Gawd bless you, Guv'nor

Another four-day weekend and glorious fine weather; what recession eh? Royalist or not it's always a boost to be gifted an unexpected day off and the running school celebrated by, well, going for a run! So this morning a male contingent met up (perhaps our lady members were preparing for the big event?) by the Heath prepared to be cajoled by Simon on a snappy 10km. This was to be a classic route taking in Golders Hill Park, the Heath Extension and the Heath itself - so plenty of off-road work and pleasing scenery. That said it's hard to know if anyone was paying attention given the amount of chat taking place:

Taking Ingram Avenue by storm

A notable aspect of the route, as we wound our way towards Parliament Hill, was just how poor the views were over London and the nearby hillside. It was almost as if a thick fog-bank had descended over the capital and enveloped the entire Thames Valley; so it was with some relief that Michael collared an innocent jogger and coerced him into taking a group photo instead:

There's a royal wedding somewhere in the murk behind us

After this it was all, literally, downhill. As usual we engaged in a little light-hearted competition on the dirt track back towards Spaniards Road (well all except Mark who was otherwise, er, preoccupied!) and managed to finish both dusty and a little out-of-breath. Like most places in London the Heath felt oddly deserted today but I'm glad that we took full advantage of an opportunity for a Friday outing.

Distance: 6.4 miles

Time: 55m 28s

Track session in Regents Park

There's a part of my training that's been sorely lacking for a number of years and that is the discipline of getting down to the track and laying down a few speedy intervals. It's not that the mind and body haven't been willing but for various reasons I haven't found the right time and place until now; at last, I'm glad to say, Tri London has started up a weekly track-based work-out and, even better, it's on my way home. Okay I have to hold my hands up and admit that I've missed the first two of these but today I was determined and it was a good thing too because only three of us made it and one (Tomas) was blowing the whistle!

So after a short warm-up we settled upon an ever-so simple plan: today Ian and I would run for two minutes, rest for two minutes and repeat this all eight times. Easy-peasy - the only fly in the ointment being that we had to run in zone 5 which is around about 5K pace (or 90-100% of your maximum heart rate); in other words pretty committing. I wasn't wearing a heart rate monitor but I've done enough races to have a pretty good idea of how my body handles this sort of stress and how quickly I should start out; especially if I was to meet Tomas' goal of hitting the same end-point for every one of the repetitions!

Regents Park cinder track

At first I wondered if I was moving too quickly (at 5:45 min/mile pace it turns out) but Ian wasn't that far behind and I wanted to give it my best shot. Also two minutes isn't all that long (enough for about 600m) and it is possible to keep your pace up over the last 200m if you concentrate on your breathing and form. After the first four intervals I still felt pretty strong and with the last two I tried just that bit harder; at the time it didn't feel like I was going that much faster but looking at the data I got down to a 5:30 min/mile pace and I find that both astonishing and gratifying. There's life in the old dog yet!

Okay I know that I've got to keep coming to these sessions if I'm going to see any benefit and that's always going to be tough with my relaxed attitude to training but I'm going to try - really I am! I just hope that Tri London manage to get enough momentum going to make these work-outs a permanent fixture.

Distance: 5.4 miles

Time: 42m 26s

We're off to see the wedding....

A wonderful Spring day, a week book-ended by Bank Holidays and a Royal wedding in the offing; who wouldn't want to be living in London at such a glorious moment? With that in mind I took myself off to the parks for a classic lunchtime run as wedding fever drifted noticeably in the air; along Whitehall every lamppost sported a Union Jack, in Horse Guards Road motorcycle outriders practiced rounding up anarchists and outside Buckingham Palace a media circus of satellite dishes and celebrity suites was springing fully-formed from the earth:

Green Park is aptly named for the media scrum!

