No Snow But Go

Thursday 29th January

Run #29

3.5k Local Blocks

This morning it felt like the weather had properly turned. Or at least as much as it ever really does down in these 'ere parts. Given that the rest of the country is closing airports and tweeting snowman pics, the fact that I spent most of the day hoping for a snow run and contemplating layering is hardly newsworthy. But hey, I'm sure I felt at least 3 bits of sleet in my face earlier, so it's a big deal alright? I might need a snood for goodnesssake.

Getting out of the train station at Richmond and hoping to see at least a flake or two in the air was instead just met with more of the same wet pavements as usual. It seems the promise that, "yes London should have at least a bit of snow in the afternoon" turned out to be fallacy of weather-predicting proportions. The only hint of anything even resembling interesting winter weather was a chunky blanket of hail caught in the wipers of the cars parked along my walk home.

Jazzing up my long black sleeved long legged kit - and to take the edge off looking too like someone running in a full wetsuit - I zipped the sleeves off my multi-coloured butterfly rain jacket and opted for a neon yellow ear-warmer headband (to match the neon yellow zippers, natch). A good choice it turned out because the wind was mighty chilly around certain corners.

It was a very enjoyable 20 minutes of zigzagging up and down the blocks on the hill. I had planned to do a longer loop but found once I got going I actually just wanted to keep up-downing. There is something delicious about starting most runs on a long downhill coast though. A very stress free (if slightly cheat-y) way to warm up.

It was a bit of a weird sensation as the muscle in my legs got warmer but the skin on my legs got colder the longer I was out. The cold was pushing my legs towards cramp and I felt like I had to pump harder to keep myself warmed up. Quite fortunately then that all the back ups were in this bit. Probably just a testament to my not being a very efficient runner. Or needing thermal leggings. I can see one of those being easier to address than the other…