Not Running Over a Deer

Monday 2nd March

Run #59

2.5k Richmond Park in the Dark

I had almost arrived home in the light this evening (Yay! for Spring and an end to dark evenings) but by the time I got sorted into my run kit and headed out it was properly dark. And cold. A beautifully clear cloudless and crisp cold day had given way to an equally crisp and colder night and the air felt like it had ice in it. So I had on my thermal leggings and a vest top under my baselayer as well as a woolly bobble hat. That's the thing with super short slow runs: no chance to warm up. So, although it feels daft getting so many clothes on for what will be a less than 20 minute run it has to be done to enjoy the experience at all. I started out across the top of Richmond Hill - one of my favourite place for the awesome view out across to the West.

What I love about nights like this is that London has a crazy orange glow of light pollution that, where it hits the petrol blue of the darkening night sky, turns an almost coppery green. It is almost impossible to do justice to the luminosity of colour with an iPhone, or probably any camera in fact. But it sure is magical.

As I ran along the top a woman ran past me and into Richmond Park. The Park gates are locked at dusk to cars, but the pedestrian gates stay open all night and commuting cyclists use the direct route of the Park's roads well past dark. The fantastically inspiring Marathon Man Rob Young - running 367+ marathons in a year for kids' charities - was running his daily marathon around the Park at 3am with just a head torch. (read more about Rob here and, I urge you, donate whatever you can: he is the most humble amazing selfless runner I have ever met and is achieving something I would not even think was possible to raise money for vulnerable, disadvantaged and abused kids). But I have never ventured inti the Park in the dark. The idea of barrelling right over a deer and onto my face seemed too likely.

However, seeing this woman run past me and off down the (reverse) Tamsin Trail without even a head-torch spurred me on and I slipped through the pedestrian gate. The Park in the dark is surreal. In honesty, the Park without cars is odd enough. But the moon was a good 3/4 and, after a string of very clear days and nights, shone like a beacon making the path that I know so well easy enough to see even if I didn't, my unexpected shadow stretching out to my side.

Not planning on going more than a k in, and back I set off towards Pembroke Lodge. I was immediately struck by the silence. And then by every noise. Not rustles of animals in the undergrowth as I'd feared, but the scrunch of gravel under my trainers, and my breath loud in my ears. It all sounded amplified for the extra still crispness of everything around me.

I knew Richmond Park was high ground - there is a part called King Henry's mound where, on a clear day, you have a direct sightline through a special avenue in the trees all the way to St Paul's Cathedral - but in the dark I was aware of it in a very different way. Off to my left the sparkly orange haze of central London spread out on the horizon; the red lights of the cranes winking against the just discernible shapes of the Shard. Over to my right the spread of Greater London to the South West. Brighter for being closer. And me, running along alone in my bubble of darkness lit only by the moon.

Far from the fear I thought I'd feel I felt a cheery happiness bubbling up in me and it took all my focus not to rise up on my toes and sprint off down the path. But the congested tightness in my calves and tenderness down my Achilles kept me anchored to the ground and the reality of why I shouldn't, as I slipped back out of the gate and back towards civilization far sooner than I would have liked.

No LSD for Me Today (That's Long Slow Distance)

Sunday 1st March

Run #60

3k Richmond Park Loop

I woke up today despondent and moody from having been woken up by the tightness in my calves in the night and fully aware of my insteps before even setting a foot on the floor. Typically it's always when you most want to run that you can't. Today was the first day of Spring and felt like it: sunny, bright, warm and breezy, and I was itching to get out for the Sunday long run that usually feels like such a chore compared to the sacrificed lie-in. Today, I wanted to run. But I'd promised myself a week at least of minimal distance and keep trying to remind myself that a week, in the grand scheme of things, is nothing.

But this obviously wasn't sorting out my bad attitude as M told me again that I didn't have to run at all. And got the sharp end of my mood in response. To which he quite pragmatically pointed out that I can make it about performance, and times, and the Half Marathon coming up at the end of March. Or I can make it about The Streak and make peace with the cutting right back while I try and recover my feet. And just quit the bitching about it.

I couldn't stop thinking about this as I trotted out my few k for the day. Once I got over the breeze (which was pretty windy in actual fact, and did seem to be a head-wind, irrespective of which direction I was running,) I took my time to luxuriate in the feeling of Spring. The Park was alive with smells of bracken and grass. The breeze on my face felt invigorating but with more warmth than any day this year. And full of promise for the Spring to come. And I was out here because I was choosing to be. And I was out here for only 2k for exactly the same reason.

And, feeling uplifted, I got home where even icing my ankles felt less depressing than yesterday.

What Runs Down Must Walk Up?

Saturday 28th February

Run #59

3k Round Richmond Loop

I'd told myself that, this week, I'd do the minimal each day to keep up the Streak. Earlier in the week I had sort of thought that by the time Saturday rolled round I might squeeze in parkrun… maybe go reeeeally slow? Concentrate on keep my heels down? Maybe walk the hills?? But by Thursday I knew in my heart that, if I seriously want to try and rehab an injury while still running I need the discipline to not run if the distance is too far or the demand too high. So on Friday I made peace with not parkrunning this week and added another week to my mental 'T-shirt tally'.

To cement my resolve I had an extra couple of pints on Friday night, therefore ensuring the hangover that would make staying in bed seem infinitely preferable. It did also occur to me that if my Streak days were all parkruns I'd have had a 50 T-shirt on my back for over a week now. Which is pretty crazy to me since I'm still 8 away from my actual 50 parkrun T and I've been parkrunning what feels like almost every week for over a year. Emphasis on the 'feels like' rather than the 'almost' I guess.

