Tuesday 20th January
Run #20
5k Battersea Park Lunchtime Run
Tuesday this week was always going
to be a tricky one, as I had arranged to meet a friend direct from work with
plans that would take up the rest of the evening, giving no time for post-work
running. So the night before I had gathered all my stuff together to take to
the office for my first run at lunch. Or in the terminology of the fabulous and
inspirational @Susie_Chan '#runch'
I was, for some reason,
apprehensive about this one. Mostly because I wasn't sure I could work all the
logistics (changing, running, showering, managing to look office-presentable)
into an hour and running late for anything stresses me out. So the second 13:30
rolled round I dashed to the loo and changed in super-quick time. Desk to
pavement in 7 minutes.
It was, fortuitously, probably the
most beautiful day of winter so far and the kind of day that makes me
deliriously happy to live in a country with seasons. It had been hella cold
when I'd left the house at half 6 and I wasn't sure if the mercury would have
made it out of the sub-zero zone. But it was one of those rare winter days
when, rather than bright white and watery the sun was bright warm and springy.
Very unseasonably you could feel a bit of heat where the sunlight hit your face
and threw the Thames into a million sparkles. There wasn't a cloud and the air
was still crispy chilly but I was the perfect mix of warmed up and cooled down
the entire run.
Given that time was at the
forefront of my mind I elected to head over to Battersea Park: almost exactly a
k from the office, find a 3k route around there and then the k back for a 5k
that should fit nicely into the lunch-hour, which is exactly what I did. The
Park was buzzing with people - dog walkers mostly - and I got to see dogs in
all shapes and sizes, as well as other runners out for their runch.
What was quite obvious was that
there did seem to be a 'type' of runch-er. Almost to a man (I didn't see any
other ladies) they were the guys you see at the front of cross country races:
singlets, short shorts, compression socks, maybe sleeves too, and a steely
determined run style that looks simultaneously both whippet quick and
speed-walk nonchalant. Needless to say I was overtaken a lot, and in fact
lapped on my little loop, not that I was worried at all.
I thoroughly enjoyed this run.
Being someone who routinely works through lunch, or grabs a quick soup at Pret
or just snacks all day at their desk, being out 'deliberately' in my lunch hour
came with something of an illicit thrill - the closest thing I could liken it
to is being sent on an errand by a teacher and being out of the classroom in
school time. Which probably says something about both my conscientiousness and
immaturity. But we won't dwell on that…
As it was, I would have made it
back to my desk neatly within the hour, if I hadn't had to queue for the work
shower. Which goes to show you can't plan everything. But all in all, a great
first runch.
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