Greetings fellow runneroos,
Today I had the MOST AMAZING RUN IN THE WORLD!!!! It was glorious and what made it a bit spesh was that I had planned it - proper, like - like an event. The only stipulation was that I was the only entrant. I didn't charge myself any entrance fee, I didn't have a number on my shirt, I just had to be there and do it.
Yesterday I had sat and worked out (using Map My Run) my route. I have always wanted to run in Richmond Park so I plotted a route from my gaff, into Richmond, into the Park, around the Park and back to Chez Moi. Total distance - 10 kilometres. I'd gone to bed knowing that the weather today would be glorious, I was off work so had no pressures to deal with and I'd slept like a log.
"Gonna do the long one today Dan?" asked Mrs D. "Yes m'aam, I surely ayamm!" I replied in pseudo "cowboy". Don't know why, but there we are. I was off, sporting my go faster orange striped Super Dan costume. Today I decided to carry a water bottle in case the sunshine dehydrated me and I was glad I did. Stuck on my purple ray bans and zoooooom......I was running!
Got into Richmond and started to head towards Richmond Hill. I'd underestimated the incline of this road. I should have realised that it'd be tough to run up here because the clue was in the name of the road - Richmond HILL! "You klutz Dan!" I admonished myself. This was TORTURE and I hadn't even completed 3K yet. On I plodded, up and up and up......sweating.....straining....breathing like a horse dragging a plough through a muddy field. Eventually I reached the gates of the Royal Park and I sighed with relief. Time to start my 5K loop! I ran on the track to the left of the road, where cars stuck to the strict 20mph speed limit. The sun shone, my breathing was normal again after the hideous hill and my legs felt strong. A very slight buzzing in my right glute unnerved me slightly, but I was sure it would be "run off". Nature was all around me and it was beautiful - the trees looked Regal, the birds were singing their heads off and the deer were far tamer than I thought they would be because I ran past one VERY CLOSELY and it kept on eating the grass off the verge without so much as a look up. Suddenly before me was a long downhill stretch. I mean a LONNNNNNNNG downhill stretch. Fine by me! I looked at my T.I.T watch and saw that in 3 minutes time, my first 30 minutes running would be up. I'd planned a walking section here to get my body rebalanced, and sure enough when it was time to turn left towards the path that would loop me back to where I started, my TIT beeped! Beep beep...beep beep...!!
"Walkies!" I said to myself. I worked out that it would take about 2.5 mins to walk to the path where it went truly "off road". Once I'd reached there I started running again and reset my TIT to 30 mins. Map My Run is extremely accurate and I'd memorised the route I had to take which would lead me back to the entrance gates where I came in. I set off once again. The track was stony but even, and my footfall made a loud crunching sound each step. Hardly anyone was around and I felt fabulous. Tiredness was setting in but I kept going until I just HAD to take another walk break. Not a long one, but long enough to mentally prepare myself to make it home! I had now reached the gates and was on the last 3K home.
Thank God going homeward bound was easier than coming, because Richmond Hill was suddenly a piece of cake, cos it was DOWNWARDS!!! I reached the bridge and turned for home, crossing the road to the Thames Path. I knew where my 10K marker was and where I would stop running so I checked my TIT to see how many minutes I had left of the 2nd 30. It said 4 more mins to go. I kept on until it beeped then stopped for the short walk home.
I had in fact covered 10.4K, with a 10K time of 61 mins 38sec. Not that I was out for any time in particular, but it was good to know that it takes me roughly an hour. I was feeling pretty damned spesh I can tell you!
Until next time then. Happy running folks
Dan.