So I dutifully iced and stretched and massaged as per all the PF rehab info I've been devouring, while mooching off the after effects of yesterday's beers then headed out for a cruisy 3k loop round Richmond. Trying to avoid hills in Richmond without following some very dull main roads does seriously limit routes to very small loops and circles, or curious little shuttles along the river edge. So, while it really is still too cold to walk much at beginning or end, I have been running downhill, along the flat until time, then walking back up whichever hill I end up at the bottom of. It feels seriously slack and I'm longing to charge up a hill or two (oh the irony!). But that is a fast-lane to arch agony so am holding back. I keep reminding myself of all the hills I've ever had to run up that I seriously didn't want to and counting my blessings at the legitimate excuse not to now.

Typical Friday Night: Mates, Pints, Drunken Running...

Friday 27th February

Run #58

2k Drunken City Run

It was inevitable, I think, that in being someone that likes a drink and someone attempting a Streak, sooner or later there'd be a drunken run in there somewhere. Not surprising either that it was a Friday night.

After another week much like the other weeks of late I was looking forward to getting out of the office and getting to the bar. I hadn't done a runch today. To be honest, I really had thought I'd get home, slot in the couple of recovery k for today, then maybe pop to the local or maybe even a glass of vino at home. But an invite to meet M and his friends in a bar near St Paul's seemed like a much better way to start the weekend. The first pint went down like a dream, swiftly followed by the second.

At this point I honestly still thought I'd run when I got home. But some less-than-sober cajoling from M to 'get it out the way now' I found myself getting up from our table, squeezing between packed tables of City workers letting go of the work week, and out onto Cheapside.

On account of the PF I've been wearing my runners to work; the most arch supporting shoes I have so, feet-wise I was good to go. I can't pretend I looked like a typical runner though, as I paced down towards Holborn Viaduct in black leggings a grey marl slouch off the shoulder sweater and leather shorts. I half thought, in my less than half-sober brain, that maybe I'd pass as a normal pedestrian running for a bus, or back to the office for something I'd forgotten. The slightly less drunk half of my brain didn't care at all that that was pretty much total BS.

More than once when I had to cross a road I reached down to stop my Garmin only to encounter my heavy rose gold Marc Jacobs. Far from a GPS accurate timepiece. In actual fact, the banging around of my watch on the bones of my wrist was the least comfortable aspect of my less than typical attire.

Not having a clue on distance or speed I decided to run 13 minutes, which should cover at least my requisite 2k with contingency, without overdoing it. Pacing out through the City at 10pm, pretty squiffy, was exhilarating and crazy fun. I paused on Holborn Viaduct: somewhere I'd never been before and marvelled drunkenly at how pretty all the lights were, before looping round the block and back past Bow Lane and towards the Cathedral.

To give an idea of the general context of the night, I got back to the table in the pub to find another drink waiting for me and some ribbing on how long I'd taken in the loo. A typical girl apparently.

Not so typical tonight.

The slightly surreal experience of running drunk through the City is perfectly summed up by this fantastic stop motion video by the incredibly talented videographer Anatoleya:

N.O. to P.F. A.S.A.P.

Thursday 26th February

Run #57

2.2k Round the Block Lunch Shuffle

Another day another runch. Though I now feel like I can't even call this a runch given that this was no run, and a jog at best. Maybe just a pootle…

But I am determined to try and make these recovery runs as close to a rest as possible. Even more so than yesterday. S.H.O.R.T. and S.L.O.W. So I can see this whole 'active recovery' bit is going to get tough before it even gets going. Not physically but mentally. But mentally because not physically. Argh.

There is, I thought as I forced myself into a geriatric paced shuffle around Eaton Square today, a massive irony in the fact that 'running' like this feels like cheating the Streak. Whereas actually it’s the running at all that's cheating the recovery. Which is all precisely not to cheat the Streak. I have muttered to myself more than once today that 'the definition of a qualifying Streak run is one where at least 1 mile minimum is run in one go'. And in the war in my head me myself and I have all done our best bargaining and I’ve only permitted myself to keep up the daily ‘running’ on the proviso that 100% of the focus is on getting over this PF asap. I was not expecting this would be the fun bit, I knew it would be boring. But my God it’s boring.

Bigger picture dammit.

Bigger. Picture.

And I am boring myself whining about it so; no more of that. Instead, here is a list of all the Embassies it is possible to run past the front door of in less than 2.5k out and back from my office, provided you know where to go:

• Embassy of the Republic of Cote D’Ivoire
• Italian Cultural Institute
• High Commission for the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago
• Malaysian High Commission
• Belgian Embassy
• Embassy of Luxembourg
• High Commission for the Republic of Singapore
• Singapore Embassy
• Portuguese Embassy
• Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic
• Embassy of Finland
• Ghana High Commission
• Embassy of Austria
• Brunei Darussalam High Commission
• Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Royal Norwegian Embassy
• Embassy of the Republic of Serbia
• Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain

And that’s not to mention the Bolivian Consulate, Lesotho High Commission or Consulate of the Arab Republic of Egypt, all a mere stone’s throw on side streets I didn’t venture down. Basically like shooting ambassadorial fish in a diplomatic barrel. On a sunny windy day the flags will look amazing. I might plan a longer ‘Emabssy runch route’ for when the rehab pootling is done, see just how many it might be possible to fit into a 5k. I feel it may be a lot which, considering my flag knowledge is on par with Top Gear’s Richard Hammond, can only be an educational bonus.

