Fourth London Long Run

This time I left earlier. Awake at 5.30, 6.57 Piccadilly Line to Richmond, running by 8.00. Meant to head west on the Thames path to get to Hampton Court, but accidentally went towards central London instead. Didn't go very far past Hammersmith, and most of run was between Richmond and Hammersmith. Went 20 miles, it was a good run but challenging towards the end (although not as hard as two weeks ago). Relieved that I got no trouble from my left achilles, I hadn't run for four days in order to banish some lingering pain there, and this strategy apparently worked.

Saw some new sections of the Thames path, much of them nice and scenic, if pretty muddy in parts. Finished at Hammersmith, stopped by William Morris pub (which is wonderful, I don't have posh tastes) before catching Piccadilly Line home. It was only a 30 minute journey and I was home by about noon. I'm getting the hang of these London runs and learning the best routes. Look forward to exploring more of the western sections, especially Richmond Park and Hampton Court.

Third London Long Run

So Sunday long runs in London are becoming a habit, like I intended them to. Yesterday I took the Bakerloo line to Embankment and lit off from there at 12:40 pm. Ran about 2.5 miles towards the city centre until I got tired of the crowds so headed back west, much of it on the south bank until I got to Battersea, then crossed back to the north bank and ran to Hammersmith and Chiswick. Ran along the river the whole way (as much as possible, at some points the Thames path was diverted from the riverside). Had a pint at the William Morris in Hammersmith before heading back.

It was a difficult, windy run, I was definitely ready to be done at the end. I feel OK today except my left achilles is a bit sore and I'll need to keep an eye on it. We leave for the Canary Islands in a few days for a six-day trip (including travel days), and I was planning on running three times while there, but I'll have to see how it feels.

Will also need to figure out what to do about the timing of these Sunday runs. Thinking that I should leave for them much earlier in the morning so that I can have them done and be back home by noon. That would solve two problems: the lack of time for family and everything else on Sunday afternoons, and the proliferation of tourists that make running in London less pleasant (the earlier you run, the less numerous the tourists). So will probably experiment with leaving much earlier, like I used to do when I was a lot more disciplined about that kind of thing.