The run home from work

Having run half way to work, the next phase was to run half way back.

I run to Cannon Street (just over 5 mins) But when I get there the trains are a little chaotic. Eventually I jump on a service going to Hayes. I get of at Lewisham 15 minutes later.

Despite this morning's run I feel quite fresh. The only hard bit is running up the steep hill at railways fields in Beckenham Place Park.

The journey is slightly longer, with the run taking 45 minutes. Not sure how practical it will be running across Beckenham Place park in the dark

8km 45 minutes

The run to work

I haven't told Mrs Squirrel yet but I am doing the beachy head marathon. Now being the proud father of three children finding the time to train is hard.

I like running to work, but this takes about 1 hour 40 minutes. The times at the start of the day and the end of the day are my quality time with the kids.

The other thing is that my work is moving to Canary Wharf. The journey to Canary Wharf from South London is horrible. Is there any way I can use my running skills....hmmm.

Talking with Larry at work, he gets the Underground half way to work and then runs the rest. I have realised that some thing similar may be possible for me.

Being a geek helps. So studying Google maps and train time tables I have realised I may have an opportunity.

I run to the station (5 mins) I then get a train to Nunhead (15 minutes and run from there(40 minutes). A fairly straight forward uneventful run, for a total journey time of 1 hour. I shower at work and am at my desk 1:10 later. The normal journey is about 55 minutes.

This worked pretty well. When we move to Canary Wharf the option may be to run to Lewisham and get the DLR to the Wharf.

7km 40 minutes

Another Barefoot park run, faster than I realised

Saturday, park run. Suddenly in the car I have the urge to ditch the shoes. So I run barefoot.

I always run more relaxed without shoes. I exert but do not push. I have a brief chat with Karen and Johnny on the way round. Johnny was meant to be jogging, but I see him get bored and zoom off.

At the finish I hold my place, needing just a gentle sprint to deter the runner behind.

At the finish I feel my time is so-so. Certainly much, much better than last week. When I get home I realise it is my 3rd fastest time ever. Since running my 21:50 in January, I seem to think that it is my time, and it is what I should be running. The truth is it was probably a black swan, an outlier.

Afterwards there is a lot of interest from fellow runners as to why I am running barefoot. My answer? I like the way it feels.

5km 22:39

Half the intervals

I've been listening to a marathon pod-cast recently. Not sure if it has inspired me, but I feel the urge to go and run intervals with the city running group Locketts Rockets.

I turn up and no one is there and I wonder if it is still happening. Eventually 3 others appear. Even the run to the canals is fast and I struggle to hold on.

When we get to the canals, it is 1 minute one way, rest for a minute and back for a minute. I am way slower than the other guys, but it is a good hard workout.

The problem is the time. I have an hour for lunch in reality. I leave half way through the 6 of 12 reps. Partly because I am knackered and partly because I need to get back. In the end I am away from my desk for an hour and a half; too long. The fastest guy there admitted that he is away from his desk for an hour and half.

To get faster I need to do some intervals. I think I will find a course nearby. Work out how fast I can run in a minute. Note that distance, and then run 10 of them. By having the known distance it will stop me slacking. The truth is though, I slack least when running with others.

A really good session today in a number of ways.

7k? Intervals 1:00:00 of running

Lunchtime Loop

The baby has made me weary but I decide to brave a lunchtime run. Trundling up and down the stairs with the baby trying to get them to settle has taken its toll on my legs. Not getting enough sleep makes me less than zippy.

I head down London Wall and down past the tower. Plenty of times I am caught by the traffic lights and have to stop. I run down the Thameside Path to Blackfriars bridge. And somewhere along there I lose my weariness and start to enjoy.

I loop back through Paternoster square. After the run I feel great and awake once more.

5km 31:00

Poor Park Run 100

It's the 100th Park run today. I am still in bed at 8:40am. I decide to risk the wrath of Mrs Squirrel by getting up and doing it. It is the 100th after all.

I had been awake for a couple of hours during the night walking around with the baby.

Today there are pacers for every minute. I am feeling bullish and decide to follow the 22 minute pacer. I have been moderating my eating recently and have must have lost some weight. Should be interesting to see how this improves my running as it surely will.

At the start I am annoyed as surely the 22 minute pacer is going to fast. I hold him for a km and then start to slip. By the time Jenny from our club (the 23 minute pacer) came by I knew the game was up.

I then begin to really struggle. I see people I am usually faster than come streaming past. I struggle towards the end, and decide not even to put in a sprint finish.

But I can't resist and dispatch the runner behind me as he tries to sprint. I rapidly catch up with the runner in front and start to hunt him down. I think I would have had him on the line, but the runners funnel is too narrow and I have to relent.

And the time is poor, 23:45.

So I ponder as to what caused this terrible, sole destroying performance:

*Last night's cycle back from work over Crystal Palace Hill. I definitely had sore thighs
* Only just waking up, without having a coffee
* Not having enough food for energy
* My son has had a sore throat, and later in the day, I noticed a sore throat myself, so possibly some kind of virus
* Lack of sleep taking a bigger physical toll than I expected
* Not running with others, pushing me on enough (i.e. no club night and no park runs)

I'll monitor the next couple of runs to see if this continues. I try to keep reminding myself that the baby is going to lead to some loss of fitness. After my first child, I probably didn't do anything for 6 months!

After the run I couldn't even hang around after long for a chat, as I was needed for baby duties back home.

5km 23:45!

Weary lunchtime run

With the baby and cycling to and from work I was a little tired today. I still managed a warm lunchtime run down to Waterloo Bridge and back. No lightning pace or heroics.

4km 26:00