No Good Run Goes Unpunished

Wednesday 25th February

Run #56

2.5k Round the Block Runch 

In the grand scheme of Universal cosmic debt and 'what goes up must come down' the first foot on the floor out of bed this morning was like stepping on an upturned power plug. Stiff ankles, tight calves and the return of the shooting heel pain and instep ache are, it seems, the price I'm paying for not listening to the angel on my shoulder about the ill-advised carefree sprinting yesterday. With a heavy heart I have to admit that too much forefoot running of late on my inherently floppy fallen arched hobbit feet is exacerbating the PF tha seems to not have come and gone as I'd hoped.

Typically for plantar fasciitis is a peak of stiffness and pain first thing in the morning, as the fascia has tightened overnight. Usually as everything gets more warmed up through the day the discomfort eases, giving a false sense of security on a run as it feel better the further you go and the warmer you get. So I was naturally wary as the morning at work went on and I was still very aware of my right foot every time I got up from my desk.

Nevertheless, I headed out for a runch, with an aim to keep it so slow and short that it would be as close to resting as a run could get. It takes so much focus and discipline to go super slow I find. It takes constant mental remindings, as my patterns slip back to my 'comfort pace', to hold it back. I tried for a little loop across a pretty square in Belgravia with some galleries I love to nosy in the window of, and then up past the Lister Hospital and back round to work.

Even keeping the pace steady and running a nearly flat route I wasn't sure I was holding back enough. The focal spot of pain on the medial edge of my heel and corresponding arch-ache dulled off as expected, but in response was an unexpected congested feeling in both calves. Like all the blood that was feeding those muscles was rushing there to deposit all the lovely oxygen but then Just. Not. Leaving. Stopping to stretch this out was a no-no as stopping gave an instant pain in both lower legs like the flood of feeling back into an arm you'd fallen asleep on. Which forced me to walk off the run for a good while before I could stretch.

All the conventional wisdom says the cure for PF is REST. Honest to goodness just NOT running. But I am not ready to throw in the towel on the Streak just yet. Which probably makes me stupid. But I'm hopeful that I can listen to my body enough to know when stupidity becomes f*ing idiocy and stop before then.

In the meantime I am going to find out as much as I can about what I should be doing to minimise the impact of continuing to run, albeit the bare minimum and rehabbing to recovery at the same time. 

I'm starting here.

The Underground, Overground: Windmilling Free

Tuesday 24th February

Run #55

6k 5 Tube Stop Loop Round Knightsbridge & Belgravia

Continuing on my quest to keep my runchs interesting I devised a loop for today's run that follows the most direct route between the 5 London Underground stops closest to my office. GoogleMaps suggested I should be able to achieve this in about 5.7k so I saved the route to my phone and, because there is part of me that is old school and just finds it easier - scribbled the main roads in order on a post-it and tucked it into my sleeve pocket.

By the nature of demarking my route with tube stations I knew I had set myself up for people congestion, so I was prepared for a lot of duck-and-weave on this run and didn't mind. Straight out the door I felt light on my feet and buoyant in my step. I felt like a boxer dancing around the trundle suitcases of Victoria as I headed towards St James's Park tube. I could tell my pace between crowds was good but I paid little attention to my Garmin other than to stop it at road crossings or when the tourist throngs became full on stationary knots to unravel my way through.

My first mistake was to take the cut through I know well down the St James's Park tube. While this got me to the back exit OK, I was off my map and none of the roads were on my post-it, so I doubled back - basically round the block - to get back on track at the front of the tube station.

With fewer people now I was off the main road, I windmilled along, past the Ministry of Justice and the next door barracks, finding myself back in front of Buckingham Palace for the second time this week. 

Then off through Green Park. Constitution Hill seemed so much shorter than when I last ran in this Park: intervals last Summer. In fact, the whole Park seemed smaller and I was out at the Bomber Command Airmen and on to Hyde Park corner before I knew it. 

I can't lie, often enforced waiting at pedestrian crossings is a pleasure and relief that I take no guilt in and usually relish. But today I could feel myself fidgeting and jumping on the spot waiting for the green man, eager to be off.  

The slowest part of this run was the section round Hyde Park Corner tube. Partly because I got all turned around and couldn't quite work out which side of the road I needed to be on: cue several unnecessary runs under the underpass, popping up like a meerkat only to scurry back to the other side in indecision. Having chosen the side of the road I thought I needed to continue down, within 500m I met a police blockade that had closed the entire walkway. Conscious of losing time and keen to be underway again it was back under the road and on down Knightsbridge.

The strip of pavement down to Knightsbridge tube isn't particularly wide and I was bobbing and weaving like a rubber duck in a rapid, equally eager not to slow any more than I had to or take out any unsuspecting shopper. But over the road at the tube station and I was onto Sloane Street which is considerably wider and quieter. Like finally getting a fast car out of traffic and on to the autobahn I could feel my pace pick up. It was joyous to feel my legs circling under me and the spring in my step propelling me forward. I so very very rarely get this feeling that it was a struggle to rein it in. But a little voice in the back of my mind was trying to remind me that it's front-foot running that aggravates plantar fasciitis and that I needed to get my heels down.

All too quickly I was at Sloane Square tube and the number of roads to cross and increase in traffic necessitated slowing and stops again. Knowing I had little time to spare as this loop was closer to 6k than my usual 5 that fits, along with the showering and changing, neatly into a lunch hour I abandoned my post-it for the route I knew and got back to the office feeling elated and refreshed, if a little more tired than usual.

Sing-A-Long-A-Therapeutic

Monday 23rd February

Run #54

3.5k Local Loops with Music

Part of me always sees the Monday run after the Sunday LSR as an opportunity to have a bit of a skive. By which I mean, I know I have to run, but the devil on my shoulder is happy to suggest I don't really need to try. Which is a bad attitude, the problematic knock on effect of which is that motivation is hardly likely to be sky rocketing if you've mentally already convinced yourself it doesn't matter.

