Training Log Archive: AC

Run in Richmond Park with Matthias. Good run and great company for chatting about life, the universe and planning future O races to do together. Lovely morning for it and Richmond Park is a great place for running. Park was pretty packed this morning with heaps of runners, walkers and cyclists. Some very quick runners out and about, including a couple of very quick women who were striding out very easily and smoothly. Had a slowish start but then picked up in the middle before suffering a little towarsd the end, especially up a very steep pinch that slowed me to a crawl. Good downhill finish though. Excellent run.

Easy warm up.

In Kingston-upon-Thames for the weekend and decided to become a Parkrun tourist and participate in the local race. Googled up parkruns in the area and found I had a choice of three within some 20 minutes jog from the house! Chose the closest one and headed down on a cool and drizzly morning, which cleared rapidly to a mild dry morning, perfect for a run. Quite a crowd at the event - 262 according to the results - with a large number of women and children.

Started conservatively and cruised along, kept company by a couple of young kids of around 12 years old who were doing a sterling job of keeping the pace up. They dropped off after 1.5-2km but finished well to go under 28 mins. Picked up the pace with each subsequent km and finished well, but no sprint from me to try and hold off a couple of guys I had passed 500m from the finish. Nice course - flat out and back on a tow path next to the Thames with a little loop at the end through some woods. Nice views of the river and good to watch rowing teams out doing their thing.

Hung around a bit and then jogged home. Nice to do this on a Sat morning while everyone in the house slept in - feeling kind of smug and virtuous!

Even easier cool down ...

Rain overnight made for a damp road although it didn't actually rain on me during the ride. Feeling pretty sluggish, but put in an honest effort. Nice to only have 20-30 minutes of darkness before the sky gets quite light. Last few km was in the dawn light.

Busy day ahead and so headed out for a morning run in absolutely perfect weather. Feeling the effects of Sunday's race spill with sore ribs and hip. Jogged the first couple of km okay before starting to feel a bit more like I was properly running. Great morning for it and really enjoyed this run.