Better week 😊

 Wednesday 29th November 

Man came to do another EPC report on the house, we are thinking the house loses heat quickly, the current EPC said C and 70 but didn’t really indicate wall insulation! So £96 later we are no wiser, except he has upgraded to 71 but still C so no wiser about insulation, many  “assumptions” made ! 

Thursday was Health Walk day, an excellent turnout with 14 of us spending 50 minutes walking around the local park and river bank, followed by coffee in the local YMCA.

Friday saw my longest run for over a year, 6.3 miles down the seafront and round the park, kept a steady pace and kept the HR down 11:50 min miles, 136 bpm average and 160 bpm maximum. Felt ok,  a good run in reasonable weather . It’s the real start to my build up to the 20 Mile I need for the Grizzly next March. 

Saturday was Park Run Marshall on the coldest morning of the year, very heavy frost ! But nice in the sunshine. We went to Weston and sat in the sunshine with our coffee after the park run. 

I concluded my volunteer weekend by marshalling at the Harriers Brent Knoll race, we were lucky with the weather and I clapped and cheered 149 runners past half way up Brent Knoll.

Monday was a wet, cold and windy day and I had to force myself to go running in the late afternoon, but! As I stepped out of the door, it blew, rained and was cold 🥶 so I decided a short quick one would suffice 2.11 miles at 10:23 min miles which was my quickest run in over a year average BPM 136 and maximum 149 bpm so really pleased that the HR was so low  only a run round local streets but glad I got out 😊 

Tuesday I decided to keep up the miles so headed down the seafront and park again, weather was ok, chilly, but dry and no wind. 6.11 miles at 11:35 pace, sadly my HR monitor was playing up so no true readings. Felt ok again, did good stretches when I got back, which seems essential, I must try to do some core and strength work !! 

Wednesday a nice walk up on Brean Down with coffee in the van, very chilly ! The afternoon I decided, no wind! No rain! So give a cycle ride a go 15.09 miles through Mark and Rooks Bridge 2.2 degrees ! Wrapped up warm in winter gear and winter bike, an enjoyable ride, enough for a first ride for a month, roads in places were still very dirty and wet . Really good ride. 

Plumber tomorrow to flush the heating system and Friday hopefully a walk on the Quantocks with my friends Susie and Rosie and Rosie’s dog Ella 😊

Stunning sunrise on my run this morning

 Wednesday 22nd November 

Cold gone back to running ! No cycling, again Monday 20th November

 Started last week with the horrendous head cold and cough making it difficult to run or cycle so no activity ! A trip to Clarke’s village on Saturday with MrsB and daughter to buy Mrs B a new coat.

Early in the week we were hit by another flooded garden, I managed to pump out some and we used a submersible pump on next doors garden, but the heavy rain meant too much to shift, the good news is it’s still only a very soggy garden .

Friday weather was slightly better so trainers on and a first run out for 21/2 weeks! 3.54 miles down the sea front, felt ok, did stretches, but! Legs a bit stiff Saturday , Sunday a short 2.5 miles at a good 10:43 pace, the fastest for  a year! Another early werly run with Jayne on Monday 3.01 miles so my Grizzly training has started 🤞🤞 weather has been poor, too wet, too windy ……… so no cycling, haven’t got the motivation to get my bike dirty. 

Diet going well, no cake or biscuits, down to 12 st 5lbs that’s 9 lbs off 😊 noticed my VO2 max is only 44 down from 50 in 2020 ! Rest HR is 59 lowest was 54 in 2020 interesting stats. 

So another slow week, roll on spring and summer , only a month till the shortest day. 

Quiet week

 The week started with Mrs Bs birthday, grandchildren came down an we managed to get the whole family together, so nice birthday tea with cake! 

Only one run this week and no cycling, the weather has been rubbish with Storm Clara, although we didn’t have too bad just keeps raining a lot.

Wednesday was also the day when we got hit by a terrible cold that seems to be difficult to shift, a head full of cold for both of us. It’s Burnham Carnival tonight, but it’s cold and damp so decided not to go and stand on a cold street corner for several hours🤧😷🤒

We did take the van out to Brean and watched the rain and waves as we drank out hot coffee ! 

So a short post this week, no photos either. 

Need to shift this cold asap 😊

November already, roll on spring !

 1st November 2023

Trying hard to keep posting as it’s been so interesting reading my old posts from 2014 ! Etc. particularly my exploits around Grizzly which seem to dominate my posts from Xmas to April for a few years! It’s all part of psyching me up to do the Grizzly next March! As a Swan song from long competitive runs, Rachel, my Grizzly partner ( the race not her) managed to get me a place in this years ballot, sadly I am down at her address so will have to move in with her family, unless!! She updates the details 😊 I am hoping that by next March I will be able to run 20 miles and 3500 ft, even with my leg still being numb with a trapped nerve ! I am currently up to 5.2 miles at 12 min mile pace so a lot of work to do, but, it’s a target, and something to aim for motivating me to get out. I must say it seems like running will take over my efforts to keep fit as the weather has been very poor, with heavy rain most days, and today we await storm Cerain ! With the media frightening us all to death with there predictions which are usually, way over the top. 

Last week I only managed one bike ride out round Burtle and back over the moors, on a lively sunny, windless afternoon, the only one of the week, I felt to be going well, the roads were remarkably clear of debri and mud etc, averaging a good 14.2 mph, the roads I felt quieter than usual. 

On Monday I did my first beach run in a year, only a small part but another training first for a while up to the church and back across the golf course to the beach then down to Allandale and Grove, bumped into a harriers member I had not met before, ( Michelle) which meant a slight faster pace to finish and home 4.34 miles, I was pleased with that. 

Thursday was Health Walk day, I and another leader ( Christy) lead a Health Walk from Highbridge every fortnight usually around the Apex park, this is something we have been doing since the start of the year, we have a regular group of about 10- 12 people, some with mobility issues, some come for company and the chat. This weeks walk was up the Huntspill river 

Only about 2.2 miles but a beautiful morning, with beautiful views over the river and over towards Steart from the Clyce at the end, there did seem to be a lot of water in the river today. So a great walk even though we were a small group this week with half term. Friday saw me back on the Berrow path and this time onto the beach and all the way down the beach clocking up 5.2 miles my furthest run in a year, really pleased with that run 😊

Sunday saw us celebrating Mrs Bs 73 rd birthday with visit from our children and grandchildren, requests from the boys saw us heading to the beach with Scrumpy the dog this time, only a short walk but enjoyable. Once they had gone after lunch, I had my trainers on and added another 4.1 miles making it 13 miles in 7 days! All helping me reach my Grizzly goal 😊 

As it was half term week, we managed a trip to Wells with my daughter, lovely morning out round the cathedral moat, coffee etc 

And finally, yesterday Tuesday I managed to get Jayne out for a run after at least a month off with injury, Jayne has been good motivating me to get out as she likes early morning runs before she goes of to her job as a nurse. We did our usual 5 km down to the sailing club along the Esplanade and back, a good steady pace but Jayne did well given her month lay off. I was able to add a further 1.2 miles just to keep building up my mileage. I have done 205 miles since my injury to my back and resulting trapped nerve this time las t year. Cycling I have done 3277 miles so really pleased with that. Running pace is slow but cycling is fine, except for very steep hills where I find difficulty with my numb leg getting the power in to it.

I was also Marshall at the local Park Run last Saturday, over 300 runners took part, lucky with the weather too 😊

So overall a good week, this weeks weather is poor so no cycling, just hoping it improves for the weekend !