I knew I was going to keep the run short: I have been trying to, after the long run, mostly to not overload and because my legs are that bit more tired. But I decided today I wanted to try a bit more, Not in terms of run effort, but mental attitude. It might be a short run, and it won't be up on any PB lists but that doesn't mean it's not important. You could argue that getting out for a run on a Monday (nobody's favourite day of the week and when the gym always seems heaving, but the streets are oddly quiet) is in a category of importance all of its own.

So I picked my kit especially for including a) several favourite items and b) a whole lot of unnecessary but personally satisfying colour coordination. To give an idea on what this might look like from the feet up: New Balance 860 V3 (yes, they are a dude's shoe. See run#17) neon yellow cotton trainer socks, Nike full length black running tights, M's royal blue New Balance jacket - neon yellow zips matching the socks - over Black New Balance sports bra. And an Adidas peak in canary yellow with a blue edge.

I also decided, on the spur of the attitude reassessment, to take my iPod. When I graduated off Couch to 5k I ran with music every run. I was completely dependent in the way I now am on my Garmin: the battery dies on leaving the house and it's quite possible I might not run at all. Then, the perfect playlist could propel me round a route by taking my mind off how much it hurt and how hard it felt (which was all still pretty new). But, like most people, as my running improved I wanted to be able to hear my breathing. Listen to my body a bit more without a baseline interruption. Listen to the sounds of the Park or the river. So the iPod got used less and less until not at all.

But today I fished it out. Selecting the most up-beat sing-along tunes I could find, on max volume, I popped the buds in my ears and headed out. The route was a mash-up of other round the block routes of late so nothing inspiring. Not so the music mash-up which had me singing out loud to the empty streets and earning a half grin / half grimace from a lone dog walker.

The pace wasn't quick but the breath control required for singing while running, even at a reduced pace was a new challenge and more tiring than you'd think! But the time flew by, even if I didn't and for the mental boost and enjoyment it'd provided I was really pleased I'd taken the iPod out on my run. That and it's neon yellow cord matches my zips. Natch.

Me and the Park: Both a Bit 'Blah' Today

Sunday 22nd February

Run #53

16k Reverse Tamsin Trail & Ham House Riverside

There seems to have been a bit of a pattern over the last few weeks of major disinclination towards the Sunday Long Slow Run (LSR). Particularly so after a PB parkrun the previous day. This week was a bit different however.  Where the last few I have felt so unmotivated that I almost felt angry about getting out, once I’d got going, I found my groove and rhythm and eventual enjoyment as the ks rolled by. Conversely this week I woke up feeling a bit less disinclined to getting out. But just couldn’t find myself out on the trail. It felt more of a slog and I never really found my mojo.

I’d taken my iPhone, knowing that snapping some photos on runs has kept my mind distracted and motivation up on motivation low point runs before. And I snapped away at the places where I usually find my favourite twists of the path or corners where a favourite view usually reveals itself. But I wasn’t finding ‘it’ in my photos either. Everything was just looking a bit ‘blah’.

What’s funny is that one of the things I love about Richmond Park is how the different corners have their own distinct characters; different vegetation, different features: the ‘always sort of autumn-y’ corner where at any point in the year either the bracken or the tress seem russet. The winding ‘if you go down to the woods today’ path where the trees huddle in feel a little more pine dominant. The loamy low path that’s often flooded where the earth turned black; the air always smells soil-rich. The open expanse of the yellow grit path that feels too manicured and neat to be accidental. The perimeter hedge that looks to be nothing special until almost overnight at a certain time of year it will reveal itself to be a regal riot of purple rhododendron.

But today somehow everything looked same-y in my photos. The differences, so distinct in my head, weren’t there. And this bothered me for a bit. Until I realised that’s just because I know the Park like an old friend now, or at least the perimeter paths I do even if parts of the interior still have mysteries to reveal. But that the Park was none the less lovely for not wearing it’s seasonal finest today. It is still Winter. The leaves are mostly absent, the bracken dormant and the deer hiding in the reaches furthest from the paths. And it couldn’t be blamed for a colourless weather day that would bleach the vibrancy from the best of us on camera. We all have photographic off days but the beauty is still there if you look to see it. 

Woods, Mud, Glorious Flood

Saturday 21st February

Run #52 (parts the 1st, 2nd & 3rd)

Kingston parkrun, with a 4k Easy Run There & Back

M had been talking about a Kingston parkrun ‘triptych’ – run to a parkrun / run a parkrun / run back from a parkrun - for a week or so, but we’d gone to Bushy in the end last Saturday because the run home distance worked better for the rest of that week’s training plan. But this week the 4k easy road route to Kingston parkrun fitted perfectly into the plan and gave me the opportunity to fit a few bonus ks in, having been a tad slack on the run distances this week.

We were alerted to fact it was likely to be a tad muddy and wet from a Facebook post suggesting runners might want to bring spare socks and maybe a change of legwear. We did neither planning as we were to pretty much keep running. We kept the run to the roads and the pace very cruisey, adding a perimeter of ham common for a few extra metres and minutes as we trotted along, arriving with a few minutes to spare and nicely warmed up.

We’d heard enough rumblings about mud and the odd jape about a Duathlon swim section to realise that the pace was likely to slow once we left the concrete path after the 1st k. So we set a very rough plan of a fast 1st K, take it easy through the mud, and use the saved energy for a strong last k back on the tarmac. Setting off at the go we established a fast (for me) pace. As we hit the trail path at around 1k the mud was sticky but not unmanageable and we kept the pace up. I dodged and skirted the puddles we did encounter, reasoning that the longer I could keep my feet dry the less unpleasant the run home.

