A run in the park

I have been fending off a cold/cough type thing for two weeks now but it continues to linger and take the edge off what are otherwise good days.  This is particularly annoying as I am trying to up my training schedule for the Run London 10km race at the end of the month and each training run is proving to be a battle at the moment.  I have enlisted the help of a marathon-running friend Stuart and he has been upping the ante with longer runs and hill work to build my meagre levels of stamina. 

We did one such run yesterday morning and having warmed up by plodding through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, we circumnavigated Greenwich Park – the whole route (including the under-the-river bit is shown above.  The combination of cornflower blue skies, golden brown leaves and crisp sharp air in the lungs was superb and there seemed to be no better way to start the the weekend. 

There’s something very cinematic about running through piles of russet leaves in a beautiful sun-bathed park.  Striding down the avenues of trees, I could see every filmic cliche one could think of including the old lady with a miniature dog in a tartan jacket and obligatory Harrods carrier bag; the divorced Dad cramming a week’s worth of love and attention into a Saturday morning kick-about; the loving couple rubbing noses, swapping meaningful glances and hand squeezes and the baseball capped tourists snapping megapixels worth of shots to show the folks back home.

Sadly, time pressures meant that I was unable to take up my friend’s offer of a post-training relaxation session in his newly installed outdoor hot tub.  The thrill of a treadmill session at the gym this morning failed to lure me and my sore throat from my pit so I decide to blog instead and think about going later. Maybe.

my lo-fi ears are listening to Love Of Strings/Moby

One Response to “A run in the park”

  1. Mxenna says:

    Been training for the marathon for a month now. Using the ‘from zero to hero’ training program. 😀

    Basically gone from no exercise for 8 years to the ability to run 3 miles and enjoy it. I have a six mile run today – if the weather gets warmer! Bad news however…looks as if I don’t have a place in the marathon. Ahhh well. Local half marathon next March will have to do.

    Keep up the training! And let us know how you get on next year.

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