Well what a lovely morning it's been here in London. Flawless blue skies, bright sunshine but bitterly cold. The perfect running conditions. Was feeling pretty chipper as I donned my running clobber and shouted up the stairs to Mrs Dan "I'm off. See you later squishy plops" - "Idiot!" came the reply. She loves me really....
No music today folks. Ears were stark b****ck naked and I'd turned off Endomondo's audio announcements. I just wanted to go out and see how far I could go without announcements of stats in my ears. My left calf has been a bit twitchy for the past couple of weeks in that when I'm running it's fine. The rest of my day is fine but then the next day it starts to feel a bit weak. Not painful, just a bit like it's saying "What the hell did you do to me yesterday, you bas***d!"
It was cold. Bloody cold. I had my black thermal gloves on (the kind that Thierry Henry used to wear and I used to think - "What a total ****!" - but now I know that they really help!). My ears and face were flamin' freeeeeeeezing and I'd wished I'd worn my beanie but I didn't have it, so was faced with a case of going "Oh my God it's cold enough to freeze the b**s off a brass monkey!" I set off in a lumpy, jagged fashion cos my calf needs about 200m to warm up. "Oooh, aaghh, ooh, ouch!" I went, until the twinge went away and it was warmed up.
I'd decided to reverse my run route just to mix it up a bit. I'm a bit "crazy" like that. So off I tonked towards Twickenham Station which was just over 2K away and it wasn't until here that I started to feel warmer. I wasn't going fast - just slow and steady. I wasn't bothered with times, I just wanted to run non stop on the route I'd decided to run. It was more than 5K, I knew that, but I felt if I took it easy I could make it to the end and walk home triumphantly! I reached York House where Mrs Dan and I got hitched and I started to count how many Saturdays it'd been since our wedding day in 2011. I gave up pretty quickly cos I got bored and by this stage I was running along the quiet road that leads down to the river Thames.
Reached the Thames path with only dog walkers and runners for company. No cars or traffic noise. Lovely. I listened to the sounds of nature as I ran and heard some squawks from some water hens. Some ducks strutted their stuff beside some rather knackered looking boats that bobbed about on the water. The sun was pretty strong and made lovely sparkly dancey figures on the river and I was glad I'd worn my dark glasses. I pressed on and started to feel a bit leg heavy. "Keep going you big hunk" I said to myself.
I had no idea how far I'd run but I pushed on and saw so many runners. I hoped they were enjoying the solitude as I was. Some groups of twos and threes passed me, chatting away as they jogged and I wondered how long they'd be able to keep a conversation going before swearing at each other and saying "Shut up Doris! Jeeeeez!"
Richmond Bridge came into view and it looked splendid in the sunshine as the water moved fairly swiftly under it. I managed to cross the road without stopping cos I caught the pedestrian crossing on red. "Yeah baby!" I said to myself. "You're not far from home. Keep going you little beauty!" I was under 2K from home but I was tiring - but I didn't stop. No sir, I kept going and going and going. Eventually I left the Thames path and then up to the road where I'd decided to stop my run, before walking home. I got my phone out and looked at how far I'd gone. Only 7K people!! The furthest I'd ever run since starting this program. I was soooooo pleased with myself as I started my warm down walk home.
Mrs Dan was doing her workout in the front room when I got home to some DVD. An American woman was yelling things like "And push! And pull. One more! You're doin' great! And push! and...."
"I just ran 7K sweetie pants!" - "Bloomin' hell" she said. "Well done you". I headed upstairs and got into the jacuzzi , aiming the jets at my tired legs. I decided to congratulate them. - "Well done legs. Nice one. You didn't let me down. Now enjoy the soak, you little beauties."
You have to tell your legs this stuff. It makes them work harder for you next time!
Tally ho folks!
Dan
It sure is beautiful in London. No floods here. Right I must get out there. 
Aussie210K - The 7K Knee Test
Cross country, hard work!
🏃130bpm on the way out --140bpm on the way back🏃