Before half way it became apparent that puddle avoidance became a tactic that would have required a stop-and-pick-your-way-gingerly-through-the-undergrowth and I elected instead for a dry-feet-be-damned tactic instead. Which proved far more fun and interestingly enabled us to keep a fairly good pace.

Where the route turned off the trail into the Ham Lands loops things got very interesting with the appearance of not one but two marshals warning about the excessive slippiness of the mud and flood water ahead.

Hang on.... flood water?!

They weren’t kidding. Just in front the water started looking boggy with standing water and, looking up and ahead the grass could no longer be seem and it was like looking across a sizeable muddy river to an opposing bank. Having run the route a handful of times before I was fairly confident there weren’t any hidden holes to break an ankle in and, with only a moment's hesitation and a reflex and rather odd war-cry of ‘belieeeeve!!!’ I ploughed straight through the middle much in the style of Phoebe from friends, arms and legs in all directions.

Ploughing out of the flood and back to the mud I mentally appreciated the fact that the deepest portion had been over my knees and spared a puzzled moment for the chap with the spaniel and the super-dad with the buggy I’d passed at the start… Still, I was in my element now, figuring I was at max wetness, and laughed as I careened my way through the middle of every puddle and mudslick on the return leg.

Hitting the solid path with fractionally more than a k to go M, who had been planning on leaving me and upping to his sprint pace for the last k, elected to stay and pace me when we realised just how good time we’d kept through all the off-roading. Pushing the pace up to the very top of my comfort zone, after the fun and elation of the previous 3k, the last k felt hard. But I was rewarded by a solid course PB: almost 30sec off my previous PB at Kingston in December. And leaving me confident that, in dry conditions, I could drop another 30 off.

The run home should have felt tough, but a parkrun course PB is always the best start to a Saturday and the mud-running elation overrode the fatigue. Knowing I’d tucked in an extra 8k that I wouldn’t have to tag onto the Sunday long run was an added bonus. So, wearing a goofy grin and most of the Thames path mud, I ran home happy.

Scrunchy Gravel-Love Runch

Friday 20th February

Run #51

5k St James’s Park Runch Loop

This loop that I did for run #40 is a nice runch one I think. Though Battersea park presents so many morer varied options once in the Park, and is almost exactly as far away (1k) in the opposite direction from my office, somehow Buckingham Palace feels closer. Which makes no sense at having, as it does probably more tourists to dodge to get to the Park, and probably as many traffic lights. But why fight perceived effort I figured, so happily steered myself NorthEast up Buckingham Palace Road.

It’s a funny thing, running amongst tourists, and I like it most of the time. But it really did feel like I’d hit a sight-seeing peek time this runchtime and had to sharpen my evasion tactics to not run right over the top of slowly overtaking elderly or erratic direction-changing toddlers.

The same 2 police guards were patrolling the top corner of horseguards parade and both afforded me ‘the head-nod’ in exchange with my cheery wave. I was thinking of omitting the horseguard perimeter from this run when I set out, with vague plans to change my paths slightly around the lake. But as soon as I got there I knew I wanted the scrunchy gravel sound under my feet. It's probably my favourite bit of this whole loop. I wonder if the guards like that sound as much as I do when they’re there doing all their changing.

Just like last time I ran this route, I briefly contemplated a push down the long straight of the Mall towards the Palace. But, just like last time, once glance along it’s considerable length and I veered left and back into the Park and on to the lake path. One day I’ll run the Mall but it somehow feels significant and intimidating enough to warrant a ‘decent effort’. Daft maybe but it is a running route that deserves respect. And this runch was unlikely to provide that. Perhaps I’ll plan in some kind of Mall intervals for the warmer weather. But not today.

A Nothing Special Run & Some Very Special Races

Wednesday 18th February

Run #49

5k Round Richmond

There are some runs that just aren't going to be very blog-worthy, on account of there really not being much to set them apart (I have already blogged far too many of these in minutiae detail already!) This one was just an average run on one of those days that just aren't going your way.

I took all my kit to work to fit in a runch and free up my evening. But over email in the morning M and I arranged that we'd run together after work so - true to form - I just worked through lunch. Sometimes a runch is the only way I manage to get away from my desk.  But then, by end of day, M had been detained at work and emailed to say he wasn't going to make it after all. So far from the free evening I'd projected, I got home, and into my kit.

In the grand scheme of how disastrous the day had been (a hat-trick of drinks spilt across my desk, a spreadsheet of vital and practically unrecreatable work just disappearing, walking into any door handle or table corner that deigned to get in my way…) the run was issue free. Probably a little less recovery-paced that it could have been, but this was more a get-it-done-run than a savour the moment run.

So instead of belabouring the run I'm going to writ about 2 fantastic races I entered today and which I am very excited about:

First and most importantly the Richmond Running Festival. Quite possibly my all-time favourite race and run by some of the most fabulous enthusiastic running people: @Tom_Bedford and @JadeParker86. 2015 will be its 3rd year and I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Tom and Jade will be pulling out all the stops to top even the awesomeness of 2014. While M ran, I volunteered in year one (some intensive TNT-loading bag logistics in some pretty grey drizzle from me and the bag team. But not one bag lost or unclaimed, ahhhthangyoovehrymuch. And also where I met the indomitable @dominikabrooks) it being before I was a runner. Seriously, I did not run at all. Ever. I hadn't in fact run for almost a decade and would look incredulous at anyone who suggested I could. But more of that in another post) Last year I ran it and had an absolute blast. Aiming for anything under 1 hour for the 10k but secretly hoping and training for sub-58min, I came in at 54:17. A time I have neither broken, nor come particularly close to since. I truly think this was down to the 'festival effect' and how much Goddam fun I was having. So I'm well up for trying to break that this year. Not to mention the medal might in fact be one of the coolest ever AND incorporates a bottle opener. Is there a better medal? I think not. So September 6th is firmly in the diary.

