Been a bit of an off week for running, really, work and illness getting in the way.

Mon 27.10

nothing

Tue 28.10

zip

Wed 29.10

nada

Thu 30.10

5k

Fri 31.10

3k

Sat 01.11

resting

Sun 02.11

3k

Mon 03.11

rest

Tue 04.11

5k

Wed 05.11

5k

Thu 06.11

rest

Fri 07.11

more rest

Sat 08.11

even more rest

Sun 09.11

5k

11k and 15k respectively. These two weeks were pretty full-on workwise, but usually I can use running or the gym to relax: was just too keyed-up to get out of the house.

The main reason I was so stressed was a meeting in London over two days, and for the first time ever I took my trainers on a trip with me. Running in London was brilliant – more active and demanding in lots of ways, and I didn’t really have a chance to get into a rhythm apart from along the Embankment, but really exhilarating to be faster than everything else. Beating taxis, owning bus lanes, moving outside the usual crowd dynamics – at speed you see spaces between groups that don’t exist at a more pedestrian pace. Felt like some kind of superhero.

Did something tricky to my back though, probably hopping off a kerb or swerving past someone outside Holborn, which rather brought me down to Earth again on Wednesday. Think a gym week might be in order, as there seem to be lots of bits of my back and legs that aren’t hanging together very well at the moment. Though perhaps my lack of feeling fluent has more to do with learning that a colleague of mine used to run ultramarathons.

Despite feeling ropey though I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else at 4pm this afternoon, running along the gorge with the post-storm sun low through the bright yellow leaves, and watching the last of the clouds disappear over the hills to the south.