Weekly chat 9th - 15th December: draw up a chair and grab a brew, the sun's out 😎🍵🍰

[linda9389]

Hello to all you lovely runners in our lovely running community - admins, regular posters, occasional posters, lurkers and anyone else trying to hide with a misplaced sense of imposter syndrome(it's always misplaced because everyone is welcome here)😂

Yes, everyone is welcome here; we genuinely love to hear how things are going for you, whether good or bad, out of the box or very ordinary, running related or not (wait, what's not running related? Most things seem to either help my running or to get in the way of it 🤷). Grab a cuppa and come on in for a chat!

When I read last week’s chat post, I could only agree that everything was beginning to feel very much like Christmas. I had had to fast forward my Christmas preparations to the last week of November and had just rattled through present buying, card wrapping and tree and house decorating - all by 2nd December! As it turns out, I was also utterly exhausted.

😎I absolutely shouldn’t complain; the tight deadline was self imposed on account of a two week holiday in the sunshine and, right now, nothing could feel less like Christmas!!! For a start, it’s hot and sunny (between the odd rain shower), the wind is warm and welcome and, best of all, the days are long and bright. I realise that the UK has suffered badly with storm Darragh, and I know I am very lucky indeed. I will take my responsibilities seriously and try to fully recharge my batteries in order to bring as much energy to our family Christmas as possible 😊

🎄🎅❄️Everything has its downside though - for example, I’m finding it almost impossible to score points in week 1 of our Fun Christmas Challenge. It’s not too late for you to sign up, especially if you’d like a bit of extra fun and motivation to get you out there, whether running or walking, during these busy weeks and grotty weather. Hurry though, you only have until end of play on Tuesday to complete the week 1 challenges. You can find more information right here: healthunlocked.com/marathon... Suffice to say, Santa does not seem to exist here in the Indian Ocean and posting my Christmas cards from here didn’t seem like such a great idea either (though I have found a couple of Christmas trees, evidence of one above!), so it should be pretty easy to beat my score this week even if you do start late! Watch out for a post with the week 2 challenges on Wednesday.

Christmas challenge aside, I’ve completed a ‘week 0 intro’ to my new HM plan (I bolted an easier week on to the front of Hal Higdon’s HM3 plan). My leg is still not quite right, but I’m trying to be careful! How about you? How’s your running going? Is it going? I know it can often get tricky at this time of year. Do let us know in the comments below and we can get our chat going.

🍃I know many, many parkruns were cancelled this weekend, and maybe other events too, but I do hope no-one has been too badly affected by the stormy weather other than possible cancellations; most of all though, I hope that you all have a great week ahead.

From your team Beachcomber66 , Irishprincess and me 🙂

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🎄For details of our Fun Christmas Challenge week 1 take a look here:

healthunlocked.com/marathon...

🎽To tell us about your events in December, leave a comment here:

healthunlocked.com/marathon...

🥇For a shiny new badge, tell us here:

healthunlocked.com/marathon...

[RunWillie Marathon]

Hi linda9389 & other VRB's,

I made my b goal on annual distance today, which I'm happy about. I've run more than last year!

I'm going to try the Hal Higdon intermediate marathon plan once the temps drop a little.

Happy week, everyone! ❤️

Today's run

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to RunWillie]

Congratulations RW! Your run mileage is just astounding and well out of reach for many of us too 😄Armed with the knowledge that you are already a marathoner, you should be able to enjoy the training with more confidence this time around. Do you have a marathon event in mind?

[RunWillie Marathon in reply to linda9389]

Thanks linda9389 🥰

I'm not planning to run a marathon in 2025 but I do want to do two marathon training blocks as I'm going to run x2 25K runs. You know me & my goal setting 🤣

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to RunWillie]

Indeed we do. Incredible focus and incredible targets - which I have no doubt you will smash!

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to RunWillie]

Yay!! Well done RW!! Another amazing year. I note the “not planning to” next year. Using a marathon plan will give you the option of running further next year if it seems attractive at the time; but you may already have that in mind. In any event; a good plan and a great 2024. 🥇

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

That's your line isn't it BC? Running a marathon plan but not planning to run a marathon? 😎

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to linda9389]

Ouch! No, there is a subtle difference. I know that a Marathon is too far for me. If I get to 26.2 (is it?) I will be really pleased.