The second race I signed up for today is the Nike Women's 10k in Victoria Park in June. Waaaay back when I first used to run, in the early 2-thou's, it was the Nike 10k 'Run London' series that got me there. The Richmond park one they did in 2003 was my first EVER race. And I had a blast in subsequent years in the 'Go Nocturnal' and 'North Vs South' that I even managed to get my mum running in with me (Go Team South-Of-The-River!). But 2005 was the last one with a 'run the year' with the Nike+. And I have thought back with nostalgia on the ones I did

So the prospect of a new Nike 10k is interesting. But I am reserving judgement so far: It's a testament to the juggernaut of commercialism that is Nike that they will have no trouble getting to 10,000 capacity, at almost £30 a place, without telling you anything about the race at all: The route has yet to be released, details are still being finalised - they can't even tell me yet if there will be a finisher's medal (anyone who knows me will tell you that I pretty much ONLY race for the medal and a run has to offer something pretty darn special for me to bother with no promise of a bit of bling on a promo ribbon). But, off the back of never having run a bad Nike event, I, and probably 9,999 other women are happy to pay the fee and wait and see.

Kit Review: Gregory Maya 10l Rucksack

Tuesday 17th February

Run #48

5k Local Loops, 2.5kg Weighted

Today my new backpack arrived and I was super excited to take it for a test run. So this post is more a kit review of the pretty awesome Gregory Maya 10l Rucksack. Being a pack designed for women this review will come from an unashamedly female perspective. Sorry chaps.

With my only experience of backpack running being the neck-pain inducing pendular momentum of runs #7 & #8 I did a lot of online research prior to this purchase and the Gregory Maya sung out to me on account of being designed specifically with a female physique in mind, in particular the contoured back panel 'for ideal fit and weight distribution' and the adjustable sternum strap. The little video on the Run And Become website I also found very handy.

The websites make it look like this: 

And the reality is not far off:

Once my inner colour obsessive got over the fact it's actually a greeny 'Mountain Warehouse' kind of grey, more reminiscent of camping in Wales than commuting through London, and shelved the 'should I have got the pink after all?' thoughts I was very impressed with the level of thought that has gone into the design.

I chose the 10litre, mainly because I thought I'd be able to fit a pair of runners and a change of kit in it, but still run without feeling too turtle-like. It does just about fit all the things I had planned to put in it, but, if I bought it again I might go up one to the 16l. There always seems to be just a few more things I'm trying to cram in. That said, the pack sits best on your back when it's full, so it's not a problem and certainly not too small.

It has a great range of pockets that have obviously been well thought through. On the front is a generous pocket with a bungee closure that happily holds a top or light jacket. Stuffing this one doesn't impact on the capacity of the main pocket and vice versa.

The main pocket has a full zip across the top for easy access and is deeper than it looks. I could just get my runners side by side in the bottom but that was the max width (worth bearing in mind I tried this out with my super-clompy Brooks Ariel pronation-support trainers, quite a bit bulkier than the average trainer). Once at the bottom of the pocket there was plenty of room on top for a couple of tops, gloves, socks.

Behind the main pocket at the top is a smaller stash pocket for all the 'handbag' stuff. There is a very useful zippered mesh inner pocket with a key lanyard, which is a nice touch, and plenty of room in the pocket for phone, wallet etc, even when the main pocket is stuffed.

Between the main bag and your back is also a smart pocket for a water reservoir. Now I've never used one of these so I can't comment on this feature. However, I did make the mistake of thinking "big flat pocket - I could put my kindle in there" Because this pocket is against the shaped back panel it isn't actually flat. And while the back panel has some flex, it's pretty rigid. So jamming my kindle in there wasn't the best plan and I think it was the pressure of the back panel against the keys in the pocket on the other side of the reservoir pocket that put a crack in my kindle screen. Not a biggie but I won't be using that pocket for anything other than intended in future.

Either side of the main bag are 2 bottle pockets with bungee elastic that happily hold a 500ml bottle. I was dubious as they didn't look very deep and I wasn't sure a bottle wouldn't work its way out, but the bungee closure did a fine job and there wasn't even any movement of the bottle I ran with. The straps also have a hip pocket on each side. I took one look at these and thought: "waste of time- too small for anything useful". How wrong I was. These tardis pockets took an iPhone 5 and oyster card and would have fitted more. This was ideal as I like to have my phone accessible on run commutes but hate it jiggling in a pocket on a top and have NO patience for running with it in my hand.

 

 

Fit-wise, it's a super-cute compactness that snugs right into the curve of my back. I have a deep lumbar lordosis (duck bum) and often find backpacks sit too low, feeling like the full weight is sat on my pelvis and making my lower back ache. Not so the Maya. The contoured back panel is firm and you can feel when the shoulder straps are the right tightness because it just sort of slots in to the curve of your spine. However, far from making me sweaty, the breathable mesh bit really did seem to do its job and it wasn't until after the run and taking the pack off that I even noticed my back was hot.

The straps are also ventilated and padded in all the right places to be super comfy. It is also super-easy to adjust the ride height on the run. All the straps have a little elastic belt loop for tucking in the trailing strap webbing. But I didn't find this held for long and I did feel a bit of a Mardi Gras effect with all my trailing streamers as I ran. I suspect I'll find myself working out the optimum lengths for me and chopping off the excess.

