Round-up: hit and miss, but mostly miss

It's been a few weeks since the last post here, so well overdue — and you'd expect I've got loads to report on. But... not really. What stands out? A failed purchase of a bargain running watch, a series of multi-day sinus headaches that got in the way, continuing concern about my left knee, and not a single parkrun.

On the up side, the kids continue to provide me with opportunities to combine summer holiday childcare with exercise as they go on bike rides. Even if it's never at a sustained 5K pace, it's stopping me failing into a habit of complete inactivity.

We even managed to find a part of Gosforth Park that I'd not seen before and it was probably the nicest bit I've been in. Oh, and as you can tell from the photo, the weather has been glorious, in the low 20s most of the time. Not an ideal temperature for running, but just lovely in general. Thankfully it's not too tiring when you're running 2 minutes per kilometre away from your usual pace. 😂

As for the running watch mentioned above, I bought a Garmin Forerunner 45S off eBay for less than £60, which was a steal. Only problem was that its GPS was pitiful; waaaay worse than the phone I was going I'd no longer have to carry around. On my first test run, having set a target pace of 5:30/km, it beeped at me incessantly to speed up. In the end, I got fed up and stopped. Turns out it had registered just 1.1km for a 2.1km run. I'd forgive it a little inaccuracy for the first part as I was among buildings in Newcastle, but the second half was on the quayside where you have clear GPS access.

A second run purely on the quayside was little better, still underestimating the distance by 30–40%. One final 5K run up the bridleways and through housing estates near home just cemented it as it still underreported by about 35%. Despite updating the software/firmware, nothing would fix it, so I got my money back. And, it's fair to say, I'm put off ever buying a running watch if they're all that rubbish. At least for a while, anyway.

And finally, the knee. Yeah, same old clicky knee, but now also just plain painful most evenings. I do wonder how long I can go on. Well, I could go on — I feel much happier mid-run — but I wonder how much irreparable damage I'm doing and, to be honest, whether I'm jeopardising my ability to have fun in retirement (whenever that happens). Last thing I want is to retire, set off to see the world with the wife, and not be able to walk more than a mile or two (or worse). Maybe getting exercise from a bike is a more realistic and sensible option ...but for now I remain in denial. I'm still a runner, damnit!