Bob's Bits.

Hobbies & Pastimes Hobbies & Pastimes: Chat / Discussions
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Entry:-020715
Some very funny bits in the film ‘Spy’ can recommend it if you like a good laugh, it’s sort of James Bond meets Mr Bean. Jason Statham was extremely good, but I must say; there is an awful lot of swearing. The chicken and sweet chilli baguette in Meadowhall was finger licking good too.

My early morning run on Tuesday started of a little bit laboured and went down hill from then [wish it had been downhill] the heat and humidity were overpowering, and as my temperature rose, my output decreased leaving me sweating and struggling for breath on the last mile. I just made it home without having to walk, but it took the rest of the day to recover. Sue’s wrist was giving her a lot of pain, so we visited the hospital in the afternoon where she had it re-dressed and prescribed antibiotics for an infection.

After the hottest day on record [33 degrees C] yesterday, I set off gingerly for this mornings attempt at five miles. It was still very warm and humid, but a very slow sensible pace saw me arrive home in better condition than Tuesday. Sod the time, it’s just nice to get round and still be able to stand upright. We had arranged to take a trip to the coast today, but the medication is making Sue feel sick, so we decided to give it a swerve.

July already, and we are over the hump back bridge that is 2015, and as we coast along the top, the nights will soon get longer and the weather will contain that early morning crispness as we descend the other side. So lets enjoy? this brief spell of good weather while it lasts. Good news for July is: The tour-de-France kicks off at the weekend, and I will reach my sixty fifth birthday on the fourteenth, hopefully receiving my pension, if there is any money left in the national pot!

Bad news for July is: The BBC have taken off pointless and eggheads for the tennis, so nothing to watch now while eating dinner and doing the washing up. They have also lost the rights for next years Olympic Games, I’m buggered if I’m getting sky. Thank God for Coronation Street.

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Just catching up again Bob, sorry to hear that your wife’s wrist is still giving her problems, hope the antibiotics have now kicked in and that she’s feeling much better. I suppose I must have been lucky cos my ganglion just disappeared on its own!! At least she’s got a good 'un with you keeping the house in order whilst she’s incapacitated. :slight_smile:

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Entry:-100715
Thanks Val, anti-biotics did the trick and she is making a good recovery, my hands have never been so soft. Would you mind nipping round and telling her how lucky she is, now she feels better she has returned to her supervising duties. [earbashing]

The dressing rooms at Wimbledon have thinned out a bit, now most players have been knocked out and gone home. Are we sure Sienna Williams is not a bloke, she seems to steamroller all the pretty female players with such ease. Bargain Hunt returned yesterday and I’m looking forward to the return of Pointless and Eggheads, I don’t watch much telly really, it’s just my usual mealtimes. [Tim Wanacott and a Greggs Baguette; Perfect!]

Don’t know if it’s the weather, but running seems to be harder just lately, can’t seem to get enough oxygen and I finishing up gasping, so times are nothing to write home about but I’ll keep trying. I have been enjoying a long slow Sunday run of ten miles, probably because I just take it more leisurely.

Builder was supposed to be well on with the Summer House by now, but he’s hurt his back and is not coming until late August [hopefully] problem is, the conifer hedge he was taking out is becoming overgrown, so yesterday I had to trim it - didn’t think I would have to do it again.

Visiting the hospital with O/H this morning so doctor can take a look at her wrist, it’s healing well, so he will probably discharge her today. I only go for the lunch in the hospital restaurant, they do a mean Tuna Sandwich…Yum Yum.

Chris Froome seems to be doing well on the TDF he wears the yellow jersey today after Tony Martin had to retire with a broken collar bone; That’s a pity because he was riding so well and would have featured high in the rankings at the end. I bet ‘Quickstep’ [the team] are beginning to wonder if Mark Cavendish is worth all the money they pay him, after he has failed to win any sprints so far. Tonight will be his last chance; once they get into the mountains he will be washed away, just like the road graffiti from last years tour in Yorkshire.

Well I must say, George Osborn’s ‘Budget’ will not make an a’peth of difference to me: It looks like austerity is here to stay for at least the next five years, I don’t think they will ever pay it off [not in my lifetime anyway] which is a bit unfair for us olden’s, we’ll spend the rest of our days listening to the same old drivel and having to tighten our belts, and you can put your pension on the chances of us losing our bus passes soon. On the bright side, once all the benefits and allowances have been stopped, the immigrants won’t want to come here anymore. Ta-Ra for now…

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Entry:-100715 continued…
Sue was seen early at the hospital so it left us with plenty of time to catch bus into town and visit our favourite restaurant. The long walk down the street to our house was challenging in the heat though…

http://www.over50sforum.com/picture.php?albumid=812&pictureid=6375

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Entry:-110715
Saturday always kicks off with a visit to Tesco for the fresh veg and salad , oh, and don’t forget the compulsory scones…

http://www.over50sforum.com/picture.php?albumid=812&pictureid=6377

Being as the weather was so nice, we stretched the legs down the lane, and to burn off the scones.

http://www.over50sforum.com/picture.php?albumid=812&pictureid=6378

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Entry:-130715
It is a known fact among most runners that for every one degree rise in core body temperature, performance will be reduced by ten percent. Figures may not be exact, and will vary from runner to runner, but you get the picture. So after a sticky night in bed [which would suggest high humidity] I set off on my ten mile run yesterday morning. Everything went tickety boo; I even allowed some pace variation with some faster sections. It was about eight and a half miles when the wheels fell off, with sweat running down my forehead into my eyes, and legs turning to rubber, I only just made the last mile without stopping. The time turned out to be decent for any conditions, but I suspect my disregard for the heat had allowed my body temperature to escalate and it took me a long time to recover.