It took a bit of fiddling to get the sternum strap to sit right but one of the genius bits of design is that this strap is on a slider that means you can shift it higher or lower depending on the width of your shoulder, size of your boobs and personal preference. I tweaked this a fair bit on my run: too high and the main straps put pressure on the front of your shoulders and clavicles. Too low and I found the pendular effect increased. So, like Goldilocks I kept on until I found the 'just right' height. Having never run with a sternum strap I was expecting it to make breathing really hard and feel like something heavy was sitting on my cheat. But I found I adjusted pretty much straight away. In honesty I think the heavier breathing on this easy run was more down to the added weight than my ribcage being restricted

I think I was probably running with my pack quit high - it's where I felt it fitted best on my back. But this did mean the hip pockets were more at the bottom of my ribs than on my waist. Next run out I'm going to try the whole thing a little lower and take up more of the weight on the waist strap and a little less on the sternum strap. There was a slight pendular effect when I ran, but it was so slight compared to the Adidas back pack I ran before that I was happy to take it. But I do wonder if a lower run position might reduce this even further.

I ran this run at easy pace, with about 2.5kg in the pack: trainers, light jacket, 3 tops, sports bra, socks, gloves, full 500ml water bottle, iPhone, wallet, keys kindle(!). I didn't feel weighted down at all - the weight felt like it all but disappeared once I had the pack on. I did notice the run felt harder! But as I am totally new to running with a pack I'm guessing that just comes with the territory. The next day aches were subtly different too. But as these were all in my legs and none in my back I consider that a win.

Not All Rain Runs Are Created Equal

Monday 16th February

Run #47

4k Rain Run Local Loops

You may wish to accompany this post with a musical interlude. 

May I suggest Creedence Clearwater Revival - Have You Ever Seen The Rain?

Another rain run, but this one quite significantly different from run #44. As I was pushing along, I tried to work out what made this run different or, more importantly; what was the secret formula to the best rain run?

Better if it starts raining once you've got going and are warmed up.

#44 had a light misty drizzle as I set out but the torrents didn't start until I had a good 3k under my belt and was toasty in my muscles. #47 was pretty much raining as I left the flat. I wasn't yet warm-up and, it turned out, getting nicely warmed up in the rain is harder and wet kit clinging to cold muscles isn't the refreshing welcome cooling that the same provides on warm muscles.

Get your kit right

This doesn't just mean waterproofs. I'd actually rather be soaked and warm than trade off having no rain reach my skin for running in a sweat-suit. But it is a fine balance. I actually got the kit pretty right on #47: even remembering my peak which was forgotten on #44 (and which, when tightly secured under the hood of my waterproof, M said made me look like a crazy tourist at Niagara Falls) but I have yet to get with running in a hood if I'm honest. Run hoods tend to secure tight around your face. They have to, to stop the forward momentum from catching the wind and whipping them off. Which means you do need to remember to put hood up, then zip up or, conversely, unzip then hood down. Trying to remove hood while fully zipped is an impossibility liable to leave you with the collar wedged gag-like between your teeth. And easily forgotten.

Go while the motivation is high

If I can get past my procrastination and get out quickly, stuff like weather feels less of an issue. #47 started with just a bit too much procrastination - mostly over what to wear - and the longer you leave it before getting out, I find, the harder it is to dig out the appreciation of being out: it comes, but it takes a bit longer and the minutae bother me more in the interim. Note to self: less faff - this is a work in progress!

It does depend a bit on the 'type' of rain

OK bear with me here… Us Brits are known for having a weather obsession for a reason: we have a hella lot of weather. And while our Times suggests there may not be fifty words for rain there are a fair few. A NY Times column beautifully entitled Pluviocabulary (rainy words) compiled 140 from the Oxford Dictionary. I'd suggest #44 started with a misty drizzle and moved on to a confident downpour that evolved into a determined deluge. And that was most of the fun. #47 was, well, 'just rain'. That kind of staring-out-of-the-window-on-a-wet-playtime-at-school rain. Not real gumption, just British rain. Not so fun to run in imho. But, all of that aside, any rain run is better than no run.

Photo credit: gifrific.com

The Run I Did Not Want To Do

Sunday 15th February
Run #46
10miler Riverside to (almost) Putney & Back

In the spirit of 'what goes up must come down' I suppose after everything came together for yesterday's run I should have expected that today's might not be as good. But this was the run I Did. Not. Want. To. Do. Not just a bit of reticence or low motivation but a whole flaming gut full of angry resentment. From the second I woke up I couldn't muster even a whisper of wanting to run. A skinful of wine with Valentines dinner doubtless didn't help.

I think the crux of the issue was that I set my Jantastic February long run of the week goal at 10miles /16k. It wasn't some much that I had to drag myself out: I've kind of got used to that over that last 6 weeks. It was that I'd backed myself into a corner on the distance and I REALLY wasn't feeling a 10mile slog.

Having woken at 7:30 I was still faffing around at 11am getting more and more irritated with myself. So deciding to let myself off the distance, provided I just got running, I just got running.

Once moving I headed out along the riverside towards Kew. My form was all over the place and I was acutely aware of the tightness in my Achilles and shins. But I managed to find a comfortable, if a little stompy, rhythm and a pace that was enough to feel I was getting it done but slow enough to free my thoughts to wander off.

True to my mental agreement with myself I planned to get as far as Kew, around 5k, then turn around. 10k seemed a lot more manageable and I could just about reconcile double figures into the 'long run' box.

But me, myself and I are also pretty competitive and pretty good at tricking each other into running further. So at 5k I managed to convince myself to tack on another k before turning round, then another. And another. And knowing that the first k had been down the hill, I added another half before turning, to ensure I ended up near somewhere I'd be able buy a drink, and avoid the hill!