10k recovery run this morning; 65:40. Best for ages..the marathon plan works 😇

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

That's a great recovery 10k BC, well done. Hope you managed a coffee and brownie to celebrate. Maybe I'll ask you again about that marathon plan, nce you've done the 26.2k 😂

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to linda9389]

I will cross that bridge if I get there 😎

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

Nice response there BC 😎😎😎

[aliboo70 Half Marathon]

Hi linda9389 and all VRBS! My running not really going ! Parkrun got cancelled , I didn't do the 10 mile race yesterday cos not up to it this year(though funnily my namesake, a mainland lady was there again on results!) And now I've got a cold come on! Due at club Tues and Thurs eve (Xmas lights run!) so we shall have to see re this and the challenge!

Hope you're having a nice holiday, sound relaxing and warm! 😊

Only one week til partner and daughter off to hospital for her operation 🤞

Hope everyone has a good week xxx

[Dexy5 10 Miles in reply to aliboo70]

Hope you feel better soon Ali, and fingers crossed for the op. 😘

[aliboo70 Half Marathon in reply to Dexy5]

Thankyou Dexy5 😘xxx

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to aliboo70]

Hi Ali. Bad weather, bad cold and operation on the horizon; too much stress there. Hope you can find space for any sort of run; just far enough to lift the spirits. You have enough claims on energy! Hope things look brighter when next week has passed. X

[aliboo70 Half Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

Thanks Beachcomber66 😘xxx

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to aliboo70]

Sounds like it's time to be nice to yourself Ali, really nice! If either of those runs are going to serve you, run them gently; if not, is there another way to still be involved?

I'm sure you are a;ready feeling the stress of the upcoming surgery; I do hope all goes well and that the recovery is speedy. What a lot you have to deal with just now xxx

[aliboo70 Half Marathon in reply to linda9389]

Thanks linda9389 😘xxx

[misswobble Marathon in reply to aliboo70]

Hi Ali 👋

Take care of yourself shug 😘 I hope you’ll feel better soon and able to get out and do your runs 🏃‍♀️

I hope all goes well with the operation 🙏🙂

[aliboo70 Half Marathon in reply to misswobble]

Thanks misswobble 😘xxx

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to aliboo70]

Hope your cold doesn’t hang around too long Ali xxx

[Dexy5 10 Miles]

Have a wonderful time chillaxing  linda9389 and didn’t you time it well?

I had a busy time last week so only ran once, but I did make it count by making it an 8k run on Wednesday. It was sunny, mild and the sea was like a lake. The yachts in Langstone Marina were still and unusually silent.  UpTheStanley was running a separate 10k and then we met for coffee at the restaurant at the start of our old parkrun venue. There’s no doubt they want us back on a Saturday morning. The sea defence work in this phase should be finished in January and we will then be able to work out plans for our parkrun’s return. My Christmas challenge also began that day. 🎄

Although I should have run on Friday before the storm came in, it just didn’t happen.

We cancelled parkrun on Friday, as such an exposed route gives no protection to volunteers from 60 mph wind and rain. Many of those around us that held out until pre-run checks cancelled on the day which vindicated our decision. A branch fell onto the course at Southampton just before the start of their run! Immediate cancellation. Lucky timing.

We did not suffer as badly as Wales and the West Country. Poor  cheekychipmunks is still without power.

Run safely everyone, run for fun xx

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Dexy5]

A pretty bad weekend all round I think Dexy5; your park runners and volunteers are lucky to have you and UTS to keep them safe. Always very wise and professional.

I hope to be laced up and out of the house by 10.15. It will probably be claggy and edge to edge pools of water on the trails, but that is ok. The rain has stopped and the wind has dropped after 3 horrible days. I just need a run now; any sort of run. At least we had power; hope you are switched on soon cheekychipmunks

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

Claggy sounds like clodhopping fun!!! Hope there were no spills!

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to linda9389]

The ground was pretty good for the most part. Most of my run was on a disused railway track; it drains really well. I will have to remove my shoes before entering the house though!

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

Always a relief when it's not one step forwards and two steps back! You clearly know how to keep in Mrs BC's good books 😇

[Dexy5 10 Miles in reply to Beachcomber66]

We can’t take the credit on this cancellation BC, but were fully supportive of the RD of the week who took that decision. There are 2 other parkruns in Portsmouth which are more sheltered , so runners could still run if they wanted. I was glad to stay in bed an extra few hours. 😂

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to Dexy5]

There's always winners and losers 😂

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to linda9389]

I think that the liers in won that day!