As you might expect the crowds were simply enormous - far greater than normal - so I skirted around both them and the office workers spread-eagled on the grass for a lunchtime vitamin D top-up. Compared to a week ago the temperature was a good few degrees lower and with a frisky northerly blowing the smog away conditions were really quite pleasant. So I entered Hyde Park feeling quite lively, set off at 7 min/mile pace and didn't slacken for the entirety of the loop; a most satisfying result. Only when I got back down to the bottom of Green Park and the Victoria Memorial did I pause for a quick photo session. Oddly enough this is the first time that I'd actually jogged round to the front of the palace and I have to say that 2,300 tons of marble make for an impressive edifice:

Bronze winged ‘Victory’ on top of the Victoria Memorial

After this it was a simple matter to head along Spur Road and back down to St James Park; well it would have been except for the cones, tourists and taxi-drivers perplexed by the temporary road layout. Ah well at least I survived to warm-down along the Embankment and enjoy a shower hot enough to wash the grit out of my eyes (note to future self: wear sunglasses when London is hot, dusty and windy - you won't regret it).

Distance: 7.9 miles

Time: 56m 58s

Grand Union Canal

Occasionally the School likes to break the mould with a step outside of its comfort zone and today is a case in point. Rather than commence in leafy North London we gathered at the home of our chairman (the location a closely-guarded secret in Maida Vale) for a rare treat; the opportunity to appreciate new and unfamiliar territory. In practice this meant hooking up with the Grand Union Canal near Little Venice and heading directly west. Now the towpath is a surprisingly busy place early in the morning what with other runners, cyclists and water-folk living in barges and so there is plenty to observe and absorb. In a way you get a chance to examine London from the rear and while I'm no proctologist it isn't as bad as it sounds!

No names, no pack-drill

After Ladbroke Grove the north side of the canal is bordered by Kensal Green Cemetery and, for obvious reasons, the inhabitants here don't kick up too much of a fuss. This soft edge continues for the best part of a mile and right afterwards, on the south side, comes Wormwood Scrubs Park. To be brutally honest it doesn't sound like much, and this was our turning-point anyway, but having looked into it I quite regret that we missed the boat to explore this 200-acre nature reserve. Maybe next time. Anyhow the run back suffered from the same affliction as all out-and-back routes; you know what's coming! So the best thing to do was get it over and done with as soon as possible by turning it into a race:

Adam demonstrating a clean pair of heels

After this finale all we had left were a few twists and turns through the wide Maida Vale avenues (for some reason there aren't many 'streets' here at all) and very nice they are too. It's hard not to feel relaxed after a decent number of days on staycation in such pleasing warmth (I almost feel sorry for all of those suckers who flew off in pursuit of some sun!) and for certain everyone out today seemed to be enjoying themself. The best thing about it though it that we get to do it all again next weekend. Bonus!

Distance: 6.8 miles

Time: 57m 46s

Running in a rectangle

Who doesn't love four-day bank holiday weekends? What a marvellous invention. First you get a normal two-day weekend and then you get another one without having to work for it. Fantastic! I put my free time to good use by doing absolutely nothing on Friday or Saturday; not a sausage. So this morning I needed a fix and I needed it bad; luckily so did Mike, Adam, Craig, Mark, Amanda and Josiane. OK I know that we're all candidates for the twelve-step program but who's got the time? We're too busy chatting, heading over to Holloway and avoiding the hills. The plan today, as enforced by Adam, was to bring the run in at 10km; no less and certainly no more.

As it happens we might have achieved this had we not taken a wrong turn on the Parkland Walk and ended up on Crouch Hill rather than Highgate Hill. With Ally Pally shimmering in the distance like a desert mirage I was all for pressing on to visit its verdant slopes but sadly it remained but an illusion; my enthusiasm was not shared by the group! Instead we took the gentler path through Queens Wood where I, at the very least, managed to lead us up the rugged north slope of this vertiginous valley. A welcome treat.

Is this the face of a 2011 London marathon finisher?