On the return leg I found myself running alongside the Putney Town a Rowing Club, out in the river doing intervals. Without even realising I'd upped my pace a tad to pull ahead while they rowed their recovery, then watched them pull away as they hit their sprints. 3k disappeared without me even checking my watch.

Running harder on tired legs is something I've been trying to fit in to each run and, sufficiently warmed up and motivated to be finished I pushed to up the pace. The last few k were hard but the bottle of Evian I downed and the hot chocolate I savoured in the sun after were all the sweeter for knowing this run was done.

The Best Valentine's Present: a 5k PB

Sunday 15th February
Run #45
Bushy parkrun Valentines Day 5k PB

Like probably a lot of great runs, this one didn't herald itself ahead of arrival. I did feel like I'd been running pretty well this week. And the paces on the 2Bridges run feeling as comfortable as it did had lifted my confidence a bit, but I hadn't particularly felt this would carry over to this week's parkrun.

M chose Bushy as he was keen to tack on another run home to hit his distance target for the day. I was happy to go along with the plan, having had a good run there in the snow a few weeks back, and happy to avoid the undulations of Richmond for another week.

M had elected to pick up his pace and not run with me so we said goodbye in the start funnel with agreements of where to meet at the finish. The milder day had upped the attendance numbers since our last visit and we were both further back in the funnel than we'd like.

But that did mean that, from the off, I was overtaking other runners consistently. M has always suggested picking someone ahead, slowly reeling them in, picking them off at the pass before picking the next target ahead.

I'd never been as good as M at this. Internally I'm very competitive but less so with others; always convinced they must be better. But today I managed to set a fast pace from almost the off, just needing to break out of the congestion at the start. Running a parkrun with low attendance numbers and I often find myself in a gap, running alone. With over 1000 runners there's never a danger of that at Bushy. Slowly but surely I picked off runner after runner. Over the whole 5k I was only overtaken 4 times, but must have passed almost 100 people myself.





Moving into the second half of the 4th k, I started to wind up the pace. I did wonder as I hit the worst of the mud, whether I'd kicked too early. But realising I may be on for a good time I dug in and held on.

Had it not been quite so slippy in the last k I think I could have done even better, but  I did my best to sprint the finish and came in under 26min for the first time ever. In the end my time was not just a PB but almost half a minute faster than my previous. So I felt extra justified in fully enjoying the carb-laden Valentines supper and bottle or two of my favourite Sauvignon Blanc.

Rain: Unlucky For Some But Not Today

Friday 13th February
Run #44
4k Round Richmond

It didn't take long down the initial hill to realise this run wasn't going to be one to remember. When a downhill that cruisey feels like an effort you kind of know it's not going to be a record breaker run.

But that was OK because I'd planned it to be a short recovery anyway and was far more preoccupied by the weather than noticing how I was feeling on the run. It had been drizzling intermittently and the promise of heavier rain had been made by a check of the Met App. I'd added a rainproof gilet as a afterthought, figuring it a bit too mild for a full rain jacket. A k and a half in I was pleased I had as the drizzle was becoming a little more rain-like.

I'd chosen a loop route towards Richmond that I could curtail if I wanted but I elected to complete the loop: a k longer but less steep. By the time I hit 2k the rain was properly coming down and as I started up Richmond Hill I was rueing that I'd left my peak at home.

But clocking that my feet were still warm and dry and my sleeves the only bit noticeably wet I realised I was really enjoying the rain and the feeling of elation running in it gave. Passing my flat at 3k with it properly pouring now, I added a k loop up to the Park and back. The rain felt invigorating and, far later than I should have, I realised that the whole run, short as it was, had felt hard on account if the skinful of wine I'd consumed last night.

The rain had provided the perfect cure. And maybe worth remembering after all.

2 Bridges; No Steps

Thursday 12th February

Run #41

5.5k Chelsea-Battersea Bridges Run

Another busy evening planned; another runch.

I am aware that maybe recently I have been taking my iPhone on runs and stopping to take pictures as a not so subtle reason to take breaks and to avoid sustained effort. I'm a pretty honest cheater and I can hold my hands up and say when I'm not putting in maximal effort. And I haven't been. But I also haven't minded too much either. Give 100% effort to every run on a streak and I'm pretty certain I'd be pulling muscles and pulling out before a week was up. Additionally, in running every day I am trying to find the joy in running, and to run for more than just the numbers, or the performance improvement. So yes, I may have been taking it slower, or stopping to take photos a fair bit.

But today I just felt like I wanted a run out. Not to stop any more than essential and just try and get a bit of flow going under my legs. So I checked googlemaps and decided to head back towards Battersea Park and do the segment Strava calls '2 Bridges, no Steps' - Instead of heading over the Chelsea Bridge and into the Park, I'd cross over the road to the Thamesside pavement and run the Chelsea Embankment down to Battersea Bridge, over and back up the Park side. Being the river side there would be no side roads and even the Albert Bridge that bisected this planned route can be run under instead of having to wait at the lights to cross over the road.

Once I got going I found myself able to sustain just under my natural comfortable pace without having to push too hard. I could feel I was having to keep my breathing a little more controlled than my average runch, and the I was just pushing into effort, but it felt good.

I hadn't realised that from Chelsea Bridge onto the Chelsea Embankment was actually a pretty decent down-slope. I hadn't either noticed that it's almost 1.7k in a dead straight line! Sometime I find long straights difficult to keep hacking away at and lose my pace without anything to distract me. But today it felt like a good, almost treadmill-like experience.

Taking out the unavoidable stops for traffic lights (and once to take a photo of some tourists for them!) it was close to a 5k PB. Though it felt  a bit pacey, hadn't felt like a 5k maximal effort and I wasn't wiped out. Which has got to bode well for another break of the 5k PB being not too far into the future.