My now birthday routine treat of a run from Clay Bank over the North York moors 
TBF it was late May 2020 and I’m fairly sure pubs were still locked down!
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Pub with a few friends. That was my most recent pub visit, almost eight years ago. 
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Posh curry in Petts Wood and a Toblerone 
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I did a 50 mile bike ride, solo, also in lockdown.
Just seen a friend’s Strava, who makes a habit of running 1km for every year. Just run a 26km for his wife’s birthday. Kids eh, just wait until he’s a grown up.
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I skied in the Pyrenees on my 50th - a perfect blue sky day and skied off-piste with a local guide in areas we’d never skied before including from the Pic du Midi (an observatory station) which had only just been opened up to skiers provided you we were with a guide. Best single day’s skiing ever!
I also ran my first marathon (London) as a prezzie to myself and later that year did my first tri.
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Hmm, 55k is nearly 2 weeks of running for me now and would probably be about 2 weeks of recovery 
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Tempted to try and get myself into shape for Edinburgh Marathon 2026 which would mark my M55 upgrade.
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It’ll be about a week after?
I’m getting reminded of the first Chester marathon when I’d just turned 40! 15 years ago 
no wrinkles or grey hair! Endurance sport is not good for you
I think it’s Stockholm this weekend if you wanted a foreign event but Edinburgh is net downhill!
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No, it’s on the day.
Scotland is a foreign country! It would complete the set of each home nation plus Dublin.
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Set myself a goal of running under 20 for 5k before signing up for a tri. Plateaued at 21:30. Didn’t realise that sub 20 is actually Serious Running for someone aged 55. May re-evaluate my choices.
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I’m centimetre’ing closer to this but yeah it’s not as easy as it used to be, mostly because I’m trying not to injure myself doing it!
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In my experience, running a fast 5K is 90% about finding a fast course, including the right company running at your pace. My local PR is flat and should be fast - at least in the summer. But it is on grass, and gets busy on lap3. And not always competitive at the front.
Tarmac and 2 laps makes a big difference.
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That’s one of my ten targets this year
Currently it’s the least likely to actually happen
I ran 21:20 in a recent sprint tri and ran passed lots, as others have said the chances of injury doing intervals, track, fast tempo runs make it difficult in your mid 50”s
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Recommend Cardiff parkrun for a fast 5km. Pancake flat alongside the river, nice paved surface, no sharp turns
If you are heading that way I would say Severn Bridge is better - at least on a calm day. Single out and back on a good surface, gentle rise to halfway, gentle descent all the way home.
FTFY
Burnham is pretty fast if the wind isn’t crazy. Not pan flat and some tight turns but always seems to produce fast times. The distance is bang on as well.
Luckily I’ve got 2 flat fast courses nearby, although one usually has a soul destroying wind as it’s on the North Sea coast. Albert is usually a bit long but 20 minutes only just gets you in the 30 usually so you can get dragged round.
There was a local 5K yesterday where a few people got PB’s as it was nice and flat.
My mate is nearly 59
His best recent park run is 19:30
His % score is normally 80-81ish
Yet when we run at 12 kph ish we have identical hrs and if anything he seems more laboured than I do.?!
He runs lots of shirt hard track stuff and crazy t mill intervals
30 secs at 18 kph
90 secs at 12 kph for an hour he says this is the digfence between us
He has a run coach and 15? Pairs of carbon shoes possibly more.
For me it’s not a course thing ( obviously some courses are faster than ever) it’s an “ I fall apart above 14 kph thing” with constant run injuries I’m getting no practice I guess
I should just give up … but I still enjoy running
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