Writing today Sunday 21st July.
The trip to Berlin last week was great, but it did mess with my schedule. However a very good weekend has put me in a good place mentally and ready to take on the challenge of marathon training.
The previous week saw a good number of runs and reasonable performances and I have begun to feel set up to commence a formal marathon schedule. Last week though did not follow on although for good reason. After talking about it for a long time I actually made it out to Berlin with my wife Stella for a short break. We flew out early on Tuesday and are came back Friday evening. As a result I did not get to run since Sunday, what with sorting out preparations and lots of scheduled trips. By Thursday night I was beginning to guilt trip and made a last minute sign up for the Elmbridge 10k which runs this coming Sunday at 9.00. I can’t imagine I will be in top form but it will be good to get another race in and make sure I put in the effort for a timed run.
On Friday I got up early and did 5 miles at a steady 10 minute pace. The hotel we stayed at was close to Berlin Zoo and there is a canal running along the rear of the Zoo grounds. I followed the canal path until a gate blocked further progress then crossed over the Rosa Luxembourg bridge (Rosa was a revolutionary communist who was murdered and found floating in the water at this point). This led out onto the perimeter of the Tiergarten, which is a huge public park with woods and open grass areas. It was tempting to run into it but there looked to be a fair chance of getting lost so I stuck to the canal until forced to join the streets. After 20 minutes I tuned and headed back on the same route. It was a very pleasant run and warm enough even in shorts and singlet. Only downside was that at just short of four miles I tripped on a shallow kerb, taking a full length tumble. It hurt a bit but not much damage other than cracking the screen on my back up Garmin and very minor scrapes to myself.. I got up, dusted myself off and ran for another 10 minutes to make up 5 miles in total. Park run tomorrow and the 10k Sunday, so it wont be too bad a week if all goes to plan.
One of the reasons it has taken me so long to get to Berlin is that I had in mind running the city marathon but have somehow never got around to entering. Now that I have visited, I am even more keen to do so. Lets see how New York goes this year. Perhaps its a target for 2020?
Sitting at the airport on Friday night waiting to find out why our flight is delayed I realise I could be getting ready to run the annual Beating Bushy Bounds. This is organised by members of the stragglers as a sort of running pub crawl back in the day a local cobbler named Timothy Bennett decided to challenge a royal enclosure of bushy park. He was successful and for years after the local populace walked the Park boundary to demonstrate their rights. Shame I couldn’t make it. Always a fun evening. Eventually got back home about 11.00 after a stressful journey Looking forward to the weekend!
This Running Life 