RUN 231 - London drizzle is a runners friend

I'm actually more of a 'poor weather' runner, i love the challenge that weather presents, snow, ice wind, rain... i love sunny day runs too, but its hard to keep cool... a drizzly day is fine by me too.



[Got to watch your step though]

RUN 230 - Post run Rooftop

Running A-B is always so much more satisfying; home to work or vice versa, every step is a step closer to your destination and is filled with a little more confidence.  It translates more directly to our life experiences, and reminds me that so long as we have a direction, a destination or a purpose, make every step a step towards that place and no matter how much you tire, you can draw strength from the knowledge that you're making progress.

[West London skyline from our roof]

RUN 229 - R&R along the Thames path to Battersea Park

Sometimes everything just works out perfectly, today was absolutely one of those days; a gentle breeze, cool air, slightly drizzly but not raining, just enough to keep the fair weather walkers and runners off the Thames path, but to top it all my wife decided to get out her bike and join me for an hour or two! running has always been a quite selfish indulgent pastime for me, one which is mine to enjoy and explore and reflect, to give me balance.  My running isn't about physical fitness; i'm not the fastest, or most efficient, and certainly don't follow a strict runners diet, but i enjoy every step i take, its never a chore, i allow myself to enjoy and experience the places it takes me, even the smallest details of perhaps the most seemingly mundane place.  Its a wonderful chance to observe the places we live and visit and be part of them.  But to share these beautiful places and moments of chance encounter with the woman i love are an even greater joy.

[Flowers blooming in Battersea Park]

RUN 228 - Capture the moment

I always run with my iphone, its useful if i get a little lost, or to call someone i'm meeting or who expects me, but mainly i carry it for the chance to capture a moment.  I have 5/6 main routes either to or from work or around our home, the route is repeated time after time, but the experience of it is entirely different on every occasion, with the weather, the season, time or day, the people who share the moment or the things taking place... the local authority trimmed the trees back along the south bank, felled a few too... this log obviously rolled down the bank of the river having been cut at low tide... this angle and composition screamed out to me as i ran by... the stump in the foreground, the log on the beach and the river beyond...when the tide returns to collect the log, this image will be gone forever.

[sometimes the images scream out to be captured]

RUN 227 - Every step is a history lesson

Every step is a history lesson in this city, relics of the past are everywhere, often re purposed, preserved or simply allowed to deteriorate.  This proud forgotten relic has served its useful purpose many years ago, and now stands to intrigue or be ignored.

[I have no idea of its purpose and almost prefer to keep it that way]

RUN 226 - Stop and look

RUN 225 - Chinatown

Its tough not to try and take this picture every time i pass through, its the glamorous celebration of the entrance to Chinatown, equally interesting are the side streets and back alleys which propel this machine

[the grand entrance serves as a distraction to what lies beyond]

RUN 224 - Take a break, stretch it out

A slower start to today run home, tight muscles from yesterday and still recovering from Angleseys marathon, not surprising really. Stretching when traffic holds me up really helps and reminds me that it's ok to stop when racing too, it's not all about pushing pushing relentlessly, stopping or walking doesn't not equal failure, it indicates awareness of an intelligent runner, to modify form, pace or to rest or stretch when necessary, all of which will in fact get you to the finish faster than simply plodding stubbornly on. Finished really strongly and confident to pick up pace [7m - 01:01:57]

[Stretch it out after running the first mile or so]

RUN 223 - Routine Commitment

After 5 coastal marathons in a little over a year I feel the need to find a new challenge, I love the rhythm of off road running, the variation in pace and the muscle control required to navigate undulating unsteady terrain is both challenging and satisfying. By comparison it makes road running almost monotonous, city street running still requires concentration and dodging pedestrians, which breaks up the rhythm, I'm not sure how I feel about returning to traditional marathoning. However I do want to work on my pace and finish time, my recent marathons and shorter road races indicate a 3-3.5hr finish time is possible, which I'd love to work towards... I

think I'm going to look for a autumn road marathon and in the meantime get back to my road roots and half marathon speed work  [7m - 1:01:34]

[The slow walk to stretch out at the end]

.

RUN 222 - Coastal Trail Series Stage 5; Anglesey North Wales

The challenge of the Endurancelife Coastal Trail Series is hard to describe; at its simplest its a marathon around the coast of the UK somewhere, but that doesn't tell the whole story.  First of all, you usually discover at mile 26 that the course is a couple miles longer! and technically then an ultra.  Secondly the terrain is intense, every single footfall requires complete concentration to prevent a twisted ankle or literally falling off a cliff, not to mention being knee deep in muddy bogs with soaking wet feet, and i haven't even got to the climbing or elevation change yet! seriously, who puts a mountain at the beginning and end of a marathon+!?  However, these are precisely the reasons that i love this series and continue to enter them, this was my 5th in a little over a year.  The scenery is stunning, and there is simply no other way to see these places in this amount of time.  I've always met the most interesting and inspiring people; a guy from Thailand flew in especially for this race, as did two brothers from France in their first ever marathon (they set a great pace, but fell back with some minor injuries) plus a girl in her 20's who stormed past me carrying a 30-40lb backpack and a smile, with kind words of encouragement, and there are always first timers at the pre-race briefing who become the butt of lighthearted jokes about early injury, but always seem to make it through.  The challenge is massive, and there is no hiding in the crowds, a 100 or so people strung out across 26+ miles is very different to a big city race with tens of thousands.

As for my own race, i was worried, i hadn't trained and id had back problems in the previous months, i had no idea how i'd cope, but i've succeed before when i thought i couldn't, and i know how to tap into that confidence which lets me succeed.  I have a loving wife at the finish line who i call during the race and who always says the right thing, and never tells me to stop!  my early pace was really steady, and fast considering the first few miles included the mountain ascent, which we would later face again.  Once into the the middle part of the race i paced myself well, the toughest parts being the short road sections which we occasionally took inland to bypass some impassible feature or cove.  There always seems to be a boggy wetland section around mile 20, just to make sure you're properly soaking wet, today was no exception, that's where i met our friend from Thailand who was also making his way through knee deep.  Pushing through to the 'finish' with the mountain in the distance, i started to realise the course was probably longer than 26.2 ... i arrived at the base of the mountain well before the safety cut off of 1530 after which they would divert runners around.  The guy at the bottom told me "just a mile to go" i had about 20 minutes to get to the finish and come in under 5hrs, doable! accept that mile to go was actually two; one up the mountain, and one down! ... literally climbing on hands and knees with burning thighs from already running a marathon distance, i crossed the line in 5hs 24mins and as always delighted to have finished, i came in 61st of 103 runners.

If you've red my other Coastal Trail Series blogs, or ever heard of 'Endurancelife', and you're a runner, sign up for any of their events, they're the most professionally organised i've ever run, and always really fun people to be around!

[Caught by surprise by one of the cameramen]

[A look back at the coastline i've just run]

[Beautiful and dangerous sections through the first half]


[Approaching the top of the mountain to complete mile 27 and begin the descent to the finish]