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to Dexy5]

We did time it well Dexy! I'm just assuming that all is well at home in our absence. As it happens our son is back living with us, so I'm not sure it's stormy weather we should be worrying about in that regard 🙈🙉🙊

I'm sure that was an easy decision to make on Friday, and I see you were certainly not alone in having to cancel (the park called their closure early enough for my local parkrun to give everyone plenty of notice). Goodness, I didn't know about  cheekychipmunks - hopefully she has enough family and friends nearby to help out and ease some of the challenges that no power brings.

That was a good run to bag on Wednesday - well done!

My new HM plan specifically tells me that the Tuesday run is the fun run - so tomorrow I will be doing exactly that - running for fun 😎

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon]

Good afternoon Linda! You sound very bright and breezy 🙂. The wind is dropping off now and at the moment the rain has ceased. Too unsafe to run over the weekend, so hoping to set off for a Monday long run soon (once my porridge has settled). I have photographed a Santa, but that is it so far! I see loads of fir trees every day, but maybe they need lights and baubles to count as Christmas trees. As for Christmas cards…we are a bit behind programme. On the other hand, my running plans are in the development phase. I managed 8k at reasonable pace last Monday, physio discharged me on Wednesday, so I am thinking about re-starting a marathon plan after Christmas, at week one this time, and running four runs of each plan week, taking as many days as I need to complete each set of four runs. That should give me more mileage in my legs and keeping up with the linked exercises and yoga should improve my strength too. If I get to a metric marathon,I will be both pleased and astonished! But ….its a plan!

For me targets are just that; not getting to a Metric Marathon won’t be a fail. It will just be confirmation that the distance is beyond me now. I am lucky to be able to run at all!

Enjoy the rest of your holiday 🌅

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

I'm actually still really tired BC. My overnight stats have been dreadful for about 10 days now, not sure what's going on! So pleased the physio has discharged you - you seem to have gotten away with that one quite nicely, most likely on account of your speedy intervention.

The future running plan sounds like a great way to start the new year. I'm sure you will make it to that metric marathon, you absolutely do have that distance in your legs.

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon]

We could think about adding a metric marathon to one of our HU runs, just in case anyone else fancies the challenge. A question for another day…🙂

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

I love that idea. Which reminds me ... I was supposed to be looking at the calendar and making a plan for some 2025 HU distances ... on i!

[Dexy5 10 Miles in reply to linda9389]

No, you are on holiday- read a chick flick and relax! 🏝️

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to Dexy5]

I kindof am ... only it's about a female sniper in the Russian army in WW2, based on a true story. Not sure that's quite what you meant tho!!!

[misswobble Marathon in reply to linda9389]

oh I love those!

Heroines of the SOE! Love reading all stuff. I bought a book for my sis but read it myself first. Marvellous stuff. Very brave women ✊🏼

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to misswobble]

In case you haven't read it, this one is called The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to linda9389]

I came out of the book to give you the title, and now I can't find it on my kindle!!! No idea what happened, but will see if I can download it from my laptop. If not I'll have to wait til I'm home again 😱

[misswobble Marathon in reply to linda9389]

ta! I’ll have a look 🤓

Anything about Noor Khan or Violette Szabo et Al is always a good read 🤓

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

Oh er…. now you have me thinking….. 🤔

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon]

Afternoon pals. Yes, as mentioned by Dexy5 we’ve had no power/heat/wifi/phone signal since the early hours of Saturday. Plus one of our aged apple trees has fallen onto our summerhouse, neither looking particularly happy.

My biggest concern though is my turtles. They are used to a lovely warm tank of water with heat lamps and a robust filter system. They have none of the above and haven’t since the power went. The vet has assured me they’ll be ok for a “few days”, so I’m hoping they’ll be toasty and happy again soon. The current estimate of restoration of power is 12pm tomorrow (10th), but that goalpost has moved several times. 🙄

Luckily we have the gym, which is where I’ve camped out for the last few days. Showers, light, food. 🙏 Oh, and a couple of treadmill runs to keep me honest. Our daughter went down to a friend’s house to use the washing machine for the boys’ school uniforms!

So we had a mixed weekend. Fun with 2 x carol concerts, not fun with the above.