However, the run was significant in that it was my last ever run as a sixty four year old.
My next run [on Tuesday] will be my first ever run as a sixty five year old. Sue [other half] has booked us into a hotel in Scarborough tonight, so It’s off to celebrate, but not too much as I’m eyeing up Oliver’s Mount for my debut run on Tuesday morning…
See you all on Wednesday…

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Entry:-160715
I’ve waited sixty four years for this day and finally it has happened…On Tuesday, I arrived at the beginning of my sixty fifth year. Looking at this age from the perspective of a twenty year old, it would have seemed to be the end of your useful life, the time when you are put out to pasture and are retired; a time to reflect on your life as a whole from the comfort of your chair in the corner, dressed in slippers and dressing gown, waiting for the inevitable, wondering what might have been…

But, on the morning of my birthday, at six am, I shuffled out of my posh hotel bed, laced on my running shoes, and ran five and a half miles all the way to the top of Oliver’s Mount in Scarborough. The overnight rain had left the roads wet, with the leaves on the trees heavy and close to tipping point with water; which I occasionally felt cold on my head as I passed underneath. It was so still as I started my ascent, not a breath of wind, and quite mild. I left the sounds of the traffic behind me as I jogged higher and higher, with just the sound of my running shoes padding on the tarmac, and gentle rhythmic breathing.

As the road leveled out at the summit and quickened my pace, I remembered something that was said to me while; as a six year old boy and staying in a b and b with Mum and Dad, the larger than life Scottish proprietor said “Will you be going up Oliver’s Moont today?” I replied that I would not, as it was far too high for me to climb. Who would have though that I would be running up it on my sixty fifth birthday.

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I once walked up to Olivers Mount to try and see an Alpine Swift :):), no chance of me running up it.:):slight_smile:

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That is still some achievement Nom, most people you see up there have either used two wheels or four wheels, and mainly to use the restaurant.

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Entry:-180715

ROBIN HOODS BAY TO CLOUGHTON

It happened as I was painting the fence, the sun was warm on my back and my mind was wandering.
I had been transported to the wild cliff paths on the East Coast, they would be overgrown now deep in bracken and the occasional bramble stretching out waiting to snag the unwary walker. Stinging Nettles occupy the dark leafy glades waiting to subject the legs of short wearing travellers to an afternoon of irritation. Seagulls circle overhead with their piercing cries, with the sound of the sea caressing the rocks several hundred feet below. Summer was passing away fast, the older I get, the faster time moves, and it wouldn’t be long before frost and ice litter the once sun baked paths.

So after completing the panel and depositing my brush in the jam jar, I set about preparing for the inevitable following days walk. It would be one of last years favourites from Robin Hoods Bay to Cloughton. Sue and I completed the strenuous ten miles in just over five and a half hours, but she had struggled on the last few miles, so I would go alone on this occasion and stretch my legs.

After leaving the car at Cobber Hill, Cloughton I crossed the street to wait for the X93 Aviva service to Whitby. The surrounding hills were covered with low cloud and rain seemed imminent, I stood there in my shorts and John Rocha top and was in two minds whether to break out the waterproof jacket when the bus appeared right on time at 9:37am. I got some funny looks as I made my way to a seat; the half a dozen passengers were all clad in substantial waterproof coats, but if the weatherman was correct, the cloud and rain would be blown out over the North Sea in the next hour or so, and I would have the last laugh.

I alighted the bus at the top of the hill in Robin Hoods Bay, after starting the GPS I produced an apple [part of my five a day] from the depths of my rucksack, and strode off in earnest down the steep hill.
I had barely started the descent when the rain started, I tried to ignore it but decided not to get soaked at such an early stage of my walk, so I delved once again in my rucksack and produced a waterproof jacket and hat.

The apple had been a bad idea, because as I reached the bottom of the hill, the steep steps leading up to the coast path had me breathless, add to this the fact that the rain had stopped and the sun slipped out from behind the clouds; the waterproof jacket and hat were now adding to my quickly rising temperature.
I decided to sit on the steps, finish my apple, and take in the beautiful view over the rooftops of Robin Hoods Bay. The hat and jacket were soon re-packed and a pair of more suitable [running] shorts were pulled on: Heaven knows what anyone would have thought if they had climbed the steps to find me stood there in my undies, fortunately, they did not.

