..And Now I'm Calm!

This morning I posted a picture to the blog on how the road is a good listener, and this afternoon that really proved to be true. For those of you who know me and read the blog know that I work a lot, and rack up many overtime hours a month despite my best intentions not to. Today I had planned to do a bit of a longer run home from work as I wont have time to do it this weekend so I really wanted to leave on time (for once!). The plan for my run was to make my way to Edgeware road and then onto Regent's Canal, run on the canal past London Zoo, Camden, King's Cross and Islington before hitting the last stretch east on the canal and then when arriving at Victoria Park maybe do a lap of the park before heading home.

 Unsurprisingly I didn't get off on time so when I walked out of the hospital and into the cold, grey, weather I was pretty annoyed and didn't know how many miles I'd get under my belt. I headed off towards Edgeware road on legs that didn't feel all that convincing but once I hit the canal they'd loosened up and I could fall into a good rhythm. The canal was fairly quiet up until King's Cross (even the part where you have to head into Camden market,  which is normally crazy busy) and I ran on listening to my music and was a bit surprised when my GPS thingymajiggy told me I was running at a 5.20min/k pace. When I hit Islington and had to leave the towpath for a short I while I found mysekl feeling way more energetic than when I first started back in Marylebone and also a lot less annoyed. The canal got busier when approaching Hackney and I didn't really know if I should believe that I really was running at the 5.05min/k pace that the GPS told me but a quick glance at the time showed me that the time did match what the GPS told me and I then decided to definitely do a lap of my beloved Victoria Park.

When hitting Victoria Park my hands felt pretty stiff and cold, as it's only 10C and windy here (not to mention that I have zero circulation in my hands and feet), but that didn't really bother me. I was listening to The National's new album Trouble Will Find Me (buy it asap, you won't regret it) and the legs were just doing there own things, working at a steady 5min/k pace. The park was filled with runners and everyone was nodding a smiling, which doesn't happen all that often, and despite the greyness the park looked beautiful. The 4.5k lap took no time at all and soon I was on the homestretch. Reaching my road I wanted to make sure I'd done 20k hence sprinting round Tredegar Square before letting myself into the house with fringers now frozen stiff.

Not only was I happy with having run a 20.5k run at an average 5.10min/k pace barely winded and with lots of energy left, I was also happy to have done a long run after work as I normally only do my long runs on Sunday mornings. I was also completely zen, having left the annoyance and disappointment from work behind me. The road really is a good listener!

Today's run, from west to east - much recommended!