Hello lovely runners. How is everything going for you?
First up, a little administrative business! Sadly the lovely Decker has decided to hand in his admin badge due to growing pressures of life beyond HU. We're really pleased that he will still be around as a regular contributor, but will miss him hugely on the admin team. Although he wants no fuss, I do have to take a moment to thank him here, on behalf of the admin team and all our forum members. In happier news, the amazing Cmoi has agreed to join the admin team and is now sporting a full Administrator badge; she has been doing all the work for some time now and the new badge is very well deserved 🙏
So, how was your weekend? Did you manage to run Tim’s Run? I'm loving reading everybody's postsand looking at all the photos - so many, so beautiful;a wonderful tribute to a wonderful man. When I last checked we had raised an astonishing amount - over £2500 - in Tim's name, I like to think he would be proud of us!
So, what’s been happening in your running world? Any news? Please do share it.
My big news is that I just retired! To celebrate I'm about to go away for three weeks and hope to find some beautiful locations to run. By the time I'm back it will be almost Christmas so life is pretty hectic right now, despite giving up the day job 😍
Do you have any big changes on the horizon? Any news? Did you find any Black Friday bargains (I succumbed to a watch upgrade 🙈)? How's your running looking now the days are shortening and the temperatures dropping?
Whatever else is happening in your life, we hope your running is going well and helping keep you grounded! If you can't run just now then we hope you are finding other ways to stay grounded.
But whatever you’re up to, have a great week everyone.
From the Marathon Team xxx
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🥳 If you have an event in December and you’d like a pompom cheer or if you’re just curious what your VRBs are up to then go here:
🏅If you’ve run a milestone run:10 miles/Half Marathon/Metric Marathon (26.2K)/Marathon/Ultra (50K and beyond) and want a shiny new badge, then head here:
Thank you Decker for all your encouragement and support. You will be missed as an Admin but glad you’re still sticking around. A big thank you to all the admins that volunteer & Cmoi for stepping into an official role.
It was wonderful to read so many posts today on Tim. So moving.
No Black Friday shopping as our mortgage is going up and up along with our food bill with all those boy’s.
Running news - just 196km left for the year now. I had a cut back week last week whilst camping.
Happy week everyone ❤️🏃♀️🏃🏻♂️
Beach near our camp site on the South coast in Western Australia.
Oh what a beautiful beach RW! I know what you mean about food bills - I notice outrs has crept up to where it was when our last boy left home last year - and he ate LOT!
You are so close to your annual goal now - how exciting. Enjoy those last kilometres with a smile knowing it's a job well done 😊
Thanks RW I will still be around , just in a less formal way🙂. 196 is so close! Love your photo too. Such a nice contrast to our overcast -5 this morn 🏖️
Good morning Linda and happy retirement ! Retirement was a happy event for me, but really disorienting. After years of getting up very early, a round trip drive of 96 miles each day through heavy traffic and coming home late, suddenly having lots of time on my hands was a real challenge. It worked out well though 🙂. I am sure that you will have the very best kept garden around; but you probably already have that anyway!
Just a steady build up of fitness and distance on the cards for me; Captain Sensible mode as cheeky would say. I have toyed with the idea of a new watch for over 12 months, but I always come back to the same question; what useful data will I get which my faithful four year old easy to operate Forerunner 35 doesn’t give me? So it might just be socks for Christmas again 🙂
My garden is in the most awful state!!! I'm really hoping that is going to change now, but I wouldn't like to guarantee anything 😍 Sadly I too am coming to the realisation that, beyond a certain age, sensible is the only way to go to maintain consistent running. Stick with it!!!
I forget now how I justified my new watch to myself (although selling the old one on eBay together with a great BF price certainly helped)... but I want very little for Christmas this year😍
My F35 was a C25k graduation gift; it doesn’t really deserve to be removed from my wrist and left on a shelf. A faithful friend.
I was 60 before I retired properly. Even then I did loads of voluntary work to occupy what is left of my brain. Doing nothing is very hard work if you have had a busy life!