As is so often the case the pace inched up on the stretch back to the cars and by the time we flew past Kenwood House we were scattering dog-walkers and joggers like nine-pins. Ah the exhilaration of running freely on a beautiful summer's day in the sure knowledge that you've earned an hour or two with the Sunday paper! Maybe a perfectionist might complain that the route ended up being a good 30% longer than the advertised distance but seriously - who's counting?

Distance: 8.5 miles

Time: 1h 14m 47s

No time to run?

Sometimes weeks just don't turn out as you planned and this week I've been really busy - but in a good way. Last night Lenore and I went to a preparation meeting for a parenting course that we're starting (at the New Learning Centre) and tonight we've got one of those rare child-free evenings where we can pretend to be young again! I wanted to squeeze a run in and that meant running to work across the Heath, and so on down to the river, although today I decided to throw in a few new diversions to keep things fresh. Now, as everyone knows, the weather has been great recently and even at 7:30 this morning the sun was bright and starting to lift the early morning chill:

Sunrise on the Heath

I was feeling pretty perky, with a spring in my step, and so when another middle-aged runner took me on down Grafton Road (at the back of Kentish Town) I girded my loins and rose to the challenge! There was going to be no competition here and I managed to carry this 6:30 min/mile pace all of the way down past Mornington Crescent. Here I decided to divert through some park gates that I must have gazed ineffectually at hundreds of times and found myself in St Pancras Gardens. I won't claim that they're a major new addition to my running repertoire but at least I now know where gravestones go to die:

St Pancras Gardens - a little cramped!

After this charming departure I then kept a green theme and passed through Tavistock Square Gardens, also new to me, Russell Square Gardens, which enjoys a pleasing symmetry, and Bloomsbury Square Gardens. Before writing this I hadn't quite realised how many garden squares I typically pass through but in reality I try to seek them out; there's something very refreshing from gaining just a few moments with the grass under your feet in a city like London. If I had my way I'd probably knock down all of the ugly '60s office-blocks that are dotted around and replace them with gardens (just so long as I didn't have to do the gardening!).

Distance: 8.4 miles

Time: 1h 4m 13s

Put on the spot!

Turning up for the Sunday run has become something of a routine for me lately and I like the discipline; it used to be that I never had the time (or maybe I preferred having a lie-in?) but now it's just part of my schedule. So this morning I rolled up to make a foursome - me, Mike, Amanda and Rob - and Mike asked if I had a route in mind to take us all on. It took a few moments to pull something together but then I realised that what I love to do is head out in a direction that we usually overlook; in this case pretty much due North. Thinking ahead I reckoned that we could proceed all of the way to the Coppetts Wood nature reserve and enjoy a rarely-visited green oasis:

Coppetts Wood next to the A406

So we headed across the Heath Extension on the soft horse track (no evidence of equine activity to be seen) and through the Suburb, via Rob's house (next time we stop for muffins!), before encountering the North Circular and Long Lane Pasture. The latter is, in many ways, one of those secret backwaters that charms by being both open and unspoilt; for small children it's a delightful cornucopia of insects, ponds, wild flowers and blackberries but unfortunately the gates are locked until 10am. So we didn't dally but instead took in further North Finchley back-roads as a way to both avoid the traffic and explore new areas; in this I think that I was successful! Coppetts Wood was a great hit too (you can hardly believe that six lanes of traffic is just down the hill) and this naturally turned us all back to Muswell Hill and yet more woodland shade.

In fact we all could have easily continued on for a good while but Amanda had a date with the London Marathon. Well not personally you understand but Josiane ran today and so Amanda wanted to get down to Mudchute, on the Isle of Dogs, to provide vocal support. With our little run put into a proper perspective we finished off with a charge up the Bishops Avenue:

And then there were three

To be honest I quite enjoyed the chance to lead the way today and share a few of the short-cuts and cut-throughs that I've got to know so well in recent years; it's certainly more fun that just running them by myself with no one to experience them with. OK so the overall route was a touch longer than usual but how else are we going to get the chance to break new ground if we don't extend our range? So there are no apologies here on that score!

Distance: 9.3 miles

Time: 1h 22m 7s