Brass Monkeys

Blooming heck, that was cold.

After my adventures on Thursday (see below) I had Friday off from the gym.  In addition I even stayed in and just had a night in front of the telly with a baked potato for dinner. Yep, it's all glamour here.

But this was no selfless act, oh no. I was up at 7.30 on Saturday morning, having a slice of toast and a pint of orange squash before setting off for my first http://www.parkrun.com/home.  The deal is it is a free, timed, 5km run across loads of different places in the UK and even abroad. So I found myself by the swimming pool at Highbury Fields at 9.00 on Saturday morning. And my, was it cold.

I couldn't find my long sleaved running shirt but at least managed to locate my Skins running tights. Yes, that's right, tights. I used these when I lived in New Zealand and didn't join a gym, so needed them to go running at night and not be totally freezing.

NZ (Auckland to be precise) is a bit warmer than London and I really noticed that on Saturday. There were patches of ice on the ground and I was properly cold, even though I had jogged to the park as a warm up.

I was ok for the first lap of the park (just under 1km) but then the effects of Thursday really hit home as I was coming up the hill. My legs just felt totally empty and it was a bit scary how little energy I had. I mean, I am a lot worse at running in the morning than in the early evening but this was a joke.

I thought I might be able to run through it but as as I went round and round I had even less energy. At one stage I thought about giving up but then if I did that then I would feel guilty about going to London Field's Brewery in the afternoon. So I ploughed on and did 5km in 28 mins 12 seconds. Not total rubbish but well off the pace I wanted.

Still, I have set a bench mark. Pity I am not in Highbury in the next few Saturdays to try and beat it, but I will be soon enough. I jogged home after and had a cup of tea, grateful to be back in the warm!

It is now Sunday and I have had another day off as my knee feels a bit sore, but back down the gym tomorrow to run on the warm treadmill. Joy.