People I worked with said that their fathers had retired, but had very quickly got bored and returned to work. I was determined not to do that; couldn’t have coped with the smug looks when I went back in!🙂
Hi Decker. Life getting in the way of running is a real pain! I like reading your posts from Ontario; they remind me of happy and adventurous times spent there with our daughter. I hope that the pressures you are facing ease and that you find enough time to exercise your running shoes. Thanks for all you did for us. 🙂
Aw thanks BC. Yes I will still be around, just a bit less structured I suppose and I will still provide steady drip of Ontario posts and photos for you. I love that someone actually recognizes some of the places I mention 😅
Wishing you a very happy retirement and a wonderful time away. Holiday runs are just the best.
I’ve been a bit flat after the half marathon happened and then I got covid. Last week was much better and I made it out for a couple of 6ks, a short speed run and a mile with my husband who doesn’t run! Feeling like the mojo is well and truly back
I’ve decided that I’m going to train for a marathon next year. I’ve always said I’d never do it except for London but since I didn’t get a place, I can’t stop thinking about having a go somewhere else. It wouldn’t have to totally take over my life, right?!
I haven’t been around here much (still feeling a bit like a fraud to be honest!) but I’ve seen some great posts from Decker and he’ll be missed as an admin. Congratulations to you Cmoi , you’ll do a brilliant job.
Now for some cyber shopping while Black Friday continues…
Ugh, that dip after a major event is tough isn't it? But you are no fraud, that's for sure.
Finding a new goal is often the way out of a dip like that and deciding on a marathon sounds perfect! It certainly needs a bit more training but it doesn't need to take over your life (unless you secretly want it to 😍). Exciting!
Speaking from experience, try not to let it takeover your life. It makes it really tricky when you come out the other side 😬 But saying that, enjoy the ride!
Wishing Decker the very best going forward. A really lovely person to have had contact with on here.
A huge congratulations to the radiant Cmoi who always takes time to like and comment and whose runs I really like to look out for😃😃😃.
Best wishes on your retirement linda9389 the next few weeks sound so lovely and invigorating for you and your running.
Tasha99 and I continue to run together and support each other. We both managed to get some brilliant running shoe bargains lately that will last us through the winter months and beyond. Running Tim's run in Redcar was a special moment to reflect on so many people we're grateful to have got to know via this incredibly wonderful, warm and supportive forum.
What lovely comments GTFC. It really is all about the people, with a generous dollop of shared running passion on top. Wishing you both many happy runny miles in the new shoes 🥰
My dad spent virtually his whole working life in the steelworks on Teesside ( after the Royal Navy let him go at the end of the Second World War). I can remember him saying, when I was about 5 years old, that he thought that it would close soon! It always seemed to be on the brink in his eyes at least. Lasted a bit longer than he thought 😐
while I was up to there for Parkrun I got OH to drive us about the area around the works. These places interest me 🤓. What life was like back in these industrial areas back when we produced things!
I love the song “Ship Building”, also about the Falklands conflict. A lovely song written by Declan McManus (aka Elvia Costello) who wrote it to be sung by Soft Machine drummer, Robert Wyatt ( who coincidentally has a cabin where I was marathon running last weekend 🙂🏃♀️
😂 when I was 11, so about 1963, my dad took me to see the rolling mills at Brittania works. Hundreds of men, lots of heat smoke and smell and white hot steel whizzing around on rollers. The message was “stick in at school or end up here!”
Many years later I took a group of African visitors to see the rolling mills at Lackenby. One guy with a joy stick and a lot of screens had replaced the workers! Structural unemployment in a nutshell.