But we’re safe which is all that matters. Just cheesed off!

Have a great week everyone. 🥰

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Oh my goodness Cheeky! How horrible for you all. Thank goodness the gym still has power 👌Presumably it's far more stressful to try to move the turtles than it is to let the temperatures drop for a short while. Perhaps you should try a 'danger to life' warning and see if that speeds up the restoration of power 😍 Have you been on hold to the insurance company yet? I bet those operators were all dreading heading back to work on Monday morning - no tea breaks for them!Joking aside, I do hope everything is back to normal very soon, and am glad no one was hurt xxx

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon in reply to linda9389]

Thank you linda9389 . All back up and running now. 🙏 Such a relief for the whole household, human and non-human 🐕 🐈‍⬛ 🐈🐢🐢

I couldn’t face the gym this morning, too battle worn! But I’m off with some of the choir to carol sing round the hospital wards later on, so that will be jolly. It’s lovely seeing the patients’ faces and lots join in with us. ❤️🎄🎶

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Fantastic news! Singing in the wards will help put your life back in perspective as well as put joy in patients hearts and your own too. Definitely a win win win situation 🥰

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Great news!

[misswobble Marathon in reply to cheekychipmunks]

oh gawd what a to-do! Keep calm and carry on 🙈

Having no water in the house was worse than no power I found. Boiling snow in pans without a fan on caused my ceiling plaster to fall down 😏. It’s a game innit 🫤.

I do hope normal service will soon be restored and you can get back to your turtles 🐢😀👍

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon in reply to misswobble]

All back now misswobble . The cats are back luxuriating on the radiator pipes and the turts are just plain thankful (as are us humans!) 🐕 had her toasty memory foam bed throughout, so she possibly felt the effects the least of all of us!

When we lived in the States, we used to have no water during power cuts as well as no leccy. Oh the horror of the water pump not working. Not the case here, I’m very relieved to say. 🙏

[misswobble Marathon in reply to cheekychipmunks]

I’m glad your services are restored. Phew 😮‍💨😀

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to misswobble]

Oh blimey, talk about 'it never rains but it pours' ...😱

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Oh no Munks! No power 😱 I do hope you get it back very soon. We take it for granted until these things happen.

We are a bit further inland than you so, while we had a humdinger of a storm, we didn’t lose power.

Fingers crossed for your turtles and thank goodness you had the gym!

[misswobble Marathon]

Evenin all 🙂. Bit late but ne’er mind 🙂

Had a good week running wise and am pressing on with my new marathon plan. I’ve not entered anything but keeping my options open 🙂

Have a good week everyone 🙂🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to misswobble]

By no means too late Miss W! I'm loving your energy, straight off the back of a wet and windy marathon and you're into a new plan already! Amazing stuff!!!

[misswobble Marathon in reply to linda9389]

I haven’t committed myself just yet but I’m hoping to be ready for any eventuality 😀. Our two local spring races have conspired to clash but it’s been sorted out and they’re on consecutive weekends in May.

I do like a plan on the go 😀🏃‍♀️👍

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon]

Morning Linda and my VRBs 🙂

We seem to have had a few dramatic events here this week but thank goodness everyone is safe after the storm.

I have zero points for the challenge 🙄 I couldn’t get out for two days due to Darragh and now I’m in Ireland and was planning an early run and to search for trees and Santa but it’s -1 and frosty here so I’m waiting until it warms up a bit…

Linda, I love that photo. It’s so different to what we see here and you have palm trees!!! No wonder you were exhausted though after all that scurrying around!

I have my Christmas 10K this weekend and am really looking forward to it. Then it’ll be the start of a new HM plan for a bit of structure. I have a couple of 10K races and a 10 mile one in the early months so that will give me some targets but I’m tempted to join Beachcomber66 on his quest to MM… just to see what happens.

I hope you have a restful remainder of holiday and that you come back refreshed.

Have a great week everyone x

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to Irishprincess]

Ohh, brrr! That's definitely chilly for running. I hope it warmed up for you. Sounds like you have a very busy start to next year, how good to have plans to look forward to.Hope you have a blast with your Christmas 10k ... a great way to close out your running year 👌

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to linda9389]

I did eventually make it out but no trees or Santas anywhere to be found! Having said that, it’s a bit rural around here too so I should have thought this through and driven somewhere busier 🙄 Anyway, a new challenge coming up 🤗