Shopping Trip

Not enough running and to much eating and drinking at the weekend.  So today I was going to run.  Too busy in the household this morning to think about a run half way to work.  At lunchtime, I slip out.  I have been thinking about getting some proper cross country shoes mindful of a cross country race coming up and the moonlight challenge in January.

I decide to run to the shop near Covent Garden and have a look around.  I don't have my wallet with me so no danger right?  

The helpful shop staff put my new cross country running shoes and Evoskins to one side for me to collect later.

The run there was done in medium pace.  I absolutely hammered it on the way back in a fartlek style.

5km 30mins (broken in two)

Race the train

This morning both me and the baby have stinking colds.  I am also feeling tired.  I skip the lunchtime run.    Rather bravely I had still packed my running kit.  I think from now on I will always pack my running kit.

It's good at work because the dress standards have slipped so far that I can run with my trousers in my back-pack.  Sure they get a little screwed up but I have a smart pair in my locker for those oh-so-important meetings.  This allows me to be more flexible with squeezing in runs here and there without worrying that I will not have clothes for work.

By mid-afternoon I am feeling good again.  I'm not even tired.  As you crank up the mileage and your fitness builds, so it appears your recovery time reduces.  I remember running the corporate challenge when I was 21 and just got back from 6 months in America.  I couldn't walk properly for 3 days and that was only 5km.

For a change I decide to run from the office to Nunhead and then catch the train for the last bit of the journey home.  The risk with this is that if I run slowly I miss my train and then have to wait for 1/2 an hour for the next one.  This would be a disaster in terms of seeing the kids before bed time.  So I make sure the time is definitely do-able and I keep my mind focussed on keeping the pace up.

The run is pretty enjoyable.  I stop a couple of times for traffic but the pace seems okay.  As I near Nunhead I risk a glimpse at the watch.  Then I am confused the time is way faster than I expect.  I end up having to wait ages for the train.  Still, after a good run, I am happy to sit their and enjoy the feeling.

7km 37mins

Autumn Leaves

While I have been running consistently, I have let the length of the runs slip with a few too many easy 4kms.  So today I resolve to do the run back from Lewisham.  I force my way out of work on time.  The run to Cannon Street is not as fast and free flowing as recently, but still fun.

I train to Lewisham and as I am about to launch I see an old friend and stop for a quick chat.  Then I go.  The first half is not too bad but then I start to chug.  Still I keep on.  Outside the Millwall Training ground I can't resist kicking a pile of leaves.  Despite eating lots of food today, I mainly feel hungry!

I manage to power up the hill to myself.  I then mentally pat myself on the back for completing the run.

8.3km 50 minutes

Student Protest Day

The students will be protesting in The City later.  So I go for my lunchtime run at 11.  A lot of the city may be blocked of by the Police so I head South East without aim.  Eventually I decide to go and run around where I used to work near Bishopsgate.  I used to have a favourite Sandwich Shop.  They had two branches, both located near to two of the offices I worked in.  The other one I know had become a Subway a long time a go.

I get to the Sandwich shop (for a look, not a Sandwich) but alas it is now a Beauty Parlour.  I run on a bit further and then head back.  There are some Life Science protesters outside one of the Banks  on Throgmorton Street making a racket.

In the end a fairly short, simple run but I'm proud I made the effort to get out.

4km 25mins

City to London Victoria

For a change I decide to run from work to London Victoria and get the train back from there.  Google maps tell me it is 3 miles on the dot.  I think I should be able to run 10 minute miles (factoring in the Street Running Effect, where you always run slower through the streets)  I am a little delayed getting aways and realise to meet my train I am going to have to push on.  So I do.

I power along, and then dart in and out of the crowds along Charing Cross.  I feel like I am flowing along. Along the mall I see another runner  also running home, and he drops me like a stone.  There's always someone faster than yourself.  I catch him up at the end of the mall as he gets stuck crossing the road at Buckingham Palace.  Makes you realise that it is easy to lose time running through the streets.

In the end I make it to Victoria with a couple of minutes to spare.  The train is busy and the heating on full blast, so I am careful not to drip sweat on anyone else.

3miles 4.8km 28 minutes

Tower Bridge Tourists

At lunch time I run down to London Bridge along the Southbank to Tower Bridge.  Over Tower Bridge, through the tourists and back to the office.  I feel good and run smoothly.

4km 24:26

Blast back from Grove Park

I didn't get into work until late and I want to get back to see the kids.  So I decide a cheeky 4.5km from Grove Park on the way home.  Recently I have bought myself a new pair of Asics Piranha racing flats.  The spring in them makes me realise how worn out the old pair were (I did do the Brighton Marathon in the old pair)

And they are lovely.  Even on the run to Cannon Street I am bouncing along.  The run from Grove Park I really feel that I am running (Rather than shuffling along, as sometimes I feel)

There is the suggestion of drizzle in the air but it never starts raining.  I run down through Bromley Park and even the steep downhill is not too bad.

A really enjoyable little blast both sides of the train journey.

4.5km 26 mins