There are pockets of resistance! I was up on the Brecon railway recently and they buy engines - steam or diesel- and alter their gauge etc. they build new stock too. We went in to watch them “turning” some huge great new piece. A white-haired guy as per 😀
We’ve got a Victorian tannery near me still doing things the old way with vegetable tannins When everyone else turned to leathers for furniture they didn’t. Cricket balls! Leather hinges for red phone boxes, leather strops for Wilkinson Sword. Leather belts for mills 🙂
It’s a spooky place inside for a visit Always after the place has shut down for the day. The stink is less bad then. The process is chemistry as it always was We’ve still got a cast iron works too 🙂
vacuum cleaner sellers, men who sold polish etc from brown suitcases (our told fortunes too) 😁. Not forgetting the onion seller from Roscoff 🤔Hmm 🙂. You never need go out 🙂
Thank you Decker for your excellent Admin, and definitely please don't be a stranger here Congratulations on your Retirement Linda - well deserved without a doubt and best wishes for it to be enjoyable beyond your greatest hopes
Nothing much new here. Just back from three months crewing on a Brigantine out of LA, not much opportunity (or room lol) to run, but picking back up and hoping to be at previous level - no more FMs though lol - by the new year. I am looking forward to Ten Milers and possibly an odd HM or two, but basically Tim's philosophy of running with a smile is priority from here on in
Thanks IJ - I love the sound of that!!! Have fun building your running fitness back. Making 'running with a smile' a number one priority sounds like a recipe for a lot of fun 😊
Steep learning curve Decker. 147 lines - the pin diagram alone took a long time to memorize, then all the commands, procedures etc. Definitely a workout for the little grey cells
Happy days Linda! Fun all the way here on in 😀🏃♀️🚴♀️
Thanks Decker! 😀👍.
I unfurled a fresh half marathon plan today. Not signed up for one yet though, but I’m sure I will before long. I might run my home town 10km in a few weeks. Not decided yet 🤔
I enjoyed my first post marathon run yesterday and it felt fine 🏃♀️🙂
I bought some sale Torins a few weeks back but saving them til my current ones bite the dust, which shouldn’t be far off I took them with me on Marathon day but went with the grippier Nikes (they’re into negative mileage though. Might ask Santa for a new pair
True! I dug out my warm weather gear yesterday for my short trail outing. I noticed everything I had on me was gifted by OH and my family. From earphones to socks. My socks were newly-opened 1000 Mile trail socks which felt luxurious 🥰. Two pairs! 😀. As I ran I had much to be thankful for 🙏🙂
Congratulations on your retirement linda9389 - lots of time to enjoy all your exercise now! I am very jealous - enjoy!🙂
I also want to thank the wonderful Decker for all his work, support and of course, beautiful photography. ❤️Here’s hoping you are still able to share your runs with us Decker?
Finally Linda, I’m afraid my ‘Tim’s Run’ will be a little later than planned, owing to a bizarre sore foot over the weekend.🤷♀️ Still not entirely sure what I did to it but it seems to have resolved as the day’s gone on today, so I hope to be out running again tomorrow. Unfortunately, as it will be dark, this will mean a run around the local neighbourhood roads rather than the trails which would have been more fitting but I will be thinking of dear Tim all the same. 🥹
Thanks Sandra. Sorry to hear your foot spoiled your weekend, but pleaaed it has improved so readily. Enjoy that run though, whenever you find the time 😊
Wow, that’s a lot of HU news to catch up on besides anything else Linda! Firstly, congratulations on your retirement! I can totally understand why you would with your job, it does wear bits of you out, especially in the colder weather. Great planning for your holiday, I hope you have a wonderful time.
Sorry to hear that Decker is stepping down but he has been an excellent member of the team, very encouraging and full of useful advice. It already feels like Cmoi has been a core member for a long time! We all really appreciate everything that you do.
Haven’t all these runs been amazing? I’m going to spend the week dipping into them as it’s going to take a while to go through them. You really get an idea of the spread of HU members across the UK and the rest of the world. What an amazing legacy Tim has left!