It was all there, the bracken, the stinging nettles and the brambles, but the path was clear, the North York Moors park authority do a sterling job keeping them free from obstruction. The only obstruction now were the several flights of steps leading down to secluded valleys and then up the other side. Personally, I love them, this is what I came for, and being by myself I was able to take them at full speed and not have to wait for any stragglers. The weatherman was true to his word and the rain never came back, the warm sun soon dried out the dangerously slippery stones that led down to Boggle Hole and Stoupe Beck Sands, and in no time at all I was digging in on the long steep climb up to Ravenscar. I hadn’t brought any supplies today, hoping that the Ravenscar Tea Rooms would be open for lunch. They were, and the cup of tea and ham sandwich; together with a Mars bar and bottle of water, would see me through to the end.

I had hardly seen a soul all day, just the sound of the gulls and the sea gently lapping round the rocks below. The path was very good going, with just a short overgrown stretch near Redhouse Farm. It was just past here that I overtook some walkers on the Cleveland Way, there walk was almost over, it finishes on Filey Brigg, and it was clearly visible on the horizon. But after stopping for a chat, they informed me that they would overnight in Scarborough and finish tomorrow - It’s been fifteen years since three friends and I ran the one hundred and ten miles in just twenty five hours - but that’s another story.
I wished them luck, and sped off up the next set of steps up to Hayburn Wyke, and then down some more slippery stones that never dry out in the woods [almost came a cropper here] and finally into Cloughton Wyke. As I climbed the last set of steps that led me up on to the road back to Cloughton, I paused at the seat half way up; I had promised myself the Mars Bar at this seat, so as I sat and chewed, I reviewed today’s walk…Outstanding! think I’ll do it again next week, weather permitting.

Hoping the weatherman had got it right…

http://www.over50sforum.com/picture.php?albumid=812&pictureid=6420

Yes he had, time to finish my apple and get changed into something more comfortable…

http://www.over50sforum.com/picture.php?albumid=812&pictureid=6421

http://www.over50sforum.com/picture.php?albumid=812&pictureid=6422

The paths are well maintained…

http://www.over50sforum.com/picture.php?albumid=812&pictureid=6423

Scarborough Castle on the left, Olivers Mount centre [I was on top of there on Monday] and Cloughton Wyke in the foreground. Not far to go now.

http://www.over50sforum.com/picture.php?albumid=812&pictureid=6424

Been looking forward to this Mars Bar for the last five miles…

http://www.over50sforum.com/picture.php?albumid=812&pictureid=6425

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OK let’s move away from this self-agrandizement and move onto facts and research

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3515000.htm

a recent catalyst investigation is coming up with amazing results for beating cancer and diabetes and other ailments through regular exercise regimes - not sure about excessive running!!

but credit where it’s due Bob!

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Nice legs Bob…

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Thanks for the information Gumbud, it makes a good read, and it’s comforting to know that I’ve been doing things right…But will it extend my future? If it doesn’t at least I will go in the knowledge that ‘I did it My Way’

You are so kind RJ, appreciate the appreciation…

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After turning the rusty key in the lock of Bob’s Bits I carefully opened the squeaky door and peered inside; Apart from the dust and spiders webs it was just how I had left it. So I have switched on the lights and cranked up the heating and am pleased to announce that ‘Bob’s Back’………

Running had been going brilliantly, I was even on the verge of entering the Bridlington Half Marathon on the 25th of October; It turns out that it would have been a waste of money.
While returning from a morning run at the beginning of September I was crossing the road and misjudged the speed of an oncoming car. I sprinted for the safety of the kerb on the opposite side of the road, and avoided being killed (or worse) by inches. Unfortunately, I had damaged my Achilles Tendon following the sudden burst of speed: Too much for these old bones….

Following a few failed attempts at a return to running, I am currently having to sit it out on the sub’s bench……There is some good news though, after allowing the Achilles to settle down for a couple of weeks I find that I can walk without causing further damage, so In order to salvage some fitness, I have been walking three miles every day. I even managed to jog part of the walk yesterday morning with no ill effects.

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Goodness Bob :shock: look at the cobwebs in here :lol:
I hope the old joints aren’t creaking as much as the door :shock:

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I bet not even a ‘Sat Nav’ can find its way into ‘Bob’s Bits’ but its nice to know I’ve got one person who reads my blabberings.

Thanks for looking in Meg.

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Hi, new to Bob’s Bits. Please refresh me - what goes on in here then…and can I join in the fun? :slight_smile:

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I usually do Bob :slight_smile: time constrains mean I don’t often get to reply though. Your bits are noted :lol:

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Good evening Floydy, you certainly can join in the fun, and you are more than welcome.

‘Bob’s Bits’ are just bits of Bob’s life, but because I’ve always been a runner and like to engage in some long walks, its mainly about my adventures and running up’s and downs.
(I love running up hills, but I do a lot of walking up them now though)

Have a look around Floydy, I wrote a piece on how I started running, and how I almost died. Enjoy, if you can stay awake…:smiley:

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Thanks Bob, will do. I’m just about to begin my night shift but I’ll have some time tomorrow afternoon to delve into your diary, as it were. Looking forward to participating bud :slight_smile: