's muddy and the distance isn't too long, I just head for that lane and go back and forth along it, then my cooldown walk gets me back home. So the people chatting all raised a hand or smiled the first time I went past. Smiled a bit more the second time. So I felt duty bound to explain I'd be going past them a couple more times before I was finished! On my last pass most of them had gone and one lady was returning back, and asked how long I'd be running so I explained briefly, and she wished me luck. Some people are lovely 😊

[Beachcomber66 Graduate]

That is exactly what we need. Great that you are out there again.

Buzzards sometimes hover above me on my runs; hoping for an easy meal. We get Red Kites over the moors….probably the meat supply is better up there! Just so nice to have surprises offered by nature. I can just about see a glimmer of Spring after the awful weather we have been having. A few weeks to go yet!

[grumpyoldgirl Graduate in reply to Beachcomber66]

🦅🦅 they are after you BC!Twenty years we would travel to spot a red kite, now they are thriving here. I love them.

Today was such a treat after the wind and rain. The first snowdrops are popping their heads up too!

[Beachcomber66 Graduate in reply to grumpyoldgirl]

The other good red kite spotting area is around the motorways; they probably swoop down for animals who don’t make it across the road. 🏃‍♂️🦅

[Annieapple Graduate]

🍏and you are lovely too grumpyoldgirl ! What super people! So enjoyed your descriptive run & feel sad we missed out on the kites. What a privilege. We never know what we will see & every run brings a slightly different surprise even if it’s the same route. Glad the fires behaved. Well done Run 2 sorted!! ✔️

[grumpyoldgirl Graduate in reply to Annieapple]

Thanks Annie, I haven't given up on getting a photo of them yet. 😊

[Annieapple Graduate in reply to grumpyoldgirl]

Yeah! We look forward to that! Xx

[MissUnderstanding Administrator]

😂😂 I’ve got plenty of photos of buzzards just the same. They’re not very cooperative photo subjects. Beautiful picture anyway though-I’ve almost forgotten what skies like that look like!

Good luck with your rerun. You’re in great company here and we’re all rooting for you!

[grumpyoldgirl Graduate in reply to MissUnderstanding]

Pesky things! 😂

[MissUnderstanding Administrator in reply to grumpyoldgirl]

This is my most successful one of late! It’s so lovely to see birds of prey. We get kestrels too but they’re even more camera shy!!!

Buzzard on tree

[SueAppleRun Graduate]

Just look at that sky! It was like that here too but by the time I took a photo there was AA lot of cloud cover.I'm certain you'll snap the kites for us one day, so glad you got out and it's milder today, almost springlike

[grumpyoldgirl Graduate]

It did cloud over later on but I was surprised at how warm I felt. Several layers lighter than two days ago! As for the kites it's game on!

[Oldgirlruns Graduate]

Welcome back on it GOG! That looks such a lovely place to run, kites or no kites!

[grumpyoldgirl Graduate in reply to Oldgirlruns]

Thank you! The lane's so handy for the early weeks but does involve a lot of back and forth. But then as the runs get longer and my strength improves (and the mud dries out!), there is a footpath to turn it into a longer route.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Lovely run, lovely photograph and lovely people... what a super putting for Week 1, Run 1 !

Plenty of exercises over on S and F to support that running body.... and blowing my own trumpet, ( just because I can...) , my own running body exercises could be a useful thing place to start there is help for hips and glutes somewhere there !

healthunlocked.com/strength...

Using supportive exercise form the onset of a return does help. Even small amounts do impact.

Well done you... and yes, it sems to me that sometimes. our photo subjects know exactly the right time to whizz off... and yes, I think they do giggle as they hide in the trees or bushes!

[grumpyoldgirl Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

I'll pop over there today, Floss. It's a rainy morning so it's a good day for getting the mat out😊

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to grumpyoldgirl]

Isn't it just!

[Over60sRunner Graduate]

Four big ticks

✔️ you got out there and ran 😀

✔️ you had blue skies 😀

✔️ you saw kites, even if they didn't oblige for a photoshoot! 😀

✔️ you met some lovely people 😀

Lots of great omens - keep it up and may your return be a spectacular one 🏃‍♀️

On another tack - we see lots of red kites and buzzards over the house here. Not more than a few miles up the road just outside Llangadog is a kite feeding station so we see many circling round the fields here prospecting. It's very busy round lambing time (they help clear up the placentas along with the corvids) and at hay making when they swoop down and grab large insects and the odd mouse..........I sit for hours sometimes with a cuppa just watching 🦅

[grumpyoldgirl Graduate in reply to Over60sRunner]

Sitting watching the birds is time well spent 😊

[Gthants]

Firstly: well done!

Secondly: excellent work with the invisible Kites; I know from experience that they're tough to capture on film, so you made a grand job of it. (I took photos of some of our local Kites last year, along with a majestic shot of a Peregrine; came home and proudly showed my lady some photos of ... a lot of empty sky.)

Thirdly: Say what? Activator bands? If I look that up online am I going to be dragged down a murky internet alley? 🫣

[grumpyoldgirl Graduate in reply to Gthants]

Heck. I couldn't possibly comment! Sandraj39 below is calling them resistance bands, so that might be a safer bet 😂

[grumpyoldgirl Graduate in reply to grumpyoldgirl]

I hadn't realised that there were so many of us with photos of empty sky, we could start a support group 😁

[Sandraj39 Graduate]

Well done on your run grumpyoldgirl .👍

By activator band, do you mean resistance band? And where do you place it?

Just thinking it could be worth trying myself,

[grumpyoldgirl Graduate in reply to Sandraj39]

I got mine for Pilates. I wear it around my thighs to push out against, it helps to stop my knee turning in and activates my glutes. They come in different sizes. Clashing stripey socks optional!

Activator band in situ

[Sandraj39 Graduate in reply to grumpyoldgirl]

Fab, thank you - I think I could use my resistance band like that.🙂

[grumpyoldgirl Graduate in reply to Sandraj39]

I have done in the past, just grabbed what was handy.

[Gottamakechanges Graduate]

I felt a bit daft going past the same people today - also W1R2 - especially given my 'running' didn't look much different to their walking 🤣 But we need to do the routes we do. Btw, what are activator bands and how do you know when gluts aren't firing? Thanks. Enjoy the ride 😉

[grumpyoldgirl Graduate in reply to Gottamakechanges]

I have a weakness on one side (hip which affects ankle which affects knee) so my left side does more work. I noticed in Pilates that I couldn't feel anything happening doing backward leg raises. A physio spotted the reason why. Then when I broke my ankle I had physio again to recover, and the same thing was happening. I've learnt to recognise it now, but long story short, every time I stop my normal exercises the nerve switches off and it takes a bit of conscious effort to fire it up again.

If you do an exercise which involves the glutes, you can put your hand on it and you should be able to feel the muscle moving if it's working.

I've attached a LOVELY photo of said band above. I wear it for my Pilates classes, it's a huge help. It also makes every exercise a bit harder to do 🙄 (you can move the band depending on the exercise)