I have just tried out my Black Friday bargain, and they were wonderful! I got a pair of Saucony Endorphin Speed 2s at about half their normal price. It’s taken a few days to find the right time to try them out because they are so different to anything I’ve had before - they have a nylon plate and are incredibly bouncy. I took them around my usual (not)parkrun route tonight. I was only going to do 3k of it but they were so easy to run in I did the full 5k. My legs had 18 miles in them from the weekend runs and I’d had a long day at work, so I was amazed that I didn’t start getting tired until about 3k in.
I got them because I wanted something that gave something back as I’ve been finding the NewBalance 1080s a bit of a slog to run in. They’re fine for long distances but they kill any oomph I try to put into them. They look very pretty but I don’t particularly enjoy running in them. They were part of what was killing my mojo post marathon, and part of the reason I was so down last week. I have been watching a lot of shoe review YouTube videos recently and the Saucony’s seem to go down really well (despite Kofuzi saying they’re probably best on taller, heavier people, this 5ft’er disagrees!) so it was worth the punt. Welcome back mojo! It’s so nice to have some fun shoes! Now I’m looking forward to that 5k/day in January 😀
Have a great runny week everyone, I’m certainly going to now 😍
Thanks TC. I'm sure my back is going to be very grateful to give up (although there is a great deal to be done here at home!). There are SO many Tim 's runs aren't there - a real tribute.
Those shoes sound like a great BF snag! Anything that boosts mojo when it's gone AWOL has to be worth it's weight in gold. Here's to many miles of fun 😊
Aren’t they just? I’m so happy to have found them. Sounds like you’re going to be busy! I remember the back thing, running more or less fixed it once I stopped gardening, hopefully it’ll be the same for you 🤞
New shoes are always fun 😍 I’m loving Saucony at the moment. Got two in my rotation currently although none that I want to run 26.2 miles in.
I’ve got Saucony Shift 3 on my wish list for Marathon training & either Saucony Tempus or the pro 3 on my marathon race list. I decided against the speeds as I heard they were less stable at slower speeds. Would love to know how you find them. Should they be on my list?
Thanks Decker for all the chat and interesting posts and just being there, always love reading your posts but appreciate how much time it takes to be an admin,look forward to more beautiful pictures in the future though 😀 Happy retirement and holidays linda9389 , enjoy yourself! Exciting times ahead. 😘
And well done Cmoi for taking up the reins on this lovely forum 👌
After yesterday's run I've been feeling a bit jaded at work today ,an early start and battling traffic to get to a vets appointment when a lie in would have felt much more appropriate! Still, I did manage the little cycle down to work and back but a bit stiff in the leg department !! Onwards and upwards! Have a great week everyone xxx
Thank you kindly Linda. It has been an honour to work you all on the marathon team. I’ve not met such a decent and kind group of people as I have on this forum. Like many others I really thought Cmoi was already on our admin team with all she does with us, so the badge makes perfect sense. ❤️
Wishing you a happy high mileage retirement Linda! Enjoy your vacation too. Hope you find some lovely locales to run in and tell us about.
It’s been amazing reading all the Tim’s run posts and shows what a massive impact he’s had on this community around the globe.
I also picked up a new pair of shoes recently. The Hoka Carbon x3s. My first run was fairly quick for me - they seem a bit easier on the joints -the long runs will tell, but I think I’m going to enjoy this pair as I move from trail training to longer road training. Did my first track session in a long while and felt it! Still have my Lone Peaks for my first love trail tho they have been hard on my IT for some reason. Maybe the zero drop? Still a fine shoe. Looking for a warm pair of gloves next as the temps keep dropping. Happy trails everyone.
Thanks Decker.I know you hooed for a quiet exit but we couldn't let you go without a thank you.; you need to know how much appreciation is out there 🥰
The new shoes sound great - here's to many happy miles in them. Warm gloves must be an essential piece of kit for you now winter is making itself known; msy the temperatures be kind to you 😊
Hello everyone, what a brilliant weekend it’s been with tributes to Tim. Beautiful pictures , lovely words and over £3000 raised including gift aid.
