Sunday 8th February
Run #39
16.1k (10 Mile) Teddington / Kew Riverside
M gets a kick out of
my inability to stop shopping for running kit. The way I see it, if it's buying
clothes for exercise it's legitimised shopping, and not just 'buying myself
more clothes' 'cause exercise is good for you, right? Anyway this essentially
means I have far more running kit that I need, with no signs of stopping the
purchasing any time soon.
This doesn't make me a
faster or better runner. While it might make me more comfortable on the run
it's largely, as M has labelled me more than once, a case of 'all the gear, no
idea'. But I am happy to put my hands up and say, yes, I get a kick out of matching
my socks to my running vest. And yes, I will feel better heading out for a run
when the zips on my jacket clash pleasingly with my gloves. Whatever gets you
out there, right?
Today's run was the
maiden voyage of some new full length Nike run pants. Thick
almost-compression-tights-but-not, they have fantastic barcode of reflective
stripes down the outer half of each leg. (Yes, these photos are the model
wearing them, not me. Trust me, this is for the best)
I wasn't sure, after the weather took an unseasonable turn for the milder today, if they were going to end up being too warm. But my legs rarely overheat me in the way that my top choices do and these were fine. They'll be perfect for an evening run commute I reckon so I think I'll try and work one of those into next week.
At about the 6k mark I passed a woman running in the opposite direction wearing the same leggings. Her cheery holler of "nice pants" and my "nice pants!" reply had me still grinning half a k later.
This was the first run
I'd taken along the riverside this winter but I felt I wanted a change from the
familiarity (and hills) of Richmond Park. It was muddy but a lot firmer
underfoot than I was expecting. I was happy to be in my trails but did a lot less
slip-sliding than the last few trips round the Park.
One thing I did notice
was the distinct difference in dogs: there is always a great variety of dogs
being walked around Richmond Park - one of my favourite things about running
there - but on the whole there is a majority lean towards golden retrievers and
Labradors, collies and the russet Hungarian Vizslas. Being walked along the
riverside today there were a lot of racing dogs: greyhounds and whippets,
mostly wrapped up in coats, and all-black spaniels. There were grey weimaraners
and, oddly, 3 men in army fatigues, with Jack Russels. Not the same fatigues
(khaki vs desert, head-to-toe or just trousers) so not the same guys. There
must have been some kind of memo go out to Jack Russel owners today.
I don't know if it was
the flat route, extra carbs (sweet potato wedges for yesterday's supper), the
drinking lots of water (or just not drinking any wine!) or the time I took to
work the knots out of my PF last night. Or maybe just the Spring-y sunshine and
bluebird skies. But overall this one was a really great run and I clocked my PB
over 10 miles.
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