First NZ Slow Run

I'm in NZ on holiday. I tried to run (on a treadmill) in Los Angeles but the kids precluded it. 


Since I have been in NZ I have had cough remnants and a sore, sore throat. I have drugged it away a couple of times. Today I finally decide a short gentle run may be in order. 


I decide to run round to see the extent of the earthquake damage on our old house. 


As I start running I never get past snail pace. A lady runner zooms past. I say:
"I'm on a easy one today"
"Nothing wrong with that she replies"


I had dreams of powering up hills and some serious trail running here this holiday but I feel a long way off that. 


I inspect the damage on the old house. The far end of the road is much, much worse. 


I turn and struggle back. Another lady runner zooms past. Having been in the last stages of an ultra-marathon and a marathon (x2) I know how to keep going and despite feeling horrible I keep shuffling along. 


As I near home, a new problem.  I need the toilet. Badly. I get home and the door is locked. I bang on the door and finally my wife comes down. 


I am hoping this abysmal form is part sickness, part rustiness and that normal service will be resumed. And then to this hills and trails.... 


5km 35 minutes. 

NZ Chocolate Run

We are out of Chocolate and it is a hag to get the car out the garage. I decide to use tonight's run to get some. 


I run round to Redcliffs but it is all shut. Still the good news is that yesterday's sluggishness is long gone. I run across the causeway but the petrol station I was expecting seems to have gone. In the end I find a bottle shop open. I secure the chocolate and head back. 


I then realise that I am now running into the wind. I slog back across the Windy Causeway. Soon I am back in Sumner. The return leg was run with more effort but due to the wind was about the same time. 


It was a good solid hour run to get in the bag. 


10km 1:05"53

Christmassy Leadenhall Loop Backwards

Title says it all really.  I have this route cracked backwards now and I do it without really thinking.   Down to The Tower I'm ticking along.

Then I turn the corner to head west down the river.  The wind almost blows me backwards.  The pace slips from there.

Next Christmas I will probably be in Canary Wharf so this may have been the last Christmas City run for a while.  Whilst the second half was hard, still good to be out.  Cough is still there

5km 30:15

Back from Grove Park

This morning I didn't think I'd be running today, but after lunchtime I'm feeling good.  I wanted to run from Lewisham but got caught up at work and so had to run from Grove Park instead.  Shorter, but a run I really enjoy.

I don't push it too hard because of the cough, but it is really enjoyable.  I am well into my Podcast when the rain starts to come down.  It gradually picks up, so that by Bromley North I have to pack my phone away to stop the rain getting in it.

The rain gets heavy and then eases up.  I am going away on holiday soon and then onto the January detox.  I'll get shot of this cough.  Then I'll start to pick up the miles and the pace.  I can't wait.

4.5km 29:03

Christmas Leadenhall

It's coming up to Christmas in the City and I feel like soaking up the atmosphere.  I decide maybe a quick run through Leadenhall.

The cold has re-emerged, and has been irritated by a couple of bouts of heavy drinking.  I'm not expecting anything great, and I worry about collapsing in a wheezing, coughing mess.

But I don't.  I flow along.  I'm really happy with my running technique these days.  In reality I need to lose some excess baggage to improve the speed.

Leadenhall Market is Christmassy and there is even a brass band playing Christmas Carols.

A lovely run.

5km 29:50

Gentle Park Run

I still have a chesty cough.  I had a few beers last night (probably the last Friday night before the detox in January)  So I decide to cruise today at Park Run.

I gently run.  And remarkably I don't try and run too hard.  I potter round.  It's a bit chilly down the back straight.  But it is quite pleasant focussing a little on form and not worrying about pushing.  I think if I had tried to push it, I would have been reduced to a coughing, spluttering mess.

I suspect the time is going to be bad.  In the last 200 metres I conjure up a sprint for a laugh and pick up 7 or 8 places.

At the finish, the time is truly terrible.  Which is fine, but even though I know I wasn't pushing, pains me.

Need to get to the end of the year and then shape up

5km 25:14

Back on the legs

It's been a little light on runs recently.  The 2.5 day hangover after the Christmas Party and the chesty cough coming back for more have not been conducive to running.  I was going to run at lunch time, but was way too busy as work.

This morning I manfully packed my running kit.  I didn't think I would run home because I thought it would rain.  It would appear that I was wrong as it is a cold, clear night.

I have my laptop bag(minus laptop) to run home with.  Not as comfortable or as tight as my favoured ruck sack but I'm not planning to go too hard.

I amble down to Cannon Street and get the train to Lewisham.   There I get back on it.  And it feels great. Not too fast mind you, but a nice solid pace.  At Downham I need a wee.  I make it to the park by the Millwall training ground and empty.  Phew!!!

My wife asked that I pick up some chocolate (probably to get over the kids)  so I stop in Shortlands.  I then complete the final push up to my house.

The lungs still feel a bit scarred from the cold and there was some cracking green and yellow phlegm but I   think I am finally on the mend.

8km 53:00 with a couple of stops

Park Run

Typical hungover parkrun.  Thought it would be muddier and so I had my cross-country shoes on.

I start off fast, but gradually Jenny overtakes me, then the 23 minute pacer.  Ron then catches me up.  He is in his cool new cross country spikes.  We chat for a bit.

I then get overtaken by Karen the 24 minutes pacer in the final straight.  This is all a bit too much, so I pick up the pace and hammer home in a sprint.

Looking at the results, there were hardly any pbs.  I think it was slow conditions.

5km 23:41

Leadenhall Loop Backwards Again

The cold seems to have had a resurgence.  I struggle to run on the way to work, and I know I need to bring the laptop home with me tonight, so no run home.  So I need a run at lunchtime.  Intervals are what I should be doing, but I am still coughing phlegm and decide to be running is better than flaking.

I decide to do the Leadenhall Loop Backwards.  I can sense Christmas coming, and Leadenhall is always Christmassy.  I start off and am instantly in playful mood.  I hammer it. and flow through the crowds.  About 3km in I need a breather.  Then I pick it up again.

Despite previously struggling with this reverse route, I know have it cracked.  After the run I go to grab a sandwich and I feel so good.

5km 27"53