Sorry to say goodbye to Decker in Canada (thanks for your hard work) 🇨🇦 but hello to Cmoi in France 🇫🇷. Your experience on all things hilly and green will be most useful for those of us who are used to flat, hard surfaces .
Congratulations on your retirement Linda, your 3 week holiday is well deserved.
I ran 8k in the rain yesterday but will be taking it fairly easy this week for my 10k race . It doesn’t look a big event but it’ll be good to do a time-chipped run involving an incline or 3.
It really has been a fabulous tribute to Tim hasn't it.I think the smaller events are brilliant - you're still surrounded by like minded people, doing what you love; but less 'lost in the crowd,' somehow it's more personal. Enjoy !!! 😊
I “retired” early because I burned out and so it took me quite a few months to get into some kind of routine (and that was well before I started running!) but after a while I kept saying I didn't have enough hours in the day to do the things I wanted to do. How on earth did I find the time to work? 😂 I’m sure you’ll be the same Linda.
Decker has done a fabulous job here and I’ll miss him from the team but I’m so happy that he’ll still be around 🙂
And it’s grand news that Cmoi is now official!
Well, I’m back home after spending two weeks in Ireland for lots of celebrations for my mum’s 90th. It’s been lovely catching up with various cousins ands family members I haven't seen in years. One of my cousin’s husband is a runner and so we chatted for ages about all things running! I say he’s a runner. His best marathon time is about 2 hours 31!!!! I mean, that’s nearly elite time isn’t it? And he’s never been injured!
Anyway, my return is going well, my back is behaving and I’ll be doing a 10K this weekend so all is good. I have my eyes on a 10 mile race in March. Surely I’ll be good to go by then? 🤞
Sorry I’m a bit late! Happy retirement linda9389 and enjoy your holiday. I’m sure the weather will be much better than here, so look forward to some great run reports.
Decker thank you for all your support on the forum and good luck to Cmoi who I am sure will be amazing.
As for me, my cold returned at the end of last week, so I dipped out of parkrun to save myself for my Tim’s Run on Sunday, a gentle 5k around the lanes with just my music and thoughts for company. Thankfully, the cold now seems to be finally on its way out, so I’m hoping the upcoming runs will be a bit easier!
About time these colds disappeared! It was 5C up here this morning, according to the forecast. My AHR is up by about 10bpm on runs…no doubt influenced by the temperature. Maybe time for a mouth covering!
Cor that's been a pesky on/off cold for too long now. Hope it's heading off for good at last 😍. When it gets in the way of running it's time to go!!! Feel better fast 😊
Fenix 6s pro - I loved my 5s plus so this is just the same with a few extra stats. It's the full on mapping and courses that have kept me with the Fenix.
Knowing I want the map feature really cuts down the choices and makes the decision easier. Of course it's old now, having been replaced by the 7 ... but the price difference was beyond my powers of justification (especially now I won't be earning anything)🙈 I'm sure I will still take plenty of wrong turns ... just a lot less than without it 😍
Hello linda9389 - many congratulations on your retirement, and thanks for chat hosting this week.
Thanks so much, too, to Decker for all his admin work, and to everyone on here who's posted such kind comments about my official Admin badge. I really appreciate them.
I feel a tad guilty as I've been unexpectedly AWOL from the forum this week, and not running much either. I've been busy organising stuff (dance practice, AGM and annual meal) for the Renaissance choir, dance and music group to which I belong. Then a favour for a friend turned out to take seven hours, which wiped out most of another day!
Black Friday brought me a pair of road-to-trail shoes which, as already posted elsewhere, I inaugurated with my Tim's Run. Just for the heck of it, attached is another photo of them!
Hopefully I'll get out in them for another playtime tomorrow, as I'm working all day Saturday and have various commitments on Sunday as well. This is what happens when you retire Linda - you no longer have excuses not to do other stuff 😜
And with that, I'm off to choir practice. Happy running, all!
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Congratulations on your Retirement Linda - well deserved without a doubt and best wishes for it to be enjoyable beyond your greatest hopes 
