Heat in the city

This week I've been a bit slack as I haven't run since Sunday but that's alright I think; sometimes it's good to give your body a break and anyway it's been a very busy week. However I can't pretend that I haven't felt a little sad every lunchtime as the sky has arched blue overhead while our Sun has shone like we're at latitude 25 (think Tripoli). So today I was out of the door like a cat on heat and mentally prepared for the crowds that were sure to be flocking to the nearest patch of grass; even so I overlooked the noisy demonstrators in their pen outside Downing Street but that didn't put me off my stride. Instead I felt pretty good by the time I reached St. James Park and, I've got to be honest, it looked good:

St. James Park never felt so good

In these conditions it's a pleasure to run and by the time I hit Hyde Park I knew what had to be done; off came the T-shirt and all that I had left was shorts and shoes! What a great feeling it is to enjoy the cooling air and the sunlight on your back; a properly freeing experience. If I was a lizard I'd have basked (like so many other wage slaves) but instead I stayed with the horse track and concentrated on good form. In a way this came quite easily but there's a deception here - whenever I neglect to run for more than 2 or 3 days I always go out strong on my first run back - although so what? I felt light on my feet and managed to maintain 6:30 min/mile pace on the far side of The Serpentine and back down to Green Park:

Blossom and blue skies

I guess it probably looks a bit strange when someone who's running fairly quickly suddenly stops, veers off of the path and digs out a camera (while sweating copiously) but I enjoy the challenge of finding things to photograph. Today I did consider getting in some crowd shots but right now nature is at it's very best so I stuck with that as a theme; I don't think that I need to apologise on that score! Surprisingly I didn't feel that baked when I got back to the office but then I had tried to keep to a sensible and solid pace; only once, when another runner drew alongside in a challenging manner, did I really try to motor and that discipline certainly helped. Bring on those long summer days....

Distance: 7.6 miles

Time: 54m 44s