I’ve had such a busy week. I was hoping to run while I was away at a work conference but the epic drive coupled with sitting all day irritated my knee. I got back Thursday, spent Friday crashed out on the sofa and then packed again for a weekend in London. I was hoping my knee would behave itself after yet another long drive and a lot of walking. Luckily, this morning it felt absolutely fine. MrU hadn’t run in a while and was up for a comeback too.
You know you’ve become a proper runner when you’re excited about heading out early on a wet and grey Sunday. We decided to pick up the path along the Thames near Chiswick. It was a nice walk past blooming cherry blossom and parakeets. We started running when we hit the river.. I’ve never seen so many other runners outside of parkrun and events I’ve done! We could understand why-it’s a lovely place to run with plenty of entertainment, even in the rain. As we ran along the path, there were loads of rowing crews on the river. It was a bit of a novelty listening to the coaches shouting instructions at them.
I was doing a bit of shouting instructions myself-mainly “slow down” to MrU! He’s got longer legs than me!! We fell into a nice, conversational pace and the time just flew by. It was a novelty running on the flat and my Garmin absolutely loved it. I’ve had my watch for more than 6 months with no movement of my VO2 max headline number, although I’ve seen the finer detail line trending up. Finally it ticked up to the next number. I’ve been running much more reliably recently (except for last week) and it’s great to see some evidence. So pleased by this!
We decided to keep it short at couple of miles. It was super satisfying to hit a coffee kiosk at exactly the end point of the run. The perfect end to a great run!
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MissUnderstanding
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Glad to hear your knee has sorted itself out. Sounds like a lovely run. I went to central London today, walking along Embankment there were loads of runners. Can't say I fancy running through crowds but Chiswick is probably a lot nicer
I was walking around there too! Maybe we passed each other in the crowds. I saw a few runners battling all the people but I’m with you-I don’t fancy that at all! It was much quieter out where we were running!
Great run for you and Mr U, good photo, looks a bit like the boat race, it's great seeing loads of other runners when you are running or out a walk although perhaps not so good if you are overtaken by some of them, 😂 lol.
Thank you! It was part of the official boat race route. One of the bridges had signs up saying it was close on race day! They were absolutely flying along the river. It almost made me wish I was doing that instead of running…but only almost!
Such a lovely read, thank you for sharing and I am glad your knee was better for this run along the Thames. My run routes are very uninspiring where I live but thankfully I enjoy the activity of running itself. A friend of mine lives in London and always shares gorgeous photos of her run along the Thames and across the various bridges. I do wonder what it must be like to mentally prep for a run along those routes compared to my residential streets and industrial main roads 😂
Thank you! My run routes are a mix of lovely ones and functional ones that do the job. Friday it’s convenient for me to run on a big slab of concrete surrounded by a gritty housing estate. We found some nice local places during lockdown. Maybe it’s worth looking for some more hidden gems. I was mentally calculating whether we could move to Chiswick to run along the river every day and enjoy all the cafes. The short answer was sadly no!! I’m envious of your friend too!
Wouldn’t that be fab in a parallel universe! I do have a canal and a woodland path nearby but as I run on my own, I stick to main roads for safety. It’s not a racially or culturally diverse area I live in either so sadly as a solo female in a minority I tend to just run along routes where I there are lots of passing traffic for visibility.
You’re so right about that-I long for a day where all we have to think about when we get ready for a run is the run itself and not how we’re staying safe. It’s absolutely rubbish to have to route plan based on whether we’ll feel happy to run it alone or not.
Lovely to run along the river.. you’ve just reminded me of a really great holiday we had when our kids were small, staying on a houseboat at Kew, and seeing all the green parakeets.
Thank you! We were really smug about having got up early and made it out. There was a bit of debate when we saw the weather-we did end up getting pretty damp but it was worth it. The bonus of a run partner is he definitely means we stay at a conversational pace and the time really flew. I’m trying to persuade him that he wants to run a half marathon so we can do the long runs together-he’s one of those naturally fit people and I think he’d do really well. It’s a work in progress though!! So far 10k is his limit. I’m not giving up though!
🍏Oh the green of the parakeets & the pink cherry blossom and the Thames path!!! What an enviable place to run!! 🏃♀️ 🏃♂️ Well done to you & Mr U Love the photo of the training crew. Happy memories of seeing them on the River Ouse in Ely. 🤩
Thank you! It’s so nice to see the crews out. I’ve never really lived anywhere where I’ve seen them regularly. Ely is a lovely place. Maybe those happy memories can come with you on your next run ❤️
What a great post of a great run MissU. It sounds like just the tonic you needed, after your running break. It’s always good to end at a coffee outlet too.
Almost all my runs end with coffee! It’s my treat of choice and an extra bonus when it’s made by someone else and even better when you don’t have to run past the shop and then walk back again!! My route planning is usually a bit poor so it’s such a nice novelty when it goes so well!
Thank you! It’s hard to keep it in perspective when I get a grumble from it. My head goes back to “you won’t be able to run properly for months” when in reality, all that’s happened is it’s a bit unhappy at being subjected to too much sitting and needs a bit of time to calm down. I was pleased it did! It was a 20k step day walking around London so I think I can declare that mini flare finished with! Hooray!
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