I managed to make to back into the gym on Saturday evening and was weak as a kitten, which did not bode well for the planned 20 miler today! Anyway, you don't get anywhere in life by making excuses so we went ahead as planned.
Start: Walked up to the start line for the London marathon, the plan being to run the exact marathon route. Mild and light drizzle, perfect Scottish running weather!
Mile 1: Feeling good.
Mile 2: Feeling OK. Running into the wind which is starting to pick up but only another mile and a bit and it'll be behind me. Run past a crowd of people outside a youth centre. Turns out they're looking at the remains of a pigeon who decided to take it's life by putting it's head into an extractor fan. I guess there wasn't much good on TV at the time! I know it's a long shot but I hope it's the pigeon that hit me a few weeks ago! Probably from the guilt of what it had done I would imagine! From behind it looked like him. Gray with white bits, wings, tail!. Spitting image really!
Mile 3: Want to stop! Bit of help comes with the first turn and some downhill running. Spot the first runner as stupid as me to be out in this weather. Turns out it's just a guy running home from the offie with a six pack of beer. Now that's a man with a plan!
Mile 4: Left thigh strain. Wind decides to change direction and get colder so another 8 miles or so of running into it.
Mile 5: Not a happy chappy! Hair and eyebrows have reached saturation point so water is not just running straight down my face. Damn you receding hairline!!!
Mile 6: Nearly run over by a cyclist. Good job I have cat like reflexes (note continuation of feline theme).
Mile 7: Run right past my flat. Very tempted to call it a day as the rain is getting heavier and the rain stronger. Manage to resist and push on.
Mile 8: Overtake an old lady cycling while trying to pour herself a hot drink from her thermos. Decide that you shouldn't be allowed to call something a "mode of transport" if I can overtake it feeling like this. Also decide to take my mind of the running by coming up with other "modes of transport" that could be at risk.
1) Stakeboards
2) Scooters
3) Mobility scooters and motorized wheelchairs
4) Those silly shoes that kids used to wear a few years back with the wheels in the bottom (and no I'm not just including then because I'm a little bitter that I didn't get a pair - OK well maybe just a little bit!)
5) Dogs. Pass plenty of them. Not sure anyone's ever tried to classify them as a mode of transport but still...ad them to the list!
6) Anything that uses a road in central London
7) Rickshaws (may be covered by 6 but I'm struggling)
8) Ford KAs
Mile 9: Can't believe it took me a mile to come up with a list that poor! Are those hail stones?
Mile 10: Yes! Yes they are! Hail! Seriously? Halfway round what I like to call Hell's loop. It's a two mile stretch round Surrey Quays which does a very, very slow 180 degree turn. After running it for a while everything starts to look the same and you have no clue how far round you are. My bet is that Hell is like Surrey Quays! Not the place, well maybe a little, but more just like one big long run that goes on forever and you have no idea how far you've gone or how far you've got left to go.
Mile 11: Decided to add the Underground to the Mile 8 list as I pass Bermondsey station. How it takes that long to get from Canada Water to Bermondsey on the Jubilee line I will never know! Yet another British engineering marvel! They've even made it feel like it's going fast!
Mile 12: Turning to cross Tower Bridge, time to run the tourist gauntlet! Wind turns again, must like my face!
Mile 13: A combination of a few pounds dropped over the last couple of weeks and the sheer weight of water in my trackie b's is starting to pose regular decency issues! Start to worry that there's enough water in my clothes for me to drown in them!
Mile 14: Wrong turn #1 - down into Wapping. On the bright side found a pub that I like but couldn't remember where it was!
Mile 15: Down onto the river at last, always makes for a nicer run...but wait...if I'm running towards Canary Wharf ...then I'm heading East...which means that the river should be...on...my RIGHT HAND SIDE! Wrong turn #2! The half mile river run in the opposite direction wasn't quite as much fun!
Mile 16: Yesterday's gym session taking it's toll. Struggling to hold my arms in running position, keep falling down to my sides which, even I have to admit, makes for a very comical running style! Too tired to care!
Mile 17 - 20: Cold! Wet! Miserable! Tired! Hungry! Cold, again! Got a brain freeze from the wind and rain! Oh and did I mention wet? I did? Well did I tell you that I was actually wrinkled like I'd been in the bath too long!
Finish: Try to purchase a chocolate bar and Lucozade from the newsagents before getting the DRL back to Greenwich. Hands are so numb that I can't get into my pocket. I wish I was someone else watching me try to operate the card machine! Three attempts to mash the right buttons on the key pad!
Yet another MASSIVE thank you to everyone for your continuing support and kind donations. The grand total now stands at £2,585.00 which puts us over half way to the £5,000.00 target that I set under a month ago. People's generosity really has been overwhelming!
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=FrazerCampbell_10_in_10&faId=163391&isTeam=false
"Pain is temporary. It may last for a minute, or an hour, or a day, or even a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take it's place. If I quit however, it will last forever!" - Eric Thomas
"Success is getting up one more time than you've been knocked down!" - Anon
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